Computationally-efficient nonlinear model predictive control of wave energy converters with imperfect wave excitation previews

Energy maximising (EM) control of wave energy converters (WECs) is a noncausal problem, where wave prediction information can be used to increase the energy conversion rate significantly. However, current approaches do not consider the prediction error evolution in the control formulation process, leading to potential unpredictable performance degradation. Moreover, most existing real-time WEC control approaches assume linear dynamics, motivated by their simplicity and mild computational cost and, thus, are not effective for real-time control for WECs with nonlinear dynamics. Targeting imperfect wave prediction and nonlinear WEC dynamics, this paper proposes a computationally-efficient nonlinear MPC (NMPC) scheme for WECs with (typically) imperfect wave excitation preview. This is achieved by introducing an input move blocking scheme when formulating and solving the online optimisation problem, i.e., defining finer discretisation grids for the control input and wave prediction at the early stages of the prediction horizon, where the wave prediction is more accurate, and coarser grids at the latter stages of the horizon, to reflect less inaccurate wave prediction information. Numerical simulation results are presented, based on a conceptual nonlinear point-absorber WEC, to verify the efficacy of the proposed NMPC method, in terms of produced energy, computational complexity, and robustness against wave prediction inaccuracy

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

What we mean when we say semantic: Toward a multidisciplinary semantic glossary

Tulving characterized semantic memory as a vast repository of meaning that underlies language and many other cognitive processes. This perspective on lexical and conceptual knowledge galvanized a new era of research undertaken by numerous fields, each with their own idiosyncratic methods and terminology. For example, “concept” has different meanings in philosophy, linguistics, and psychology. As such, many fundamental constructs used to delineate semantic theories remain underspecified and/or opaque. Weak construct specificity is among the leading causes of the replication crisis now facing psychology and related fields. Term ambiguity hinders cross-disciplinary communication, falsifiability, and incremental theory-building. Numerous cognitive subdisciplines (e.g., vision, affective neuroscience) have recently addressed these limitations via the development of consensus-based guidelines and definitions. The project to follow represents our effort to produce a multidisciplinary semantic glossary consisting of succinct definitions, background, principled dissenting views, ratings of agreement, and subjective confidence for 17 target constructs (e.g., abstractness, abstraction, concreteness, concept, embodied cognition, event semantics, lexical-semantic, modality, representation, semantic control, semantic feature, simulation, semantic distance, semantic dimension) . We discuss potential benefits and pitfalls (e.g., implicit bias, prescriptiveness) of these efforts to specify a common nomenclature that other researchers might index in specifying their own theoretical perspectives (e.g., They said X, but I mean Y)

A Socio-Legal Study of Stakeholder Perspectives on the Identification of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of Labour Exploitation Across European States.

This thesis is a socio-legal analysis of stakeholder perspectives on the identification of victims of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation (THB-LE), focusing on the practical operation of the identification procedure, multi-stakeholder cooperation and, training and awareness measures. Through 42 semi-structured interviews with labour inspectors, criminal law enforcement officials, trade unionists and representatives from non-governmental organisations, it captures bottom-up insights on the gap between the law and practice of identification. This is combined with a top-down analysis of Article 10 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. Overall, the data highlights both limitations to the international legal framework itself, and gaps between the obligation to identify under international law and its practical realisation in Europe. The interview findings suggest that the identification procedure should be understood as encompassing the two distinct processes of detection and formal identification. Yet, Article 10 only covers formal identification. The research thus finds a significant lacuna in the legal framework. The analysis also reveals practical barriers to effective identification relating to, for example, shifting the burden of identification to victims and difficulties in distinguishing the boundary between a labour law violation and THB-LE. The thesis establishes that the enduring criminal justice approach to trafficking in human beings hinders the effectiveness of the identification procedure by limiting the formal identification process to criminal law enforcement officials. Concurrently, it reveals challenges to the substantive realisation of a multi-stakeholder integrated approach due to, inter alia, stakeholders’ conflicting agendas and the failure to adequately recognise certain labour market stakeholders, including trade unions. Finally, the thesis makes recommendations for states to improve the practice of identification, for example, by mapping the duties of relevant stakeholders to delineate areas of convergence and align their efforts

The Relationship Between Personality and Employment: Evidence From the Irish Marriage Bar

This article examines empirically the relationship between personality and employment using individual‐level survey data collected in The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). The analysis is based on a subsample of Irish women who left their jobs because of the so‐called marriage bar, which was a legal requirement at the time that women must leave employment when they marry. Two groups of women are compared: Those who did, and those who did not, return to work after having to leave because of the marriage bar. The main finding is that personality does impact employment, with less agreeable and more extroverted women being more likely to return to work after a spell of non‐employment. More generally, the analysis highlights the role of non‐cognitive abilities in labor market success

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

Metropolitanization, civic capacity and metropolitan governance: Ireland in the metropolitan century

The dynamics and politics of metropolitanization in Ireland have received limited attention, attributed in part to Ireland’s historic culturally embedded urban–rural divide. The publication of the National Planning Framework (2018) demonstrates an effort by the Irish government to centre spatial thinking on Ireland’s five major cities. However, despite evidence of enhanced civic engagement, the Irish case demonstrates the challenges of creating a metropolitan state-space in a country with a traditionally strong rural identity. Drawing on Nelles’ concept of civic capital and the importance of mobilizing a metropolitan identity, in this paper we draw attention to four factors that constrain the formation of the metropolitan civic identity necessary for spatial planning efforts to succeed: the lack of an urban identity, discordant temporalities, the absence of key enablers and misaligned governance structures. Our study adopts an exploratory research design using critical discourse analysis of key documents, participant observation, semi-structured interviews and survey methodology to further the understanding of metropolitanization processes, provide insights into alternative forms of metropolitan governance and discuss the limits of civic capital. We conclude that it is critical to understand the nature of the state in order to understand the accumulation (or not) of metropolitan civic capital

‘You no have to treat me with your hate’: The needs and experiences of female foreign national prisoners in an Irish prison

Female foreign national prisoners (FFNPs) are a distinct cohort of prisoners with specific experiences and characteristics. These women not only experience the gendered pains of imprisonment but also endure the additional challenges associated with being a foreign national prisoner. Yet although these women suffer multiple layers of disadvantage, little is known about the critical problems that define the daily lived experiences of FFNPs during their imprisonment. This article aims to open up these areas of inquiry in an Irish context and examine the needs and experiences of 13 FFNPs residing in the Dóchas Centre – Ireland's sole operational female-only prison at the time of this study. The article begins by grappling with the complexity of defining power, agency, adaptation and resistance in prison before outlining the methodology of the qualitative study. It then presents the key challenges encountered by this cohort of FFNPs in six parts: language challenges, information provision, religious practice and expression, family relationships, inmate–peer relationships and staff–prisoner relationships. Drawing on theories of power, agency, adaptation and resistance where appropriate, the paper explores the distinct ways in which the power of the institution is experienced by these FFNPs and negotiated with corresponding forms of adaptation and agency. The article also addresses the unresolved spectre of resistance and concludes that the Irish Prison Service need look no further than the Bangkok Rules in order to alleviate the ‘highly gendered’ pains of imprisonment for this cohort of ‘forgotten’ prisoners

'One must defend oneself as a Jew': Hannah Arendt's German as a Language of Refuge

The abstract is included in the text

Comprehensive examination of thermal energy storage through advanced phase change material integration for optimized building energy management and thermal comfort

Several countries all over the world are interested in the energy business. The scientific community is creating new energy-saving experiments in response to the present fossil fuel problems. Buildings are one of the components that use more energy, so it is highly desirable that knowledge is being generated and technology is developing to provide answers to this energy demand. When used in building elements for heating and cooling like coatings, blocks, panels or wall panels, phase change materials (PCMs) have been demonstrated to enhance the capacity for heat storage by absorbing heat as latent heat. Thus, during the past 20 years, research has been done on the application of phase change materials (PCMs) in latent heat storage systems. The most practical way to incorporate PCMs into construction parts is through the macro encapsulation approach, which is examined in this review together with the microencapsulation method. Furthermore, given that additional research is required to process biobased PCMs, we must pay greater attention to them, as evidenced by our examination of the literature on the encapsulation process of PCMs. Due to the lack of information provided in other reviews, there is a section dedicated to the superior PCM with lightweight material to ascertain its macro and microscale thermophysical and mechanical characteristics as well as to determine whether it would be feasible to switch from PCM that are made from petroleum to more ecologically friendly bio-based ones. Above all, this study also focuses on reviewing recent PCM research and evaluating the thermal performance of prototypes used in experimental PCM investigations, i.e., how the layout of design affects several variables and potential applications of PCM