8,371 research outputs found
Hyping the REF: promotional elements in impact submissions
The evaluation of research to allocate government funding to universities is now common across the globe. The Research Excellence Framework, introduced in the UK in 2014, marked a major change by extending assessment beyond the ‘quality’ of published research to include its real-world ‘impact’. Impact submissions were a key determinant of the £4 billion allocated to universities following the exercise. The case studies supporting claims for impact are therefore a high stakes genre, with writers keen to make the most persuasive argument for their work. In this paper we examine 800 of these ‘impact case studies’ from disciplines across the academic spectrum to explore the rhetorical presentation of impact. We do this by analysing authors’ use of hyperbolic and promotional language to embroider their presentations, discovering substantial hyping with a strong preference for boosting the novelty and certainty of the claims made. Chemistry and physics, the most abstract and theoretical disciplines of our selection, contained the most hyping items with fewer as we move along the hard/pure – soft/applied continuum as the real-world value of work becomes more apparent. We also show that hyping varies with the type of impact, with items targeting technological, economic and cultural areas the most prolific
Microplastics in European sea salts – An example of exposure through consumer choice and of interstudy methodological discrepancies
Microplastics are contaminants of emerging concern, not least due to their global presence in marine surface waters. Unsurprisingly, microplastics have been reported in salts harvested from numerous locations. We extracted microplastics from 13 European sea salts through 30% H2O2 digestion and filtration over 5-µm filters. Filters were visually inspected at magnifications to x100. A subsample of potential microplastics was subjected to Raman spectroscopy. Particle mass was estimated, and human dose exposure calculated. After blank corrections, median concentrations were 466 ± 152 microplastics kg-1 ranging from 74 to 1155 items kg-1. Traditionally harvested salts contained fewer microplastics than most industrially harvested ones (t-test, p < 0.01). Approximately 14 µg of microplastics (< 12 particles) may be absorbed by the human body annually, of which a quarter may derive from a consumer choosing sea salt. We reviewed existing studies, showing that targeting different particle sizes and incomplete filtrations hinder interstudy comparison, indicating the importance of method harmonisation for future studies. Excess salt consumption is detrimental to human health; the hazardousness of ingesting microplastics on the other hand has yet to be shown. A portion of microplastics may enter sea salts through production processes rather than source materials
Examples of works to practice staccato technique in clarinet instrument
Klarnetin staccato tekniğini güçlendirme aşamaları eser çalışmalarıyla uygulanmıştır. Staccato
geçişlerini hızlandıracak ritim ve nüans çalışmalarına yer verilmiştir. Çalışmanın en önemli amacı
sadece staccato çalışması değil parmak-dilin eş zamanlı uyumunun hassasiyeti üzerinde de
durulmasıdır. Staccato çalışmalarını daha verimli hale getirmek için eser çalışmasının içinde etüt
çalışmasına da yer verilmiştir. Çalışmaların üzerinde titizlikle durulması staccato çalışmasının ilham
verici etkisi ile müzikal kimliğe yeni bir boyut kazandırmıştır. Sekiz özgün eser çalışmasının her
aşaması anlatılmıştır. Her aşamanın bir sonraki performans ve tekniği güçlendirmesi esas alınmıştır.
Bu çalışmada staccato tekniğinin hangi alanlarda kullanıldığı, nasıl sonuçlar elde edildiği bilgisine
yer verilmiştir. Notaların parmak ve dil uyumu ile nasıl şekilleneceği ve nasıl bir çalışma disiplini
içinde gerçekleşeceği planlanmıştır. Kamış-nota-diyafram-parmak-dil-nüans ve disiplin
kavramlarının staccato tekniğinde ayrılmaz bir bütün olduğu saptanmıştır. Araştırmada literatür
taraması yapılarak staccato ile ilgili çalışmalar taranmıştır. Tarama sonucunda klarnet tekniğin de
kullanılan staccato eser çalışmasının az olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Metot taramasında da etüt
çalışmasının daha çok olduğu saptanmıştır. Böylelikle klarnetin staccato tekniğini hızlandırma ve
güçlendirme çalışmaları sunulmuştur. Staccato etüt çalışmaları yapılırken, araya eser çalışmasının
girmesi beyni rahatlattığı ve istekliliği daha arttırdığı gözlemlenmiştir. Staccato çalışmasını yaparken
doğru bir kamış seçimi üzerinde de durulmuştur. Staccato tekniğini doğru çalışmak için doğru bir
kamışın dil hızını arttırdığı saptanmıştır. Doğru bir kamış seçimi kamıştan rahat ses çıkmasına
bağlıdır. Kamış, dil atma gücünü vermiyorsa daha doğru bir kamış seçiminin yapılması gerekliliği
vurgulanmıştır. Staccato çalışmalarında baştan sona bir eseri yorumlamak zor olabilir. Bu açıdan
çalışma, verilen müzikal nüanslara uymanın, dil atış performansını rahatlattığını ortaya koymuştur.
Gelecek nesillere edinilen bilgi ve birikimlerin aktarılması ve geliştirici olması teşvik edilmiştir.
Çıkacak eserlerin nasıl çözüleceği, staccato tekniğinin nasıl üstesinden gelinebileceği anlatılmıştır.
Staccato tekniğinin daha kısa sürede çözüme kavuşturulması amaç edinilmiştir. Parmakların
yerlerini öğrettiğimiz kadar belleğimize de çalışmaların kaydedilmesi önemlidir. Gösterilen azmin ve
sabrın sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan yapıt başarıyı daha da yukarı seviyelere çıkaracaktır
Deep Transfer Learning Applications in Intrusion Detection Systems: A Comprehensive Review
Globally, the external Internet is increasingly being connected to the
contemporary industrial control system. As a result, there is an immediate need
to protect the network from several threats. The key infrastructure of
industrial activity may be protected from harm by using an intrusion detection
system (IDS), a preventive measure mechanism, to recognize new kinds of
dangerous threats and hostile activities. The most recent artificial
intelligence (AI) techniques used to create IDS in many kinds of industrial
control networks are examined in this study, with a particular emphasis on
IDS-based deep transfer learning (DTL). This latter can be seen as a type of
information fusion that merge, and/or adapt knowledge from multiple domains to
enhance the performance of the target task, particularly when the labeled data
in the target domain is scarce. Publications issued after 2015 were taken into
account. These selected publications were divided into three categories:
DTL-only and IDS-only are involved in the introduction and background, and
DTL-based IDS papers are involved in the core papers of this review.
Researchers will be able to have a better grasp of the current state of DTL
approaches used in IDS in many different types of networks by reading this
review paper. Other useful information, such as the datasets used, the sort of
DTL employed, the pre-trained network, IDS techniques, the evaluation metrics
including accuracy/F-score and false alarm rate (FAR), and the improvement
gained, were also covered. The algorithms, and methods used in several studies,
or illustrate deeply and clearly the principle in any DTL-based IDS subcategory
are presented to the reader
Machine Learning Research Trends in Africa: A 30 Years Overview with Bibliometric Analysis Review
In this paper, a critical bibliometric analysis study is conducted, coupled
with an extensive literature survey on recent developments and associated
applications in machine learning research with a perspective on Africa. The
presented bibliometric analysis study consists of 2761 machine learning-related
documents, of which 98% were articles with at least 482 citations published in
903 journals during the past 30 years. Furthermore, the collated documents were
retrieved from the Science Citation Index EXPANDED, comprising research
publications from 54 African countries between 1993 and 2021. The bibliometric
study shows the visualization of the current landscape and future trends in
machine learning research and its application to facilitate future
collaborative research and knowledge exchange among authors from different
research institutions scattered across the African continent
A systematic literature review on information systems for disaster management and proposals for its future research agenda
Emergency management information systems (EMIS) are fundamental for responding to disasters effectively since they provide and process emergency-related information. A literature stream has emerged that corresponds with the increased relevance of the wide array of different information systems that have been used in response to disasters. In addition, the discussion around systems used primarily within responder organizations broadened to systems such as social media that are open to the general public. However, a systematic review of the EMIS literature stream is still missing. This literature review presents a timeline of EMIS research from 1990 up to 2021. It shows the types of information system scholars focused on, and what disaster response functions they supported. It furthermore identifies challenges in EMIS research and proposes future research directions
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Co-design As Healing: Exploring The Experiences Of Participants Facing Mental Health Problems
This thesis is an exploration of the healing role of co-design in mental health. Although co-design projects conducted within mental health settings are rising, existing literature tends to focus on the object of design and its outcomes while the experiences of participants per se remain largely unexplored. The guiding research question of this study is not how we design things that improve mental health, but how co-designing, as an act, might do so.
The thesis presents two projects that were organized in collaboration with the mental health charity Islington Mind and the Psychosis Therapy Project (PTP) in London.
The project at Islington Mind used a structured design process inviting participants to design for wellbeing. A case study analysis provides insights on how participants were impacted, summarizing key challenges and opportunities.
The design at PTP worked towards creating a collective brief in an emergent fashion, finally culminating in a board game. The experiences of participants were explored through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), using semi-structured interview data. The analysis served to identify key themes characterising the experience of co-design such as contributing, connecting, thinking and intentioning. In addition, a mixed-methods analysis of questionnaires and interview data exploring participants' wellbeing, showed that all participants who engaged fairly consistently in the project improved after the project ended, although some participants' scores returned to baseline six months later.
Reflecting on both projects, an approach to facilitation within mental health is outlined, detailing how the dimensions of weaving and layered participation, nurturing mattering and facilitating attitudes interlace. This contribution raises awareness of tacit dimensions in the practice of facilitation, articulating the nuances of how to encourage and sustain meaningful and ethical engagement and offering insights into a range of tools. It highlights the importance of remaining reflexive in relation to attitudes and emotions and discusses practical methodological and ethical challenges and ways to resolve them which can be of benefit to researchers embarking on a similar journey.
The thesis also offers detailed insights on how methodologies from different fields were integrated into a whole, arguing for transparency and reflexivity about epistemological assumptions, and how underlying paradigms shift in an interdisciplinary context.
Based on the overall findings, the thesis makes a case for considering design as healing (or a designerly way of healing), highlighting implications at a systems, social and individual level. It makes an original contribution to our understanding of design, highlighting its healing character, and proposes a new way to support mental health. The participants in this study not only had increased their own wellbeing through co-designing, but were also empowered and contributed towards healing the world. Hence, the thesis argues for a unique, holistic perspective of design and mental health, recognizing the interconnectedness of the individual, social and systemic dimensions of the healing processes that are ignited
Quantifying the Indirect Effect of Wolves on Aspen in Northern Yellowstone National Park: Evidence for a Trophic Cascade?
Yellowstone National Park is renowned for its incredible wildlife, and perhaps the most famous of these species is the gray wolf, which was reintroduced to the Park in the mid-1990s. After reintroduction, it was highly publicized by scientists, journalists, and environmentalists that the wolf both decreased elk density and changed elk behavior in a way that reduced elk effects on plants, a process known as a “trophic cascade.” Aspen, which is eaten by elk in winter, is one species at the forefront of Yellowstone trophic cascade research because it has been in decline across the Park for over a century. However, due to the challenges of measuring trophic cascades, there is continued uncertainty regarding the effects of wolves on aspen in northern Yellowstone. Thus, the purpose of my dissertation was to provide a comprehensive test of a trophic cascade in this system. Specifically, I used 20 years of data on aspen, elk, and wolves in Yellowstone to: 1) clarify annual trends in browsing and height of young aspen (a proxy for regeneration) after wolf reintroduction, 2) assess the influence of wolves scaring elk on aspen (“trait-mediated indirect effects”), and 3) evaluate the effect of wolves killing elk on aspen (“density-mediated indirect effects”).
My research suggests that wolves indirectly contributed to increased aspen over story recruitment following their reintroduction by helping to reduce the elk population size, but elk response to the risk of wolf predation did not reduce elk foraging in a way that measurably increased aspen recruitment. Additionally, hunter harvest of elk north of the park was twice as important as wolf predation in causing increased aspen recruitment. However, despite wolves and hunters limiting elk abundance, it is still uncommon for young aspen to grow past peak browsing height (120-cm), indicating that many stands remain vulnerable to elk herbivory nearly 30 years after wolf reintroduction. These results highlight that the strength and mechanism of predator effects on plant communities are context-specific. Thus, using predator reintroduction as a tool for ecosystem restoration without considering the many factors that shape trophic cascades may result in different management and conservation outcomes than intended
Management controls, government regulations, customer involvement: Evidence from a Chinese family-owned business
This research reports on a case study of a family-owned elevator manufacturing company in China, where management control was sandwiched between the state policies and global customer production requirements. By analysing the role of government and customer, this thesis aimed to illustrate how management control operated in a family-owned business and to see how and why they do management control differently. In particular, it focused on how international production standards and existing Chinese industry policies translated into a set of the management control practices through a local network within the family-owned business I studied.
Based on an ethnographic approach to research, I spent six months in the field, conducted over 30 interviews, several conservations, and reviewed relevant internal documents to understand how management control (MC) techniques with humans cooperated in the company. I also understood how two layers of pressure have shaped company behaviour, and how a company located in a developing country is connecting with global network. I also found there is considerable tension among key actors and investigated how the company responded and managed it.
Drawing on Actor Network Theory (ANT), I analysed the interviews from key actors, examined the role of government regulations and customer requirements to see how management control being managed under two layers of pressure, i.e., the government regulations (e.g., labour, tax, environment control) and customer requirement (e.g., quality and production control). Management controls were an obligatory passage point (OPP), and transformation of those elements of Western production requirements and government requirements arrived at the Chinese local factory and influenced management control and budgeting.
The findings suggest that management control systems are not only a set of technical procedures, but it is also about managing tensions. This understanding shows a linear perspective on MC practices rather than a social perspective. However, when we use ANT as a theoretical perspective, we see those actors who, being obliged and sandwiched, and controlled by external forces for them to follow. Consequently, human actors must work in an unavoidable OPP. This is the tension they face which constructed mundane practices of MC. Hence, MCs are managing such tensions. This study contributes to management control research by analysing management controls in terms of OPP, extends our understanding by illustrating the role of the government and customers, and our understanding of family-owned business from a management controls perspective in a developing country
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