Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Dark Patterns: Effect On Overall User Experience And Site Revisitation, Deon Soul Calawen

Dissertations

Dark patterns are user interfaces purposefully designed to manipulate users into doing something they might not otherwise do for the benefit of an online service. This study investigates the impact of dark patterns on overall user experience and site revisitation in the context of airline websites. In order to assess potential dark pattern effects, two versions of the same airline website were compared: a dark version containing dark pattern elements and a bright version free of manipulative interfaces. User experience for both websites were assessed quantitatively through a survey containing a User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) and a System Usability Scale …

Advancing Competency In Managing Risk And Knowledge: Steps Toward Operationalisation Of The Risk-Knowledge Infinity Cycle (Rki Cycle) - Part 1: Improving Effectiveness Of Risk-Based Decision Making (Rbdm), Martin Lipa, Paige Kane, Anne Greene

Articles

To date, literature on the Risk-Knowledge Infinity Cycle (RKI Cycle) has mainly been theoretical. This paper series intent is to focus on the operationalisation of the RKI Cycle by describing a series of steps – the “How to” – for RKI Cycle deployment, to help move the RKI Cycle from theory to practice. The first paper in this series focuses on how the RKI Cycle can support effective Risk-Based Decision Making (RBDM).

First Long-Time Airborne Fungal Spores Study In Dublin, Ireland (1978–1980), Moisés Martínez-Bracero, Emma Markey, Jerry Hourihane Clancy, John Sodeau, David J. O'Connor

Articles

Ambient fungal spores within the atmosphere can contribute to a range of negative human, animal and plant health conditions and diseases. However, trends in fungal spore seasonality, species prevalence, and geographical origin have been significantly understudied in Ireland. Previously unpublished data from the late 1970s have recently been collected and analysed to establish historical fungal spore trends/characteristics for Dublin. Historical spore concentrations were largely dominated by Alternaria, Ascospores, Basidiospores, Botrytis, Cladosporium, Erysiphe and Rusts. The main fungal spore season for Dublin commenced in April with the fructification of Scopulariopsis and Ganoderma. However, the vast majority of other spore types did …

Airborne Fungal Spore Review, New Advances And Automatisation, Moisés Martínez-Bracero, Emma Markey, Jerry Hourihane Clancy, Eoin Mcgillicuddy, Gavin Sewell, David J. O'Connor

Articles

Fungal spores make up a significant portion of Primary Biological Aerosol Particles (PBAPs) with large quantities of such particles noted in the air. Fungal particles are of interest because of their potential to affect the health of both plants and humans. They are omnipresent in the atmosphere year-round, with concentrations varying due to meteorological parameters and location. Equally, differences between indoor and outdoor fungal spore concentrations and dispersal play an important role in occupational health. This review attempts to summarise the different spore sampling methods, identify the most important spore types in terms of negative effects on crops and the …

Analysis Of Copper(Ii) Using The Ascorbate/Oxygen System – A Valuable Undergraduate Resource, Sean Tobin, John Cassidy, Kevin Kurian, Tony Betts

Articles

In deionised water, ascorbic acid (AH−), through oxidation by oxygen in the presence of copper(II), was found to degrade with zero-order kinetics. The magnitude of the reaction rate varied directly with the copper(II) concentration. At a higher pH (7.4), the same reaction was found to be pseudo-first order. Once again, the magnitude of the rate increased linearly with copper(II) concentration at a micromolar level. Dissolved oxygen levels, in excess AH− and trace copper(II), displayed similar kinetics under both conditions. Monitoring of either AH− levels or dissolved oxygen concentration was found to be a useful novel undergraduate practical laboratory for trace …

Mapping The Dna Damaging Effects Of Polypyridyl Copper Complexes With Dna Electrochemical Biosensors, Anna Banasiak, Nicolò Zuin Fantoni, Andrew Kellett, John Colleran

Articles

Several classes of copper complexes are known to induce oxidative DNA damage that mediates cell death. These compounds are potentially useful anticancer agents and detailed investigation can reveal the mode of DNA interaction, binding strength, and type of oxidative lesion formed. We recently reported the development of a DNA electrochemical biosensor employed to quantify the DNA cleavage activity of the well-studied [Cu(phen)₂]²⁺ chemical nuclease. However, to validate the broader compatibility of this sensor for use with more diverse—and biologically compatible—copper complexes, and to probe its use from a drug discovery perspective, analysis involving new compound libraries is …

Charge Transfer Mediated Triplet Excited State Formation In Donor-Acceptor-Donor Bodipy: Application For Recording Of Holographic Structures In Photopolymerizable Glass, Tatsiana Mikulchyk, Safakath Karuthedath, Catherine S.P. De Castro, Andrey A. Buglak, Aimee Sheehan, Aaron Wieder, FréDéRic Laquai, Izabela Naydenova, Mikhail Filatov

Articles

Donor–acceptor–donor BODIPY triads bearing anthracene or pyrene as electron donating subunits were prepared through a stepwise synthesis. Photoinduced electron transfer and formation of long-lived triplet excited states via spin–orbit charge transfer intersystem crossing (SOCT-ISC) was studied by steady-state and ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy and further supported by DFT computations. New BODIPYs were found to form triplet states and sensitize singlet oxygen in both polar and non-polar solvents which is unusual for photosensitizers operating via SOCT-ISC. BODIPY-anthracene triad (ABA) was used as a photosensitizer component in a photopolymerizable glass that was prepared by a four-step sol–gel process. ABA in combination with N …

Fluctuating Temperature Modifies Heat-Mortality Association Around The Globe, Yao Wu, Bo Wen, Shanshan Li, Antonio Gasparrini, Shilu Tong, Ala Overcenco, Aleš Urban, Alexandra Schneider, Alireza Entezari, Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, Antonella Zanobetti, Antonis Analitis, Ariana Zeka, Aurelio Tobias, Barrack Alahmad, Ben Armstrong, Bertil Forsberg, Carmen Íñiguez, Caroline Ameling, César De La Cruz Valencia, Chrisofer Åström, Danny Houthuijs, Do Van Dung, Dominic Royé, Ene Indermitte, Eric Lavigne, Fatemeh Mayvaneh, Fiorella Acquaotta, Francesca De’Donato, Francesco Sera, Gabriel Carrasco-Escobar, Haidong Kan, Hans Orru, Ho Kim, Iulian-Horia Holobaca, Jan Kyselý, Joana Madureira, Joel Schwartz, Klea Katsouyanni, Magali Hurtado-Diaz, Martina S. Ragettli, Masahiro Hashizume, Mathilde Pascal, Micheline De Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coélho, Noah Scovronick, Paola Michelozzi, Patrick J. Goodman, Paulo Hilario Nascimento Saldiva, Rosana Abrutzky, Samuel Osorio, Tran Ngoc Dang, Valentina Colistro, Veronika Huber, Whanhee Lee, Xerxes Seposo, Yasushi Honda, Michelle L. Bell, Yuming Guo

Articles

Studies have investigated the effects of heat and temperature variability (TV) on mortality. However, few assessed whether TV modifies the heat-mortality association. Data on daily temperature and mortality in the warm season were collected from 717 locations across 36 countries. TV was calculated as the standard deviation of the average of the same and previous days’ minimum and maximum temperatures. We used location-specific quasi-Poisson regression models with an interaction term between the cross-basis term for mean temperature and quartiles of TV to obtain heat-mortality associations under each quartile of TV, and then pooled estimates at the country, regional, and global …

Towards Plasmon Mapping Of Sers-Active Ag Dewetted Nanostructures Using Spels, Mohamed Beshr, E. Dexter, Paul E. Tierney, Aidan Meade, Shane Murphy, George Amarandei

Articles

Thermal dewetting of silver thin flm can lead to SERS-active Ag nanoparticles. Here, we report our progress towards using scanning probe energy loss spectroscopy (SPELS) to map the plasmonic behaviour of SERS-active Ag nanoparticles (NP) by investigating NPs produced through the dewetting study of Ag thin flms on SiO2/Si and Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. The nanoparticles size and spatial distribution were controlled by the deposition and thermal annealing parameters. The results of preliminary SPELS measurements of these structures, alongside SERS data show that there is a correlation between the Raman enhancement and the nanoparticle size and interparticle spacing.

International Consensus On Lung Function Testing During Covid-19 Pandemic And Beyond, Aisling Mcgowan, Pierantonio Laveneziana, Sam Bayat, Nicole Beydon, P.W. Boros, Felip Burgos, Matjaž Fležar, Monika Franczuk, Maria-Alejandra Galarza, Adrian H. Kendrick, Enrico Lombardi, Jellien Makonga-Braaksma, Meredith C. Mccormack, Laurent Plantier, Sanja Stanojevic, Irene Steenbruggen, Bruce Thompson, Allan L. Coates, Jack Wanger, Donald W. Cockcroft, Bruce Culver, Karl Sylvester, Frans De Jongh

Articles

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has negatively affected the delivery of respiratory diagnostic services across the world due to the potential risk of disease transmission during lung function testing. Community prevalence, reoccurrence of COVID-19 surges and the emergence of different variants of SARS-CoV-2 have impeded attempts to restore services. Finding consensus on how to deliver safe lung function services for both patients attending and for staff performing the tests are of paramount importance. This international statement presents the consensus opinion of 23 experts in the field of lung function and respiratory physiology balanced with evidence from the reviewed literature. It describes …

Modelling And Design Of Holographic Optical Elements For Beam-Coupling Applications For A Range Of Incident Beam Angles, Dipanjan Chakraborty, Rosen Georgiev, Sinéad Aspell, Vincent Toal, Izabela Naydenova, Dervil Cody, Suzanne Martin

Articles

Theoretical modelling has been used to calculate the holographic recording beam angles required in air (at any recording wavelength) to produce a Volume Holographic Optical Element (VHOE) for any defined input and output beam angles. The approach is used to facilitate the design and fabrication of diffractive coupling elements through a holographic process that avoids the use of coupling prisms during recording and will help in the design of recording arrangements that better suit the mass production of low-cost elements, especially those designed for non-normal incidence. In this study, the recording angles needed for a range of recording wavelengths were …

Biomolecular Corona Stability In Association With Plasma Cholesterol Level, Duong N. Trinh, Meda Radlinskaite, Jack Cheeseman, Gunther Kuhnle, Helen M.I. Osborn, Paula Meleady, Daniel I.R. Spencer, Marco P. Monopoli

Articles

Biomolecular corona is spontaneously formed on the surface of nanoparticles (NPs) when they are in contact with biological fluids. It plays an important role in the colloidal stability of NPs, which is of importance for most of their medical applications and toxicity assessment. While typical studies use either blood plasma or serum from a pooled biobank, it is unclear whether differences in the media, such as cholesterol level or protein concentration, might affect the NP colloidal stability and corona composition. In this study, the silica corona was prepared at particularly low plasma concentrations (3%, v/v–1.98 mg/mL) to identify the critical …

Measuring Semantic Similarity Of Documents By Using Named Entity Recognition Methods, David Efraín Muñoz Morales

Masters

The work presented in this thesis was born from the desire to map documents with similar semantic concepts between them. We decided to address this problem as a named entity recognition task, where we have identified key concepts in the texts we use, and we have categorized them. So, we can apply named entity recognition techniques and automatically recognize these key concepts inside other documents. However, we propose the use of a classification method based on the recognition of named entities or key phrases, where the method can detect similarities between key concepts of the texts to be analyzed, and …

Partially Oxidised Boron Nitride As A 2d Nanomaterial For Nanofiltration Applications, Natalia Garcıa Domenech, Aine Coogan, Finn Purcell Milton, María Luisa Casasín Garcia, Adrián Sanz Arjona, Marc Brunet Cabré, Aran Rafferty, Kim Mckelvey, Peter Dunne, Yurii K. Gun'ko

Articles

Access to clean water has become increasingly scarce in recent years due to various factors, such as increasing population density, urbanisation, and inequality, among others.1 The development of new, inexpensive, and reliable methods for the removal of various impurities and toxins from water is therefore vital. In recent years, the emergence of nanofiltration (NF) membranes has become an exciting prospect for water purification. NF can be described as a type of filtration which exhibits separation characteristics in between reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration, and typically has molecular weight cut-offs in the region of 200–1000 Daltons.2,3 Various nanomaterials have been implemented in …

Normative Data On The Foveal Avascular Zone In A Young Healthy Irish Population Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography, Susan M. O'Shea, Veronica O'Dwyer, Grainne Scanlon

Articles

Purpose: To establish normative data on the size, shape and vascular profile of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in a young, healthy, Irish population, using the Cirrus 5000 HD-OCT. Certain diseases may alter FAZ appearance. Normative databases provide normal baseline values for comparison, thus improving diagnostic ability.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-four subjects aged 18–35 years old were recruited. Superficial FAZ area, diameter, circularity, ganglion cell layer, central macular thickness (CMT), vascular perfusion and density were measured using the Cirrus 5000. Axial length was measured with the IOL Master and blood pressure was measured using the Omron sphygmomanometer. …

Synthesis Of Fast Curing, Water-Resistant And Photopolymerizable Glass For Recording Of Holographic Structures By One- And Two-Photon Lithography, Tatsiana Mikulchyk, Mohamed Oubaha, Alicja Kaworek, Brendan Duffy, Markus Lunzer, Aleksandr Ovsianikov, Sabad-E Gul, Izabela Naydenova, Dervil Cody

Articles

Advancements in hybrid sol-gel technology have provided a new class of holographic materials as photopolymerizable glasses. Recently, a number of photosensitive glass compositions with high dynamic range and high spatial resolution have been reported and their excellent capability for volume holography has been demonstrated. Nevertheless, challenges remain, particularly in relation to the processing time and environmental stability of these materials, that strongly affect the performance and durability of the fabricated holograms. State-of-the-art photopolymerizable glasses possess long curing times (few days) required to achieve thick films, thus limiting the industrial implementation of this technology and its commercial viability. This article presents …

All-Optical Modulator Based On A Microfibre Coil Resonator Functionalized With Mxene, Pengfei Wang, Shi Li, Fengzi Ling, Gerald Farrell, Elfed Lewis, Yu Yin

Articles

A novel all-optical modulator based on a microfibre coil resonator (MCR) functionalized using MXene is reported. The MCR was manufactured by winding a tapered fibre on a polycarbonate (PC) resin cylinder with low refractive index to support the microfibre, which also forms a fluidic channel coil. The MXene dispersion was injected into the channel to allow the deposition of an MXene layer using a photodeposition process. The transmission spectra were tuned using a tunable laser with a centre wavelength of 1550 nm and the light-matter interaction resulting from the photo-thermal effect and MXene absorption provide the all-optical modulation in this …

Corner’S Theorem On Modules With Anti-Isomorphic Endomorphism Algebras, Brendan Goldsmith, Noel White

Articles

We present a version of an unpublished result of A.L.S. Corner on p-adic modules with anti-isomorphic endomorphism algebras. The result gives a complete description of necessary conditions for two such modules to have anti-isomorphic endomorphism algebras and a sufficient condition is also given. A main difference in the current version is that extensive use is made of our ability to describe certain homomorphism groups.

Viscoelastic And Electromagnetic Materials With Nonlinear Memory, Claudio Giorgi, John Murrough Golden

Articles

A method is presented for generating free energies relating to nonlinear constitutive equations with memory from known free energies associated with hereditary linear theories. Some applications to viscoelastic solids and hereditary electrical conductors are presented. These new free energies are then used to obtain estimates for nonlinear integro-differential evolution problems describing the behavior of nonlinear plasmas with memory.

The Locus Algorithm: A Novel Technique For Identifying Optimised Pointings For Differential Photometry, Oisin Creaner, Kevin Nolan Mr, E. Hickey, N. Smith

Articles

Studies of the photometric variability of astronomical sources from ground-based telescopes must overcome atmospheric extinction effects. Differential photometry by reference to an ensemble of reference stars which closely match the target in terms of magnitude and colour can mitigate these effects. This Paper describes the design, implementation, and operation of a novel algorithm – The Locus Algorithm – which enables optimised differential photometry. The Algorithm is intended to identify, for a given target and observational parameters, the Field of View (FoV) which includes the target and the maximum number of reference stars similar to the target. A collection of objects …

Quantitative Raman Analysis Of Carotenoid Protein Complexes In Aqueous Solution, Joy Udensi, Ekaterina Loskutova, James Loughman, Hugh Byrne

Datasets

Carotenoids are naturally abundant fat-soluble pigmented compounds, with dietary, antioxidant and vision protection advantages. The dietary carotenoids, Beta Carotene, Lutein and Zeaxanthin, complexed with in bovine serum albumin (BSA) in aqueous solution, were explored using Raman spectroscopy to differentiate and quantify their spectral signatures. UV visible absorption spectroscopy was employed to confirm the linearity of responses over the concentration range employed (0.05-1mg/ml) and, of the 4 source wavelengths, 785nm, 660nm, 532nm, 473nm, 532nm was chosen to provide the optimal response. After preprocessing to remove water and BSA contributions, and correct for self-absorption, a partial least squares model with R^{2 …}

Detecting Road Intersections Automatically From Satellite Images Using A Deep Learning Approach, Fatmaelzahraa Eltaher Ph.D, Luis Miralles-Pechuán, Jane Courtney, Susan Mckeever

Datasets

Automatic detection of road intersections is an important task in various domains such as navigation, route planning, traffic prediction, and road network extraction. Road intersections range from simple three-way T-junctions (degree 3) to complex large-scale junctions with many branches. The location of intersections and their complexity is an important consideration in route planning, such as the requirement to avoid complex intersections on pedestrian journeys. This is relevant to vulnerable road users such as People with Blindness or Visually Impairment (PBVI) or children. Route planning applications, however, do not give information about the location or complexity of intersections as this information …

Shapley Idioms: Analysing Bert Sentence Embeddings For General Idiom Token Identification, Vasudevan Nedumpozhimana, Filip Klubicka, John Kelleher

Articles

This article examines the basis of Natural Language Understanding of transformer based language models, such as BERT. It does this through a case study on idiom token classification. We use idiom token identification as a basis for our analysis because of the variety of information types that have previously been explored in the literature for this task, including: topic, lexical, and syntactic features. This variety of relevant information types means that the task of idiom token identification enables us to explore the forms of linguistic information that a BERT language model captures and encodes in its representations. The core of …

Business Intelligence Trends: A Review Of Mobile Business Intelligence, Shanika Edirisinghe

Articles

The early stages of Decision Support Systems evolved with the technological improvements and availability of massive amounts of data. The concept of Business Intelligence became apparent along with this evolution which incorporates a range of fields and supports decision making in business organizations. Mobile business intelligence is a popular trend in the domain of business intelligence at present. Business organizations employ mobile business intelligence as an extension to the existing business intelligence systems. This study intends to present a review of mobile business intelligence while addressing its benefits, challenges, and limitations. Moreover, this study provides details of several use cases …

All Things Merge Into One, And A River Runs Through It: Exploring The Dimensions Of Blended Learning By Developing A Case Study Template For Blended Activities, Damian Gordon, Paul Doyle, Anna Becevel, Tina Baloh

Articles

The BLITT (Blended Learning International Train the Trainer) Project is focused on developing a training programme to equip teachers to become proficient in championing the use of Blended Learning in the classroom. The training programme will be developed in two phases, in the first phase involves the development of a series of case studies relevant to Blended Learning, followed by a second phase where the BLITT training programme will be designed and developed, using input from these cases. In developing the blended learning case studies, two key documents were identified as being essential, first, a case study tracking template to …

"What's In A Name?”: The Use Of Instructional Design In Overcoming Terminology Barriers Associated With Dark Patterns, Andrea Curley, Damian Gordon, Dympna O'Sullivan

Conference Papers

Many users experience a phenomena when they are shopping on-line where they feel they are being pressured to either spend more money than they had intended, or to share more personal data than they wanted. In academic circles we use the term “Dark Patterns” to describe these deceptive practices, and categorize them as being within the discipline of User Experience (Narayanan, 2020). As academics it is important to name phenomena, and to categorize them, so that we can discuss and analyze these issues. However, this particular topic is one that all users should be made aware of when interacting online, …

Patient Generated Health Data And Electronic Health Record Integration, Governance And Socio-Technical Issues: A Narrative Review, Abdullahi Abubakar Kawu, Lucy Hederman, Julie Doyle, Dympna O'Sullivan

Articles

Patients’ health records have the potential to include patient generated health data (PGHD), which can aid in the provision of personalized care. Access to these data can allow healthcare professionals to receive additional information that will assist in decision-making and the provision of additional support. Given the diverse sources of PGHD, this review aims to provide evidence on PGHD integration with electronic health records (EHR), models and standards for PGHD exchange with EHR, and PGHD-EHR policy design and development. The review also addresses governance and socio-technical considerations in PGHD management. Databases used for the review include PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, IEEE …

Investigating How Speech And Animation Realism Influence The Perceived Personality Of Virtual Characters And Agents, Sean A. Thomas, Ylva Ferstl, Rachel Mcdonnell, Cathy Ennis

Articles

The portrayed personality of virtual characters and agents is understood to influence how we perceive and engage with digital applications. Understanding how the features of speech and animation drive portrayed personality allows us to intentionally design characters to be more personalized and engaging. In this study, we use performance capture data of unscripted conversations from a variety of actors to explore the perceptual outcomes associated with the modalities of speech and motion. Specifically, we contrast full performance-driven characters to those portrayed by generated gestures and synthesized speech, analysing how the features of each influence portrayed personality according to the Big …

A Core–Shell Au@Tio2 And Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube-Based Sensor For The Electroanalytical Determination Of H2o2 In Human Blood Serum And Saliva, Ayman Ali Saeed, Mohammed Nooredeen Abbas, Waheed Fathi El-Hawary, Yousry Moustafa Issa, Baljit Singh

Articles

A hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) sensor was developed based on core–shell gold@ titanium dioxide nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrode (Au@TiO2/MWCNTs/GCE). Core–shell Au@TiO2 material was prepared and characterized using a scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Zeta-potential analyzer. The proposed sensor (Au@TiO2/MWCNTs/GCE) was investigated electrochemically using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The analytical performance of the sensor was evaluated towards H2O2 using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The proposed sensor exhibited excellent stability and sensitivity with a linear concentration …

Power, Passion And Politics: A Grounded Theory Study Of Academic Experiences In Policy Development And Implementation In Higher Education, Marie Brennan

Doctoral

This research study is designed to investigate the lived experiences and perspectives of the academic community on policy development in Irish higher education. A review of the current policy landscape in Ireland and Europe and in particular empirical studies concerning policy implementation provided the focus of the study. The initial study focused on contemporary literature on policy development practices affected by globalisation and subsequently the issues at a national level. Where the gaps in knowledge were identified were in terms of policy implementation at the local level and where the study is aligned. The participants in the study are academics …