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A Composers Compendium: Creating an Open Access Repository for Overcoming Obstacles & Improving Simulations with the Sampled Orchestra
Get PDFThis work charts the creation of an online resource, which compiles a body of techniques, methods and general information relating to the practice of replicating acoustic instrument performances and orchestral simulation (for the most part using sample based libraries). The work is designed to serve as a database or repository of various techniques and tutorials dealing with multiple aspects or issues which may be encountered as part of this practice. The work currently presented was compiled and researched by the author, but which on completion will then become an open platform for users to access, contribute to, or edit in the future. The resource was developed by following guidelines issued for similar resources and platforms by such online platforms as the Directory of Open Access Repositories (Open DOAR) as well as the Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR).
This paper details the creation of the resource with each of the steps involved. The techniques which are documented in the resource are each listed and explored here, with examples of implementations. Background research and informal studies which helped to guide the repositories content are also included, in order to clarify the decisions regarding included material.
Each technique in the compendium is categorised and cross-referenced and presented as a table to facilitate ease of use. Each technique is explained and accompanied by additional information such as diagrams or audio examples to help demonstrate how the technique is applied, as well as supporting information such as the provenance of the technique.
The repository, which is titled ‘The Composer’s Compendium’ (hereafter referred to as the compendium), is included in its entirety in this thesis, with the online version found at the dedicated website www.midiorchestra.com. Following the completion of this project, users will be able to add new content and information to the website in keeping with Open Access Repository practices
ICF-based Classification to Bridge the Gap Between End-Users and AAL Solutions
Get PDFMAESTRO (Sustainable Reference Framework evaluating equipment and services for seniors) is a web-based ICT multi modal platform providing a broad range of services and benefits in the domain of monitoring and self-monitoring systems for well-being and health-related information acquisition. Specifically, MAESTRO aims at realizing an innovative framework capable of facilitating the interaction and communication between producers and consumers at different levels, taking into account needs of end-users and features of products. This paper provides an overview of the key concepts and capabilities of MAESTRO focusing on the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to make profiles of end-users and discover and rank products that meet their health-related needs. Also, this paper shows the results of a study aimed at evaluating the classification capabilities of MAESTRO and the integrated ICF-based taxonomy with respect to products and services developed within AAL Projects. The evaluation points out the health-related needs of end-users AAL projects focus the most as well as some limits and possible enhancements of the integrated ICF-based taxonomy
Exploring and expanding transdisciplinary research for sustainable and just natural resource management.
Get PDFTransdisciplinarity is gaining acceptance in sustainability science research as an approach to work across disparate types of knowledge and practices in order to tackle complex social-ecological problems. On paper, transdisciplinarity appears to be substantially helpful, but in practice, participants may remain voiceless and disadvantaged. In this paper, we retrospectively investigate four case studies using recent design principles for transdisciplinary research, to explore a deeper understanding of the practical successes and failures of transdisciplinary research engagement. We show that the transdisciplinary way of working is time consuming, challenging, and insists that researchers and participants contribute reflexively. Careful attention to research design and methodology is central. The acceptance that complexity renders knowledge provisional, and complete honesty about the purpose of the research are critical to building relationships between researchers and participants. Gaining an understanding of the values people hold influences the research process and the possible outcomes toward sustainable and just natural resource management. We suggest that in order to enable sustainable and just natural resource management, transdisciplinary research should include values and ethics in the design, implementation, and reporting of projects
Evaluation of a Dependability Mechanism for Cyber Physical Systems
Get PDFCyber-Physical-Systems (CPS) are systems of collaborating computational entities. Concepts such as autonomous cars, smart electric grid, implanted medical devices and smart manufacturing are some practical examples of CPS. However, the open and cooperative nature of CPS poses a significant new challenge in assuring dependability. The DEIS project addresses this important and unsolved challenge by developing technologies that facilitate the efficient synthesis of components and systems based on their dependability information. The key innovation that is the aim of DEIS is the corresponding concept of a Digital Dependability Identity (DDI). A DDI contains all the information that uniquely describes the dependability characteristics of a CPS or CPS component. DDIs are synthesised at development time and are the basis for the (semi-)automated integration of components into systems during development, as well as for the fully automated dynamic integration of systems into systems of systems in the field. In this paper we present an overview of the DDI. Additionally, we provide metrics for evaluating the DDI’s impact on CPS dependability, and the results of an evaluation of the DDI’s impact on dependability in four CPS industrial systems. These results demonstrate the positive impact of the DDI on the dependability of CPS
Synchrony in catchment stream colour levels is driven by both local and regional climate.
Get PDFStreams draining upland catchments carry large quantities of carbon from terrestrial stocks to downstream freshwater and marine ecosystems. Here it either enters long-term storage in sediments or enters the atmosphere as gaseous carbon through a combination of biotic and abiotic processes. There are, however, increasing concerns over the long-term stability of terrestrial carbon stores in blanket peatland catchments as a result of anthropogenic pressures and climate change. We analysed sub-annual and inter-annual changes in river water colour (a reliable proxy measurement of dissolved organic carbon; DOC) using 6 years of weekly data, from 2011 to 2016. This time-series dataset was gathered from three contiguous river sub-catchments, the Black, the Glenamong and the Srahrevagh, in a blanket peatland catchment system in western Ireland, and it was used to identify the drivers that best explained observed temporal change in river colour. The data were also used to estimate annual DOC loads from each catchment. General additive mixed modelling was used to identify the principle environmental drivers of water colour in the rivers, while wavelet cross-correlation analysis was used to identify common frequencies in correlations. At 130 mg Pt Co L−1, the mean colour levels in the Srahrevagh (the sub-catchment with lowest rainfall and higher forest cover) were almost 50 % higher than those from the Black and Glenamong, at 95 and 84 mg Pt Co L−1 respectively. The decomposition of the colour datasets revealed similar multi-annual, annual and event-based (random component) trends, illustrating that environmental drivers operated synchronously at each of these temporal scales. For both the Black and its nested Srahrevagh catchment, three variables (soil temperature, soil moisture deficit, SMD, and the weekly North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO) combined to explain 54 % and 58 % of the deviance in colour respectively. In the Glenamong, which had steeper topography and a higher percentage of peat intersected by streams, soil temperature, the log of stream discharge and the NAO explained 66 % of the colour concentrations. Cross-wavelet time-series analysis between river colour and each environmental driver revealed a significant high common power relationship at an annual time step. Each relationship however, varied in phase, further highlighting the complexity of the mechanisms driving river colour in the sub-catchments. The estimated mean annual DOC loads for the Black and Glenamong rivers to Lough Feeagh were similar at 15.0 and 14.7 t C km−2 yr−1 respectively. The important role of past and current precipitation and, in particular, temperature emphasises the vulnerability of blanket peatland carbon stores to projected climate change and highlights the interaction of local and regional climate in controlling aquatic carbon export. Our results show that water colour (and hence DOC) concentrations can vary considerably between neighbouring catchments and also that regional-scale climatic drivers control the trends in intra- and inter-annual flux of DOC through the system. The combination of locally determined concentrations and regionally controlled fluxes produces aquatic DOC loads that vary over both the annual cycle and over multiple years
Better Energy Communities: Implementation of a Community Energy Grant Pilot Programme in Ireland
No full textCurating and annotating a collection of traditional Irish flute recordings to facilitate stylistic analysis
Get PDFThis paper presents the curation and annotation of a collection of traditional Irish flute recordings to facilitate the analysis of stylistic characteristics. We introduce the structure of Irish tunes, types of tunes and the ornamentation, which is a decisive stylistic determinant in Irish traditional music. We identify seminal recordings of prominent flute players and provide information related to players and their style and geographical context. We describe the process of manual annotation of the audio data. The annotations consists of the onsets of notes, note frequency and identity of notes and ornaments. We also present initial stylistic analysis of individual players in terms of ornamentation and phrasing and provide a variety of statistics for the data. The ability to accurately represent and analyse stylistic features such as ornaments allow for the development of discourse related to several key ethnomusicological questions surrounding music making, musical heritage and cultural change
'Just lie there and die': barriers to access and use of general practitioner out-of-hours services for older people in rural Ireland
Get PDFIntroduction: Demographic changes and shifting populations
mean growing numbers of older people are living alone in rural
areas. General practitioner (GP) out-of-hours (GPOOH) services
have an essential role in supporting older people to remain living
in their own homes and communities for as long as possible, but
little is known about use of GPOOH services by this cohort. This
research examines how rurality impacts accessibility and utilisation
of GPOOH services by people aged 65 years or more in rural
Ireland.
Methods: Conducted in the mainly rural counties of Cavan and
Monaghan in the north-east of Ireland, this research used a mixed
methods approach. Questionnaires and focus groups were
conducted with 48 older people in six locations across both
counties. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data using
NVivo software.
Results: The challenge for older rural populations includes
difficulties accessing transport and the limited availability of
support networks during times of a health crisis, especially at
night. The present findings show such challenges are further
compounded by a lack of information about available services.
Rurality complicates each of these challenges, because it adds to
the vulnerability of older adults. This is most acutely felt by those
who live alone and those living the furthest from GPOOH
treatment centres. The most important concern for older people,
when unwell outside doctor surgery hours, is the need for access
to medical care as quickly as possible. Inability to use GPOOH
services leads many older people to seek help from accident and
emergency departments, where faster access to clinical care is
sometimes assumed.
Conclusions: For rural-dwelling older people, becoming ill
outside GP surgery hours is complex and the barriers faced are
often insurmountable at times of greatest need. Worries about
accessibility and lack of information give rise to a hesitancy to use
GPOOH services in a population that is already known to be
reluctant to ask for help, even when such help is justified. In turn,
the lack of familiarity with what is a fundamental community
health service further impacts the willingness of older adults to call
on GPOOH services for help when needed. Addressing the impact
of rurality on access and use of out-of-hours medical services is
essential to enable more older adults to live longer in their rural
homes and communities, supported by services that are
responsive to their needs regardless of where they live. Given
GPOOH is the only current alternative out-of-hours medical service
to accident and emergency departments, more research is urgently
needed on both accessibility of GPOOH services by older adults
and the impact of inaccessibility on use of emergency services by
older people in rural areas
Analysis of Attacks and Security Requirements for Wireless Body Area Networks-A Systematic Literature Review
Get PDFWireless Body Area Networks are gaining popularity in healthcare applications due to recent advances in sensor technology, integrated circuits, and wireless communication. These systems need to ensure that data is protected during collection, transmission, processing and storage. Currently, no complete solution exists for ensuring data is protected while also meeting regulatory security requirements for wireless body area network applications. To develop effective solutions, it is necessary to explore the attacks and security requirements of wireless body area network applications. There is no comprehensive list of attacks and security requirements. This paper will present a systematic literature review of potential attacks and security requirements for ensuring data security in wireless body area networks
Patterns of relational responding and a healthy self in older adolescents
Get PDFEvidence from Contextual Behavioral Science indicates that two patterns of relating facilitate a sense of self, namely, self-as-distinction and self-as-hierarchy. Although the latter has been associated with better mental health outcomes relative to self-as-distinction, to date these types of relating have not been examined directly at a baseline level, wherein manipulation has not occurred. The present study examined the relative contribution of self-as-distinction and self-as-hierarchy on depression, stress, and anxiety in a sample of 102 young people, while controlling for deictic ability and gender. The role of psychological flexibility was also examined using mediation analysis. While self-as-hierarchy emerged as a significant predictor of lower levels of stress and depression, psychological flexibility was not found to mediate this relationship. Self-as-distinction did not emerge as a significant predictor of any outcome variable. Suggestions for future research on the basis of these findings are discussed