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Forecasting interrupted time series
No full textForecasting interrupted time series data is a major challenge for forecasting teams, especially in light of events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper investigates several strategies for dealing with interruptions in time series forecasting, including highly adaptable models, intervention models, marking interrupted periods as missing, forecasting what may have been, downweighting the interruption period, and ensemble models. Each approach offers specific advantages and disadvantages, such as adaptability, memory retention, data integrity, flexibility, and accuracy. We evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies using two actual datasets that were interrupted by COVID-19, and we provide recommendations for how to handle these interruptions. This work contributes to the literature on time series forecasting, offering insights for academics and practitioners dealing with interrupted data in numerous domains.</p
Ethnic proximity, mobility and (non)-belonging:middle-class Singaporean migrants in China
No full textNew global multi-directional migration flows are decentering extant analyses of White expatriate migration. As migration becomes more diversified, new lines of intellectual inquiry are surfacing about the experiences of middle-class non-white expatriates. This paper uses the case study of China, which with the rise in immigration, has an increasingly diverse ‘expatriate’ population. While the visibility of White expatriates in non-white-majority host countries may compel them to adopt lifestyles segregated from the local population, expatriates of Chinese heritage in China have the (dis)advantage of blending in with the local population. This paper examines the experiences of Singaporean-Chinese migrants in China where their ethnic proximity to the Chinese can be both a boon and a bane. We present our findings in three sections addressing: first, how ethnic proximity can enable mobilities including motility and a mobile sense of belonging; second, how mobilities can condition ethnic proximity as experiences of privilege but also reminders of non-belonging; and third, how participants’ change in life phases i.e. temporalities shift meanings of proximity, mobility and mobile belonging. Through highlighting the multidimensional nature of mobilities–proximity, motility, temporalities–this paper contributes to studies of middling migration, (ethnic) proximity and mobilities.</p
Multi-Label Generalized Zero Shot Chest Xray Classification By Combining Image-Text Information With Feature Disentanglement
No full textIn fully supervised learning-based medical image classification, the robustness of a trained model is influenced by its exposure to the range of candidate disease classes. Generalized Zero Shot Learning (GZSL) aims to correctly predict seen and novel unseen classes. Current GZSL approaches have focused mostly on the single-label case. However, it is common for chest X-rays to be labelled with multiple disease classes. We propose a novel multi-modal multi-label GZSL approach that leverages feature disentanglement andmulti-modal information to synthesize features of unseen classes. Disease labels are processed through a pre-trained BioBert model to obtain text embeddings that are used to create a dictionary encoding similarity among different labels. We then use disentangled features and graph aggregation to learn a second dictionary of inter-label similarities. A subsequent clustering step helps to identify representative vectors for each class. The multi-modal multi-label dictionaries and the class representative vectors are used to guide the feature synthesis step, which is the most important component of our pipeline, for generating realistic multi-label disease samples of seen and unseen classes. Our method is benchmarked against multiple competing methods and we outperform all of them based on experiments conducted on the publicly available NIH and CheXpert chest X-ray datasets.</p
Filling the gaps:grassroots prevention of domestic and family violence within the Korean-Australian community
No full textThis study focuses on the bridging roles of grassroots community groups from migrant communities in Australia, specifically in the context of domestic and family violence (DFV). Through in-depth interviews with 15 victim-survivors and 16 practitioners and community volunteers of Korean heritage, the study examines how members of the Korean community are attempting to fill the gaps in social support for victim-survivors of DFV and what issues, barriers and limitations they face. The results indicate that community members face multiple barriers in their efforts to fill gaps in service, which in turn affects the quality of their response to victim-survivors. This study argues that the emergence of a peer-support network is a response and even a partial solution to those barriers and limitations, challenging the traditional community groups (for example, ethnic churches) that used to serve as a main platform for the Korean diasporic community in Australia. A deeper understanding and engagement with these emerging networks are needed to fill thegap in the work investigating DFV response and prevention within Australian-Asian communities
Hybrid professional identities:exploring non-native English-speaking teachers’ lived experiences through the Cyborg Manifesto
No full textDrawing on Donna Haraway’s ‘Cyborg Manifesto’ and employing a hermeneutic phenomenological narrative enquiry approach, this article examines the complex professional identities of ‘non-native English-speaking (English) teachers (NNESTs) from immigrant backgrounds who speak English as an additional language in the Australian education system. Challenging the traditional binary division between native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and NNESTs, this research reveals that NNESTs’ identities are fluid and multifaceted, akin to cyborgs, shaped by socio-historical discourses and influenced by determinants such as reflexivity, agency, and hybridity. NNESTs disrupt the established hierarchy in English language teaching, promoting inclusivity through their hybrid professional practices, driving pedagogical innovation, and contributing to the globalisation of education. Like cyborgs, they challenge traditional power structures and native speaker constructs, fostering a more equitable educational environment. This article endorses the recognition of ‘hybrid professional becoming’ in policy, practice, and teacher education, promising the development of intercultural teacher capabilities and inclusive, innovative, and equitable educational practices that enrich students’ English language learning experiences and reshape the field in alignment with Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto.</p
How the political elite make decisions
No full textThe political elite make policy decisions in noisy environments and under time pressure, and so are prone to using heuristics. There are conflicting schools of thought as to whether it is appropriate for them to do so. Experienced decision-makers are thought to be more effective at using heuristics, so it is possible that for the political elite with experience in a particular context, heuristic decision-making is appropriate. Yet, many politicians are asked to make decisions on matters about which they are not experts. To add to the debate, we facilitated a discussion with a highly experienced cohort of 21 current and former senior politicians, former advisers, and current and former senior bureaucrats. When presented with a carefully considered and innovative new transport network pricing policy, we sought to identify whether and, if so, how they used heuristics to make a decision. We found that they used heuristics (1) to decide whether to engage with the issue at all and (2) how to act, having made the decision to engage. We describe how these heuristics were used and discuss the implications for theory and public administration practice. Points for practitioners: There is a growing body of evidence that the political elite use heuristics for decision-making and that the use of heuristics is influenced by seven factors. We gained rare access to the political elite deciding on a politically risky issue and observed not only which heuristics they used, but how they used them. We observed a three-step decision tree, incorporating the ‘wait-and-see’ heuristic being used to decide whether to act, and political empathy, or intuiting voter heuristics to help decide how to act. We outline five options for public administrators who think that the political elite are using heuristics inappropriately for decision-making.</p
Using the UTAUT2 model to determine the factors affecting students’ acceptance of blended learning for English writing
No full textThe study aimed to determine the factors that affect students’ acceptance of blended learning for English writing. The authors employed Venkatesh et al.’s UTAUT2 and Bandura’s social cognitive learning theory to model the measurement scale, and the questionnaires were delivered to 152 students at a university in Vietnam. The findings show that students’ acceptance of BL was substantially influenced by their behavioral intention to use BL and slightly by their self-efficacy. Among the core constructs of UTAUT2, performance expectancy was the most influential on self-efficacy and behavioral intention to use BL. In addition, while effort expectancy moderately impacted students’ self-efficacy beliefs, facilitating conditions slightly influenced their behavioral intention to use BL. However, hypothesis testing concurrently rejected the causal relations between self-efficacy and performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitation condition. In another relation, social influence was not found to influence behavioral intention to use BL. Regarding the moderators, academic performance and ICT skills were found to positively affect the relation between behavioral intention to use BL and use behavior of BL. The systems information in the newly validated model offers some major implications for increasing students’ acceptance of BL for English writing.</p
An analysis of privacy regulations and user concerns of finance mobile applications
No full textContext: Financial applications handle sensitive data, including personal details, banking information, and transaction histories, making them prime targets for cyber-attacks. As privacy concerns grow, users and regulators are increasingly analyzing how these apps manage data in different legal contexts. Objective: This study examines user privacy concerns and assesses the impact of privacy regulations on mobile financial applications in Germany, Australia, and the United States. It aims to evaluate how laws such as the GDPR in the EU, the Privacy Act in Australia, and various U.S. state and federal laws shape app privacy policies. Additionally, the study explores the readability and accessibility of privacy policies. Methods: User reviews from app stores were analyzed to identify recurring privacy issues and regional differences in concerns. The study also reviewed privacy laws in the EU, Australia, and the U.S. to assess their influence on financial app policies. To analyze the user-friendliness of privacy documents, a readability analysis was conducted using the Flesch Reading Ease score and estimated reading times. Results: The findings revealed that users are highly concerned about the handling of their data, with significant demand for greater transparency and more robust privacy protections. Regional differences in privacy concerns were identified, with varying levels of engagement with privacy issues in each region. The study also found significant discrepancies in the readability of privacy policies, with many policies proving too complex for the average user to understand. Conclusion: The study concludes that financial app developers need to simplify their privacy policies and improve transparency to build user trust. It also emphasizes the need for stronger regulatory frameworks to address evolving privacy challenges. Recommendations are made for developers and policymakers to enhance data protection and improve user experience in financial services.</p
Household innovation and agency in sustainability transitions
No full textHouseholds have so far received limited and narrow attention in the sustainability transitions literature. This is despite households being recognised routinely in sustainability policies, albeit also often from a rather narrow perspective. In this editorial to the special issue on household innovation and agency in sustainability transitions, we conceptualise households as a social unit, scale, and site that offers a fruitful avenue for research on, and the governance of, sustainability transitions. The editorial introduces 16 articles that make up this special issue and identifies 10 key contributions to transition research, policy and practice. Ultimately, the findings in this special issue recognise increased potential, willingness, possibilities and activity of diverse types of households to participate in sustainability transitions by changing social practices and relationships in the home, and shaping the social context by reaching into the realms of politics, professions, community and business. At the same time the collection recognises that there are limits to what is achievable, not the least within the constraining environment of existing socio-technical systems and politicized contexts.</p
Michael Tonry:escaping American parochialism, championing comparative research and reform
No full textMichael Tonry’s life and work are an exception to American exceptionalism. His lifelong concern with American parochialism and antipathy to its punitiveness, racism, and historical lawlessness have led him to look beyond its borders for explanations of such a dysfunctional sentencing regime and the means of reforming it. This article examines his interest in and contributions to comparative sentencing research and reform, his articulation of fundamental principles of justice, and his vision of an ideal sentencing system. It identifies some future directions for comparative sentencing research by extending his ideas and methods beyond the Global North.</p