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Wie kommt das Hoeren in den Entwurf? Ein Versuch im zweiten Studienjahr im Fachbereich Architektur am Waterford Institute of Technology in Irland
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Architects are often accused of “not being interested in acoustics because it
is invisible”.
Architectural design, particularly at the preliminary stage, has always been
developed visually. Traditionally, as a result of their training, architects
develop a project visually rather than aurally.
However, designing architects have also to deal creatively with more or less
invisible parameters such as: socio-cultural demands, climatic aspects or
even daylight, which can be considered to be visible but certainly is
everything but constant.
If an architect’s design ability is about observation and awareness and if light
is considered to be much more than just being bright or dark, how then
could we implement early awareness that sound is much more than noise or
silence, and that sound planning is much more than just using anti-noisepanels?
We asked 2nd year architecture students at Waterford Institute of Technology
to (re-)think sound and to question the sound qualities of their own projects.
Thus sound experience is integrated into the basic design and not just
considered specialist knowledge for specific projects...
The fast recovery dynamics of a quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier
Get PDFWe consider a rate equation model of a quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier that takes into
account carrier capture, escape, and Pauli blocking processes. We evaluate possible differences
between phonon-assisted or Auger processes being dominant for recovery. An analytical solution
which corresponds to phonon-assisted interaction is then used to accurately fit experimental
recovery curves and allows an estimation of both the carrier capture and escape rates
UTILISING THE RESOURCE-BASED VIEW (RBV) TO ENHANCE CRM PRACTICES IN IRISH HOTELS
Get PDFIrish hotels face many challenges: a rapidly increased bed capacity, poor ‘value for money’, and the global economic decline (IHF, 2009). In addition, hotel guests have heightened expectations of the quality of their experiences, and are expressing their opinions through travel sites like tripadvisor.com. This reinforces the need articulated in national strategy to enhance the business capability of Irish tourism firms (Fáilte Ireland, 2004; Irish Tourism Policy Review Group, 2003) and, in particular, the impetus for Irish hoteliers to establish and maintain meaningful and durable guest relationships.
Customer Relationship Management (henceforth CRM) represents the organisation’s ability to create and maintain profit maximising relationships with its customers (Zablah et al., 2004). Indeed, CRM is crucial for increasing visitor loyalty (Sigala, 2005). However, not all CRM programmes have succeeded (Bolton, 2004), which may be due to an over-reliance on technology (Campbell, 2003; Reinartz et al., 2004). This paper proposes the Resource-Based View (henceforth RBV) viewpoint (Barney, 1991; Wernefelt, 1984), as a theoretical perspective to address the failures of CRM. The RBV links company actions directly to performance (Harmsen and Jensen, 2004) and can support Irish hotels in implementing CRM more effectively.
The RBV sees the firm as a collection of unique resource and capability pools that, if utilised in a distinctive way, can be employed to create and preserve competitive advantage (Osarenkhoe, 2008). However, whilst recognising RBV’s potential as a strategic management theory, firms must understand it before implementation efforts are considered (Fahy and Smithee, 1999). This paper will synthesise literature, including industry exemplars of practice, pertaining to both RBV and CRM, to demonstrate how RBV can serve as the foundation for effective CRM strategy and implementation. More specifically, it will elucidate the importance of human capital within the hotel context to achieve this
The delivery of health and safety training in the construction industry using virtual classes
Get PDFAbstract Title: The delivery of health and safety training in the construction industry using virtual classes Background This research took place within the context of an EU Minerva funded project. The project's aim was to create an e-learning framework that combined multiple intelligence theory with open source software to deliver health and safety training for the construction industry. The project involved partners from Cyprus, the UK, Turkey, France and Ireland. This study reports on the activities carried out at Waterford Institute of Technology as part of the project. Purpose The research concerned the delivery of the class content through the e-learning framework developed through the Minerva Project to construction industry related students. The content was delivered through two phases of virtual classes and evaluated using an action research methodology. The evaluation results allowed for the identification of key lessons learned from the use of Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory in an e-learning framework. Methodology The theory of MI proposes that people learn using a number of intelligences and that the most effective learning environment is one that can target an individual's dominant intelligence areas. An online MI profiling tool was used to determine the dominant intelligence areas of a group of construction managers and the results were used to design a number of virtual classes. The virtual classes were subsequently delivered in two phases to construction students using an action research methodology. The evaluation process, completed after each phase, measured the levels of interaction and students satisfaction with the use of technology, the learning community, the class content and the role of the instructor. Findings The investigation found that the instructor played a key role in balancing the social, technical and educational focus of a virtual class. The evaluation process identified the role of the instructor, the level of class interactions and the stability of technology as the key aspects to the e-learning framework. The investigation produced guidelines on using MI theory within an e-learning framework. The guidelines involve presenting class content in a number of ways to allow multiple perspectives on a topic, creating a learning community through online interactions and finally allowing students to express what they have learned through personalised learning outputs
Notes on a family of Riordan arrays and associated integer Hankel transforms
Get PDFWe examine a set of special Riordan arrays, their inverses and associated Hankel transforms
Symmetric third-order recurring sequences, Chebyshev polynomials, and Riordan arrays
Get PDFWe study a family of symmetric third-order recurring sequences with the aid of Riordan arrays and
Chebyshev polynomials. Formulas involving both
Chebyshev polynomials and Fibonacci numbers are established. The family of sequences defined by the product of consecutive
terms of the first family of sequences is also studied, and links to the
Chebyshev polynomials are again established, including continued fraction expressions. A multiplicative result is
established relating Chebyshev polynomials to sequences of doubled Chebyshev polynomials. Links to a special Catalan
related Riordan array are explored
A consideration of Artistic Truth
Get PDFThe choice of subject or theme, “A Consideration of Artistic Truth”, for the dissertation and the parallel poetic endeavour is discussed in detail in the “Background” section of the dissertation later. Suffice it to say here that it has come out of my experience and knowledge of poetry and literature and the writers whose work has influenced and inspired me, my personal situation and motivation for writing at that moment, my past experiences - successes and failures – and the reason for the crossroads I felt I was at in terms of the need for change and direction in writing. The thesis begins with a selection of poems all of which were written and workshopped during the postgraduate MA in Creative Writing programme in WIT as part of the structure of the course. Feedback from my supervisors and fellow students in the workshop class, whose invaluable suggestions have no doubt influence the rewriting process, sometimes forms part of the reflection in the dissertation. Though naturally they are not responsible for any mistakes or errors in judgment I might make about my own work. I have written the dissertation in the form of a “reflective journal”. I wrote it between September 2007 and March 2009; keeping a notebook in longhand as a way of developing an awareness and insight into the creative process in my writing. My hope was that this approach to the thesis, that is the creative work combined with a reflection on the creative process, would both bring me to a deeper awareness and exploration of the theme and that it would also be important for me to see and reflect on how, what, and where this seeking for artistic truth would bring to the process of writing a new body of poetic work. I am conscious that I am sharing here some of my raw creative material. To this end, I decided to include some of the poems or early drafts in the text, so as to make them immediately relevant and accessible to the flow and discussion of my thesis, when and if that happened. Obviously, all my writing is not relevant to the main thrust of the thesis, but where major changes or departure points are marked in the discovery process of writing, these are illustrated by the work it produced. Looking back over the work of the past two years and the work on the Reflective Journal in particular, certain observations are better made now. The discipline of keeping a reflective journal did prove challenging from the point of view of controlling the spontaneity and avoiding reworking as much as possible apart from editing. Where a theme such as a discussion of another writer’s work became interesting to me, then the framework for the research and the reflective writing on it tended to take up the same timeframe, as experienced in “real” journal writing. Sometimes, the poetic work came first and the reflection later or vice versa. This allows the reader to see sometimes as much if not more than I see, as I have not drawn conclusions in a way which will make my reflection mean only what I want it to mean. Overall, the Consideration on Artistic Truth consists of subtle insights which came only after I had begun to discover, if only at an intuitive level, how my writing process works. This can be seen possibly in the way in the Journal it brings me back to reflecting on some of my earlier work, and discussing related matters such as giving and attending readings, and the politics of reviewing work. In that way I am repeatedly reconsidering and making new connections with the theme, perhaps in the light of new reading, discussions with fellow writers and classmates, and then coming to a new synthesis which explains the writing process over and over again
Development of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for ACE Inhibitors
No full textMolecular imprinting is a process of generating molecular recognition in the presence of a template during the formation of the three-dimensional structure of a polymer. Most imprinting to date has been carried out in a non-aqueous environment. Molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the angiotension convertase enzyme (ACE) inhibitor lisinopril dihydrate and its structural analogues enalapril maleate and lisinopril DKP were synthesised utilising a non-covalent monolithic imprinting strategy in an aqueous porogen. These templates are highly functionalised with limited solubility in most polar and non-polar solvents. Selectivity for the imprinted over the non-imprinted polymers was demonstrated for all materials synthesised. A two monomer system was shown to be the optimum choice for polymer composition giving an imprinting factor of 8.3 using lisinopril dihydrate. Concentration of functional monomers and crosslinker was identified to be important factors in template extraction and polymer affinity. Methylmethacrylate was shown to function as an inert monomer impacting on polymer performance through its critical role in establishing polymer morphology. 4-vinyl pyridine interacted with the phenyl groups on the templates via π−π interactions. Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate served as a crosslinker giving structural rigidity to the polymer. Affinity and selectivity was achieved in water, methanol:water (4:1) and acetonitrile:methanol (1:3). Optimisation of loading conditions led to complete separation of the relevant templates from cited related substances. This is an important capability of the polymers as it has substantial implications for commercial applications such as sample clean-up and drug delivery. Scatchard plots, Langmuir, Freundlich and Langmuir- Freundlich isotherms were examined for suitability for use in examining the binding properties of the MIPs selective for lisinopril dihydrate. Binding studies were carried out in three different solvents. Langmuir-Freundlich and affinity distribution studies were found to be the most suitable for MIPs synthesised. Significant heterogeneity was revealed within the binding sites of the polymers studied which were reflective of polymer composition and affinity. Polymer morphology was examined through physical analysis using thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, swelling ratio, particle size and surface area analysis. The relationship between crosslinker, functional monomer and template was examined through comparisons of solid phase extraction studies, binding isotherm data and physical properties of the MIPs. Differences in polymer affinity were related to binding site heterogeneity, polymer composition and physical characteristics of the polymers. Finally, polymer ruggedness was determined by comparison of the polymer affinity (imprinting factor) for template over a 59 month period to establish the practical robustness of this media. A 5% RSD in imprinting factor was observed. Differences were noted even though the polymers under went a series of solvent and selectivity studies that did not seem to impact the polymer specificity. This work showed that there is huge opportunity for further optimisation of the polymer selectivity and applications based on the large range of functional monomers coupled with controllable polymerisation conditions available
AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERNET USERS PERCEPTION REGARDING THE DATA PRIVACY POLICIES OF VIRTUAL COMPANIES OPERATING IN IRELAND (RIKON Group)
No full textAbstract: Virtual companies (i.e. a company that does not have a physical footprint and exists only on-line) have introduced new elements of risk and trust criteria for Internet users, and consumer concerns surrounding this medium have not been fully investigated to date. This paper examines the privacy concerns that the consumer has when providing personal details when transacting with virtual companies. The paper goes on to explore consumer awareness of virtual company’s privacy policies and seal programmes that were designed to address these concerns. The key objective is to: identify and analyse the concerns of the Irish population in relation to data privacy when purchasing from virtual firms. The researchers have taken a quantitative approach to the research, having developed a survey questionnaire for the purposes of eliciting consumer views relating to privacy concerns when purchasing from virtual firms in the Irish context. A literature review preceded the research instrument development, which consisted of a pilot study and expert advice. The main survey was conducted throughout Ireland’s South East region, in selected cities, and small towns. Results suggest that privacy concerns are high, but conversely, that there is little awareness of privacy policies or seal programmes among Irish consumers. Notably, consumers are unlikely to have read a virtual organisation’s privacy policy despite identified concerns, and this finding is consistent among survey participants. Statistical analysis of the survey findings has given meaning to the results
Policy-based Network Management in Home Area Networks: Interim Test Results
Get PDFThis paper argues that Home Area Networks (HANs) are a good candidate for advanced network management automation techniques, such as Policy-Based Network Management (PBNM). What is proposed is a simple use of policy based network management to introduce some level of Quality of Service (QoS) and Security management in the HAN, whilst hiding this complexity from the home user. In this paper we have presented the interim test results of our research experiments (based on a scenario) using the HAN testbed. After using policies to prioritize different traffic, packet loss decreased to 30% and VoIP quality improved dramatically without employing any intelligent bandwidth allocation technique