NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Cost assessment of alternative fuels for maritime transportation in Ireland
No full textIn this study, we investigated the cost-effectiveness of four alternatives: Liquified Natural Gas
(LNG), methanol, green hydrogen, and green ammonia, for the case of top 20 most frequently
calling ships to Irish ports in 2019, through the Net Present Value (NPV) methodology, incor-
porating the benefits incurred through saved external, carbon tax and conventional fuel costs.
LNG had the highest NPV (€6,166 million), followed by methanol (€1,705 million) and green
hydrogen (€319 million). Green ammonia utilisation (as a hydrogen carrier) looks inviable due to
higher operational costs, resulting from its excessive consumption (i.e., losses) during the
cracking and purifying processes and its lower net calorific value. Green hydrogen remains the
best option to meet future decarbonisation targets, although, a further reduction in its current fuel
price (by 60%) or a significant increment in the proposed carbon tax rate (by 275%) will be
required to improve its cost-competitiveness over LNG and methanol
Extending alliance management capability in individual alliances in the post-formation stage
No full textStrategic alliances are increasingly important to firms, yet many alliances do not achieve their goals. This lack of
success can be attributed to poor mitigation of risks related to performance and to managing relationships.
Current conceptualizations of the capability to manage the post-formation stage of alliances overly focus on
mitigation of relationship management risks, and as a result do not fully address both types of risks. We draw on
Social Exchange theory, the Resource Based View and Transactions Costs Economics to extend the conceptual-
ization of alliance management capability (AMC) by adding specific justice-related activities and resource
management skills to the extant conceptualizations. We focus our attention on the post formation stage. We test
our hypotheses using a sample of 154 Indian firms engaged in strategic alliances in the IT industry and we find
support for our extended conceptualization of AMC and a strong positive association with alliance performance.
We also demonstrate that our extended conceptualization provides additional explanatory power in relation to
alliance performance than the original AMC. Implications for managers and opportunities for future research are
explored
The hows and whys of foreign operation mode combinations: The role of knowledge processes
No full textDespite evidence that firms often combine more than one operation mode in a foreign market and that these
mode combinations change over time, this phenomenon remains understudied. Drawing on the knowledge-based
view, in this process study we explore how and why foreign operation mode combinations change over time. We
build on a longitudinal case study, spanning 21 years of a firm’s development in three Latin American countries,
to identify and analyse four different mode combinations. Our findings show how operation modes are combined
to enable several knowledge processes simultaneously, and that these combinations change in response to
changing knowledge needs
Tropical Indian Ocean basin hydroclimate at the Mid- to Late-Holocene transition and the double drying hypothesis
No full textThe spatial pattern of Holocene climate anomalies is crucial to determining the mechanisms of change, distinguishing between unforced and forced climate variability, and understanding potential impacts on past and future human societies. The 4.2 ka event is often regarded as one of the largest and best documented abrupt climate disturbances of the Holocene. Yet outside the data-rich Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, the global pattern of climate anomalies is uncertain. In this study we investigate the spatial and temporal variability of the tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate at the Mid- to Late-Holocene transition. We conducted Monte-Carlo principal component analysis, considering full age uncertainty, on ten high-resolution, precisely dated paleohydroclimate records from around the tropical Indian Ocean basin, all growing continuously or almost continuously between 5 and 3 kyr BP. The results indicate the dominant mode of variability in the region was a drying between 3.97 kyr BP (±0.08 kyr standard error) and 3.76 kyr BP (±0.07 kyr standard error) with dry conditions lasting for an additional 300 years in some records, and a permanent change in others. This drying in PC1, which we interpret as a proxy of summer monsoon variability, fits with a previously recognised tropic wide change in hydroclimate around 4.0 kyr BP. An abrupt event from 4.2 to 3.9 kyr BP is seen locally in individual records but lacks regional coherence.
A lack of apparent 4.2 ka event in tropical Indian Ocean hydroclimate has ramifications for climate variability in the Indus valley, and for the Harappan civilization. Through a comparison of existing Indian subcontinent paleoclimate records, upstream climatic variability in the Indian Summer Monsoon and winter Westerly Disturbances source regions, and modern climatology, we present the “Double Drying hypothesis”. A winter rainfall drying between 4.2 and 3.9 kyr BP was followed by a summer rainfall drying between 3.97 kyr BP and at least 3.4 kyr BP. The Double Drying hypothesis provides more detailed climatic context for the Harappan civilization, resolves the cropping paradox, and fits the spatial-temporal pattern of urban abandonment. The consequences for the new Mid- to Late-Holocene Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point in a stalagmite from Meghalaya are explored
Conditional Contact Angle Distribution in LEO Satellite-Relayed Transmission
No full textThis letter characterizes the contact angle distribution based on the condition that the relay low earth orbit (LEO) satellite is in the communication range of both the ground transmitter and the ground receiver. As one of the core distributions in stochastic geometry-based routing analysis, the analytical expression of the Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of the conditional contact angle is derived. Furthermore, the conditional contact angle is applied to analyze the inaccessibility of common satellites between the ground transmitter and receiver. Finally, with the help of the conditional contact angle, coverage probability and achievable data rate in LEO satellite-relayed transmission are studied
Stochastic Analysis of Cooperative Satellite-UAV Communications
No full textThis paper considers a dual-hop cooperative satellite-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication system including a satellite (S) and a group of cluster headers (CHs) which are respectively with a group of uniformly distributed UAVs. Specifically, the CHs serve as aerial decode-and-forward relays to forward the information transmitted by the S to the UAVs. Moreover, free-space optical (FSO) and radio frequency (RF) technologies are respectively adopted over S-CH and CH-UAV links to exploit the high directivity of FSO over long-distance transmission and the omnidirectional coverage ability of RF. The positions of the CHs in the three-dimensional space follow the Matérn hard-core point processes type-II, in which each CH cannot be closer to another by less than a predefined distance. Three different cases over CH-UAV links are considered during the performance modeling: interference-free, interference-dominated, and interference-and-noise. Then, the coverage performance of the S-CH link and the CH-UAV link in the aforementioned three cases is studied and the closed-form analytical expressions of the coverage probability (CP) over both two links are derived. Additionally, the asymptotic expressions for the CP over S-CH link and CH-UAV link in the interference-free case are derived. Finally, numerical results are provided to validate our proposed analytical models and thus some meaningful conclusions are achieved
Discipline, abjection, and poverty alleviation through entrepreneurship: A constitutive perspective
No full textCollective entrepreneurship has been found to alleviate extreme poverty by helping poor in-
dividuals integrate into their societies and overcome their multiple intertwined liabilities. We
complement this line of inquiry by exploring the conditions under which group structures may
instead reinforce economic and gendered poverty constraints.
We conducted grounded-theoretical interviews with 104 women entrepreneurs operating in
farming cooperatives and non-farm groups in war-torn South-West Cameroon. Analysing our data
through a constitutive lens, we found that discipline, the extent to which rules determine and
control individual behaviours, helps poor women overcome extreme economic constraints but
prevents them from attaining prosperity and emancipation
The Almost People: A framework proposal for the balancing of legal interests in the age of social robots.
No full textRobots, which were seen as gimmicks in science fiction stories until not so long
ago, have already crossed into reality. Thanks to the ever-growing autonomy of robots
and ever-expanding variety of roles assigned to them, they are becoming more integrated
into the ordinary course of everyday life. With the advent of social robots that can engage
human beings on personal levels, for the first time, non-human entities are emerging as
social interaction partners. In that regard, from the legal perspective, it is no longer
possible to treat them as mere tools.
The autonomy of robots is expected to have significant impacts on various
interests recognised by the legal principles that underlie existing legal instruments.
However, almost none of the existing legal instruments were developed in consideration
of the implications of robots' emerging roles as independent social actors. On explaining
the inadequacy of existing legal instruments, I outline the prospect of a paradigm shift in
the law's approach to human-robot social interactions.
A comparative analysis of German, Italian, and Irish legal systems -selected to
represent the EU's diverse legal families- demonstrates that robots' autonomous
behaviours and emerging roles as social interaction partners are likely to undermine the
legal principles expressed most notably in the domains of private law (contract law and
tort law) and criminal law. The conceptual deconstruction of existing legal instruments
offered by these domains reveals that legal systems overlook the characteristics of social
robots that set them apart from other artefacts, namely, their relative autonomy and social
agency. These distinctive characteristics allow robots to perform unpredictable
behaviours and to prompt human beings they interact with to anthropomorphise them.
Overlooking these characteristics diminishes the adequacy of existing legal instruments
Ultimately, I conclude that the shortcomings of contemporary legal systems can
be overcome by creating a new, unified legal framework that would enable the law to
respond to the legal implications of robot autonomy and the phenomenon of robot
anthropomorphism
A Holistic Classroom: Integrating Religious Education and Social, Personal and Health Education for the Holistic Development of the child.
No full textThe purpose of this action research project was to explore how I can change and develop my practice to create a holistic learning environment in my classroom for the well-being of the child. The research was conducted in a co-educational urban school in Dublin with Catholic patronage. The majority of the children in my class come from a disadvantaged socio-economic background.
This self-study research project was designed by integrating the curricular areas of Religious Education (R.E.), through the Grow in Love programme, and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE). The stark contrast in time allocation between these two subjects was one of the factors which prompted this study. An integrated approach to planning and teaching aimed to address this issue of time allocation. The intervention took place during R.E. and SPHE lessons. The qualitative data was collected through observation, a reflective journal, and questionnaires. The data was stored in a password protected file or a secure folder to ensure confidentiality.
The data collected was coded and analysed to uncover any emerging themes and findings. The emerging themes were reflection, relationships, and external factors. The three findings that emerged were: integrating SPHE and R.E. can lead to a more inclusive classroom environment; integration can cause an increase in workload for the practitioner; and starting with the child facilitates the creation of a holistic learning environment.
Considering my future practice, this research caused a change in my teaching and planning. I began this project with the aim of enabling all children in my class to feel more nurtured in a caring and inclusive environment. With the increasingly diverse nature of the classroom, it is crucial to ensure all children feel included. Although it can create an increase in workload, the implementation of integration in planning was worthwhile for the creation of a holistic learning environment. The positives of planning meaningful integration between R.E. and SPHE, out way the negatives
Enhancing the Experiences of Children with Social Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties in a Primary Class
No full textThe Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Operational Guide (2019)
declared that in December 2018 in Ireland 19,073 adolescents and children were in receipt of
their services. There are thousands of children placed on waiting lists desperately seeking
appointments due to the lack of staffing and resources. These statistics establish the urgent
demand for sufficient support and guidance at primary school level.
The research for this study took place in a school that acquired the DEIS Band One
School Support Programme of Delivering Equality of Opportunity to Schools (DEIS), the action
plan of the Department of Education and Skills for educational inclusion. The school comprises
an urban setting and there are over three hundred and fifty pupils enrolled. The focus children
were in second class.
There was a specific focus placed upon working with children with social emotional
and mental health difficulties. I utilised a self-study approach within an action research
framework. I reflected on my practice with the objective of enhancing my personal and
professional knowledge and understanding and developing the care that I offer to the
children. This research comprises two cycles that utilise Circle Time and the Trauma Informed
Practice Approach. Circle Time involves the children and the teacher sitting within a circle
completing an activity, task or discussion together. Trauma Informed Practice supports the
educators understanding regarding how trauma can impact children’s actions and behaviour
in school. In collaboration with pupils, colleagues and parents, and the initiative in place, the
values: communication and the significance of forming strong relationships were established,
enlightened and inspired throughout.
Circle Time, with the assistance of a speaking object, encouraged a positive
communication thread amongst the educator and the children. It motivated them to develop
the confidence to engage in the group dialogue. This in turn, along with valuable reflection in
their Happy Scrappies, led to the transformation of peer and teacher-child relationships
within the class. Thematic Analysis reinforced the demand to further analyse and explore the
themes of promoting positive ways of being, communication and relationships and
motivation. These themes compounded my understanding of social emotional experiences of
the children in my class. These discoveries resulted in a radical change in my understanding
of teaching children with social emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH). They
enhanced the level of care and understanding within my practice and further denoted the
values of establishing communication and forming of positive relationships within the school
community