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Older adventurers' motivations in Ireland - age is not a barrier (case study)
No full textThe exponential ageing demographic has prompted governments and organisations such as the World Health
Organisation (WHO) to seek innovative ways to promote healthy ageing (WHO, 2015). The recognition that
physical activity (PA) in general and particularly outdoor PA contributes to wellbeing, healthy ageing and
quality of life (QoL) is gaining momentum. There are obvious social and economic benefits to be achieved
through encouraging PA as people age with regard to health, independence and functional ability. There is
also a business case to be made regarding engaging with this exponentially growing section of society as
poor health, dependency and diminished functional ability are a financial burden on the state and society.
Outdoor adventure engagement may be a solution. However, a more proactive approach on the part of the
adventure leisure and tourism sector to engage this exponentially growing market is needed. To achieve this, it
is essential to understand motivations and tell the stories of those who do engage. Case studies that challenge
stereotypes and negative perceptions of ageing, normalising participation in outdoor adventure are important.
Participants’ motivation to continue is their passion for the activity, connectedness with likeminded people
and the natural environment. Older adventurers embrace opportunities to travel, develop skills, set goals,
increase social networks or just have fun. The findings in this case study demonstrate the impact on wellbeing,
autonomy, health, resilience and quality of life. In addition, older adventurers are motivated to maintain their
fitness to continue their activitye
Bioprocessing and the production of antiviral biologics in the prevention and treatment of viral infectious disease
Get PDFEmerging, re-emerging and zoonotic viral pathogens represent a serious threat to human
health, resulting in morbidity, mortality and potentially economic instability at a global scale. Cer tainly, the recent emergence of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus (and its variants) highlighted the im pact of such pathogens, with the pandemic creating unprecedented and continued demands for the
accelerated production of antiviral therapeutics. With limited effective small molecule therapies
available for metaphylaxis, vaccination programs have been the mainstay against virulent viral
species. Traditional vaccines remain highly effective at providing high antibody titres, but are,
however, slow to manufacture in times of emergency. The limitations of traditional vaccine mo dalities may be overcome by novel strategies, as outlined herein. To prevent future disease out breaks, paradigm shift changes in manufacturing and distribution are necessary to advance the
production of vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, cytokines and other antiviral therapies. Accelerated
paths for antivirals have been made possible due to advances in bioprocessing, leading to the
production of novel antiviral agents. This review outlines the role of bioprocessing in the produc tion of biologics and advances in mitigating viral infectious disease. In an era of emerging viral
diseases and the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance, this review provides insight into a sig nificant method of antiviral agent production which is key to protecting public health.ye
Polymer banknotes: a review of materials, design, and printing
Get PDFNowadays, more than 45 countries in the world use polymer banknotes in their monetary
and banking systems. It is expected that by 2030, another 20 countries will abandon the use of paper
banknotes and switch to polymer banknotes. Recent research shows that several countries in the
Middle East and the European Union will switch to printing and using polymer banknotes soon
due to the advantages of polymer banknotes. Polymer banknotes are made of polymeric materials.
They possess very special optical security features and promote sustainability in the world, which
motivated us to review recent materials, design, optical technologies, and printing methods in this
respect. Since the topic of polymer banknotes is new and there are not many articles and research
about them, this review specifically focuses on the structure of the constituent materials and security
features and their reuse with an emphasis on sustainability and environmentally friendly banknotes.
Specifically, analyses of 3D polymer films and the security properties of polymer banknotes are carried
out. Finally, comparison studies with paper banknotes are performed, and pertinent conclusions
are outlined
Exploring microorganisms from plastic-polluted sites:unveiling plastic degradation and PHA production potential
Get PDFThe exposure of microorganisms to conventional plastics is a relatively recent occurrence,
affording limited time for evolutionary adaptation. As part of the EU-funded project BioICEP,
this study delves into the plastic degradation potential of microorganisms isolated from sites with
prolonged plastic pollution, such as plastic-polluted forests, biopolymer-contaminated soil, oilcontaminated
soil, municipal landfill, but also a distinctive soil sample with plastic pieces buried three
decades ago. Additionally, samples from Arthropoda species were investigated. In total, 150 strains
were isolated and screened for the ability to use plastic-related substrates (Impranil dispersions,
polyethylene terephthalate, terephthalic acid, and bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate). Twenty isolates
selected based on their ability to grow on various substrates were identified as Streptomyces, Bacillus,
Enterococcus, and Pseudomonas spp. Morphological features were recorded, and the 16S rRNA
sequence was employed to construct a phylogenetic tree. Subsequent assessments unveiled that 5
out of the 20 strains displayed the capability to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates, utilizing pre-treated
post-consumer PET samples. With Priestia sp. DG69 and Neobacillus sp. DG40 emerging as the most
successful producers (4.14% and 3.34% of PHA, respectively), these strains are poised for further
utilization in upcycling purposes, laying the foundation for the development of sustainable strategies
for plastic waste management.ye
Prehensile and non-prehensile robotic pick-and-place of objects in clutter using deep reinforcement learning
Get PDFIn this study, we develop a framework for an intelligent and self-supervised industrial
pick-and-place operation for cluttered environments. Our target is to have the agent learn to perform
prehensile and non-prehensile robotic manipulations to improve the efficiency and throughput of
the pick-and-place task. To achieve this target, we specify the problem as a Markov decision process
(MDP) and deploy a deep reinforcement learning (RL) temporal difference model-free algorithm
known as the deep Q-network (DQN). We consider three actions in our MDP; one is ‘grasping’ from
the prehensile manipulation category and the other two are ‘left-slide’ and ‘right-slide’ from the nonprehensile
manipulation category. Our DQN is composed of three fully convolutional networks (FCN)
based on the memory-efficient architecture of DenseNet-121 which are trained together without
causing any bottleneck situations. Each FCN corresponds to each discrete action and outputs a
pixel-wise map of affordances for the relevant action. Rewards are allocated after every forward
pass and backpropagation is carried out for weight tuning in the corresponding FCN. In this manner,
non-prehensile manipulations are learnt which can, in turn, lead to possible successful prehensile
manipulations in the near future and vice versa, thus increasing the efficiency and throughput
of the pick-and-place task. The Results section shows performance comparisons of our approach
to a baseline deep learning approach and a ResNet architecture-based approach, along with very
promising test results at varying clutter densities across a range of complex scenario test cases.ye
Adaptive intent realisation (AIR) - inductive intent realisation through NLOP enabled intent matching
Get PDFThere is a strong interest in designing systems that can simplify the interactions between
humans and complex digital systems. Network Operators want more straightforward
mechanisms to engage with their networks and inform their actions and goals. Intent was
proposed to meet this challenge, but comes at a cost. Intent introduces large modelling
efforts, requiring Network Operators to gain expertise in formal model notation and the
integration of these models with their network. The cost is compounded by the speed
which modern networks evolve, requiring constant adaption to maintain intent-driven
features.
This work aims to leverage the concepts of intent-based management for private net works, without component and formal model expertise. This will be achieved through
the coordination of three enablers, Adaptive Policy, Machine Learning and Intent. Adap tive Policy provides a flexible framework for context-aware decision making, utilising a
state-based approach to policy execution. Machine Learning informs the decision mak ing process to produce impact-aware responses based on closed-loop reporting. Intent
structures the realisation process, how abstraction is handled through inductive pro cesses to generate actionable output. This work is highly experimental, developed on
site at the Network Management Lab in an Ericsson Product Development Unit based in
Ireland. This work concludes with the Adaptive Intent Realisation (AIR) reference ar chitecture successfully demonstrated in three use cases hosted in industrial grade private
5G networks.ye
Health service design for older people the role of community, and the community and voluntary sector in the implementation of the living well at home piece of the integrated care programme for older people in kilkenny
No full textThe Integrated Care Programme for Older People (ICPOP) is part of how health and social care delivery is being envisaged in Ireland (ICPOP, 2018). The Living Well at Home piece of ICPOP, includes community and the community and voluntary sector in healthcare delivery (ICPOP, 2018).
This research looks at the role of co-designing with community the implementation of the Living Well at Home piece of ICPOP answering two questions –
1. Through co-design investigating what is important to all stakeholders in the design and delivery of healthcare for older people.
2. What role can the community in which an older person resides, and the community and voluntary sector play in the delivery of healthcare, enabling people to age well in place.
The literature review investigates
• the concepts of co-production, integrated care and person-centredness mentioned in ICPOP
• in addition, it examines the impact of power, perceived or real, within and across medical disciplines and systems and, between patients and clinicians, and how it can be alleviated
• furthermore, it considers the impact Covid-19 had on older people and its implications on healthcare delivery
• finally, it explores social prescribing and how it can improve health and wellbeing alleviating pressure on healthcare delivery.
Research through design (RtD), a qualitative methodology, was used over three stages of field research: interviews, a co-design session with older people and a stakeholders’ co- production workshop. Data were thematically analysed using grounded theory and findings from one stage informed the next, allowing a ‘collective voice’ to emerge (Smithson, 2000. P. 109).
The research findings show:
• an organisational culture and leadership style of innovative and collaborative practice is essential to the implementation of ICPOP
• a culture of person-centredness, as espoused by McCormack and McCance (2017), is important
• good communication between disciplines and practitioners and, practitioners and the older person is critical
• and key to ICPOP delivery is the involvement of community and the community and voluntary sector.
Finally, the research examined the practice of co-design and concluded that co-design is the first stage of the co-design process which includes co-production and co-creation. It is a reflective, iterative, and democratic practice involving all stakeholders at all stages.
Areas for future research include
• widening the geographical area to verify the findings nationally
• examining the concepts of person-centredness and co-production to ascertain a universally accepted definition in a healthcare context
• using the framework developed through this project, examining how a comprehensive understanding of RtD can be put in place
• and finally further investigation into power and trust in the co-design process is warranted for a comprehensive understanding of its practice.ye
Denoising of Nifti (MRI) images with a regularized neighborhood pixel similarity wavelet algorithm
No full textThe recovery of semantics from corrupted images is a significant challenge in image
processing. Noise can obscure features, interfere with accurate analysis, and bias results. To address
this issue, the Regularized Neighborhood Pixel Similarity Wavelet algorithm (PixSimWave) was
developed for denoising Nifti (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)). The PixSimWave algorithm uses
regularized pixel similarity detection to improve the accuracy of noise reduction by creating patches
to analyze the intensity of pixels and locate matching pixels, as well as adaptive neighborhood
filtering to estimate noisy pixel values by allocating each pixel a weight based on its similarity. The
wavelet transform breaks down the image into scales and orientations, allowing a sparse image
representation to allocate a soft threshold on its similarity to the original pixels. The proposed method
was evaluated on simulated and raw T1w MRIs, outperforming other methods in terms of an SSIM
value of 0.9908 for a low Rician noise level of 3% and 0.9881 for a high noise level of 17%. The addition
of Gaussian noise improved PSNR and SSIM, with the results indicating that the proposed method
outperformed other models while preserving edges and textures. In summary, the PixSimWave
algorithm is a viable noise-elimination approach that employs both sparse wavelet coefficients and
regularized similarity with decreased computation time, improving the accuracy of noise reduction
in images.ye
Modification of hyaluronic acid to enable click chemistry photo-crosslinking of hydrogels with tailorable degradation profiles
No full textHyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring mucopolysaccharide that, due to its inherent bioactivity and extracellular matrix-like structure, has the potential to be utilised extensively in tissue engineering. However, this glycosaminoglycan lacks the properties required for cellular adhesion and photo-crosslinking by UV light, which significantly hinders this polymers applicability. This research presents a method for modifying hyaluronic acid via thiolation and methacrylation to generate a novel photo-crosslinkable polymer with improved physicochemical properties, biocompatibility and the potential to customize biodegradability according to the ratio of monomers used. A decrease in stiffness proportional to increasing thiol concentration was observed when testing the compressive strength of hydrogels. Conversely, it was noted that the storage moduli of hydrogels increased proportionally to thiol concentration indicating a greater degree of cross-linking with the addition of thiol. The addition of thiol to HA increased the biocompatibility of the material in both neuronal and glial cell lines and improved the degradability of methacrylated HA. Due to the enhanced physicochemical properties and biocompatibility imparted by the introduction of thiolated HA, this novel hydrogel system could have numerous bioengineering applications.ye
Potential disruptive effects of zoosporic parasites on peatland-based organic freshwater aquaculture: case study from the Republic of Ireland
No full textIrish freshwater aquaculture holds great potential for aiding food security. However, its necessary expansion has been hampered by the adoption of important environmental EU directives. A novel peatland-based recirculating aquaculture multi-trophic pond system (RAMPS) was developed to assess its potential to assist in the sustainable development of industry whilst remaining aligned with environmental protection by adhering to organic aquaculture practices. Microalgae play a pivotal role in the farms' wastewater bioremediation. However, a collapse of the algal population within the system towards the end of the pilot study was observed. No relationship between physicochemical fluctuations and the collapse were indicated. Further investigations into the potential presence of biological agents were then conducted and fourteen species of zoosporic parasites from five different genera (Labyrinthula, Vampyrella, Amoeboaphelidium, Paraphelidium and Aphelidium) were identified after conducting next-generation sequencing (MinION). The presence of these species indicated the potential cause of algal collapse. Additionally, changes in weather conditions may have also contributed to the issue. Given the lack of data available on zoosporic parasites and their potential impact on organic aquaculture practices, additional research needs to be conducted. Developing a means to monitor and mitigate against these complex zoosporic parasites will inform food security, it will particularly help safeguard “organic” freshwater aquaculture where there is a reliance on using natural-based approaches to address disease mitigation. This information will in turn inform the replication of this RAMPs system in peatlands internationally creating local employment in green technologies, as communities' transition away from burning peat as fossil fuel. Also, zoosporic parasites may reduce important microalgae in peatland-based culture ponds that serve as exceptional sequesters of carbon. Findings of this study will inform related research that focus on the emergence of microbial pathogens in local aquatic ecosystems brought on by variances in climate.ye