NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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A Community Needs Analysis with Further Education Education Students: Thoughts Around Progression From Further Education and Training Higher Education
No full textThis Community Needs Analysis (CNA) was carried out by College Connect, in collaboration with Dublin City University (DCU). The research was carried out from March to July 2022 using participative and creative approaches to encourage collaborative leadership and engagement throughout all stages of the research process. The research process engaged with 58 further education students in seven Further Education Colleges in the Dublin/DCU catchment area to find out how better to support their educational progression to higher education
Reinforcement learning for control design of uncertain polytopic systems
No full textThis work is concerned with the design of state-feedback, and static output-feedback controllers for uncertain discrete-time systems. The reinforcement learning (RL) method is employed and the controller to be designed is considered as an agent changing the behavior of the plant, which is the environment. A State-Action-Reward-State-Action (SARSA) algorithm is developed to achieve this goal. This is an open problem, as this offline design through the usage of RL is an approach not so well explored in the literature. The gain matrices are used directly as design variables in the SARSA algorithm, and a time-varying incremental step is employed. The method uses a grid in the uncertain parameters to place the poles of the closed-loop system in a disk on the complex plane. In addition, a stability test based on the Lyapunov theory is performed to provide a hard stability certificate for the closed-loop system. Numerical experiments from the literature are used to illustrate the efficacy of the method, through the use of benchmark examples and exhaustive testing
Changing State of the Climate System (Chapter 2). In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science basis.
No full textChapter 2 assesses observed large-scale changes in climate system
drivers, key climate indicators and principal modes of variability.
Chapter 3 considers model performance and detection/attribution,
and Chapter 4 covers projections for a subset of these same indicators
and modes of variability. Collectively, these chapters provide the basis
for later chapters, which focus upon processes and regional changes.
Within Chapter 2, changes are assessed from in situ and remotely
sensed data and products and from indirect evidence of longer-term
changes based upon a diverse range of climate proxies. The time evolving availability of observations and proxy information dictate
the periods that can be assessed. Wherever possible, recent changes
are assessed for their significance in a longer-term context, including
target proxy periods, both in terms of mean state and rates of chang
On the Idea of a Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint: Brentano's Understanding of Post-Kantian Philosophy and Nineteenth-Century Science
No full textAll of Brentano's students recall the burning sense of a mission to render philosophy a science that permeated the core of their mentor's being and teaching, but what kind of science does Brentano defend for philosophy in his Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (1874) and new science of descriptive psychology which he subsequently elaborated in his lectures in philosophy at the University of Vienna in the 1880s? Brentano would like us to believe that he is continuing the perennial science of philosophy as inaugurated by the ancient Greeks, and by Aristotle in particular, into the nineteenth century. This article, however, argues that once Brentano accepts the status of the newly emerging natural science of psychology and adopts in the 1870s a Humean philosophical approach to the mind and its contents, he cannot, despite his best efforts, establish the continuity of philosophy as philosophia perennis that exists before and after the modern conception of natural science. He thus defends for the science of philosophy instead, a psychology from an empirical standpoint that is fully modern in temperament, yet one that is neither fully empirical or rational in Hume or Kant's sense nor a capitulation to the method of the natural sciences in general and fledgling natural science of empirical psychology in particular
IPC 2021. Summary for Policymakers. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
No full textThis Summary for Policymakers (SPM) presents key findings of the Working Group I (WGI) contribution to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6)1
on the physical science basis of climate change. The report builds upon the 2013 Working Group I contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) and the 2018–2019 IPCC Special Reports of the AR6 cycle and incorporates subsequent new evidence from climate scienc
Developing an Enhanced Photogrammetric Methodology for Mapping Water Bodies Using Low-cost Drones
No full textWater bodies face continuous pressure from human activities, particularly from
nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural activities and urban wastewater discharges,
leading to water pollution. Studies have shown that monitoring water
quality using the traditional method of water sampling is time-consuming,
labour-intensive, costly and cannot be done frequently. In environmentally sensitive
areas, these techniques can encounter additional restrictions in relation to
access, team size, etc. Studies have indicated that although satellite-based imagery
has clear potential as a non-contact methodology, it has limitations due to
the coarse spatial resolution and potential for the site to be obscured due to cloud
cover. Additionally, while commercial or airborne imagery can provide high spatial
resolution, they are often expensive to use. Drones have shown the potential
to provide very high spatial resolution at regular intervals and at a lower cost,
acting as a middle ground between satellite, manned aircraft, and terrestrial insitu
methods. However, issues concerned when mapping water bodies using lowcost
drones are largely unknown. To date, no methods involving low-cost drones
have been investigated to (i) understand their suitability, (ii) the associated errors
have never been quantified, and (iii) there have been no attempts to improve
accuracy. To undertake this investigation, a theoretical analysis was first carried
out to benchmark the accuracy of the Direct Georeferencing (DG) method for
mapping water bodies and validate with real-world data. Following this, the errors
associated with the DG method were identified and quantified, resulting in
the development of photogrammetric methods to improve accuracy by correcting
for these errors. The first method developed an analytical photogrammetric approach
to improve the accuracy of drone imagery over water. The second method
was an advanced approach that exploited the shore to enhance the accuracy of
drone imagery when mapping water bodies. The final approach developed a
scalable method that could improve the accuracy and map water bodies at different
geographic scales. The developed methods presented a novel approach to
improve the accuracy of drone imagery for mapping water bodies. Institutions,
organisations and researchers can utilise the methods developed in this thesis to
generate accurate drone imagery of water bodies which can be used to measure
various water quality parameters
Estimation of the non-linear parameter in Generalised Diversity-Interactions models is unaffected by change in structure of the interaction terms
No full textMany approaches for modelling the biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) relationship have been developed over recent decades. Diversity-Interactions modelling,
a regression-based approach, models the BEF relationship by expressing ecosystem
functions as a linear combination of species-specific effects, species’ proportions,
and species’ interactions. The species interactions in a Diversity-Interactions model
can take different forms (e.g., a unique interaction term for each pair of species, or a
single interaction term for any pair of species) and may include a non-linear parameter (휃) as an exponent to the species interactions to capture non-linear relationships,
giving rise to Generalized Diversity-Interactions (GDI) modelling. The structure of
the interaction terms describes the underlying biological processes in the ecosystem,
while the value of 휃 can determine the shape of the BEF relationship. When fitting
GDI models, it is unclear whether one should choose the interaction structure first
and then estimate θ, or vice versa. It is also unknown whether the estimate of 휃 is
robust to changes in the structure of the linear interaction terms of the model. Using
a simulation study, we test the robustness of 휃 and compare multiple model selection approaches to identify an optimal and computationally efficient model selection
procedure for GDI models. Results show that the estimate of 휃 is robust and remains
unbiased regardless of changes in the underlying structure of interaction terms, and
that the most efficient model selection procedure is to first estimate 휃 for one interaction structure and then reuse this estimate for the other interaction structures
Facilitating “green practices” within the Irish maritime industry from use of cleaner alternative technologies.
No full textMarine shipping, which is considered as the backbone of international trade, predominantly
relies upon dirty fossil fuels for its operation. Tougher regional and global environmental
regulations are now challenging the industry to take action – in line with the Paris Agreement
goals. In the form of three research papers (two published and one conference paper), this
thesis quantifies environmental benefits and financial costs of switching to cleaner alternative
technologies. Hence, providing a “guiding tool” for policymakers for implementing best-case
practices within the industry. Owing to its maritime dependency, proven vulnerability to
shipping emissions and its reluctance for compliance with the established regulations, Ireland
was selected as the research case study.
Paper-1 investigated the NPV of Shore Side Electricity (SSE) adoption utilising the existing
(2019) and future (2030) Irish energy mix. The future electricity supply is anticipated to be
“cleaner” due to an increase in the uptake of renewable energy sources, which is expected to
boost the present (2019) NPVs. The paper finds that cost-effectiveness will be higher if the ten
most frequently visiting ships switch to shore side power. Paper-2 estimated and compared the
NPV of three blended biofuels (FAME, HVO and FT-Diesel), against the relatively popular
options of scrubbers and low-sulphur oil, used to mitigate pollutants. To comply with the
proposed Atlantic-ECA regulation, blended FAME was found to be the most cost-effective
option using NPV. Paper-3 analysed the NPV of four low-carbon marine fuel technologies:
LNG, Methanol, Green Hydrogen, and Green Ammonia. LNG had the highest NPV, followed
by methanol and hydrogen, with ammonia showing a negative NPV, due to high operational
costs. To meet the future decarbonization targets, Green Hydrogen will be the most suitable
alternative over LNG and methanol respectively.
The three papers in this thesis combine to provide a range of policy initiatives for the Irish
government to contemplate while developing its maritime action plan. Ireland needs to
consider how it can rapidly progress to meet the near- and long-term emission goals and how
it can influence other partners to do so. This thesis provides clear evidence about practicality
of different green technologies, to help the government make informed decisions
Student entrepreneurial intentions in emerging economies: institutional influences and individual motivations
No full textPurpose – This study aims to incorporate macro- and micro-level institutional factors into the theory of
planned behaviour (TPB) model to understand their effect on entrepreneurial intentions (EI) amongst students
in nations from Latin America and Caribbean region and India.
Design/methodology/approach – Using non-probability sampling technique, data was collected from
Colombia, Dominican Republic, India and Mexico, and consisted of 757 useable responses from students. Structural
equation modelling was employed to conduct confirmatory factor analysis while path analysis was used to test the
hypotheses.
Findings – Combined samples from all countries showed information and communications technology
infrastructure, usage and adoption (ICTi) and educational support had an indirect effect on EI through personal
attitude (PA) and perceived behavioural control (PBC) but not through subjective norms (SN). Additionally, it was
found that while PA and PBC have a direct influence on EI; SN does not. Further, an inverse relationship was found
between age and EI, while respondents’ gender, academic programme and entrepreneurship education had no
significant effect on EI.
Practical implications – This study suggests enhanced investments in developing and emerging economies
by enabling institutional environments at the macro- and micro-level that could help promote EI.
Originality/value – The current paper contributes to the EI literature by incorporating institutional factors at
macro- and micro-levels in developing and emerging economies towards a more integrative TPB
Enhancing Data Protection in Dynamic Consent Management Systems: Formalizing Privacy and Security Definitions with Differential Privacy, Decentralization, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs
No full textDynamic consent management allows a data subject to dynamically govern her consent
to access her data. Clearly, security and privacy guarantees are vital for the adoption of dynamic
consent management systems. In particular, specific data protection guarantees can be required
to comply with rules and laws (e.g., the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)). Since the
primary instantiation of the dynamic consent management systems in the existing literature is
towards developing sustainable e-healthcare services, in this paper, we study data protection issues
in dynamic consent management systems, identifying crucial security and privacy properties and
discussing severe limitations of systems described in the state of the art. We have presented the
precise definitions of security and privacy properties that are essential to confirm the robustness of
the dynamic consent management systems against diverse adversaries. Finally, under those precise
formal definitions of security and privacy, we have proposed the implications of state-of-the-art tools
and technologies such as differential privacy, blockchain technologies, zero-knowledge proofs, and
cryptographic procedures that can be used to build dynamic consent management systems that are
secure and private by design