Showing papers by "Dublin City University published in 1997"
TL;DR: This paper has detailed their discovery, biochemical attributes and substrate specificities and has provided information as to the methodology used to detect and manipulate their activities.
354 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviews the commercial development of the technology to date and focuses on the impact of specific engineering-related factors, in particular, the shear sensitivity of plant cell suspension cultures.
228 citations
TL;DR: The effects of grass dry matter allowance and dietary supplements of full fat rapeseeds on levels of cis-9,trans-11 octadecadienoic (CLA) acid in bovine milk were investigated and levels increased in milk fat from cows on a high-rapeseed-supplemented diet.
Abstract: The effects of grass dry matter (DM) allowance and dietary supplements of full fat rapeseeds on levels of cis-9,trans-11 octadecadienoic (CLA) acid in bovine milk were investigated. Grass allowance of 16 kg/(cow * day) resulted in reduced (p<0.05) milk fat CLA levels (3.91 mg CLA/g fat) compared to 20 kg/(cow * day) after 19 wk treatment. CLA levels increased in milk fat from cows on a high-rapeseed-supplemented diet (p<0.001) (1650 g/(cow * day) full fat rapeseed) compared to the control (pasture) and low rapeseed (p<0.01) (825 g/(cow * day) full fat rapeseed) supplemented diets. The variation in milk fat CLA levels among individual cows over both trials was 1.5-16 mg/g.
225 citations
TL;DR: Moisture stable dialkylimidazolium salts act as heterogeneous and homogeneous Lewis acid catalysts in the Diels-Alder reaction of both crotonaldehyde and methacrolein with cyclopentadiene at low temperatures.
207 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the results reveal that response surface methodology combined with factorial design of experiments is a better alternative to the traditional one-variable at-a-time approach for studying the effects of cutting variables on responses such as surface roughness and tool life.
201 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviews reports dating from 40 years ago to the present on how schistosomes digest host-derived hemoglobin, and interprets apparent anomalies in some earlier compared to later reports, the latter having benefited from the availability of PCR and gene cloning technologies.
142 citations
TL;DR: A derivative of coumarin, 8-nitro- 7-hydroxycoumarin (8-NO2-7-OHC), was synthesised, purified and characterised and was shown to be non-mutagenic in a standard Ames test, both with or without a mammalian enzyme activation system.
139 citations
TL;DR: This survey of a homogenous group of project managers revealed a surprising diversity of risk management concerns.
Abstract: Software development projects, given their diverse and abstract nature, offer unique challenges and risks. Although a substantial body of literature has been written to address project risk management, my experience in the field led me to question whether this literature accurately mirrors the concerns of real-world project managers. To confirm my suspicions, I surveyed 14 experienced application systems developers, all located in Ireland. All survey participants manage custom-built, software-intensive application development projects that originate from external clients. The survey focused on three major areas: (1) Which characteristics of the customer, the application, and so on, do experienced software project managers consider important when planning new development projects for new, external clients? (2) How do these characteristics relate to accepted software project risk drivers? (3) Do most project managers characterize new projects in generally the same way, or do different project managers use different perceptual lenses when viewing new projects? This survey of a homogenous group of project managers revealed a surprising diversity of risk management concerns.
134 citations
TL;DR: Southern blot analysis demonstrated that miracidia isolated by this method were free from contaminating host DNA, and were generated to generate a cDNA library.
Abstract: A novel method for the isolation of schistosome eggs and miracidia from livers of mice infected with Schistosoma japonicum or S. mansoni is described. The method employed collagenase B to degrade the interstitial matrix of mouse liver tissue, after which the schistosome eggs were separated from the liver cells by 2 single-step density centrifugations through Percoll. Using this procedure sufficient quantities of miracidia were obtained to generate a cDNA library. Southern blot analysis demonstrated that miracidia isolated by this method were free from contaminating host DNA.
134 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a study of the development of mathematical models for tool life in end milling steel (190 BHN) using high-speed steel slot drills under dry conditions is presented.
122 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a Galerkin finite element method that uses piecewise bilinear on a simple piecewise equidistant mesh is applied to a linear convection-dominated convectiondiffusion problem in two dimensions.
26 Oct 1997
TL;DR: Context-based arithmetic encoding, as used in JBIG, is utilised within a block-based framework and further extended in order to make efficient use of temporal prediction.
Abstract: A new method for shape coding in object-based video sequences is presented. Context-based arithmetic encoding, as used in JBIG, is utilised within a block-based framework and further extended in order to make efficient use of temporal prediction. It is shown to be a simple, efficient and elegant solution.
TL;DR: An amperometric peroxide biosensor was prepared by electrochemical deposition of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on a Pt disc electrode modified with polyaniline (PANI) film doped with polyvinyl sulphonate (PVS).
TL;DR: A molecular imprinted polymer was prepared to 7-hydroxycoumarin (7-OHC) and its concentration determined using capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and the method was found to be linear over the range 10-50 micrograms ml-1.
TL;DR: Information obtained for the assessment and prediction of total hip arthroplasty longevity by numerical and experimental techniques used together and in parallel is of greater value than either technique used alone.
TL;DR: Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) detection using the BIAcore biosensing system was employed for the detection of blood group-associated antigens (BGAA) on whole erythrocytes and a quantitative relationship between the cell binding response and ERYthrocyte concentration was confirmed.
TL;DR: The use of the sol-gel process to produce materials for optical chemical sensors and biosensors is attracting considerable interest as discussed by the authors, mainly due to the design flexibility and the ease of fabrication.
Abstract: The use of the sol-gel process to produce materials for optical chemical sensors and biosensors is attracting considerable interest. This interest derives mainly from the design flexibility of the sol-gel process and the ease of fabrication. In most applications the sol-gel material is used to provide a microporous support matrix in which analyte-sensitive species are entrapped and into which smaller analyte molecules may diffuse. Sensors based on entrapped organic and inorganic dyes, enzymes and other biomolecules have been reported. A range of sensor configurations has been employed, including monoliths, thin films, as well as more elaborate structures. In this paper a selection is presented of recent significant developments in optical chemical sensors which employ solgel-derived materials. These developments include the tailoring of sol-gel materials to optimise sensor response, advanced waveguide structures and novel probe-tip sensors. Those issues which remain critical to the eventual deployment of sol-gel sensors are examined. In particular, the problems of leaching, microstructural stability, diffusion-limited response time, and susceptibility to interferents are discussed and some solutions proposed.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated with solvents, such as acetonitrile, acetone, butan-2-ol, chloroform, hexane and tetrahydrofuran, that organic-phase amperometric biosensors can be developed to exhibit excellent reactivities in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic organicsolvents by controlling the degree of hydration of the biosensing environment.
TL;DR: In this paper, the relative roles of agency and tax considerations in corporate debt versus equity issuance decisions were examined. And they found that both tax and agency issues are important determinants of security issuance decisions.
Abstract: This paper is an empirical examination of the relative roles of agency and tax considerations in corporate debt versus equity issuance decisions. Unlike earlier work, we conduct our tests on a sample of UK firms since the UK system of taxation does not create an obvious tax advantage to debt and hence affords an opportunity to evaluate the relevance of tax arbitrage considerations. We find that both tax and agency issues are important determinants of security issuance decisions. In addition, we demonstrate that our specification is robust to a variety of alternative explanations which have appeared in the empirical literature.
TL;DR: A novel amperometric biosensor for the determination of lactate was constructed by immobilizing lactate oxidase and an osmium redox polymer on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode, followed by coating with a sol-gel film derived from methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS).
Proceedings Article•
23 Aug 1997TL;DR: This paper considers various grounds for qualifying the competence of heuristic approaches to structure-mapping, and offers an evaluation of the sub-optimal performance of three different models of analogy, SME, ACME and Sapper.
Abstract: Structure-mapping is a provably NP-Hard problem which is argued to lie at the core of the human metaphoric and analogical reasoning faculties. This NP-Hardness has meant that early attempts at optimal solutions to the problem have had to be augmented with sub-optimal heuristics to ensure tractable performance. This paper considers various grounds for qualifying the competence of such heuristic approaches, and offers an evaluation of the sub-optimal performance of three different models of analogy, SME, ACME and Sapper.
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of two different types of micro reference electrodes with respect to preparation and performance is described, and the performance of a commercially available macro solidstate reference electrode (called MacroRefex in this work), fabricated from the same materials as Type 2 Ag:AgCl, was also investigated.
Abstract: A study of two different types of micro reference electrodes with respect to preparation and performance is described. The first,Type 1 Ag:AgCl, consists of a silver:silver chloride ink screen printed onto platinum on silicon. The second, Type 2 Ag:AgCl, usesthe screen printed reference electrode just described, Type 1 Ag:AgCl, covered with a chloride doped vinyl ester resin. The lattereliminates some of the difficulties and drawbacks associated with Type 1 Ag:AgCl because the requirement for a constant chlorideconcentration in the analyte solution is removed when using Type 2 Ag:AgCl. Type 1 Ag:AgCl acted as a chloride selectiveelectrode with a slope of 55.83 mV per decade for chloride activity and Type 2 Ag:AgCl potential versus SCE varied from ˝40.1to ˝20.3 mV for KCl concentrations of 10 ˝7 and 1 M, respectively. The performance of a commercially available macro solidstate reference electrode (called MacroRefex in this work), fabricated from the same materials as Type 2 Ag:AgCl, was alsoinvestigated. © 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of animal feed quality on lipid and cholesterol oxidation in whole milk powder was investigated, showing that superior feed quality and proper control of processing and storage conditions enhanced the oxidative stability of whole milk powders.
Abstract: The influence of animal feed quality on lipid and cholesterol oxidation in whole milk powder was investigated. Powders from a herd receiving a ‘supplemented’ diet showed reduced PV (p < 0.01) and TBARS (p < 0.09) compared to a ‘restricted’ herd, after storage in both vacuum and sachet-packs and less (p < 0.003) cholesterol oxidation products (COPs). High pre-heating temperatures resulted in higher levels of PV, TBARS and COPs in fresh whole milk powders than low pre-heat temperatures, but after storage the reverse occurred. Superior animal feed quality and proper control of processing and storage conditions enhanced oxidative stability of whole milk powder. Lipid and cholesterol oxidation were positively correlated (p < 0.001).
TL;DR: This is the first report of the functional expression of a cathepsin L proteinase in S. cerevisiae that did not require the use of yeast secretory signal sequences.
Abstract: A cDNA encoding the complete precursor of a Fasciola hepatica cathepsin L protease was isolated and sequenced. Functionally active enzyme was expressed and secreted by Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformed with a plasmid carrying the complete gene. Experiments with temperature-sensitive yeast mutants showed that the enzyme is trafficked through the yeast secretory pathway. Yeast transformed with a truncated gene, which lacked the pre-peptide-encoding and most of the pro-peptide-encoding sequences, did not express funtionally active enzyme. The yeast-expressed enzyme exhibited physicochemical properties in common with the native enzyme including, pH optimum for activity, stability at 37 degrees C and ability to cleave gelatin and immunoglobulin. Enzyme kinetic data showed that the native and yeast-expressed cathepsin L1 have similar specificities for substrates with hydrophobic residues in the P2 position. This is the first report of the functional expression of a cathepsin L proteinase in S. cerevisiae that did not require the use of yeast secretory signal sequences.
TL;DR: A cDNA was isolated from a cDNA expression library using serum prepared against a high molecular mass fraction of Fasciola hepatica excretory-secretory products and encodes a member of the recently described peroxiredoxin antioxidant family.
Abstract: A cDNA was isolated from a cDNA expression library using serum prepared against a high molecular mass fraction of Fasciola hepatica excretory-secretory products. The full-length cDNA encodes a member of the recently described peroxiredoxin antioxidant family. Peroxiredoxin could be the major hydrogen peroxide removing antioxidant in F. hepatica since this parasite does not express a catalase and expresses little glutathione peroxidase activity. This novel antioxidant may be involved in functions such as protection against reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by metabolic processes and/or protection of the parasite against ROS released by immune effector cells.
TL;DR: The mature active recombinant cathepsin L2 behaved similarly to the native enzyme when analysed by SDS-PAGE, immunoblotting and zymography and also cleaved peptides containing proline in the P2 position, allowing for the cleavage point for activation of the recombinant pro-enzyme to be shown to be identical to that of the F. hepatica-produced cathep L2.
18 Aug 1997
TL;DR: A technique for performing information retrieval on document images in such a manner that the accuracy has great utility is developed, and a surprisingly good result is obtained.
Abstract: In conventional information retrieval the task of finding users' search terms in a document is simple. When the document is not available in machine readable format, optical character recognition (OCR) can usually be performed. We have developed a technique for performing information retrieval on document images in such a manner that the accuracy has great utility. The method makes generalisations about the images of characters, then performs classification of these and agglomerates the resulting character shape codes into word tokens based on character shape coding. These are sufficiently specific in their representation of the underlying words to allow reasonable performance of retrieval. Using a collection of over 250 Mbytes of document texts and queries with known relevance assessments, we present a series of experiments to determine how various parameters in the retrieval strategy affect retrieval performance and we obtain a surprisingly good result.
TL;DR: It is concluded that Mn2+ uptake and toxicity in S. cerevisiae are strongly influenced by intracellular Mg, possibly through Mg-dependent regulation of divalent-cation transport activity.
Abstract: The magnesium content of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was found to vary by up to fivefold at differing stages of batch growth and during growth in the presence of differing magnesium concentrations. Excess Mg was primarily sequestered in vacuoles. Mn(2+)-uptake experiments revealed that Mg-enriched cells had a markedly reduced capacity for Mn2+ accumulation. For example, after 6 h incubation in the presence of 50 microM Mn2+, Mn levels were approximately twofold higher in cells previously grown in unsupplemented medium than in those from Mg-supplemented medium. These differences were further accentuated at higher Mn2+ concentrations and were not attributable to altered cell-surface charge or altered cell-surface Mn2+ binding. Cellular Mg status also influenced Mn toxicity towards S. cerevisiae. During exposure to 5 mM Mn2+, 50% reductions in the viability of cells with initial Mg contents of approximately 1400 and 2700 nmol (10(9) cells)-1 occurred after approximately 1.6 h and 3.6 h respectively. In cells containing 3300 nmol Mg (10(9) cells)-1, more than 75% viability was still maintained after 7 h incubation with 5 mM Mn2+. It is concluded that Mn2+ uptake and toxicity in S. cerevisiae are strongly influenced by intracellular Mg, possibly through Mg-dependent regulation of divalent-cation transport activity.
TL;DR: It is of interest to the IE community to see how a related task, perhaps the most-related task, IR, has managed to use the same NLP base technology in its development so far.
Abstract: Information retrieval (IR) is about finding documents which may be of relevance to a user's query, from within a corpus or collection of texts. While apparently a simple task at first glance, IR is in fact a hard problem because of the subtleties introduced by the use of natural language in both documents and in queries. The automatic processing of natural language clearly represents significant potential for improving information retrieval tasks because of the dominance of the natural language medium on the whole IR task. Information extraction is also fundamentally about dealing with natural language albeit for a different function. It is thus of interest to the IE community to see how a related task, perhaps the most-related task, IR, has managed to use the same NLP base technology in its development so far. This is an especially valid comparison to make since IR has been the subject of research and development and has been delivering working solutions for many decades whereas IE is a more recent and emerging technology.
TL;DR: A prototype miniaturized Total Chemical Analysis System (μTAS) has been developed and applied to on-line monitoring of glucose and lactate in the core blood of anaesthetized dogs, suitable for trend monitoring but refinements are necessary.
Abstract: A prototype miniaturized Total Chemical Analysis System (μTAS) has been developed and applied to on-line monitoring of glucose and lactate in the core blood of anaesthetized dogs. The system consists of a highly efficient microdialysis sampling interface sited in a small-scale extracorporeal shunt circuit (‘MiniShunt’), a silicon machined microflow manifold and integrated biosensor array for glucose and lactate detection with associated computer software for analytical process control. During in-vivo testing the device allowed real-time on-screen monitoring of glucose and lactate with system response times of less than 5 min, made possible by the small dead volume of the microflow system. On-line glucose and lactate measurements were made in the basal state as well as during intravenous infusion of glucose or lactate. The prototype μTAS is currently suitable for trend monitoring but refinements are necessary before application of the system for determination of individual lactate values.