46870 research outputs found
Sort by
Application of bionic rocker panel reinforcement to enhance vehicle pole side impact crashworthiness Communicated by Francisco Silva
No full textBionic tubes have illustrated superior crashworthiness performance, making them outstanding crashworthiness reinforcement candidates in vehicle structures. This study proposes an innovative design process using a bionic rocker panel reinforcement (BRPR) inspired by the shrimp chela to improve vehicle crashworthiness. A base pole side impact numerical model is created based on a validated Yaris finite element model from NCAC. The crashworthiness characteristics of the base numerical model, hollow thin-walled reinforcement model, multi-cell rocker panel reinforcement (MRPR) model, and BRPR model with various shrimp chela arrangements are compared to assess their crashworthiness response. A complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) methodology is employed to select the reinforcement structure with the minimum intrusion, acceleration and mass as well as the highest energy absorption. , suggesting that the BRPR structure demonstrates superior crashworthiness capacities. A multi-objective optimization method based on response surfaces methodology and Optimal Latin Hypercube design is then proposed to extract the optimal design, revealing that the optimal BRPR structure illustrates a 25.39% lower intrusion of the door inner panel, a 15.90% lower intrusion of the rocker panel and an 847.27% higher energy absorption than the base pole numerical model. This design process demonstrates that bionic structures, like BRPR structures, can be created and optimized practically and systematically, providing life-saving opportunities in side impact collisions
A parent-led gamified stability skills intervention enhances stability skill but not general motor competence in children aged 4-5 years
Full text linkThis study examined the effect of a parent-led, gamified stability skills intervention on stability skill and motor competence in 4-5 year olds. Eighty-four children were allocated to intervention (n=49 (17 boys)), or control (n=35 (22 boys)) groups. The intervention group undertook a 12-week parent or caregiver (P/G) led, gamified stability skills programme designed to be performed in a home environment. The control group participated in their usual activities. Stability skill and motor competence were assessed pre and post intervention. A sub sample of P/G’s (n=7) participated in post intervention interviews. A series of ANCOVAs controlling for baseline values demonstrated significantly higher stability skills (P<.001) and higher ball kicking velocity (P=.025) post intervention for the intervention group compared to controls. There were no significant differences in other motor competence tests (all P >.05). There was a significant positive relationship (P<.001) between intervention dose and change in stability skills. Thematic analysis from P/G interviews identified the following as facilitators for intervention engagement: 1) Intervention Format, 2) Autonomy, and 3) Social Support and the following as barriers to uptake: 1) Intervention Format, 2) Logistics & Life Constraints, 3) Parental Perceived Competence, and 4) Links to School
A QoS-driven Fuzzy Logic-based Adaptive MPQUIC Scheduler for Heterogeneous Networks
Full text linkMultipath communication has become a fundamental technique for improving network performance and reliability. However, in heterogeneous and dynamic network environments, conventional scheduling mechanisms often suffer from issues such as head-of-line (HOL) blocking and receiver buffer overflow, leading to suboptimal transmission efficiency. To address the limitations, we propose Stream-Aware Optimal Path First (SA-OPF), a novel adaptive scheduler for Multipath QUIC (MPQUIC) that dynamically selects the optimal path for each packet transmission. Firstly, SA-OPF allocates different transmission resources to different streams based on stream weights to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements, known as stream-aware scheduling. Then, SA-OPF leverages a fuzzy logic system to evaluate the performance of each path in real-time, ensuring that packets are forwarded along the optimal path, known as adaptive scheduling policy. By incorporating stream-aware and adaptive optimal path scheduling, SA-OPF improves QoS for high-priority streams while providing a minimum bandwidth guarantee for low-priority streams. We implement SA-OPF in MPQUIC and evaluate its performance in various heterogeneous network scenarios in both emulated and real-world network environments. Experimental results demonstrate that SA-OPF significantly improves data transmission efficiency and reduces transmission latency compared to existing MPQUIC schedulers
From Headsets to Mindsets:A Taxonomy for Human-centred Extended Reality Experimentations for Cultural Heritage
No full textCultural heritage is undergoing a technological transformation that has an impact on how people experience, act, and relate to cultural heritage found in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. There is a surge in the use of extended reality applications and tools that influence the way people experience virtual artefacts, crafts, traditions, and histori-cal stories. Extended reality is used as an umbrella term incorporating immersive experiences that utilise varying degrees of digital visualisa-tion, encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reali-ty. Despite the hype around such technologies and the increasingly af-fordable and enhanced visual experiences they afford, there is still ambiguity in terms of the processes, strategies, and human-centred design elements that drive innovation in using extended reality for cul-tural heritage applications. This chapter proposes a taxonomy that acts as a catalyst for designing features, elements, and mechanics reflex-ively and purposefully for constituting the sense and significance of interaction, participation, and meaning-making. The taxonomy could be significant in helping technologists, cultural heritage specialists, and educators harness a culture of change when designing and con-veying cultural heritage experimentations through extended reality
First Monday Revisited:Production and Dissemination of Diasporic Jazz in the Digital Age
No full textThe chapter is a reflection on the radical changes that characterize the music industry in the digital age. With reference to European jazz collectives and cooperative initiatives, the authors explore the various informal strategies jazz musicians develop to overcome the threats of precarious artistic labor. The contribution also examines the lack of market and state funding in the promotion of thriving scene- and community- based diasporic jazz cultures in Europe. The bottom-up practices seeking to negotiate the tensions between commercial success and artistic autonomy point beyond the field of jazz and serve as illustrative models for counteracting the market imperatives of the global music industry
Women and Peace-Building:A Case Study of the Guji-Gedio Conflict in Southern Ethiopia
Full text linkThis study examines the critical roles of women in post-conflict peace-building, with a particular focus on the Guji–Gedio conflict in southern Ethiopia. Using a qualitative research approach that integrates primary and secondary data, the study draws insights from 61 participants through key informant interviews, in-depth discussions with community members, and focus group sessions with women. The findings reveal that, despite enduring significant hardships during conflict, women's contributions to peace-building are severely restricted by entrenched patriarchal norms, traditional gender expectations, and limited access to education. The study underscores the pressing need for targeted interventions to dismantle these structural barriers and foster inclusive, equitable, and sustainable peace-building processes
A Fashion Anthropologist on eBay:Locating, Bidding, Collecting, and Ethnographically Wearing Second-hand Menswear
No full textI have had a long love affair with the online auction website eBay. However, whilst conducting research with bespoke tailors in London and a network of Instagram sartorialists, this love grew into an obsession. Throughout this period of research I amassed a collection of mostly British menswear that resulted from this work, but which frequently languished in wardrobes, unloved and unseen. More recently I have returned to this collection to re-examine it, not merely as the consequence of research, but as a fertile resource in its own right. This article engages with a collection of garments from Joshua Kane, Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, Anderson and Sheppard, Mark Powell and A Child of the Jago, among others, but primarily examines a process. This ranges from the routine of bidding for specific articles of clothing on online auction sites, to the process by which a collection is subsequently amassed, neglected and rediscovered. By considering the purchasing, collecting and ethnographic wearing of these items as part of a multi-stranded methodological toolkit, questions will be asked as to the role of acquiring and living with garments as a means of understanding the
Do foreign direct investment and trade affect the relationship between temperature and civil conflict?
No full textThis study investigates the role of countries’ outward orientation in the relationship between temperature and civil conflict. We add to existing literature by highlighting the importance of FDI and trade openness as mitigating factors to reduce the risk of temperature-induced conflict. Using data from 62 developing countries covering the period 1990-2022, and incorporating several estimation methods and robustness tests, our results indicate that higher temperature increases conflict risk and onsets, while FDI inflows, particularly non-primary sector FDI, and trade openness, weaken the positive association by virtue of technical innovation and their capacity to stimulate sustainable practices and climate adaptation strategies. Hence, greater trade with developing countries, along with higher foreign investment into their secondary and tertiary sectors, alleviates their trade-off between extreme temperatures and civil conflict. This broader understanding of the macroeconomic factors moderating the temperature-conflict relationship offers another valuable perspective for inter-governmental climate policy-making efforts to reduce civil conflict
Corporate Social Irresponsibility and the Cost of Equity Capital:Evidence from Listed Firms in China
No full textThis paper studies the association between corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) and the cost of equity capital in China. Using a sample of 180 firms listed on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange over the period 2013-2018, we identify and measure the extent of corporate misconduct among these firms by creating an index of CSI activity relating to their environmental, social and governance characteristics. We then test the impact of CSI on their cost of equity capital. Our results reveal that higher CSI activities of firms raise their cost of equity financing, although this positive relationship between CSI and the cost of equity capital is shaped by the firms' systematic risks and the institutional environment in which the firms operate
Advertising message design and healthy food purchase intention:the interactive effect of temporal distance and message framing
No full textPurpose In an era of information overload, advertising is an effective mean of influencing consumers’ food preferences. This study focuses on advertising message design and explores how temporal distance and message framing can be effectively combined to promote healthy food consumption. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in construal level theory, this study developed a conceptual model to examine the interactive effect of temporal distance (present vs. future) and message framing (positive vs. negative) on healthy food purchase intentions through three studies. Findings Study 1 found that when the message was negatively framed, the present temporal distance significantly increased purchase intentions for healthy food. In contrast, no significant effect of temporal distance was observed in positive framing. Study 2 discovered that conceptual fluency mediates this interaction effect. Study 3 demonstrated the moderating effect of general health interest (GHI). Specifically, a significant interaction effect between temporal distance and message framing on healthy food purchase intentions was observed only among consumers with low GHI, while those with high GHI were unaffected by message design. Research limitations/implications This study reveals that multidimensional message designs (temporal distance and message framing) in advertising influence consumers’ healthy food purchases through information processing mechanism (conceptual fluency), thereby enriching research related to message design and information processing in persuasive communication and providing valuable theoretical insights into healthy food advertising. Based on the findings of this study, the stakeholders, including managers, marketers and government agencies in the health food and wellness industry, can create more effective advertisements to promote healthy consumption, which enhances both business outcome and overall social benefits. Practical implications Based on the findings of this study, the stakeholders, including managers, marketers and government agencies in the health food and wellness industry, can create more effective advertisements to promote healthy consumption, which enhance both business outcome and overall social benefits. Originality/value In the healthy consumption context, this study elucidates the critical role of message framing in influencing how temporal distance affects consumers’ purchase intention from a persuasive advertising design perspective. Furthermore, it identifies the underlying information processing mechanism underpinning this interactive effect, which enriches the theoretical understanding of the mechanisms driving healthy food advertising effectiveness