Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of A Framework Of Key Internal Control And Governance Principles For Robotic Process Automation (Rpa), Marc Eulerich, Nathan Waddoups, Martin Wagener, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

Although robotic process automation (RPA) usage is growing rapidly in accounting, concerns are emerging regarding the internal controls and overall governance structure surrounding RPA. To help address these concerns, we use a design science research approach and work with a Fortune 500 company to develop an RPA governance framework. The framework consists of 4 governance areas and 14 control requirements, which help maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with the use of RPA. We validate that the framework is useful and generalizable to many organizations by presenting the framework to and subsequently interviewing and surveying 84 professionals at …

A Demonstration Of How Chatgpt Can Be Used In The Internal Auditing Process, Marc Eulerich, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

For the past several years, internal audit functions (IAFs) have been significantly increasing their digitization efforts to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the IAF. The introduction of ChatGPT has increased the potential for IAFs to have a more significant impact; however, there is little guidance on how ChatGPT can influence the day-to-day work of internal auditors. This paper demonstrates with specific examples how ChatGPT can be used to enhance all aspects of the audit process. While not comprehensive in nature, the detailed, illustrative examples should help internal auditors see actionable steps they can take to be more efficient and …

Assessing Virtual Reality’S Influence On Honesty In Reporting, Jeffrey Pickerd, Nathan Waddoups, David A. Wood, Xiaomei (Grazia) Xiong

Faculty Publications

Organizations, businesses, and society are exploring and adopting virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). VR is expected to boost the global economy by $1.5 trillion by 2030. In this study, we focus on the effect of VR on an important accounting variable—reporting honesty. We examine reporting honesty across two tasks, various measures, and various populations, that are commonly used in existing research. In our initial experiment, participants misreported more in a dice rolling task when performing it in a VR setting than in a non-VR setting. However, in a second and third experiment attempting to replicate and extend our …

Traditional Investment Research And Social Networks: Evidence From Facebook Connections, Travis Dyer, Gerrit Köchling, Peter Limbach

Faculty Publications

We show that investors acquire more public information about firms to which they are more socially proximate. On average, a standard deviation increase in the Social Connectedness Index (Bailey et al., 2018) between a firm’s headquarter county and a searcher county is associated with 30% more EDGAR filing downloads from the searcher county. The effect of social proximity on traditional investment research is distinct from the effect of geographic proximity. We find similar results studying headquarter relocations, investor-level data, and EDGAR downloads from European regions, for which physical distance should be irrelevant. Social proximity matters more during times of high …

Ireland, Intellectual Property And The Political Economy Of Information Monopolies, Kenneth W. Murphy

Articles

Ireland’s policies towards US-owned global digital intermediaries (Big Tech) have emerged as an international political issue and received global media attention. So far, political and media focus has been on the impact of Ireland’s tax policies on the revenue-raising ability of other European states and perceptions of light touch regulation of those corporations based in the Republic. The current paper will focus on how Ireland’s switch to a focus on capital allowances for the sizeable American tech corporations has enabled the latter to sustain their dominance in the digital transition through incentivizing and subsidizing their switch to assetization as a …

An Exploration Into How Print And Online News Journalists Manage Political Fake News In Ireland, John William Hogan

Conference papers

This paper examines how a number of Irish political journalists, working for both traditional newspapers and an online news website, deal with the problem of fake news. The aim is to gain an understanding of what the journalists’ perception of political fake news is and the methods they employ to manage it - a sorely under researched topic. Our findings show that the journalists we spoke with feel there are a range of forms that fake news assumes, many of them insidious and challenging to overcome with facts. The paper highlights the important role journalists play in confronting political fake …

Alien Mystery Scavenger Hunt: Enhancing Intergenerational Interaction With Physical Web Technologies Through Location-Based Games, Folashade Fatima Badmos

Conference papers

The Physical Web is a powerful, easy-to-implement and inexpensive way to bridge the gap between the digital and physical realms compared to other technologies used for web location-aware interaction. In this study, we propose a Physical Web for an inter-generational game through the Alien Mystery scavenger hunt. Through the design and implementation of a Physical Web for outdoor intergenerational games, we show the potential of Physical Web technologies in presenting different interactions between the web and the user’s physical environment. The game utilises the ubiquity of QR codes and NFC in modern mobile devices, enabling users to seamlessly interact with …

Nonlinear Spatial Evolution Of Degenerate Quartets Of Water Waves, Conor Heffernan, Amin Chabchoub, Raphael Stuhlmeier

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In this manuscript we investigate the Benjamin–Feir (or modulation) instability for the spatial evolution of water waves from the perspective of the discrete, spatial Zakharov equation, which captures cubically nonlinear and resonant wave interactions in deep water without restrictions on spectral bandwidth. Spatial evolution, with measurements at discrete locations, is pertinent for laboratory hydrodynamic experiments, such as in wave flumes, which rely on time-series measurements at fixed gauges installed along the facility. This setting is likewise appropriate for experiments in electromagnetic and plasma waves. Through a reformulation of the problem for a degenerate quartet, we bring to bear techniques of …

Safer Keyham Community Survey: Phase Two Final Report 2024, Caroline Watson, Rebekah Southern, Zoe James, Katie Mcbride

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This report sets out the findings of the autumn 2023 community survey that was conducted in Keyham and the surrounding neighbourhoods of Ford, North Prospect, and Morice Town in Plymouth, Devon. The survey served as a comparison to the survey completed 12 months earlier for the Safer Keyham evaluation (Watson et al., 2023), which was an independent evaluation of the Home Office funded community policing and community safety activities and the Ministry of Justice funded victim support activities in Keyham and the surrounding areas following the shooting incident of 12 August 2021.The aims of the autumn 2023 survey were:• To …

Climate Change And Sustainability Literacy: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Attitudes To Climate Education In Secondary Schools, Alison Anderson

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Climate change and sustainability are inherently socio-political issues and education plays a key role in mobilising action on climate change and environment. This study builds on interdisciplinary work on youth and climate change education including science communication, environmental education, environmental psychology, and sociology. It reports on novel mixed-methods research on attitudes to climate change and sustainability education in secondary schools in the UK. The study was undertaken in conjunction with the British Science Association (BSA) Future Forums. Drawing on the findings of a national cross-sectional survey of young people aged 14-18 (n= 1000) and two follow up in-depth workshops (n= …

Aesthetic Experience Of Metabolic Processes: By Desiree Förster, Hannah Drayson

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

A Critical Review Of Capillary Pressure Behavior And Characterization In Fractional-Wet Reservoirs, Yihang Xiao, Zhenjiang You, Lei Wang, Zhengtong Du

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Fractional wettability is common in oil and gas reservoirs, resulting in complex fluid distribution and transport phenomena. A precise understanding of capillary pressure behavior and characterization in fractional-wet reservoirs, including the two-phase flow mechanisms within pores and relationship between capillary pressure and saturation in porous media, is significant to enhanced oil recovery strategies. In this paper, an in-depth review of the two-phase flow mechanisms in fractional-wet pores and capillary entry pressures in various displacement processes was conducted. Furthermore, the effects of oil-wet proportion and contact angle on capillary pressure characterization were summarized, highlighting the emergence of similar capillary pressure curves …

Meeting The Sustainability Challenges: An Assessment Of Entrepreneurial Education, Anna Zherdeva, Intesar Madi, Abrar Alzankawi, Lucia Morales Dr, L. Pop, A. Soler-Dominguez, J.C. Saez

Conference papers

The importance of sustainability and entrepreneurship education is highlighted in this study. The world economies are facing significant challenges as they try to enable the transition towards more sustainable economic and business models. Therefore, at the centre of the transition process, it is critical to consider the role that business education can play and, more specifically, the role of business schools in integrating and supporting the development of skills and competencies that align with our contemporary society's needs. In this paper, we initially assess the need to connect entrepreneurial and sustainability education by exploring the educational offerings at Technological University …

Collaborative Publishing And Multivalent Research: Writing Center Journal Scholarship From 2001 To 2020, Joseph Cheatle

The Writing Center Journal

This work examines articles published in the Writing Center Journal between 2001 and 2020 in order to understand more about the publishing, scholarship, and research practices of the field of writing center studies. Through analyzing articles published in the Writing Center Journal between 2001 and 2020, this work makes three contributions to the field. The first contribution of this work is an overview of the shift from scholarship to research in the field of writing center studies. The second contribution of this work is to highlight the growth of collaborative scholarship and research during this time. As is demonstrated in …

“Hopes And Fears”: What Do Writing Center Administrators Think Of Merging With Or Converting Into A Learning Center?, Jenny Goransson

The Writing Center Journal

This article shares findings from a survey study (n = 73) focused on writing center administrator (WCA) perceptions of two phenomena we see on many secondary and postsecondary campuses in recent years: writing centers expanding to become learning centers, and writing centers consolidating or merging with other tutoring services on campus. Through analysis of the qualitative, open-ended survey responses, the study revealed that WCAs’ views of these trends are greatly impacted by local conditions and levels of autonomy, as well as WCAs’ beliefs about expertise. Also, consolidation and expansion are seen by WCAs as shifting writing center identity in …

Graphene Oxide Biopolymer Aerogels: A Novel Solution To Toxic Metal Pollution In Water, Jonathan Bloor

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Clean drinking water is a fundamental human right, but still in the 21st century millions of people are forced to drink water contaminated with toxic metals above recommended safe limits. This work proposes to remediate toxic lead (Pb) from potable water using a robust low-cost aerogel fabricated from graphene oxide (GO) and seaweed (calcium alginate) by batch adsorption using simple agitation. Firstly, GO was synthesised using the improved Hummers’ method (IHM) and characterised with TEM, Raman and FTIR. The GO alginate aerogel composites were made by a sol-gel method, freeze dried and crosslinked in CaCl2 and further characterised using SEM …

Enhancing Inclusive Entrepreneurial Activity Through Community Engagement Led By Higher Education Institutions, Emma O'Brien, Thomas M. Cooney

Articles

Purpose: While supporting entrepreneurship through government intervention has become a global phenomenon, the OECD (2021) has identified that several communities (including women, youth, seniors, unemployed and immigrants) remain under-represented in terms of entrepreneurial activity. Inclusive entrepreneurship policies seek to enhance economic and social inclusion and emphasise the significant contribution that people from within these communities could make to local and regional development if appropriate support was offered. The purpose of this study is to examine how higher education institutions (HEIs) can co-create inclusive entrepreneurial training initiatives with local communities that support economic and social inclusion. Design/methodology/approach: This in-depth qualitative study …

Regulating More?: Comparing Ireland's Original And Amended Lobbying Legislation, John Hogan

Articles

This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023 with the original regulations of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The study was conducted using the Hired Guns Method for assessing the robustness of lobbying legislation, developed by the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI), allowing findings to be compared with lobbying regulations internationally. The 2015 legislation was introduced after years of tribunals, scandals, unfulfilled political promises, and economic crisis, in an effort to increase the public's trust in politicians, representative institutions, democracy and the wider bureaucracy. The 2023 Amendment came …

Future Potential Of Immigrant Entrepreneurship In Ireland, Thomas M. Cooney, Martina Brophy

Books/Book Chapters

International data shows that immigrant owned enterprises are an important feature of developed economies. Immigrant entrepreneurs generally report a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than the incumbent population, and their businesses, though traditionally concentrated in low skilled industries, can and are increasingly featuring in high value sectors of the economy. The motivation of immigrants to engage in entrepreneurship is informed by a myriad of reasons, but is traditionally associated with “push” factors or necessity. This diverse population of entrepreneurs can encounter various obstacles to entrepreneurship, some of which pertain to their immigrant status, in addition to the mainstream challenges of …

Evaluating The Health Implications Of Kombucha Fermented With Gardenia Jasminoides Teas: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, And Cytotoxic Properties, Gayathree Thenuwara, Xu Cui, Zhen Yao, Bilal Javed, Azza Silotry Naik, Furong Tian

Articles

No abstract provided.

Vitamin K2 In Health And Disease: A Clinical Perspective, Tao Zhang, Christine O'Connor, Helen Sheridan, James W. Barlow

Articles

Vitamins are essential organic compounds that vary widely in chemical structure and are vital in small quantities for numerous biochemical and biological functions. They are critical for metabolism, growth, development and maintaining overall health. Vitamins are categorised into two groups: hydrophilic and lipophilic. Vitamin K (VK), a lipophilic vitamin, occurs naturally in two primary forms: phylloquinone (VK1), found in green leafy vegetables and algae, and Menaquinones (VK2), present in certain fermented and animal foods and widely formulated in VK supplements. This review explores the possible factors contributing to VK deficiency, including dietary influences, and discusses the pharmacological and therapeutic potential …

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of Human Blood Serum Of Glaucoma Patients Supplemented With Macular Pigment Carotenoids, Joy Udensi, Ekaterina Loskutova, James Loughman, Hugh J. Byrne

Articles

As all major dietary carotenoids are contained in blood, it is a suitable substrate to evaluate their content, in vivo. Following 18-month supplementation of open-angle glaucoma patients with macula-pigment carotenoids (Lutein, Zeaxanthin and Meso-Zeaxanthin) in the European Nutrition in Glaucoma Management trial, Raman spectroscopic analysis of the carotenoid content of pre- and post-supplementation participant blood serum was carried out, to investigate the systemic impact of the supplementation regimen and explore a more direct way of quantifying this impact using routine blood tests. Using a 532 nm laser source for optimal response, a consistent increase in serum carotenoid concentration was observed …

Investigating The Potential For Students To Contribute To Climate Data Rescue: Introducing The Climate Data Rescue Africa Project (Clidar‐Africa), Simon Noone, C. D'Arcy, S. Donegan, W. Durkan, B. Essel, K. Healion, H. Hersbach, S. Madden, Jack Marshall, L. Mcconnell, I. Mensah, N. Scroxton, S. Thiesen, Peter Thorne

Articles

The majority of available climate data in global digital archives consist of data only from the 1940s or 1950s onwards, and many of these series have gaps and/or are available for only a subset of the variables which were actually observed. However, there exist billions of historical weather observations from the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s that are still in hard‐copy form and are at risk of being lost forever due to deterioration. An assessment of changes in climate extremes in several IPCC regions was not possible in IPCC AR6 WGI owing, in many cases, to the lack of available …

The University Education Model Collection 2024: “A University Way Of Being”, Fionnuala Darby, Shaun Ferns, Barry J. Ryan

Group Reports

The University Education Model (UEM) revolutionises our approach to education; this approach is grounded in transformative learning opportunities and experiences for all. The UEM is central to the TU Dublin Strategic Intent, which itself is informed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in the case of the UEM, SDG 4 Quality Education. Embedding the UEM into our practice, processes and culture will empower TU Dublin to cater for the largest number of diverse learners, producing the most sought after, digitally literate, graduates.

The central focus of UEM are our learners, grounded in the three components that comprise the …

Ailim Healing, Thomas M. Cooney, Martina Brophy

Case Study

For Niamh Malone, her challenges are typical of a high-tech start-up (i.e., raising funding, building an entrepreneurial team, creating a successful business model). However, these challenges are exacerbated by the additional difficulties associated with her disabilities. For instance, Niamh has difficulty securing financial lending due to her poor financial history as a result of not being able to work and having significant medical expenses. This case study requires a student to identify and address key issues in a business start-up, but they must also take cognizance of the additional and distinctive challenges faced by entrepreneurs who have a disability.

Voices Of The Feis Ceoil: An Exploration Of The Association’S Operational And Choral Networks, 1897–1932, Helen Doyle

Doctoral

The Feis Ceoil or ‘festival of music’ is a large-scale annual competitive music event. It has provided huge stimulus to all facets of Irish musical life in its almost 130-year lifespan. This study examines the first four decades of the festival which was inaugurated during the Gaelic Revival, a period of cultural nationalism that saw the development and celebration of Irish art, literature, language, and music. As this is the first sustained project centred upon the Feis Ceoil archival collection, detailed excavation of which has not been undertaken before now, it draws on a large amount of previously unexplored primary …

Emotional Intelligence Coaching For Higher Education Lecturers: Their Experience And Its Impact On Trait Emotional Intelligence, Stress, And Teaching Self-Efficacy, Eoghan Guiry

Doctoral

Previous research has established that emotional intelligence (EI) can be developed through targeted intervention; however, this was previously untested with lecturers. Guided by the job demands-resources model, this study explored the impact of an EI coaching intervention on lecturers’ trait EI, perceived stress, work-related stress, and teaching self-efficacy at Technological University Dublin. Additionally, the study explored the lecturers’ experiences of partaking in the intervention. Employing a pragmatic approach, mixed methods were used in a randomised controlled trial.

Chatting For Change: Insights Into And Directions For Using Online Peer Support Groups To Interrupt Prolonged Workplace Sitting, Ekaterina Uetova, Lucy Hederman, Dympna O'Sullivan, Robert J. Ross, Marily Oppezzo

Conference papers

Prolonged sedentary behavior and insufficient physical activity increase the risk for non-communicable diseases. Online peer support groups, driven by the widespread use of mobile phones and social media, have gained popularity among people seeking health condition management advice. This position paper examines the role of online peer support groups within a behaviour change intervention, MOV’D (Move Often eVery Day), which promotes physical activity and reduces sedentary behavior in the workplace. We conducted a thematic analysis of post-study interviews from two randomized control trials to identify the benefits and limitations of online peer support groups and provide recommendations for improvement. We …

Gpt Assisted Annotation Of Rhetorical And Linguistic Features For Interpretable Propaganda Technique Detection In News Text, Kyle Hamilton, Luca Longo, Bojan Božić

Conference papers

While the use of machine learning for the detection of propaganda techniques in text has garnered considerable attention, most approaches focus on “black-box” solutions with opaque inner workings. Interpretable approaches provide a solution, however, they depend on careful feature engineering and costly expert annotated data. Additionally, language features specific to propagandistic text are generally the focus of rhetoricians or linguists, and there is no data set labeled with such features suitable for machine learning. This study codifies 22 rhetorical and linguistic features identified in literature related to the language of persuasion for the purpose of annotating an existing data set …

Towards Fairer Nlp Models: Handling Gender Bias In Classification Tasks, Nasim Sobhani, Sarah Jane Delany

Conference papers

Measuring and mitigating gender bias in natural language processing (NLP) systems is crucial to ensure fair and ethical AI. However, a key challenge is the lack of explicit gender information in many textual datasets. This paper proposes two techniques, Identity Term Sampling (ITS) and Identity Term Pattern Extraction (ITPE), as alternatives to template-based approaches for measuring gender bias in text data. These approaches identify test data for measuring gender bias in the dataset itself and can be used to measure gender bias on any NLP classifier. We demonstrate the use of these approaches for measuring gender bias across various NLP …