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Frictions and alignments: Making space for plural ontologies in Irish fisheries governance
No full textEvidence of a role for Interleukin-6 in anoikis resistance and bioenergetic programming in oral squamous cell carcinoma
No full textOral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the sixth most common type of cancer in the world and accounts for more than 90% of oral malignancies. Oral squamous cell carcinomas are usually preceded by oral premalignant lesions, mainly oral leukoplakia (OLK) after repeated insults of carcinogens, for instance tobacco and alcohol, which are considered to be the most important etiological factors in the development of oral cancer. OSCC arise from several anatomic sites within the oral cavity but most commonly from the oral, mobile tongue. Surgical removals of the tumour, radiation, and chemotherapy, are the usual treatment regimens against OSCC, however, they have not been satisfactory (Moore et al.,2000; Dong et al.,2015). Therefore, novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of oral cancer are required to be identified. Increased glycolytic flux is a common feature of cancer cells and thus enzymes of the glycolytic pathway are anti-cancer targets. Unrestrained cell proliferation, induced invasion and migration, deregulated cellular bioenergetics and apoptosis resistance are some of the hallmarks of cancer that resultin developing primary tumour growth, which consequently can lead to tumour propagation and to a secondary metastasis (Chaffer and Weinberg, 2011; Hanahan and Weinberg, 2011). Furthermore, cancer invasion, migration and anoikis(a form of apoptosis) resistance phenotypes are linked to increased glycolysis and decreased oxidative metabolism (Han et al.,2013). Cancer cells also interfere with the intracellular communication with the stromal environment and modulate various pathophysiological processes by secreting cytokines in the tumour microenvironment (TME), which have been observed to co-regulate tumour cell growth and metastasis (Joyce and Pollard, 2009; Kim et al.,2010; Pavlou and Diamandis, 2010; Balkwill et al.,2012; Swartz et al.,2012; Hartman et al.,2013; Kwon et al.,2015; Jayatilaka et al.,2017; Jayatilaka et al.,2018). In the current study, the bioenergetic profiles of normal primary gingival keratinocytes (PGK)with dysplastic oral keratinocytes (DOK) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC-4) cells were compared. Results presented in this study demonstrated that despite the significant mitochondrial OCR, SCC-4 cells appeared to have dysfunctional mitochondria, when compared to DOK and PGK cells, as indexed by (a) increased extracellular acidification rate (b) reduced cellular NADH-dependent oxygen consumption and (c) suboptimal oxygen consumption per unit mass of mitochondria (d) reduced complex I activity and (e) higher glycolytic rate reflected in the greater iiiassociated with glycolysisintermediates. Furthermore, SCC-4 cells, compared to PGK and DOK cells, constitutively synthesized and released significant amounts of IL-6, which was further enhanced by the addition of the TLR2/TLR6 agonist, Pam2CSK4. The upregulated expression of TLR2/6 and IL-6Ra/gp130 receptors was also confirmed in SCC-4 cells. Examination of cancer phenotypes in pre-cancerous human tongue DOK cells and cancerous SCC-4 human tongue cells, includingmigration, invasion, anoikisresistance, markers of CSCs, markers of EMT, and cell death were also presented. Analysis of CSCs markers demonstrated that cancerous SCC-4 human tongue cellshave enriched CD44+/CD24−sub-populationand displayed a classic EMT profile unlike pre-cancerous human tongue DOK cells. Although migration was insensitive to IL-6 and independent to glycolysis, evidence showed invasion to be driven ultimately by glycolysis. A key finding was that IL-6 played a central role in promoting anoikisresistance, increasing glycolytic flux and inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation in SCC-4 cells. In conclusion, this study provided novel data and key insights into the bioenergetics of normal, dysplastic and cancerous oral cells, as well as uncovering a role for IL-6 in anoikis resistance, increased glycolytic flux and reduced oxidative phosphorylation in OSCC cells, warranting further studies on a therapeutic role for anti-IL-6 receptor antibodies for the treatment and metastasis of OSCC
Ethics in the translation industry
No full textThis chapter focuses on ethical concerns experienced by different stakeholders in the translation industry at various levels in translation production. These stakeholders’ responsibilities and priorities may differ depending on many factors and are strongly influenced by globalisation, a process enabled by translation and one that has transformed the increasingly distributed production networks that carry out translation work. Relationships within these production networks are highly transactional and subject to the competing imperatives of time, cost, and quality. The nature of these networks and interrelationships are also highly dynamic in response to changing technologies employed at different stages of the translation process.
Our review of the historical trajectory of the translation industry highlights how perceptions of social responsibility have evolved over time. The sections following look at disparities of power, ownership of resources, training, the importance of trust, and consider environmental and employment sustainability. The final section emphasises emerging ethical issues, such as automation, workplace monitoring, and the challenge of crowdsourcing. The chapter aims to show that the translation industry, while sharing many of the ethical issues of other sectors, needs to be sustained by the development of an ethical reflection specific to the multifaceted reality of this rapidly-changing and global sector
Planting new ideas: A feminist gaze on medieval castles
No full textThe theme of the Château Gaillard 29 Conference “Vivre au
Château” is very timely: studies of medieval castles have great
potential to generate meaningful archaeologies, including
biographies and life cycles as well as social meanings of
architecture, landscapes and material culture. This article
takes an inclusive (or feminist) archaeological approach
to two castles in Ireland, offering an alternative to narratives of power or bodily prowess. The first is Adare, a large
baronial castle located in mid-southwestern Co. Limerick,
and the second is Lea, Co. Laois, found within the western
borderlands of the Anglo-Norman heartland in Leinster. The
castles are geographically distant but both form part of the
ancestral landholdings of the Geraldines in Ireland. Different
questions are asked of women’s daily life and their gendered
roles, utilising excavation results, an ecological survey, as
well as evidence from allegorical prayers, inscribed slates and
studies of medieval gardens and relict plants. Explorations of
daily life are important and play a crucial part in revealing
how social values were constructed, enacted and reflected.
In order to attend to the daily sphere, we must integrate
people, places and things within our scholarship to enrich
our understanding of the medieval world
Remote sensing of surface waters in Ireland
No full textAn implementation of the WFD requires all surface waters in the EU to achieve at least good status; this requirement has not been achieved in Ireland. Just over 30% of transitional waters and 79% of coastal waters were satisfactory at good or high status. Irish transitional and coastal (TraC) waters are threatened by the synergistic effects of multiple environmental pressures such as nutrient enrichment, oxygen depletion and acidification. The overarching aim of this research is to assess a potential use of chlorophyll-a Remotely Sensed (RS) products to inform and improve Irish TraC water monitoring programme under WFD. In this research, the accuracy of level-3 and -4 processed chlorophyll-a concentrations derived from satellite observations of water colour has been analysed for Irish TraC waters. In total four datasets derived from four missions and for four retrieval algorithms have been inter-compared and validated against in-situ data on various temporal and spatial scales. The research shows that temporal and spatial coverage of RS data is very good in overall and VIIRS provides the most accurate set of chlorophyll-a concentrations in Irish TraC waters. The chlorophyll-a data derived from remote sensing observations have a potential to complement the TraC water monitoring and improve the current programme. The outcomes of this research are immensely important for surface water monitoring programme and water quality, and as such to policy makers, waters management bodies, scientists and local communities.The Authors would like to thank EPA and Marine Institute for chlorophyll-a in-situ data, and Copernicus CMEMS services for making RS products available
Systematic review and meta-analysis of wound bundles in emergency midline laparotomy identifies that it is time for improvement
No full textBackground: Emergency midline laparotomy is the cornerstone of survival in patients with
peritonitis. While bundling of care elements has been shown to optimize outcomes, this has focused on elective rather than emergency abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of factors affecting the development of surgical site infection (SSI) in patients undergoing midline emergency laparotomy. Methods: An ethically approved, PROSPERO registered (ID: CRD42020193246) meta-analysis and systematic review, searching PubMed, Scopus,
Web of Science and Cochrane Library electronic databases from January 2015 to June 2020 and adhering to PRISMA guidelines was undertaken. Search headings included “emergency surgery”, “laparotomy”, “surgical site infection”, “midline incision” and “wound bundle”. Suitable publications were graded using Methodological Index for Non Randomised Studies (MINORS); papers scoring ≥16/24 were included for data analysis. The primary outcome in this study was SSI rates following the use of wound bundles. Secondary outcomes consisted of the effect of the individual interventions included in the bundles and the SSI rates for superficial and deep infections. Five studies focusing
on closure techniques were grouped to assess their effect on SSI. Results: This study identified 1875 articles. A total of 58 were potentially suitable, and 11 were included after applying MINORS score. The final cohort included 2,856 patients from eight countries. Three papers came from the USA, two papers from Japan and the remainder from Denmark, England, Iran, Netherlands, Spain and Turkey. There was a 32% non-significant SSI reduction after the implementation of wound bundles (RR = 0.68; CI, 0.39–1.17; p = 0.16). In bundles used for technical closure the reduction in SSI of 15% was non-significant (RR = 0.85; CI, 0.57–1.26; p = 0.41). Analysis of an effective wound bundle was limited due to insufficient data. Conclusions: This study identified a significant deficit in the world literature relating to emergency laparotomy and wound outcome optimisation. Given the global burden of emergency general surgery urgent action is needed to assess bundle’s ability to potentially improve outcome after emergency laparotomy
LC resonant circuits based matching networks for continuous mode MMIC power amplifiers
No full textThis paper presents a practical design methodology to construct output matching networks for broadband continuous mode monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers (PAs). Unlike conventional harmonic manipulation approaches, combinationsof parallel and series LC resonant circuits are utilized to build the matching networks as it can generate frequency-dependent components and locate the varying impedance of continuous mode. With a proper design, the impedance variation in frequency domain can be mapped to the frequency response of the matching network at the fundamental frequency and the second harmonic simultaneously. Matching network design procedures are demonstrated and results show that the frequency response of the network has verygood approximation with the desired continuous mode conditions. A prototype PA is implemented on 0.25-µm Gallium Nitride (GaN) MMIC process, and tested with both continuous-wave and modulated signals. Measurement results show 50.82%maximum drain efficiency and 8.5 dB gain can be achieved across the operation bandwidth of 5.4 to 6.4 GHz.Science Foundation Irelan
Extend High Efficiency Range of Doherty Power Amplifier by Modifying Characteristic Impedance of Transmission Lines in Load Modulation Network
No full textThe International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2020, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, 4-6 August 2020A load modulation network with characteristic impedance-modified transmission lines (TLs) is presented in this paper to extend the efficiency range and bandwidth of the Doherty power amplifier (DPA). Characteristic impedance values for designing the proposed DPA with different high efficiency ranges are given and wideband performance can also be achieved. A DPA with 2.55-3.35 GHz bandwidth using commercial GaN transistors is designed and implemented to validate the proposed architecture. The fabricated DPA achieves a measured 9.2-10.4 dB gain and 44.3-45.4 dBm saturated power. 57.9-75.6% and 47.6-58.8 % drain efficiency is achieved at saturation and 8 dB output power back-off (OBO) within the designed bandwidth, respectively. When driven by a 5-carrier 100 MHz OFDM signal with 8 dB peak to average power ratio (PAPR), the proposed DPA achieves adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of better than -50 dBc after digital pre-distortion with average efficiency of 53.4%, 55.3% and 56.6% at 2.75, 2.95 and 3.15 GHz centre frequencies.Science Foundation IrelandUniversity College DublinTrinity College Dublin (TCD
Don\u27t Believe The Hype! White Lies of Conversational User Interface Creation Tools
No full textThe 2nd International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces (CUI 2020), Bilbao, Spain, 23-24 July 2020Following the initial hype and high expectations of conversational user interfaces (CUIs), a number of creation tools have emerged to simplify development of these complex systems. These have the potential to democratise and expand application development to those without programming skills. However, while such tools allow end-user developers to build language understanding and dialog management capability into a CUI application, actually fulfilling or executing an action still requires programmatic API integration. In this paper, we look at how CUI builders that claim to be ``no code required\u27\u27 struggle to yield more than toy examples, with an aim to provoke the community to develop better tools for CUI creation.Trinity College Dublin (TCD
APIs for IPAs? Towards End-User Tailoring of Intelligent Personal Assistants
No full textThe 2020 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC 2020), Dunedin, New Zealand, 10-14 August 2020Integrated into smartphones or smart speakers, Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) have grown into the most prevalent example of speech-based interfaces today. Enabling hands-free completion of tasks such as checking the weather, playing music, or controlling smart devices, IPAs have become a central feature of millions of homes. Yet, end-users are faced with barriers to understanding their `black box\u27 devices, and a lack of opportunity to engage in end-user development (EUD) activities. Our current work considers the state of existing tools and platforms for development of IPAs, the key challenges to be overcome, and the potential benefits of doing so.Trinity College Dublin (TCD