Digital Commons Network^™

Do Political Parties Matter For Turnout? Number Of Parties, Electoral Rules And Local Elections In Brazil And Bolivia, Carew Boulding, David Brown

David C. Brown

Does the number of political parties influence voter turnout in developing democracies? Some scholars argue that large party systems facilitate matching voter preferences with a specific party, increasing turnout. Others argue multiparty systems produce too many alternatives, decreasing turnout. In developing democracies, there is debate over whether these institutions matter at all. We argue that party systems do matter for turnout in developing countries, but the relationship between turnout and the number of political parties is conditional on the electoral formula. Under proportional representation systems, large numbers of parties increase turnout. Under winner take all systems, large numbers of parties …

Penal Culture And Hyperincarceration: The Revival Of The Prison, Alex Steel, Chris Cunneen, David Brown, Eileen Baldry, Melanie Schwartz, Mark Brown

David C. Brown

What are the various forces influencing the role of the prison in late modern societies? What changes have there been in penality and use of the prison over the past 40 years that have led to the re-valorization of the prison? Using penal culture as a conceptual and theoretical vehicle, and Australia as a case study, this book analyses international developments in penality and imprisonment. Authored by some of Australia’s leading penal theorists, the book examines the historical and contemporary influences on the use of the prison, with analyses of colonialism, post colonialism, race, and what they term the ‘penal/colonial …

Open Access And The Institutional Repository, Julia Lovett, Andrée Rathemacher

Julia Lovett

Slides and other materials from a presentation at the conference Querying the Library: Digitization and Its Impact, sponsored by the James P. Adams Library at Rhode Island College. The conference took place on May 31, 2013. A video of the presentation is available at http://digitalcommons.ric.edu/ql/2013/QTL_May31/5/.

Abstract of the presentation reads: "This panel will discuss the efforts to pass a Harvard-style Open Access Policy at URI which will enable faculty authors to retain the rights to their articles even if they subsequently sign away their copyright to a journal."

Open Access At Uri: Exciting Opportunities For Faculty, Researchers, And Grad Students, Julia Lovett, Andrée Rathemacher

Julia Lovett

Slides from a presentation, "Open Access at URI: Exciting Opportunities for Faculty, Researchers, and Grad Students" offered at the University of Rhode Island Libraries on October 8 and October 21, 2013.

"Open Access provides you with the opportunity to increase your readership and your scholarly impact, and also improves your access to scholarly information. The DigitalCommons@URI is part of an international effort to increase access to scholarly articles, theses, and dissertations. Come learn about the benefits of open access for your research and how to comply with URI's Open Access policies."

Part of the University Libraries' Search Savvy Seminar series.

Open Access Policy At The University Of Rhode Island, Julia Lovett, Andrée Rathemacher

Julia Lovett

Materials related to a "Lightning Talk" presentation on the University of Rhode Island Open Access Policy, given at the NETSL Annual Spring Conference in Worcester, MA, April 12, 2013.

Ieee Istas13- People As Sensors: The Social Implications Of Living In A Smart World, Alexander Hayes, Katina Michael, Nick Rheinberger

Alexander Hayes Mr.

What is the technological trajectory of people wearing sensors? What are the benefits, risks and costs? What is the vibe going to be like at ISTAS13 with people like Marvin Minsky and Ray Kurzweil attending? What do you hope to gain from the meeting? Can we foresee a time that all glasses will be embedded with sensors? What are the implications? E.g. in the higher education sector? What about the gathering of evidence by law enforcement? What is point of eye?

Workshop | Body Worn Video Recorders: The Socio-Technical Implications Of Gathering Direct Evidence, Katina Michael, Alexander Hayes

Alexander Hayes Mr.

- From in-car video recording to body-worn video recording

- Exploring available technologies: how do they work, pros and cons

- Storing direct evidence in secure storage: factors to consider

- Citizens “shooting” back with POV tech – what are their rights?

- Crowdsourced sousveillance- harnessing public data for forensic profiling

- Police force policies and practices on the application of new media

Reflections From The Wearable Computing Conference In Toronto, Canada, Nick Rheinberger, Katina Michael, Alexander Hayes

Alexander Hayes Mr.

Could sports men and women who are monitored using wearable computers actually be playing to a global theatre to ensure the upkeep of their performance benchmarks instead of consciously watching and reacting to what is happening in the game they are playing? What are the social implications of heart rate monitors and GPS units now embedded into player clothing? What were some of the reflections from the IEEE ISTAS13 meeting on Wearable Computers in Every Day Life? What were some of the main messages that you walked away with from that conference? What made the greatest impression on us was …

Improving Food Safety Through Self-Regulation: Exploring The Applicability Of The Hazard Analysis And Critical Control Points (Haccp) System To The Spinach And Peanut Industries, A. Bryce Hoflund, Michelle Pautz

Michelle Pautz

Abstract: Recent years have seen a plethora of incidents in the United States that have called attention to food safety, including spinach, peanut, lettuce, and ground beef recalls. Unsurprisingly in the wake of these recalls, the propensity has been to advocate for additional government regulation. This proclivity begs the question, however, is more reform what is needed? The food safety regulatory system in the U.S. is massive and fragmented; are more regulations the answer to ensuring the safety of food? Skeptics may argue that the only way to ensure the food processing industry is kept in line is through rigid …

Making Keywords Work: Connecting Patrons To Resources Through Enhanced Bibliographic Records, Mina Chercourt, Lauren Marshall

Mina Chercourt

Libraries seek methods of maximizing users' discovery of relevant resources. One of these methods is to enhance bibliographic records with tables of contents. Limited previous research has shown a positive correlation between record enhancement and circulation, but the costs for enhancement can vary widely. The authors present their research in which they examined circulation statistics after retrospectively enhancing records for anthologies of literature with low prior circulation. Results indicate that circulation increased for some subject areas, but not others. The authors conclude that this service is of value to our users, and discuss the issues of costs and selection of …

Teaching Threshold Concepts: Practical Plans For Meaningful Instruction In Information Literacy, Gayle Schaub, Hazel Mcclure, Patricia Bravender

Gayle Schaub

With the unique constraints that instruction librarians face in the classroom, we often rely on point-and-click instruction sessions that do not always communicate essential information literacy concepts. This program identifies key threshold and core concepts and correlates them with ACRL information literacy standards. The presenters highlight lesson plans that promote critical thinking and engaged learning and offer an opportunity for participants to collaborate in the creation of a standard-aligned lesson plan.

Underclaiming And Overclaiming, Sachin Pandya, Peter Siegelman

Peter Siegelman

Arguments that we have too much litigation (overclaiming) or too little (underclaiming) cannot be valid without estimating how many of the undecided claims that are brought (actual claims) or not brought (potential claims) have or lack legal merit. We identify the basic conceptual structure of such underclaiming and overclaiming arguments, which entails inferences about the distribution of actual or potential claims by their probability of success on the merits within a claims-processing institution. We then survey the available methods for estimating claim merit.

Paying It Forward...And Backward, Rita Spisak, Eli Arnold, Sandra Barclay, Linda Golian-Lui, Michael Luther

Eli Arnold

Sturgis Library recently started a Mentorship Program concurrently with the hiring of 5 librarians. Paired with veterans, mentees met regularly (as a group & one-on-one) with mentors to get a feel for the culture of the library & advice on librarianship.

Concepts Of Illness Among The Swahili Of Lamu, Kenya, Rebecca Gearhart, Munib Abdulrehman

Rebecca Gearhart

Research On Second Language Teacher Motivation: From A Vygotskian Activity Theory Perspective, Tae-Young Kim, Qian-Mei Zhang

Dr. Tae-Young Kim (김태영, 金兌英)

Second language (L2) teachers’ motivation has considerable influence on their students’ L2 learning motivation, personal satisfaction, and fulfillment. It has important influence on national educational reform and development. Although a number of studies have examined teachers’ motivation to teach, to date, few have focused on L2 teacher motivation. Based on the limitations identified in previous research, this paper articulates the inherent complexities of L2 teacher motivation and identifies its dynamic characteristics from the perspective of Vygotskian Activity Theory (AT). With a concise overview of AT, this paper elaborates on the applicability and relevance of AT to L2 teachers’ motivation by …

Dynamics Of Rural Labour Markets: Evidence From Longitudinal Panel Data In India, A Amarender Reddy

A Amarender Reddy

Given the slow structural transformation of employment in rural areas in India, this paper tries to probe into the structural transformation in semi-arid tropics of India, by using high frequency longitudinal panel data from 1975 to 2010. The results show that, up to early 1980s, structural transformation was very slow and most of the workers dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. Most of the workers are spent more days in self-employment in agriculture with very few days in paid work. Both men and women have more leisure time during the 1970s compared to early 2000s. However, from 2001 onwards, there …

Why Do Small Dogs Have So Many Psychological Problems?, Harold Herzog

Harold Herzog, PhD

Individual And Society: Sociological Social Psychology, Lizabeth A. Crawford, Katherine B. Novak

Katherine B. Novak

The Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Strategies And Analysis Of Current Challenges, Lasantha Meegahapola, Lanka Udawatta, Sanjeeva Witharana

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents different roots of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) strategies and challenges faced in terms of efficiency and economy of OTEC plants. The conversion strategies primarily focus on open cycle, closed cycle and hybrid plants. The efficiency studies mainly skew towards the effect of plant distance and thermal gradient towards plant efficiency. The economic analysis is based upon the effect of per unit cost for OTEC plant together with other important considerations such as Plant Factor (PF) and offshore distance, which determine the cost of power generation. Some illustrative examples are also provided using the derived equations under …

Impact Of Wind Generator Control Strategies On Flicker Emission In Distribution Networks, Lasantha Meegahapola, Sarath Perera

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

Renewable power generators are increasingly being integrated to electricity networks to achieve future renewable energy targets in power generation. In particular, wind power generation has already reported substantial penetration levels in electricity networks. Traditionally, flicker phenomenon is considered to be one of the power quality issues in power distribution networks due to fluctuating consumer loads connected to the network. Large-scale integration of wind power generators may create significant voltage fluctuations in distribution feeders due to stochastic and intermittent nature of the wind resources. This study aims to investigate and characterize the flicker emission under different control strategies for DFIG based …

Impact Of Wind Generation Mix On Transient Stability For An Interconnected Power System, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Jason Kennedy, Tim Littler

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

The rapid growth of wind generation in many European countries is pushing power systems into uncharted territory. As additional wind generators are installed, the changing generation mix may impact on power system stability. This paper adopts the New England 39 bus system as a test system for transient stability analysis. Thermal generator models are based on a likely future plant mix for existing systems, while varying capacities of fixed-speed induction generators (FSIG) and doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG) are considered. The main emphasis here has been placed on the impact of wind technology mix on inter-area oscillations following transient grid disturbances. …

Characterisation Of Flicker Emission And Propagation In Distribution Networks With Bi-Directional Power Flows, D Perera, L Meegahapola, S Perera, P Ciufo

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

With the increasing penetration levels of intermittent and fluctuating energy sources such as wind generating systems in the electricity grid, resulting voltage fluctuations and flicker can be expected to become an important power quality considerations. Due to significant bidirectional power flows resulting from large renewable power generation systems connected to downstream, voltage fluctuations may propagate from downstream to upstream. The work presented in this paper investigates and characterises flicker emission and propagation resulting from fluctuating generating sources connected to a distribution network. Mathematical models are developed for flicker emission under different generator control strategies and flicker propagation to upstream network. …

Comparative Analysis Of Dynamic Line Rating Models And Feasibility To Minimise Energy Losses In Wind Rich Power Networks, Mathew Simms, Lasantha Meegahapola

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

Wind power generation has indicated an exponential increase during last two decades and existing transmission network infrastructure is increasingly becoming inadequate to transmit remotely generated wind power to load centres in the network. The dynamic line rating (DLR) is one of the viable solutions to improve the transmission line ampacity during high wind penetration without investing on an additional transmission network. The main objective of this study is to identify the basic differences between two main line rating standards, since transmission network service providers (TNSPs) heavily depend on these two standards when developing their line rating models. Therefore, a parameter …

Flicker Mitigation Strategy For Dfigs During Variable Wind Conditions, Lasantha Meegahapola, Brendan Fox, Damian Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents a flicker mitigation scheme for the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) during variable wind conditions. The flicker mitigation strategy was developed based on the distribution line X/R ratio and the active power deviation from the average active power during variable wind conditions. Flicker emission was analyzed using a flicker meter based on the IEC standards. Both short-term and long-term flicker severities were analyzed during the time period of study. The flicker mitigation strategy was evaluated under different system conditions such as X/R ratio, distribution line length, shortcircuit capacity (SCC), and wind variability. It is shown that the proposed …

Optimal Power Flow With Variable Wind Conditions, S Durairaj, L Meegahapola, D Flynn, B Fox

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents simulation studies of an electric arc furnace (EAF) model in the MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. EAF was modeled as a current source controlled by a non-linear resistance. Voltage flicker, a phenomenon of annoying light intensity fluctuation, caused by EAF, has been a major power quality concern for both power companies and customers. A model was developed for the electric arc furnace and it was applied in the simulation studies of distribution static synchronous compensator (DSTATCOM) for voltage flicker mitigation. The controller for DSTATCOM was designed based on DQ-model for the reactive power management which helps in the mitigation of …

Voltage And Power Quality Improvement Strategy For A Dfig Wind Farm During Variable Wind Conditions, L Meegahapola, T Littler, B Fox, J Kennedy, D Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents a voltage and power quality enhancement scheme for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind farm during variable wind conditions. The wind profiles were derived considering the measured data at a DFIG wind farm located in Northern Ireland (NI). The aggregated DFIG wind farm model was validated using measured data at a wind farm during variable generation. The voltage control strategy was developed considering the X/R ratio of the wind farm feeder which connects the wind farm and the grid. The performance of the proposed strategy was evaluated for different X/R ratios, and wind profiles with different characteristics. …

Impact On Transient And Frequency Stability For A Power System At Very High Wind Penetration, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper analyzes the impact on transient and frequency stability for a power system at very high wind penetration (40% wind). Wind penetration is based on the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), and a systematic approach has been adopted for wind power integration. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out for each wind integration scenario and for different wind generator loading conditions. A range of fault locations has been selected for stability analysis based on the proximity to synchronous generation and wind farms. The analysis has shown that transient stability performance is subject to fault location in the network, especially when …

Optimal Allocation Of Reactive Power Resources To Minimise Losses And Maintain System Security, Eknath Vittal, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Andrew Keane

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

Modern doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbines have significant reactive power control capability, even during low wind speed conditions. This can improve system security by providing terminal voltage control at buses in the system. Generally, such control employs the full range of reactive power production from the turbine which can lead to increased system losses. By utilizing optimal power flow analysis, and limiting the range of reactive power production at certain wind farms, system losses can be minimized. If the reactive power of the wind farms are optimized to achieve the minimum system losses this may adversely affect the voltage …

Transient Stability Analysis Of A Power System With High Wind Penetration, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Tim Littler

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents transient stability analysis for a power system with high wind penetration. The transient stability has been evaluated based on two stability criteria: rotor angle stability and voltage stability. A modified IEEE-14 bus system has been used as the main study network and simulations have been conducted at several wind power penetration levels, defined as a fraction of total system generation. A wide range of scenarios have been presented based on the wind farm voltage at the point of connection, i.e. low voltage (LV) distribution level and high voltage (HV) transmission level, and the type of wind generator …

Multi-Objective Reactive Power Support From Wind Farms For Network Performance Enhancement, Lasantha Meegahapola, Brendan Fox, Tim Littler, Damian Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper examines the ability of the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) to deliver multiple reactive power objectives during variable wind conditions. The reactive power requirement is decomposed based on various control objectives (e.g. power factor control, voltage control, loss minimisation, and flicker mitigation) defined around different time frames (i.e. seconds, minutes, and hourly), and the control reference is generated by aggregating the individual reactive power requirement for each control strategy. A novel coordinated controller is implemented for the rotor-side converter and the grid-side converter considering their capability curves and illustrating that it can effectively utilise the aggregated DFIG reactive …