Paul Delaney, Seán O’Faoláin: Literature, Inheritance and the 1930s

Seán O’Faoláin is a writer whose reputation had declined considerably even during the course of his own lifetime. By his death in 1990 O’Faoláin’s status as an artist in Ireland was reduced and this is testified to by the fact that the most important critical work on his fiction remained Maurice Harmon’s Sean O’Faolain: A Critical Introduction first published in 1966, followed much later by Harmon’s biography Sean O’Faolain: A Life published in 1994. ..

Noise Reduction and Localization Accuracy in a Mobile Magnetoencephalography System

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) non-invasively provides important information about human brain electrophysiology. The growing use of optically pumped magnetometers (OPM) for MEG, as opposed to fixed arrays of cryogenic sensors, has opened the door for innovation in system design and use cases. For example, cryogenic MEG systems are housed in large, shielded rooms to provide sufficient space for the system dewar. Here, we investigate the performance of OPM recordings inside of a cylindrical shield with a 1 × 2 m2 footprint. The efficacy of shielding was measured in terms of field attenuation and isotropy, and the value of post hoc noise reduction algorithms was also investigated. Localization accuracy was quantified for 104 OPM sensors mounted on a fixed helmet array based on simulations and recordings from a bespoke current dipole phantom. Passive shielding attenuated the vector field magnitude to 50.0 nT at direct current (DC), to 16.7 pT/√Hz at power line, and to 71 fT/√Hz (median) in the 10–200 Hz range. Post hoc noise reduction provided an additional 5–15 dB attenuation. Substantial field isotropy remained in the volume encompassing the sensor array. The consistency of the isotropy over months suggests that a field nulling solution could be readily applied. A current dipole phantom generating source activity at an appropriate magnitude for the human brain generated field fluctuations on the order of 0.5–1 pT. Phantom signals were localized with 3 mm localization accuracy, and no significant bias in localization was observed, which is in line with performance for cryogenic and OPM MEG systems. This validation of the performance of a small footprint MEG system opens the door for lower-cost MEG installations in terms of raw materials and facility space, as well as mobile imaging systems (e.g., truck-based). Such implementations are relevant for global adoption of MEG outside of highly resourced research and clinical institutions

Beginnings and blind alleys : The bell 1940-1954

This thesis examines the Irish literary periodical The Bell which was first published in 1940, and ran intermittently until 1954. The Bell was Ireland's foremost literary magazine during its publication run, and had considerable success in bringing new authors together with more established names. As such, this thesis analyses the contribution of The Bell to the Irish literary tradition and interrogates its involvement within the wider scope of Irish society as a whole. The journal is assessed historically and viewed through the prism of the various personalities which contributed to its pages, in particular, its editors Sean O'Faolain and Peadar O'Donnell. In order to evaluate The Bell's position in Irish society, this thesis is divided into four chapters dealing with individual contributions and the historical formation of the magazine; Northern Ireland and perceptions of Partition; the political position of the magazine under Eamonn de Valera's administration; and its contribution to Irish writing. This thesis will confront some received critical assumptions about The Bell. More specifically, it complicates the idea of a debate between a state-sponsored, cultural nationalism and a liberal, artistic elite, which played out amongst its pages. In doing so, it will challenge the idea that Irish writing was stagnant in the years following independence, and will emphasise its connections with wider movements in European and world literature.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Body Sensor Network based on Soft Polymer Sensors and Wireless Communications

Abstract — Wireless communications is now completely pervasive, and already is used in many guises by people in everyday life. However until now, the information exchanged has been mainly standard electronic forms of standard data such as text, images, video. More recently, attention has been increasingly focused on sensor-based data, which presents rich new areas for applications and research, particularly in the area of life-logging applications. Thus, focus must shift to developing new and novel sensor layers to bridge this interface between the real world of the body and the digital world of communications. The easiest means to do this is with wearable sensors, but this in turn raises the issue of ‘comfortable ’ body monitoring systems. If the “wearable ” device is uncomfortable then user compliance will be greatly compromised. At present many conventional sensors are unsuitable for wearable body monitoring devices, however, in this paper, we present a prototype wearable device which was used and compared to an established non-wearable method for monitoring breathing frequency. Index Terms—wireless personal communications, body sensor networks, wearable sensors, conducting polymers, personalized healthcare. I

Glacier National Park 2019 Ambient Sound Study

Noise pollution is becoming a greater threat throughout the world as both population and levels of man-made sounds increase. The goal of this project was to determine ambient sound levels at strategic locations in Glacier National Park. This data was compared to a baseline study completed in 2004 through careful analysis to determine the current state of noise in the park, causes of noise, and strategies for managing it. Using modern technology and methods derived from previous studies, it was determined that the overall natural soundscape of the park has remained similar since 2004. However, situational noise was determined at multiple locations, masking much of the natural soundscape. If the data collection period was extended, we believe the situational noise would become insignificant