NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
Not a member yet
18159 research outputs found
Sort by
Filosofía y teología del progreso: sobre algunas interpretaciones de Joaquín de Fiore
No full textThe article talks about the interpretations of theologian Joachim of Fiore related to the philosophy and theology of progress. It mentions philosophy of history represents another case that proves the acuity of John Milbank's diagnosis according to which modernity secular is the result, not simply of a desecration
A Simple Language Independent Approach for Distinguishing Individuals on Social Media
No full textNowadays, the large-scale human activity traces on social media
platforms such as Twitter provide new opportunities for various
research areas such as mining user interests, understanding user
behaviors, or conducting social science studies in a large scale. However, social media platforms contain not only individual accounts
but also other accounts that are associated with non-individuals
such as organizations or brands. Therefore, distinguishing individuals out of all accounts is crucial when we conduct research such
as understanding human behavior based on data retrieved from
those platforms. In this paper, we propose a language-independent
approach for distinguishing individuals from non-individuals with
the focus on leveraging their profile images, which has not been explored in previous studies. Extensive experiments on two datasets
show that our proposed approach can provide competitive performance with state-of-the-art language-dependent methods, and
outperforms alternative language-independent ones
Nonstationary weather and water extremes: a review of methods for their detection, attribution, and management
No full textHydroclimatic extremes such as intense rainfall, floods, droughts, heatwaves, and wind or storms have devastating effects each year. One of the key challenges for society is understanding how these extremes are evolving and likely to unfold beyond their historical distributions under the influence of multiple drivers such as changes in climate, land cover, and other human factors. Methods for analysing hydroclimatic extremes have advanced considerably in recent decades. Here we provide a review of the drivers, metrics, and methods for the detection, attribution, management, and projection of nonstationary hydroclimatic extremes. We discuss issues and uncertainty associated with these approaches (e.g. arising from insufficient record length, spurious nonstationarities, or incomplete representation of nonstationary sources in modelling frameworks), examine empirical and simulation-based frameworks for analysis of nonstationary extremes, and identify gaps for future research
Rational Approximation Method for Stiff Initial Value Problems
No full textWhile purely numerical methods for solving ordinary differential equations (ODE), e.g., Runge–Kutta methods, are easy to implement, solvers that utilize analytical derivations of the right-hand side of the ODE, such as the Taylor series method, outperform them in many cases. Nevertheless, the Taylor series method is not well-suited for stiff problems since it is explicit and not A-stable. In our paper, we present a numerical-analytical method based on the rational approximation of the ODE solution, which is naturally A- and A(α)-stable. We describe the rational approximation method and consider issues of order, stability, and adaptive step control. Finally, through examples, we prove the superior performance of the rational approximation method when solving highly stiff problems, comparing it with the Taylor series and Runge–Kutta methods of the same accuracy order
Geographical Factors in Constituency Voting Patterns
No full textThis chapter focuses on geographical influences on voting behaviour at
the 2020 general election. Geography intervenes at various stages and at
various levels in electoral processes, perhaps especially in Ireland, given the
high degree of localism that has been traditionally part and parcel of Irish
politics. Geography shapes the candidate selection processes of political
parties, as discussed in Chap. 3, and, in many cases, shapes the canvassing
and vote management strategies employed by these parties, as well as inde-
pendent candidates. Electoral boundaries again highlight the impact/
importance of geography, as these, in part, determine the efficiency by
which different political parties translate their vote levels into seats, and
changes in constituency boundaries can impact on the electoral prospects
of political parties and—particularly—individual candidates. Studies of
voting patterns for different parties and different candidates—both at the
Dáil constituency level and at the sub-constituency level—show that high
support levels may be clustered in certain areas for a variety of reasons,
including demographic and socio-economic factors, as well as other, more
locally focused, reasons. Finally, after the votes have been counted and a
new government set in place, geographical factors may be taken into con-
sideration when ministerial and especially junior ministerial positions are
being allocated, while policy and spending decisions may also be framed
by geographical variables
Risk Factors for Lower Limb Injury in Female Team Field and Court Sports: A Systematic Review, Meta-analysis, and Best Evidence Synthesis
No full textBackground Identifying risk factors for lower limb injury is an important step in developing injury risk reduction training
and testing for player monitoring. Female athletes are distinct from male athletes, warranting separate investigation into
risk factors.
Objective To systematically review the literature and synthesise the evidence for intrinsic risk factors for lower limb injury
in female team feld and court sports.
Methods Five online databases were searched from inception to April 2020. To be eligible for inclusion, studies were
required to be a prospective study presenting intrinsic risk factors for lower limb injury in female team feld or court sport
athletes. Risk of bias was assessed using the Quality of Prognosis Studies tool.
Results Sixty-nine studies, capturing 2902 lower limb injuries in 14,492 female athletes, and analysing 80 distinct factors
met the inclusion criteria. Risk factors for any lower limb injury included greater body mass (standardised mean diference [SMD]=0.24, 95% confdence interval [95% CI] 0.18–0.29), greater body mass index (BMI) (SMD=0.22, 95% CI
0.05–040), older age (SMD=0.20, 95% CI 0.09–0.31), greater star excursion balance test (SEBT) anterior reach distance
(SMD=0.18, 95% CI 0.12–0.24), and smaller single-leg hop distance (SMD=−0.09, 95% CI −0.12 to −0.06). Lower
knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS) increased the risk of knee injury. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
injury risk factors included prior ACL injury (odds ratio [OR]=3.94, 95% CI 2.07–7.50), greater double-leg postural sway
(SMD =0.58, 95% CI 0.02–1.15), and greater body mass (SMD =0.25, 95% CI 0.12–0.39). Ankle injury risk factors
included smaller SEBT anterior reach distance (SMD=−0.13, 95% CI −0.14 to −0.13), greater single-leg hop distance
asymmetry (OR=3.67, 95% CI 1.42–9.45), and slower agility course time (OR=0.20, 95% CI 0.05–0.88). Remaining factors were not associated with injury or had conficting evidence.
Conclusion Prior injury, older age, greater body mass, and greater BMI are risk factors for lower limb injury in female athletes. Limited evidence showed an association between KOOS, SEBT anterior reach, single-leg hop distance and asymmetry,
double-leg postural sway, agility, and lower limb injury. PROSPERO ID: CRD42020171973
The case for post-predictional modifications in the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database
No full textAlphaFold2 has arrived to change workflows in structural biology, for good. However, the algorithm does not account for essential modifications that affect protein structure and function, which gives us only part of the picture. Here we
discuss how this omission can be addressed in a relatively straightforward manner, which leads to a complete structural
prediction of complex biomolecular systems
Can increased cognitive load help people with subthreshold depression to forget negative information?
No full textBackground: Given that major depression is a global public health problem, and that sub-threshold depression
(SD) has been shown to be a significant risk indicator of major depression disorder, the awareness of SD interventions has increased. The current study explored the effect of increasing cognitive load on the forgetting of unwanted and negative memories of sub-threshold depression individuals (SDs) (Study 1) and proposed a cognitive load intervention (CLI) (study 2). Methods: 53 SDs and 52 normal participants were recruited to explore the effect of cognitive load on the directed forgetting of negative items (Study 1). The treatment effect of CLI on 62 SDs was investigated. SDs completed up to 8 CLI/control sessions over an 8-week period while regularly recording their depression symptoms (Study 2). Results: The results showed that it is more difficult for SDs to forget negative ‘to-be-forgotten’ items than normal controls (F (1, 99) = 27.98, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.22). In study 1, increasing cognitive load promoted directed
forgetting for negative items in SDs. Study 2 showed that there were significant reductions in depression
symptoms of SDs over the 8-week CLI (e.g. BDI-II scores: F (1, 60) = 99.93, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.63).
Limitations: Small sample size and lack of verification by neuroimaging may limit the generalizability of these
results.
Conclusions: The study revealed that increasing cognitive load can promote SDs to forget negative information,
while the CLI project effectively reduced the depression level of SDs, thus providing encouraging initial support
for its use in the treatment of SD
Minimum wage compliance and household welfare: An analysis of over 1500 minimum wages in India
No full textIn many developing countries there is a substantial difference between de jure and de facto regulation of
minimum wages. We examine the consequences of this by looking at the heterogenous effects of minimum wages across compliance regimes in India. We show that minimum wages have a positive effect on wages, without a corresponding effect on employment. As a result, household consumption increases following increases in the minimum wage. However, the beneficial pass-through to wages and consumption
is significantly reduced in low compliance regimes. Labour market reforms can improve workers’ living standards but only if accompanied by effective compliance