CUAL Repository (Connacht Ulster Alliance Libraries)
Not a member yet
852 research outputs found
Sort by
Process development and yield optimisation of a Vitamin D Analogue [Paricalcitol]
No full textA study has been undertaken to process develop the manufacturing process and optimise\ud
the yield for commercial synthesis of the vitamin D analogue, paricalcitol. The overall\ud
scheme for the five stage synthesis of the paricalcitol molecule was reviewed with three\ud
of the stages identified as potential areas o f study for this work, Stage 3, Stage 4 and\ud
Stage 5.\ud
The initial study focused on the proposed changes to the stage 3 recovery process\ud
proposed changes, to extract more product from the waste liquors. This was proven to be\ud
feasible and will be implemented into the commercial process equating to future financial\ud
gains in the region o f 179 million\ud
in additional Abbott global Zemplar revenue per annum. Zemplar is the Abbott registered\ud
trade name for pharmaceutical formulations containing paricalcitol.\ud
The significant financial gain observed when comparing Abbott Sligo to Abbott global\ud
Zemplar revenue is due to the capsule or ampoule dosages containing typically as low as\ud
only lpg o f paricalcitol (active substance). The low dosage requirement attributed to the\ud
hormone like nature of the paricalcitol molecule and the physioloical response this\ud
invokes.\ud
A further improvement o f the stage 3 process i.e. the use o f a larger flash\ud
chromatography column was shown to be feasible and this was validated as part o f the\ud
commercial process at Abbott Sligo. When implemented into commercial studies, the\ud
purity o f the stage product was increased and levels o f undesirable impurities were\ud
decreased. The yield was increased commercially by up to 9% equating to a financial\ud
gain in the region o f 95 million in\ud
additional Abbott global Zemplar revenue per annum.\ud
The next part o f the research focused on the stage 4 recovery process. This was shown to\ud
be unfeasible due to higher impurity levels and low yields (compared to the existing\ud
process) and hence the changes investigated will not be implemented into the commercial\ud
process at Abbott Sligo. It was projected that pre-cleaning the stage 4 liquors prior to reintroduction\ud
to the process could generate potential financial gain in the region of\ud
80 million in additional Abbott\ud
global Zemplar revenue per annum.\ud
An investigation into improving the recovery o f the final product from stage 5 through\ud
reprocessing o f the waste liquors was found to be feasible. The proposed changes were\ud
validated as part of the commercial process at Abbott Sligo equating to a financial gain in\ud
the region o f 120 million in\ud
additional Abbott global Zemplar revenue per annum.\ud
The improvements in the manufacturing process, studied in this thesis, resulted in a total\ud
financial gain o f 215 million additional Abbott Zemplar\ud
revenue per annum as a result of this research completed. Future potential financial gains\ud
of 259 million can be\ud
gained in additional Abbott Zemplar revenue per annum
Multi-elemental analysis of a medieval Irish archaeological assemblage from a cemetery located at Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal
No full textThe objective o f this body o f research was to analyse selected archaeological human bones\ud
from the Ballyhanna assemblage in order to establish the paleodiet consumed by the\ud
Medieval population of Ballyhanna.\ud
However, before it was possible to analyse for elements which were indicative of diet, it was\ud
necessary to establish the extent o f preservation/diagenesis experienced by the skeletons in a\ud
burial environment. It is essential that the skeletons have undergone very little diagenetic\ud
alteration in a burial environment. This is necessary from the point o f view that should the\ud
biogenic elemental concentrations experience little or no alteration, only then would it be\ud
possible to assign dietary signatures.\ud
A number of different analyses were conducted in order to establish the degree of\ud
preservation/diagenesis experienced by the selected Ballyhanna articulate (complete or\ud
almost complete) skeletons.\ud
Soil samples from the Ballyhanna cemetery (both burial and non-burial) were tested for pH\ud
levels. The average soil pH for the soil which was in contact with the skeletons was 7.57 ±\ud
0.30. The average soil pH for the non-burial soil was 7.62 ±0.19. According to Lindsay\ud
(1979) soil with a pH of 6.5 or greater will result in the preservation of adult skeletons. The\ud
Ballyhanna assemblage was very well preserved. The pH determined for both types of soil\ud
was indicative of an alkaline pH. This indicates that bone preservation would have occurred\ud
as opposed to bone disintegration should the soil pH have been acidic.\ud
Before any bone or soil samples were analysed, it was necessary to validate the analytical\ud
method implemented in order to establish that the methods used were suitable for the purpose\ud
intended. The following parameters were assessed: Specificity, Detection Limits,\ud
Quantitation limits, Sensitivity, Linearity, Precision and Accuracy in order to ensure the\ud
method used was suitable. Rare earth elemental (REE) analyses was conducted in order to establish the incorporation of\ud
exogenous ions during the burial process. Rare earth elements lanthanum, cerium,\ud
praeosydium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, dymium, holmium, erbium,\ud
terbium, thulium, ytterbium and lutetium were analysed. EUtimately, based on £REE\ud
concentrations (8.332 ± 6.2 ppm; n=38) it was confirmed that the femurs from the Ballyhanna\ud
cemetery were quite well preserved.\ud
Multi-elemental analysis o f the bones was conducted in order to establish whether or not the\ud
elemental concentrations in bones were reflective of biogenic concentrations. Elements\ud
aluminium, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, phosphorus, lead, magnesium,\ud
manganese, strontium and zinc were analysed for.\ud
Infra-red studies were conducted in order to evaluate a number o f parameters which were\ud
capable of providing an indication of the degree of preservation/diagenesis experienced by\ud
the assemblage. The Ballyhanna articulate femurs had an average splitting factor of 3.363 ±\ud
0.17 (n=37); mean crystal lengths of 52.90 ± 3.5 nm (n=37) and weight % organic\ud
components of 18.30 ± 1.7% (n=37). All these parameters correlated very well with results\ud
stated in the literature for modem bone. All the results stated for infra-red analysis are based\ud
on potassium bromide (KBr) disc formation.\ud
Multi-elemental analysis of soil samples from the Ballyhanna cemetery (both burial and nonburial)\ud
was conducted. With the exception of strontium and zinc (weak extract, burial soil)\ud
all the remaining elements have higher concentrations in soil as opposed to bone.\ud
Despite the sonicated cleaning with ultrapure water, there still remained a small but\ud
significant residual level of contaminant tracers in the leached bone. The elemental\ud
fingerprint implied a soil-type source. To overcome this diagenetic signal a mathematical\ud
correction procedure based on aluminium and £REE concentrations was implemented. Both\ud
aluminium and £REE concentrations reflected a soil contamination component which\ud
correlated with a soil diagenesis component affecting the elemental concentrations of specific\ud
elements. Correction protocols based on the methods described in Shafer et al., (2008) were\ud
also carried out. Once these mathematical correction procedures were implemented on\ud
selected biogenic indicating elements, it was then possible to assess these elements for dietary\ud
and pathological studies. Two diet indicating methods were used to assess the Ballyhanna femurs. Multi-elemental\ud
analysis and stable isotope analyses were conducted. Multi-elemental analysis was\ud
conducted on both articulate and disarticulate femurs. An average log (Ba/Sr) ratio o f -1.580\ud
± 0.32 (n=32) was determined based on multi-elemental analysis. This suggested an overall\ud
marine component to the diet consumed. The Ballyhanna population consumed terrestrial\ud
diets rich in C3 . Based on 6 l5N, the Ballyhanna articulate femur values correlated with values\ud
for freshwater fish in Lake Baikal ranging from 7.3 to 13.7%o (Katzenberg & Weber, 1999).\ud
These findings correlated with the trace elemental log (Ba/Sr) ratios determined in\ud
Ballyhanna articulate femurs. These findings were tentatively suggested.\ud
Essentially iron and lead concentrations were determined in skeletons exhibiting metabolic\ud
and non-metabolic pathologies. Theoretically, it was proposed that skeletons which exhibited\ud
either cribra orbitalia or porotic hyperostosis (pathologies for iron deficiency) should be\ud
deficient in iron and by extension lead. A number of other elements were also analysed in an\ud
attempt to establish similar patterns. Differences in average iron concentrations were\ud
established between skeletons which expressed metabolic and non-metabolic pathologies.\ud
However, more detailed statistical analysis was conducted in the final chapter
A java library for fuzzy string matching
Get PDFWe describe the design and structure of a Java library for approximate string matching. The API provides a rich variety of flexible and extensible fuzzy data structures, including lists, tries and maps that support approximate string search and storage. Tests and benchmarks indicate a parity of space and time complexity with traditional, non-fuzzy, collections
Transferable skills enhancement through small group work: an analysis of the perceptions of accounting undergraduate students’ in Irish Institutes of Technology to the development of transferable skills
Get PDFTraditionally undergraduate accounting degree programmes focused on technical \ud
excellence in accounting skills. However professional accountancy bodies and \ud
employers increasingly expect graduates to possess a combination of technical skills \ud
and ‘softer’ transferable skills such as interpersonal skills, teamwork skills, and \ud
communication skills. One pedagogical technique recommended in the literature for \ud
enhancing transferable skills is small group work. This dissertation focuses on students’ \ud
perceptions of the transferable skills most important for career success and explores the \ud
similarities and differences between students’ attitudes and employer expectations. In \ud
addition, the effectiveness of small group work for developing transferable skills is \ud
examined. This dissertation met the research objectives through a review of relevant \ud
literature and the implementation of empirical research. The latter was achieved \ud
through a survey approach where questionnaires were administered to final year \ud
undergraduate accounting students in five Irish Institutes of Technology. The research \ud
produced a number of key findings: students were unaware of the importance of \ud
transferable skills until the latter stages of their degree; students’ considered oral \ud
communication the most important transferable skill for career progression, followed \ud
by presentation, written communication, and teamwork skills; student and employer \ud
views were found to be largely convergent; and in terms of transferable skills \ud
development, students considered small group work an effective pedagogy for eliciting \ud
all 18 transferable skills covered in this study. Statistical tests indicate no difference in \ud
attitudes towards the development of transferable skills based on exposure to small \ud
group work, although the study did reveal that male students perceived leadership skills \ud
to be more developed than female students. The main conclusions drawn from this study \ud
are that Institutes of Technology should develop awareness campaigns and provide \ud
guidance to students on transferable skills development. Furthermore, academics \ud
should consider a balanced approach to assessment that enables all students to develop \ud
all transferable skill
Hemodynamic variations due to spiral blood flow through four patient-specific bifurcated stent graft configurations for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms
Get PDFEndovascular repair is now a recognised procedure for treating abdominal aortic aneurysms. However,\ud
post-operative complications such as stent graft migration and thrombus may still occur. To assess these\ud
complications numerically, the correct input boundary conditions, which include the full human aorta with\ud
associated branching, should be included. Four patient-specific computed tomography scanned bifurcated\ud
stent grafts (SGs) were modelled and attached onto a full human aorta, which included the ascending, aortic\ud
arch and descending aortas. Two of the SG geometries had a twisted leg configuration, while the other\ud
two had conventional nontwisted leg configurations. Computational fluid dynamics was completed for both\ud
geometries and the hemodynamics assessed. The complexity of the flow patterns and secondary flows were\ud
influenced by the inclusion of the full human aorta at the SG proximal section. During the decelerating phase\ud
significant recirculations occurred along the main body of all SG configurations. The inclusion of the full\ud
human aorta did not impact the velocity contours within the distal legs and there was no difference in drag\ud
forces with the SG containing the full human aorta and those without. A twisted leg configuration further\ud
promoted a spiral flow formation along its distal legs
On the ecology of rorqual whales (Balaenopteridae) in Irish waters using intrinsic markers
Get PDFDespite repeated calls for an ecosystem-based approach to the management of marine resources, little information exists on the ecosystem role and requirements of top predators such as baleen whales in Irish waters. Considering that they are long-lived and highly migratory, baleen whales such as rorquals (Family Balaenopteridae] are potentially useful bio-monitors of anthropogenic environmental change. However, their use as environmental indicators is precluded by an insufficient understanding of their basic ecology. Following centuries of whaling and other emerging threats to their survival including pollution, bycatch and ship-strikes, the conservation status of most rorqual species is difficult to assess due to a shortfall in our knowledge. This thesis aims to facilitate more informed management decision-making and the implementation of more effective conservation measures by bridging key gaps in our knowledge. Pertinent questions on feeding and migration ecology are addressed using intrinsic markers, i.e. chemicals whose stable properties ensure they move through biotic systems and are detectable in tissues. Intrinsic markers include naturally occurring [e.g. stable isotopes, DNA, trace elements] and anthropogenic compounds (e.g persistent organic pollutants or POPs]. In Chapter 1, current knowledge on the ecology of blue [Balaenoptera musculus], fin (R physalus), humpback (Megaptera novaengliae] and minke whales (Racutorostrata] in Irish waters is reviewed. In chapter 2, stable isotope analysis of baleen from these four species is used to approximate the ecological niche and thus to examine resource partitioning. Chapter 3 is a methodological precursor to Chapter 4 where stable isotope\ud
Bayesian mixing models are used to investigate the preferred diet of fin and humpback whales in the Celtic Sea. In Chapter 3, unpredictable effects of preanalytical lipid-extraction of skin and blubber biopsies were found for both 513C and <515N values. Chapter 5 is a methodological chapter, concluding that the amount of lipid remaining in blubber biopsies is not representative of blubber in situ. This finding was relevant to Chapter 6 which used POP concentrations to investigate elements of population structure of humpback whales in the North Atlantic. Chapter 7 discusses how the key findings such as the diet preferences of Celtic Sea fin whales (Euphausiids such as Meganyctiphanes norvegica and Nyctiphanes couchii, and year-0 sp ra t [Sprattus sprattus] and herring (Clupea harengusj) and humpback whales (chiefly sprat and herring) may be used to facilitate an informed ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management
Investigating the impact of new social media on the social behaviour of young people
Get PDFThe emergence of social media tools and the enthusiasm by which young \ud
people have embraced theses tools as one of their primary modes of \ud
interaction is well documented in many current studies. The over-arching \ud
focus of this study considers what impacts if any the influence of social \ud
media is having on the behaviour of young people. \ud
Drawing on findings and insights gained through the delivery of the HUWY \ud
project, this study of the attitudes and perceptions of young people was \ud
grounded in an in-depth and critical review of academic and practice based \ud
literature. Following from this and guided by it, the primary research \ud
consisted of a series of seven focus groups working with young people aged \ud
between fourteen and sixteen years of age. The study was conducted in a \ud
variety of urban and rural locations across Ireland. An approach \ud
incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data was used in order to \ud
analyse the results. Core themes of Internet Use, Behaviour and Online Risk \ud
where used throughout the study and were framed by including social \ud
identity theory. \ud
The findings indicate that the use of social media tools have both positive \ud
and negative impacts on the social behaviour of young people. There is a \ud
need for a deeper understanding of the impacts of social media usage on the \ud
behaviour of young people and a more nuanced and multi-faceted response \ud
by youth work professionals. The study concludes by identifying some of the \ud
challenges that face young people, parents and professionals with regard to \ud
the increasing popularity of on line tools and in doing so there is a need to \ud
foreground the voices of young people
Legal, ethical & social issues in the case of an intrusive remote monitoring software
Get PDFIn 2008, a laptop was stolen from a high school student in the USA. The laptop was being monitored by remote recovery software. The thief sold the laptop in question to another student who in turn sold it to a teacher. The software continued to monitor the private daily life of this teacher. This paper provides an overview of the resultant lawsuit. We examine the ethical, privacy and legal dilemmas highlighted by this case
Moving towards e-commerce: exploring the implications involved in moving a companies offline operations to an online context
Get PDFIn order to remain competitive many companies are exploring online sales as a means of\ud
generating sales, expanding reach and reducing costs. This research explores how companies\ud
with a previous off line operation moves towards e-commerce and the implications involved\ud
in such a translation. A review of relevant literature examines topical areas including ecommerce\ud
development within businesses, moving towards e-commerce, online branding and\ud
trust in online shopping.\ud
An exploratory research design was used for this study with the aid of a mixed mode data is\ud
collection process. The first stage of this research involved the researcher using a judgement\ud
sampling technique from six depth interviews with companies who have incorporated ecommerce\ud
into their business strategy over the last five years. The second stage involved\ud
holding two focus groups or eight shoppers per group who shop online and are familiar with\ud
the companies interviewed previously.\ud
The findings of indicate many challenges for companies and areas that require careful\ud
consideration throughout the move towards e-commerce including objectives, service\ud
offering, customer experience and the attainment of credibility which is identified as the key\ud
to attaining a successful online strategy. A framework has been developed from the research\ud
findings which incorporates these points in detail under other topic areas
Mobile marketing a tool for building customer loyalty
Get PDFIn recent years, marketing to customers has become increasingly challenging as the number \ud
of available products and services across industries has grown significantly, while at the same \ud
time marketing tactics and customer touch points have proliferated. \ud
\ud
It is vital for the survival of any organisation to have loyal customers as the complexity and \ud
the competitiveness in the market place regards to what companies need to do and how they \ud
do it, meeting with the needs of the customer \ud
\ud
The recent rapid growth of the mobile phone market has made mobile marketing one of the \ud
most important advertising tools and contact points available to companies today. Mobile \ud
marketing can increase customer loyalty by providing customers with timely and informative \ud
information. \ud
\ud
The aim of this piece of research aims to explore mobile marketing and how it can contribute \ud
to customer loyalty. \ud
\ud
The study was conducted to identify the main methods of mobile marketing used by \ud
companies, to identify how much contact is pushed on customers by companies, determine \ud
the perceptions of mobile marketing and overall determine how mobile marketing contributes \ud
to customer loyalty and establish how companies can improve the implementation of mobile \ud
marketing. \ud
\ud
v \ud
\ud
Secondary research gives a brief overview of customer relationship marketing (CRM) which \ud
ties in with mobile marketing where theories and technology complement each other. Primary \ud
research was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 will consisted of 6 in-depth interviews, 1 with \ud
an industry expert, who offer mobile marketing services. Phase 2 was completed with \ud
administrating 100 questionnaires as part of a street survey to both users and non-users of \ud
mobile phones