Constructing Irishness: nationalism, archaeology and the historic built environment in an independent state

The accepted underlying principle held for the destruction of certain elements of architectural heritage in Ireland has been nationalism. The explicit manifestation of this was the destruction of Dublin’s Georgian architecture in the 1960s and 70s. Such architecture has been naturally associated with British imperialism: formal architecture represented the British Protestant upper classes, a division of society to which the native Catholic Irish did not apparently ascribe, or from which they were excluded. Assessments of value made by reactive amenity bodies such as the Irish Georgian Society did little to dispel the notion that formal architecture did not accord with Irishness, as such appraisals were being made by the elite. Additionally, independent Ireland was keen to emphasise a native Irish identity, based in the west, and reinforced by icons of tradition including thatched vernacular houses and rural living. Such identity was underpinned by the archaeological record: the pre-dominant cultural-historical theoretical approach and the invasion hypothesis reinforced distinctions between the various cultures entering the country by both the physical movements of people and the diffusion of culture. However, such assessments of value become untenable in the face of economic development, as demonstrated by the Hill of Tara and the M3 motorway debate

The impact of the mode of thought in complex decisions: intuitive decisions are better

A number of recent studies have reported that decision quality is enhanced under conditions of inattention or distraction (unconscious thought; Dijksterhuis, 2004; Dijksterhuis and Nordgren, 2006; Dijksterhuis et al., 2006). These reports have generated considerable controversy, for both experimental (problems of replication) and theoretical reasons (interpretation). Here we report the results of four experiments. The first experiment replicates the unconscious thought effect, under conditions that validate and control the subjective criterion of decision quality. The second and third experiments examine the impact of a mode of thought manipulation (without distraction) on decision quality in immediate decisions. Here we find that intuitive or affective manipulations improve decision quality compared to analytic/deliberation manipulations. The fourth experiment combines the two methods (distraction and mode of thought manipulations) and demonstrates enhanced decision quality, in a situation that attempts to preserve ecological validity. The results are interpreted within a framework that is based on two interacting subsystems of decision-making: an affective/intuition based system and an analytic/deliberation system

Quantum Hall induced currents and the magnetoresistance of a quantum point contact

We report an investigation of quantum Hall induced currents by simultaneous measurements of their magnetic moment and their effect on the conductance of a quantum point contact (QPC). Features in the magnetic moment and QPC resistance are correlated at Landau-level filling factors nu=1, 2 and 4, which demonstrates the common origin of the effects. Temperature and non-linear sweep rate dependences are observed to be similar for the two effects. Furthermore, features in the noise of the induced currents, caused by breakdown of the quantum Hall effect, are observed to have clear correlations between the two measurements. In contrast, there is a distinct difference in the way that the induced currents decay with time when the sweeping field halts at integer filling factor. We attribute this difference to the fact that, while both effects are sensitive to the magnitude of the induced current, the QPC resistance is also sensitive to the proximity of the current to the QPC split-gate. Although it is clearly demonstrated that induced currents affect the electrostatics of a QPC, the reverse effect, the QPC influencing the induced current, was not observed

An Unseen Friend

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-me/1713/thumbnail.jp

Piezoelectric Microfiber Composite Actuators for Morphing Wings

Morphing wing technologies provide expanded functionality in piloted and robotic aircraft, extending particular vehicle mission parameters as well as increasing the role of aviation in both military and civilian applications. However, realizing control surfaces that do not void the benefits of morphing wings presents challenges that can be addressed with microfiber composite actuators (MFCs). We present two approaches for realizing control surfaces. In one approach, flap-like structures are formed by bonding MFCs to each side of a metal substrate. In the other approach, MFCs are bonded directly to the wing. Counter intuitively, the flap approach resulted in larger voltage actuation curvatures, with increased mass load. Actuation performance, defined as the ratio of curvature per applied voltage, was as large as 5.8 ± 0.2 × 10−4 (kV⋅mm)−1. The direct bonding approach reveals that at zero wing pressure, up to 63 ± 3  μm of displacement could be realized

Structure and play: rethinking regulation in the higher education sector

This paper explores possible tactics for academics working within a context of increasing regulation and constraint. One suggested tactic is to move outside of a creativity-conformity binary. Rather than understanding creativity and conformity as separable, where one is seen as excluding the other, the authors consider the potential of examining the relationships between them. The theme of 'structure and play' illustrates the argument. In the first part of the paper, using various examples from art and design - fields generally associated with creativity - the authors explore the interrelatedness of creativity and conformity. For example, how might design styles, which are generally understood as creative outcomes, constrain creativity and lead to conformity within the design field? Is fashion producing creativity or conformity? Conversely, the ways in which conformity provides the conditions for creativity are also examined. For example, the conformity imposed by the state on artists in the former communist bloc contributed to a thriving underground arts movement which challenged conformity and state regulation. Continuing the theme of 'structure and play', the authors recount a story from an Australian university which foregrounds the ongoing renegotiation of power relations in the academy. This account illustrates how programmatic government in a university, with its aim of regulating conduct, can contribute to unanticipated outcomes. The authors propose that a Foucauldian view of distributed power is useful for academics operating in a context of increasing regulation, as it brings into view sites where power might begin to be renegotiated

Correspondence from E.B. Lovejoy, August 13, 1862

Correspondence from E.B. Lovejoy regarding absent soldiers from Androscoggin Countyhttps://digitalmaine.com/absent_soldiers/1005/thumbnail.jp

Search efficiency as a function of target saliency: The transition from inefficient to efficient search and beyond.

Searching for an object among distracting objects is a common daily task. These searches differ in efficiency. Some are so difficult that each object must be inspected in turn, whereas others are so easy that the target object directly catches the observer’s eye. In 4 experiments, the difficulty of searching for an orientation-defined target was parametrically manipulated between blocks of trials via the target–distractor orientation contrast. We observed a smooth transition from inefficient to efficient search with increasing orientation contrast. When contrast was high, search slopes were flat (indicating pop-out); when contrast was low, slopes were steep (indicating serial search). At the transition from inefficient to efficient search, search slopes were flat for target-present trials and steep for target-absent trials within the same orientation-contrast block—suggesting that participants adapted their behavior on target-absent trials to the most difficult, rather than the average, target-present trials of each block. Furthermore, even when search slopes were flat, indicative of pop-out, search continued to become faster with increasing contrast. These observations provide several new constraints for models of visual search and indicate that differences between search tasks that were traditionally considered qualitative in nature might actually be due to purely quantitative differences in target discriminability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

School counseling and confidentiality

School counselors are continually challenged with legal and ethical issues. According to Remley (2002), school counselors seem to face more legal and ethical issues than counselors who practice in other settings. Numerous situations or topics can be placed under the term legal issue or ethical issue, however, this author has chosen to concentrate on the legal and ethical issue of confidentiality in counseling. There seems to be much confusion among school counselors dealing with confidentiality issues. According to Mitchell, Disque, and Robertson (2002) Research indicates that counselors struggle when faced with issues surrounding confidentiality rights of minors and rights of parents (p. 156). Clarification is needed regarding what confidentiality is, whom confidential rights belong to in the school setting, and when to breach these confidentiality rights. In this paper, the meaning of and the need for confidentiality will be clarified. Informed consent practices and rights of minors, parents, and third parties will be addressed. Finally, record-keeping procedures, how to respond to demands for information, and the limitations of confidentiality will be addressed

Aspects of natural convention and of non-linear hydridynamic stability

In Part I of this thesis, steady and time-dependent, natural-convection similarity flows with mass transfer are discussed. Similarity flows for natural convection on families of two-dimensional bodies with closed lower ends are enumerated, when both a temperature distribution and a suction velocity distribution are prescribed at the body surface. For steady similarity flow on a heated vertical flat plate, with mass transfer at the surface, a numerical procedure is introduced for determining the velocity and temperature profiles. These results are presented in Figs. 2 and 3. Other similarity flows may be found by the same method. A simplification, valid for “strong” suction, is discussed. An extension of Mangler’s transformation [1948] is given which reduces the equations governing axisymmetric flow to those for two-dimensional flow in steady natural convection. In Part II non-linear resonant instability in parallel shear flows is discussed. A.D.D.Craik’s (see Usher and Craik [I]) modified version of Bateman’s [1956] variational formulation for viscous flows is employed to derive the second-order interaction equations governing the temporal evolution of a resonant wave triad in a sheer flow. (An extension of Craik’s variational formulation to free surface flows is presented but is not required in the subsequent analysis for the resonance problem). This problem was treated previously using a ‘direct’ approach (employing the Navier-Stokes equations) by Craik [1971]. The major advantage of the present method over the ‘direct’ method is the substantial reduction in algebraic complexity. Also, a justification of the validity of Craik’s previous analysis is given. For this same resonance problem, third-order interaction equations are derived by the *direct* method since, to this order of approximation, little advantage is to be gained from the variational formulation. The resonance theory is thereby developed to the same order of approximation as the non-resonant third-order theory of Stuart [1960, 1962]. An asymptotic analysis for large Reynolds numbers reveals that the magnitudes of the third-order interaction coefficients – like certain of those at second-order – are remarkably large. Such results lead to a discussion of the regions of validity of the perturbation analysis. Also some light is shed on the roles played by resonance and three-dimensionality in the non-linear instability of shear flows