NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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The Collatz Process Embeds a Base Conversion Algorithm
No full textThe Collatz process is defined on natural numbers by iterating the map T(x)=T0(x)=x/2 when x∈N is even and T(x)=T1(x)=(3x+1)/2 when x is odd. In an effort to understand its dynamics, and since Generalised Collatz Maps are known to simulate Turing Machines [Conway, 1972], it seems natural to ask what kinds of algorithmic behaviours it embeds. We define a quasi-cellular automaton that exactly simulates the Collatz process on the square grid: on input x∈N , written horizontally in base 2, successive rows give the Collatz sequence of x in base 2. We show that vertical columns simultaneously iterate the map in base 3. This leads to our main result: the Collatz process embeds an algorithm that converts any natural number from base 3 to base 2. We also find that the evolution of our automaton computes the parity of the number of 1s in any ternary input. It follows that predicting about half of the bits of the iterates Ti(x) , for i=O(logx) , is in the complexity class NC 1 but outside AC 0 . These results show that the Collatz process is capable of some simple, but non-trivial, computation in bases 2 and 3, suggesting an algorithmic approach to thinking about prediction and existence of cycles in the Collatz process
States of power: Ronan Paddison, Space and Polity
No full textIn this article, I record some thoughts on Ronan Paddison’s accomplishments as an intellectual leader-scholar-citizen who made substantive and consequential contributions to the advancement of the systematic branch of Political Geography. I first consider that portion of Ronan’s body of published research which tackles political geographical themes, commenting in particular upon his scholarship on state power, before exploring in greater detail the meaning and implications of his role as founder and Editor in Chief of the journal Space and Polity. Against the backdrop of the neoliberalising academy, Ronan Paddison's service to Political Geography serves as a lighthouse for those who survive him: it gestures to the kinds of academic subjectivities which enable privilege to be used wisely and reminds us of the indispensable work the protean scholar performs so that academic communities might prosper
The role of wet wipes and sanitary towels as a source of white microplastic fibres in the marine environment
No full textUnderstanding source elements of the ocean plastic crisis is key to effective pollution reduction management and policy. The ubiquity of microplastic (MP) fibres in the oceans is considered to derive primarily from clothing fibres released in grey water. Microplastic fibres degraded from widely flushed personal care textile products (wet wipes and sanitary towels) have not been clearly identified in aquatic
systems to date. Unregulated personal hygiene and sanitary product labelling fails to identify textile materials. This study demonstrated that white MP fibres in sediments adjacent to a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) are comparable with white fibres from sewage-related waste and commercially available consumer sanitary products. Commercially available non-flushable wipes are manufactured
from either polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), or a combination of PET and cellulose.
Fifty percent of brands labelled flushable that were tested were comprised of a mixture of PET and
cellulose and the remainder of cellulose alone. Sanitary towels are made from PP, PE, or a combination of
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and PP. The accumulation of large quantities of washed-up sewagerelated macro-debris (including wet wipes and sanitary towels) intermingled with seaweed biomass adjacent to the WWTP was associated with a combined sewer overflow. Microplastic fibres extracted
from this waste were similar to those extracted from intertidal sediments in close proximity to the
WWTP over a ten-month period. In comparison, fibres extracted from locations spatially removed from
the WWTP were primarily comprised of ABS, PP and polystyrene. The results confirm that wet wipes and
sanitary towels flushed down toilets are an underestimated source of white MP fibres in the environment. Given the global distribution and projected growth of the non-woven textile industry, there is a need for increased public awareness of MP pollution in the marine environment from the inappropriate disposal of sanitary products down the toilet, instead of diversion to alternative land-based waste
management
Open Data Capability Architecture - An Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach
No full textDespite of increasing availability of open data as a
vital organizational resource, large numbers of start-ups and organizations fail when it comes to utilizing
open data effectively. This shortcoming is attributable
to the poor understanding of what types of capabilities
are required to successfully conduct data related
activities. At the same time, research on open data
capabilities and how they relate to one another
remains sparse. Guided by extant literature, interviews
of these organizations, and drawn from Interpretive
Structural Modeling (ISM) approach which are pair
comparison methods to evolve hierarchical
relationships among a set of elements to convert
unclear and unstructured mental models of systems
into well-articulated models that act as base for
conceptualization and theory building, this study
explores open data capabilities and the relationships
and the structure of the dependencies among these
areas. Findings from this study reveal hitherto
unknown knowledge regarding how the capability
areas relate one another in these organizations. From
the practical standpoint, the resulting architecture has
the potential to transform capability management
practices in open data organizations towards greater
competitiveness through more flexibility and increased
value generation. From the research point of you, this
paper motivates theory development in this discipline
Shakespeare's Hand, or "the strangers' case": Remediating Sir Thomas More in the context of the Refugee Crisis
No full textAmong the literary and artistic responses to the contemporary humanitarian crisis of refuge is Sir Thomas More, the late Elizabethan play that Shakespeare had a hand in and in which the protagonist offers a powerful articulation of "the strangers' case." It is the modern uses of this speech that this article focuses on, in particular on digital platforms, and as a response to the contemporary refugee crisis and discourses about migrants. Notable uses of the speech include Ian McKellen's recitations and their remediation on Twitter (with the hashtag #strangerscase) and YouTube (McKellen 2010); the Bell Shakespeare Company, who produced a video featuring "new arrivals to Australia" (Change Media 2011); Stephen Greenblatt's inclusion of it to suggest that Shakespeare is a "cure for xenophobia" (Greenblatt 2017); the Shakespeare Association of America (James 2017), which cited More's words in reaction to Trump's travel ban; and a series of events at Shakespeare's Globe to mark international refugee week (@The_Globe 2018). Tracking such examples, the article employs theories of remediation and of media flow to examine critically how the More speech, that itself imagines flows of people, circulates as a digital object online, be it in the form of the tweet hashtag #strangerscase, or a YouTube video. It also makes use of the digital affordances of Borrowers and Lenders, embedding links and samples to construct a digital archive of the speech's remediation and circulation. These iterations draw Shakespeare, long imagined as a type of transnational traveller, into urgent ethical questions about borders, displaced peoples, and responsibility to the Other, as More's empathetic plea comes to function synecdochally for Shakespeare, the "Hand D" of the play's collaborative authorship. The article explores how a dismembered Bard returns through processes of remediation in digital settings, where unseen or nonhuman agents are increasingly constitutive of the thing we call "Shakespeare." The article deliberately avoids rehearsing familiar debates about Shakespeare's cultural value, however, to address instead the challenges and also the possibilities of applying Shakespeare to humanitarian crises. I suggest that the remediated More / Shakespeare constitute spaces where values of empathy, tolerance, and diversity can find articulation
Interest rate and income disparity: Evidence from Indonesia
No full textWe highlight the most adverse impact of capitalism on inequality through the channel of
the interest rate. The interest rate has been an instrument of capitalism which aggravates
the accumulation of wealth in the hands of very few people and thereby worsens inequality. To this end, this article scrutinises the dynamic impact of financial development on
income inequality in the context of Indonesia, applying DOLS and FMOLS approach by
analysing time series data over the years of 1984 to 2018. Rising income inequalities has
been a common perpetuating trend of East Asian countries among which we find the
case of Indonesia worth interesting to study while filling up the gap in the existing literature. We provide evidence that interest rate exacerbates income inequality in the long-run economy of Indonesia. Financial development in the early phases of development
favours economic activity in the urban sector based on capital intensive technology which
does not help absorb excess rural labour. The empirical finding of this study profoundly
demonstrates one of the substantial drawbacks of capitalism in terms of income disparity
Edward Said and Authority: From Conrad to Orientalism and Beyond
No full textThis essay elucidates the nature and function of the concept of authority in Edward Said's Orientalism. The term first emerges in Beginnings, though Said formulates it more fully in Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography. This essay explains how Said arrives at the concept of authority and develops it via thinkers such as Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche, how the concept functions in Orientalism, and how it ramifies in later work, including Culture and Imperialism, Musical Elaborations, and The World, the Text, and the Critic. The essay concludes by suggesting that On Late Style offers a powerful autocritique of the concept at the end of Said's career
Wave–structure interaction of wave energy converters: a sensitivity analysis
No full textMeasurement uncertainties are inevitable during physical wave tank tests. Therefore, when validating a numerical
wave tank against experiments, knowledge of the uncertainties in the physical experiments, and the sensitivity of
the body dynamics to such uncertainties, is crucial. Specifically, the inertial properties, as well as the location of the centre of mass, which are challenging to measure accurately, can have a significant influence on the system dynamics. Based on the test cases of the CCP-WSI Blind Test Series 2, this paper presents a sensitivity analysis of
the agreement between experimental and numerical data sets to the quality of the incident, focused wave, as well
as the inertial properties and the location of the centre of mass. A significant influence on the modelled system
dynamics can be observed when changing the system parameters, resulting in a variation of the observed error of
up to 80 percentage points for pitch motion
Leveraging human-robot interaction in hospitality services: Incorporating the role of perceived value, empathy, and information sharing into visitors’ intentions to use social robots
No full textSocial robots have become pervasive in the tourism and hospitality service environments. The empirical understanding of the drivers of visitors' intentions to use robots in such services has become an urgent necessity for their sustainable deployment. Certainly, using social androids within hospitality services requires organisations' attentive commitment to value creation and fulfilling service quality expectations. In this paper, via structural equation modelling (SEM) and semi-structured interviews with managers, we conceptualise and empirically test visitors' intentions to use social robots in hospitality services. With data collected in Singapore's hospitality settings, we found visitors' intentions to use social robots stem from the effects of technology acceptance variables, service quality dimensions leading to perceived value, and two further dimensions from human robot interaction (HRI): empathy and information sharing. Analysis of these dimensions' importance provides a deeper understanding of novel opportunities managers may take advantage of to position social robot-delivered services in tourism and hospitality strategies
A Picture Can Tell a Thousand Words: Understanding Visual Digital Contents of Chinese Restaurants
No full textThis empirical study has theoretical and practical implications for restaurant image and marketing management in social media. First, the study shows which specific aspects of restaurant services, reflected in the visual content provided by users and managers of restaurants, actually led to a positive assessment of the reviews. Secondly, this paper provides a text analysis of consumer’s behavior before going to a restaurant and motives to share information after purchasing. Further research should study the behavior of tourists with the addition of variables such as the publication of posts on the first visit and repeated visits to restaurants, time of visit, level of tourist satisfaction