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Distributed maximum correntropy filtering for a class of multi-rate systems over sensor networks
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Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.In this paper, the distributed maximum correntropy filtering problem is investigated for a class of multi-rate systems over sensor networks. The system under consideration is monitored by a sensor network whose sensors are permitted to have different sampling periods. The maximum correntropy criterion is employed to handle the non-Gaussian noises effectively. Given the distributed nature and the asynchronous sampling of the sensor network, a novel filtering performance index based on the correntropy is constructed for each node in the sensor network. To maximize this correntropy-based index, the desired filter gain at each time step is calculated using a fixed-point algorithm. Sufficient conditions for ensuring the convergence of the fixed-point method are established. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed filtering scheme is demonstrated through a target tracking example.This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 12471416, U22A2044, and U21A2019, in part by the Hainan Province Science and Technology Special Fund of China under Grant ZDYF2022SHFZ105, in part by the Royal Society of UK, and in part by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany
‘For me, it was life-changing’: the Italian contact zone of occupation and the encounter with otherness in oral history recollections
Get PDFThis article examines the experiential and perceptual environment in which social encounters between soldiers and civilians occurred in Allied-occupied Italy (1943–45) and its enduring impact on the lives of those who experienced it. It does so by applying Mary Louise Pratt’s theoretical framework of the ‘contact zone’ to the case of occupied Italy and by exploring it through the lens of oral history sources. The critical analysis of interviews with Antonio Taurelli, an Italian teenager in 1944 who fought with American soldiers, and Harry Shindler, a British veteran who married an Italian woman during the war, sheds light on how ordinary individuals shaped their own experience of occupation within the contact zone as well as on the life-changing impact of their encounters with ‘otherness’. This article aims to contribute to our understanding of the social experience of the Allied occupation of Italy and the impact of military-civilian encounters in occupation environments more broadly.Italian summary:
Questo articolo si propone di esplorare da un punto di vista esperienziale il contesto nel quale si svolse l’incontro fra soldati e civili durante l’occupazione alleata d’Italia (1943–45) attraverso l’applicazione del concetto di ‘contact zone’, coniato da Mary Louise Pratt, e la lente delle fonti orali. L’analisi critica delle interviste a Antonio Taurelli e Harry Shindler, un adolescente italiano che combatté al fianco dei soldati americani e un veterano britannico che sposò un’italiana durante la guerra, mette in luce sia come delle persone comuni abbiano contribuito a plasmare la propria esperienza dell’occupazione, sia l’impatto che l’incontro con l’alterità della ‘contact zone’ ebbe sulla loro vita. Questo articolo intende contribuire alla comprensione dell’occupazione alleata in Italia da un punto di vista esperienziale e approfondire la discussione sull’impatto degli incontri tra militari e civili nei contesti di occupazione
Effects of Fe Content and Natural Ageing on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Recyclable Al5.5Mg2Si Die-Cast Alloys Assisted with Machine Learning
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Research data are not shared.Effects of Fe content and natural ageing (NA) on microstructure and mechanical properties of Al5.5Mg2SixFe (x = 0.12, 0.3, and 0.6, in wt%) heat treatment-free die-cast alloys are investigated in assistance with machine learning (ML). The main intermetallics in the alloys include β-Mg2Si and α-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2, while β-Al13(Fe,Mn)4Si0.25 with the number density of (0.15 ± 0.02) × 10^−2 μm^−2 appears in the Al5.5Mg2Si0.6Fe alloy. As Fe increases from 0.12% to 0.6%, the as-cast yield strength (YS) and elongation (El) reduce from 163.6 ± 2.6 MPa to 160.6 ± 2.5 MPa and 13.09 ± 1.16% to 10.58 ± 1.27%, respectively, which is attributed to the β-Al13(Fe,Mn)4Si0.25 and the increased number density of α-Al15(Fe,Mn)3Si2 from (1.26 ± 0.21) × 10^−2 to (6.32 ± 0.72) × 10^−2 μm^−2. After NA, the alloys show increased YS and decreased El. The Al5.5Mg2Si0.12Fe alloy exhibits considerable NA strengthening with YS increasing by 9.2 ± 5.1 MPa and El decreasing by 2.33 ± 3.21% after NA for 30 days, which is due to the nanoscale β″ precipitates. The quantitative relationship between Fe content, NA time, and tensile properties is established by the Random Forest ML model, i.e., YS(MPa) = 32485.5 − 32324.7 × exp(−0.5 × ((t(day) − 3.9)/2083.9)^2 − 0.5 × ((Fe(wt%) − 0.48)/18.87)^2) and El(%) = 827.5 − 1529.9 × exp(−0.5 × ((t(day) − 517.61)/3777.2)^2 − 0.5 × ((Fe(wt%) − 269.65)/242.01)^2). A high-performance and recyclable Al5.5Mg2Si0.56Fe die-cast alloy is predicted with the YS and El of 163.75 ± 3.4 MPa and 10.05 ± 0.21% after NA for 30 days. This study provides insights for intelligently developing high-performance and recyclable die-cast alloys.National Outstanding Youth Science Fund Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China;
Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professor project and Innovate UK. Grant Number: 113151
Asynchronous PID Control for T-S Fuzzy Systems Over Gilbert-Elliott Channels Utilizing Detected Channel Modes
Get PDFThis paper is concerned with the H∞ proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control problem for Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems over lossy networks that are characterized by the Gilbert-Eillott model. The communication quality is reflected by the presence of two channel modes (i.e., “bad” mode and “good” mode), which switch randomly according to a Markov process. In the “bad” mode, packet dropouts are governed by a stochastic variable sequence. Considering the inaccessibility of channel modes, a mode detector is utilized to estimate the communication situation. The relationship between the actual channel mode and the estimated mode is depicted in terms of certain conditional probabilities. Moreover, a comprehensive model is constructed to represent the probability uncertainties arising from statistical errors in channel mode switching, packet dropouts, and mode detection processes. Subsequently, a robust asynchronous PID controller, based on the detected channel mode, is proposed. Sufficient conditions are then derived to ensure the mean-square stability of the closed-loop system while maintaining the desired H∞ performance. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed design approach is demonstrated through a simulation example.National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 61933007, 62273087, 62033010 and U21A2019);
Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Province (Grant Number: R2023Q07);
Royal Society of the UK; and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany
Formation of an academic diaspora: A study of scholars from Turkey in the higher education sector in Britain
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The data supporting this study's findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.The internationalisation of higher education has revealed the importance of understanding the formation and dynamics of academic diasporas. Most studies focus on cohesive academic diasporas, overlooking fragmentation in diasporas as a central concern. In this paper, we define and theorise fragmented academic diaspora. The emergence of a highly fragmented diaspora of scholars from Turkey in the British higher education sector presents an ideal opportunity to examine the notion of a fragmented academic diaspora. Based on an online study of 20 scholars from Turkey in British academia, this paper investigates the formation of an academic diaspora fragmented across social fault lines. We examine the factors driving the formation of a fragmented academic diaspora, the boundaries defining this community and the challenges it faces. Additionally, we discuss these scholars' professional and personal experiences and investigate their integration into the academic landscape of Britain. Based on the expectations and aspirations of the participants, we propose strategies to leverage fragmentation within this academic diaspora as a pathway to fostering synergies amidst fragmentation and divisiveness.This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors
Examining Recent Climate Changes in Ghana and a Comparison with Local Malaria Case Rates
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The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors on request.This study investigated recent climate changes in Ghana and compared these changes to a new malaria case rates dataset for 2008–2022. The analysis was implemented at three spatial scales: national, regional, and by ‘climate zone’ (i.e., coastal, savannah, and forest zones). Descriptive statistics, qualitative discussion and correlation analysis were used to compare the climate variability to the malaria case rates. The climate analysis identified a general warming over the period with a mid-2010s maximum temperature peak in the forest and savannah zones, also associated with changes in the annual temperature cycle. Malaria case rates increased between 2008 and 2013, decreased sharply in 2014, and then decreased steadily from 2015 to 2022 for all scales. The sharp decline was broadly coincident with a change in the temperature regime that would provide a less favourable environment for the malaria vectors (precipitation and humidity showed no comparable changes). These coincident changes were particularly noticeable for an increase in maximum temperatures in the savannah and coastal zones in the key malaria transmission months after 2014. Correlation analysis showed statistically significant (p < 0.05) relationships between malaria case rates and mean and maximum temperatures at the national scale, and malaria case rates and mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures for the coastal climate zone (precipitation and humidity showed no significant correlations). However, more sophisticated methods are required to further understand this multidimensional system.This research received no external funding
Physiological and behavioural responses of aquatic organisms to microplastics and experimental warming
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Data will be made available on request.Supplementary data are available online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974912500555X?via%3Dihub#appsec1 .Microplastics are an emerging contaminant of concern because of their potential to cause harm to aquatic biota, such as reproduction, growth, and survival, and there is a lack of knowledge about how microplastics can affect other sub-lethal responses, such as movement behaviour and respiration rates, which may have consequences for species interactions. Additionally, there is little evidence for the effects of microplastics under different climate warming scenarios. To address this knowledge gap, the effects of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) microplastics, in combination with different constant temperature regimes (10 °C, 15 °C, and 20 °C) and a fluctuating regime (10–20 °C over a 24h diel cycle) on the respiration rates, feeding rates, and movement speeds of Gammarus pulex and Asellus aquaticus were assessed. Respiration rates of G. pulex increased with temperature according to metabolic theory, but there was no evidence for increased respiration rates of A. aquaticus at higher temperatures. Overall, the respiration rates and movement speeds of G. pulex were higher than A. aquaticus but there was no evidence that microplastics independently, or in combination with experimental warming, influenced any of the responses tested. There is increasing evidence that some microplastic particles may not be harmful to aquatic biota, and the findings presented in this study indicated that further evidence about the effects of different microplastic types, in combination with other human-induced pressures, is required to better understand the hazards and risks associated with microplastic particles in the environment.This research was supported by the EU INTERREG France (Channel) England project “Preventing Plastic Pollution” co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund
Fighting fit: clothing, equipment and material objects as identity formation in women’s boxing
Get PDFThis paper explores the intersections of material culture and gendered identity among women in boxing, linking material objects to lived experience. Based on ethnographic field work in two Midlands based boxing gyms in the UK, the study used semi-structured interviews, field observations, and a novel method involving boxers’ kit bags. It examines how women athletes navigate, resist, and redefine dominant ideals of Western femininity – privileging heterosexual desirability, whiteness, and toned aesthetics – within the traditionally male-dominated space of the boxing gym. Focusing on two themes: (i) clothing and contested feminine identities and (ii) boxing kit, rituals and belonging, analysis reveals how clothing choices and access to appropriate equipment impact women’s resistance, inclusion, and identity in the gym. While some expressions of resistance remain confined to the gym, the study highlights the symbolic and physical exclusion created by male-designed protective gear, calling for more equitable regulation and design in boxing.This work was supported by Economic and Social Research Council [grant number ES/P000649/1]
Intersectional inequalities in trust in the police in England
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Full replication data and code are available on GitHub: https://github.com/CrimFerhat/MAIHDA-Trust-in-the-police .Supplemental material is available online at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10439463.2025.2529300# .This study investigates intersectional inequalities in trust in the police in England using multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (MAIHDA) for the first time. We find that those who are non-White, from lower social classes, and reside in London show lower predicted trust levels than other people. While older people show higher predicted trust levels, younger people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, have the lowest predicted levels of trust in the police. We also find intersectional effects. While middle-aged White males from lower social classes and living outside of London have lower than-expected trust in the police, older White females from lower social classes and living outside of London have higher than-expected trust in the police. We argue that ground-level, community engagement, coupled with extensive officer training on engaging with individuals from diverse backgrounds, are key to developing higher levels of trust in the police.This research is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS, grant reference JPJSJRP 20211704) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, grant reference ES/W011913/1)
From Culture to Green Innovation: The interplay of Social Capital, Entrepreneurial Leadership, and Green Knowledge Sharing in Moroccan Agricultural SMEs
No full textSustainable economic growth hinges on the active participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in green innovation (GI). However, research on the drivers of GI adoption in developing countries often overlooks the intricate interplay between organizational and social factors. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study investigates the interplay between organizational green culture (OGC), social capital (SC), entrepreneurial leadership (EL), and green knowledge sharing (GKS) in driving GI. Data from 565 Moroccan agricultural SMEs collected through an online questionnaire were analyzed using multiple regression. The findings reveal that EL significantly mediates the positive relationships between OGC, SC, and GI. Moreover, GKS strengthens the indirect effects of OGC and SC on GI through EL. These results underscore the critical role of leadership in fostering GI within SMEs and highlight the importance of cultivating a culture of knowledge sharing to amplify the impact of organizational and social factors
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