The challenges of "upstream" communication and public engagement for Irish nanotechnology

This paper sets out some challenges for Ireland’s contribution to nanotechnology public engagement in the context of current STS and science communication theoretical practice approaches. I report on a pilot set of public engagement activities and accompanying‘multi-sited ethnographic’ and frame analysis methodologies. I reflect on how the theoretical context of these methods and findings present a challenge for nanoscience communicators in the first instance, but also for the social scientists and academics that are themselves contributing to the discourse of nanotechnology and, intentionally or not, communicating nanotechnology to diverse publics. I identify six discourse sites of nanotechnology which have the potential for public engagement

Transitional Justice’s Expanding Empire: Reasserting the Value of the Paradigmatic Transition?

Cada vegada més, els estudis sobre la justícia transicional s'apliquen als processos de veritat, restauració i responsabilitat en contextos molt allunyats de les transicions paradigmàtiques des de l'autoritarisme o la guerra a una democràcia relativament liberal en què aquest camp de recerca es basava inicialment. En un moment en què la justícia transicional s'avalua amb un rigor més gran, resulta preocupant que les valoracions de la seva vàlua es puguin veure excessivament afectades per la dependència de circumstàncies no transicionals de democràcies establertes, conflictes en curs o l'autoritarisme. La comprensió empírica sistemàtica del valor de la justícia transicional es veu esbiaixada quan es posa un pes excessiu en els mecanismes que tenen lloc en contextos favorables en què les circumstàncies polítiques o econòmiques són tan avançades que els mecanismes tenen molt poca importància causal per a un procés en curs de reforma política, civil i (possiblement) econòmica, o bé en contextos massa adversos per a res que pugui portar a una conclusió liberalitzadora o de construcció de la pau (per exemple, quan hi ha una guerra en curs o sota un règim autoritari). Tot i que aquest article accepta que és possible utilitzar els mecanismes de la justícia transicional per a millorar les condicions sota un règim autoritari o en contextos de guerra i per a potenciar l'imperi de la llei, el desenvolupament i els drets humans en estats ja compromesos amb la democràcia liberal, l'impacte de la justícia transicional en aquestes circumstàncies no paradigmàtiques es veurà limitat a causa de la debilitat del compromís de l'estat per millorar les condicions societàries en el primer cas i a causa de la força preexistent del compromís en el segon. Manté que cal distingir entre la justícia transicional i l'ús dels mecanismes de la justícia transicional.Transitional justice studies increasingly apply to processes of truth, restoration and accountability in contexts far removed from the paradigmatic transitions from authoritarianism or war to relatively liberal democracy on which the field was initially based. At a time when transitional justice is being evaluated with greater stringency, it is worrying that assessments of its worth might be unduly coloured by reliance on non-transitional circumstances of established democracies or ongoing conflicts or authoritarianism. A systematic empirical understanding of the value of transitional justice is skewed when undue weight is given to mechanisms applied in favourable contexts. This may be where political or economic circumstances are so advanced that the mechanisms have little causal significance to an ongoing process of political, civil and (possibly) economic reform, or in contexts too inimical to anything approaching a liberalising or peace-building conclusion (e.g. when it takes place while war is ongoing or within an authoritarian regime). The article accepts that transitional justice mechanisms can be used to improve conditions under authoritarianism or war and can augment the rule of law, development and human rights in states that are already committed to liberal democracy. However, its impact in these non-paradigmatic circumstances will be limited because of the weakness of the state’s commitment to improving societal conditions in the former and the pre-existing strength of the commitment in the latter. It argues that there is a distinction between transitional justice and the use of transitional justice mechanisms.La erudición de la justicia transicional se aplica cada vez más a procesos de veracidad, restauración y responsabilidad en contextos muy alejados de las transiciones paradigmáticas del autoritarismo o la guerra a la relativamente democracia liberal sobre la que se basó inicialmente el campo. En un momento en el que la justicia transicional se está evaluando con más rigor, es preocupante que las valoraciones de su valor puedan estar excesivamente afectadas por la dependencia de circunstancias no transitorias de democracias establecidas, conflictos actuales o autoritarismo. El conocimiento empírico sistemático del valor de la justicia transicional está sesgado cuando se concede un peso indebido a mecanismos que se producen en contextos favorables en los que las circunstancias políticas o económicas son tan avanzadas que los mecanismos tienen poca significación causal para un proceso en curso de reforma política, civil y (posiblemente) económica, o en contextos demasiado hostiles para cualquier cosa cercana a una conclusión liberalizadora o de construcción de la paz (por ejemplo, cuando tiene lugar mientras la guerra está en curso o en un régimen autoritario). Si bien en el artículo se acepta que los mecanismos de justicia transicional pueden usarse para mejorar las condiciones bajo el autoritarismo o la guerra y pueden aumentar el Estado de derecho, el desarrollo y los derechos humanos en estados que ya están comprometidos con la democracia liberal, el impacto de la justicia transicional en esas circunstancias no paradigmáticas será limitado a causa de la debilidad del compromiso del estado a la mejora de las condiciones de la sociedad en el primero y de la fuerza preexistente del compromiso en el último. Sostiene que hay una diferencia entre la justicia transicional y el uso de los mecanismos de la misma

Development of Sustainable low cost animal accommodation outwintering pads (OWP’s)

End of project reportThe aims of this study were to compare three different OWP designs with cubicle housing in terms of hoof and udder health, dirtiness scores, animal behaviour and productivity. The study was conducted over the winters 2004/2005 and 2005/2006. The pad designs investigated were: Sheltered and unsheltered pads where cows were fed from a concrete apron adjacent to the woodchip lying area and an unsheltered self-feed pad where cows self-fed from a silage pit on top of the woodchip lying area. The latter design option was not included in the first year of the study. In that year the space allowance also differed between the sheltered and unsheltered pads. In the second year of the study animals in all three pad designs had the same space allowance

Multiple domination models for placement of electric vehicle charging stations in road networks

Electric and hybrid vehicles play an increasing role in the road transport networks. Despite their advantages, they have a relatively limited cruising range in comparison to traditional diesel/petrol vehicles, and require significant battery charging time. We propose to model the facility location problem of the placement of charging stations in road networks as a multiple domination problem on reachability graphs. This model takes into consideration natural assumptions such as a threshold for remaining battery load, and provides some minimal choice for a travel direction to recharge the battery. Experimental evaluation and simulations for the proposed facility location model are presented in the case of real road networks corresponding to the cities of Boston and Dublin.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures; Original version from March-April 201

An asymptotic existence result on compressed sensing matrices

For any rational number $h$ and all sufficiently large $n$ we give a deterministic construction for an $n\times \lfloor hn\rfloor$ compressed sensing matrix with $(\ell_1,t)$-recoverability where $t=O(\sqrt{n})$. Our method uses pairwise balanced designs and complex Hadamard matrices in the construction of $\epsilon$-equiangular frames, which we introduce as a generalisation of equiangular tight frames. The method is general and produces good compressed sensing matrices from any appropriately chosen pairwise balanced design. The $(\ell_1,t)$-recoverability performance is specified as a simple function of the parameters of the design. To obtain our asymptotic existence result we prove new results on the existence of pairwise balanced designs in which the numbers of blocks of each size are specified.Comment: 15 pages, no figures. Minor improvements and updates in February 201

k-Nearest Neighbour Classifiers: 2nd Edition (with Python examples)

Perhaps the most straightforward classifier in the arsenal or machine learning techniques is the Nearest Neighbour Classifier -- classification is achieved by identifying the nearest neighbours to a query example and using those neighbours to determine the class of the query. This approach to classification is of particular importance because issues of poor run-time performance is not such a problem these days with the computational power that is available. This paper presents an overview of techniques for Nearest Neighbour classification focusing on; mechanisms for assessing similarity (distance), computational issues in identifying nearest neighbours and mechanisms for reducing the dimension of the data. This paper is the second edition of a paper previously published as a technical report. Sections on similarity measures for time-series, retrieval speed-up and intrinsic dimensionality have been added. An Appendix is included providing access to Python code for the key methods.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures: An updated edition of an older tutorial on kN

Alternatives to formic acid as a grass silage additive under two contrasting ensilability conditions

peer-reviewedThe effects of formic acid and four alternative additives on silage fermentation, in-silo DM losses and aerobic stability were compared in an experiment using both difficultto- ensile (DIFF) and easier-to-ensile (EASI) herbages. Both were ensiled in laboratory silos with either no additive or following the application of formic acid (FA; 850 g/kg) at 3 mL/kg herbage, Add-SaFeR® (ATF1) and GrasAAT® (ATF2), both based on ammonium tetraformate, at 4 mL/kg herbage, an antimicrobial mixture (MIX; potassium formate, sodium disulfite and sodium benzoate) at 3 g/kg herbage, or Ecosyl (LAB; Lactobacillus plantarum) at 3 mL/kg herbage. There were four replicates per treatment and the silos were stored for 132 days. DIFF silage made without additive was poorly fermented. All additives increased the extent and improved the direction of DIFF silage fermentation, and reduced in-silo losses. However, MIX did not reduce butyric acid concentration and increased the extent of aerobic deterioration. LAB had a smaller effect on fermentation and in-silo losses than FA. With EASI silages, all additives restricted the extent of fermentation and improved fermentation quality, with the latter effect being smaller than for DIFF silages. LAB promoted a particularly homolactic fermentation but subsequently increased aerobic deterioration. In both DIFF and EASI silages additive treatment improved in vitro digestibility. It is concluded that only ATF1, ATF2 and MIX were as effective as FA at improving silage preservation and reducing in-silo losses with both DIFF and EASI herbages. However, ATF1 and ATF2 were superior in reducing the apparent extent of proteolysis and MIX was slightly less effective at reducing the activity of saccharolytic Clostridia