A Distributed Data-Driven and Machine Learning Method for High-Level Causal Analysis in Sustainable IoT Systems

A causal relationship forms when one event triggers another’s change or occurrence. Causality helps to understand connections among events, explain phenomena, and facilitate better decision-making. In IoT systems, massive consumption of energy may lead to specific types of air pollution. There are causal relationships among air pollutants. Analyzing their interactions allows for targeted adjustments in energy use, like shifting to cleaner energy and cutting high-emission sources. This reduces air pollution and boosts energy sustainability, aiding sustainable development. This paper introduces a distributed data-driven machine learning method for high-level causal analysis (DMHC), which extracts general and high-level Complex Event Processing (CEP) rules from unlabeled data. CEP rules can capture the interactions among events and represent the causal relation- ships among them. DMHC deploys a two-layer LSTM attention mechanism model and decision tree algorithm to filter and label data, extracting general CEP rules. Afterward, it proceeds to generate event logs based on general rules with heuristic mining (HM), extracting high-level CEP rules that pertain to causal relationships. These high-level rules complement the extracted general rules and reflect the causal relationships among the general rules. The proposed high-level methodology is validated using a real air quality dataset

Differences and Similarities in Psychological Characteristics between Cultural Groups Circum Mediterranean

We examined differences and similarities between groups sampled from the Mediterranean region in social orientation, cognitive style, self-construal, and honor, face, dignity values and concerns using a large battery of tasks and measures. We did this by conducting secondary data set analyses focusing on comparisons between nine pairs of samples recruited from the Mediterranean region (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus [Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities], Lebanon [Muslim Lebanese and Christian Lebanese], Egypt) that have overlapping and divergent features in terms of religious, ethnic, national, and linguistic factors as well as various physical and socio-ecological characteristics. Across 38 different psychological characteristics, comparisons between Turkish and Turkish Cypriot samples and between Christian and Muslim samples from Lebanon revealed that they were most similar to each other. In contrast, Greek and Turkish samples were the least similar. Our analyses of intercorrelations between variables, variability and size of differences provide additional insights into the within-region variation in social orientation, cognitive style, self-construal indicators, as well as honor, face, and dignity values and concerns. Our research contributes to the growing literature on regional variation of psychological processes while raising important pointers for the role of background and socio-ecological characteristics in cultural group similarities and differences

Why Maintenance Matters: Disorder in the Built Environment and Physical Health

Over the last decade there has been a renewed interest in identifying exactly how aspects of the residential built environment “get under the skin” and affect the health of not only those who dwell within, but reside and commute among, disorderly and deteriorating buildings. In parallel, across the different disciplines that constitute the neighbourhood effects literature, there is a growing acknowledgement that unpacking the “black box” of the phenomenon will require a principled theoretical approach that proposes plausible causal pathways between the area-level neighbourhood context and individual-level health; that is a concerted effort to answer not only the “why?” (ultimate) question, but the “how?” (proximate) question, too. Building on Wilson and O’Brien’s explicitly evolutionary construct of Community Perception, we introduce Jos Brosschot’s Generalised Unsafety Theory of Stress to propose and test a novel account of the causal pathway we believe residential maintenance plays between a place and its people. We use C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker associated with infection and stress, alongside information relating to neighbourhood maintenance, demographic characteristics, and health behaviours, all drawn from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Hierarchical multiple regression models estimate CRP for exposure to poor maintenance conditions, controlling for known predictors and confounders. Results indicate that poor maintenance is associated with elevated CRP. Residential maintenance matters to people’s physical health. Future work will look to further elucidate the proximate mechanisms that underlie this pathway, in the hope that it will lead to impactful evidence-based policy proposals

From ‘take-ism’ to pursuit of newness and originality: design professionals and models of creativity in contemporary China

Chinese innovative workers are often discussed in terms of their exploitation and empowerment within the current intellectual property systems, but little attention is given to their creative processes. Meanwhile, design practitioners are viewed solely as an innovation resource in the field of design thinking. Based on interviews with Chinese interior designers and secondary data, this article provides an analysis that situates their practices and experiences within the intersection of these fields, emphasising practitioners’ accounts of creativity and production of innovative, cultural, and aesthetic forms. Drawing on theories of practice, genre, and post-Bourdieuian analysis of cultural production, this article argues that the valorisation of creativity needs to be understood in relation to the practices in which they engage, within particular contexts of history, organisation, and genre cultures that provide opportunities for the transformation of genre boundaries. Operating within a milieu that saw copying as part of creative process, the practitioners had no agreement on how the work should be understood within the rubric of creativity. Despite this, they aimed for slight differentiation in design, appropriating and rediscovering multi-cultural forms to resist ‘take-ism’ – the imitative culture of copying of foreign decorative elements and styles, while establishing themselves in the commercial world

The 'phantasy sibling transference': only-child adults and finding a 'position' in the therapeutic setting.

This study originated from my experience of an unusual transference with my only-child adult patients and in my own psychotherapy. I wanted to explore the idea that only-child adults may create a transference in the therapeutic setting which mimics a sibling transference. Juliet Mitchell provides a valuable framework in which to understand the intersecting and yet distinct lateral and vertical dimensions of psychic life suggesting that on the arrival of a sibling, the infant is thrown into disarray and must negotiate a new position both with the parents and within the sibling group. This propels the infant into a complex and fraught challenge around the issue of identity which, according to Jeanine Vivona, can only be resolved through the gaining of validation and recognition on the lateral dimension with siblings, enabling the infant to know who they are and where they stand in the sibling group. This is later reflected in the world of peers. I suggest the only-child adult, having missed out on these psychological challenges in relation to siblings, is left without a ‘position’ and without an identity in the lateral world. This research attempts to investigate this potential phenomenon through the interviewing of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapists who have worked with only-child adult patients. Analysing the data through reflective thematic analysis and developing themes from their countertransference, the results suggest the only-child adult does enact a ‘phantasy sibling transference’. Finally, understanding the inner world of the only-child adult may enable an attempt at resolution of this sibling conflict within the therapeutic setting with the discovery of the only-child adult’s identity on the lateral dimension

Inside the Mask: the lives and lies of Harry Bensley. A creative-critical investigation into truth, gender and ethics in non-fiction narrative writing.

This thesis creatively and critically explores the ambiguous terrain between fact and fiction, truth and lies, and past and present in nontraditional autobiographical writing. My creative text, Inside the Mask, explores the real-life Edwardian fraudster and walker Harry Bensley, who created his own masculinist myth. Through auto/bio/fiction and psychogeography, the narrator examines the effect Bensley’s actions and false narrative had on his wives. She learns how history and memory are recreated through the lens of self, discovering the effect of false narratives in her own life. In recognising which narratives were imposed upon her and which were self-imposed, she can reclaim her sense of self. The critical commentary contextualises Inside the Mask within the tradition of nontraditional autobiographical narrative forms by female writers. I examine the first English Language autobiography by Margery Kempe, whose unorthodox life, pilgrimages, and text demonstrate fierce opposition to the gendered narratives imposed upon her. My next subject, Mary Wollstonecraft flouted patriarchal conventions through her walking, marital status, and writing, creating what would now be known as ‘autofiction’ and ‘psychogeography’. Considering the work of contemporary author Julie Myerson, whose autobiographical texts trouble ethical and genre boundaries, I investigate negative reactions to women’s autobiographical writing about motherhood and explore how she and other female authors respond. Throughout, and particularly in Chapter Four, I interrogate my research practice and the ethics of writing about others. By examining ‘competing’ stories, ‘true’ stories, and stories submerged, subverted, or falsified by familial, patriarchal or other influences in nontraditional autobiographic writing, this creative-critical thesis offers an original contribution to current literary discourse on the permeable boundaries of fact and fiction, truth and lies, and past and present in autobiographical forms

Making a virtue out of necessity: the effect of negative interest rates on bank cost efficiency

Do negative interest rates affect banks’ cost efficiency? We exploit the unprecedented intro- duction of negative policy interest rates in the euro area to investigate whether banks make a virtue out of necessity in reacting to negative interest rates by adjusting their cost efficiency. We find that banks most affected by negative interest rates responded by enhancing their cost efficiency. We also show that improvements in cost efficiency are more pronounced for banks that are larger, less profitable, with lower asset quality and that operate in more competitive banking sectors. In addition, we document that enhancements in cost efficiency are statisti- cally significant only when breaching the zero lower bound, indicating that the pass-through of interest rates to cost efficiency is not effective when policy rates are positive. These findings hold important policy implications as they provide evidence on a beneficial second-order effect of negative interest rates on bank efficiency

Le droit de la santé animale : un frein à la transition agroécologique ? Étude du dispositif de surveillance et de lutte contre la grippe aviaire en France

Les récentes épidémies de grippe aviaire ont ébranlé nos systèmes agricoles et alimentaires. Lors de l’épisode 2022-2023, près de 22 millions de volailles ont été abattues ou sont mortes dans les élevages français sans pour autant que les autorités sanitaires ne réussissent à maîtriser la circulation du virus. Les mesures de lutte traditionnelles prévues par la législation sanitaire se sont révélées délétères pour les animaux d’élevage, la faune sauvage et les éleveurs. En outre, la conception conventionnelle de la biosécurité semble incompatible avec les systèmes d’élevage les plus vertueux. Face à ce constat, une partie de la doctrine et des institutions sanitaires appellent à réformer en profondeur notre législation sanitaire sous l’égide des principes de l’agroécologie et de l’approche One Health - Une seule santé. Afin d’apporter une réponse juridique appropriée au risque épidémique, il semble primordial de décloisonner les questions de santé animale, environnementale et humaine en empruntant une approche holistique des agroécosystèmes. The recent outbreaks of avian influenza have had a profound impact on our farming and food systems. During the 2022-2023 episode, almost 22 million poultry were slaughtered or died on French farms, yet the health authorities were unable to bring the virus under control. The traditional control measures provided for under health legislation have proved harmful to farm animals, wildlife and farmers. Furthermore, the conventional concept of biosecurity seems incompatible with the most virtuous farming systems. In light of this situation, a number of researchers and health institutions have called for an in-depth reform of our health legislation under the aegis of the principles of agro-ecology and the One Health approach. In order to provide an appropriate legal response to the risk of epidemics, it seems essential to adopt a holistic approach to agro-ecosystems that integrates animal, environmental, and human health issues

A Functional Extension of Semi-Structured Networks

Semi-structured networks (SSNs) merge the structures familiar from additive models with deep neural networks, allowing the modeling of interpretable partial feature effects while capturing higher-order non-linearities at the same time. A significant challenge in this integration is maintaining the interpretability of the additive model component. Inspired by large-scale biomechanics datasets, this paper explores extending SSNs to functional data. Existing methods in functional data analysis are promising but often not expressive enough to account for all interactions and non-linearities and do not scale well to large datasets. Although the SSN approach presents a compelling potential solution, its adaptation to functional data remains complex. In this work, we propose a functional SSN method that retains the advantageous properties of classical functional regression approaches while also improving scalability. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that this approach accurately recovers underlying signals, enhances predictive performance, and performs favorably compared to competing methods