1522 research outputs found
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A NewManifestoFor Systems Engineering Design Praxis
Full text linkThis Manifesto emerges from the ongoing work on the digitization of the Cooley Collection by the interdisciplinary team members of the INSYTE-Cooley Research Lab in the Luke Wadding Library of the South East Technological University, Waterford. Work on this manifesto has raised serious questions – is the systems design process that involves interdisciplinary teams, responsible design and development of non commercial but socially beneficial systems, a very different and emergent model? Is it compatible with, a very different design approach? An ideology is presented, from which, as the lab progresses a supporting method specific to complex digital cultural heritage systems is evolving
Bacterial Carrier for DNA encoded data and Detection Approaches for Bio-cyber attack
Full text linkInternet of Bio-nano Things is the idea of using various bio-compatible nano and
micro scale devices in the body that create networks and can connect to the existing
cyber world. In recent research, bacteria are proposed as nano scale devices for such
communication utilizing various existing characteristics of them or by introducing
new properties with the help of genetics engineering. Therefore, in the future,
bacteria can be used as information carriers, transmitters, receivers, nano devices,
sensors, etc. The major advantage of using such devices is that the devices will
be bio-compatible and no external conventional energy sources will be required to
operate them.
Bacterial traits such as mobility and conjugations have been proposed for data
transmission in the recent past. But most of the techniques involve sending one bit
at a time using diffusion of bacteria. The first contribution of this PhD research
is to propose a novel data transmission technique using bacterial mobility and bioluminescent
properties, where we can send two bits at a time.
A common technique for bacterial data transmission is encoding the message in
bacterial DNA, especially plasmid DNA, so that the bacteria will reach the receiver
and offload the information into another bacteria by conjugation. We can assume
that to read this information, a DNA sequence will be required. Moreover, many
research studies have been performed on storing data in DNA as it shows immense
promise of data storage without requiring any external energy. Sequencing pipelines
are used in the decoding process of such stored data. In recent years, due to various
needs (e.g., COVID-19), DNA sequencing has become quite common, and the
number of applications that require DNA sequence is also growing day by day. Unfortunately,
very little attention has been given to the possibility of vulnerabilities
and the exploitation in the DNA sequencing pipelines. This doctoral research also
contributes towards securing the DNA sequencing pipeline so that we can ensure
secure data transmission in bio-nano communication.
In a recent research, the buffer overflow vulnerability in a tool in a DNA sequencing
pipeline can be exploited using specially designed DNA. An attacker can
attempt to insert malicious payload inside the DNA sequence in order to compromise
the DNA sequencing pipeline. Further investigation is necessary to validate
whether in a real world scenario, the malicious payload encoded into DNA can reach
a sequencer after placing them into live bacterial plasmids. It is also very important
to create countermeasures to detect such a sequence and use that detection
mechanism as a safeguard for the DNA sequencing pipeline. So, in our research, we have conducted an end to end evaluation of detecting malicious input for the buffer
overflow exploit in the DNA sequencing pipeline. A machine learning based input
control is proposed to classify every read of the sequencer machine to check if it
contains any part of the encoded malicious payload. If detected, further processing
can be terminated to protect the pipeline downstream from being hacked. For the
machine learning solution, a Case Based Reasoning (CBR) approach is proposed.
We achieved promising results where the performance improved with the increase
in the number of cases in the case library. Furthermore, wet lab experiments were
conducted to verify whether the encoded malicious payload can be sustained after
sequencing if they are inserted into living bacteria. The experiment involved bacteria
with malicious payload inserted in plasmid DNA to be sprayed over different
materials, which were then collected for sequencing. These experimental results
demonstrated that such malicious payload can successfully reach the sequencing
pipeline.
For the buffer overflow exploit scenario, simple detection techniques, such as
CBR, can be sufficient where natural DNA sequences are expected, as the insertion
of malicious input can make the DNA sequence quite unnatural. However, to make
the detection harder, we came up with a novel scenario of Trojan based attack in the
DNA sequencing pipeline where the DNA sequence with malicious data will remain
very natural. The assumption is that, the DNA sequence pipeline tool will already
be affected by a Trojan and remain dormant. The Trojan will only be triggered with
a specific input signal and the same signal is then used to compromise the target.
The benefit of this scenario is that fragmentation, encryption and steganography can
be applied to the malicious input signal and inserted into a natural DNA. A stateof-
the-art bio-informatics algorithm was used to estimate the difference between
sequence with malicious input and the original DNA sequence for various size of
fragmentation, retention positions for steganography and various encryption keys.
In order to keep the DNA close to original, The best possible locations for fragment
insertions is chosen to control mutations. An end-to-end evaluation is also performed
for Trojan attack scenario, where deep learning based technique is proposed as a
detection method for input control mechanism. We achieved up to 100 percent
accuracy in detection using the proposed technique. Even after applying smaller
fragment size, encryption, and higher retention to make detection much harder,
the accuracy remained very high. For scenarios with encrypted malicious input,
the accuracy was higher with the knowledge of the encryption key the accuracy
compared to having no prior knowledge about the key
Digitising Wound Assessment, Management and Documentation within an Irish Public Health Nursing Service- a Proof of Concept Evaluation.
Full text linkBackground To provide cost effective, quality wound care it is imperative to understand the burden wound management places on community services. 1-1.5% of the population are affected by wounds, with up to 70% of community nursing time spent on wound care. Costs have been estimated to be €629,064,198 pa equivalent to 6% of the Irish Public Health expenditure. Despite the introduction in Ireland of National Wound Care Guidelines in 2009 and the updated version in 2018, community wound prevalence data identified the following challenges in community nursing wound care provision: 1. Access to specialist services and timely referral 2. Variations in staff wound care education and knowledge 3. Limited access to wound measuring equipment, standardised assessment and documentation 4. Inconsistent and subjective approach to wound care. Aim • Facilitate efficient, reliable digital wound imaging, wound measurement, documentation and monitoring of wound progress on one data platform. Objectives • Procure a digital solution that supports system-wide evidence based wound care. • Evaluate the suitability for expanding the concept of digital wound assessment for wider adoption. Methods A digital application was sourced and funded to test the feasibility and suitability within community nursing services within a large rural and urban geographical area. The clinical site ran the proof of concept for 8 weeks from June 2023-August 2023. Pre and post implementation questionnaires were developed for data collection. Results • 67% of clinicians found it “easy” to input wound assessment information on the digital application • 50% of users reported that using the digital application improved their communication with other clinicians • 66% of users reported that the digital application assisted with their communication with the patient regarding their wound care • 83% of users reported that the digital app assisted with real time tracking and monitoring of the wound(s) progress • 83% of users reported that the digital app supports their clinical assessment and documentation of wound care Next steps Completion of the National Business Case and tender process Adoption and integration in wound care services across all care settings Feasibility and usability with a focus on “shared care” Conclusion This proof of concept evaluation has demonstrated that “pinch point specialist areas” within community nursing such as wound care can be enhanced through a digital health solution. Digital applications can improve access for the nursing workforce and the patient cohort to the right clinical expert at the right time in the right setting
Perspective Transformation, Transformative Learning and Transformative Education: a literature review and comparison.
Full text linkCHITOSAN-COATED PLGA NANOPARTICLES FOR OCULAR DRUG DELIVERY
Full text linkAge-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a disease of the back of the eye and the most common cause of vision loss in elderly people. Existing therapies involve repeated intravitreal injections with poor patient compliance, which can be associated with serious side effects such as retinal detachment and haemorrhage. In light of the need for the development of a non-invasive treatment option for AMD, this study aims to develop a topically applied nanoparticulate system encapsulating a corticosteroid and a flavonoid for extended drug release. Triamcinolone acetonide (TA)-loaded chitosan-coated poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated using the thin-film hydration and oil-in-water emulsion techniques and characterized to assess their suitability.
The particle size of uncoated and coated PLGA NPs fabricated using thin-film hydration ranged from 411 nm to 456 nm, with an encapsulation efficiency of 63%. The zeta potential of PLGA NPs was -4.10 mV increasing to +44.05 mV upon chitosan coating, indicating the formation of stable NPs with polydispersity indices ranging from 0.08 to 0.19. In-vitro TA release from the NPs was 28% in 32 hours, subsequently reaching a plateau, suggesting controlled release of the drug. An emulsion formulation technique was also used to optimize the chitosan-coated PLGA NPs encapsulating TA, using the Box-Behnken response surface statistical design. The optimized surface-modified NPs were stable with a particle size of 334 to 386 nm, PDI between 0.09 and 0.15 and zeta potential between +26 mV and +33 mV. These NPs encapsulated 55% – 57% of TA and displayed a controlled release of the drug that reached a plateau in 27 h.
Different pathological conditions were simulated using ARPE-19 cells and exposed to various concentrations of TA and quercetin (QCN), in an attempt to investigate their potential for the treatment of AMD. The concentrations utilised were non-toxic on ARPE-19 cells and showed no signs of synergetic toxicity and changes in morphology of the cells (with cell viability >80%). The ARPE-19 cells treated with combination decreased the cytokines expression by 3.4, 5.2, 1.7, and 2.2 folds for IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1, and VEGF-C, respectively, indicating the anti-inflammatory and anti-VEGF effects. The combination drugs exhibited a synergetic antioxidant effect compared to the individual treatments (P <0.05). Investigated dual drugs were successfully encapsulated into the optimised NPs. Future work will focus on investigating the stability and transport of the dual drug-loaded NPs in in-vitro and ex-vivo conditions. The size of the NPs in conjunction with the biodegradable and biocompatible properties of the polymers suggest these particles might be promising for topical ocular drug delivery
Promoting Sustainability through Internationalisation at Home in Ireland
Full text linkCelebrating the contribution of internationalisation towards UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this poster reflects how institutions in Ireland and globally can foster sustainability through internationalisation at home (IaH). IaH directly contributes to the three main SDGs namely SDG 4 on Quality Education, SDG 10 on Reducing Inequalities and SDG17 on Partnership for the Goals
The Well Waterford Committee: an innovative, cross-sectoral, multi-agency action to improve health and well-being in Waterford
Full text linkIntroduction: Slaintecare Health Community(SCHC) local Development Officers and co-ordinators, Healthy Cities and Counties(HCC) development officers, Active Cities(AC) officers, Climate Change(CC) officers and Active Travel(AT) teams are all relatively new community-facing roles across Ireland. All have a remit to collaborate with local stakeholders and to address environmental and systems barriers to health, wellbeing and physical activity, and have significant funds to spend. Approach: in recognition of the need to formalise the informal contacts and discussions that were already happening, to ensure cross-collaborations with the local authority, and ensure that all relevant organisations were involved, an initial, in person networking meeting was held in August. A wide range of organisations (Public Participation Network, Waterford Area Partnership, Family Resource Centres, Health Promotion, Waterford Sports Partnership, Social Inclusion & Community Activation Programme, Community Safety Partnership) and local authority functions (Councillors, Community, Age Friendly) were represented. The aim was to hear overviews from SCHC, HCC, AC, AT and CC, discuss how they related to or impacted upon existing services, and develop a model for future cross-sectoral engagement and collaboration. Results: a structure was devised (diagram), terms of reference agreed, we aligned with the Waterford Local Community Development Committee, were formally named the LCDC Health and Wellbeing Strategic Group and informally called the ‘Well Waterford’ committee. Significant member resources were diverted to help Ukrainians, which meant meetings were cancelled and we lost momentum. But members of the ‘implementation team’, comprising the new roles, meet regularly. Lessons learned: true collaboration based on shared understanding takes time and effort, and multi-agency working is challenging. Implicit biases regarding health determinants and community engagement, and different funding and management structures, mitigate against strong intersectoral action and stifle innovation. Online meetings further impair this. Regular in-person meetings are needed to generate ideas and maintaining enthusiasm and synergies
Application of the non-uniform Fourier transform to non-uniformly sampled Fourier transform spectrometry
Full text linkAn exploration of knowledge articulation in teams within project-based organisations
Full text linkArticulation is considered central in the conversion of tacit to explicit knowledge during knowledge sharing. However, existing literature provides limited insights into how knowledge articulation takes place and the types of mechanisms used to help convert tacit into explicit knowledge. This Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) study explores knowledge sharing and articulation in project teams in a Project-Based Organisation (PBO). It aims to understand the articulation process, focusing on the mechanisms used during the articulation process. This study is exploratory and seeks to understand the research aim through the lens of the externalisation mode of Nonaka’s (1994) knowledge creation theory. The research design employed is qualitative: 26 interviewees were conducted with project team members and documentation relevant to the organisational context and knowledge sharing were reviewed.
The study finds that the context surrounding how explicit knowledge is shared is different from how tacit knowledge is shared. Explicit knowledge sharing takes place within formal structures implemented by upper management. Tacit knowledge sharing takes place informally and occurs naturally and frequently, among the team members. There was evidence that knowledge articulation is influenced by the willingness of the team members to articulate their knowledge to other team members. It was also found that team members use articulation mechanisms which are most convenient to them, at that point in time, rather that the most appropriate mechanisms, to articulate their personal tacit knowledge to other team members. Synthesising the findings two frameworks are developed illustrating the context surrounding the sharing of tacit and explicit and more importantly the nuances of the knowledge articulation process in project teams
The Social Life of a Law: An Ethnography of the Irish Charities Act, 2009
Full text linkThis study ethnographically explores the creation and the social life of a law, the Irish Charities Act, 2009, (henceforth; the Act) within the broad landscape of increasing NGO1 regulation. The study traces the making of, and the effects of the laws that constitute, organise, regulate and construct the mission and activities of NGOs in Ireland. Regulation of NGOs in Ireland has undergone dramatic and rapid transformation since the Act was passed into law. The provisions of the Act intend to ensure greater accountability in NGOs, making them answerable to the Charities Regulatory Authority (henceforth; CRA), formed in 2014. This research seeks to understand why and how the Act came about, what shape it took on, and how it has become animated in the NGOs, the people who serve in them, and the NGO sector as a whole. The study developed over two distinct phases; (i) the making of the Act, which examines the parliamentary discourses that provoked, shaped and contested the Act and the founding of the CRA, and (ii) the social life of this law, exploring the stories of 18 NGO managers as they describe how increasing regulation interpolates into governance and accountability discourses and lived practices in NGOs. In three papers, I explore theoretical engagements with regulation and accountability, drawing on work from anthropology, philosophy, management and organisation studies, accountability, economic sociology, regulation, and NGO studies, working towards a greater understanding of how regulation affects NGOs, the NGO sector, and wider ideas of charity, described in this thesis as ‘The Gift’ (Mauss, 1954)
Paper 1 draws on Actor-network Theory (ANT), specifically Callon’s four moments of translation (1984), to explore the formation of the Act as it increases in its scope, attempting to make all NGOs in Ireland accountable to it. Its long and public gestation saw the formation of complex and unstable networks of contributors and debates, moving around ideas of increased accountability as a mode of normalising corporate accountability practices within NGOs. Paper 2 explores the affective impact of regulation on the regulated, through affect theory, (Massumi, 2002, Ahmed 2006, Seigworth & Gregg, 2010), as the gradual assimilations, resonances, and micro-politics of the still-unfolding Act are becoming articulable for Irish NGO sector managers. Taking the regulation of NGOs as the context, this paper considers affective processes, those ‘outside of conscious awareness that influence ongoing thought, behaviour, and conscious emotional experience’ (Barsade et al., 2009, p. 136), as NGO managers express their feelings towards the Act and how it recomposed their work, the charity sector and how they reconciled the Act with their vision of their career and work identity. Paper 3 speculates how regulation may reorganise economic and social relations in profound ways. In raising these ideas, the paper offers a new perspective to how burgeoning regulatory systems act upon NGOs as transformative forces, not only on the individuals and the organisations they work in, but also on the NGO sector as a whole; on The Gift, and on society. Drawing extensively on the concept of fictitious commodities and embeddedness (Polanyi, 1957), the paper looks beyond the technical aspects of regulation to its effects on the spirit and structures of the sector. This raises the important question as to whether acts of charity are possible after regulation.
Keywords: NGOs, regulation, accountability, law, actor-network theory, affect theory, fictitious commodities, embeddedness, The Gift.
1 By using the term NGO to signify the community, voluntary and charity sector, I acknowledge the heterogeneity of legal forms and functions, and dimensions in a sector which by its lack of systemic features avoids creating a cohesive whole. By the term NGO I refer to all and any organisations referred to by authors mentioned in this section who refer to organisations in the sector variously as Third Sector Organisations (TSOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), or Not-for-profit Organisations (NPOs)