5,455 research outputs found
Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law
This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Evolutionary ecology of obligate fungal and microsporidian invertebrate pathogens
The interactions between hosts and their parasites and pathogens are omnipresent in the natural world. These symbioses are not only key players in ecosystem functioning, but also drive genetic diversity through co-evolutionary adaptations. Within the speciose invertebrates, a plethora of interactions with obligate fungal and microsporidian pathogens exist, however the known interactions is likely only a fraction of the true diversity. Obligate invertebrate fungal and microsporidian pathogen require a host to continue their life cycle, some of which have specialised in certain host species and require host death to transmit to new hosts. Due to their requirement to kill a host to spread to a new one, obligate fungal and microsporidian pathogens regulate invertebrate host populations. Pathogen specialisation to a single or very few hosts has led to some fungi evolving the ability to manipulate their host’s behaviour to maximise transmission. The entomopathogenic fungus, Entomophthora muscae, infects houseflies (Musca domestica) over a week-long proliferation cycle, resulting in flies climbing to elevated positions, gluing their mouthparts to the substrate surface, and raising their wings to allow for a clear exit from fungal conidia through the host abdomen. These sequential behaviours are all timed to occur within a few hours of sunset. The E. muscae mechanisms used in controlling the mind of the fly remain relatively unknown, and whether other fitness costs ensue from an infection are understudied.European Commissio
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Plasma engineering of advanced functional materials for photocatalytic wastewater treatment
Semiconductor metal oxide photocatalyst with favourable light absorption and charge transport characteristics have been widely used as a photocatalyst in various applications, to name a few, energy harvesting and storage, environmental remediation and air pollution. Energy harvesting which comprises the full utilisation of the wide solar light (wavelength) spectrum has become a central point of research in the field of materials science and engineering. Hence, the development of sustainable materials from environmentally sustainable techniques which can absorb majority of the solar light spectrum has become a huge challenge. For efficient utilisation of solar energy in catalytic applications, it is important to create photocatalyst that can absorb the full solar spectrum involving ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS) and near infrared (NIR) wavelengths. More than three decades, TiO2 and its composites have been widely researched academically and used industrially as a low-cost material for photocatalytic applications. However, the large bandgap of TiO2 limits its photocatalytic activity to the UV region which is just 3-5% of sunlight on Earth’s atmosphere. TiO2 also suffers from rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers (i.e., holes and electrons) thereby affecting its photocatalytic efficiency. Over the years, there has been active research in altering the chemistries of TiO2 to overcome these aforementioned shortcomings. The most recent advantage is the use of two dimensional (2D) materials because of its layered structure One of the unexplored and interesting layered structure is MXene. The aim of this thesis is to modify the chemical structure of Ti2C MXene to produce TiO2 as an efficient photocatalyst for absorbing solar energy especially in the UV and visible regions. As a compound of titanium and carbon, Ti2C MXene could facilitate the creation of TiO2 and carbonaceous materials hereby improving the photocatalytic performance. The abundance of surface terminal groups on Ti2C MXene allow for ease of surface modification and functionalisation. In this thesis, for the first time, the functionalisation of TiO2 from Ti2C MXene using a dry and low powered system, atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is reported. This process involved using Ti2C nano colloidal ink with highly reactive oxygen plasma source which can tune the electronic properties (engineering bandgap) of Ti2C MXene in-situ while simultaneously printing on to a substrate. X-ray/Ultraviolet Photoelectron spectroscopy showed an additional density of states (DOS) close to valence band edge and changes to the Ti, O core level spectra due to the oxygen plasma functionalisation. Density functional Theory calculation suggests that the changes in the electron structure might be due to the influence of oxygen vacancies and hence the increase in efficiency of catalytic process. Also, time dependent oxygen plasma functionalisation studies reveal the morphology and size of the in-situ generated TiO2 nanoparticles varied from 5-8 nm with exceptionally high photocatalytic performance.
The second aim of the thesis is to create a heterostructure of Ti2C MXene with low cost and earth abundant graphitic carbon nitride, g-C3N4 (GCN) with visible light properties. For the first time, a lower power APPJ method was reported to produce a ternary in-situ TiO2/Ti2C/GCN heterostructure. In this thesis, GCN nanosheets were used as a semiconducting photocatalyst that could efficiently harvest the energy from visible light. Ti2C MXene nanosheets acted as an excellent electron sink while providing enhanced surface area which could facilitate the interfacial charge carriers. Structural studies show the formation of heterostructure formation between Ti2C MXene and GCN. Influence of morphology and hence changes to the optical properties were discussed. The synthesized ternary in-situ TiO2/Ti2C/GCN nanosheets showed enhancement in photocatalytic performance.
The third aim of my research was to integrate TiO2 onto earth abundant natural cellulose fibres. Utilising the power of low power atmospheric pressure plasma (APPJ) to in-situ anchor TiO2 onto cellulose fibres to prevent the thermal degradation and chemical instability leading to leaching of the oxides from the cellulose fibres. APPJ in the presence of highly oxidised species caused an increase in COO- bonds which provided a strong linkage between TiO2 and cellulose materials. Also, structural studies revealed polymorphic changes in the structure of cellulose materials that improved its crystallinity and surface area for photocatalytic applications. APPJ is also able to create oxygen vacancies in the TiO2 which further reduced the bandgap of as synthesized TiO2/cellulose nanocomposites that enhanced photocatalytic applications. Toxicity studies showed that TiO2 was not cytotoxic.
This plasma modified surfaces (of all the samples) show exceptional degradation of wastewater with ternary in-situ TiO2/Ti2C/GCN showing two times more improvement in methylene blue degradation (84% degradation) as compared to in-situ TiO2/Ti2C MXene (42% degradation). Also, TiO2/cellulose bionanocomposite showed excellent adsorptive-photocatalytic performance in degrading industrial waste dye providing a clear route as nanocomposites from research into industrialisation
Climate Change and Critical Agrarian Studies
Climate change is perhaps the greatest threat to humanity today and plays out as a cruel engine of myriad forms of injustice, violence and destruction. The effects of climate change from human-made emissions of greenhouse gases are devastating and accelerating; yet are uncertain and uneven both in terms of geography and socio-economic impacts. Emerging from the dynamics of capitalism since the industrial revolution — as well as industrialisation under state-led socialism — the consequences of climate change are especially profound for the countryside and its inhabitants. The book interrogates the narratives and strategies that frame climate change and examines the institutionalised responses in agrarian settings, highlighting what exclusions and inclusions result. It explores how different people — in relation to class and other co-constituted axes of social difference such as gender, race, ethnicity, age and occupation — are affected by climate change, as well as the climate adaptation and mitigation responses being implemented in rural areas. The book in turn explores how climate change – and the responses to it - affect processes of social differentiation, trajectories of accumulation and in turn agrarian politics. Finally, the book examines what strategies are required to confront climate change, and the underlying political-economic dynamics that cause it, reflecting on what this means for agrarian struggles across the world. The 26 chapters in this volume explore how the relationship between capitalism and climate change plays out in the rural world and, in particular, the way agrarian struggles connect with the huge challenge of climate change. Through a huge variety of case studies alongside more conceptual chapters, the book makes the often-missing connection between climate change and critical agrarian studies. The book argues that making the connection between climate and agrarian justice is crucial
Natural and Technological Hazards in Urban Areas
Natural hazard events and technological accidents are separate causes of environmental impacts. Natural hazards are physical phenomena active in geological times, whereas technological hazards result from actions or facilities created by humans. In our time, combined natural and man-made hazards have been induced. Overpopulation and urban development in areas prone to natural hazards increase the impact of natural disasters worldwide. Additionally, urban areas are frequently characterized by intense industrial activity and rapid, poorly planned growth that threatens the environment and degrades the quality of life. Therefore, proper urban planning is crucial to minimize fatalities and reduce the environmental and economic impacts that accompany both natural and technological hazardous events
Conversations on Empathy
In the aftermath of a global pandemic, amidst new and ongoing wars, genocide, inequality, and staggering ecological collapse, some in the public and political arena have argued that we are in desperate need of greater empathy — be this with our neighbours, refugees, war victims, the vulnerable or disappearing animal and plant species. This interdisciplinary volume asks the crucial questions: How does a better understanding of empathy contribute, if at all, to our understanding of others? How is it implicated in the ways we perceive, understand and constitute others as subjects? Conversations on Empathy examines how empathy might be enacted and experienced either as a way to highlight forms of otherness or, instead, to overcome what might otherwise appear to be irreducible differences. It explores the ways in which empathy enables us to understand, imagine and create sameness and otherness in our everyday intersubjective encounters focusing on a varied range of "radical others" – others who are perceived as being dramatically different from oneself. With a focus on the importance of empathy to understand difference, the book contends that the role of empathy is critical, now more than ever, for thinking about local and global challenges of interconnectedness, care and justice
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volume
LIPIcs, Volume 251, ITCS 2023, Complete Volum
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