3,422 research outputs found

    Who sets the conservation agenda?

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    The global conservation agenda is constituted and organised through international conferences, congresses, and other fora. These events are key to the construction of established definitions, goals and practices of conservation, and serve as spaces for open debate and contestation of values and interests. Past work has explored such events through direct participation in their public aspects. However, to date there has been little empirical investigation of the decision making that occurs behind the scenes, and how the complex network of actors interacts to shape global conservation. In this thesis we set out four empirical investigations into the shaping of the global conservation agenda using International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) motions process, a unique cross-sector deliberative policy process, as a case study. We investigated how the content raised by organisations has changed over time and is linked to key characteristics such as sector, size, region and preferred language. We then examined motion debates to uncover the discourses mobilised in shaping policy, and what strategies are utilised to generate change. The voting records of participating actors were analysed to uncover the key conceptual divides within IUCN’s Membership, as well as how position on these issues is related to key characteristics. Finally, participation in the motions process was investigated, identifying the type of actors that most influence IUCN’s motions process. We found markedly different interests and ideas shaping global conservation policy, and a key divide over the legitimacy of IUCN’s motions process making demands of nation states. We found that an overarching commitment to consensus in resolving disputes within the motions process seems to create a barrier to properly addressing key conceptual divides within the Membership. Our results prove the worth of investigating the less visible components of global conservation fora and set out a mixed methods approach to incorporating conceptually distinct results

    Protecting Privacy in Indian Schools: Regulating AI-based Technologies' Design, Development and Deployment

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    Education is one of the priority areas for the Indian government, where Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are touted to bring digital transformation. Several Indian states have also started deploying facial recognition-enabled CCTV cameras, emotion recognition technologies, fingerprint scanners, and Radio frequency identification tags in their schools to provide personalised recommendations, ensure student security, and predict the drop-out rate of students but also provide 360-degree information of a student. Further, Integrating Aadhaar (digital identity card that works on biometric data) across AI technologies and learning and management systems (LMS) renders schools a ‘panopticon’. Certain technologies or systems like Aadhaar, CCTV cameras, GPS Systems, RFID tags, and learning management systems are used primarily for continuous data collection, storage, and retention purposes. Though they cannot be termed AI technologies per se, they are fundamental for designing and developing AI systems like facial, fingerprint, and emotion recognition technologies. The large amount of student data collected speedily through the former technologies is used to create an algorithm for the latter-stated AI systems. Once algorithms are processed using machine learning (ML) techniques, they learn correlations between multiple datasets predicting each student’s identity, decisions, grades, learning growth, tendency to drop out, and other behavioural characteristics. Such autonomous and repetitive collection, processing, storage, and retention of student data without effective data protection legislation endangers student privacy. The algorithmic predictions by AI technologies are an avatar of the data fed into the system. An AI technology is as good as the person collecting the data, processing it for a relevant and valuable output, and regularly evaluating the inputs going inside an AI model. An AI model can produce inaccurate predictions if the person overlooks any relevant data. However, the state, school administrations and parents’ belief in AI technologies as a panacea to student security and educational development overlooks the context in which ‘data practices’ are conducted. A right to privacy in an AI age is inextricably connected to data practices where data gets ‘cooked’. Thus, data protection legislation operating without understanding and regulating such data practices will remain ineffective in safeguarding privacy. The thesis undergoes interdisciplinary research that enables a better understanding of the interplay of data practices of AI technologies with social practices of an Indian school, which the present Indian data protection legislation overlooks, endangering students’ privacy from designing and developing to deploying stages of an AI model. The thesis recommends the Indian legislature frame better legislation equipped for the AI/ML age and the Indian judiciary on evaluating the legality and reasonability of designing, developing, and deploying such technologies in schools

    Current and Future Challenges in Knowledge Representation and Reasoning

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    Knowledge Representation and Reasoning is a central, longstanding, and active area of Artificial Intelligence. Over the years it has evolved significantly; more recently it has been challenged and complemented by research in areas such as machine learning and reasoning under uncertainty. In July 2022 a Dagstuhl Perspectives workshop was held on Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. The goal of the workshop was to describe the state of the art in the field, including its relation with other areas, its shortcomings and strengths, together with recommendations for future progress. We developed this manifesto based on the presentations, panels, working groups, and discussions that took place at the Dagstuhl Workshop. It is a declaration of our views on Knowledge Representation: its origins, goals, milestones, and current foci; its relation to other disciplines, especially to Artificial Intelligence; and on its challenges, along with key priorities for the next decade

    Constructing a profile for proactive career self-management in public higher education institutions in Ghana

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    Text in English with abstracts and keywords in English, isiXhosa, and isiZuluThe principal focus of this research study was to investigate the relationship among psychosocial career pre-occupation, social connectedness, and organisational commitment, and to determine whether an overall proactive career management profile can be constructed to inform career self-management practices in public higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ghana. Again, the research study intended to provide a background for testing hypotheses and theories as well as moderating the effect of socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status and job level) on the relationship between psychosocial career pre-occupations, social connectedness and organisational commitment. A cross-sectional quantitative approach was conducted on a purposively selected sample of senior staff comprising academic and administrative staff (n = 288), from a single public higher educational institution in Ghana. The measuring instruments include a career pre-occupations inventory workplace friendship scale and an organisational commitment scale. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis), bi-variate correlation analysis (Pearson product moment correlation coefficient), and inferential and multivariate statistics (SEM analysis, moderated regression analysis, ANOVAs and independent sample t-test) were used for the study. Descriptive, bi-variate correlation and inferential statistics revealed that individual psychosocial career pre-occupations, social connectedness and organisational commitment can be used as elements within a proactive career self-management framework within the Ghanaian higher education institutions. The results of the moderated analysis showed that respondents’ gender and job level moderated employees’ level of psychosocial career pre-occupations in predicting organisational commitment. Furthermore, the test for significant mean differences revealed that gender, marital status and job level differed marginally in their psychosocial career pre-occupations, social connectedness and commitment to the organisation. Theoretically and empirically, the results advanced the career construction theory by empirically validating the core elements of career self-management. Practically, a recommendation was made to inform human resource (HR) managers and HR practitioners in public higher education institutions in Ghana and the consequences indicated in the study offer the opportunity to monitor and provide strategies and interventions for employees in their quest for career choices.Ugqaliselo oluphambili kolu phononongo lophando yayikukuphanda ubudlelwane phakathi komsebenzi wangaphambi kwekhondo ngokwesimo sengqondo nangokwezentlalo (psychosocial career pre-occupation), ukuziphatha, nokunxulumana kwezinto zokuziphatha nezentlalo (social connectedness), kunye nokuzibophelela kulungelelaniso /kucwangciso lombutho (organisational commitment), nokuqonda ukuba ingaba iprofayili yeendlela zokulawula ikhondo elisebenzayo elipheleleyo inokwakhelwa ukwazisa izenzo zekhondo lomsebenzi lokuzilawula kumaziko emfundo ephakamileyo karhulumente/oluntu (HEIs) eGhana. Kwakhona , uphononongo lophando lwaluzimisele ukunikezela ngomhlaba osisiseko wokuvavanya ingcinga ethathwa njengeyinyaniso engekaqinisekiswa (hypothesis) neethiyori kwakunye nokumodereyitha impembelelo yeempawu zedemografi yoluntu, i-socio-demographic characteristics (iminyaka, isini, imeko yomtshato,kunye nenqanaba lomsebenzi) kubudlelwane phakathi kwemisebenzi yangaphambi kwekhondo nemeko yezengqondo nabantu (psychosocial career pre-occupations), unxulumano lwabantu kunye nokuzibophelela kumbutho (organizational commitment). Inkqubo yophando ngokobungakanani enqamlezileyo ngokwamacandelo ahlukeneyo (cross sectional quantitative approach) yenziwe kwisampulu ekhethwe ngenjongo kujoliswe kubasebenzi abaphezulu/abadala ababandakanya izifundiswa nabasebenzi bezolawulo (n = 288), besuka kwiziko elinye loluntu lemfundo ephakamileyo eGhana. Izixhobo zokulinganisa zibandakanya uluhlu lwezinto kwisikali semisebenzi yangaphambi kwekhondo ubudlelwane kunye nokuzibophelela kumbutho kwindawo yokusebenzela. Iinkcukacha-manani ezichazayo (i-avareji, ukutenxa kumgangatho (standard deviation), ubugoso (skewness) kunye nomlinganiselo weenkcukacha-manani osetyenziselwa ukuchaza ukuhanjiswa kwedatha ephawulweyo malunga nentsingiselo (kurtosis), uhlalutyo lolungelelwaniso oluphindwe kabini kunye neenkcukacha-manani ezinokuthelelelekwa (i- Pearson product moment correlation coefficient), kunye neenkcukacha manani ezizintlobo-ntlobo ezininzi ezinokuthelekelelwa (uhlalutyo lwe-SEM, uhlalutyo oluhlehlayo olonganyelweyo/ olumodareyithiweyo, i-ANOVA kunye novavanyo oluzimeleyo lwe-t-test) zasetyenziswa kolu phando/phononongo. Inkcukacha-manani ezichazayo, ulungelelwaniso/unxulumaniso oluphindwe kabini kunye nezinokuthelekelelwa ezinentsingiselo zibonise ukuba imisebenzi yangaphambi kwekhondo,ngokwemeko yengqondo neyentlalo, unxulumano lwentlalo yoluntu kunye nokuzibophelela kumbutho kunokusetyenziswa njengezinto ezingaphakathi kwesakhelo solawulo esisebenzayo ngaphakathi kumaziko emfundo ephakamileyo yaseGhana.Iziphumo zohlalutyo olumodareyithiweyo zibonise ukuba isini sabaphenduli nenqanaba lomsebenzi samodareyitha inqanaba labasebenzi kwimisebenzi yangaphambi kwekhondo kwimeko yengqondo nezentlolontle ekuqikeleleni ukuzibophelela kumbutho. Ngaphaya koko, uvavanyo olubalulekileyo lweeyantlukwano lubonise ukuba isini, meko yomtshato kunye nenqanaba lomsebenzi lahlukile kancinci ngokwe-avareji kwimisebenzi yaphambi kwekhondo labo yengqondo nentlalontle, unxibelelwano lwentlalo kunye nokuzinikela embuthweni. Ngokwethiyori nangobungqina, iziphumo ziqhubele phambili ithiyori yolwakhiwo lwekhondo lomsebenzi ngokuqinisekisa ngobuchule izinto ezingundoqo zokuzilawula kwekhondo lomsebenzi.Ngokwenene, kwenziwa isindululo sokwazisa abaphathi bezabasebenzi neengcali ze-HR kumaziko emfundo ephakamileyo yoluntu eGhana kwaye iziphumo ezibonakaliswe kuphononongo zinika ithuba lokubeka esweni nokubonelela ngezicwangciso-qhinga nongenelelo ngoncedo kubaqeshwa kwiphulo labo lokukhetha amakhondo omsebenzi.Lesi sifundo socwaningo sasigxile kakhulu ekuphenyeni ngobudlelwano phakathi kokucabanga ngomkhakha womsebenzi komuntu, ukuxhumana nabantu, ukuzibophezela komuntu emsebenzini, kanye nokunquma ukuthi iphrofayili yokukwazi ukuzilawula ngokuzenzela ekukhetheni umkhakha womsebenzi kungahlelwa yini ngendlela yokuthi kudlale indima ekuzilawuleleni maqondana nomkhakha womsebenzi ezikhungweni zezemfundo ephakeme zomphakathi (ama-HEI) eGhana. Kanti futhi, isifundo socwaningo sihlose ukunikeza umlando maqondana nokuhlola imicabango kanye nemibono yezinjulalwazi kanjalo nokulinganisa umphumela wezici zokuhleleka kwabantu emphakathini (iminyaka yobudala, ubulili, isimo somshado kanye nezinga lomsebenzi) ebudlelwaneni phakathi kokucabanga ngomkhakha womsebenzi komuntu, ukuxhumana nabantu, kanye nokuzibophezela emsebenzini. Kwalandelwa indlela yokubheka isibalo samaqoqo abantu emphakathini ngokukhetha ngokuqaphela isampula labasebenzi abasezikhundleni eziphezulu elibandakanya abasebenza ngezemfundo kanye nezokuphatha (n = 288), esikhungweni sezemfundo ephakeme somphakathi esisodwa eGhana. Amathuluzi okukala afaka kuwo isilinganiso sobungane basemsebenzini ekukhetheni ezinhlobeni zemikhakha ecatshangwayo kanye nesilinganiso maqondana nokuzibophezela kwabantu emsebenzini. Kulolu cwaningo kwasetshenziswa izibalo ezichazayo (okujwayelekile, ukuphambuka okuvamile, ukungalingani kanye nobukhali), ukuhlaziywa kokuhlobana okukhona phakathi kwezinombolo ezimbili (isilinganiso sokuxhumana kwezinombolo ezimbili ngokukaPearson), kanye nezibalo eziveza izimbangela nezibalo ezahlukahlukene (ukuhlaziywa kwe-SEM, ukuhlaziywa kokubuyelamuva okulingene, ama-ANOVA kanye nesampula elizimele lokuhlola). Izibalo ezichazayo, eziveza ukuhlobana phakathi kwezinombolo ezimbili kanye nezibalo eziveza izimbangela ziveze ukuthi ukucabanga ngomkhakha womsebenzi komuntu ngamunye, ukuxhumana nabantu nokuzibophezela emsebenzini kungasetshenziswa njengezinto ezikhona ohlakeni lokukwazi ukuzilawula ngokuzenzela ekukhetheni umkhakha ezikhungweni zezemfundo ephakeme zaseGhana. Imiphumela yokuhlaziywa okulingene yakhombisa ukuthi ubulili bababambiqhaza kanye nezinga labo ngokwezikhundla zomsebenzi kuhambisana nezinga abasebenzi abacabanga ngalo nomkhakha womsebenzi ekuqageleni indlela abazozibophezela ngayo emsebenzini. Ngaphezu kwalokho, ukuhlolwa komehluko omkhulu ojwayelekile kwaveza ukuthi ubulili, isimo somshado kanye nezinga ngokwesikhundla somsebenzi kwahluka kakhulu nendlela abacabanga ngayo ngomkhakha womsebenzi, ukuxhumana nabantu nokuzibophezela emsebenzini. Ngokombono wenjulalwazi nocwaningo olufakazelwe, imiphumela ithuthukise umbono wenjulalwazi wokuhlela umkhakha womsebenzi okuqinisekiswe ngokocwaningo olufakazelwe izinto ezinqala zokuzilawulela umkhakha womsebenzi. Ekusebenzeni, kwenziwa izincomo zokufundisa abaphathi babasebenzi (ba-HR) kanye nabasebenza ngezabasebenzi (ngezakwa-HR) ezikhungweni zezemfundo ephakeme zomphakathi eGhana, kanti nemiphumela evezwe ocwaningweni inikeza ithuba lokuqapha nokuhlinzeka amasu kanye nokungenelela kwabasebenzi ekwenzeni kwabo izinqumo zomsebenzi.Business ManagementPh. D. (Business Management

    Talking about personal recovery in bipolar disorder: Integrating health research, natural language processing, and corpus linguistics to analyse peer online support forum posts

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    Background: Personal recovery, ‘living a satisfying, hopeful and contributing lifeeven with the limitations caused by the illness’ (Anthony, 1993) is of particular value in bipolar disorder where symptoms often persist despite treatment. So far, personal recovery has only been studied in researcher-constructed environments (interviews, focus groups). Support forum posts can serve as a complementary naturalistic data source. Objective: The overarching aim of this thesis was to study personal recovery experiences that people living with bipolar disorder have shared in online support forums through integrating health research, NLP, and corpus linguistics in a mixed methods approach within a pragmatic research paradigm, while considering ethical issues and involving people with lived experience. Methods: This mixed-methods study analysed: 1) previous qualitative evidence on personal recovery in bipolar disorder from interviews and focus groups 2) who self-reports a bipolar disorder diagnosis on the online discussion platform Reddit 3) the relationship of mood and posting in mental health-specific Reddit forums (subreddits) 4) discussions of personal recovery in bipolar disorder subreddits. Results: A systematic review of qualitative evidence resulted in the first framework for personal recovery in bipolar disorder, POETIC (Purpose & meaning, Optimism & hope, Empowerment, Tensions, Identity, Connectedness). Mainly young or middle-aged US-based adults self-report a bipolar disorder diagnosis on Reddit. Of these, those experiencing more intense emotions appear to be more likely to post in mental health support subreddits. Their personal recovery-related discussions in bipolar disorder subreddits primarily focussed on three domains: Purpose & meaning (particularly reproductive decisions, work), Connectedness (romantic relationships, social support), Empowerment (self-management, personal responsibility). Support forum data highlighted personal recovery issues that exclusively or more frequently came up online compared to previous evidence from interviews and focus groups. Conclusion: This project is the first to analyse non-reactive data on personal recovery in bipolar disorder. Indicating the key areas that people focus on in personal recovery when posting freely and the language they use provides a helpful starting point for formal and informal carers to understand the concerns of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder and to consider how best to offer support

    Referring to discourse participants in Ibero-Romance languages

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    Synopsis: This volume brings together contributions by researchers focusing on personal pronouns in Ibero-Romance languages, going beyond the well-established variable of expressed vs. non-expressed subjects. While factors such as agreement morphology, topic shift and contrast or emphasis have been argued to account for variable subject expression, several corpus studies on Ibero-Romance languages have shown that the expression of subject pronouns goes beyond these traditionally established factors and is also subject to considerable dialectal variation. One of the factors affecting choice and expression of personal pronouns or other referential devices is whether the construction is used personally or impersonally. The use and emergence of new impersonal constructions, eventually also new (im)personal pronouns, as well as the variation found in the expression of human impersonality in different Ibero-Romance language varieties is another interesting research area that has gained ground in the recent years. In addition to variable subject expression, similar methods and theoretical approaches have been applied to study the expression of objects. Finally, the reference to the addressee(s) using different address pronouns and other address forms is an important field of study that is closely connected to the variable expression of pronouns. The present book sheds light on all these aspects of reference to discourse participants. The volume contains contributions with a strong empirical background and various methods and both written and spoken corpus data from Ibero-Romance languages. The focus on discourse participants highlights the special properties of first and second person referents and the factors affecting them that are often different from the anaphoric third person. The chapters are organized into three thematic sections: (i) Variable expression of subjects and objects, (ii) Between personal and impersonal, and (iii) Reference to the addressee

    A study of the inter-relationship of identity and urban heritage in Chiang Mai Old City, Thailand

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    The urban heritage identity of historical cities has received growing attention due to the weakening of their urban identity. For this reason, urban identity has been identified as a preliminary study of this research. Forty years ago, many researchers attempted to explain a broader understanding of urban heritage identity, which is relevant to human factors that affect urban, place, and built environment relationships. This involved the three interrelated concepts of identity: distinctiveness; urban heritage; and place attachment. These establish a balance between people and their identification with places. Urban heritage identity is associated a place's physicality and heritage attributes that reflect socio-cultural values. It can be concluded that urban heritage identity becomes significant through concepts of environmental psychology. Distinctiveness theory, as a part of identity theory, has been used in this study to describe the genuine perception of local participants and is a fundamental part of defining place identity. Furthermore, the definition of place attachment has been used to explain the relationship of distinct places on time of residence, frequency of use, emotional, physical, social, and activities. The study also explores Chiang Mai Old City’s built environment, which especially analyses the façade and streetscape characteristics that reflect the city's socio-cultural value. The research concludes with suggestions for preserving the city's urban heritage characteristics. Chiang Mai Old City has unprecedented diversity and cultural dynamics related to its intangible and tangible urban heritage. Moreover, the city is in the critical stage of being nominated as a new World Heritage Site by UNESCO, with the city's distinctiveness and place attachment being significant in supporting further heritage management strategies. The research mainly focuses on how local people interpret and understand the urban heritage identity of Chiang Mai Old City. This has been achieved through surveys of four hundred participants living in the Old City, two-way focus groups with five participants in each group, in-depth interviews with twenty-five participants, and ten architects drawing suggestions for further built environment management strategies. The results are described through seven aspects that explore the distinctiveness and place attachment theories of Chiang Mai Old City. The findings can be described in seven aspects: historical value; cultural activities; a particular character; landmark; identity; community; and everyday life. The results reveal that there are five distinct places in the city: Pra Singha Temple; Chedi Luang Temple; Three Kings monument square; Tha-Pare gate square; and Chiang Mai Old City's Moat. The results can also be used to develop an assessment indicator for defining the distinctiveness of other historic cities through the engagement of local people. The study repeatedly employs distinct places to describe in-place attachment theory. The results reveal positivity, emotion, and the spiritual anchor of place attached to local people in social engagement, explicitly divulging the rootedness of religion, culture, and community activities through the length of time. All five distinct places have an inseparable ability to display tangible heritage value and such a positive emotion to places is crucial in contributing to urban heritage characteristics. Moreover, the time or length of residency is a vital aspect to people’s perception of the city's distinctiveness; however, the value of the physical setting itself can increase the sense of belonging of newcomers.This research used a mixed methods approach in defining place identity process and socio-cultural values in distinctive streetscapes scenes in the city. This study strongly believes that the findings demonstrate that local people can help to develop the management of the city. The results presented suggest that the heritage value of streetscapes is related to historical attributes, natural objects, people, and cultural events in the scenes that explain the meanings ascribed to places associated with social and cultural values. The built environment characteristics and heritage value can be assumed from human experience. The study can be a new perspective for local authorities, urban designers, and heritage teams to determine whether projects will strengthen the existing urban heritage identity. Most importantly, this research has revealed new perspectives on urban heritage identity and practical study methods whilst also contributing to management strategies. In addition, continuing research into urban heritage identity will significantly improve knowledge development, practical support, and collaboration with local people and architects to establish and maintain cherished distinct places and living environments for urban residents

    Evaluating Symbolic AI as a Tool to Understand Cell Signalling

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    The diverse and highly complex nature of modern phosphoproteomics research produces a high volume of data. Chemical phosphoproteomics especially, is amenable to a variety of analytical approaches. In this thesis we evaluate novel Symbolic AI based algorithms as potential tools in the analysis of cell signalling. Initially we developed a first order deductive, logic-based model. This allowed us to identify previously unreported inhibitor-kinase relationships which could offer novel therapeutic targets for further investigation. Following this we made use of the probabilistic reasoning of ProbLog to augment the aforementioned Prolog based model with an intuitively calculated degree of belief. This allowed us to rank previous associations while also further increasing our confidence in already established predictions. Finally we applied our methodology to a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene perturbation, phosphoproteomics dataset. In this context we were able to confirm the majority of ground truths, i.e. gene deletions as having taken place as intended. For the remaining deletions, again using a purely symbolic based approach we were able to provide predictions on the rewiring of kinase based signalling networks following kinase encoding gene deletions. The explainable, human readable and white-box nature of this approach were highlighted, however its brittleness due to missing, inconsistent or conflicting background knowledge was also examined

    Assessing prioritization measures for a private land conservation program in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region

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    Private land conservation has become an important tool for protecting biodiversity and habitat, but methods for prioritizing and scheduling conservation on private land are still being developed. While return on investment methods have been suggested as a potential path forward, the different processes linking private landscapes to the socioeconomic systems in which they are embedded create unique challenges for scheduling conservation with this approach. We investigated a range of scheduling approaches within a return on investment framework for breeding waterfowl and broods in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Current conservation targeting for waterfowl in the region focuses mostly on the distribution and abundance of breeding waterfowl. We tested whether MaxGain approaches for waterfowl conservation differed from MinLoss approaches in terms of return on investment and which approach performed best in avoiding loss of waterfowl and broods separately. We also examined variation in results based upon the temporal scale of the abundance layers used for input and compared the region's current scheduling approach with results from our simulations. Our results suggested that MinLoss was the most efficient scheduling approach for both breeding waterfowl and broods and that using just breeding waterfowl to target areas for conservation programs might cause organizations to overlook important areas for broods, particularly over shorter timespans. The higher efficiency of MinLoss approaches in our simulations also indicated that incorporating probability of wetland drainage into decision-making improved the overall return on investment. We recommend that future conservation scheduling for easements in the region and for private land conservation in general include some form of return on investment or cost-effective analysis to make conservation more transparent
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