Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Ionic Liquid Based Sensor For Diclofenac Determination In Water, Emma Brennan, Pauline Futvoie, John Cassidy, Benjamin Schazmann

Articles

This paper details a miniaturised, solid state ion-selective electrode selective for diclofenac. The sensor comprises a novel ionic liquid electroactive material – an imidazolium–diclofenac ion associate. The ion associate is present in a plasticised poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane on planar carbon electrodes, with an intermediate poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) layer. The sensitivity and selectivity of the sensor were determined using chronopotentiometric methods. In response to diclofenac, a slope of −53.3 ± 3.6 mV/dec was observed. A limit of detection of 2.90 × 10−3 g L−1 is reported, with a linear range of 3.18 × 10−3 g L−1 to 3.18 g L−1. …

The Benefits Of Task And Cognitive Workload Support For Operators In Ground Handling, Maria Chiara Leva, Yilmar Builes

Conference papers

The scope of the present work is to report an action research project applied to the relationship of task and cognitive workload support on one of the most important aspects of an airport: ground handling. At the beginning of the project workload management was not in the scope of work but as the project progressed and preliminary results and feedback were gained the researcher came to realize that some form of workload management support was also achieved as a by-product. The present paper is an attempt to account for what was achieved and how. Safe and efficient ground handling during …

Understanding Community Character As A Socio-Ecological Framework To Enhance Local-Scale Adaptation: An Interdisciplinary Case Study From Rural Northwest Connecticut, Joanna Wozniak-Brown

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Around the world, municipalities are facing new challenges, not the least of which is climate change. This is especially true for rural communities that, for a variety of reasons, will be disproportionately affected by the climatic changes and accompanying policies or programs.

This dissertation, written in manuscript-style, integrates climate change and social-ecological scholarship to address the unique character of rural communities, to communicate the complexity of rural identity through the term "rural character"; and to empower rural communities to incorporate adaptation strategies into their daily municipal operations and planning.

Specifically, this dissertation seeks to answer the following questions: What is …

A Poetics Of Food In The Bahamas: Intentional Journeys Through Food, Consciousness, And The Aesthetic Of Everyday Life, Hilary B. Booker

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research explores intentional food practices and journeys of consciousness in a network of people in The Bahamas. Intentional food practices are defined as interactions with food chosen for particular purposes, while journeys of consciousness are cumulative successions of events that people associate with healing, restoration, and decolonization personally and collectively. This research examines (1) experiences and moments that influenced people’s intentional food practices; (2) food practices that people enact daily; and (3) how people’s intentional food practices connect to broader spiritual, philosophical, and ideological perspectives guiding their lives. The theoretical framework emerges from a specific lineage of theories and …

A Day In The Life Of A Sim: Making Meaning Of Video Game Avatars And Behaviors, Jessica Stark

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

With video game usage--and criticism on its activity--on the rise, it may be helpful for the psychological community to understand what it actually means to play video games, and what the lived experience entails. This qualitative, phenomenological study specifically explores user behaviors and decisions in the simulated life video game, The Sims. Ten participants completed one- to two-hour long semi-structured interviews, and the data was transcribed, organized into 1,988 codes, which were clustered into 30 categories, and from which six themes ultimately emerged. These resulting themes are: self-representation; past, present, and future; purpose for play; self-reflection; co-creation; and familiarity. The …

The Environmental Impacts Of Alternative Food Waste Treatment Technologies In The U.S., Krista L. Thyberg, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted to determine the environmental impacts of several waste treatment scenarios for a suburban New York (U.S.) municipality. The study goal was to determine if separate food waste recovery and management was environmentally sounder than waste-to-energy incineration (the baseline case). Three alternatives, enclosed tunnel composting, enclosed windrow composting, and anaerobic digestion with subsequent enclosed windrow composting of residuals, were examined considering the entire residual waste stream (not just separated food wastes). Impact categories assessed were climate change, environmental eutrophication and acidification, resource depletion, and stratospheric ozone depletion. A normalized, aggregated impact assessment was created …

Women In Science 2017, Clark Science Center's Summer Research Fellows Program

SURF Abstracts (Women in Science)

Ever since its 1967 start, SURF has been a cornerstone of Smith’s science education. Women in Science 2017 summarizes research done by Smith College’s SURF Program participants during the summer of 2017. 151 students participated in SURF (144 hosted on campus and nearby eld sites), supervised by 58 faculty mentor-advisors drawn from the Clark Science Center and connected to its eighteen science, mathematics, and engineering departments and programs and associated centers and units. At summer’s end, SURF participants summarized their research experiences for this publication.

Gorenstein Injective Envelopes And Covers Over Two Sided Noetherian Rings, Alina Iacob

Mathematical Sciences: Faculty Publications

We prove that the class of Gorenstein injective modules is both enveloping and covering over a two sided noetherian ring such that the character modules of Gorenstein injective modules are Gorenstein flat. In the second part of the paper we consider the connection between the Gorenstein injective modules and the strongly cotorsion modules. We prove that when the ring R is commutative noetherian of finite Krull dimension, the class of Gorenstein injective modules coincides with that of strongly cotorsion modules if and only if the ring R is in fact Gorenstein.

Information Hiding With Data Diffusion Using Convolutional Encoding For Super-Encryption, Jonathan Blackledge, Paul Tobin, J. Myeza, C.M. Adolfo

Articles

The unification of data encryption with information hiding methods continues to receive significant attention because of the importance of protecting encrypted information by making it covert. This is because one of the principal limitations in any cryptographic system is that encrypted data flags the potential importance of the data (i.e. the plaintext information that has been encrypted) possibly leading to the launch of an attack which may or may not be successful. Information hiding overcomes this limitation by making the data (which may be the plaintext or the encrypted plaintext) imperceptible, the security of the hidden information being compromised if …

Magnetic Field Sensing Using Whispering Gallery Modes In A Cylindrical Microresonator Infilitrated With Ferronematic Liquid Crystal, Aseel Mahmood, Vishnu Kavungal, Sudad S. Ahmed, Peter Kopcansky, Vlasta Zavisova, Gerald Farrell, Yuliya Semenova

Articles

An all-fiber magnetic field sensor based on whispering-gallery modes (WGM) in a fiber micro-resonator infiltrated with ferronematic liquid crystal is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The cylindrical microresonator is formed by a 1 cm-long section of a photonic crystal fiber infiltrated with ferronematic materials. Both ferronematics suspensions are prepared based on the nematic liquid crystal 1-(trans-4-Hexylcyclohexyl)-4-isothiocyanatobenzene (6CHBT) doped with rod-like magnetic particles in the first case and with spherical magnetic particles in the second case. WGMs are excited in the fiber microresonator by evanescent light coupling using a tapered fiber with a micron-size diameter. The Q-factor of the microresonator determined from …

Development Of Magnetorheological Elastomers (Mres) For Strength And Fatigue Resistance, J. Mcintyre, Stephen Jerrams

Books/Book Chapters

Natural rubber (NR)-based magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) exhibiting a reasonable switching effect were fabricated and tested. They were strong enough for use in automotive applications but still needed protection against ageing. Ethylene–propylene–diene rubber (EPDM) is a cost-effective material that is frequently used in the automotive industry because of its advantageous range of properties. With these applications in mind, it was a logical progression to the development of EPDM-based MREs. Unlike strain-crystallising NR, EPDM requires reinforcement to render its tensile and fatigue strength suitable for use in most applications. While small amounts of carbon black were sufficient for the NR-based MREs, a …

Extraction And Quantification Of Sinapinic Acid From Irish Rapeseed Meal And Assessment Of Angiotensin-I Converting Enzyme (Ace-I) Inhibitory Activity, Leah Quinn, Steven G. Gray, Steve Meaney, Stephen Finn, Padraig Mcloughlin, Maria Hayes

Articles

Phenolic compounds, including phenolic acids, are known to play a protective role against the development of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this work was to generate a phenolic acid extract from Irish rapeseed meal, to determine the quantity of sinapinic acid (SA) in this fraction and to assess the ability of this fraction to inhibit the enzyme angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE-I; EC 3.4.15.1). A crude phenolic extract (fraction 1), free phenolic acid containing extract (fraction 2), and an extract containing phenolic acids liberated from esters (fraction 3) were generated from Irish rapeseed meal using a methanol:acetone:water solvent mixture (7:7:6). The …

Cd10 − /Aldh − Cells Are The Sole Cisplatin-Resistant Component Of A Novel Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Hierarchy, Brendan Ffrench, Claudia Gasch, Karsten Hokamp, Cathy Spillane, Gordon Blackshields, Thamir Mahmoud Mahgoub, Mark Bates, Louise Kehoe, Aoibhinn Mooney, Ronan Doyle, Brendan Doyle, Dearbhaile O ’ Donnell, Noreen Gleeson, Bryan T Hennessy, Britta Stordal, Ciaran O ’ Riain, Helen Lambkin

Articles

No abstract provided.

Electromechanical Instability In Silicone-And Acrylate-Based Dielectric Elastomers, Liang Jiang, Yanfen Shou, Shaojuan Chen, Jianwei Ma, Tony Betts, Stephen Jerrams

Articles

Electromechanical instability (EMI) is regarded as a significant factor in preventing dielectric elastomers (DEs) fromachieving large voltage-induced deformations. In this study, the strain-stiffening effect was used to control the occurrence of EMI in DEs. The results show that the stretching ratio required to provide a feasible strain-stiffening effect in silicone rubber (SR) was smaller than that needed for a commercial DE material, VHB 4910. The experimental data were compared with currently used models for the simulation of EMI in DEs. We found that EMI could be eliminated in the deformation of these elastomers when pre-stretching was used. Through the application …

Enhancement Of Dielectric Properties With The Addition Of Bromine And Dopamine Modified Barium Titanate Particles To Silicone Rubber, Liang Jiang, David Kennedy, Stephen Jerrams, Tony Betts

Articles

Dual-coated barium titanate (BT) particles were prepared using dopamine (DP) in conjunction with bromine (Br) in order to enhance the dielectric constant of silicone rubber (SR) composites containing evenly distributed BT particles. The results showed that both DP and Br were deposited on the BT particles. The dielectric constant of the SR/BT composite was significantly increased from 3.6 to 4.7 at 1 kHz with the addition of BT modified with dopamine (DP–BT). Moreover, the dielectric constant further rose to 4.9 at 1 kHz when the DP–BT particle was grafted with bromine (Br–DP–BT).

A Review Of The Recommendations Governing Quality Assurance Of Ultrasound Systems Used For Guidance In Prostate Brachytherapy, Andrea Jane Doyle, Deirdre King, Jacinta Browne

Articles

Ultrasound guided brachytherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer has become a routine treatment option, due to many benefits including patient recovery and dose localisation [1]; however it is not clear whether the standards which govern the image quality for these systems are adequate. Upon review of the recommended standards for ultrasound systems used in prostate brachytherapy procedures, the recommended tests do not appear to be specific to the clinical application of ultrasound guided prostate brachytherapy. Rather they are generic and similar to those recommended for other clinical applications such as general abdominal scanning [2]. Furthermore, there is growing evidence …

The Mainstream Scientific Community Is Open To Incremental But Not Holistic Ideas, Maurice Goodman

Articles

NeuroQuantology

doi: 10.14704/nq.2017.15.2.1041

Broadband Acoustic Measurement Of The Agar-Based Tissue Mimicking Material: A Longitudinal Study, A. Rabell-Montiel, Jacinta Browne, S. D. Pye, T. A. Anderson, C. Moran

Articles

Commercially available ultrasound quality assurance test phantoms rely on the long-term acoustic stability of the tissue-mimicking-material (TMM). Measurement of the acoustic properties of the TMM can be technically challenging, and it is important to ensure its stability. The standard technique is to film-wrap samples of TMM and to measure the acoustic properties in a water bath. In this study, a modified technique was proposed whereby the samples of TMM are measured in a preserving fluid that is intended to maintain their characteristics. The acoustic properties were evaluated using a broadband pulse-echo substitution technique over the frequency range 4.5–50 MHz at …

N-Isopropylacrylamide-Based Photopolymer For Holographic Recording Of Thermosensitive Transmission And Reflection Grating, Tatsiana Mikulchyk, Suzanne Martin, Izabela Naydenova

Articles

In recent years, functionalized photopolymer systems capable of holographic recording are in great demand due to their potential use in the development of holographic sensors. This work presents a newly developed Nisopropylacrylamide(NIPA)-based photopolymer for holographic recording in reflection and transmission modes. The optimized composition of the material is found to reach refractive index modulation of up to 5  10-3 and 1.6  10-3 after recording in transmission and reflection mode, respectively. In addition to fulfilling the requirements for holographic recording materials, the NIPA-based photopolymer is sensitive to temperature and has lower toxicity than acrylamide-based photopolymers. Possible application of the …

Ltl Type Nanozeolites Utilized In Surface Photonics Structures For Environmental Sensors, Sabad-E Gul, Dervil Cody, Suzanne Martin, John Cassidy, Izabela Naydenova, Anastasia Kharchenko, Svetlana Mintovab

Articles

Environmental monitoring has been continuously increasing due to an emerging global emphasis on the importance of sustainable development. Improving water quality monitoring and control is a challenge that calls for innovative solutions. Current methods of water monitoring are costly and analytical techniques suitable for field use are limited. There is a need for accurate, long–term monitoring of environmental contaminants using sensors that can be operated on site. The aim of our research is to theoretically model, fabricate and characterise holographic sensors for water quality monitoring that are simple to operate, capable of sensing copper present in fresh water and have …

Theoretical Modelling And Design Of Photonic Structures In Zeolite Nanocomposites For Gas Sensing: Part I - Surface Relief Gratings, Dervil Cody, Izabela Naydenova

Articles

The suitability of holographic structures fabricated in zeolite nanoparticle-polymer composite materials for gas sensing applications has been investigated. Theoretical modelling of the sensor response (i.e. change in hologram readout due to a change in refractive index modulation or thickness as a result of gas adsorption) of different sensor designs was carried out using Raman-Nath theory and Kogelnik’s Couple Wave Theory. The influence of a range of parameters on the sensor response of holographically-recorded surface and volume photonic grating structures has been studied, namely phase difference between the diffracted and probe beam introduced by the grating, grating geometry, thickness, spatial frequency, …

Development And Characterisation Of A Bath-Based Vertical Blackbody Cavity Calibration Source For The Range −30 °C To 150 °C, Sam Boles, Igor Pušnik, Dubhaltach Mac Lochlainn, David Fleming, Izabela Naydenova, Suzanne Martin

Articles

Industrial use of Radiation Thermometers (RTs) is becoming increasingly common due to the perceived advantages and wide market availability. Blackbody Cavity Radiation Sources (BCRSs) are typically used for calibration of these instruments, and these cavities are oriented horizontally in most cases. For BCRSs based in thermal baths, this necessitates the use of custom-built baths with side openings. This paper presents a unique design of vertical bath-based BCRS that may be immersed in conventional calibration baths without modifications to the baths. The method, results, and analysis of an international comparison comparing this vertical BCRS, standard horizontal BCRSs, and a previous iteration …

Development And Testing Of Low Spatial Frequency Holographic Concentrator Elements For Collection Of Solar Energy, Hoda Akbari, Izabela Naydenova, Hind Ahmed, Sarah Mccormack, Suzanne Martin

Articles

The aim of this research is to use holographically recorded diffractive optical elements (DOEs) recorded in photopolymer in order to effectively collect and concentrate solar radiation. The potential for recording high diffraction efficiency DOEs with a large angular and wavelength range of operation in acrylamide based photopolymer and the optimum recording conditions have been presented in our previous work (Akbari et al., 2014b, 2014a). Theoretical modelling and experimental test are presented which demonstrate that low spatial frequency components, around 300 line pairs/mm, have an appropriate spectral bandwidth, high efficiency and very limited polarization dependence. Pairs of concentrating off-axis lenses are …

Evaluation Of The Effect Of Plasma Treatment Frequency On The Activation Of Polymer Particles, Hisham Abourayana, Vladimir Milosavljevic, Peter Dobbyn, Denis Dowling

Articles

This study investigates the influence of treatment frequency (1–150 kHz) on the atmospheric plasma activation of both silicone and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particles. These polymer particles with diameters in the range 3–5 mm, were treated using either helium or helium/oxygen gas mixtures, in a barrel atmospheric plasma system. The level of polymer particles activation was monitored using water contact angle measurements. The effect of plasma treatment frequency on barrel heating was monitored using an infrared thermographic camera, the maximum barrel temperature after 15 min treatment was found to be 98 °C at a frequency of 130 kHz. Optical emission spectroscopy …

Evaluation Of A Reel-To-Reel Atmospheric Plasma System For The Treatment Of Polymers, Kate O'Flynn, Vladimir Milosavljevic, Peter Dobbyn, Denis Dowling

Articles

Plasma treatments are widely used to enhance the surface energy of polymers prior to bonding or the application of functional coatings. This study investigates the performance of a linear atmospheric pressure plasma source for the reel-to-reel treatment of polymer webs. The continuous argon plasma treatments were carried out on 15 cm diameter polyethylene terephthalate (PET) web substrates using the linear plasma source (Plamax), operating at 13.56 MHz. The study investigated how the processing parameters influenced the effectiveness of the plasma treatment in enhancing both the polymer web's water contact angle (WCA) and surface energy (SE). Based on these measurements the …

A Fast Linear Electro-Optical Effect In A Non-Chiral Bent-Core Liquid Crystal, Yuri Panarin, S.P. Sreenilayam, J.K. Vij, A. Lehmann, C. Tschierske

Articles

We report the observation of an electro-optical effect for a linear rotation of the optical axis as function of the electric field in an achiral tilted bent-core liquid crystalline compound, in which 4-cyanoresorcinol bisbenzoate core is symmetrically terminated by long linear alkyl chains (n =16) on both ends. The linear electro-optic effect observed in this material is similar to the deformed helical ferroelectric liquid crystal (DHFLC) effect reported previously in a FLC material except that dimensions of the helical pitch differ by two orders of magnitude. In the chiral systems, the helical pitch usually lies on the scale of sub-optical …

Assessment Of Short-Term Toxicity Of Titanium Dioxide Nano Fiber (Tdnf) In Sprague Dawley Rats, Daniel A. Hunter

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Nanotechnology is easily becoming one of the fastest growing markets around the globe. Synthetic nanomaterials have many unique chemical and physical properties, mainly due to their huge specific surface area and chemical makeup. Specifically, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanomaterials have high stability, anticorrosive and photocatalytic properties. These nanomaterials have applications for semiconductor photocatalysis, treatment of water, as a photoactive material in nanocrystalline solar cells, and medicine. However, not much is known about the toxicity of TiO₂ in the nanofiber form. The objective of the present study is to investigate the adverse effects associated with acute ingestion of TiO …

Fiber Products In Commutative Algebra, Keller Vandebogert

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce and illustrate some of the deep connections between commutative and homological algebra. We shall cover some of the fundamental definitions and introduce several important classes of commutative rings. The later chapters will consider a particular class of rings, the \emph{fiber product}, and, among other results, show that any Gorenstein fiber product is precisely a one dimensional hypersurface. It will also be shown that any Noetherian local ring with a (nontrivially) decomposable maximal ideal satisfies the Auslander-Reiten conjecture. To conclude, generalizations of results by Takahashi and Atkins-Vraciu shall be presented.

The Bessel Function, The Hankel Transform And An Application To Differential Equations, Isaac C. Voegtle

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis we explore the properties of Bessel functions. Of interest is how they can be applied to partial differential equations using the Hankel transform. We use an example in two dimensions to demonstrate the properties at work as well as formulate thoughts on how to take the results further.

Text Summarization Techniques: A Brief Survey, Mehdi Allahyari, Seyedamin Pouriyeh, Mehdi Assefi, Saeid Safaei, Elizabeth D. Trippe, Juan B. Gutierrez, Krys Kochut

Computing: Faculty Publications

In recent years, there has been a explosion in the amount of text data from a variety of sources. This volume of text is an invaluable source of information and knowledge which needs to be effectively summarized to be useful. Text summarization is the task of shortening a text document into a condensed version keeping all the important information and content of the original document. In this review, the main approaches to automatic text summarization are described. We review the different processes for summarization and describe the effectiveness and shortcomings of the different methods.