Digital twins and deep maps

Mapping is now thoroughly digital at all stages of production and maps are widely used in digital form. This digital turn has transformed the nature of mapping and maps. Maps need no longer be static representations, but rather constitute spatial media, providing an interactive, dynamic means for creating, discussing, and sharing spatial information and mediating spatial practices. This has included the development of 3D mapping, including nascent digital twins and digital deep maps. In this short paper, we reflect on our attempts to produce a 3D city information model for Dublin that acts as a basic digital twin, which we have also used to explore deep mapping, as well as map projecting data onto a printed 3D map model of the city. We consider what digital twins and deep maps mean for how we understand the nature of mapping, arguing that they produce a dyadic intertwining of map and territory; a literal, material expression of post‐representational, ontogenetic conceptions of mapping

Between Past and Present: Age, Period, and Cohort Effects on Changing Values in Lithuania

This study examines the changes in Schwartz’s higher-order-value dimensions in Lithuanians over time. We analyze cross-sectional repeated survey data, with a sample of 11,199 respondents from six waves of the European Social Survey (ESS) during the years 2010–2020. Time-lag and cross-sectional analyses revealed age and period effects on self-enhancement and self-transcendence, and age, period, and cohort effects on openness to change and conservation. A comparison of political generations shows that the youngest cohort (independent EU generation) is more conservative, more self-transcending, less open to change, and less self-enhancing over time, in contrast to other generations. The Soviet legacy generations follow a different trajectory of openness to change and conservation than the Stalin and Independent EU generations, suggesting that historical context and current period effects are strong, and that the youngest political generation is particularly sensitive to societal-level disruptions. It is plausible that forces related to rapid societal change, for example, a decline in the working-age population after the collapse of the Soviet Union and, more recently, during the period of the study due to mass emigration, have left a generation trapped between scarcity and modernity

A Capital Perspective on the Psychological Contracts of Career Novices. A qualitative process study exploring the capital accumulation and psychological contract evolution of undergraduate intern career novices

Psychological contract (PC) theory has garnered significant attention proving crucial in understanding contemporary employment relationships. Defined as “an individual’s beliefs regarding the terms of conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement” (Rousseau 1989:123), the PC is envisioned as an exchange schema that evolves over time. However, the study of PCs often lacks consideration of time and the impact of social context, despite calls to address these gaps. This PhD aims to investigate the construction and evolution of the PC, with a career novice sample, emphasising the influence of temporal dynamics and social context. Utilising a qualitative individual-level process methodology, data were collected from 30 undergraduate interns over 12-15 months, using Bourdieu’s theory of practice (1977) as a complementary theoretical framework to the PC. Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, habitus, and field, provide a lens to examine the PC as a dynamic social exchange influenced by the broader social context. The study argues that Bourdieu’s theory can enhance understanding of the PC by highlighting the interplay between individual and social factors and their evolution. Despite being theorised as dynamic, much PC research assumes a static view, neglecting temporal processes and social influences. This PhD addresses these gaps by exploring the construction and evolution of the PC within the context of undergraduate internships. The study's findings indicate that the accumulation and depletion of various forms of capital underpin the dynamic PC exchange, and that capitals operate in a mutually influencing and reinforcing manner. The study also captures interns’ perceptions of which organisational practices enhanced or hampered their accumulation of capitals. In conclusion, this research contributes to PC theory by integrating Bourdieu’s sociological concepts, offering a nuanced understanding of the PC as a temporally and socially embedded construct. The findings provide valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, educators, and interns

BioBeo Primary Education Programme

The BioBeo Primary Education Programme consisted of six interactive sessions designed to introduce primary school children to the concept of the circular bioeconomy. Through hands-on activities and real-world examples, students explored the interconnectedness of biological systems and sustainable practices. The programme aimed to foster an understanding of how natural resources can be used efficiently and responsibly, with a focus on sustainability. Emphasizing active learning and collaboration, BioBeo encouraged children to think critically about environmental challenges and solutions. By integrating the principles of the circular bioeconomy, the programme promoted environmental stewardship and community engagement

Sharing our Stories: From Sierra Leone to Maynooth: Victoria Ballah shares her story…

I’m from Hastings – a town about 16 kilometres from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. I was born in 1997. My mother died when I was seven, leaving me and my two sisters, Olive and Catherine, and my brother Maclean, in the care of my father. Because I was the youngest, I was sent to live with my aunt nearby. Much later, when I was in fi rst year at University, I moved back to live with my father, but sadly he died in 2019, when I was in my fi nal year. My father was from the Limba, one of the oldest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone. They live in the north and north west. My mother was a Krio. The Krio are descendants of freed slaves and some of her ancestors were Nigerian. My dad was an Anglican, my mother a Methodist. I grew up Methodist and went to a local non-denominational primary school in Hastings and attended the Annie Walsh Secondary School from 2010

Forest expansion and irrigated agriculture reinforce low river flows in southern Europe during dry years

This study analyses the evolution of annual streamflow across Europe between 1962 and 2017, focusing on the connection of streamflow trends with climate dynamics and physiographic and land cover characteristics and changes. The spatial pattern of trends in streamflow shows strong agreement with the spatial patterns of climate trends, suggesting a climate control of these trends. However, analysing temporal evolution at the basin scale shows that the strong decrease in streamflow in southern Europe cannot be directly associated with climate dynamic. In fact, a negative trend related to non-climate factors clearly emerges. Rather, we show that forest growth and irrigated agriculture are the leading drivers of negative streamflow trends in southern Europe, particularly during dry years due to the greater proportion of green water consumption compared to blue water generation. These findings have significant implications, particularly in the context of widely embraced nature based solutions for mitigating climate change, including carbon sequestration through forests and the planned expansion of irrigated agricultural lands in central and northern European countries as a response to rising crop water demands. These developments could potentially diminish water resources availability, leading to an increased occurrence and severity of low flow periods

The Teresa Deevy Archive and the Development of Collections and Curation in Maynooth University Library: Critical Perspectives on Teresa Deevy

‘The Teresa Deevy Archive and the Development of Collections and Curation in Maynooth University Library’ outlines the traditional library role and approach to archival collection of Maynooth University Library (MUL) in the context of Maynooth University (MU) and Saint Patrick’s College Maynooth (SPCM). It argues that, in recent decades, MUL has developed curatorial holdings and special collections to better reflect a long-standing commitment to scholarship and activism in areas of social justice, focussing particularly on the theme of the outsider. The chapter reflects on the evolution of this collections development strategy and positions the Teresa Deevy Archive as a case study of sorts, exemplifying current collection policy orientation and practice. Focusing on collection management since the beginning of the twenty-first century and identifying the advantages of a planned strategic approach to collection management, the chapter considers how MUL’s special collections evolved and the identification of the multidisciplinary theme of ‘The Outsider’—a categorisation left deliberately loose to encompass individuals whose work or social and/or political contribution was either marginalised, or considered marginal, within their lifetime or after their death. Teresa Deevy’s life and work and the value of her archive is considered in this light, and the story of how her archive came to be held and conserved by MUL and some of the curatorial decisions made are in relation to it are detailed. The challenges and impacts of curatorial decisions and practice are illustrated through this narrative as are the complexities of where and how scholars access the Teresa Deevy Archive, in particular, and archives, generally. The chapter concludes asserting the importance of stakeholder involvement in matters of special collection acquisition, curation, and access and the ironic success in identifying the theme of ‘The Outsider’ in relation to improving engagement with the archives of figures such as Teresa Deevy

Medicine in the Medieval North Atlantic World. Vernacular Texts and Traditions

Studies of medical learning in medieval England, Wales, Ireland, and Scandinavia have traditionally focused on each geographical region individually, with the North Atlantic perceived as a region largely peripheral to European culture. Such an approach, however, means that knowledge within this part of the world is never considered in the context of more global interactions, where scholars were in fact deeply engaged in wider intellectual currents concerning medicine and healing that stemmed from both continental Europe and the Middle East. The chapters in this interdisciplinary collection draw together new research from historians, literary scholars, and linguists working on Norse, English, and Celtic material in order to bring fresh insights into the multilingual and cross-cultural nature of medical learning in northern Europe during the Middle Ages, c. 700-1600. They interrogate medical texts and ideas in both Latin and vernacular languages, addressing questions of translation, cultural and scientific inheritance, and exchange, and historical conceptions of health and the human being within nature. In doing so, this volume offers an in-depth study of the reception and transmission of medical knowledge that furthers our understanding both of scholarship in the medieval North Atlantic and across medieval Europe as a whole

The effect of task switching on productivity: evidence from major league baseball pitchers

There are few opportunities, outside of a laboratory setting, to study how workers respond to the demands of task switching. A priori, task switching might either harm or benefit productivity, and thus it becomes an empirical question. Faced with difficulties in the measurement of productivity and task switching, we turn to an industry that produces accurate, detailed, and comparable measures of worker production, namely starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. Our results suggest that task switching, between pitching and batting, can improve subsequent pitching performance, though heterogeneity in this effect is present. We discuss implications for wider labour market settings

Learning from making and doing: taking the makerspaces to the next level at Maynooth University

What do you do when you already have one makerspace that is well-used and popular? Answer – create an even better one! And then start thinking about what other types of content need to be created and embark on a Media Lab to complement this. This is exactly the journey that Maynooth University is currently embarking on. From its launch in 2015, the Makerspace developed a well-used 3D printing service which continued up until the pandemic when it had to be put on hold as a library-based service. The recommencement of the service in 2022 coincided with staff moving on and recruitment of new staff giving the impetus to take the services to another level. This has led to a successful bid to create a new, more ambitious makerspace, and as well as opening up new opportunities, the most significant of these to date being the collaboration with the Media Studies department and other interested parties to launch a Media Lab. Building on their experience the team have been able to make the case for good locations for both the new Makerspace and Media Lab, putting their ‘lessons learned’ to good use. Extensive and imaginative use of social media channels has helped to embed the Makerspace within the university conscience and opened up avenues for collaboration. Through the Makerspace, the library has been able to offer creative and practical support to an expanding portfolio of research projects across the university as well as being an active supporter in undergraduate recruitment