1522 research outputs found
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Challenges for Autonomic Network Management
Get PDFThe improvement in the management capabilities and available
bandwidth offered by next generation of networks is accelerating the
development of a new kind of applications, interfaces and services. The
ultimate goal of such networks is to automatically adapt their services
and resources in accordance with changing environmental conditions and
user needs. Such ‘autonomic’ capabilities imply the usage of sophisticated
technologies in order to integrate every object of our environment that
would be enabled with important computational power and storage capabilities.
The challenge behind such implementation is to simplify the
administrators’ task by automating the decision making process, and
enabling the users to seamlessly find their way in such pervasive environments.
This paper gives an overview of the different architectures
that support the design, implementation and deployment of autonomic
systems
Influence of a health education intervention on physical activity and screen time in Irish primary school children: ‘Switch Off – Get Active’
Get PDFLow levels of physical activity, coupled with high levels of television viewing have been linked with obesity in children. The objective of this study was to access the efficacy of the 'Switch Off-Get Active', a 16-week controlled health education intervention, in increasing physical activity and reducing screen time and BMI in primary school children . A secondary objective was to ocmpare children with high and low screen time. Participants were 312 children aged 10 +/- 0.7 years, attending nine schools in areas of social disadvantage. The 10-lesson, teacher-led intervention, conducted in sprnig 2003 emphasised self-monitoring, budgeting of time and selective viewing
Analysis, design, and characterization of ferrite EMI suppressors
Get PDFIn this paper design, modeling and characterization of single and double coils, which consist of conductive layer embedded in the
soft ferrite material, are described. These surface-mount components, comprising of a cofired multilayered ferrite and coil, have been
developed in the ceramic coprocessing technology. A simple analytical model of proposed structures is presented. This model is very
suitable for circuit simulations and for prediction of frequency characteristics of considered inductors. The inductance and impedance
of coils embedded in low permeability or high permeability ferrite material are calculated and compared. Also, these suppressors were
experimentally tested in the frequency range 1 MHz–3 GHz using an Agilent 4287 A RF LCR meter. The calculated results were in good
agreement with the measured ones.
Index Terms—EMI suppressor, high-frequency characteristics, impedance and inductance calculation, single and double coils
Seasonal and management influences on bacterial community structure in an upland grassland soil
No full textFloristically diverse Nardo–Galion upland grasslands are common in Ireland and the UK and are valuable in agricultural, environmental and ecological terms. Under improvement (inputs of lime, fertiliser and re-seeding), they convert to mesotrophic grassland containing very few plant species. The effects of upland grassland improvement and seasonality on soil microbial communities were investigated at an upland site. Samples were taken at five times in one year in order to observe seasonal trends, and bacterial community structure was monitored using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA), a DNA-fingerprinting approach. Differences in soil chemistry and bacterial community structure between unimproved and improved grassland soils were noted. Season was also found to cause mild fluctuations in bacterial community structure, with soil samples from colder months (October and December) more correlated with change in ribotype profiles than samples from warmer months. However, for the majority of seasons clear differences in bacterial community structures from unimproved and improved soils could be seen, indicating seasonal influences did not obscure effects associated with improvement
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS WITHIN THE LEADING IRISH CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES
Get PDFThe benefits that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can bring to a construction company within the Irish Construction Industry have yet to fully
materialise. However the membership and activities of the Construction Information Technology Alliance (CITA) indicates a genuine desire of the leading participants in
the industry to take advantage of these technologies. The focus of this paper shall primarily be that of a review of recent literature pertaining to Knowledge Management, both in general business, and particularly in the construction domain. The paper shall also set the context for Knowledge Management from a leading Irish construction company’s perspective, and map out the research methodology that will
be undertaken. This methodology will include a detailed survey of the top 20 construction companies (ranked by their 2004 turnover), narrowing down to interviews with key personnel in 5 of these companies, and then undertake case study research of a single organisation
BIO-INSPIRED POLICY BASED MANAGEMENT FOR AUTONOMIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
No full textThe tremendous development of Internet infrastructures as well as services that support heterogeneous devices and communication technologies has led to an increase in network management complexity. Autonomic control is one way to manage complexity. Policy Based Management System (PBMS)s provide a consistent model for decision making using a set of abstractions (e.g., to manage the system in a manner that is independent from the complexities of low level network technologies). In this paper, we develop a hierarchical PBMS that is based on bioinspired mechanisms for organism regulation. The inspiration from biological systems supports mechanisms for selforganisation and self-management at different levels of the hierarchy. We employ this hierarchy towards the policy based management system for autonomic communications systems
WALT: WEBLOGS AS LEARNING TOOLS
No full textTraditional e-learning platforms have many shortcomings. It has been suggested that Learning Management Systems (LMSs) may actually impede learning. Weblogs are a new tool that can provide a means for students to reflect on their learning, and for students to easily collaborate with their teachers and with one another. This research aims to determine whether weblogs can provide effective support for learning in an online environment. Data will be collected in a pilot study and used to develop a framework that describes best practices for the implementation of weblogs in third level institutions
Impact of lime, nitrogen and plant species on fungal community structure in grassland microcosms
Get PDFA microcosm-based approach was used to study
impacts of plant and chemical factors on the fungal
community structure of an upland acidic grassland
soil. Seven plant species typical of both unimproved
and fertilized grasslands were either left unamended
or treated with lime, nitrogen or lime plus nitrogen.
Fungal community structure was assessed by a
molecular approach, fungal automated ribosomal
intergenic spacer analysis (FARISA), while fungal biomass
was estimated by measuring soil ergosterol
content. Addition of nitrogen (with or without lime)
had the largest effect, decreasing soil pH, fungal biomass
and fungal ribotype number, but there was little
corresponding change in fungal community structure.
Although different plant species were associated
with some changes in fungal biomass, this did
not result in significant differences in fungal community
structure between plant species. Addition of lime
alone caused no changes in fungal biomass, ribotype
number or community structure. Overall, fungal community
structure appeared to be more significantly
affected through interactions between plant species
and chemical treatments, as opposed to being
directly affected by changes in individual improvement
factors. These results were in contrast to those
found for the bacterial communities of the same soils,
which changed substantially in response to chemical
(lime and nitrogen) additions
Soil Bacterial and Fungal Community Structure Across a Range of Unimproved and Semi-Improved Upland Grasslands
Get PDFChanges in soil microbial community structure due to
improvement are often attributed to concurrent shifts in
floristic community composition. The bacterial and
fungal communities of unimproved and semi-improved
(as determined by floristic classification) grassland soils
were studied at five upland sites on similar geological
substrata using both broad-scale (microbial activity and
fungal biomass) and molecular [terminal restriction
fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP), automated
ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA)] approaches.
It was hypothesized that microbial community
structure would be similar in soils from the same
grassland type, and that grassland vegetation classifications
could thus be used as predictors of microbial
community structure. Microbial community measurements
varied widely according to both site and grassland
type, and trends in the effect of grassland improvement
differed between sites. These results were consistent with
those from similar studies, and indicated that floristic
community composition was not a stable predictor of
microbial community structure across sites. This may
indicate a lack of correlation between grassland plant
composition and soil microbial community structure, or
that differences in soil chemistry between sites had larger
impacts on soil microbial populations than plant-related
effects
Scenario Based Methodologies in Identifying Ubicomp Application Sets
Get PDFIn ubiquitous systems of the future, a requirement for appropriate methods for the selection, analysis and evaluation of applications is evident. Traditional methods of analysis rely heavilyon the inherent predictability of the system, something which is totally lacking in ubiquitous systems. This paper discusses one possible approach to flexible analysis and evaluation, the ScenarioBased Approach, describing its use in the IST FP6 project, Daidalos. The Scenario Based approach addresses the adaptive nature of ubiquitous systems by its own intrinsic flexibility. This paper explains the approach and argues that it is appropriate that a method of analysis should exhibit similar characteristics to the object of that analysis