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A hybrid architectural style for complex healthcare scenarios
Get PDFIn classic software engineering, a successful software architecture arises from functional and non-functional requirements analysis, modeling, design elaboration and implementation phases, incorporating key trade-offs and constraints. This paper proposes an alternative approach, informed by deep insights gained from understanding successfully deployed architectural styles in two key domains: highly scalable, resilient web applications; and robust presence and messaging systems. We propose that the challenges and complexities within the healthcare domain can be successfully addressed with this approach. Specifically, the REST architectural style with its focus on resource oriented architecture, and the Jabber protocol set and its associated messaging and presence infrastructure. These two approaches have been successfully implemented on a global scale, have been bound to legacy informations systems, and have demonstrated an ability to evolve to match the most complex organizations. The approaches are complimentary, but not without contradictions. This paper discusses these contradictions and lays out a set of challenges that, if successfully addressed, can yield a flexible, powerful and resilient architecture within a highly challenging domain
Terminal4 Training for Research Office
Get PDFThis is a general introduction to the use of Terminal4 with some specifics relating to that particular section of our website
Waterford Institute of Technology: Authorship and Data Retention Policy
Get PDFThis document outlines the policies relating to authorship of research papers and other scholarly artefacts and the retention of any data used in their creation
On the Entrepreneurship Policy Discourse in Ireland: Between Incentives for Success and Remedies for Failure
Get PDFThis compact study focuses on the three major policy influencing enterprise reports of the last three decades; Telesis 1982, Culliton 1992, O'Driscoll 2004 to determine the policy orientation of the Irish Government over the last 30 years. Expanding on a framework put forward by Dennis to categorise policy orientation of governments, we examine the path of policy making in Ireland and find that
Irish policy has a resolute focus on interventions to support successful risk taking and has assiduously avoided considering reducing the effects of failure. From our
analysis we also find that there has been no significant directional change in policy making in the O'Driscoll report 2004, in spite of calls from Europe since 2000 for countries to review insolvency legislation and make it easier for honest entrepreneurs to make a 'fresh start'
From trauma to transformation, death and identity in the plays of Frank McGuinness
Get PDFThis thesis is a consideration of the representations of death in six of Frank McGuinness’s original dramatic works. The objective is to evaluate the connection between these dramatic representations and the social, political and cultural contexts of the plays’ first performances. The main contention is that the connection between these representations and their contexts serves to deepen an understanding of both. While McGuinness has produced original plays since 1982, the plays considered cover the period from 1985 to 1999. His plays are complex responses to the conditions of contemporary Ireland, particularly the conflict in Northern Ireland. By looking at these conditions through a variety of perspectives, particularly those of “outsiders,” the plays emphasise the need for the acceptance of a broad understanding of identity. These characters articulate their perspectives most clearly in their confrontation with the possibility and reality of death. In these plays, the characters confront death during periods of conflict from Irish and world history. Facing the dangers of these conflicts, the characters confront the possibility and reality of death collectively, guided and encouraged, for the most part, by “outsider” characters. Their collective bonds allow them to better deal with death’s complex, paradoxical power. The thesis has three main body chapters, each of which concentrates on two of McGuinness’s plays. Chapter One considers the connection between death and community, and concentrates on the paradox within the demands of both community and individual identity. Chapter Two examines the connection between death and constructions of “Otherness” and focuses on how definitions of Otherness both defend and jeopardise the individual in relation to their Others. Chapter Three explores the connection between death and family relations and looks at how individuals might escape a damaging, haunting legacy by embracing a wider, more inclusive perspective
ResearchScope - A Federated Search Service for Irish Open Access Research
No full textResearchScope
To mark open access week 2009, (See: http://www.openaccessweek.org/ ),WIT Libraries have launched a federated harvesting and discovery service called ResearchScope. ResearchScope is a national portal designed to raise the profile of Open Access research in Ireland - by making it more visible.
It works by harvesting information from research repositories, which present their records in an agreed standard called OAI-DC. By pulling this information together in to one index and re-presenting them via ResearchScope as well as the original home repositories, the information is made more visible to web search engines. It is worth noting that ResearchScope itself presents the aggregated data in this way and it can therefore be indexed itself by other services. See http://www.repository.wit.ie/index.php/oai?verb=ListSets
ResearchScope is based on existing software produced by the Public Knowledge Project, a Canadian group based in Simon Frasier University. (See: http://pkp.sfu.ca/ ) With minor modifications to the layout and the addition of a graphical 'word cloud' search, ( See: http://www.quintura.com/ )we have produced an appealing and useful single point of access to open access research in Ireland. We would to organically incorporate tools and services as time goes on.
The widespread global interest in the movement toward open, public access to scholarly research results is steadily gaining momentum and ResearchSchope is also an attempt to broaden awareness/understanding of Open Access to research, on the part of research funders, the Irish higher education community and the general public - who pay for this research with their hard-earned taxes.
See: http://researchscope.net
Investigation of a Flexray - CAN Gateway in the Implementation of Vehicle Speed Control
Get PDFAs the quantity of in-vehicle electronics has increased, automotive networking has been introduced to replace point to point wiring. Of the automotive networks developed, Controller Area Network (CAN) has become the most widely used. While the use of CAN has has been very useful in the development of automotive electronic systems, easing the implementation of such features as ABS, traction control and on-board diagnostics, it is now becoming a limiting factor in the design of new features such as X-by-wire. This is due to increasing demands on bandwidth, and an increasing need for determinism and fault tolerance. To meet these requirements a communication protocol called FlexRay has been developed, and is set to become the industry standard for advanced automotive communications.
In future automotive systems, FlexRay will be needed to work in parallel with CAN. For effective operation of the devices on the network, the two protocols will need to be able to communicate with one another. Efficient gateways will be needed to enable node to node communications over the different protocols. This report investigates the design and implementation of an efficient gateway to enable communication between the CAN and FlexRay protocols. To achieve this, a framework for gateway design was developed. The designed gateway was then implemented on a Freescale HCS12X microprocessor. The implemented system obtains data from a FlexRay node via the FlexRay bus and translates the data to the CAN protocol. The data is then displayed on a dash panel along with the error status of the FlexRay bus
THESIS - TOWARDS AN ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE EVALUATION OF FÁILTE IRELAND’S TOURISM LEARNING NETWORK INITIATIVE - RIKON Group
No full textThe tourism learning network (TLN) initiative was developed by Fáilte Ireland as a key component of the tourism board’s current five year strategy (Human Resource Development Strategy 2005:2010). The initiative has achieved national coverage,with all learning networks now engaged in their third year of operation. Although internal evaluation of each TLN has been provided for, a more holistic assessment of the TLN initiative had not been addressed, that is, the modelling of ‘best practice’ for the development and sustainability of a successful TLN. A review of the literature highlights that the literature on learning networks is in its infancy, particularly in the context of tourism; furthermore knowledge regarding ‘best practice’ is also lacking. Most previous studies are qualitative in nature and focussed on organisational learning, whereas, this study focuses on learning at an individual level. By determining a means of measuring the individual level learning, this study provides insights into the process and content of learning network evaluation, thereby contributing to academic knowledge as it represents an area of research which has received little attention. Furthermore, the study contributes to the substantive knowledge by empirically identifying the key practices that will enhance learning in a learning network context. Following a review of the literature from the learning and network fields, a conceptual framework was formed to guide the evaluation. In keeping with the underlying social situational school perspective, the framework highlights that: (1) the influence of peer interaction, flexible learning approach, facilitation, and individual characteristics are major determinants of learning, and (2) that selfdevelopment, knowledge, skills and managerial capabilities are key measurable learning outcomes. The deterministic focus of the research lent itself to a nomothetic approach; hence, the data was collected via a postal survey sent to all the participants of the 2008 TLN initiative nationwide. The survey received a 55% response rate. Small group sizes, however, severely restricted the scope for comparative data analysis across the six TLN regions. Therefore, the comparative data analysis was conducted on a split between those participants whose TLN was facilitated by an academic institution and those whose facilitation was consultancy-backed. The key findings of the research indicated that individual characteristics, the flexible learning approach and the facilitation climate were the major determinants of learning in the TLN. In addition, significant differences were discovered between the two types of facilitator, in terms of their participants’ motivation, the peer interaction and the perceptions of the delivery methods. In contrast, the levels of learning, content and facilitation (climate and learner involvement) were not significantly different. The findings further indicated that while the participants reported learning from the initiative, thus meeting Fáilte Ireland’s strategic learning aims, the participants’ levels of learning could be considerably improved. The thesis concluded with the development of a ‘best practice’ model for future initiatives
Intradot dynamics of InAs quantum dot based electroabsorbers
Get PDFThe carrier relaxation and escape dynamics of InAs/GaAs quantum dot waveguide absorbers is studied using heterodyne pump-probe measurements. Under reverse bias conditions, we reveal differences in intradot relaxation dynamics, related to the initial population of the dots' ground or excited states. These differences can be attributed to phonon-assisted or Auger processes being dominant for initially populated ground or excited states, respectively
Embedding a Threshold Concept in Teaching and Learning of Product Development Management
Get PDFThis paper uses insights from the literature on threshold concepts to develop a structure for understanding teaching and learning in the area of managing product development. The paper defines the threshold concept, outlines pedagogic principles and describes learning activities that seek to enact these principles. The paper is based upon experience of an established final-year university undergraduate course