Digital Commons Network^™

Improving The Representation Of The Fragility Of Coastal Structures, Robert Jane

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Robust Flood Risk Analysis (FRA) is essential for effective flood risk management. The performance of any flood defence assets will heavily influence the estimate of an area’s flood risk. It is therefore critical that the probability of a coastal flood defence asset incurring a structural failure when subjected to a particular loading i.e. its fragility is accurately quantified. The fragility representations of coastal defence assets presently adopted in UK National FRA (NaFRA) suffer three pertinent limitations. Firstly, assumptions relating to the modelling of the dependence structure of the variables that comprise the hydraulic load, including the water level, wave height …

Continuous Identity Verification In Cloud Computing Services, Burhan Mollan Salih Al-Bayati

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Cloud computing has become a hugely popular new paradigm for hosting and delivering services over the internet for individuals and organisations with low cost. However, security is a sensitive issue in cloud computing, as it its services remain accessible to anyone after initial authenticated login and for significant periods. This has led to an increase in the number of attacks on sensitive cus-tomer information. This research identified biometric approaches as a possible solution for security to be maintained beyond the point of entry. Specifically, behaviour profiling has been proposed and applied across various other applications in the area of Transparent …

A Developmental Model Of Trust In Humanoid Robots, Massimiliano Patacchiola

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Trust between humans and artificial systems has recently received increased attention due to the widespread use of autonomous systems in our society. In this context trust plays a dual role. On the one hand it is necessary to build robots that are perceived as trustworthy by humans. On the other hand we need to give to those robots the ability to discriminate between reliable and unreliable informants. This thesis focused on the second problem, presenting an interdisciplinary investigation of trust, in particular a computational model based on neuroscientific and psychological assumptions. First of all, the use of Bayesian networks for …

Contributions To Converters In Single Phase Distributed Photovoltaic Systems, Ali Hussein Abduljabbar Al-Omari

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis contributes to improve the photovoltaic Distributed Generation (DG) systems by proposing three novel methods to the system. On DC conversion side, a new integrated magnetic structure for interleaved converter and a new method to calculate the eddy current and hysteresis losses in the magnetic core were proposed. On inversion side, A new synchronisation method for grid tie inverters was suggested. The technique is using the Recursive Discrete Fourier Transform (RDFT) to find fundamental in grid waveform. On the DC converter side, the benefits of the new structure is to produce magnetic flux that alternate in the core across …

Numerical Modelling Of Extreme Waves: The Role Of Nonlinear Wave-Wave Interactions, Thomas Vyzikas

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The real monsters of the ocean, extreme waves, haunted mariners since the early days of human activities in the sea. Despite having caused numerous accidents and casualties, their systematic study began only in 2000s. Many mechanisms have been proposed to simulate these rare but catastrophic events, with the most prominent being wave focusing. This is connected to the NewWave theory, which has been used extensively in experimental and numerical modelling. However, the majority of the studies fail to capture the distinguishing characteristics of extreme waves, due to the inherent high nonlinearity of the problem and shortcomings of the modelling practice, …

A Scientometric Analysis Of Knowledge Management Research And Practice Literature: 2003 – 2015, Ahmed Ramy, Jenni Floody, Mohamed Af Ragab, Amr Arisha

Articles

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current research trends in Knowledge Management (KM) through a scientometric analysis of all literature published in KMRP between 2003 and 2015 (506 articles). The review framework explores three sets of review questions addressing Research Productivity, Research Themes and Methods, and Citation Analysis. The study elucidates wide global interest in KM and an increasing trend towards multi-author collaboration. Although more than 55 different industries have featured in the journal, certain knowledge-intensive sectors remain underrepresented. Country productivity shows few nations taking the lead with an interesting correlation between research activity and economic prosperity. …

Contesting Early Childhood Professional Identities: A Cross-National Discussion, Sonja Arndt, Mathias Urban, Colette Murray, Kylie Smith, Beth Swadener, Tomas Ellegaard

Articles

In this collective article, the authors explore constructions of early childhood practitioners and how they disconnect and reconnect in a global neo-liberal education policy context. The contributions to the conversation provide windows into shifting professional identities across five national contexts: New Zealand, the USA, Ireland, Australia and Denmark. The authors ask who benefits from the notion of distinct professional identities, linked to early childhood education as locally and culturally embedded practice. They conceptualize teachers’ shifting subjectivities, drawing on Kristeva’s philosophical conception of identity as constantly in construction, open and evolving. Arguments for the urgency to counter the global uniformity machine, …

W424-001 - Faculty: Faculty Conference Minutes And Related Records, Faculty

University Archives Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Volume 27, Issue 3, Winter 2018-19, Office Of Communications, Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University Magazine, 2018-present

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
VOLUME 27 | NUMBER 3 | WINTER 2018-19

ON OUR COVER: A breakthrough moment inspired Lisa Mishra ’15 to put her career on hold and pursue a future in the music industry. Portrait photo by Jason Reblando. Digital illustration by Gary Schwartz.
14 Homecoming 2018 Illinois Wesleyan celebrated 100 years of Homecoming at “A Century of Celebration,” with many alumni and friends returning to campus for the annual tradition Oct. 5-7, 2018.
16 Leap of Faith Music has always been a way of life for Lisa Mishra ’15, but a breakthrough moment launched a new career for …

Understanding Market Inefficiency In The East Asian Region During Times Of Crisis, Lucia Morales, Bernadette Andreosso-O’Callaghan

Articles

The study of financial market efficiency has important implications in terms of global macroeconomic stability. The case of six selected East Asian stock markets (China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea) during the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) and Global Financial Crisis (GFC) is analysed here using a battery of well-known econometric techniques that starts with traditional unit root testing for random walk behaviour. The six countries were selected on the basis of market capitalization to offer insights into the behaviour of the most relevant markets in the region. The results show that during both crises, these markets exhibited …

Green Networking: Analyses Of Power Consumption Of Real And Complex Ifft/Fft Used In Next-Generation Networks And Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, Sameer Sami Hassan Al-Obaidi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a promising technology for the Next Generation Networks. This technique was selected because of the flexibility for the various parameters, high spectral efficiency, and immunity to ISI. The OFDM technique suffers from significant digital signal processing, especially inside the Inverse/ Fast Fourier Transform IFFT/FFT. This part is used to perform the orthogonality/De-orthogonality between the subcarriers which the important part of the OFDM system. Therefore, it is important to understand the parameter effects on the increase or to decrease the FPGA power consumption for the IFFT/FFT. This thesis is focusing on the FPGA power consumption …

A Secure Quorum Based Multi-Tag Rfid System, Ayad Al-Adhami

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been expanded to be used in different fields that need automatic identifying and verifying of tagged objects without human intervention. RFID technology offers a great advantage in comparison with barcodes by providing accurate information, ease of use and reducing of labour cost. These advantages have been utilised by using passive RFID tags. Although RFID technology can enhance the efficiency of different RFID applications systems, researchers have reported issues regarding the use of RFID technology. These issues are making the technology vulnerable to many threats in terms of security and privacy. Different RFID solutions, based …

Drivers Of Wearable Computing Adoption: An Empirical Study Of Success Factors Including It Security And Consumer Behaviour-Related Aspects, Lena Gribel

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The recent advances in information technologies have dramatically changed the manner in which people understand, experience and use IT systems. Wearable computers are emerging new technologies in the evolution of mobile devices, which introduce a paradigm shift in the field of human computer-interaction. By equipping the user with computational capabilities, ‘wearables’ provide context-aware and seamlessly integrated on-the-fly computing across heterogeneous circumstances and irrespective of place and time. Not least the very promising market prospects for wearable devices imply various unprecedented business opportunities and a vast economic potential of these socio-technological gadgets. Nonetheless, analysis of the current market situation shows that …

Teaching Robots Social Autonomy From In Situ Human Supervision, Emmanuel Senft

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Traditionally the behaviour of social robots has been programmed. However, increasingly there has been a focus on letting robots learn their behaviour to some extent from example or through trial and error. This on the one hand excludes the need for programming, but also allows the robot to adapt to circumstances not foreseen at the time of programming. One such occasion is when the user wants to tailor or fully specify the robot’s behaviour. The engineer often has limited knowledge of what the user wants or what the deployment circumstances specifically require. Instead, the user does know what is expected …

Taxation For Whom?:A Diachronic Analysis Of Taxation In Ireland And The United Kingdom From 1970-2015., Ewan Macdonald, John Hogan, Brendan O'Rourke

Other

This paper explores the discursive development of taxation within budget speeches in two countries, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, from 1970 to 2015 by means of a corpus-assisted discourse analysis. We ask the following questions; how have discourses of taxation developed diachronically in both countries, what are the similarities and differences in the observable discourses across both countries, and for whom and how are these discourses legitimised? In answering these questions, this paper makes use of Corpus linguistics, a methodological approach which utilises computational analysis of large bodies of text to draw statistically significant conclusions about the …

Understanding How Immigrant Entrepreneurs View Business Opportunity Formation Through Ethnicity, Kingsley C. Njoku, Thomas M. Cooney

Books/Book Chapters

Given that international research is now consistently showing higher rates of entrepreneurial activity from immigrants above native people, research regarding our understanding of how immigrant entrepreneurs view business opportunity formation remains underdeveloped. Based upon a review of the literature, this chapter examines how ethnicity relates to business opportunity formation through constant interactions. It also introduces the Visual Mixed Embeddedness Framework as an empirical lens for understanding the differences in the business opportunity formation process models between immigrant and native entrepreneurs. By explaining how factors and traits from both home and host countries impact upon the immigrant entrepreneurial business activity process, …

Towards A Conceptual Framework For The Development Of Immersive Experiences To Negotiate Meaning And Identify In Irish Language Learning, Naoise Collins, Brian Vaughan, Keith Gardiner, Charlie Cullen

Conference papers

The onset of virtual reality systems allows for new immersive content which provides users with a sense of presence in their virtual environment. This paper provides the conceptual framework for a larger study examining how designed virtual reality experiences can be utilised to transform Irish language meaning making and a user's personal Irish language identity.

It's Not What You Do Its The Way That You Do It: The Influence Of Obesity On The Speed And Accuracy Of A Discrete Aiming Task, David Gaul, Laure Fernandez, Johann Issartel

Articles

The ability to control speed and accuracy of goal directed aiming tasks underpins many activities of daily living. Recent evidence has begun to suggest that obesity can affect the control of movement. This study evaluated perceptual motor control of 183 normal weight, overweight, and obese participants using a discrete Fitts’ task on a digital tablet. In addition, we manipulated tablet orientation to determine whether tablet orientation influences task difficulty with the view to increase the task’s constraints. Our study found that the traditional relationship between target distance and target width hold true for each of the three weight groups in …

Validation Of Low-Cost Wireless Eeg System For Measuring Event-Related Potentials, Yongxiang Wang, Zhengwei Wang, William Clifford, Charles Markham, Tomas Ward, Catherine Deegan

Conference Papers

This study used the traditional P300 speller paradigm to compare a medical grade Electroencephalography (EEG) system, the G.Tec, with a consumer grade EEG system, the Emotiv, in the detection of P300 components within Event Related Potential (ERP) signals. The experiment focused on four electrodes known to produce optically induced visual evoked potential. A successful comparison of the two approaches was made. It was shown that both systems could measure an ERP. The paper concludes with discussion comparing the low-cost wireless EEG system with the medical grade EEG system.

Allen Carr’S Easyway To Stop Smoking - A Randomised Clinical Trial, Luke Clancy, Sheila Keogan, Shasha Li

Articles

Objective To determine if Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking (AC) was superior to Quit. ie in a randomised clinical trial (RCT). Setting Single centre, open RCT, general population

Athraitheach: Who Do You Think You Are?, Declan Behan, Clare Bell

Books

Athraitheach: Who do you think you are?

Athraitheach: changeable; changing; fluctuating; shifting; varying.[1]

Conceptually informed by, and materially embedded in, the latest technological developments and innovation in typeface design, this project, ‘Athraitheach: Who do you think you are?’, takes the form of a ‘variable font’[2] that, via the visual representation of language, aims to capture and engage with current public discourses around linguistic diversity and national, cultural and social identities active in the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland.

It also aims to demonstrate how language and identity can, within particular contexts, become inextricably bound together, often being absorbed into, …

Supporting Teaching And Learning Transformations Through The National Professional Development Framework: Establishing And Recognising An Inclusive Community Of Practice For All Who Teach In Irish Higher Education., Roisin Donnelly, Theresa Maguire

Journal Articles

The Natonal Forum (NF) for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning has recently completed an inital implementaton of the Natonal Professional Development Framework (PDF) for all who teach in higher educaton. Prior to the publicaton of the PD Framework in 2016, there was no mechanism or route in place natonally to give structure, focus and support to individual staf to avail of relevant professional development and utlise it to realise their full potental in their teaching role. This important work is deepening sectoral understanding of the PDF itself and leading towards natonal recogniton of an individual’s commitment to their professional …

Potential Impacts Of An Academic Writing And Publishing Module On Scholarship And Teaching: A Qualitative Study, Roisin Donnelly

Journal Articles

This paper reports on a qualitative study exploring the extent to which an accredited Academic Writing and Publishing (AWP) module for faculty and graduate students helped them develop as scholars and how, over time, it affected their instructional beliefs and attitudes in working with their own undergraduate students. For the two module tutors, it was important to know how the participants applied what they learned from the module in their own teaching practice and to identify particularly effective aspects of the module that translated to this other context. Therefore, key themes explored in this paper are the impact of the …

Ireland’S Higher Education Teachers Have A National Professional Development Framework, Now What?, Roisin Ca Donnelly, Theresa Maguire

Papers, presentations and other resources

Momentum has been building for professional development (PD) for all staff who teach in Irish higher education - they now have the national Professional Development Framework (PDF) to support them in planning and engaging with authentic, inclusive, scholarly, learner-centred and collaborative PD across their career. In mid-2016, the PD Framework was published by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. In 2017, the PDF was piloted with 215 individuals from 22 professional identity groups from across the sector, working with the framework to reflect on their professional practice and set goals for their future professional development. This …

The #Vleireland Project, Claire Mcavinia, Angelica Risquez

Papers, presentations and other resources

A decade after Martin Weller’s proclamation that ‘The VLE/LMS Is Dead’ (2007) was met with widespread acclaim and debate, virtual learning environmentsVLEs)remain pervasive in most higher education institutions (HEIs) including those in Ireland .

Surviving, And Indeed Thriving In Faculty Development: A Reflective Commentary On Values Informing Professional Practice, Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

While a significant body of work on the practice of faculty development exists, research on faculty developers as professionals is limited, and few have explored the profession from the perspective of faculty developers themselves (Shaffer, 2011). Specifically, this reflective commentary begins to address the question of how best to prepare and support current and future faculty developers for their ambiguous and complex roles and their need to function within the changing environment of higher education institutions. Since embarking on a role in an Irish Higher Education Institution in 1999 as a Faculty Developer, it has been crucial to consider my …

Ireland’S National Professional Development Framework Summary Findings Of The Initial Implementational, Roisin Donnelly, Theresa Maguire

Other resources

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Of Energy Efficient Measures Undertaken In An Industrial Facility, Tommy Shannon

SDAR* Journal of Sustainable Design & Applied Research

Energy and facility operational costs are a large part of the overheads of Irish manufacturing and distribution companies. This paper deals with the design and implementation of low-carbon technologies and engineering innovations which have evolved over recent years, including integration of network-based programmable logic controllers (PLC), to enhance interconnectivity and control. Recording of the energy consumption of production plant and associated services, including heating and ventilation (HVAC) systems, compressed air systems, water usage/ recovery, power systems, information technology support systems and facilities were undertaken prior to commencing upgrade works. The paper describes how upgrade and retrofit works were identified following …

The Spirituality Of Tour Guides And Their Impact On Visitors Experience At Sacred Sites, Vreny Enongene, Kevin Griffin

Conference papers

It has been widely acknowledged that tour-guides play a vital role in the visitor experience, and significantly impact on the sort of experiences visitors get at sites visited (Cohen et al.,2002; Pizam & Riechel, 1996), and have been dubbed as key elements in the complex interaction between the visitor and the sites visited (Cohen-Hattab and Shoval 2015). Although there has been a proliferation of studies conducted with regards to the role of tour guides in visitor’s experience at cultural heritage tourism attractions, there is still very little exploration of the role of tour guides in the visitor experience management …

Stakeholder Involvement: An Identified Invaluable Resource In The Management And Conservation Of Ireland's Natural Religious Heritage Croagh Patrick: Insights And Challenges, Vreny Enongene, Kevin Griffin

Conference papers

This paper seeks to explore how the concept of stakeholder involvement has been applied for the very first time in the management and conservation of the 800 years old Ireland's Holy mountain Croagh Patrick. In doing so, it explores factors that facilitate and hinder the effectiveness of this new-found partnership towards the sustainable management of this sacred natural site, which simultaneously serves as a place of pilgrimage and tourism. Crucial given scholarly demand for greater understanding of the opportunities and barriers that stakeholder involvement may entail, Woodland & Acott (2007), and even more crucial given that routes and directions for …