The Circus & the Pimp's Jalopy

The Circus & the Pimp's Jalopy is a multimedia installation set in the theatre-like scene of a shadowy forest clearing. Using a collage of chlichéd pop culture experiences (circus waltzes, crowd sounds, popcorn smells, costumed performers) to quickly communicate a carnival atmosphere the piece works to create a space that is both achingly familiar and unsettlingly foreign. Objects and performers repeat strange behavioural loops using familiar items in new contexts. What can it all mean? How does perception structure experience? The work seeks to intrigue viewers into a heightened sense of the present as they become conscious discerners of their immediate surroundings

Physicochemical and microbiological quality of water from a pilot domestic rainwater harvesting facility in Ireland.

DTC Research Group, Dublin Institute of Technology personnel were commissioned in 2005 by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in Ireland to assess the feasibility of utilising harvested rainwater to replace treated mains water, for non-potable uses. A pilot project was set up. The project involved the design, installation, commissioning and monitoring of rainwater harvesting facilities in a rural housing development. A monitoring program was carried out to examine the physico-chemical and microbiological quality of the harvested rainwater. Harvested rainwater was sampled monthly and tested. Analysis of the harvested rainwater quality showed a consistently high quality of raw water in general compliance with the requirements of the European Communities (Quality of Bathing Water) Regulations for 100 % of samples and the European Communities (Drinking Water) Regulations, 2007 for 37% of sampling date

Pilot Rainwater Harvesting Study Ireland

There are no National Water Quality Standards for Rainwater Harvesting supply in Ireland. The Development Technology Centre (DTC) at the Technological University Dublin was commissioned by the National Rural Water Monitoring Committee in 2005 to assess the feasibility of using rainwater harvesting to supplement treated mains water for non-potable uses. The project involved the design, installation, commissioning and monitoring of rainwater harvesting facilities for rural domestic and agricultural water supply. This paper will present the results from the domestic pilot rwh project. A dual water supply system was designed and installed to use rainwater collected from the roof surface to supplement mains water supply for toilet flushing and out door uses. A series of flow meters and a data logger system were installed to monitor micro component household water usage. Over the 19 month monitoring period, rainwater harvesting resulted in a saving of 20% of the total mains water supplied to the house. Harvested rainwater was tested monthly for physico-chemical and microbiological parameters. All samples complied with EU bathing Water Regulations. Compliance with the more stringent Drinking Water Regulations was achieved for ten of the nineteen sampling dates. Laboratory experiments were conducted using a variety of water related bacteria to determine time required to reduce a bacterial population by 90% at a given temperature. The laboratory experiments showed that hot water systems maintained at adequately high temperatures (60 0C) for 5 minutes effectively reduced the bacterial load from E.coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas sp and Salmonella to zero

Physicochemical and Microbiological quality of harvested rainwater from an agricultural installation in Ireland

Members of DTC Research Group. Dublin Institute of Technology was commissioned in 2005 by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in Ireland to assess the feasibility of utilising rainwater to replace treated mains water for nonpotable uses. The project involved the design, installation, commissioning and monitoring of rainwater harvesting on a farm. Two monitoring programmes, Regime 1 and Regime 2, examined the physicochemical and microbiological quality of the harvested rainwater. Samples were taken monthly and tested. Regime 1 analysis showed that the microbiological quality of the rainwater from the site did not comply with the requirements of the European Communities Quality of Bathing Water Regulations, while the physicochemical quality complied with both Bathing and Drinking Water Standards with the exception of ammonia and lead. Regime 2 results showed a significant improvement and were compliant with the European Communities Quality of Bathing Water Regulations and showed near compliance with the European Communities Drinking Water Regulation

Ocean acidification not likely to affect the survival and fitness of two temperate benthic foraminiferal species : results from culture experiments

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Foraminiferal Research 44 (2014): 341-351.Specimens of Bolivina argentea and Bulimina marginata, two widely distributed temperate benthic foraminiferal species, were cultured at constant temperature and controlled pCO2 (ambient, 1000 ppmv, and 2000 ppmv) for six weeks to assess the effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations on survival and fitness using Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) analyses and on shell microfabric using high-resolution SEM and image analysis. To characterize the carbonate chemistry of the incubation seawater, total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon were measured approximately every two weeks. Survival and fitness were not directly affected by elevated pCO2 and the concomitant decrease in seawater pH and calcite saturation states (Ωc), even when seawater was undersaturated with respect to calcite. These results differ from some previous observations that ocean acidification can cause a variety of effects on benthic foraminifera, including test dissolution, decreased growth, and mottling (loss of symbiont color in symbiont-bearing species), suggesting that the benthic foraminiferal response to ocean acidification may be species specific. If so, this implies that ocean acidification may lead to ecological winners and losers even within the same taxonomic group.This research was supported by NSF grants OCE-0647899 to DCM and JMB, OCE-0725966 to JMB and DCM, and OA-1219948 to JMB.2015-10-0

An Infinitely Expandable Cloning Strategy plus Repeat-Proof PCR for Working with Multiple shRNA

Vector construction with restriction enzymes (REs) typically involves the ligation of a digested donor fragment (insert) to a reciprocally digested recipient fragment (vector backbone). Creating a suitable cloning plan becomes increasingly difficult for complex strategies requiring repeated insertions such as constructing multiple short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vectors for RNA interference (RNAi) studies. The problem lies in the reduced availability of suitable RE recognition sites with an increasing number of cloning events and or vector size. This report details a technically simple, directional cloning solution using REs with compatible cohesive ends that are repeatedly destroyed and simultaneously re-introduced with each round of cloning. Donor fragments can be made by PCR or sub-cloned from pre-existing vectors and inserted ad infinitum in any combination. The design incorporates several cloning cores in order to be compatible with as many donor sequences as possible. We show that joining sub-combinations made in parallel is more time-efficient than sequential construction (of one cassette at a time) for any combination of 4 or more insertions. Screening for the successful construction of combinations using Taq polymerase based PCR became increasingly difficult with increasing number of repeated sequence elements. A Pfu polymerase based PCR was developed and successfully used to amplify combinations of up to eleven consecutive hairpin expression cassettes. The identified PCR conditions can be beneficial to others working with multiple shRNA or other repeated sequences, and the infinitely expandable cloning strategy serves as a general solution applicable to many cloning scenarios

Multiple shRNA combinations for near-complete coverage of all HIV-1 strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Combinatorial RNA interference (co-RNAi) approaches are needed to account for viral variability in treating HIV-1 with RNAi, as single short hairpin RNAs (shRNA) are rapidly rendered ineffective by resistant strains. Current work suggests that 4 simultaneously expressed shRNAs may prevent the emergence of resistant strains.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study we assembled combinations of highly-conserved shRNAs to target as many HIV-1 strains as possible. We analyzed intersecting conservations of 10 shRNAs to find combinations with 4+ matching the maximum number of strains using 1220+ HIV-1 sequences from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). We built 26 combinations of 2 to 7 shRNAs with up to 87% coverage for all known strains and 100% coverage of clade B subtypes, and characterized their intrinsic suppressive activities in transient expression assays. We found that all combinations had high combined suppressive activities, though there were also large changes in the individual activities of the component shRNAs in our multiple expression cassette configurations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>By considering the intersecting conservations of shRNA combinations we have shown that it is possible to assemble combinations of 6 and 7 highly active, highly conserved shRNAs such that there is always at least 4 shRNAs within each combination covering all currently known variants of entire HIV-1 subtypes. By extension, it may be possible to combine several combinations for complete global coverage of HIV-1 variants.</p

Fraser of Allander Institute : Economic Commentary [March 2018]

As the financial year draws to a close, it is a good time to reflect on Scotland's economic performance over the past twelve months and perhaps more so, to consider the significant challenges that lie ahead. Little has changed since December's Fraser Economic Commentary on Scotland's economic performance; there is growth, but the pace is slow with little expectation it will accelerate at any significant rate over the coming three years. As has been well established, increasing productivity has been, and remains, one of Scotland's key economic challenges

Fraser of Allander Institute : Economic Commentary [June 2018]

As the financial year draws to a close, it is a good time to reflect on Scotland's economic performance over the past twelve months and perhaps more so, to consider the significant challenges that lie ahead. Little has changed since December's Fraser Economic Commentary on Scotland’s economic performance; there is growth, but the pace is slow with little expectation it will accelerate at any significant rate over the coming three years. As has been well established, increasing productivity has been, and remains, one of Scotland’s key economic challenges