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Production networks in the cultural and creative sector: case studies from the publishing industry
The CICERONE project investigates cultural and creative industries through case study research, with a focus on production networks. This report, part of WP2, examines the publishing industry within this framework. It aims to understand the industry’s hidden aspects, address statistical issues in measurement, and explore the industry’s transformation and integration of cultural and economic values. The report provides an overview of the production network, explores statistical challenges, and presents qualitative analyses of two case studies. It concludes by highlighting the potential of the Global Production Network (GPN) approach for analyzing, researching, policymaking, and intervening in the European publishing network.
The CICERONE project’s case study research delves into the publishing industry, investigating its production networks and examining key aspects often unseen by the public. The report addresses statistical challenges in measuring the industry and sheds light on its ongoing transformations and integration of cultural and economic values. It presents an overview of the production network, explores statistical issues, and provides qualitative analyses of two case studies. The report emphasizes the potential of the GPN approach for analyzing and intervening in the European publishing network, ultimately contributing to research, policymaking, and understanding within the industry
Moving Beyond Fulfillment: Wisdom Years Stories of Passion, Perseverance, and Productivity
Seven participants were interviewed to uncover how they remain so productive in their wisdom years, those typically marked by retirement. Participants included a leading educational psychologist, a renowned national television news anchor, a four-time national champion collegiate coach, the founder and former chief executive of Arbor Day Foundation, a university scholar turned playwright, and two female adventurers who quit their jobs, sold their possessions, and have lived a nomadic life, hiking thousands of miles throughout America. Their wisdom years stories describe how and why they shun retirement and remain productive. The article concludes with seven advice-laden conclusions for readers: (a) Do not retire, but if you do, retire to something, (b) follow your bliss, (c) work hard, (d) offset aging challenges, (e) be inspired by role models, (f) be a life-long learner, and (g) take heed of the universe conspiring
Cyberbullying in educational context
Kustenmacher and Seiwert (2004) explain a man’s inclination to resort to technology in his interaction with the environment and society. Thus, the solution to the negative consequences of Cyberbullying in a technologically dominated society is represented by technology as part of the technological paradox (Tugui, 2009), in which man has a dual role, both slave and master, in the interaction with it. In this respect, it is noted that, notably after 2010, there have been many attempts to involve artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize, identify, limit or avoid the manifestation of aggressive behaviours of the CBB type. For an overview of the use of artificial intelligence in solving various problems related to CBB, we extracted works from the Scopus database that respond to the criterion of the existence of the words “cyberbullying” and “artificial intelligence” in the Title, Keywords and Abstract. These articles were the subject of the content analysis of the title and, subsequently, only those that are identified as a solution in the process of recognizing, identifying, limiting or avoiding the manifestation of CBB were kept in the following Table where we have these data synthesized and organized by years
La producció de l’espai al Poblenou contemporani: nous actors socials 22@, moviment veïnal i neoliberalisme institucional
Aquesta investigació doctoral s’aproxima a les relacions socials materials i simbòliques vinculades a la producció de l’espai del Poblenou contemporani per mitjà del pla urbanístic 22@: un projecte per transformar 200 hectàrees del Poblenou -l’antic nucli industrial de Barcelona- en un districte d’oficines tecnològiques. Per fer-ho, s’emprat el mètode etnogràfic i múltiples estudis de cas per tal d’abordar la producció de l’espai com a problema. Això ha permès identificar tres actors protagonistes en el conflicte per la producció del Poblenou: els nous actors socials del 22@ cridats a omplir el nou espai transformat, la població tradicional organitzada políticament pels efectes de la reforma urbana i les pràctiques polítiques neoliberals dels agents institucionals. Adoptant la mirada trialèctica d’Henri Lefebvre, s’ordenen els enfrontaments i contactes que mantenia la triada d‘actors per mitjà de l’acció col·lectiva, un conjunt de representacions espacials i un assortiment de pràctiques sobre el territori.Esta investigación doctoral se aproxima a las relaciones sociales materiales y simbólicas vinculadas a la producción del espacio del Poblenou contemporáneo a través del plan urbanístico 22@: un proyecto para transformar 200 hectáreas del Poblenou -el antiguo núcleo industrial de Barcelona- en un distrito de oficinas tecnológicas. Para ello, se emplea el método etnográfico y múltiples estudios de caso para abordar la producción del espacio como problema. Esto ha permitido identificar a tres actores protagonistas en el conflicto por la producción de Poblenou: los nuevos actores sociales del 22@ llamados a llenar el nuevo espacio transformado, la población tradicional organizada políticamente por los efectos de la reforma urbana y las prácticas políticas neoliberales de los agentes institucionales. Adoptando la mirada trialéctica de Henri Lefebvre, se ordenan los enfrentamientos y contactos que mantenía la elegida de actores por medio de la acción colectiva, un conjunto de representaciones espaciales y un surtido de prácticas sobre el territorio.This research approaches the material and symbolic social relations linked to the production of contemporary Poblenou space caused by 22@ urban plan: a project to transform 200 hectares of Poblenou -the former industrial centre of Barcelona- into an innovation district. The ethnographic method and multiple case studies were used in order to address the production of space as an anthropological problem. This perspective identifies three protagonists in the conflict of the production of Poblenou: the new social actors of the 22@ who now fill the transformed space, the traditional population politically organized and the neoliberal political practices of institutional agents. This investigation adopted Henri Lefebvre's trialectic theory to analyse the confrontations and contacts maintained by the actors through their collective action, a set of spatial representations and their practices on the territory
Ab Initio Language Teaching in British Higher Education
Drawing extensively on the expertise of teachers of German in universities across the UK, this volume offers an overview of recent trends, new pedagogical approaches and practical guidance for teaching at beginners level in the higher education classroom. At a time when entries for UK school exams in modern foreign languages are decreasing, this book serves the urgent need for research and guidance on ab initio learning and teaching in HE. Using the example of teaching German, it offers theoretical reflections on teaching ab initio and practice-oriented approaches that will be useful for teachers of both German and other languages in higher education.
The first chapters assess the role of ab initio provision within the wider context of modern languages departments and language centres. They are followed by sections on teaching methods and innovative approaches in the ab initio classroom that include chapters on the use of music, textbook evaluation, the effective use of a flipped classroom and the contribution of language apps. Finally, the book focuses on the learner in the ab initio context and explores issues around autonomy and learner strengths. The whole builds into a theoretically grounded guide that sketches out perspectives for teaching and learning ab initio languages that will benefit current and future generations of students
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Corporate Governance and Investment Decision-Making in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Nigeria
Adopting Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) has been relatively slow due to corporate governance issues and a limited understanding of investment decision-making processes. This study aims to enhance the performance of REITs by developing a Corporate Governance Scoring Framework and improving the investment decision-making process. A mixed-method research strategy was employed to gather data on investment decisionmaking processes and corporate governance in the UK, SA, and Nigeria from 2014-2019. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with key decision-makers in the three regimes and analysed using content and discourse analysis techniques. Quantitative data was obtained from the annual financial reports of listed
REITs during the study period and analysed using OLS, fixed effects, and random effect models. The Integrated Corporate Governance Index (ICGI), a self-scoring framework,
was used to measure the quality of corporate governance strength.
The qualitative analysis identified four stages in the investment decision-making process: strategy, search, analysis and adjustment, and consultation or decision and review. The interviews revealed that the board, remuneration, and fee proxies were relevant factors across all three regimes, with audit and ownership also significant in the developing regimes of SA and Nigeria. The board's reputation, experience, and management role were highlighted as crucial during the decision-making process. Performance factors such as 'Operational Stability,' 'Tenant Quality,' 'Experience,' and metrics including 'Rental Income,' 'Dividend Payment,' and 'Yield' were identified. The quantitative analysis demonstrated that adherence to corporate governance codes was highest in the UK, followed by SA and Nigeria. Regression analysis results showed that a higher ICGI score improved return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) in the UK but not in SA and Nigeria. The index did not significantly impact firm value in the UK and pooled country analysis, but it led to better firm valuation in SA. In the Nigeria REIT regime, the ICGI harmed firm valuation. The study concluded that adherence to country-level corporate governance was more predictive of operational performance than firm valuation.
In summary, this study contributes to the existing knowledge by providing insights into the investment decision-making processes of REITs and the importance of corporate governance in improving their performance. The developed Corporate Governance Scoring Framework offers a valuable tool for evaluating the quality of corporate governance in REITs, but further refinement is necessary to keep up with evolving policies
Postnatal Depressive Symptoms and Social Media Use for Support amongst Mothers and Fathers within the First Year Postpartum
Postnatal depression (PND) can have substantial detrimental effects on the wellbeing and adjustment of mothers and fathers, and ultimately on the development of infants. Whilst many parents have chosen to use social media for parenting support and information, it is unclear what role postnatal mental health plays in digital behaviours. This doctoral research aimed to investigate the impact of maternal and paternal PND symptoms on social media usage and perceived social support, gain a detailed insight into the function of social media in parental adjustment, and examine gender differences in online language related to PND. The current research consisted of five individual studies, and it employed a mixed-methods approach, utilising quantitative (self-reported questionnaires), qualitative (semi-structured interviews) and corpus-linguistic techniques to analyse data collected from mothers and fathers with at least one baby under one year old. The results from the quantitative studies indicated that mothers and fathers with higher risk of PND were more likely to engage in online comparisons with other parents, and to report lower levels of perceived social support, compared to parents with low risk of PND. The qualitative studies revealed that parents identified social media sites as advantageous in connecting with other parents and receiving night-time support, as well as disadvantageous due to unreliable information, curated content, and an imbalance in the maternal versus paternal-specific resources. Finally, the fifth study utilised a corpus-linguistic analysis of PND-related Twitter content and revealed that there were gender differences in the language used to discuss PND online. Female Twitter users were found to be more likely to discuss PND from a personal perspective, with the use of adjectives that express difficulty, whereas male Twitter users were focused on the PND experiences of other parents. Twitter accounts representing organisations, such as charities, medical or educational institutions, were considerably more inclined to post content focused on motherhood or maternal PND, with limited content related to fatherhood or paternal PND. Overall, this doctoral research indicated that PND symptoms have a clear impact on digital behaviours and perceived support amongst parents, and that there are problematic discrepancies within the accessibility of maternal and paternal online support. The findings have important clinical and practical implications for improved perinatal healthcare practice, policy change, postnatal mental health awareness, as well as technological additions, in the form of evidence-based online parenting platforms
Ruina Montium: Estudios sobre la plata en Iberoamérica. De los orígenes al siglo XIX.
Editado conjuntamente con : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (México)[ES] Alio modo puteorum scrobibus effoditur aut in ruina montium, escribía Plinio el Viejo en el
siglo primero de nuestra era en su Naturalis Historiae, 33,66, después de haber sido administra-
dor de las minas romanas a cielo abierto de Las Medulas, cercanas a Asturica Augusta (Astorga),
en la actual provincia de León (España). Pues bien, para este volumen hemos elegido como títu-
lo dos de las palabras de este párrafo del autor latino, ruina montium, como recuerdo del paisaje
generado por la extracción de oro en ese lugar, declarado patrimonio de la humanidad desde el
año 1997. El método de extracción consistía en desviar los cursos de agua hacia galerías en la
montaña para horadarlas en profundidad. Algo parecido a este método sería el empleado en las
minas de esmeraldas de Muzo (Colombia), o, en el siglo XIX, en las minas de oro de California.
De hecho, en este volumen, una aportación que se publica es el resultado de la investigación de
varios profesores de la Universidad de León, que se hallan trabajando sobre el paisaje minero
dejado por las explotaciones romanas.
Recordando aquella minería hispana y americana, nos encontramos hoy ante un nuevo vo-
lumen, el octavo, de nuestra colección de Estudios sobre la plata en Iberoamérica. En ella,
mantenemos la ampliación temporal que habíamos proyectado en el volumen anterior, es decir,
estudiar los diferentes aspectos que afectan a los metales preciosos desde los orígenes, y no so-
lamente desde el periodo de conquista y colonización europea.
En este volumen, tenemos como aportación temática novedosa los aspectos léxicos relacionados con los metales preciosos, de los que no se había tratado en monográficos anteriores
y que, sin duda, son de gran importancia no solo para los historiadores, sino también para el
conjunto de investigadores que trabajan sobre los metales y las piedras preciosas. Igualmente,
los temas literarios también van adquiriendo cuerpo en el conjunto de las aportaciones en com-
paración con las publicaciones anteriores. Obviamente perviven como prioritarios los temas de
la minería en general y de la platería en sus diferentes variantes geográficas temáticas: centros
mineros, técnicas, casas de moneda, talleres, punzones, estudios de piezas, etc.
La interdisciplinariedad de la temática abordada nos pone de nuevo frente a una obra colectiva, en la que participan destacados investigadores de América y Europa, así como otros investigadores más noveles que con gran ilusión se acercan a una temática que les resulta atractiva y en la que demuestran unos conocimientos que auguran un futuro de magníficos trabajos y aportaciones. Muchos de los investigadores ya formamos un grupo de intercambio de ideas..
Machine Learning static RPA response properties for accelerating GW calculations
In this thesis, I explore the possibility of constructing machine-learning models of the interacting
density-density response function (DDRF) and quantities derived from it. Accurate models of
the DDRF are a crucial ingredient to enabling GW quasiparticle calculations of more complex
systems. Model DDRFs bypass the expensive calculation and inversion of the dielectric matrix,
which is the origin of the poor scaling of the GW method with the number of atoms.
The thesis is organized as follows:
• Chapter 2 systematically reviews common descriptors used for machine-learning physical
quantities. The key ideas behind the construction of such descriptors are discussed. First,
I introduce several descriptors that systematically incorporate symmetry transformations
that leave the target quantity invariant. These descriptors can be used for learning
quantities such as the ground-state energy, atomization energies and scalar polarizabilities.
Next, I discuss several descriptors and models that are equivariant under transformations
of the molecular structure. These descriptors are ideal for learning quantities which
transform in a defined way under the action of a transformation, such as vectors, tensors
and functions, including the DDRF.
• In Chapter 3, I introduce the key electronic structure methods employed throughout the
thesis. I start by introducing density functional theory, followed by a detailed introduction
to the GW method and the DDRF.
• In Chapter 4, I develop a machine-learning model of an invariant quantity derived from
the random phase approximation (RPA) DDRF: the scalar polarizability. In this chapter, I
calculate the DDRF of 110 hydrogenated silicon clusters. The results of these calculations
are then used to train a model of the scalar polarizability based on the SOAP descriptor [16].
The resulting model is then used to predict the scalar polarizability of clusters with up to
3000 silicon atoms while converging to the correct silicon scalar polarizability bulk limit.
The findings of this chapter indicate that the scalar polarizability - even though derived
from the non-local DDRF - can be accurately predicted from structural descriptors that
only encode the local environment of each atom. These results indicate that the response
of a non-metallic system to an external potential described by the DDRF may also be
approximated as a sum of localized atomic contributions, which forms the motivation for
the following two chapters.
• In Chapter 5, I develop an approximation to the DDRF of the silicon clusters based on a
projection onto atom-centred auxiliary density-fitting basis sets. The results of this chapter
indicate that the plane-wave DDRF can be efficiently represented by a small localized basis,
thus significantly reducing the size of the DDRF. At the end of this section, I develop a
simple neural-network model of the DDRF in this localized basis, highlighting the necessity
for using an equivariant descriptor and motivating the next chapter’s developments.
• In Chapter 6, I develop a new approximation to the DDRF, which allows a decomposition
into atomic contributions. I further introduce the neighbourhood density matrix (NDM),
a non-local extension of the SOAP descriptor, which transforms under rotations in
the same way as the atomic contributions to the DDRF. The developed method is then
applied to the silicon clusters from the previous chapters. Using the NDM, I develop a
neural-network model capable of accurately predicting the atomic contributions to the
DDRF. These atomic contributions are transformed into a plane-wave basis and summed
to obtain the DDRF of a silicon cluster. The predicted DDRFs are then used in GW
calculations, which show that the model DDRFs accurately reproduce the quasiparticle
energy corrections from GW calculations, as obtained within the atomic decomposition
of the DDRF. This methodology can be used to construct arbitrarily complex model
DDRFs based on purely structural properties of clusters and nanoparticles, paving the
way towards GW calculations of complex systems, such as disordered materials, liquids,
interfaces and nanoparticles.Open Acces
Digital 3D reconstruction as a research environment in art and architecture history: uncertainty classification and visualisation
The dissertation addresses the still not solved challenges concerned with the source-based digital 3D reconstruction, visualisation and documentation in the domain of archaeology, art and architecture history.
The emerging BIM methodology and the exchange data format IFC are changing the way of collaboration, visualisation and documentation in the planning, construction and facility management process. The introduction and development of the Semantic Web (Web 3.0), spreading the idea of structured, formalised and linked data, offers semantically enriched human- and machine-readable data.
In contrast to civil engineering and cultural heritage, academic object-oriented disciplines, like archaeology, art and architecture history, are acting as outside spectators.
Since the 1990s, it has been argued that a 3D model is not likely to be considered a scientific reconstruction unless it is grounded on accurate documentation and visualisation. However, these standards are still missing and the validation of the outcomes is not fulfilled. Meanwhile, the digital research data remain ephemeral and continue to fill the growing digital cemeteries.
This study focuses, therefore, on the evaluation of the source-based digital 3D reconstructions and, especially, on uncertainty assessment in the case of hypothetical reconstructions of destroyed or never built artefacts according to scientific principles, making the models shareable and reusable by a potentially wide audience.
The work initially focuses on terminology and on the definition of a workflow especially related to the classification and visualisation of uncertainty. The workflow is then applied to specific cases of 3D models uploaded to the DFG repository of the AI Mainz. In this way, the available methods of documenting, visualising and communicating uncertainty are analysed.
In the end, this process will lead to a validation or a correction of the workflow and the initial assumptions, but also (dealing with different hypotheses) to a better definition of the levels of uncertainty
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