Designing molecularly imprinted polymers for the analysis of the components of complex matrices

Molecular imprinting technology is a field of analytical chemistry of ever-increasing importance, offenng an effective and economic means of producing molecule-specific synthetic materials, with potential application in separation, sensing and catalytic technologies. This thesis descnbes a detailed investigation of the method and examines how it may be incorporated into a typical analytical application (solid phase extraction of the active ingredient in a pharmaceutical preparation), and investigates some of the practical considerations of such an approach - choice of appropriate functional monomer, the possibility of swelling effects affecting recognition properties of the polymers, and the use of pH control to adjust selectivity when recognition is based on ionic interactons. The performance of the MIPs presented in the second chapter is then used as a platform for probing more fundamental aspects of MIP behaviour. Properties of pre-polymerisaton mixtures which have consequences for final MIP recognition behaviour are examined in detail in Chapters three and four, with NMR spectroscopy (coupled with subsequent HPLC evaluation of the MIP recognition capabilities) playing an important role. The impact of more subtle effects, such as n-n stacking and phase partition, is of particular note Chapter five shows how spectroscopic data, as acquired in Chapter 4, can be used to refine simulated models of pre-polymerisaton complexes, which may be of significant benefit in predicting MIP properties and ultimately in creating a step-by-step protocol for designing efficient MIPs

Towards activity recommendation from lifelogs

With the increasing availability of passive, wearable sensor devices, digital lifelogs can now be captured for individuals. Lifelogs contain a digital trace of a person’s life, and are characterised by large quantities of rich contextual data. In this paper, we propose a content-based recommender sys- tem to leverage such lifelogs to suggest activities to users. We model lifelogs as timelines of chronological sequences of activity objects, and describe a recommendation framework in which a two-level distance metric is proposed to measure the similarity between current and past timelines. An ini- tial evaluation of our activity recommender performed using a real-world lifelog dataset demonstrates the utility of our approach

A Mood-based Genre Classification of Television Content

ACM Workshop on Recommendation Systems for Television and Online Video, Foster City, California, USA, 6-10 October 2014The classification of television content helps users organise and navigate through the large list of channels and programs now available. In this paper, we address the problem of television content classification by exploiting text information extracted from program transcriptions. We present an analysis which adapts a model for sentiment that has been widely and successfully applied in other fields such as music or blog posts. We use a real-world dataset obtained from the Box- fish API to compare the performance of classifiers trained on a number of different feature sets. Our experiments show that, over a large collection of television content, program genres can be represented in a three-dimensional space of valence, arousal and dominance, and that promising classification results can be achieved using features based on this representation. This finding supports the use of the proposed representation of television content as a feature space for similarity computation and recommendation generation.Science Foundation Irelan

The relationship between tooth size discrepancy and archform classification in orthodontic patients

Background: To determine the relationship between clinically significant tooth size discrepancies (TSD) and archform classification in orthodontic patients. Material and Methods: Two hundred and forty consecutive sets of pre-treatment orthodontic study models were scanned and landmarked. All models had permanent teeth erupted from first molar to first molar in both arches. Sixty sets of images were classified into two groups of 30 according to the presence (group 1) or absence (group 2) of a clinically significant overall or anterior TSD (>2 SD from Bolton’s original means). Mean upper and lower archforms were created for each group using a fourth degree polynomial curve. Upper and lower archforms in each group were classified as square, tapering or ovoid; their distribution was analysed using the Fisher test with a 5% level of significance. To evaluate the intra-operator error when determining archform type, the 60 archforms were re-classified by the same operator two weeks later. The unweighted Kappa statistic at 95% confidence intervals was used to determine the similarity of the classification on the two occasions. Results: Reproducibility of the classification of archform was very good (unweighted Kappa statistic of 0.83 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.73, 0.93). There was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of archform type between group 1 and group 2 for the upper ( p =0.3305) or lower ( p =0.6310) arches. Conclusions: The presence of a clinically significant TSD and archform classification do not appear to be related

Near-infrared monitoring of roller compacted ribbon density: investigating sources of variation contributing to noisy spectral data

The aim of this study was to highlight how variability in roller compacted ribbon quality can impact on NIR spectral measurement and to propose a simple method of data selection to remove erroneous spectra. The use of NIR spectroscopy for monitoring ribbon envelope density has been previously demonstrated, however to date there has been limited discussion as to how spectral data sets can contain erroneous outliers due to poor sample presentation to the NIR probes. In this study compacted ribbon of variable quality was produced from three separate blends of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)/lactose/magnesium stearate at 8 Roll Force settings (2–16 kN/cm). The three blends differed only in the storage conditions of MCC prior to blending and compaction. MCC sublots were stored at ambient (41% RH/20 °C), low humidity (11% RH/20 °C) and high humidity (75% RH/40 °C) conditions prior to blending. Ribbon envelope density was measured and ribbon NIR spectral data was acquired at line using a multi-probe spectrometer (MultiEye™ NIR). Initial inspection of the at-line NIR spectral data set showed a large degree of variability which indicated that some form of data cleaning was required. The source of variability in spectral measurements was investigated by subjective visual examination and by statistical analysis. Spectral variability was noted due to the storage conditions of MCC prior to compaction, Roll Force settings and between individual ribbon samples sampled at a set Roll Force/Blend combination. Variability was also caused by ribbon presentation to probes, such as differences in the presentation of broken, curved and flat intact ribbons. Based on the subjective visual examination of data, a Visual Discard method was applied and was found to be particularly successful for blends containing MCC stored at ambient and low humidity. However the Visual Discard method of spectra cleaning is subjective and therefore a non-subjective method capable of screening for erroneous probe readings was developed. For this data set a Trimmed Mean method was applied to set a limit on how data is cleaned from the data set allowing for the removal of a faulty probe reading (25% of data) or a poor sample (33% of data). The 33% Trimmed Mean reduced the impact of spectral variation or misreads between samples or probes and was found to be as successful as the Visual Discard method at cleaning the data set prior to development of the calibration equation

InAlAs solar cell on a GaAs substrate employing a graded InxGa1-xAs-InP metamorphic buffer layer

Single junction In0.52Al0.48As solar cells have been grown on a (100) GaAs substrate by employing a 1 mu m thick compositionally graded InxGa1-xAs/InP metamorphic buffer layer to accommodate the 3.9% mismatch. Cells processed from the 0.8 mu m thick InAlAs layers had photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 5% with an open circuit voltage of 0.72 V, short-circuit current density of 9.3 mA/cm(2), and a fill factor of 74.5% under standard air mass 1.5 illumination. The threading dislocation density was estimated to be 3 x 10(8) cm(-2). (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4789521

Madden, Julia; O'Mahony, Conor; Thompson, Michael; O'Riordan, Alan; Galvin, Paul

This article explores recent advances in the development of electrochemical biosensors on microneedle platforms towards on-device sensing of biomarkers present in dermal interstitial fluid. The integration of a biosensor with a microneedle platform opens the possibility for minimally invasive bio-chemical detection or continuous monitoring within the dermal interstitial fluid. An introduction to interstitial fluid is provided placing emphasis on sampling methods that have been employed to extract and/or sample tissue fluid for analysis. We look briefly at microneedle technologies used to extract dermal interstitial fluid for subsequent analysis. Successive content will focus on microneedle technologies which have been integrated with electrochemical biosensors for the quantification of various metabolites, electrolytes and other miscellaneous entities known to be present in the dermal interstitial fluid. The review concludes with some of the key challenges and opportunities faced by this next-generation wearable sensing technology

Smoking Is Associated with Shortened Airway Cilia

BACKGROUND:Whereas cilia damage and reduced cilia beat frequency have been implicated as causative of reduced mucociliary clearance in smokers, theoretically mucociliary clearance could also be affected by cilia length. Based on models of mucociliary clearance predicting that cilia length must exceed the 6-7 microm airway surface fluid depth to generate force in the mucus layer, we hypothesized that cilia height may be decreased in airway epithelium of normal smokers compared to nonsmokers. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Cilia length in normal nonsmokers and smokers was evaluated in aldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded endobronchial biopsies, and air-dried and hydrated samples were brushed from human airway epithelium via fiberoptic bronchoscopy. In 28 endobronchial biopsies, healthy smoker cilia length was reduced by 15% compared to nonsmokers (p<0.05). In 39 air-dried samples of airway epithelial cells, smoker cilia length was reduced by 13% compared to nonsmokers (p<0.0001). Analysis of the length of individual, detached cilia in 27 samples showed that smoker cilia length was reduced by 9% compared to nonsmokers (p<0.05). Finally, in 16 fully hydrated, unfixed samples, smoker cilia length was reduced 7% compared to nonsmokers (p<0.05). Using genome-wide analysis of airway epithelial gene expression we identified 6 cilia-related genes whose expression levels were significantly reduced in healthy smokers compared to healthy nonsmokers. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Models predict that a reduction in cilia length would reduce mucociliary clearance, suggesting that smoking-associated shorter airway epithelial cilia play a significant role in the pathogenesis of smoking-induced lung disease

Kreuth V initiative: European consensus proposals for treatment of hemophilia using standard products, extended half-life coagulation factor concentrates and non-replacement therapies

This report contains the updated consensus recommendations for optimal hemophilia care produced in 2019 by three Working Groups (WG) on behalf of the European Directorate for Quality of Medicines and Healthcare in the frame of the Kreuth V Initiative. WG1 recommended access to prophylaxis for all patients, the achievement of plasma factor trough levels of at least 3-5% when extended half-life factor VIII (FVIII) and FIX products are used, a personalized treatment regimen, and a choice of chromogenic assays for treatment monitoring. It was also emphasized that innovative therapies should be supervised by hemophilia comprehensive care centers. WG2 recommended mandatory collection of postmarketing data to assure the long-term safety and efficacy of new hemophilia therapies, the establishment of national patient registries including the core data recommended by the European Medicines Agency and the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, with adequate support under public control, and greater collaboration to facilitate a comprehensive data evaluation throughout Europe. WG3 discussed methodological aspects of hemophilia care in the context of access decisions, particularly for innovative therapies, and recommended that clinical studies should be designed to provide the quality of evidence needed by regulatory authorities, HTA bodies and healthcare providers. The dialogue between all stakeholders in hemophilia care and patient organizations should be fostered to implement these recommendations