Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Review Of Solar And Visible Light Active Tio2 Photocatalysis For Treating Bacteria, Cyanotoxins And Contaminants Of Emerging Concern, Rachel Fagan, Declan Mccormack, Suresh Pillai, Dionysios Dionysiou

Articles

Research into the development of solar and visible light active photocatalysts has been significantly increased in recent years due to its wide range of applications in treating contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), bacteria and cyanotoxins. Solar photocatalysis is found to be highly effective in treating a wide range of CECs from sources such as pharmaceuticals, steroids, antibiotics, phthalates, disinfectants, pesticides, fragrances (musk), preservatives and additives. Similarly, a number of EDCs including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylphenols (APs), bisphenol A (BPA), organotins (OTs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), natural and synthetic estrogenic and androgenic chemicals, pesticides, and heavy …

The Minimum And Other Free Energies For Non-Linear Materials With Memory., John Murrough Golden

Articles

Expressions are obtained for free energies of materials with a certain type of non-linear constitutive relation. In particular, the minimum and related free energies are considered in some detail. Minimal states are defined for these materials, and it is shown that any free energy yielding a linear constitutive equation that is a functional of the minimal state has a counterpart in the non-linear case which is also a minimal state functional in this more general context. These results are explored for simple examples, including discrete spectrum materials.

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma And Oral Dysplasia In The High-Wavenumber Region, Hugh Byrne, Luis Felipe Carvalho, Fiona Lyng, Franck Bonnier

Articles

Raman spectroscopy can provide a molecular-level signature of the biochemical composition and structure of cells with excellent spatial resolution and could be useful to monitor changes in composition for early stage and non-invasive cancer diagnosis, both ex-vivo and in vivo. In particular, the fingerprint spectral region (400–1,800 cm^-1) has been shown to be very promising for optical biopsy purposes. However, limitations to discrimination of dysplastic and inflammatory processes based on the fingerprint region still persist. In addition, the Raman spectral signal of dysplastic cells is one important source of misdiagnosis of normal versus pathological tissues. The high wavenumber …

Science Undergraduate Research Conference 2015 Booklet, Dublin Institute Of Technology, Institute Of Technology, Tallaght, Institute Of Technology, Blanchardstown

Group Reports

Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), IT Tallaght and IT Blanchardstown hosted the Science Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC 2015) on 13th November 2015 in DIT's Grangegorman Campus. 25 students from DIT, IT Tallaght and IT Blanchardstown who completed an undergraduate research project in a Scientific discipline in the academic year 2014-15 presented at this conference.

The aims of the conference were to:

1. Provide current students with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the work which has been undertaken by recent graduates, and the career opportunities that exist for graduates in Scientific disciplines.
2. Provide recent graduates with an opportunity to gain …

Cosmic Radiation, Anthony Keane

The ITB Journal

The planet Earth orbits the Sun in what is often considered to be empty space but is in fact full of very small charged particles speeding in all directions. The situation can be compared to the Earth having to constantly travel in a light shower of rain and with the atmosphere acting like an umbrella. The 'rain' is made up of charged particles called 'Cosmic Rays'. The name cosmic ray was given long ago to invisible ionising radiation that could mysteriously discharge an electroscope even when the electroscope was heavy insulated. Early scientists quickly established a relationship between the rate …

The Role Of Cryptography In Security For Electronic Commerce, Ann Murphy, David Murphy

The ITB Journal

Many businesses and consumers are wary of conducting business over the Internet due to a perceived lack of security. Electronic business is subject to a variety of threats such as unauthorised access, misappropriation, alteration and destruction of both data and systems. This paper explores the major security concerns of businesses and users and describes the cryptographic techniques used to reduce such risks.

Raman Spectroscopy For Screening And Diagnosis Of Cervical Cancer, Fiona Lyng, Damien Traynor, Ines Rm Ramos, Franck Bonnier, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide and mainly affects younger women. The mortality associated with cervical cancer can be reduced if this disease is detected at the pre-cancer stage. Current gold standard methods include cytopathology, HPV testing and histopathology but these methods are limited in terms of subjectivity, cost and time. There is an unmet clinical need for new methods to aid clinicians in the early detection of cervical pre-cancer. These methods should be objective, rapid and require minimal sample preparation. Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique by which incident radiation is used to …

Audiovisual Processing Is Abnormal In Parkinson's Disease And Correlates With Freezing Of Gait And Disease Duration, Conor Fearon, John Butler, Louise Newman, Timothy Lynch, Richard B. Reilly

Articles

Background: Sensory and perceptual disturbances progress with disease duration in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and probably contribute to motor deficits such as bradykinesia and gait disturbances, including freezing of gait (FOG). Simple reaction time tests are ideal to explore sensory processing, as they require little cognitive processing. Multisensory integration is the ability of the brain to integrate sensory information from multiple modalities into a single coherent percept, which is crucial for complex motor tasks such as gait. 9 10 11 12 13 Objectives: The aims of this study were to: 1. Assess differences in unisensory (auditory and visual) and multisensory processing …

Determination Of Nanoparticle Localisation Within Subcellular Organelles In Vitro Using Raman Spectroscopy, Esen Efeoglu, Mark Keating, Jennifer Mcintyre, Alan Casey, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Ease of sample preparation, narrow spectral bandwidth and minimal influence from water are features of Raman spectroscopy which make it a powerful, label-free way to study a wide range of biological structures and phenomena. In this context, given the concerns over their toxicology arising from their increased production and use, evaluation of nanoparticle uptake and localisation in biological systems and determination of the mechanisms of subcellular interaction and trafficking can provide long-term solutions for nanotoxicology, and potential strategies for nanomedicine. In this study, Raman spectroscopy is explored to monitor the sequential trafficking of nanoparticles through subcellular organelles in-vitro and to …

Investigating The Role Of Shape On The Biological Impact Of Gold Nanoparticles In Vitro, Furong Tian, Hugh Byrne, Joao Conde, Tobias Stoeger, Martin Clift,, Alan Casey, Pablo Del Pino, Beatriz Pelaz, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,, Giovani Estrada, Jesús De La Fuente

Articles

Aim: To investigate the influence of gold nanoparticle (GNP) geometry on the biochemical response of Calu-3 epithelial cells.

Materials and Methods: Spherical, triangular and hexagonal GNPs were used. The GNP-cell interaction was assessed via atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The biochemical impact of GNPs was determined over 72hrs at [0.0001-1mg/mL].

Results: At 1mg/mL, hexagonal GNPs reduced Calu-3 viability below 60%, showed increased reactive oxygen species production and higher expression of pro-apoptotic markers. A cell mass burden of 1:2:12 as well as number of GNPs per cell (2:1:3) was observed for spherical:triangular:hexagonal GNPs.

Conclusion:

These findings do …

Investigation Of Photopolymer-Based Holographic Optical Elements For Solar Applications, Hoda Akbari

Doctoral

The aim of this research was to explore the potential of photopolymer Holographic Optical Elements (HOE) for use in the collection of light from a moving source, such as the sun, and its direction into a fixed detector/convertor for application in solar concentrators. In order to increase the acceptance angle and the wavelength range of operation of the holographic device, low spatial frequency holographic recording was explored. The challenge was to record high diffraction efficiency HOEs at this spatial frequency, since it requires a material with relatively fast monomer diffusion. The acrylamide-based photopolymer developed at the Centre for Industrial and …

Bis(Spirolactam) 1,3-Double-Armed Calix[4]Arene Compounds And Their Application As Extractants For The Determination Of Heavy Metal Ions, Fintan Kelleher, Mary Deasy, James Ward, Li Li, Fiona Regan

Articles

A number of double-armed calix[4]arene compounds, with proline-derived spirolactam ligating groups on the lower rim, have been synthesised and investigated as extractants of toxic heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. Pedersen’s extraction technique was employed to determine the capability of these new 1,3-distal derived calix[4]arene spiroalactams to extract selected heavy metal ions (e.g. Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺) from an aqueous phase into an organic phase. The percentage extraction was calculated using UV-vis spectroscopy. All of the compounds synthesised demonstrated good selectivity for the heavy metals selected …

Free Energies And Minimal States For Scalar Linear Viscoelasticity, John Murrough Golden

Articles

The concept of a minimal state was introduced in recent decades, based on earlier work by Noll. The property that a given quantity is a functional of the minimal state is of central interest in the present work. Using a standard representation of a free energy associated with a linear memory constitutive relation, a new condition, involving linear functionals, is derived which, if satisfied, ensures that the free energy is a functional of the minimal state. Using this result and recent work on constructing free energy functionals, it is shown that if the kernel of the rate of dissipation functional …

Determination Of The Polymerisation Rate Of A Low-Toxicity Diacetone Acrylamide-Based Holographic Photopolymer Using Raman Spectroscopy, Dervil Cody, Emilia Mihaylova, Luke O'Neill, Izabela Naydenova

Articles

The polymerisation rate of a low-toxicity Diacetone Acrylamide (DA)-based photopolymer has been measured for the first time using Raman spectroscopy. A value for the polymerisation rate of 0.020 s⁻¹ has been obtained for the DA photopolymer by modelling the polymerisation reaction dynamics as a stretched exponential or Kohlrausch decay function. This is significantly lower than the polymerisation rate of 0.100 s⁻¹ measured for the well known Acrylamide (AA)-based photopolymer composition. The effect of the additive glycerol on the polymerisation rate of the DA-based photopolymer has also been investigated. The inclusion of glycerol is observed to increase the rate …

Emotional Facial Expressions In Synthesised Sign Language Avatars: A Manual Evaluation., Robert G Smith, Brian Nolan

Other Resources

This research explores and evaluates the contribution that facial expressions might have regarding improved comprehension and acceptability in sign language avatars. Focusing specifically on Irish sign language (ISL), the Deaf (the uppercase ‘‘D’’ in the word ‘‘Deaf’’ indicates Deaf as a culture as opposed to ‘‘deaf’’ as a medical condition) community’s responsiveness to sign language avatars is examined. The hypothesis of this is as follows: augmenting an existing avatar with the seven widely accepted universal emotions identified by Ekman (Basic emotions: handbook of cognition and emotion. Wiley, London, 2005) to achieve underlying facial expressions will make that avatar more human-like …

Age-Related Sexual Dimorphism In Temporal Discrimination And In Adult-Onset Dystonia Suggests Gabaergic Mechanisms, John Butler, Ines M. Beiser, Laura Williams, Eavan Mcgovern, Fiona Molloy, Timothy Lynch, Dan G. Healy, Helena Moore, Richard Walsh, Richard B. Reilly, Sean O'Riordan, Cathal Walsh, Michael Hutchinson

Articles

Background: Adult-onset isolated focal dystonia (AOIFD) presenting in early adult life is more frequent in men, whereas in middle age it is female predominant. Temporal discrimination, an endophenotype of adult-onset idiopathic isolated focal dystonia, shows evidence of sexual dimorphism in healthy participants. Objectives: We assessed the distinctive features of age-related sexual dimorphism of (i) sex ratios in dystonia phenotypes and (ii) sexual dimorphism in temporal discrimination in unaffected relatives of cervical dystonia patients. Methods: We performed (i) a meta-regression analysis of the proportion of men in published cohorts of phenotypes of adult-onset dystonia in relation to their mean age of …

Vibrational Spectroscopic Studies To Elucidate The Structure Of Water At Biological Interfaces, Bahar Bahrani, Luke O'Neill, Hugh Byrne

Articles

In biological systems, water takes up to 80% of the volume inside a cell. This water solubilizes the biological macromolecules such as the DNA, proteins and lipids. Recent advancements have shown that the water at the interface of a lipid membrane is structured, as five layers of structured water have been found at this solvent cage. Steady state Raman spectroscopy of water in lipids was performed in an attempt to elucidate the structure of water at the biological interface. Deuterium oxide (heavy water) was employed to hydrate lipid biomolecules. The heavier deuterium atom shifts the molecular vibrations and renders them …

Congruent Visual Speech Enhances Entrainment To Continuous Auditory Speech In Noise-Free Conditions, Michael Crosse, John S. Butler, Edmumd Lalor

Articles

Congruent audiovisual speech enhances our ability to comprehend a speaker, even in noise-free conditions. When incongruent auditory and visual information is presented concurrently, it can hinder a listener’s perception and even cause him or her to perceive information that was not presented in either modality. Efforts to investigate the neural basis of these effects have often focused on the special case of discrete audiovisual syllables that are spatially and temporally congruent, with less work done on the case of natural, continuous speech. Recent electrophysiological studies have demonstrated that cortical response measures to continuous auditory speech can be easily obtained using …

Reformulation Strategies Of Repeated References In The Context Of Robot Perception Errors In Situated Dialogue, Niels Schütte, John D. Kelleher, Brian Mac Namee

Conference papers

We performed an experiment in which human participants interacted through a natural language dialogue interface with a simulated robot to fulfil a series of object manipulation tasks. We introduced errors into the robot’s perception, and observed the resulting problems in the dialogues and their resolutions. We then introduced different methods for the user to request information about the robot’s understanding of the environment. In this work, we describe the effects that the robot’s perceptual errors and the information request options available to the participant had on the reformulation of the referring expressions the participants used when resolving a unsuccessful reference.

Landscape Values And Wind Generation In West Mayo, Ireland, Ken Boyle

Conference Papers

The landscape of west Mayo, in North West Ireland, is dominated and shrouded by an extensive area, 3,539Km2, of blanket peat soils. The landscape and its habitats have multiple values associated with them including a source of peat for fuel, agriculture, forestry, conservation, tourism, biomass production, tourism, cultural and archaeological. Historically communities have relied on peat as a source of energy and in the 20th century the state harvested peat on an industrial scale to generate electricity. Biomass production using willow (Salix spp) on cutover blanket peat and extensive planting, on deep peat, of Picea sitchensis and Pinus contorta was …

Mobisurround: An Auditory User Interface For Geo-Service Delivery, Keith Gardiner, Charlie Cullen, James Carswell

Conference papers

This paper describes original research carried out in the area of Location-Based Services (LBS) with an emphasis on Auditory User Interfaces (AUI) for content delivery. Previous work in this area has focused on accurately determining spatial interactions and informing the user mainly by means of the visual modality. mobiSurround is new research that builds upon these principles with a focus on multimodal content delivery and navigation and in particular the development of an AUI. This AUI enables the delivery of rich media content and natural directions using audio. This novel approach provides a hands free method for navigating a space …

Cellular Discrimination Using In Vitro Raman Micro Spectroscopy: The Role Of The Nucleolus, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Raman micro spectroscopy has attracted considerable attention over the last few years to explore its possible clinical applications as a non-invasive powerful label-free in vitro screening tool in cancer diagnosis and monitoring, subcellular analysis of biochemical processes, drug uptake, mode of action and mechanisms of interaction as well as toxicity of, for example, chemotherapeutic agents.

However, in order to evaluate accurately the potential of Raman micro spectroscopy for such applications it is essential to optimise measurement and data processing protocols associated with subcellular analysis. To this end, in vitro differentiation of cell lines is a basic proof of concept for …

Investigating The Efficacy Of Algorithmic Student Modelling In Predicting Students At Risk Of Failing In The Early Stages Of Tertiary Education: Case Study Of Experience Based On First Year Students At An Institute Of Technology In Ireland., Geraldine Gray

Doctoral

The application of data analytics to educational settings is an emerging and growing research area. Much of the published works to-date are based on ever-increasing volumes of log data that are systematically gathered in virtual learning environments as part of module delivery. This thesis took a unique approach to modelling academic performance; it is a first study to model indicators of students at risk of failing in first year of tertiary education, based on data gathered prior to commencement of first year, facilitating early engagement with at-risk students.

The study was conducted over three years, in 2010 through 2012, and …

Spectroscopic Characterization Of A Radio-Frequency Argon Plasma Jet Discharge In Ambient Air, Patrick Cullen, Vladimir Milosavljevic

Articles

This study includes a detailed experimental investigation of the spatial and temporal spectroscopic emission of an argon plasma jet discharge. The study is carried out in ambient air and quenching by inflowing air species is considered. The optical emission spectroscopy of neutral atomic spectral lines and molecular bands, over a range of plasma process parameters, is investigated. Wavelength-resolved argon optical emission profiles are used to monitor the electron energy distribution function and the density of argon metastable atoms. The experimental data indicates that the argon flow rate, in a confined open-air plasma discharge, limits the impact of molecular oxygen in …

Effect Of The Condensation Of Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Sol–Gel Materials On The Optical Properties Of Tripan Blue, Craig Hicks, Muhammad Morshed, Garrett Melia, Killian Barton, Brendan Duffy, Mohamed Oubaha

Articles

The work reported in this paper highlights the effect of sol–gel structures on the optical properties of a typical organic dye (Trypan Blue, TB). Three transition-metal-based hybrid sol–gel materials with different structures and morphologies were developed and characterised by TEM. The optical properties of TB were investigated by incorporating it in the different sol–gel materials and the UV–Visible spectra recorded in both liquid and solid state, in thin-coatings cured at temperatures in the range 100– 150 [1]C. These studies revealed two relevant results. First, the sol–gel morphology plays a critical role in the optical properties of the dye. The effect …

Optimal Choice Of Sample Substrate And Laser Wavelength For Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of Biological Specimen, Hugh Byrne, Laura Kerr, Bryan M. Hennelly

Articles

Raman spectroscopy is an optical technique based on the inelastic scattering of monochromatic light that can be used to identify

the biomolecular composition of biological cells and tissues. It can be used as both an aid for understanding the etiology

of disease and for accurate clinical diagnostics when combined with multivariate statistical algorithms. This method is nondestructive,potentially non-invasive and can be applied in vitro or in vivo directly or via a fiber optic probe. However, there exists a high degree of variability across experimental protocols, some of which result in large background signals that can often overpower the weak Raman …

The Prevalence Of Demodex Folliculorum On Eyelashes Of Symptomatic And Asymptomatic Normal Patients, Aoife Lloyd Mckernan, Veronica O'Dwyer, Orla Murphy

Other Resources

Purpose

To examine the prevalence of Demodex Folliculorum (DF) on the eyelashes of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. DF is an eight legged ectoparasite present in humans. It is most commonly found on the face; cheeks, nose, chin and eyelashes. Ocular symptoms of DF infestation on the eyelashes include itching, dryness, surface irritation, burning, foreign body sensation, photophobia and reduced vision1

Method

Students and patients of the National Optometry Centre (NOC) (n=54), aged 19 – 78 years of age were assessed and sub-divided into 4 groups; Group (1) Control (n=12), Group (2) Signs, no symptoms (n = ?), Group (3) Symptoms, …

An Assessment Of The Accuracy Of Ppp In Remote Areas In Oman, Audrey Martin, Rashid Al Alawi

Conference Papers

Traditionally, high accuracy Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) positioning has involved differential techniques. Such techniques significantly reduce or eliminate inherent biases in the GNSS measurement by referencing simultaneous measurements to one or more known reference stations. On a national scale, these differential techniques rely heavily on a costly spatial infrastructure of accurately known points usually occupied by Continually Operating Reference Stations (CORS). In recent years, the development of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) techniques have been shown to reduce many of the inherent observation errors and biases in GNSS solutions which eliminate the need for a ground based reference station. Such …

On Mikhailov's Reduction Group, Tihomir Valchev

Articles

We present a generalization of the notion of reduction group which allows one to study in a uniform way certain classes of nonlocal $S$-integrable equations like Ablowitz-Musslimani's nonlocal Schr\"odinger equation. Another aspect of the proposed generalization is the possibility to derive in a systematic way solutions to S-integrable equations with prescribed symmetries.

Raman Micro Spectroscopy For In Vitro Drug Screening: Subcellular Localisation And Interactions Of Doxorubicin, Zeineb Farhane, Franck Bonnier, Alan Casey, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Vibrational spectroscopy, including Raman spectroscopy, has been widely used over the last few years to explore potential biomedical applications. Indeed, Raman spectroscopy has been demonstrated to be a powerful non-invasive tool in cancer diagnosis and monitoring. In confocal microscopic mode, the technique is also a molecularly specific analytical tool with optical resolution which has potential applications in subcellular analysis of biochemical processes, and therefore as an in vitro screening tool of the efficacy and mode of action of, for example, chemotherapeutic agents.

In order to demonstrate and explore the potential in this field, established, model chemotherapeutic agents can be valuable. …