Invariance principles for G-Brownian-motion-driven stochastic differential equations and their applications to G-stochastic control

The G-Brownian-motion-driven stochastic differential equations (G-SDEs) as well as the G-expectation, which were seminally proposed by Peng and his colleagues, have been extensively applied to describing a particular kind of uncertainty arising in real-world systems modeling. Mathematically depicting long-time and limit behaviors of the solution produced by G-SDEs is beneficial to understanding the mechanisms of system's evolution. Here, we develop a new G-semimartingale convergence theorem and further establish a new invariance principle for investigating the long-time behaviors emergent in G-SDEs. We also validate the uniqueness and the global existence of the solution of G-SDEs whose vector fields are only locally Lipschitzian with a linear upper bound. To demonstrate the broad applicability of our analytically established results, we investigate its application to achieving G-stochastic control in a few representative dynamical systems

Yielding to percolation : a universal scale

A theoretical and computational study analysing the initiation of yield-stress fluid percolation in porous media is presented. Yield-stress fluid flows through porous media are complicated due to the nonlinear rheological behaviour of this type of fluid, rendering the conventional Darcy type approach invalid. A critical pressure gradient must be exceeded to commence the flow of a yield-stress fluid in a porous medium. As the first step in generalising the Darcy law for yield-stress fluids, a universal scale based on the variational formulation of the energy equation is derived for the critical pressure gradient which reduces to the purely geometrical feature of the porous media. The presented scaling is then validated by both exhaustive numerical simulations (using an adaptive finite element approach based on the augmented Lagrangian method), and also the previously published data. The considered porous media are constructed by randomised obstacles with various topologies; namely square, circular and alternatively polygonal obstacles which are mimicked based on Voronoi tessellation of circular cases. Moreover, computations for the bidispersed obstacle cases are performed which further demonstrate the validity of the proposed universal scaling

Caveats in reporting of national vaccine uptake

During the work of the Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19 (EAVE II) group, we reported on vaccine uptake, safety, effectiveness, and waning in specific age groups in Scotland (e.g., 12-17 years) to enable policymakers to make decisions based on evidence generated nearly in real-time [1]. At first, these imperatives appeared methodologically straightforward. However, we soon realised that the seemingly simplest task in theory – i.e., reporting the vaccine uptake – was in fact challenging in practice. We report several caveats that need to be considered when reporting vaccine uptake for a specific age-group at a national level. We also propose a simple stepwise approach for reporting the methods of calculating vaccine uptake in a specific age-group in the context of tracking a large population

Bildung und Kultur : Perspektiven der Queer-Pädagogik

Dass Bildung und Kultur einen spezifisch deutschen Diskussionszusammenhang generieren, erkennt man spätestens im interkulturellen Austausch. Obwohl das Bewusstsein um die Existenz besonders des Bildungsbegriffes in den letzten Jahren enorm gestiegen ist, ist man im internationalen Kontext doch immer wieder aufgefordert, sich erklärend zu Bedeutungen zu äußern – ein Unterfangen, welches sich im Angesicht der ideen-historischen Entwicklung der Begriffe recht schnell als aussichtslos erweist. Dass daher jede Erläuterung nur jeweils Ausschnitte hervorheben kann, scheint unumgehbar. Diese Komplexität wird dann noch gesteigert, wenn man versucht, einen genuin nicht-deutschen Begriff wie queer in’s nominale Gefüge einzupassen. Dass allerdings sowohl das Bewusstsein um diese Schwierigkeit, als auch das zumindest temporäre Ignorieren derselben, ganz im Horizont dessen stehen wird, was im Folgenden entwickelt werden soll, mag dann doch noch als ausreichende Apologie für den Versuch selbst verstanden und akzeptiert werden

Vaccination, asymptomatics and public health information in COVID-19

The dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic are greatly influenced by vaccine quality, as well as by vaccination rates and the behaviour of infected individuals, both of which reflect public policy. We develop a model for the dynamics of relevant cohorts within a fixed population, taking extreme care to model the reduced social contact of infected individuals in a rigorous self-consistent manner. The basic reproduction number R0is then derived in terms of the parameters of the model. Analysis of R0 reveals two interesting possibilities, both of which are plausible based on known characteristics of COVID-19. Firstly, if the population in general moderates social contact, while infected individuals who display clinical symptoms tend not to isolate, then increased vaccination can drive the epidemic towards a disease-free equilibrium (DFE). However, if the reverse is true, then increased vaccination can destabilise the DFE and yield an endemic state. This surprising result is due to the fact that the vaccines are leaky, and can lead to an increase in asymptomatic individuals who unknowingly spread the disease. Therefore, this work shows that public policy regarding the monitoring and release of health information should be combined judiciously with vaccination policy to control COVID-19

A simulation-based and data-augmented shear force inversion method for offshore platform connector

This study introduces a Simulation-Based and Data-Augmented method for shear force inversion to address the challenge of directly measuring shear force on connector pins in multi-module floating platforms. Stress sensors are strategically placed in adjacent areas. Extensive Finite Element simulation scenarios lead to the identification of optimal features sensitive to both force magnitude and direction. Subsequently, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is developed to distill the simulation data into characteristic sensor responses. Fine-tuning with physical measurements further enhances shear force inversion accuracy. Using simulated and experimental data, the method demonstrates a shear force inversion error below 3.2% and an angular inversion error under 1.4% across test conditions. This methodology provides essential load data for connector safety assessments and crucial guidelines for the assembly of multimodule floating platforms

Institutional Rights Retention Policy (IRRP) at Strathclyde : An Introduction

Slides delivered at the 25 Jan 2024 introductory talk on the brand new Strathclyde Institutional Rights Retention Policy (IRRP) within the LIR Staff Training Week 2024. The Strathclyde IRRP was approved by Senate on 15 Nov 2023 and kicked-in as of 1 Jan 2024. The policy applies to manuscripts submitted by Strathclyde academics on or after 1st January 2024. This policy aims to make immediate Open Access possible in cases where the Green Open Access route is applied. The presentation explains the rationale and the origins for rights retention policies, which were first introduced in the UK by cOAlition S-member funders like the Wellcome Trust (1 Jan 2021) and the UK Research and Innovation (1 Apr 2022). Some hints are provided on how the Strathclyde IRRP will actually be implemented and on the kind of input that will be needed from academics in order for the implementation to work smoothly

Polynomial time and dependent types

We combine dependent types with linear type systems that soundly and completely capture polynomial time computation. We explore two systems for capturing polynomial time: one system that disallows construction of iterable data, and one, based on the LFPL system of Martin Hofmann, that controls construction via a payment method. Both of these are extended to full dependent types via Quantitative Type Theory, allowing for arbitrary computation in types alongside guaranteed polynomial time computation in terms. We prove the soundness of the systems using a realisability technique due to Dal Lago and Hofmann. Our long-term goal is to combine the extensional reasoning of type theory with intensional reasoning about the resources intrinsically consumed by programs. This paper is a step along this path, which we hope will lead both to practical systems for reasoning about programs’ resource usage, and to theoretical use as a form of synthetic computational complexity theory

Text-based sentiment analysis in finance : synthesising the existing literature and exploring future directions

Advances in Deep Learning have drastically improved the abilities of Natural Language Processing (NLP) research, creating new state-of-the-art benchmarks. Two research streams at the forefront of NLP analysis are transformer architecture (introduced by Vaswani et al., 2017) and multimodal analysis. This paper critically evaluates the extant literature applying sentiment analysis techniques to the financial domain. We classify the financial sentiment analysis literature according to the most used techniques in the area, with a focus on methods used to detect sentiment within corporate Earnings Conference Calls, due to their dual modality (text-audio) nature. We find that the financial literature follows a similar path to NLP sentiment literature, in that more advanced techniques to define sentiment are being used as the field progresses. However, techniques used to determine financial sentiment currently fall behind state-of-the-art techniques used within NLP. Two future directions stem from this paper. Firstly, we propose that the adoption of transformer architecture to create robust representations of textual data could enhance sentiment analysis in academic finance. Secondly, the adoption of multimodal classifiers in finance represents a new, currently underexplored area of study that offers opportunities for finance research

Goodbye to PIP, but hello to what? Disability, social security, devolution and policy change in Scotland

The Scottish Government has ambitions to build a new social security system in Scotland with new powers over social security. With the ability to now entirely replace the UK's Personal Independence Payment, highly controversial for the way it has narrowed entitlement and made the process of applying stressful, the Scottish Government has the opportunity to transform both the experience of disabled people in applying for social security and ensure what is paid more accurately reflects the costs of disability. However, whilst significant improvements to the process of applying appear to have been made and these are having a positive impact on access to payment, the Scottish Government's gradualist approach has also put off by some years more fundamental improvements