260851 research outputs found
Sort by
American gratitude-plus-pride differentially predict benevolent and activism support across political ideology
No full textNo description supplied</p
The political economy of Chile’s coal transition
No full textIn debates about just transitions the experience of unjust coal transitions loom large. Case studies often focus on the experience of countries in Europe and North America, comparing and contrasting more laissez-faire and interventionist state strategies aimed at supporting workers in the transition. In this article, we explore the neglected case of Chile: a country that has retired early most of its coal plants as part of national decarbonisation plan and a Climate Change Framework law which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. We use the case study, based on extensive interviews with government, business and civil society actors, to understand the political economy of just transition in Chile. Described by many as a neo-liberal energy transition, we argue it embodies many of the contradictions of such transitions around the understated role of the state, the invisibilisation and socialisation of the social and ecological costs of transition and shallow forms of democratisation through performative patterns of public participation which seek to manage dissent. We suggest the transition reflects the prevailing model of capitalist extractivism in Chile and a series of settlements between the Chilean state, national and foreign capital contested by social resistance to sacrifice zones, helping to inform debates about neo-liberal energy transitions in general and just transitions in particular.</p
Marketing education in the age of generative AI: Preparing graduates for human–AI collaboration
No full textThis white paper provides strategic guidance for marketing educators and programme leaders navigating the integration of Generative AI in higher education. Drawing on survey evidence from marketing academics and contributions from international experts, it examines implications for curriculum design, pedagogy, assessment, employability, and institutional governance. The report argues for a shift from output-focused learning to judgement-led, accountable human–AI collaboration, offering evidence-informed priorities and practical frameworks to support ethical, inclusive, and professionally relevant marketing education</p
The influence of voice masculinity and femininity on adults' expectations of children’s academic and occupational competence
No full textGender-related acoustic features of voices may play a role in perceived aptitude for academic subjects and occupations. In the present study, parents and teachers rated the perceived competence of children they did not know with respect to a range of gender-stereotyped academic subjects and future possible occupations. Ratings were based solely on re-synthesized recordings of 8 children (4 girls, 4 boys) saying a single sentence. Voice manipulations involved changing the spacing between vocal resonances (formants), which affects perceived vocal tract length. Resynthesis involved changing format spacing only, either to the mean for each gender in the larger group from which the four speakers had been selected, or to one standard deviation above or below that mean, keeping fundamental frequency (voice pitch) unchanged. In Experiment 1, the speakers were rated for perceived competence in academic subjects by 61 parents and 38 teachers of children of a similar age to the speakers. Results showed that lowered or raised voices led to ratings of different levels of competence in traditionally masculine-stereotyped or feminine-stereotyped academic subjects, although the effects were clearer for boy speakers than for girl speakers. In Experiment 2, the speakers were rated for perceived competence in future occupations by 49 parents and 50 teachers. Results showed that perceptions of both boys’ and girls’ aptitude for gender-stereotyped occupations were even more clearly affected in stereotypical ways by the raised or lowered voices. The results have implications for possible interventions with adults to prevent unintentional stereotyping of children, and also point to the value of this method as an implicit measure of parents’ and teachers’ stereotyping of academic subjects and occupations.</p
Effects of adaptation to altered color statistics provide evidence for calibration of color 1 perception to the color statistics of natural scenes
No full textAccording to the theory of efficient coding, sensory processing is optimized for representing the information content of natural scenes. This implies that perceptual systems are adapted to the statistical regularities of the environments they are immersed in. In color vision, relatively low sensitivity for discriminating color along blue and yellow axes has been linked to the dominance of blue-yellow color variation in natural scenes. It has been suggested that higher-order visual processes, such as aesthetic preferences, could also be adapted to natural environments. Here, we manipulate the chromatic contrast of natural scenes to test whether low, medium, and high-level aspects of color perception can be calibrated to the color statistics of visual environments. In three experiments, we measured color discrimination, chromatic balance perception, and aesthetic judgments of colorful Mondrian patterns after adaptation to scenes with natural colors or scenes with manipulated colors. After viewing naturally colored scenes, color discrimination, perception of chromatic balance, and color preferences are biased along the blue-yellow color axis, along which there is most chromatic variance in natural scenes. Blue-yellow biases were reduced or partially inverted following adaptation to color-manipulated scenes, though the extent of the reversal in bias we observed following short-term adaptation appears to have been limited by long-term adaptation to the color statistics of natural environments. Our findings support the efficient coding theory and provide experimental support for the hypothesis that multiple attributes of human color perception adapt to the color statistics of visual environments.</p
Constructing radicalisation, gender, and free will: An analysis of SIAC decision in the Shamima Begum case
No full textThis article critically examines SIAC’s discussion of the Shamima Begum case
and her swift categorisation as a national security threat, which led to the
revocation of her citizenship. It argues that the Secretary of State’s
assessment of the level of risk she poses, as well as SIAC’s long discussion
about her free will when she joined ISIS, fails to adequately account for the
intersection of age, gender, and ethnicity in evaluating her case. An
intersectional approach would have facilitated an understanding of the
structural and gendered roots of the problem and provided a more effective
framework for addressing the radicalisation of young women. Rather than
offering new insights into minors joining ISIS, this case strengthens the gender
narratives through which Shamima has been constructed, reinforcing
simplistic Orientalist binaries which reproduce patriarchal narratives and
dehumanise depictions of Muslim women. This, in turn, results in policies that
ignore the complexities of young women’s radicalisation and lead to
discrimination and human rights violations.</p
Feedforward pressure-regulated position control of soft ballooning actuators using a Modified Prandtl–Ishlinskii model
No full textThanks to their compliance and adaptability,
soft actuators are promising devices for medical applications
and the exploration of unstructured environment. However,
their nonlinear behaviour, including strong hysteresis effects,
presents challenges for accurate position control. This work
investigates two data-driven feedforward control strategies
for controlling the position of a Hyper-Elastic Ballooning
Membrane Actuator (HBMA): a baseline single polynomial fit
model and a hysteresis-aware Modified Prandtl-Ishlinskii (MPI)
model. Comparative experiments demonstrate that hysteresisaware
control substantially improves accuracy. Specifically,
incorporating hysteresis improved overall accuracy by 71%
when the HBMA was inflated up to 20.5 mm. During partial
inflation-deflation cycles, the MPI controller achieved a mean
error of 0.685 mm, corresponding to 9.8% of the 7 mm
displacement range. These results highlight the limitations of
using feedforward control alone in soft robotic actuation while
emphasising the benefits of hysteresis-aware modelling. The
findings contribute to the ongoing effort to develop effective
control strategies for soft robotic systems.</p
Legal assessment in an age of generative AI: structural change is required
No full textIn a world of generative AI, online assessment practices in law schools are no longer a useful proxy for learning or at least no longer a proxy for the type of learning and evaluation deemed central to a law school degree. That is, an evaluation of knowledge and understanding, coherent written expression, proper and accurate referencing, critical thinking and application. Outside of a supervised setting, generative AI tools can do those things to a high standard, particularly where a student is using a premium version and in an effective manner.2 What then is the future of online legal assessment, if those assessments can no longer make a meaningful inference about student learning? In this short article, I posit an approach that is developmental, programme level and student centred. Central to this position is that assessment validity does matter, because it verifies learning.3 Generative AI tools are impressive on many fronts but in an education/assessment context, they can, at the click of a prompt, create ‘the illusion of learning’.4 To echo the words of Manu Kapur, these tools provide ‘unproductive success’5; they provide the illusion of success through the speed of an ‘output’ but without, in many instances, having to experience the process required to develop said ‘output’. In the long run then, we are doing a disservice to our students if we have no means of appropriately verifying learning is taking place. Structural change to legal assessment, to include in person assessment or assessments secure from generative AI (through lockdown browser or proctoring) as part of a holistic diet of assessment, is required to ensure validity and to encourage learning. Taking steps to verify learning does not prevent law schools supporting students to develop critical AI literacy nor does it prevent some modules embracing generative AI in assessment, where it is appropriate to do so.</p
Connectedness and collectiveness amid islands of hope and trouble
No full textRecognising the centrality of hope in times of crisis, this article uses interview data produced with two community organisations in Brighton and Hove to examine how spaces of hope emerge, survive, and even flourish amid despair. In doing so, we pay particular attention to the role of collectiveness and connectedness in building and sustaining hope. Our findings indicate that, for many, collectiveness, connectedness and ‘doing together’ constitute forms of hopeful practice that both mobilise and sustain hope, but that these practices are not untroubled, are entangled with injustice and struggle, and do not negate a more general hopelessness. We conclude by arguing that how people comprehend hope shapes its experience, hope being more practical and accessible when it is understood as active, present and everyday.</p
Accounting for Absence: exhibiting the manorial records of Ravenser Odd
No full textRavenser Odd was an island at the mouth of the Humber estuary between the 1230s and 1350s. During its brief, dramatic, life it became a Royal Borough, with the result that many of its records have been preserved centrally. Ravenser Odd’s manorial accounts are extant for the period of its flourishing, and offer a rich insight into the economic life in the town, as well as its demise; yet they have been under-used in historical accounts. This article reflects on the experience of tracing Ravenser Odd’s brief existence through its manorial accounts, and of bringing them to life for local audiences. It shows that the formulaic nature of the accounts makes them particularly well-suited to public engagement activities, and highlights the imaginative possibilities created by a telling absence within the archival record.</p