Color Intensity Projections: A simple way to display changes in astronomical images

To detect changes in repeated astronomical images of the same field of view (FOV), a common practice is to stroboscopically switch between the images. Using this method, objects that are changing in location or intensity between images are easier to see because they are constantly changing. A novel display method, called arrival time color intensity projections (CIPs), is presented that combines any number of grayscale images into a single color image on a pixel by pixel basis. Any values that are unchanged over the grayscale images look the same in the color image. However, pixels that change over the grayscale image have a color saturation that increases with the amount of change and a hue that corresponds to the timing of the changes. Thus objects moving in the grayscale images change from red to green to blue as they move across the color image. Consequently, moving objects are easier to detect and assess on the color image than on the grayscale images. A sequence of images of a comet plunging into the sun taken by the SOHO satellite (NASA/ESA) and Hubble Space Telescope images of a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) are used to demonstrate the method.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The quality of figure 1 been improved from the previous posted versio

Leaving Certificate Applied and Beyond: A School-Based Investigation o f the Experiences o f Students who have taken the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme.

This study examined the senior cycle experience of LCA students in a second level school. It also investigated how these students progressed in further education and in employment following their graduation from second level education. The primary objectives of the research were to ascertain to what extent students who pursue the LCA programme are satisfied with their experience and to determine the currency of the LCA qualification. A group of young adults who have graduated from the LCA programme were surveyed by means of a postal questionnaire. Follow up interviews were conducted with a sub sample of the group. Interviews were also conducted with third level teachers and with employers who work with graduates of the programme. Areas investigated included: ■ Reasons why students choose LCA ■ Satisfaction with the Programme offered ■ Perception of LCA ■ Its value as an educational credential From the data collected the researcher concludes: > Many students enjoy a high level of satisfaction with the LCA programme in the case-study school and are quite successful in the labour market. > A high percentage of LCA students progress to further education but their progress in third level is very limited. > A low standard of literacy and numeracy in the LCA programme frustrates more able students and is a handicap in third level. > The perception o f the programme is problematic for many of the participants. Some believe there is a ‘stigma’ attached to LCA. > Many employers are unaware of the LCA programme. A number of recommendations are made in the concluding chapter with a view to enhancing the LCA experience for the participants. Key recommendations include: > The school must be proactive in ensuring that LCA students are granted parity of esteem with students of other Leaving Certificate programmes. > The literary and numeracy elements of LCA must be enhanced if the programme is to offer challenge to the more able students. > Support must be provided for LCA students in third level. > A campaign is needed to inform employers of the LCA programme

The application of Advanced Solid Modelling Techniques to the Design of Precision Air Handling Units for Manufacture

This thesis investigates the application of ActiveX technology to customise mid range solid modelling software, with a view to exploring the benefits small to medium sized manufacturing companies can experience from its successful implementation. A custom application intended to automate solid modelling software was developed that optimises the product design process and also generates the necessary manufacturing information, including working drawings, for precision air handling units. This was successfully accomplished through research and by integrating Computer Aided Design (CAD) with a custom application using ActiveX technology. A variety of CAD products and associated technologies i.e. solid modelling kernels, were researched in order to investigate which product was most suitable to select. The products were assessed on functionality with heavy emphasis also placed on the potential increases in efficiency and productivity after customisation. A requirement of this research was to find a mid range modelling system that could be programmed to automate the entire design and modelling process. The system chosen was ‘ Solid Edge@ from EDS PLM solutions. Extensive research was carried out on ActiveX and Data Access technology. ActiveX technology was used to gain access to the Solid Edge and customise it, while Data Access was the technology used to access a database and apply previously stored information to solid models in order to automatically format their characteristics and dimensions. By successfully integrating ActiveX and Data Access technology with CAD it was possible to undertake a case study which involved redesigning and instigating a new design solution for a manufacturer of precision air-handling units. The case study provided the requisite framework to further develop and test the custom application and to expand on the research project objectives. The case study proved that by successfully implementing the custom application the time required for designing products as well as producing the necessary manufacturing information was radically decreased thus improving productivity, efficiency and also reducing the time to market for the companies products

The challenge of educational disadvantage in a knowledge economy: a case study of Waterford crystal Ltd

The PhD research question ‘how can educationally disadvantaged employees gain the necessary qualifications to secure employability status and contribute to competitiveness in a knowledge based economy ’ is addressed through case study research using Waterford Crystal Ltd, an indigenous, manufacturing, exporting company from 1990-2006 as the context. Both the company and the economy paralleled the transformation of its manufacturing bases to compete in the global economy during this period. The researcher as Education, Training & Communications Manager in the company was a participant, observer. As an in-dweller he developed a unique set of insights and experiences on how educationally disadvantaged employees coped with the change process. There are over 1,000 employees in the company and 600,000 in the national economy without a Leaving Certificate. The company responded by investing heavily in educating and training its workforce with particular attention paid to removing the barriers and providing customised progression routes for educationally disadvantaged employees. In high value, knowledge based work it is individual competencies that become the limiting factor in achieving growth, not new technology or the market. The study contains eighteen recommendations on how the educational deficit of 600,000 educationally disadvantaged employees in the economy can be redeemed

Photocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction with Zinc(II) Dipyrrin Photosensitizers and Iron Catalyst

Much of the energy used in the United States and around the globe is obtained from petroleum, natural gas, and coal. Photocatalytic CO2 reduction can be used to transform CO2 to useful fuels and making fossil fuels more renewable. Input of energy is required, and the sun can provide the required energy for this transformation. Photosensitizer, catalyst, and electron donor are required for photocatalytic CO2 reduction. Due to lack of earth-abundant sensitizers, zinc dipyrrin complexes were synthesized by previous group members and have been used as photosensitizers in this research. The ground and excited state electrochemical properties of two zinc dipyrrin complexes were determined in polar and nonpolar solvents and the measured potentials were used to match the zinc sensitizers with an energetically appropriate iron porphyrin catalyst and a benzylthiol sacrificial electron donor. Lastly, pure CO2 gas was used as the source of carbon for the reduction of CO2 by photocatalysis with the zinc photosensitizers, iron catalyst and sacrificial electron donor. The products formed in headspace were analyzed by G

STUDY ON THE FIDUCIARY ACCOUNTABILITY, SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS GROWTH IN THE LISTED COMPANIES AND SMEs

Purpose of study: In this study, fiduciary accountability and sustainable business growth are examined. There is an inadequate study on the fiduciary accountability of directors in which directors are accountable for their actions such as approving expenditure on innovation, which results in low profit. As such this study will look into the innovation and sustainable business growth and how the fiduciary accountability of directors moot innovation technologically, encouraging innovative knowledge through social-media among the employees, product innovation to meet customers’ needs and, ensuring sustainable business growth. Methodology: In order to have more reliability of the aforesaid a comparative study is made between one of the public listed companies and SMEs. Semi-structured interview methods are used in which open-ended questions are preferred to find out the particular areas. Results: The results show that this study has triggered academic vigour in the future because of the new concept of “fiduciary accountability”, which is introduced in this literature. Applications of this study: It has practical significance for corporations, directors, and academicians on fiduciary accountability of directors in harnessing profit to the corporation and enduring sustainable business growth. This is necessitated by the current trade restrictions. Novelty/Originality of this study: This study on fiduciary accountability in relation to sustainable business growth is not scholarly explored and any study would go a long way in academic pursuance

Determination of the Viscoelastic Properties of General Anisotropic Materials

Elastic properties are rarely sufficient in order to evaluate the condition of a composite material. Knowledge of the viscoelastic properties is very critical for design purposes, for they directly characterize damping. Damping related measurements in the material provides information about the degree of cross-linking and crystallinity of the polymer. For metals, damping may be related to dislocation motion among other characteristics. For composite materials, in general the interphase and the matrix dominate the damping of the material. Ultrasonic measurement of damping gives a non- destructive measure of strength of composite materials. This thesis considers damping characteristics of polymer matrix composites as well as reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC). These characteristics represent perhaps the best hope of developing a true index of state or damage tensor for composite materials. For polymer matrix composites the damping and elastic properties can be combined with either temperature or pressure to characterize the interatomic potentials in the matrix. This is the closest to a non- destructive measure of strength that is likely. By describing cross linkage and crystallinity this measure also provides insight into many of the most important degradation mechanisms. Part of this research looks into the recovery of stiffness tensor, material symmetry and principal axis. Damping is measured along this principal axis. It is also interesting to note that the damping is affected by oxidation, second part of this thesis looks into the oxidation effects of damping in RCC. Optimization routine is developed to solve Christoffel\u27s equation to recover the material stiffness tensor. Method to determine the initial guesses for the optimization routine is also developed in this thesis. An ultrasonic microscope with immersion transducers is used to extract data from samples. Oxidation is carried out in a tube furnace run at 700°C. Stiffness tensors for the samples are recovered from the measured data using a routine applying the solution to the Christoffel\u27s equation. Recovered stiffness tensors show satisfactory results. The orientation of the recovered stiffness tensors is very close to the material axis. Damping is measured with this variability. The variability in repeatability of damping measurements is less than 10%. Oxidation data obtained followed the initial assumptions and can be used for designing if damping accuracy can be improved

Aggregating manga metadata across institutions: lessons learned in the application of EDM

Many different institutions create bibliographic data for manga, a style of Japanese comic. These institutions typically describe the same resources, but in different ways. The exchange of data would result in a more complete bibliographic data landscape for manga, however the majority exists in isolation from one another. In seeking to connect this data, this poster discusses a study that created a Linked Data model for manga, based on the Europeana Data Model and using Dublin Core and BIBFRAME vocabularies for bibliographic description. Data was collected and aggregated from Monash University’s JSC Manga Library, the Media Arts Database from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, and Wikipedia. This poster outlines the issues encountered in the creation of the model, the lessons learned from these issues, and possible future extensions of the study

Characterisation and solution properties of a galactomannan from Bauhinia monandra seeds

This study reports on the chemical and physicochemical properties of the polysaccharide isolated from Bauhinia monandra seeds. The seeds were found to contain 17.8% polysaccharide which consisted predominantly of galactose and mannose. The Man/Gal ratio was found to be approximately 4:1and the average molar mass was 2.54 × 105 g/mol. The extracted material was also found to contain a small amount of protein (5.35%). The galactomannan produced highly viscous solution; the viscosity–shear rate profile was best described by the Williamson model. The mechanical spectrum of a 0.5 wt% solution showed that G″ was greater than G′ over the frequency range employed while at higher concentrations G′ became greater than G″ above a critical frequency. The solutions obeyed the Cox-Merz rule at low concentrations, but there was some deviation at higher concentrations. Viscosity measurements were undertaken over a range of temperatures and the activation energy of viscous flow was found to be 20.75 kJ/mol. The rheological properties of solutions of B. monandra galactomannan indicate that it has comparable characteristics to other commercially important galactomannans such as guar gum and locust bean gum and hence has potential as a thickener in the formulation of food and other related products