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2008

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Development Of A Multiple Truck Presence Model, Cornelius Albrecht Jan 2008

Development Of A Multiple Truck Presence Model, Cornelius Albrecht

Open Access Master's Theses

In bridge design and evaluation, the characteristics of truck traffic is particularly important. Truck weights and axle configurations are directly used in calculations of maximum load effects including positive bending moments and shear forces in simply-supported bridges as well as negative bending moments of continuous spans. The loading event that is likely to govern a bridge design is t he simultaneous occurrence of two or more heavily loaded trucks- called Multiple Presence. Consequently, the statistics of different loading patterns as well as the weight correlation among coincident trucks are equally important to live load analysis. However, studies of Multiple Presence …

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Shanthi Sena: Unarmed Peacekeeping, Dennis August Almeida Jan 2008

Shanthi Sena: Unarmed Peacekeeping, Dennis August Almeida

Open Access Master's Theses

Where questions of violence and nonviolence cannot be raised inside a polity, it becomes obligatory that social scientists undertake them from the outside (Paige 2002:92). And if we are to "transform our society from a psychology of killing and threats to kill to one that is life-enhancing and spiritually fulfilling," (Ariyaratne 1999:73) then social science research on nonviolence and unarmed peacekeeping is an imperative. With this in mind I investigated the Shanthi Sena (Peace Brigade), an independent unit of the Sarvodaya Sharamadana Movement in Sri Lanka, through a six week in-depth case study; a full description, understanding and appreciation of …

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Thurgood Marshall's Forlorn Battle Against Racial Discrimination In The Administration Of The Death Penalty: The Mccleskey Cases, 1987, 1991, Howard Ball Jan 2008

Thurgood Marshall's Forlorn Battle Against Racial Discrimination In The Administration Of The Death Penalty: The Mccleskey Cases, 1987, 1991, Howard Ball

MC Law Review

Justice Thurgood Marshall: Exploring the Life and Legacy of One of America's Most Celebrated Jurists

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Analysis Of Leaf Development In Ampelopsis Cordata And Ampelopsis Arborea (Vitaceae), Benjamin Grant Doughan Jan 2008

Analysis Of Leaf Development In Ampelopsis Cordata And Ampelopsis Arborea (Vitaceae), Benjamin Grant Doughan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The genus Ampelopsis is a member of the Vitaceae. Ampelopsis cordata Michx. and Ampelopsis arborea (L.) Koehne are the only two North American species of Ampelopsis. A recent molecular phylogenetic hypothesis placed them into two different clades (Soejima and Wen, 2006). This is correlated with mature leaf morphology, i.e. A. cordata has simple leaves, and A. arborea has compound leaves. My objective was to compare the two species leaf development from initiation to mature form to determine how and at what point their developmental trajectory differentiates and to establish a method to sufficiently track leaf development. Bpi-illumination light microscopy was …

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An Action For A Classical String, The Equation Of Motion And Group Invariant Classical Solutions, Paul Bracken Jan 2008

An Action For A Classical String, The Equation Of Motion And Group Invariant Classical Solutions, Paul Bracken

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

A string action which is essentially a Willmore functional is presented and studied. This action determines the physics of a surface in Euclidean three space which can be used to model classical string configurations. By varying this action an equation of motion for the mean curvature of the surface is obtained which is shown to govern certain classical string configurations. Several classes of classical solutions for this equation are discussed from the symmetry group point of view and an application is presented.

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Quantum Phases For A Generalized Harmonic Oscillator, Paul Bracken Jan 2008

Quantum Phases For A Generalized Harmonic Oscillator, Paul Bracken

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

An effective Hamiltonian for the generalized harmonic oscillator is determined by using squeezed state wavefunctions. The equations of motion over an extended phase space are determined and then solved perturbatively for a specific choice of the oscillator parameters. These results are used to calculate the dynamic and geometric phases for the generalized oscillator with this choice of parameters.

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A Fragment On Euler's Constant In Ramanujan's Lost Notebook, Bruce C. Berndt, Timothy Huber Jan 2008

A Fragment On Euler's Constant In Ramanujan's Lost Notebook, Bruce C. Berndt, Timothy Huber

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

A formula for Euler’s constant found in Ramanujan’s lost notebook and also in a problem he submitted to the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society is proved and discussed.

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Calibrating Feat Instruments Without Gas Cylinders, Allison Peddle, Donald H. Stedman Jan 2008

Calibrating Feat Instruments Without Gas Cylinders, Allison Peddle, Donald H. Stedman

Fuel Efficiency Automobile Test Publications

No abstract provided.

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An Approach To Machine Development Of Musical Ontogeny, Marcelo Gimenes Jan 2008

An Approach To Machine Development Of Musical Ontogeny, Marcelo Gimenes

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This Thesis pursues three main objectives: (i) to use computational modelling to explore how music is perceived, cognitively processed and created by human beings; (ii) to explore interactive musical systems as a method to model and achieve the transmission of musical influence in artificial worlds and between humans and machines; and (iii) to experiment with artificial and alternative developmental musical routes in order to observe the evolution of musical styles. In order to achieve these objectives, this Thesis introduces a new paradigm for the design of computer interactive musical systems called the Ontomemetical Model of Music Evolution - OMME, which …

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Mathematics Versus The Arts: A Comparative Look At Students' Attitudes And Beliefs, Mary Ann Harasymowycz Jan 2008

Mathematics Versus The Arts: A Comparative Look At Students' Attitudes And Beliefs, Mary Ann Harasymowycz

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The words that students use to paint a picture of mathematics are very different from those which they use to describe their experiences in art and music. In the views of students, mathematics is pointless and repetitive while the arts are creative, relaxing and an expression of themselves. This thesis reports on the findings of a two part research project designed to investigate the attitudes of high school students when learning mathematics, art and music. The focus of this study was a comparative look at their confidence and enjoyment in learning these subjects. A questionnaire was designed and developed for …

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Philosophy Matters In Engineering Studies, William Grimson, Mike Murphy, Steen Hyldgaard Christensen, Erik Erno-Kjolhede Jan 2008

Philosophy Matters In Engineering Studies, William Grimson, Mike Murphy, Steen Hyldgaard Christensen, Erik Erno-Kjolhede

Conference papers

This article explores the rationale for including in an integrated five-years Masters Engineering programme liberal arts subjects, in particular Philosophy and the History of Science and Technology. We argue that the tools of philosophy should be used to provide additional insight into how engineering was and is 'performed'. We first review the challenge, next we present some results of an empirical case study carried out at AU-IBT in Denmark. The purpose of the case study was to examine a sample of engineering teachers´ attitudes towards the relevance and scope of liberal arts subjects for engineering students. Finally we conclude with …

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A Symbolic Operator Approach To Several Summation Formulas For Power Series Ii, Tian-Xiao He, Peter Shiue, L. C. Hsu Jan 2008

A Symbolic Operator Approach To Several Summation Formulas For Power Series Ii, Tian-Xiao He, Peter Shiue, L. C. Hsu

Scholarship

Here expounded is a kind of symbolic operator method that can be used to construct many transformation formulas and summation formulas for various types of power series including some old ones and more new ones.

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Padé Spline Functions, Tian-Xiao He Jan 2008

Padé Spline Functions, Tian-Xiao He

Scholarship

We present here the definition of Pad´e spline functions, their expressions, and the estimate of the remainders of pad´e spline expansions. Some algorithms are also given.

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Enhancing Learning On A First Year Engineering Programme With A Student Design Project, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2008

Enhancing Learning On A First Year Engineering Programme With A Student Design Project, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution reports on, and evaluates, the use of a design project for enhancing student learning on a first year module in electrical engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. The project objective, as outlined to the students, was to design and build a, possibly innovative, everyday device that can generate electricity from sources of “free energy”, so as to encourage first year engineering students to use their natural design creativity in a freeform, brainstorming manner. The project allows students to further develop their academic interests, assists student retention and facilitates student interaction, among other advantages. The work encourages students to …

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Portfolio Diversification Using Subspace Factorizations, Ruairí De Fréin, Konstantinos Drakakis, Scott Rickard Jan 2008

Portfolio Diversification Using Subspace Factorizations, Ruairí De Fréin, Konstantinos Drakakis, Scott Rickard

Conference papers

Successful investment management relies on allocating assets so as to beat the stock market. Asset classes are affected by different market dynamics or latent trends. These interactions are crucial to the successful allocation of monies. The seminal work on portfolio management by Markowitz prompts the adroit investment manager to consider the correlation between the assets in his portfolio and to vary his selection so as to optimize his riskreturn profile. The factor model, a popular model for the return generating process has been used for portfolio construction and assumes that there is a low rank representation of the stocks. In …

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Attitudes Towards Managing The Work-Family Interface: The Role Of Gender And Social Background, Melrona Kirrane, Kathy Monks Jan 2008

Attitudes Towards Managing The Work-Family Interface: The Role Of Gender And Social Background, Melrona Kirrane, Kathy Monks

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

The effective management of the work-life interface is an issue increasingly recognised as of strategic importance to organisations and of significance to employees (Forsyth & Polzer-Dedruyne, 2007; Nord et al., 2002; Russell & Bowman, 2000). A pan-European investigation (Brannen et al., 2002) concluded that young Irish people characterize the two domains of work and family as operating in conflict with each other. Given the high rate of workforce participation in the Irish labour market, and the corporate imperative of effective retention strategies (Messersmith, 2007; Cappelli, 2000), understanding how this perspective may influence behavioural intentions with respect to managing the work-family …

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Thirteen-Year-Old Girls: Tales Of School Transition And Feminine Identity, Thienhuong Hoang Jan 2008

Thirteen-Year-Old Girls: Tales Of School Transition And Feminine Identity, Thienhuong Hoang

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

This paper is based on an ethnographic multi-method study, involving interviews, focus groups, diaries and observation. It explores some of the tales of thirteen-year-old female students who told about their experiences of growing up and making the transition from primary to secondary school. The paper argues that their experiences of growing up and changing schools were not a simple, linear process, but involved feelings of intense pleasure and tremendous pain. Building on a growing body of literature concerned with the experience of growing-up, this paper seeks to highlight the multiple ways in which these female students negotiated this phase of …

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Effects Of Friendship In Transactions In An Emerging Market: Empirical Evidence From Brazil, Wesley Mendes-Da-Silva, Thaís Fernanda Salves De Brito, Rubens Famá, Jonathan T. Liljegren Jan 2008

Effects Of Friendship In Transactions In An Emerging Market: Empirical Evidence From Brazil, Wesley Mendes-Da-Silva, Thaís Fernanda Salves De Brito, Rubens Famá, Jonathan T. Liljegren

Faculty Publications

This paper considers the inclusion of human behavioral aspects and implications of cognitive psychology and anthropology in decisions relating to the emerging field of behavioral finance. The formulated hypotheses were tested using 400 questionnaires, answered by students enrolled in MBA programs. The principal results suggest that individuals involved in transactions among friends or among strangers assume different behaviors—friends agree about the price attributed to an asset, while strangers show the propensity to bargain.

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Fabrication Of Switchable Liquid Crystal Devices Using Surface Relief Gratings In Photopolymer, Pavani Kotakonda, Izabela Naydenova, Robert Howard, Suzanne Martin, Vincent Toal Jan 2008

Fabrication Of Switchable Liquid Crystal Devices Using Surface Relief Gratings In Photopolymer, Pavani Kotakonda, Izabela Naydenova, Robert Howard, Suzanne Martin, Vincent Toal

Articles

Holographically recorded surface relief gratings in dry, self-developing acrylamide based photopolymer were used to fabricate two types of switchable liquid crystal (LC) device. One is an electrically switchable LC diffraction grating and the other is an electrically switchable polarization rotator. The electrically switchable diffraction grating was characterized by measuring the dependence of the intensity in the first diffracted order on the applied electric field. The polarization rotator was characterized by studying the influence of the applied electric field on the twist angle and the variation of intensity in the zero and the first orders of diffraction.

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Artefacts, Technicity And Humanisation Industrial Design And The Problem Of Anoetic Technologies, Stephen James Thompson Jan 2008

Artefacts, Technicity And Humanisation Industrial Design And The Problem Of Anoetic Technologies, Stephen James Thompson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis concerns the intellectual heritage and autonomy of West European and American industrial design as a discourse community at a moment when biotechnological developments are challenging the certainty of what it means to be human. Proceeding from the assumption that industrial design is an autonomous intellectual engagement played out through the interpretation of technology as an artefact, the thesis identifies how this is a critical moment for industrial designers, who appear to be unable to respond to a problem of the apparent disconnection and the progressive displacement of the human in reference to technology. The thesis identifies the cause …

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In Situ Measurements Of Building Materials Using A Thermal Probe, Brian Pilkington Jan 2008

In Situ Measurements Of Building Materials Using A Thermal Probe, Brian Pilkington

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This work concerns the in situ measurement of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of building materials, so as to provide improved data for the estimation and prediction of energy efficiency in buildings. Thermal data sources and measurement methods currently used by industry to inform building design were found to give flawed values for the thermal properties of materials as found in situ. A transient measurement technique, carried out by means of a thermal probe, and used in various other industries, was investigated as an alternative, relatively non-destructive, rapid and economic means of obtaining representative results. An analysis of the literature …

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Equalisation Techniques For Multi-Level Digital Magnetic Recording, Purav Shah Jan 2008

Equalisation Techniques For Multi-Level Digital Magnetic Recording, Purav Shah

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A large amount of research has been put into areas of signal processing, medium design, head and servo-mechanism design and coding for conventional longitudinal as well as perpendicular magnetic recording. This work presents some further investigation in the signal processing and coding aspects of longitudinal and perpendicular digital magnetic recording. The work presented in this thesis is based upon numerical analysis using various simulation methods. The environment used for implementation of simulation models is C/C + + programming. Important results based upon bit error rate calculations have been documented in this thesis. This work presents the new designed Asymmetric Decoder …

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Engineering: An Inherently Philosophical Enterprise, William Grimson Jan 2008

Engineering: An Inherently Philosophical Enterprise, William Grimson

Level 3

This chapter first sets out the arguments for considering engineering from a philosophical point of view with specific reference to the main branches of Philosophy. Additionally within the single branch of Epistemology, the relevance of Empiricism, Rationalism, Existentialism, Logical Positivist, and Post-Modernism to engineering is briefly outlined. The general proposition advanced is that Engineering is itself fundamentally philosophical in nature, attempting in its own way to make sense of the world in which we live.

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The Interface Between Academic Knowledge And Working Knowledge: Implications For Curriculum Design And Pedagogic Practice., Anne Murphy Jan 2008

The Interface Between Academic Knowledge And Working Knowledge: Implications For Curriculum Design And Pedagogic Practice., Anne Murphy

Level 3

This paper considers some aspects of the theory and practice of work-based learning (WBL) that may be of interest to academic staff in higher education who have responsibility for negotiating, designing, delivering and assessing programmes for, and with, Irish workplaces, companies, organisations and sectors of the workforce. The paper does not claim to be breaking significant new ground: rather it is trying to connect aspects of the field to inform underpinning of WBL curriculum design and related pedagogic practice as the start of a conversation rather than the last word.

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Encouraging Student Creativity In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly, Terry Barrett Jan 2008

Encouraging Student Creativity In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly, Terry Barrett

Journal Articles

This chapter focuses on how teachers encourage the development of creative states of flow in their students and in themselves. The chapter aims to stimulate educators in higher education to think freshly about creativity and to widen their range of strategies for encouraging student creativity.

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Anti-Isomorphisms And The Failure Of Duality, Brendan Goldsmith, A. L. S. Corner, S. Wallutis Jan 2008

Anti-Isomorphisms And The Failure Of Duality, Brendan Goldsmith, A. L. S. Corner, S. Wallutis

Book chapter/book

Groups and modules with isomorphic endomorphism rings are known, in certain cases, to be necessarily isomorphic. When such a ring isomorphism is replaced by an anti-isomorphism, the modules are often determined only up to isomorphism of certain duals. This type of situation is examined in a number of cases with special emphasis on the situation for mixed Abelian groups, where it is shown that no reasonable duality may exist.

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Revenue Maximisation; An Examination Of The Influences Of Heuristics And Biases On The Yield Management Decision Process In Dublin Hotels, Tony Kiely Jan 2008

Revenue Maximisation; An Examination Of The Influences Of Heuristics And Biases On The Yield Management Decision Process In Dublin Hotels, Tony Kiely

Conference papers

Yield management in hotels has been described as a method of profitably managing fixed room capacity. A critical element of yield management is the decision strategy employed, as this determines the degree to which optimum financial solutions are generated. Recent research has indicated that the use of technology assisted decision optimising models, specifically the management science model of decision making, would greatly improve decision optimisation, by minimising the need to employ guesswork in achieving financial goals. However, despite this assurance, yield management remains couched in uncertainty through being inextricably associated with forecasting future demand for a perishable product in an …

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A Translation Mechanism For Recommendations, Pierpaolo Dondio, Luca Longo, Stephen Barrett Jan 2008

A Translation Mechanism For Recommendations, Pierpaolo Dondio, Luca Longo, Stephen Barrett

Conference papers

An important class of distributed Trust-based solutions is based on the information sharing. A basic requirement of such systems is the ability of participating agents to effectively communicate, receiving and sending messages that can be interpreted correctly. Unfortunately, in open systems it is not possible to postulate a common agreement about the representation of a rating, its semantic meaning and cognitive and computational mechanisms behind a trust-rating formation. Social scientists agree to consider unqualified trust values not transferable, but a more pragmatic approach would conclude that qualified trust judgments are worth being transferred as far as decisions taken considering others’ …

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Anti-Phishing Models: Main Challenges, Edina Hatunic-Webster Jan 2008

Anti-Phishing Models: Main Challenges, Edina Hatunic-Webster

Conference papers

Phishing is a form of online identity theft in which the attacker attempts to fraudulently retrieve a legitimate user's account information, logon credentials or identity information in general. The compromised information is then used for withdrawing money online, taking out cash advances, or making purchases of goods and services on the accounts. Various solutions have been proposed and developed in response to phishing. As phishing is a business problem, the solutions target both non-technical and technical areas. This paper investigates the current anti-phishing solutions and critically reviews their usage, security weaknesses and their effectiveness. The analysis of these models points …

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Knowledge Visualisation Of Wikipedia, Jinhui Wang Jan 2008

Knowledge Visualisation Of Wikipedia, Jinhui Wang

Dissertations

Wikipedia is a popular online encyclopaedia, in which articles are created together by anyone who is willing to contribute. There is debate on the quality, reliability and consistency of articles due to its openness. Besides, it is hard to see the growing path of articles because there is no centralised control in Wikipedia. The history of articles is available but in form that is difficult to process to get a picture of article evolution. Knowledge visualisation addresses the problem by providing analysis and comprehension of large amounts of data to gain insights and to facilitate knowledge creation and sharing. However, …

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