NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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The unacknowledged genocide: The Guatamalan Maya’s quest for justice
No full textThe era from the start of World War II through to the 1960s... was an era of unprecedented aggression in the occupation of indig-enous lands, and backed by the equally unprecedented wealth and power of the industrial world and the systematic dislocation of thousands of indigenous peoples around the world. [Coates, 2004. p. 226/7] The indigenous peoples of the Americas stood little chance of survival when faced with the strategic western military force they were met with and as a population, they share a sad collective history of exploitation and social condemnation. This paper aims to open up further discus-sion on the lack of justice achieved to date while assessing the true extent of damage caused to the indigenous society, how their customs and tra-ditions were upset, disjointed and in essence, erased. Drawing on the unquestionable relationship between indigenous peoples and land, this work will offer further insight into how the military-backed scorched earth policies not only destroyed important indigenous lands, but the forced removal of the indigenous population from these lands to the government designed ‘model villages’ completely upset indigenous custom, tradition and lineage, and hindered the transfer of said traditional practices and customs from one generation to the next. This paper will further hypoth-esise if the case would have been better suited to an international criminal tribunal like those instances of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [ICTY], International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda [ICTR], The Special Court of Sierra Leone [SCSL] and The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [ECCC].It has been over 20 years since the end of the civil war in Guatemala yet those responsible for some of the gravest crimes commited during the war have not been brought to justice. The crimes of Ríos Montt and his government remain unpunished and there is no closure for the indigenous peoples who were most affected by violence of the regime. The indigenous peoples of Guatemala still face uncertain hardships while enduring this perpetual quest for acknowledg-ment of the atrocities, recognition of victimhood and justice
Virtual Academic Writing: the Maynooth University Library Experience
No full textThis "rapid response" piece explains how, due to Coronavirus, Maynooth University Library
shifted from face
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to
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face academic writing workshops for librarians to
delivery via Zoom. The
operation and elements of the one
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day workshop are presented. Participants were su
r
veyed
using Survey Monkey and their responses are given. The piece concludes that Zoom offers a
viable way to deliver academic writing workshops and m
ay have advantages such as inclusivity,
that go beyond what a face
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to
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face workshop can offer
Optimal control and model reduction for wave energy systems: A moment-based approach
No full textFollowing the sharp increase in the price of traditional fossil fuels, in combination with issues of security of supply, and pressure to honor greenhouse gas emission limits, much attention has turned to renewable energy sources in recent years. Ocean wave energy is a massive and untapped resource, which can make a valuable contribution towards a sustainable, global, energy mix. Despite the fact that ocean waves constitute a vast resource, wave energy converters (WECs) have yet to make significant progress towards commercialisation. One stepping stone to achieve this objective is the availability of appropriate control technology, suchthatenergyconversionisperformedaseconomicallyaspossible,minimisingthedelivered energy cost, while also maintaining the structural integrity of the device, minimising wear on WEC components, and operating across a wide range of sea conditions. Suitable energy-maximising control technology depends upon the availability of two fundamental ‘pieces’: A control-oriented dynamical model, describing the motion of the WEC, and a model-based optimal control framework, able to efficiently compute the corresponding energy-maximising control law, subject to a set of constraints, defined according to the physical limitations of the device. FollowingtherequirementsforsuccessfulWECcontrol,andbothusingandextendingkeytools arising from the framework of model reduction by moment-matching, this thesis presents two main contributions. Firstly, this monograph proposes a comprehensive moment-based model reduction framework, tailored for WEC systems, addressing linear and nonlinear model reduction cases, providing a systematic method to compute control-oriented models from complex target structures. These approximating models inherit steady-state response characteristics of the target system, via the proposed moment-matching reduction framework. Secondly, by recognising that, besides being a powerful model reduction tool, the parameterisation of the steady-state response of a system in terms of moment-based theory can be explicitly used to transcribe the energy-maximising control problem to a finite-dimensional nonlinear program, a comprehensive moment-based optimal control framework, tailored for WEC systems, is proposed. This framework considers both linear and nonlinear optimal control cases, while also including robust solutions with respect to both system, and input uncertainty, providing an efficient method to compute the energy-maximising control law for WECs, under different modelling assumptions. Throughout this thesis both model reduction, and optimal control frameworks, are presented for a general class of WEC devices, and their performance is analysed via multiple case studies, considering different devices, under different sea state conditions
Expanding the Frame: Realising Engagement Through an Interactive, Visualisation-Based Search in Digital Humanities Research Environments
No full textAstheDigitalHumanitiesexpandsitsmodesofinterrogation,ithascontinuedtodevelop new ways of researching and exploring text. As a result, visualisations have risen to prominence as scholars have begun to explore concepts behind Moretti’s Distant Reading and Jocker’s Macroanalysis. While the study of these types of visualisations has largely focused on their ability to provide higher-level insights, little exploration has been conducted concerning their effectiveness within the context of a learning or research environment. Drawing on discussions from fields of psychology (specifically the role of working memory), education (modes and frameworks of learning), and computer science (usability and interaction design), this thesisattemptstodiscovertheeffectsofinteractivevisualisationscomparedtostandard keyword search approaches on a user’s engagement with the overall system, as well as the effect on learning as a direct result of engagement. Centred around an 18th century manuscript detailing the expenditures of the Royal Irish College at Alcalá de Heneres, this thesis presents the design and implementation of the Alcalá Record Books and discusses a case study that was conducted to explore the effects of the visualisation-based search. Ultimately, this thesis advocates for the inclusion of an interactive, visualisation-based search as a complement to existing keyword searches, highlighting the advantages such searches bring to engagement, learning, and overall satisfaction with the system as a whole
Patent Collaboration and Team Formation
No full textThe team formation problem has existed for many years in various guises. One important
problem in the team formation problem is to produce small teams that have a required set
of skills. We propose a framework that incorporates machine learning to predict unobserved
links between collaborators, alongside Steiner tree problem solutions to form small teams
to cover given tasks. Our framework not only considers size of the team but also how
likely team members are to collaborate with each other. The framework is tested on sets of
data from two different companies. The results show that this model consistently returns
smaller collaborative teams
A little bit of history. Thomas Swords – Father and Son, 19th century Maynooth Entrepreneurs
No full textAbstract is included in the text
Cities and the climate and ecological emergency: The Liverpool City Region response
No full textIn May 2019, Liverpool City Region (LCR) Combined Authority Metro Mayor
Steve Rotheram declared a ‘climate emergency’ and affirmed his commitment to
undertaking proportionate remediating actions. The Metro Mayor has set his sights on
LCR becoming net zero-carbon by 2040; local authorities and anchor institutions from the
public, private and third sectors have likewise set net zero-carbon targets by or before In May 2019, Liverpool City Region (LCR) Combined Authority Metro Mayor
Steve Rotheram declared a ‘climate emergency’ and affirmed his commitment to
undertaking proportionate remediating actions. The Metro Mayor has set his sights on
LCR becoming net zero-carbon by 2040; local authorities and anchor institutions from the
public, private and third sectors have likewise set net zero-carbon targets by or before 2040. The 2040 target will undoubtedly prove difficult to meet. This paper locates the
LCR response within the context of the wider global climate and ecological crisis and
national UK environmental policy and reflects upon achievements to date and actions
which will need to be taken in future. Clearly, ‘business as usual’ will be insufficient and
a new politico-institutional dispensation will be required if the net zero-carbon target is
to be reached by 2040. An opportunity to undertake deep structural change exists: the
COVID-19 pandemic has opened a a global debate on how best to Build Back Better. But
what any new social contract for sustainability and a just transition might look like remains
unclear. This paper concludes by venturing some thoughts on what such a contract might
mean for the LCR and its civic leaders
Pt(IV) pro-drugs with an axial HDAC inhibitor demonstrate multimodal mechanisms involving DNA damage and apoptosis independent of cisplatin resistance in A2780/A2780cis cells Author links open overlay panel
No full textEpigenetic agents such as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are widely investigated for use in combined anticancer therapy and the co-administration of Pt drugs with HDAC inhibitors has shown promise for the treatment of resistant cancers. Coordination of an HDAC inhibitor to an axial position of a Pt(IV) derivative of cisplatin allows the combination of the epigenetic drug and the Pt chemotherapeutic into a single molecule. In this work we carry out mechanistic studies on the known Pt(IV) complex cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2(PBA)2] (B) with the HDAC inhibitor 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) and its derivatives cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2(PBA)(OH)] (A), cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2(PBA)(Bz)] (C), and cis,cis,trans-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2(PBA)(Suc)] (D) (Bz = benzoate, Suc = succinate). The comparison of the cytotoxicity, effect on HDAC activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, γ-H2AX (histone 2A-family member X) foci generation and induction of apoptosis in cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells shows that A – C exhibit multimodal mechanisms involving DNA damage and apoptosis independent of cisplatin resistance
Social work students on the island of Ireland: a cross-sectional survey
No full textUnderstanding the characteristics, motivations, and experiences of
student social workers is important to inform their professional
education and support needs. To date, there has been relatively
little research about social work students in Ireland, both North and
South. This study reports on an all-Ireland survey of students beginning their social work course in Autumn 2018 in the six Universities
delivering social work education. It describes the characteristics of
the student cohort, examines the motivations behind choosing this
career, and highlights some of the potentially relevant life experiences and beliefs which may have contributed to their ambition to
join the social work profession. Implications for social work education, recommendations for curriculum development, workforce
planning, and the provision of appropriate support for students
are discussed
Performance Investigation of Peak Shrinking and Interpolating the PAPR Reduction Technique for LTE-Advance and 5G Signals
No full textOrthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has become an indispensable part
of waveform generation in wideband digital communication since its first appearance in digital
audio broadcasting (DAB) in Europe in 1980s, and it is indeed in use. As has been seen, the OFDM
based waveforms work well with time division duplex operation in new radio (NR) systems in 5G
systems, supporting delay-sensitive applications, high spectral efficiency, massive multiple input
multiple output (MIMO) compatibility, and ever-larger bandwidth signals, which has demonstrated
successful commercial implementation for 5G downlinks and uplinks up to 256-QAM modulation
schemes. However, the OFDM waveforms suffer from high peak to average power ratio (PAPR),
which is not desired by system designers as they want RF power amplifiers (PAs) to operate with
high efficiency. Although NR offers some options for maintaining the efficiency and spectral demand,
such as cyclic prefix based (CP-OFDM), and discrete Fourier transform spread based (DFT-S-OFDM)
schemes, which have limiting effects on PAPR, the PAPR is still as high as 13 dB. This value increases
when the bandwidth is increased. Moreover, in LTE-Advance and 5G systems, in order to increase the
bandwidth, and data-rate, carrier aggregation technology is used which increases the PAPR the same
way that bandwidth increment does; therefore, it is essential to employ PAPR reduction in signal
processing stage before passing the signal to PA. In this paper, we investigate the performance of an
innovative peak shrinking and interpolation (PSI) technique for reducing peak to average power
ratio (PAPR) in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based signals at waveform
generation stage. The main idea behind the PSI technique is to extract high peaks, scale them down,
and interpolate them back into the signal. It is shown that PSI technique is a possible candidate for
reducing PAPR without compromising on computational complexity, compatible for existing and
future telecommunication systems such as 4G, 5G, and beyond. In this paper, the PSI technique is
tested with variety of signals in terms of inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) length, type of the
signal modulation, and applications. Additional work has been carried out to compare the proposed
technique with other promising PAPR reduction techniques. This paper further validates the PSI
technique through experimental measurement with a power amplifier (PA) test bench and achieves
an adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) of less than –55 dBc. Results showed improvement in
output power of PA versus given input power, and furthermore, the error vector magnitude (EVM)
of less than 1% was achieved when comparing of the signal after and before modification by the
PSI technique