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The Compositional Legacy : Significant, contemporary, compositional techniques as lateral drivers to new creativity, evidenced within a substantial portfolio of original compositions : Volume 2 of 2 volumes
Get PDFInvestigations into aspects of nitrogen and carbon dynamics in grassland used for dairy production on a clay loam soil
Get PDFIncreasing concentrations of nitrogen (N) in the waterbodies along with increasing
concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have
become an international environmental concern. Permanent grasslands are important
sources of feed for intensively managed dairy and beef farming systems in North West
Europe and represent around 90% of agricultural land in Ireland. However, there is a
potential for substantial N losses following grazing during the winter when a significant
effective rainfall occurs. In addition, ploughing and reseeding of grassland in order to
increase its productivity may lead to a substantial decrease in soil organic matter (SOM)
followed by an increase in soil inorganic N. This two year study investigated (i) the
environmental impact of a dairy production system involving grazing over the winter
through calculations of soil surface N balances and its effect on soil N dynamics and N
loses to groundwater; (ii) the impact of permanent grassland renovation on soil N, N2O
emissions, N leaching and soil organic carbon (SOC) in a poorly drained clay-loam soil
at Solohead Research Farm. The correlations between grazing management and soil N
dynamics in the soil profile or N concentrations in the groundwater were difficult due to
high natural buffering capacity of the soils associated with heavy texture, high SOC,
high soil pH, anaerobic conditions and presence of shallow groundwater. For this
reason, grazing over the winter period had no effect on soil N dynamics and
groundwater quality on this site. In contrast, grassland renovation decreased topsoil
SOC and total N, increased oxidized N leaching to groundwater and N2O emissions
from the soil surface as a result of soil disturbance, enhanced decomposition of SOM
followed by nitrification and denitrification. Although, the overall losses due to net
SOM mineralisation were high (3 t N and 32 t C ha-1), the proportion lost via N leaching
and direct N2O emissions was low (27 kg N ha-1 y-1) suggesting that nitrate were
instantaneously reduced by dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium or complete
denitrification
The sound-absorbing city—New ideas for living environments around airports
Get PDFGreat efforts and progress have been made in terms of noise protection measures in both urban, suburban and rural environments. Local or regional urban planning guidelines and anti-noise-manuals provide experienced and practical advice to reduce noise, in order to provide a better quality of life. Most of the anticipated solutions such as noise-protection-walls, fences, planted mounds etc. will address issues caused by land traffic. However, due to their nature, they fail to respond to "airborne" noise immission. In addition, there is a common public misconception that sound should be interpreted as noise ie. as a waste to get rid of, instead of critically identifying sound and sound clusters as a potential and as a resource to be integrated. The concept of the sound-absorbing city applies the same principles of sound reflection and sound absorption, as applied to an architectural space, in an urban space. It also investigates the possibility of combining unwanted sound, such as air traffic noise with wanted sound, such as nature and community sound. The paper discusses the concept of the sound-absorbing city, its potentials and its apparent limits, with regard to new settlements and existing agglomerations around airports
From noise control to sound design: the class room as a soundscape project
Get PDFAs part of an overall campus building project, the Department of Architecture in Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland moved to provisional premises in autumn 2011, in a city centre former warehouse, dating from 1875. While this building is a fine example of historic industrial architecture which was previously used successfully as a museum, as a school venue it is “acoustically seen” inappropriate. The studios are more halls rather than rooms and have an approx. height of 5 meters; two classes share one unit and are subdivided by screens, with lectures and tutorials needing to be scheduled at different times in order to avoid (acoustic) clashes. Most surfaces are hard, and in some cases, the class units are even exposed to open galleries and circulation areas. How can the noise problem be transformed into a soundscape project? How can the current situation be used to develop sound as a design tool that informs the awareness about sound phenomena, strengthen the understanding of sound mitigation and instill the confidence to design it? This paper investigates different approaches as to how to introduce sound as a design tool in early architectural education and summarizes the learning outcomes from using the class room as a sound design lab
Flexible Continuous Controlled Smart Antenna Platform
Get PDFThis thesis introduces the origin and subsequent development of smart antennas, up to the
present day status of R&D test platform research. A novel,
exible, low-cost, easy-to-use
platform prototype was developed and is described in this thesis. The prototype is based on
quadrature modulators, D/A quadrature control converters and low-speed synthesis control.
The prototype was put to the test with four antenna elements at a 2.4GHz operating frequency.
A set of test results demonstrated the validity of the platform. This research will be of
benefit in digital beamforming algorithm research, MIMO technology or software defined
radio techniques
Higher Education and Regional Economic Development in the South East
Get PDFThis presentation was delivered at a South East Regional Economic Conference hosted by wexford county Council in August 2012. It examines the conceptualisation of regional development and the role higher education can play in it. It analyses the nature of partnerships in this context and the significance of regional leadership in the establishment of regional goals and patjways towards them. It highlights the phenomenon of economic and social ecosystems in nurturing economic development. It recognises the link between resource deployment, resource alignment and progress assessment. It concludes with observations on the challenge that meaningful partnership represents and calls for from stakeholders
On the performance of access control policy evaluation
Get PDFThere is growing awareness of the need to protect
digital resources and services in both corporate and home
ICT scenarios. Meanwhile, communication tools tailored for
corporations are blurring the line between communication mech-
anisms and (near) real-time resource sharing. The resulting
requirement for near real-time policy-based access control is
technically challenging. In a corporate domain, such access
control mechanisms must be unobtrusive and comply with strict
security objectives. Thus policy evaluation performance needs to
be considered while addressing traditional security concerns. This
paper discusses policy system design principles that motivate a
novel Policy Decision Point (PDP) implementation and associated
policy language. These principles are consistent with recent web
development techniques designed to improve performance and
scalability. Given a modern web development stack comprising
a language (Javascript), a framework (Node.js) and a database
management system (Redis), the proposition is that significant
performance gains can be made. Our performance experiments
suggest this is the case when, through various design iterations,
our prototype PDP implementation is compared with an estab-
lished, Java/XACML-based access control PDP implementation.
The experiments presented in this paper suggest that newer
technologies offer better performance. The analysis suggests that
this is because they offer a more efficient data representation
and make better use of computing resources
'Information literacy through inquiry: using problem-based learning in information literacy instruction'
No full textThis paper presents the findings of an action research project, introducing problem-based information literacy (IL) instruction for final year undergraduate nursing and engineering students in Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland. This paper is based on a research dissertation written for an MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
Much has been written about the role that information literacy has to play in problem-based learning (PBL) in higher education. Dodd (2007, p.214) states that the introduction of PBL has “increased the need for information skills”. The use of PBL in information literacy instruction, however, is not widely explored in the literature. Traditional PBL environments typically span a number of teaching sessions, possibly right throughout an entire module duration, and often require multiple facilitators. It is likely that PBL has not been utilised by teaching librarians because much of the IL instruction is still largely delivered as one-shot sessions. As a result of this, IL sessions are often facing heavy time constraints and librarians are often forced to cover a breadth of materials throughout this restrictive time-frame. Kenney (2008) believes using PBL in IL instruction “raises the instructional bar” and results in a lively and engaging learning environment (p. 387).
Munro
(2006) suggests making use of a “modified” approach to traditional PBL environment in library instruction.
In this action research project, seven separate one-shot IL sessions (two engineering, five nursing) were delivered using PBL teaching approaches. Using triggers, or problems, students were asked to work in small teams and make use of the library’s resources to research the perceived topic. The sessions were delivered in three phases:
1. Brainstorm
2. Search
3. Present
The librarian (also the author of this paper) acted as facilitator throughout the sessions, offering guidance and advice when needed, and directing the overall sessions.
The results of this research project provide an interesting insight into using PBL in IL instruction. Using PBL allows the librarian to observe students in a quasi “real-life” research scenario, and how they cope with and approach literature searching. Kuhlthau et al (2007), describe six stages to information seeking throughout guided inquiry, and these stages can be identified in students engaged in PBL in these IL sessions. The use of PBL in IL instruction allows the librarian present students with opportunities to engage in transformative learning (Mezirow, 1997). Students throughout the sessions in this action research project appeared to undergo a shift in attitudes when actively challenged with a research trigger, which allowed the librarian to promote IL in a meaningful and contextual scenario.
This paper also discusses some of the negative findings of this research project, such as time difficulties with using PBL in IL instruction, as well as the difficulties students who speak English as a foreign language faced.
This paper is of interest to any teaching librarian wishing to introduce PBL into IL instruction in order to provide a highly engaging and challenging learning experience to students. Using PBL learning in IL instruction provides a unique opportunity to closely observe students and their information seeking habits, while presenting the librarian with an opportunity to introduce IL skills that will change students information seeking behaviours.
References
Dodd, L. (2007) ‘The impact of problem-based learning on the information behavior and literacy of veterinary medicine students at University College Dublin’, The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 33(2), pp. 206-216.
Kenney, B.F. (2008) ‘Revitalizing the One-Shot Instruction Session Using Problem-Based Learning’, Reference & User Services Quarterly, 47(4), pp. 386-391.
Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L. and Caspari, A. (2007) Guided Inquiry: learning in the 21st century. Connecticut, Libraries Unlimited.
Mezirow, J. (1997) ‘Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice’, Adult and Continuing Education, (74), pp. 5-12.
Munro, K. (2006) ‘Modified Problem-Based Library Instruction’, College & Undergraduate Libraries, 13(3), pp. 53-61