Irish Research Council Research Articles

Targeting transcriptional regulators to regenerate midbrain dopaminergic axons in Parkinson's disease.

Irish Research Council (R15897); National University of Ireland (R16189); Royal Irish Academy (SVH/AMS/GWO'K)

The Application of a Master Frame: Tracing the War on Terror in the Irish Times 2001-8

 This research was made possible by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS). Introduction THE ‘WAR ON TERROR’ has surely been one of the most analysed phenomenona in political communication during the first decades of the st century. That this might be so is perhaps unsurprising given its prominence and its impact on domestic and international politics during this period. It has increasingly been regarded as the new ordering principle of international relations (Archetti, ).The phenomenon has been identified as a ‘master frame’ akin to the ‘cold war’ (Hackett, ; Kuypers, Cooper and Althouse, ) which dominated political discourse in the latter half of the th century. Snow and Benford () originally used the term ‘master frame’ in their analysis of social movements to signify ‘political and cultural shorthand, used to unify a broad movement and instil political agency’. Meyer () later sought to expand its significance beyond social movement politics, using the term to describe a more comprehensive worldview where a master frame will have resonance both within mainstream political discourse and movement politics (Meyer, ). In this regard Norris et al. () note that the fall of the Berlin wall and the replacement of the Cold War frame with the newer ‘war on terror’ frame offered ‘a way for American politicians and journalists to construct a narrative to make sense of a range of diverse stories about international security, civil wars and global conflict’ (Norris, Kern and Just, ). This paper proposes to address a lacuna in the framing literature by studying how and in what context the master frame of the ‘war on terror’ was used in newspaper coverage. To date the literature on framing has been predominantly focused on either content (e.g., frames in news), framing effects, or the interplay between the two – what Scheufele () called frame setting. However, little research has been conducted on the context in which a frame is used or invoked and for what purposes. In seeking to address this objective in the press, utilising a newspaper with an agendasetting role is preferable. This choice to focus on an elite newspaper reflects what other communications scholars have observed: that stories tend to spread vertically within the news industry, with editors at regional media outlets often deferring to elite newspapers and newswires to set the national news agenda (Gitlin, ). In this paper it is proposed to use the Irish Times as the object of study for a couple of reasons. Firstly, international news research has typically been dominated by large ‘elite’ nations such as the US and the UK (Lazarsfeld, ; Tsang, Tsai and Liu, ) and thus the perspectives of smaller and more peripheral countries THE APPLICATION OF A MASTER FRAME: Tracing the ‘War on Terror’ in the Irish Times 2001–81

Through the Looking Glass: How the mass media represent, reflect and refract sexual crime in Ireland

The author was a Government of Ireland Fellow 2003/2004 and this research has been possible through the Fellowship scheme of the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Characterisation of ultrasound contrast agents and handing of raw radiofrequency data for investigation of subharmonic ultrasound imaging

In this study the acoustic characterisation of ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) for subharmonic imaging (SHI) using an Aixplorer (Supersonic Imagine, France) scanner was investigated. Dynamic contrast enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) is a non-invasive imaging method providing a means of imaging the microvasculature. UCAs are currently used clinically for qualitative purposes, however, they are not currently used quantitatively. UCAs produce subharmonic signals at half of the transmitted fundamental frequency when insonated with ultrasound energy, whereas native tissue does not, and hence SHI offers the potential to image the microvasculature with better sensitivity and also with improved accuracy for use in quantitative measurements. UCAs were characterised in Perspex test cells containing acoustic windows using a single element transducer (V306, Olympus, USA) including: characterisation of size, attenuation and linearity of the signal with concentration of the UCA. A processing protocol using the Welch transform was developed to process raw radio frequency data from the scanner, along with hydrophone experiments investigating the frequency spectrum output and peak negative pressure of the SC6-1 probe. The characterisation of the signal from native bubble populations will be presented along with a developed protocol to modify the size distribution of the UCAs to establish the optimum bubble distribution for SHI. A robust method for handling the raw radiofrequency data will be presented. The results of this investigation will allow for the development of an optimised protocol for the acquisition of subharmonic signals using the Aixplorer system which could be used in a clinical setting. Supported by the Irish Research Council, Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship and IAPM Young Investigator Grant

Effect of Repeated Oxidation and Reduction of Glassy Carbon on VIV-VV Electrode Kinetics

There is considerable interest in flow batteries for storing energy from non-dispatchable power sources such as solar and wind energy.1-3 Vanadium flow batteries (VFB),3-12 also known as vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB or VRB), are particularly attractive because, in addition to having long cycle life, they are essentially immune to cross-contamination problems due to mass transfer across the membrane.2-10 There are numerous reports of the effects of electrochemical pretreatment on the rates of electrochemical reactions on carbon electrodes. In the case of the VIV-VV redox couple, the kinetic rates at carbon felt electrodes were reported14 to decrease after anodic treatment. Likewise, electrodes consisting of graphene oxide on a glassy carbon substrate were reported15 to show enhanced kinetics after cathodic treatment. There are also reports16–19 of enhancement of VIV/VVkinetics after anodic treatment. We have previously reported20-25 for a range of carbon materials that the electrode kinetics of the VIV-VVreaction is enhanced by cathodic treatment of the electrode and inhibited by anodic treatment, as shown in Fig. 1a. Furthermore, after several oxidation and reduction treatments, an electrode can be repeatedly and reproducibly toggled between cathodically activated and anodically deactivated states. However, an oxidized or a reduced electrode treated at the same potential may result in different activities. In this investigation we show that there is even greater dependence on the initial state of the electrode. As shown in Fig. 1b, initial treatment of the electrode is not reproducible and it is only after several anodization and cathodization steps that the electrode can be reproducible toggled between activated and deactivated states; i.e.to attain this stable cathodization-anodization treatment regime the electrode must be first “aged”. In considering the effects of anodization on a carbon surface it must be borne in mind that carbon can corrode at anodic potentials and that this can sometimes lead to roughening of the surface with a consequent effect on electrode current. Therefore, it is not surprising that, as shown in Fig. 1b, anodization of an electrode initially results in activation. However, after repeated cathodization and anodization, the effect of anodization reverses so as to give the stable regime of anodization resulting in deactivation and cathodization resulting in activation. Acknowledgements M. Al Hajji Safi, M. Balandeh and A. Bourke would like to thank the Irish Research Council (IRC) for PhD scholarships and R.P. Lynch acknowledges funding from a IRC - Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship under grant no. INSPIRE PCOFUND-GA-2008-229520 to perform this research.

Effects of Electrochemical Pretreatments on the Kinetics of FeII-FeIII, VIV-VV and Hydroquinone-Quinone Electrode Reactions on Glassy Carbon

The energy efficiency of batteries is dependent on their voltage efficiency and coulombic efficiency. Voltage inefficiencies arise due to sluggish electrode kinetics and, as a result, large overpotentials at the electrode. Furthermore, the higher the overpotential the greater the number of side reactions such as hydrogen formation1-7 at the negative electrode or degradation of the carbon at the positive electrode. Side reactions at either electrode reduce coulombic efficiency and in turn can cause the battery to become unbalanced (e.g. more VV on the positive side than VII on the negative side, in the case of H2formation at the negative electrode of a vanadium flow battery). Therefore, in order to better understand and improve the performance of batteries, it is important to investigate the electrode kinetics. We have previously shown8-13 that electrochemical treatment of carbon electrodes significantly affects the electrode kinetics of VIV-VV oxidation-reduction reactions. In this study, we investigate the effect of electrochemical treatment of glassy carbon on the electrode kinetics of the oxidation-reduction reactions of FeII-FeIII and hydroquinone-quinone and compare the behaviour of these systems to that of the VIV-VV system. Similar to the VIV-VV system, the electrode kinetics of both FeII-FeIII and hydroquinone-quinone are enhanced by cathodic treatment of the electrode and inhibited by anodic treatment (as shown in Fig. 1 (i) and (ii), respectively). Furthermore, the electrode can be toggled between these activated (reduced) and deactivated (oxidised) states. The effects of treatment potential on both FeII-FeIII and hydroquinone-quinone kinetics were investigated in detail for both anodic treatment of a reduced electrode and cathodic treatment of an oxidised electrode. As can be seen in Fig. 2, although there are significant differences between the behaviour of the electrode in the two systems there are also many similarities. We attribute the observed activation and deactivation effects to meta-stable oxygen-containing functional-groups on the electrode surface. Acknowledgements M. Balandeh, M. Al Hajji Safi and A. Bourke would like to thank the Irish Research Council (IRC) for PhD scholarships and R.P. Lynch acknowledges funding from a IRC - Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship under grant no. INSPIRE PCOFUND-GA-2008-229520 to perform this research.

In vitro fabrication of extracellular matrix-rich tissue equivalents

Event Abstract Back to Event In vitro fabrication of extracellular matrix-rich tissue equivalents Kyriakos Spanoudes1, 2*, Yves Bayon3*, Abhay Pandit2* and Dimitrios I. Zeugolis1, 2* 1 National University of Ireland Galway, Regenerative, Modular and Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL), Ireland 2 National University of Ireland Galway, Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CURAM), Ireland 3 Covidien, Sofradim Production, France Introduction: Tendon tissue engineering is becoming increasingly important, as current surgical treatment modalities based on tissue grafts and non-degradable polymers have numerous drawbacks, including disease transmission, foreign body response and scar tissue formation[1]. Injectable cell based therapies are characterised by poor cell localisation at the site of injection[2]. Herein, we hypothesise that provision of a more relevant microenvironment with anisotropic topography and macromolecular crowding will maintain tenogenic phenotype in vitro[3],[4] and facilitate the fabrication of an extracellular matrix-rich tendon equivalent, promoting functional repair and regeneration in vivo. Materials and Methods: Glycomer™ 631, co-polymer of glycolide (60%), trimethylene carbonate (26%) and dioxanone (14%) was dissolved in hexafluoro-isopropanol (HFIP) at 100mg/ml concentration. Using a rotating collector (3000 RPM) anisotropic electro-spun fibres were produced. Human patellar tendon tenocytes were expanded up to passage 3 in DMEM media, supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum and 1% penicillin / streptomycin. 50,000 cells / cm2 were subsequently cultured for up to 28 days under the influence of Carragennan 75 μg/ml (crowder). Fibre orientation and fibre diameter distribution were assessed with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The influence of electro-spun fibres on cell viability and metabolic activity was assessed using Live/Dead® and alamarBlue® assays respectively. Cell morphometric analysis was carried out using DAPI and rhodamine conjugated phalloidin and subsequent image analysis (ImageJ). Tendon specific extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition was assessed with immunocytochemistry. Results: The scaffold obtained by electrospinning Glycomer™ 631 at 3000RPM, is characterised by high degree of alignment, a fibre diameter distributed at the submicron level and adequate mechanical and thermal properties (Figure 1). Macromolecular crowding enhances tendon-specific matrix deposition from cells. This allows the fabrication of an ECM-rich tendon equivalent in vitro, where tenocytes obtain and maintain their physiological bidirectional morphology (Figure 2). Conclusion: These in vitro data indicate that anisotropic electro-spun Glycomer™ 631 scaffolds along with macromolecular crowding provide a suitable microenvironment for tenocyte growth, facilitating the in vitro fabrication of a matrix-rich tendon equivalent. Further mechanical analysis, protein and gene assays and in vivo studies are under way. Irish Research Council

Introduction

Introduction James Marten I’m delighted to introduce this special issue on children and childhood in Ireland. Edited expertly and efficiently by Sarah-Anne Buckley, Marnie Hay, and Ríona Nic Congáil, the articles originated at a conference entitled “Twenty Years A-Growing: An International Conference on the History of Irish Childhood from the Medieval to the Modern Age,” which was held at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin, in June 2014. (The college changed its name to St. Patrick’s Campus, Dublin City University, in 2015.) In addition to the guest editors of this issue, the conference committee consisted of Gaye Ashford, Mary Hatfield, and Jutta Kruse. Support for the conference came from St. Patrick’s College Research Committee, the Irish Research Council, and the Society for the History of Childhood and Youth (through an Outreach Grant). More than fifty scholars from a variety of disciplines participated in the conference. They explored over a thousand years of Irish childhoods through cultural, literary, educational, social, institutional, and transnational lenses. There was also an Irish language strand within the conference, which engaged with themes such as language shift and cultural dislocation among Irish children. The articles in this special issue sample the work of this vibrant community of scholars. You can learn more about their current research and about future events on the “History of Irish Childhood Research Network” (https://irishchildhood.wordpress.com), the website created by the conference organizers. [End Page 193] Copyright © 2016 Johns Hopkins University Press

About This Issue

About This Issue David J. Endres We are pleased to offer these essays on the theme of pilgrimage and migration. U.S. Catholics have long been noted for being “on the move,” migrating from the Old World to the New, from the East to West, from rural to urban America, and from the urban core to the suburbs, among other transitions. These essays highlight their physical and spiritual journeys. We are grateful to our contributors. William S. Cossen is a doctoral candidate in history at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. David J. Endres, in addition to serving as editor of this journal, is academic dean and assistant professor of Church history at the Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. Adrienne Nock Ambrose is assistant professor of religious studies at the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas. Gráinne McEvoy is an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland post-doctoral fellow at Trinity College, Dublin. She is currently preparing a book-length manuscript titled God at the Gates: American Catholic Social Thought and Immigration, 1910–1965. Anita Casavantes Bradford is associate professor of history and Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California Irvine. Brett Hendrickson is assistant professor of religious studies at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Kellie Jean Hogue is a research associate at the American Indian Studies Research Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. [End Page i] Copyright © 2016 The Catholic University of America Press

Managing the Electoral Process: Insights from, and for, Ireland

In this article, we provide an overview of the contributions to this special issue of Irish Political Studies on electoral management practices in Ireland. We document the rationale behind the issue and explore its contribution to our understanding of how elections are operated. We would like to thank the authors in this issue for participating in the Election Institutions and Electoral Integrity workshop at the National University of Ireland in October 2014. We acknowledge their valuable and generous comments on all of the articles in this special issue. The workshop was funded by a grant from the ‘New Foundations’ scheme of the Irish Research Council.

Towards Electrochemical Fabrication of Free-Standing Indium Phosphide Nanofilms

As has been previously described,1-5anodic etching of n-type InP, under certain conditions, leads to the formation of domains of pores beneath an ~40-nm-thick, near-surface layer of dense InP. These domains have a characteristic truncated tetrahedral domain shape – as illustrated in the schematic of Fig. 1a – displaying triangular (01-1) and trapezoidal (011) cross-sections (left and right of schematic, respectively). After extended etching these domains merge together to form a continuous porous layer beneath the dense, near-surface layer of InP. If it were possible to etch the sub surface skeleton of the isolated domains without etching the near-surface layer then a suspended ~40-nm thick InP ceiling would remain above the etched region. A schematic of the structure that would be formed is shown in Fig. 1b. At an elevated temperature InP is chemically etched by H2SO4. We have found that at temperatures above 50°C chemical etching of porous InP using 7.5 mol dm-3 H2SO4results in a large degree of bubbles emanating from the sample surface after a short period of time. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations of the cleaned samples shows that these bubbles corresponded to the rapid etching of the skeleton structure of InP in the porous domains with greater etching time or temperature resulting in further etching of the skeleton structure and significant etching of the near surface layer. Fig. 2 shows an SEM micrograph of a cross-section of triangular voids and the resulting suspended ceilings formed by such chemical etching of two isolated porous domains at a temperature of 70°C. It can be observed that the near-surface layer and the triangular outline of the domains are still intact but that the internal skeleton structures are completely removed. The majority of the isolated triangular voids observed for the experiment shown in Fig. 2 ranged from 350 to 450 nm; i.e. there was no significant etching outside the original domain volumes. Furthermore, measurements of the surface pit diameter for these voids showed diameters of between 40 and 45 nm, which corresponds to only a minor increase from diameters of between 10 and 24 nm prior to etching, verifying that the chemical etching selectively removes the internal skeleton structure of the domains. Such preferential etching could be the result of trapped etch products – either from the electrochemical or chemical etching steps – acting as catalysts for the chemical etch or taking part directly in the etch mechanism. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS R. P. Lynch and N. Quill would like to thank the Irish Research Council (IRC) for PhD scholarships to perform this research. R. P. Lynch acknowledges a joint IRC - Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship under grant no. INSPIRE PCOFUND-GA-2008-229520. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of the Tyndall National Institute through National Access Programme Funding. REFERENCES 1. R. P. Lynch, N. Quill, C. O’Dwyer, S. Nakahara and D. N. Buckley, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 15, 15135-15145 (2013) 2. R. P. Lynch, C. O’Dwyer, N. Quill, S. Nakahara, S.B. Newcomb and D. N. Buckley, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2013, 160, D260 3. N. Quill, R. P. Lynch, C. O’Dwyer and D. N. Buckley, ECS Trans., 2013, 50 (37), 143 4. C. O’Dwyer, D. N. Buckley, D. Sutton, M. Serantoni and S. B. Newcomb, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2007, 154, H78 5. C. O’Dwyer, D. N. Buckley, D. Sutton and S. B. Newcomb, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2006, 153, G1039 Figure 1

Electrochemical Pretreatment of Carbon Fibre Electrodes and Its Effect on the Kinetics of Vanadium Redox Reactions

The practical importance of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) has made the kinetics of the redox reactions at carbon electrodes of great interest. The kinetics of the redox reactions at the positive and negative electrodes have been investigated in flow batteries and three-electrode cells for a range of carbon materials. The reports reveal that the kinetics of these reactions are not fully understood1,2 and discrepancies exist around which half-cell has slower kinetics1–7.Carbon surfaces are, however, very sensitive to changes in their environment which can then alter kinetics at their surfaces.8,9 A variety of investigations have shown either enhancement or inhibition of VII/VIII or VIV/VV kinetic rates by various pretreatments either electrochemical, chemical or thermal. There are, however, apparent disagreements amongst these reports. Pretreatment of electrodes by polarization at either positive or negative potentials has a very significant effect on the kinetic rates of both the VII/VIII or VIV/VV redox reactions. We have found3–5 that pretreatment of various carbon electrodes at positive potentials leads to inhibition of the rates of the VIV/VV reactions but enhancement of the rates of the VII/VIII reactions. Conversely, pretreatment at negative potentials leads to enhancement of the VIV/VV reactions but inhibition of the VII/VIII reactions. We will present results on the effect of electrochemical pretreatment of single carbon fibers extracted from carbon felt. The kinetic rates for both the VII/VIII and VIV/VV couples on these electrodes were measured and compared using linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and current measurements at constant potential. The surface of the carbon fibers after electrochemical treatments was characterized using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These results are directly applicable to the performance of VRFBs which are typically operated using carbon felt electrodes. Acknowledgements The authors wish to acknowledge support from the Irish Research Council (IRC), the National Science Foundation, Sustainable Energy Pathways Program (NSF-1230236), and the IRC-Marie Curie International Mobility Fellowship in Science, Engineering and Technology (grant no. INSPIRE PCOFUND-GA-2008-229520).

Negotiating postcolonial legacies: shifting conservation narratives and residual colonial built heritage in Ireland

Where they evolve in contentious political contexts, conservation and heritage can be framed by competing priorities reflecting collective remembering, cultural politics and identities intertwined with the symbolic representation of the built environment. Drawing on postcolonial experiences in Ireland, this paper explores the shifting representations of built heritage over the post-independence era and the extent that a residual colonial legacy can perform a role in framing contemporary place-making processes. Empirically, we focus on representations emerging within contemporary ‘elite discourses’ - built heritage policy-makers, leading conservation practitioners and civil society conservation groups - to explore how they negotiate this postcolonial context. The research on which this article is based was partly funded by the Irish Research Council through the Graduate Research Education Programme.

Geographic, genetic and life-history variability in a sex-changing fish

Event Abstract Back to Event Geographic, genetic and life-history variability in a sex-changing fish Chiara Benvenuto1* and Stefano Mariani1 1 University of Salford, School of Environment & Life Sciences, United Kingdom Sequential hermaphroditism, commonly referred to as sex change or sex reversal, is a striking phenomenon in mating-system evolution and the most remarkable example of sexual plasticity. Among vertebrates, it is specific to teleosts. Some fish species reproduce initially as females and then change into males (protogynous hermaphrodites) or vice versa (protandrous hermaphrodites). The white sea bream, Diplodus sargus, exhibits a high degree of sexual plasticity: populations have been reported to be gonochoristic, protandrous or digynic (with primary females, derived from intersexual juveniles, and secondary females, derived from males). We analysed populations collected from eight different locations across the species distribution range (between the Mediterranean and the North-Eastern Atlantic). These populations are characterized by different degrees of connectivity, spatial demographics and life histories. Using individual-based analyses, we linked the genetic structure of each specimen with environmental heterogeneity, life-history traits and reproductive modes. Our aim is to gather a better understanding of the variation in reproductive life-history strategies in this sexually plastic species. Diplodus sargus is a valuable candidate organism to investigate sequential hermaphroditism and it also has a commercial value. The application of population genetics tools against the background of life-history theory can bring valuable insights for the management of marine resources. The geographical patterns of sex change (and of age- and size-at-sex change) linked with population genetics can be pivotal for both theoretical investigations and conservation and management plans in marine areas. Acknowledgements Funded by IRCSET (Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology) EMPOWER Fellowship. The authors are grateful to Dr Mercedes González-Wangüemert and Dr Fernando Cánovas García (CCMAR); Dr Paulo Jorge de Sousa Maranhão and Nuno Vasco Rodriguez (IPL); Dr Yann Coupeau (IFREMER); Dr Eva Giacomello, Dr Mirko De Girolamo and Dr Sergio Stefanni (DOP); Dr Ljiljana Iveša (CIM); Dr Alessandro Voliani (ARPAT); Dr Julien Chopelet (UCD) and everyone who made the sample collection possible Keywords: Protandry, Diplodus sargus, Sequential hermaphroditism, population structure, Reproductive strategies Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Life Cycles, Migration and Connectivity Citation: Benvenuto C and Mariani S (2015). Geographic, genetic and life-history variability in a sex-changing fish. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2015.03.00120 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 24 Nov 2015; Published Online: 24 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Chiara Benvenuto, University of Salford, School of Environment & Life Sciences, Salford, M54WT, United Kingdom, c.benvenuto@salford.ac.uk Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani Google Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani Google Scholar Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani PubMed Chiara Benvenuto Stefano Mariani Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Investigation of the Electroless Deposition Process of Magnetic Nanostructures

Magnetic nanostructures can be formed via a variety of preparation methods. The most common of these is electrochemical deposition. However, recently there has been an increased interest in electroless deposition of magnetic nanostructures. Electroless deposition of nanotubes or nanowires requires a template, commonly a porous polycarbonate (PPC) or aluminium oxide membrane. Usually dimethylamine borane or hypophosphite is used to reduce ions such as Ni+2, Co+2, Fe+2 and Cu+2to metals. The use of these reducing agents results in the simultaneous deposition of B or P in the magnetic nanostructures. Although magnetic structures have been deposited previously via electroless deposition a detailed investigation of the deposition process is lacking.Previously we have prepared CoNiFe-B [1] and NiCu-B [2] nanostructures via electroless deposition and investigated their associated magnetic properties. In this work, we use electroless deposition of Ni-B as a model process to study the preparation of nanostructures on a PPC membrane. We obtained Ni-B nanostructures consisting of nanotubes with outer diameter 400 nm and length of 20 μm, connected together by a Ni-B film at both top and base. We have analysed the electroless deposition process using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging at different stages of deposition as shown in insets (i) and (ii) in Fig. 1. The magnetic properties of these nanostructures have also been investigated as shown in Fig. 1.Prior to electroless deposition the membrane is activated by deposition of catalytic palladium nuclei throughout the pores and surface. Initial electroless deposition of Ni-B occurs at these catalytic palladium sites. This results in the formation of Ni-B islands on the membrane surface and along the pore surface as shown in Fig. 1(i). Once initiated the deposition becomes self-sustaining. As deposition continues the islands coalesce together forming a continuous film on the membrane surface and nanotubes within the membrane pores. The membrane is then dissolved with only the Ni-B nanostructure remaining as shown in Fig. 1(ii).We have observed that deposition on the membrane surface occurs at a faster rate than inside the membrane pores. We believe that the lower deposition rate inside the pores is associated with local changes of Ni concentration and pH. The midpoint of the tube axis has the lowest deposition rate and thus here, the tube wall is thinnest. Due to the higher deposition rate on the membrane surface, the nanotubes become closed at both ends before continuous nanowires are formed. If the rate of deposition on the surface is very large the nanotubes can become end-closed before the tube is fully formed.In this study the nanostructure growth is analysed at different deposition rates by varying the concentration, temperature and pH of the deposition bath. By controlling each of these parameters the deposition rate at the surface and the within the pores can be controlled. Modelling of the deposition rate as a function of position along the tube axis is also carried out.The authors would like to acknowledge funding provided by the Irish Research Council (RS/2011/270), New Foundations 2014 and Science Foundation Ireland (12/IP/1692).[1] J.F. Rohan, D.P. Casey, B.M. Ahern, F.M.F Rhen, S. Roy, D. Fleming, S.E. Lawrence, Electrochem. Commun. 10,1419 (2008)[2] D. Richardson, F.M.F. Rhen, IEEE Trans. Magn. Submitted (2014)Figure. 1. Magnetic measurements carried out perpendicular and parallel to the tube axis, of end-closed Ni-B nanotubes after 15 minute electroless deposition at 65 °C at a pH of 9. Inset (i) SEM image of initial Ni-B island deposition at Pd nucleation sites and (ii) Ni-B nanotubes connected with a Ni-B thin film.

Effect of Polarization Pretreatment of Glassy Carbon on the Kinetics of the Redox Reactions in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) are a promising technology to meet energy storage requirements for large scale and remote area applications.1 Flow batteries offer a long cycle-life2and the energy capacity can be scaled separately from the power capacity. This design flexibility makes them suitable for a wide range of applications. VRFBs have the additional advantage of having the same element on both sides of the membrane which eliminates cross-contamination issues that arise in mixed-element flow batteries. As a result electrolyte maintenance issues are reduced; in theory, the electrolyte is indefinitely reusable.In a VRFB the electroactive species are dissolved in the electrolyte. The electrode reactions may be written as:V3+ + e- ↔ V2+ VO2+ + H2O ↔ VO2 + + 2H+ + e- The negative half-cell reaction appears to be a simple one-electron transfer reaction while the positive half-cell reaction appears to involve bond breaking. Thus the kinetics would be expected to be faster at the negative electrode than at the positive. However, in actual flow cells, the overpotential is much larger at the negative electrode than at the positive.3 The detailed kinetics of the redox processes occurring at the positive and negative electrode in a VRFB are not well established in the literature and there is some disagreement between results obtained on various substrates at fixed and rotating disk electrodes.4-11 As part of an investigation of the kinetics of electrode processes in VRFBs, we have examined the kinetics of the VO2+/VO2 + and V2+/V3+ couples on glassy carbon electrodes. We have found that polarization pretreatment of glassy carbon has an effect on the activity of the surface for oxidation and reduction of the VO2+/VO2 + and V2+/V3+ couples. When glassy carbon electrodes are pretreated by polarization at potentials more positive than 0.5 V (sat. Hg/Hg2SO4) they are subsequently less active for oxidation of VO2+ and reduction of VO2 +. The activity of the electrode is recovered by polarization at negative potentials.11 However, when glassy carbon electrodes are pretreated by polarization at potentials more positive than 0.5 V (sat. Hg/Hg2SO4) they are subsequently more active for oxidation of V2+ and reduction of V3+. The electrode can be deactivated by polarization pretreatment at negative potentials.The results of this investigation will be presented and discussed. Acknowledgements A. Bourke wishes to thank the Irish Research Council (IRC) for a postgraduate scholarship to perform this research. References C. Ponce de León, A. Frías-Ferrer, J. González-García, D. A. Szánto and F. C. Walsh, J. Power Sources, 160, 716, (2006)N. Tokuda, T. Kanno, T. Hara, T. Shigematsu, Y. Tsutsui, A. Ikeuchi, T. Itou, T. Kumamoto, SEI Tech. Rev., p.88-94 (2000)Z. Tang, D.S. Aaron, A.B. Papandrew and T.A. Zawodzinski, Jr., ECS Trans., 41 (23), 1 (2012)G. Oriji, Y. Katayama, T. Miura, J. Power Sources., 139, (2005)E. Sum, M. Rychcik, M. Skyllas-Kazacos, J. Power Sources., 16, (1985).T. Yamamura, N. Watanabe, T. Yano, Y. Shiokawa, J. Electrochem. Soc., 152, 4 (2005)M. P. Manahan, Q. H. Liu, M. L. Gross, M. M. Mench, J. Power Sources., 222, 498-502 (2013)M. Gattrell, J. Park, B. MacDougall, J. Apte, S. McCarthy, and C. W. Wu., J. Electrochem. Soc., 151, 1 (2004)Ch. Fabjan, J. Garche, B. Harrer, L. Jörissen, C. Kolbeck, F. Philippi, G. Tomazic, F. Wagner, Electrochim. Acta, 47, 825 (2001)X. Wu, T. Yamamura, S. Ohta, Q. Zhang, F. Lv, C. Liu, K. Shirasaki, I. Satoh, T. Shikama, D. Lu, S. Liu, J. Applied Electrochemistry, 41, 10 (2011)A. Bourke, R. P. Lynch, D. N. Buckley, ECS Trans, 53 (30) 59-67 (2013)

Ordered 2D Colloidal Photonic Crystals on Gold Substrates by Surfactant‐Assisted Fast‐Rate Dip Coating

EA and MO acknowledge the support of the Irish Research Council under awards RS/2010/2920 and RS/2010/2170. WK and CMST acknowledge support from the Spanish National I+D Plan projects TAPHOR (MAT-2012–31392) and CONSOLIDER nanoTHERM (CSD2010–00044). COD acknowledges support from Science Foundation Ireland under award no. 07/SK/B1232a-STTF11, the UCC Strategic Research Fund, and from the Irish Research Council New Foundations Award.

Harry White & Barra Boydell (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland

Over ten years in the making, the Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland ( EMIR), is one of the many projects made possible by the Irish-American businessman Chuck Feeney, and notably co-funded by the Irish Research Council. Inspired by the 1980 New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, and the 1981 Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, it aims at being “the first comprehensive attempt to chart Irish musical life across recorded history”, and was edited by two of ...

Associative concept learning, stimulus equivalence, and relational frame theory: working out the similarities and differences between human and nonhuman behavior

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of BehaviorVolume 101, Issue 1 p. 156-160 Theoretical Review with Commentary & Reply Associative concept learning, stimulus equivalence, and relational frame theory: working out the similarities and differences between human and nonhuman behavior Sean Hughes, Corresponding Author Sean Hughes Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, IrelandAddress correspondence to Sean Hughes or Dermot Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland (E-mail: sean.hughes@nuim.ie or dermot.barnes-holmes@nuim.ie).Search for more papers by this authorDermot Barnes-Holmes, Corresponding Author Dermot Barnes-Holmes Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, IrelandAddress correspondence to Sean Hughes or Dermot Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland (E-mail: sean.hughes@nuim.ie or dermot.barnes-holmes@nuim.ie).Search for more papers by this author Sean Hughes, Corresponding Author Sean Hughes Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, IrelandAddress correspondence to Sean Hughes or Dermot Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland (E-mail: sean.hughes@nuim.ie or dermot.barnes-holmes@nuim.ie).Search for more papers by this authorDermot Barnes-Holmes, Corresponding Author Dermot Barnes-Holmes Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland Maynooth, IrelandAddress correspondence to Sean Hughes or Dermot Barnes-Holmes, National University of Ireland Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland (E-mail: sean.hughes@nuim.ie or dermot.barnes-holmes@nuim.ie).Search for more papers by this author First published: 19 November 2013 https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.60Citations: 29 This paper was funded by a Government of Ireland fellowship from the Irish Research Council to the first author. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume101, Issue1January 2014Pages 156-160 RelatedInformation

FRI0592-HPR Relationship between energy expenditure and inflammatory markers linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

BackgroundIt has recently come to light that the increased mortality risk in the RA population is related to increased CVD risk. The key feature explaining the increased CVD risk in...