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Open-access journal Aquatic Invasions: an important part of the developing European information and early warning system on invasive alien species
Get PDFAquatic Invasions is considered as an example of an effective information sharing tool, currently helping to increase prompt reporting of records of new invasive species threatening European biodiversity
Understanding and responding to the emotional challenge of working in residential child care settings: the case for staff support groups
Get PDFThis paper considers why residential child care settings can be emotionally demanding for practitioners and examines how staff support groups can help practitioners to recognise and address these demands. The paper justifies the need for team members to regularly meet together with a trained and independent facilitator to reflect on their work-related perceptions, reactions and experiences. The paper concludes by offering some reflections on what it was like to be a participant in a staff support group and reflects on the relevance of such groups for residential child care practitioners working in the group care environment
Waste management in Ireland: the potential lessons to be learnt from Europe
Get PDFThe management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Ireland is currently in a transitional phase. It\ud
is possible that Ireland can capitalise on its late-mover status and emanate European examples.\ud
However as the literature review explores, there is deep disagreement in Ireland over the\ud
technological approach to waste disposal, particularly in relation to whether the country should\ud
progress Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) or Incineration.\ud
Through the use of case studies, the waste treatment methods of various European countries are\ud
explored. The countries examined by case study are Sweden, Germany, The Netherland and\ud
Denmark.\ud
The main treatment techniques utilised in these countries are incineration and biological treatment.\ud
Germany also has a strong MBT presence. Germany has been the principal developer of MBT\ud
technology in the world and has been utilising this technology since 2001. These countries have\ud
employed a variety o f initiatives which Ireland can emanate.\ud
It was recommended as a result of this paper’s findings, that the Irish waste management system\ud
build on the established treatment methods. This includes expanding the biological treatment sector\ud
and utilising the SRF output from existing small MBT plants in Ireland. While incineration will\ud
come on line in summer 2011, it is necessary to adhere to the Waste Hierarchy. Accordingly MBT\ud
technology is preferred over Incineration. While incineration may be necessary in Ireland it must be\ud
strictly controlled. Taxes should be altered appropriately to reflect the waste hierarchy.\ud
Due to the economic climate, the Irish government should also consider partial privatisation of the\ud
waste management industry. This would promote investment in technologies and research and\ud
development. Awareness regarding waste management should be entered into the primary\ud
curriculum to ensure that future generations are informed.\ud
In conclusion it is necessary for Ireland to build on the technologies existing in the country whilst\ud
also integrating incineration. Strict controls and limits on volumes should be imposed on incineration\ud
facilities so as to adhere with the Waste Hierarchy. Privatisation should be considered to further\ud
expand the industry and develop the biological treatment market. Future study on this topic would be\ud
beneficial, such as examining in detail a recent late-mover in this field to aid in the development of\ud
the Irish waste sector
Application of systems simulation for predicting and optimizing energy requirements for a HDF moulded door skin manufacturing production plant
Get PDFIn today’s straggling economy, manufacturing companies make a great effort to\ud
maintain their competitive advantage. Daily they face challenges o f improving\ud
efficiency and reducing cost. In order to survive in this rough environment, tough\ud
decisions need to be taken. The major challenge that most manufacturing companies\ud
face consists in reducing their energy consumption, as this represents one o f their\ud
major costs. The highly automated production plants are usually equipped with the\ud
latest energy monitoring systems which capture the energy consumption throughout\ud
the entire company. These systems produce high quantities o f data that most o f the\ud
time is very difficult and costly to analyse. This is the first major challenge\ud
companies face. Looking at this data, the plants’ engineers can get a rough\ud
understanding o f where the major energy losses occur and they can come up with\ud
solutions. The next tough challenge consists in calculating the return on each project\ud
that can be implemented. This requires an in depth analysis that takes time and\ud
money to perform. Simulation is one o f the technologies that can represent a solution\ud
to these problems.\ud
Even though simulation has been used so far in manufacturing facilities for\ud
modelling supply chain management, production management and business\ud
processes, its applications in managing the energy consumption within\ud
manufacturing companies represents a new and innovative research domain. This\ud
prompted the research undertaken for the present thesis. The main focus o f this\ud
research is to analyse production management in a manufacturing facility and\ud
correlate it with the energy consumption. The research initially concentrates on\ud
different simulation methodologies and their application in the current\ud
manufacturing space. Literature relating to the correlation o f energy consumption\ud
with production management has also been reviewed. This review identified very\ud
few previous instances o f where simulation tools where used to predict the energy\ud
consumption in a manufacturing facility. This research brings a novel approach to\ud
investigating the adaptability o f industrial simulation processes and tools for\ud
modelling the energy consumption with respect to a variable production output. The\ud
end result o f this process consists in a better understanding o f the production system\ud
and the energy loses which were incorporated in the simulation model.\ud
The simulation model was validated using real world data collected from Masonite -\ud
the case study company. This was closely followed by the creation o f different\ud
scenarios that were analysed and which predicted a lowering in the energy\ud
consumption that could reach over 9%
Polish immigrants in Ireland's black economy: a phenomenological investigation
Get PDFThe purpose of this thesis is to answer the research question ‗why do some Polish migrants engage in shadow employment in the Republic of Ireland?‘ The individual and group interviews, which were conducted in August 2011 with thirteen Polish migrants, living and working in Ireland, generated the answer to the research question. Interviewees‘ responses were analysed from the point of view of the literature that examines the various factors within the topics of migration and the black economy.\ud
The thesis begins with theoretical background information regarding the enlargement of the European Union and the economic situation of Poland and Ireland. Then migration theories are explained and Polish and Irish migration history is presented. Next, the issue of the black economy and shadow employment is developed with a focus on its presence in Poland and Ireland. The following section is dedicated to the research methodology that was adopted to ensure effective collection of the information. The issues of the qualitative and quantitative research, phenomenological approach to the research and interviews as data collection are raised in that section. The last part of the thesis is based on an analysis of the respondents‘ statements. It explores interviewees‘ experience of life and work in Ireland. The main part of that section develops the reasons why do Polish workers engage in shadow employment in the Republic of Ireland. Simultaneously, it provides the answers to the research question of this thesis
An investigation into how renewable energy can be successfully integrated into the Irish electrical transmission system
Get PDFPolicy makers worldwide are currently promoting the use of renewable energy sources as concerns over global climate change continues to grow. These resources are substantial, and in particular wind energy, which could in theory supply all of the electricity demand of the US and northern Europe, whilst also acting as a means of meeting emissions reduction targets. However, these resources are by no means perfect as their intermittent character presents formidable barriers to their utilisation on the scale required by a modem industrial economy. The integration of increasing levels of renewable power, mainly wind, combined with the deregulation of electricity markets have resulted in some unconventional operation of base load units. These units have been designed to operate continuously and are therefore not suitable for flexible or cycling operation which results in a physical degradation of the unit’ s components and increased costs for the plants operators.\ud
In contrast, the combination of a wind energy generator and energy storage possess the potential to produce a source of electricity that is functionally equivalent to a base load coal or combined cycle gas turbine power plant without the aforementioned increased operational and maintenance costs.\ud
In this paper a model was developed to assess the impact of combining wind generation and dedicated large scale energy storage to form a base load wind energy system capable of providing the base load required by Ireland. In order to complete such as assessment, the impact of the proposed system on the conventional thermal plant mix, demand profile and net load of a power system are presented. Additionally, the benefits and savings of such a system including the fuel savings and emissions benefits are highlighted
A case study analysis of the employee voice mechanisms utilised within a unionized SME
Get PDFUsing a case study approach, this thesis will seek to identify the employee voice mechanisms utilized within a unionized SME. The employee voice mechanisms in place will then be analyzed in terms of how effectively they are in providing employees with an input into\ud
decisions made within the organization. The perspectives’ of both management and employees will be utilized for this purpose
An explaratory study on the relationship between Employee innovation and the rewards systems supporting innovation ; a case study of Medtronic Galway
Get PDFThe aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship between innovation and reward system supporting innovation. The empirical evidence came from a case study in Medtronic, Galway, a medical device company. This study incorporates the literature surrounding innovation and rewards and will attempt to identify a link both theoretically and practically between both
In search of a language textile and text in contemporary women's art
Get PDFThis research uses the textile/text axis concept as a conceptual tool to investigate the role of textile and text in contemporary women’s art practice and theorizing, investigating textile as a largely hitherto unacknowledged element in women’s art practice of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Textile and text share a common etymological root, from the Latin textere\ud
to weave, textus a fabric. The thesis illuminates the pathways whereby textile and text played an important role in women reclaiming a speaking voice as creators of culture and signification during a revolutionary period of renewal in women’s cultural contribution and positioning. The methodological approach used in the research consisted of a comprehensive literature review, the compilation of an inventory of relevant women artists, developing a classificatory system differentiating types of approaches, concerns and concepts underpinning women’s art practice vis a vis the\ud
textile/text axis and a series of three in-depth case studies of artists Tracey Emin, Louise Bourgeois and Faith Ringgold. The thesis points to the fact that contemporary women artists and theorists have rounded their art practice and aesthetic discourse in textile as prime visual metaphor and signifier, turning towards the ancient language of textile not merely to reclaim a speaking voice but to occupy a ground breaking locus of signification and representation in contemporary culture. The textile/text axis facilitated women artists in powerfully countering a culturally inscribed status of Lacanian ‘no-woman’ (a position of abjection, absence and lack in the phallocentric symbolic). Turning towards a language of aeons, textile as fertile wellspring, the thesis identifies the methodologies and strategies whereby women artists have inserted their webs of subjectivities and\ud
deepest concerns into the records and discourses of contemporary culture. Presenting \ud
an anatomy of the textile/text axis, the thesis identifies nine component elements manifesting in contemporary women’s aesthetic practice and discourse. In this cultural renaissance, the textile/text axis, the thesis suggests, served as a complex lexicon, a system of labyrinthine references and signification, a site of layered meanings and ambiguities, a body proxy and a corporeal cartography, facilitating a revolution in\ud
women’s aesthetic praxis
Electronic learning methods compared to face to face learning.
Get PDFElectronic learning or e-leaning is becoming increasingly popular. With the increasing emphasize on the benefits of E-leaning. Does this mean that e-leaning is a system lacking in any limitations? This paper sets out in discussing some of the limitations of e-leaning, in particular related with technologies, personal issues, comparison with traditional “ face to face” learning, design issues, and other issues. A cross-reference is done with referring to some existing research works about the limitations of e-leaning. In regard to existing research works, it would seem that e-leaning is not suitable for individuals without the self-discipline required to complete all tasks independently. In addition, it would seem that e-leaners should receive some type of e-leaning training prior to enrolment to avoid any difficulties, especially for individuals without much ICT background