NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
Not a member yet
18159 research outputs found
Sort by
Coexistence of Terrestrial and Satellite Networks in the 28-GHz Band
No full textWe present a practical framework for maximizing the average
data rates of terrestrial networks operating in the 28-GHz band while
considering their coexistence with satellite networks. The 28-GHz
mmWave band is licensed to fixed satellite services for Earth-to-space
uplink transmissions, which are also used by the terrestrial cellular
and backhaul networks for downlink operation. Our approach focuses
on finding the optimal radii for exclusion zones, which are the areas
where certain network elements are restricted from operating in the
28-GHz band. Through stochastic geometry, we derive the average
data rate expressions for the terrestrial networks as functions of the
exclusion zone radii of the Earth stations and the backhaul points.
We then convert the discrete problem of frequency allocation into
a continuous problem through Poisson point process approximation
of the transmitters’ locations. We perform logistic regression on the
integral-form coverage probability expression to obtain closed-form
approximation of the data rate expressions. This facilitates faster
optimization, making our framework viable for deployment in frequency allocation systems, offering near-optimal results with lower
complexity compared with combinatorial techniques. We improve the data rate of cellular users by up to ∼30% at the expense of the data
rate of the backhaul points degrading by ∼2%
The value of the sales function: A multilevel examination of the effect of strategic marketing ambidexterity and industry contingencies
No full textThis paper investigates the effect of firm strategic marketing ambidexterity (SMA) and industry contingencies on
the sales function’s relative compensation level within organizations. It draws on longitudinal secondary panel
data from two different sources, based on a sample of all business-to-business manufacturing firms with more
than 100 salespeople in France across several years, and perform a hierarchical linear model (HLM) analysis. The
model, tested on multilevel data, shows that SMA and its interaction with industry munificence and dynamism
are significant determinants of the relative compensation of the sales function (RCSF). Results show that innovativeness and marketing resource endowment (two dimensions of SMA) have opposite effects on RCSF. Additionally, different industry contingencies—industry munificence, dynamism, and competitiveness—interact
differently with SMA when explaining RCSF. This study highlights the relevance of the sales function in firms’
pay practices and advances the understanding of variations in RCSF
The Mid-infrared Instrument for JWST and Its In-flight Performance
No full textThe Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) extends the reach of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to 28.5 μm. It provides subarcsecond-resolution imaging, high sensitivity coronagraphy, and spectroscopy at resolutions of λ/Δλ ∼ 100–3500, with the high-resolution mode employing an integral field unit to provide spatial data cubes. The resulting broad suite of capabilities will enable huge advances in studies over this wavelength range. This overview describes the history of acquiring this capability for JWST. It discusses the basic attributes of the instrument optics, the detector arrays, and the cryocooler that keeps everything at approximately 7 K. It gives a short description of the data pipeline and of the instrument performance demonstrated during JWST commissioning. The bottom line is that the telescope and MIRI are both operating to the standards set by pre-launch predictions, and all of the MIRI capabilities are operating at, or even a bit better than, the level that had been expected. The paper is also designed to act as a roadmap to more detailed papers on different aspects of MIRI
A Critical Analysis of China’s Marathon Industry
No full textIn the global wave of neoliberalism, different countries and regions have carried out different degrees of economic reform based on neoliberal thought. In this reform process, China has gradually developed a socialist market economy system through parallel market and government mechanisms. In the context of the rapid expansion of the sports market, marathon has grown into one of the largest single sports events in China. This study examines the development of Chinese marathon, analysing how the key neoliberalism concepts such as market fundamentalism and personal responsibility affect Chinese marathon industry. The research shows that, with the implementation of reform and opening-up, the relevant policy guidance for marathon is influenced by neoliberal principles such as minimum government intervention and market fundamentalism. The wave of neoliberalism also led to the rise of individualism and encouraged personal health management. The popularity of marathon among the public and the use of market-oriented policies showed huge industrial potential, which attracted many cities and enterprises to enter the marathon. All these factors contributed to the development of marathon in China. However, various problems have emerged in the meantime. Besides the lack of industry supervision, the neoliberal concept of rational egoism could be used to explain the unqualified event management by government agencies and private enterprises
Gendered Self-Views Across 62 Countries: A Test of Competing Models
No full textSocial role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countries. Using data from 62 countries ( N = 28,640), we examine binary gender gaps in agentic and communal self-views as a function of country-level objective gender equality (the Global Gender Gap Index) and subjective distributions of social power (the Power Distance Index). Findings show that in more egalitarian countries, gender gaps in agency are smaller and gender gaps in communality are larger. These patterns are driven primarily by cross-country differences in men’s self-views and by the Power Distance Index (PDI) more robustly than the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI). We consider possible causes and implications of these findings
Coexisting Terahertz and RF Finite Wireless Networks: Coverage and Rate Analysis
No full textWireless communications over Terahertz (THz)-band frequencies are vital enablers of ultra-high rate applications and services in sixth-generation (6G) networks. However, THz communications suffer from poor coverage because of inherent THz features such as high penetration losses, significant molecular absorption, and severe path loss. To surmount these critical challenges and fully exploit the THz band, we explore a coexisting radio frequency (RF) and THz finite indoor network in which THz small cells are deployed to provide high data rates, and RF macrocells are deployed to satisfy coverage requirements. Using stochastic geometry tools, we assess the performance of coexisting RF and THz networks and derive tractable analytical expressions for the coverage probability and average achievable rate. The analytical results are validated with Monte-Carlo simulations. Several insights are devised for accurate tuning and optimization of THz system parameters, including the THz bias, and the fraction of THz access points (APs) to deploy. The obtained results recognize a clear coverage/rate trade-off where a high fraction of THz AP improves the rate significantly but may degrade the coverage performance. Furthermore, the location of a user in the finite area highly affects the fraction of THz APs that optimizes its quality of service
The ERC DANCING Mid-Term Academic Conference.Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths (DANCING)
No full textThe present report recaptures the DANCING Mid-Term Academic Conference on 4 September
2023 which marked the halfway point of the European Research Council-funded project
‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity
through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths – DANCING’. The conference pursued two
primary objectives, namely taking stock of the research conducted up until this point in the
project and to situate that research within broader scholarly debates. Thus, besides
presenting interim findings of the DANCING project, the received constructive criticism at this
occasion is recalled and presented as it feeds into the on-going research undertaken by the
DANCING team. The report also highlights which accessibility measures and reasonable
accommodation was undertaken to organise and host an inclusive and accessible conference
for all. To implement and communicate some of the preliminary findings on barriers and
facilitators to cultural participation by persons with disabilities, a bespoke, accessible
DANCING opera concert followed the academic sessions. This DANCING concert is equally
presented and discussed in this report, including the manifold accessibility measures and
facilitators to an inclusive concert performance employed.
As such, the DANCING project commenced on 1 September 2020 and is due to be completed
on 31 August 2025. It pursuesthree main objectives, namely, exploring barriers and facilitators
to cultural participation of persons with disabilities (experiential objective); investigating the
intersection of cultural rights of persons with disabilities and cultural diversity in EU law
(normative objective); and ultimately re-theorising cultural diversity as a constitutional
principle of the EU (theoretical objective), each of which intersects with and supports the
others. The DANCING project and research is organised in four complementary work packages.
To address all aspects of the research and the activities undertaken by the DANCING project
at the halfway point, the DANCING Mid-Term Academic Conference was structured into two
main parts. The morning session focused on EU disability law as a distinct field of enquiry as
well as interdisciplinarity, intersectional approaches and participatory studies in academic
research (especially but not exclusively in legal research). The aim was to examine how and to
what extent the DANCING project can contribute to advancing the state-of-the-art and to
interdisciplinary approaches in EU legal scholarship. The afternoon session zoomed in on
preliminary and interim findings of the DANCING project and in particular those under work
packages 1 and 2. Several invited respondents as well as attendees contributed to lively
discussions offering insights and constructive criticism from legal scholarship and adjacent
disciplines. Moreover, the arts-based research, and the chosen case study of inclusive dance,
were discussed within a roundtable to elaborate on the benefits and challenges of such
approach of combining legal-doctrinal work with non-cognitive ways of knowing. This
roundtable also featured DANCING collaborators Stopgap Dance Company who were
commissioned by DANCING to create a bespoke contemporary dance piece entitled ‘Lived
Fiction’. The academic part was closed with a keynote address by leading EU law scholar
Professor Gráinne De Búrca.
The accompanying DANCING opera concert, which was organised in collaboration with the
Department of Music of Maynooth University, emphasised and showcased the embedded
arts-based and participatory approaches of the DANCING project by drawing on empirical
findings under work package 1, which looks at barriers and facilitators to cultural participation
by audiences and artists with disabilities. In this way, the DANCING concert both served to
present interim findings in an alternate, non-academic way as well as acted upon them by
implementing facilitators to create a more inclusive and artistically well-rounded concert
performance for all.
In doing so, the DANCING Mid-Term Academic Conference further demonstrated the
participatory approach that informs DANCING research. The DANCING Mid-Term Academic
Conference therefore featured as a key output of the overall project, which pursues a
diversified communication strategy, combining traditional academic outputs with artistic
performances that embed the ethos and findings of the project and ties into the cross-cutting
work package 4 and overall communication strategy of the DANCING project
Examining individual learning patterns using generalised linear mixed models
No full textEveryone learns diferently, but individual performance is often ignored in favour of a group-level analysis. Using data from four
diferent experiments, we show that generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs) and extensions can be used to examine individual
learning patterns. Producing ellipsoids and cluster analyses based on predicted random efects, individual learning patterns can be
identifed, clustered and used for comparisons across various experimental conditions or groups. This analysis can handle a range
of datasets including discrete, continuous, censored and non-censored, as well as diferent experimental conditions, sample sizes
and trial numbers. Using this approach, we show that learning a face-named paired associative task produced individuals that can
learn quickly, with the performance of some remaining high, but with a drop-of in others, whereas other individuals show poor
performance throughout the learning period. We see this more clearly in a virtual navigation spatial learning task (NavWell). Two
prominent clusters of learning emerged, one showing individuals who produced a rapid learning and another showing a slow and
gradual learning pattern. Using data from another spatial learning task (Sea Hero Quest), we show that individuals’ performance
generally refects their age category, but not always. Overall, using this analytical approach may help practitioners in education
and medicine to identify those individuals who might need extra help and attention. In addition, identifying learning patterns may
enable further investigation of the underlying neural, biological, environmental and other factors associated with these individuals
The Death Penalty in Barbados: Reforming a Colonial Legacy
No full textThis article explores the death penalty in Barbados. Drawing on the historical context and the punishment’s colonial origins, we seek to make sense of its more recent history, particularly a 2018 landmark legal judgment that has finally forced reform of the sanction in Barbados. The article explores the bifurcated penological history of the death penalty; while laws enacted in London were extended to colonial nations such as Barbados, suggesting a continuation of norms, the tools of criminal justice were wielded for different purposes in the metropole compared with the periphery. We consider the trajectory of this colonial imposition and the retention of repressive punishments after independence, the Caribbean resistance to international abolitionist pressure from the 1990s and the recent reform. The role of the death penalty as a political and symbolic tool is examined, considering especially the colonial legacy of capital punishment in Barbados and the extent to which this factor has shaped contemporary public debates on punishment
The data treadmill: water governance and the politics of pollution in rural Ireland
No full textThis paper draws on fieldwork in rural Ireland to argue that environmental
data can reinforce knowledge systems that shield structural problems and
blunt efforts to rethink the role of community engagement in
environmental governance. It offers a cautionary reading of how data
has been instrumentalised by the EU and Irish State by showing how
data diffuses responsibility and depoliticises environmental activism in
cycles of funding and data collection. Since the 2000 Water Framework
Directive, water governance in the European Union has increasingly
relied upon extensive scientific, evidence-based decision-making and
community and stakeholder involvement. We explore how these
changes shape efforts to document and remediate water pollution. We
expand upon Shapiro et al.’s (2018)’s “data treadmill” to understand
how data rescales responsibility for pollution and its effects. The “data
treadmill” gives name to cycles of data and funding that propel logics
and strategies of environmental governance. We show how the data
treadmill operates by perpetuating a narrative that effective action
requires more precise data and evidence and solves questions of
responsibility through bespoke approaches to environmental pollution.
The data treadmill constrains communities through prevailing logics
that surround data and environmental governance: communities
become tied into European funding programmes that require, on one
hand, the expertise of various professionals and consultants, on the
other, place-based knowledge and social relationships to deliver
innovative responses to structural problems. We offer a critical analysis
of current institutional and policy in the EU and Ireland to highlight
perils and contradictions of data-centric environmental governance as
practiced