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On (not) becoming machine: countering algorithmic thinking through digital performance art
No full textRegular engagement with technologies through habit enables these to infiltrate our lives as we are constituted through our machines. This provocation underpins the digital performance art works Ghost Work and Friction , which involve creative repurposing of everyday digital technologies as poetic operations, presenting an embodiment of algorithms that engages with their performativity. The execution of these performance algorithms are interventions into data collection, crafting feminist fabulations in the algorithmic empire of what Couldry and Mejias refer to as data colonialism. Using methods of data feminism in conjunction with Hui's philosophy of technology, these performances cultivate aesthetic experiences that are multifaceted instances of data visceralization. Ghost work and Friction use artistic idioms thick with meaning, reflexively engaging with processes of contingency and recursivity present in human-technological relations. The resulting digital performances are aesthetic experiences that are affective and ambivalent, introducing alternative logics to hegemonic algorithmic thinking that emphasizes extraction and optimization
A Robust Demand Regulation Strategy for DERs in a Single-Controllable Active Distribution Network
No full textOver the past decade, PQ regulation schemes for a single-controllable active distribution network (ADN) using coordination among a network of virtual synchronous generators (VSGs) have been proposed. However, considering the variable nature of intermittent renewable energy sources (IRESs), coupling a cluster of IRESs with the point of common coupling (PCC) of ADN could inflict transient issues for the power management of the whole ADN. To counter these challenges, the proposed study has three main objectives: 1) To propose a modified mathematical model that represents the apparent resistance-reactance at the PCC of ADN in relation to the PQ coordination among the network of VSGs; 2) to utilize the proposed model for deriving a μ synthesis-based robust controller that overcomes the uncertainty in the moment of inertia response of all the VSGs; 3) and to present the stability and performance analysis of the proposed controller validated under model uncertainty. Validation of the proposed method and its comparison to the state-of-the-art methods in MATLAB/Simulink environment confirms that the proposed method significantly minimizes the impact of disturbances on the power management of the whole ADN
Res et Sacramentum: An Ontological Understanding of the Sign and Reality in Sacraments and Its Relevance
No full textThis research is based on identifying the structure of the sacramental economy as
communicative. God communicates and the believer responds, with a response which
involves a personal effort and a free will. This response, in turn, becomes the basis of the
communicative process involved in a sacrament. Yet, in order to enter into this dialogue,
one certainly needs to know the language of the sacrament, a language which goes
beyond the verbal to involve signs and symbols, along with verbal expressions or the
Word of Faith, as well as bodily language or the gestures. These sacramental rituals or
celebrations are actions which are transformed into symbolic actions. The Catechism of
the Catholic Church teaches that these symbolic actions are already a language which is
accompanied by the Word of God and the response of faith in order to give life to the
faithful.
Therefore, this research is in relation to the communicative dimension of the sacraments
that produce fruits or brings in the ultimate reality, the grace in a believer’s life. This
thesis, by revisiting the history of sacramental theology, seeks a new perspective on the
fruitfulness of the sacraments. This is done by exploring the communicative aspects of the
three dimensions of the sacraments as conceived by the medieval sacramental theology:
i) the sacramentum tantum: the ritual, ii) the res et sacramentum: The first effect of the
sacrament, which is both sign and reality and iii) the res tantum: the grace or the ultimate
reality conferred by the sacrament.
The three aspects of the sacraments do have a major role in establishing a communication
between the individual participating in the sacrament and the Creator. Thus, a greater
exploration of these aspects is imperative to understand the efficacy of the sacraments and
experiencing their fruits in one’s life. This thesis aims to establish how this dynamics
function and develop in the sacramental world, especially examining from an historical
and theological point of view the role of the middle aspect, res et sacramentum and the
dialogical reality it forms bringing in the fruitfulness of the sacrament
Lawful, but not Really: The Dual Character of the Concept of Law
No full textDisagreement on law’s relationship to morality has long been driven by disagreement about our ordinary concept. Until recently, however, there had been no systematic investigation of lay intuitions. In this paper, we advance this nascent effort. Across two studies (N = 697), our findings reveal that most people consider law to be more than a matter of political circumstance alone. Contrary to the expectations of most contemporary philosophers, morality (both substantive and procedural) emerges as a key influence on judgments of legal validity: many people say that conduct prohibited by immoral statutes is not truly illegal, and that immoral conduct which was never explicitly prohibited is truly illegal. This suggests that people often treat law as a dual character concept that, like the concepts of scientist or of artist, features autonomous concrete and abstract dimensions
Decolonising Medieval Irish Studies
No full textThis short article reviews some of the colonial underpinnings of the field of Medieval Irish Studies (a subdiscipline of Celtic Studies), using the career of Whitley Stokes (1830–1909) as a case study in the entanglements between British colonial activity in India and the development of philological research on medieval Irish literature in the 19th century. It then proceeds to use autoethnographic reflections from graduate students in the field of Medieval Irish Studies whose backgrounds locate them at various intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class. These reflections offer constructive pathways toward working to decolonise the discipline
Irish experiences in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars a quantitative analysis of Irish military service in the regular army 1808 to 1815
No full textThe French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars (1792-1815) resulted in the first truly mass
mobilisation of European manpower. The campaigns fought by the British Army during the
period 1808-15 were among the most strategically important of the wars for Great Britain and
resulted in the expansion of the regular army to a peak of 230,469 men by 1813.1 This placed
a significant strain on the British state’s manpower resources and resulted in the large-scale
recruitment of Irish men into the regular army, directly impacting many communities across
Ireland.
While research has been conducted into the mobilisation of British society to meet the
demands of ‘total’ war, research within an Irish context has been limited.2 Irish military
service during this period has been viewed primarily through the perspective of the Irish
militia and yeomanry, with service in the regular army generally considered within the
context of the ‘Irish’ regiments of the British Army. This narrow focus has resulted in an
under-appreciation of the extent of Irish manpower mobilised by the British state for the
defeat of Napoleonic France. Furthermore, it has marginalised or omitted important
participants in the historical narrative of the Irish military experience, namely Irish women
and children. And finally, it has unintentionally restricted research into the wider impacts on
the political, economic, and social relationship between Ireland and Great Britain. This
research will address these gaps in the historiography of Irish military service by examining
Irish experiences across all regiments of the regular army between 1808 and 1815.
The research methodology employed differs significantly from those of other studies
of Irish military service during this period as it is based on the quantifiable analysis of data
from the military records. Two databases were constructed using biographical details from
military service records of enlisted men and officers. A database of 1,913 Irish enlisted men
from 45 cavalry and infantry regiments provides unique insights into these men’s social
backgrounds and their experiences in the regular army. A second database of 9,378 regular
army officers facilitates comparative analysis of the experiences of Irish officers against their
English and Scottish colleagues. A third database of 217 regiments and battalions allows for
the analysis, by regiment and rank, of the country of birth of 141,527 English, Scottish and
Irish enlisted men who served in the regular army. Quantifiable analysis is also conducted on
the military records relating to the experiences of thousands of Irish women and children in all
regiments of the British Army during the period. This is a new departure for the historiography of early nineteenth century Irish society by placing Irish military experiences
during the Napoleonic wars within the broader Anglo/Irish political, social and economic
narrative of the period.
Analysis of the databases demonstrates that Irish manpower was critical to enabling
the British state to prosecute the war in a sustained manner in terms of the numbers of officers
and enlisted men serving across all regiments of the regular army. Arising from the scale of
Irish recruitment, military service in the regular army impacted Irish society in more ways
than previously understood. Men from every parish, town and city in Ireland enlisted in the
regular army. Irish women and children accompanied their menfolk and were a significant
presence across all regiments of the regular army. This research also addresses important
aspects of Irish military service such as religion, welfare, education, discipline and the
relationship with military authority, promotion, and transnational experiences. Addressing the
topic of Irish military service in a more comprehensive manner utilising empirical based
analysis is the focus of this research. It is intended that this will facilitate new perspectives of
the relationship between the British Army and the British state with Irish society during this
period and in the following decades
On the expanded repertoire of fungal siderophore utilisation following chemoderivatisation.
No full textDue to a lack of novel antimicrobial development amongst other issues, antimicrobial
resistance (AMR) has been flagged as one of the major threats to human health by the
World Health Organisation. For Aspergillus fumigatus, a lack of specific and sensitive
diagnostic assays increases the risk of the pathogen further. This thesis poses that the
chemoderivatisation of siderophores, iron chelating molecules produced by
microorganisms in response to iron starvation, could be used to develop novel
antimicrobial treatments and diagnostic assays. Siderophore Trojan horse molecules
are known to improve the uptake of antimicrobial compounds. An A. fumigatus
secondary metabolite, gliotoxin (GT) is known to be an antimicrobial toxin, but is also
cytotoxic. GT was modified and conjugated to an A. fumigatus siderophore,
diacetylfusarinine C (FeDAFC), for use as an antimicrobial. A. fumigatus siderophores
were further exploited for their diagnostic potential. Ferricrocin (FeFC) was used as a
hapten and conjugated to a carrier-protein for immunisation. The resulting antisera
was screened for antibodies against FeFC. Antibodies previously developed against
Triacetylfusarinine C (FeTAFC) using a hapten immunogen strategy were used to
develop a one-step ELISA for the detection of FeTAFC in urine, with high specificity.
This antibody was then shown to have antifungal properties against A. fumigatus due
to the binding of FeTAFC, which is essential for its growth and virulence, preventing
uptake of the siderophore. A recombinant esterase, rEstB, for the breakdown of
FeTAFC was produced and shown to have activity against FeTAFC, with the hope of
development as a crop antimicrobial. Finally, a plant derived compound, celastrol,
which has been linked to preventing the production of A. fumigatus siderophores, with
coincubation with the novel compound ADL2022, was shown to have antimicrobial
effects even under iron-replete conditions and to have a significant impact on the
proteome of A. fumigatus
Book review: The Making of a Left-Behind Class Educational Stratification, Meritocracy and Widening Participation by Fred Powell, Margaret Scanlon, Patrick Leahy, Hilary Jenkinson and Olive Byrne
No full textThe abstract is included in the text
Digital twins and their potential use in democratising urban futures.
No full textThe abstract is included in the text
Revisiting excitation force estimation in WECs: On the (mis)use of structure-based estimation approaches
No full textWave excitation force (torque) estimators, vital in wave energy systems, generally combine the nominal
representation of a wave energy converter (WEC) with an excitation force (perturbation) model. Thus, this
model-based estimation approach, grounded in the internal model principle, often employs two perturbation
models: (i) the harmonic oscillator structure, prevalent in literature, assuming sinusoidal signals; and (ii) the
integrator (random walk) scheme, assuming unit step-like signals. These models comprehensively represent
a specific family of estimators, as discussed in this study. However, both models may struggle to capture
the irregular (stochastic) nature of ocean waves. This study challenges the prevailing assumption that the
harmonic oscillator structure, selected for its resemblance to ocean wave oscillations, is inherently the optimal
choice. This study provides a rigorous discussion on convergence conditions. Thus, is shown that, while the
harmonic oscillator can be highly effective under specific conditions, the random walk structure, despite
its simplicity, can surpass the performance of the harmonic oscillator scheme. Formal proofs support this
argument, emphasising the effectiveness of the harmonic oscillator can be guaranteed with periodic signals