Capturing contested mobile space:speed and injustice at the axes and planes

Coastal urban edges, defined by significant spaces of mobilities, create tensions in the oppositions of flows of the practices of vision and action. Photography captures moments and tells fragments of stories. A closer, longer look of photographic images allows for otherwise un-noticed details. We notice the gendered automobilities at play in the coastal roadways and street spaces of Brighton, UK and Havana, Cuba, both renowned for their celebration of speed from car racing and testing. This article analyses selected photographic images from two archives situated in Brighton and Havana. We consider the impact of pre-determined and applied axes and planes of the spaces, considering the intentions before, and the imaginary afterlife of the images. Our analysis adds to an understanding of speed and injustice at the coastal urban edge.<br/

Experimental and numerical investigation of fire hazard of vertical greenery systems

This study investigates the fire hazard of vertical greenery systems (VGS) with experiments performed at the bench-scale and medium-scale followed by numerical simulations. Bench-scale tests were conducted in cone-calorimeter while the medium-scale experiments consisted of a test rig with dimensions 100 cm × 30 cm × 3 cm (height × width × depth). 28 cone-calorimeter tests were conducted under four cone heat flux levels, which represented four woodwool moisture content (MC) levels (between 8% to 20%) and four bulk densities (BD) of the fuel bed (between 50 kg/m3 to 100 kg/m3). Cone test results revealed that flammability was increased with the reduction of MC and BD under four flammability parameters, namely, the ignitability, combustibility, flame duration (FD) and consumability. The medium-scale experiments conducted with three different MCs and three different BDs showed that the UFS rate increases with the decrease of MC and BD. Average UFS rate was over 3.48 cm/s while the maximum temperatures along the fuel bed reached values over 700 0C in all scenarios. The medium-scale experiment scenarios were numerically simulated in the fire dynamic simulator (FDS) and the predicted upward fire spread rate showed good agreement with only slight deviations. However, the temperature recordings at different heights were overpredicted

RedTops:real-time energy-aware dynamic task offloading via federated mountain gazelle optimisation in SDN-enhanced edge computing

Offloading computational tasks is vital for real-time applications on mobile devices with limited resources. Mobile edge computing (MEC) is deemed a solution that puts computational resources closer to users. Nevertheless, there are many associated concerns during the offloading procedure (i.e., privacy, delay, and high energy consumption). Federated learning (FL) has been considered a solution to address MEC’s data privacy issues; however, it comes with its own resource consumption issues. To address these issues, this paper proposes a distributed learning paradigm inspired by FL. We propose an optimisation technique for offloading computational tasks that aims to reduce both total delay and energy consumption by using the mountain gazelle optimisation algorithm, which shows it can reduce both delay and energy consumption in dynamic situations. Additionally, an improved variant known as the improved mountain gazelle optimiser is integrated into a distributed SDN controller architecture to create an offloading policy model for optimal edge node selection. We also present a new SDN-enabled edge computing architecture that achieves the best task distribution through task offloading using federated mountain gazelle optimisation (RedTops). Energy usage, delay, and bandwidth are considered by RedTops, which successfully addresses high training costs, dependability issues, and privacy concerns in MEC. Based on the outcomes of five extensive simulations, RedTops is more energy-efficient and faster at completing tasks than four state-of-the-art offloading methods (DDLO, DROO, DRL without TL and SDN, and DTRL)

Classifying Students' Performance in Mathematics in a Multicultural Primary School Using Machine Learning Algorithms

The last few years have witnessed a global change in the education system that was exacerbated with Covid-19 pandemic. The increasing use of online learning resources has introduced a challenge in deliverying quality education, especially in multicultural societies. In this respect, the first step to delivering high-quality education involves optimising educational quality by identifying facilitators and barriers to it. This research proposed the use of machine learning (ML) algorithms to understand the influence of key characteristics on the performance of level 6 students at a primary school in Mathematics. Three ML algorithms were applied to 12 characteristics related to students’ performance over three semesters being autumn, Spring and Summer. The ML algorithms were correlation in variable space method (CM), principal component analysis (PCA) and self-organizing maps (SOM). The aforementioned 12 characteristics included: attendance, behavior, engagement, nationality, previous school, age, weekly homework, daily in-class exercise, previous report, gender, learning disability, benchmark testing and end of block assessment. The results showed that the influence of characteristics was related to the type of assessment/lessons undertaken by students. In all cases, five characteristics played a key role and included attendance, weekly homework, daily in-class test, previous report and benchmark testing. The extent to which degree these five characteristics influenced performance varied between lessons depending on the type of task undertaken. Overall, the performance of students was consistently similar across the different semesters. Future work involves exploring the prediction of student performance based on the proposed 12 characteristics

Ion Adsorption Mineralisation in Regolith-Hosted REE Deposits

Supergene deposits are an attractive source of rare earth elements (REE) because of the potential for reduced energy impact of mining relative to hard-rock deposits, for grade enrichment during the breakdown of rock-forming minerals, and for the potential separation of REE from deleterious radionuclides in the weathering environment. Ion adsorption deposits are a subclass of regolith-hosted REE deposits with the lowest cut-off grade of any currently producing REE deposit type (ca. 0.1 wt. % total rare earth oxides). They are formed via the breakdown of REE-bearing igneous, metamorphic and, less commonly, sedimentary rocks during supergene weathering, which releases the REE from rock-forming and accessory mineral phases. REEs are then carried within soil water, with the depth of maximum REE deposition commonly being localised by a sharp vertical gradient in soil water pH or redox, for example, where acidic surface-derived water interacts with higher pH groundwater. Here, REEs are adsorbed onto the surface of clay minerals, most commonly kaolinite and halloysite. A major advantage of ion adsorption deposits is the ease of REE extraction, with all currently active operations making use of relatively simple ammonium sulfate leach solutions. In situ, and heap or tank leaching approaches have been used. Today, extraction from ion adsorption deposits has a similar energy use and carbon emission potential per mass REE to operations at the hard-rock carbonatite REE deposits Mountain Pass and Bayan Obo. However, the 2D nature of IADs and low cut-off grade can result in greater risks of negative environmental impacts, such as slope instability, vegetation loss and groundwater contamination. Extraction from higher-grade IADs formed on REE-rich protoliths and the use of novel bioleaching cultures have the potential to increase recovery and significantly reduce environmental risk. Several prospects outside of China have now progressed to a detailed characterisation stage. It is, therefore, anticipated that ion adsorption deposits will continue to make important contributions to global REE production over the coming decade

Critique as a means of Jiaohua (Cultivation):insights from Confucianism

From a Confucian perspective, critique serves as a tool for jiaohua (cultivation), encompassing not only the transmission of knowledge but also the cultivation of morality. This article adopts theoretical and empirical approaches to explore the Confucian understanding of critique. Theoretically, critique in Confucianism is not merely a challenge directed at external individuals or society; rather, it is viewed as a personal moral and social responsibility. Empirically, this article draws on fieldwork conducted in Confucian schools to demonstrate how students, teachers, and parents employ critique as a corrective tool in educational practice. Confucian critique challenges the monolithic framework of Euro-American critical traditions, offering a pathway of ‘multiple modernities’ to global higher education while addressing the pressing need for a more equitable and diverse knowledge production system

Minority stressors, social connectedness and degree of outness in gay men:Data from two cross-sectional correlational studies in the United Kingdom

Lesbian, gay and bisexual people vary in their level of outness, that is, the number of people to whom they disclose their sexual orientation and the amount of information that they disclose. Outness is generally associated with positive long-term social, psychological and health outcomes. Gay men may face particular challenges in coming out due to higher levels of gay-related stigma. Hierarchical multiple regression models examined associations between minority stressors, aspects of social connectedness, and degree of outness in two samples of gay men in the United Kingdom. Study 1, based on data from 96 gay men, showed that only the proximal stressor of internalized homonegativity was significantly and negatively associated with degree of outness. Study 2, based on data from 246 gay men, showed that being partnered, general social support, and discrimination were significantly and positively associated with degree of outness and that internalized homonegativity and perceiving negative social attitudes toward gay men were negatively associated with degree of outness. The results suggest that psychological interventions should focus on facilitating access to social support and on managing proximal minority stressors.</p

Researching rape that is not recognised:An auto/biographical understanding of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault

Woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault globally remain an ultimately unaddressed problem. Consequently, victims/survivors must cope with little to no support as they endure post-traumatic responses. In this chapter, I share my auto/biographical experiences of researching the perceived impacts of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault, the subsequent experience of disclosure, reaction and support, and the consequences for victim/survivor subjective experience of occupations. My findings related to the post-traumatic survival reactions and behaviours explicate the complexities of the victim/survivor experiences; this was equally apparent when they tried to cope and survive throughout their daily lives. My study was the first of its kind to illuminate this aspect of woman-to-woman rape and sexual assault and remains one of very few studies to explore what continues to be largely invisible in the sexual violence discourse and conceptualisations. As a researcher, the significance of my positionality forced me to consider what is meant by sensitive—let alone traumatic—research.</p

Ageing, Metabolomics and Palaeoanthropology:What can the fields learn from each other?

Growing old is the major risk factor for hundreds of distinct conditions. Thus, ageing of the global population will pose major social, medical, and economic challenges unless this ill health can be ameliorated or reversed. Accordingly, it is increasingly clear that cross-disciplinary approaches to understanding ageing, although not essential, allow collaborative teams to develop new methodologies which can accelerate translation of research into interventions. Co-creation of new concepts and technologies also brings reciprocal benefits to the individual disciplines involved.The evolution of human ageing is a case in point. Whilst there is broad consensus concerning the process and factors shaping the evolution of ageing in general their relative contributions to the evolution of human ageing remain less clear. This is due to three distinct factors. The extended genetic bottlenecks to which H. sapiens was exposed until the termination of the last ice age which sharply distinguishes our species from almost all current ageing models. Sociality, which humans share with many, but not all, living primate species; and finally, an extended post reproductive menopausal period which is extremely rare in the biosphere and uniquely long in humans.Accordingly, a symposium on the physiology and demography of early human evolution was organised by the authors at which palaeodemographers, archaeologists, population biologists and geroscientists discussed human ageing. This has generated important interdisciplinary research priorities which could accelerate the development of treatments for older people in the present and transform key aspects of our understanding of the ageing process in the past.<br/