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TBMSCCN: Two Branch Multi Scale Convolutional Correlation Network for Steady State Visual Evoked Potential Classification
Get PDFIn recent years, artificial neural networks have been effectively used to improve the target recognition performance of steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) based Brain-Computer interfaces (BCIs). However, these models require the collection of a large number of calibration trials from users, which typically results in a poor user experience. When fewer calibration trials are acquired this leads to insufficient training of model parameters and weak recognition performance. To tackle these issues, this study proposes a two-branch multi- scale convolutional correlation network (TBMSCCN) in which a correlation network framework is introduced to reduce the model training parameters and prior knowledge of the SSVEP is used to enhance the model representation ability and convergence. First, a multi-scale temporal convolution module is designed to learn local temporal dependencies in a parallel two- branch feature extraction module. Next, a contrastive loss function is constructed in the latent feature space, which can guide the model to learn the intra-class consistent features while speeding up model convergence. Finally, a group convolution module is used as a decision layer to reduce the network parameters, while learning distinguishability features between targets and non-targets. Our offline tests on two public datasets show that proposed TBMSCCN method outperforms TRCA, eTRCA, DNN, Conv-CA and Bi-SiamCA in individual calibration scenarios, which can achieve an average information transform rates (ITRs) of 378.03 ± 139.18 bit/min and 198.92 ± 111.27 bit/min on the “Benchmark” dataset and the “Beta” dataset respectively. Additionally, proposed TBMSCCN method outperform FBCCA, ttCCA, EEGNet, and TST-CFSR in calibration-free scenarios. Furthermore, an online Chinese spelling experiment confirmed the real-world effectiveness of the proposed method. The proposed model has the characteristics of low parameter and strong robustness, which can facilitate the practical engineering application of SSVEP-Based-BCI system. The code is available at https://github.com/xinjieHe123/TBMSCCN
The changing meaning of left-right in UK politics
Get PDFAfter a turbulent decade of politics, dominated by the UK’s referendum on and exit from the EU, how do British voters think about the left-right space of political competition? How do they place themselves on a left-right self-placement scale, and how does this relate to multiple dimensions of ideological values? Did the EU referendum create a new realignment or dealignment within the electorate, or did it simply reflect already existing divisions? The three papers in this thesis use an exploration of measures of ideology over ten years in British politics to explore these questions. Increasingly, as highlighted by the EU referendum, British politics has been dominated by issues on the cultural, rather than economic, dimension of political conflict. This thesis explores the way the mass public has increasingly incorporated their cultural values into their own left-right self-placement. The first paper finds that economic values have become less predictive of left-right self-placement over time as cultural values have become more predictive of left-right self-placement, particularly for those on the right. The second paper finds that the EU referendum crystallised pre-existing ideological divisions within the Labour coalition, while it seemed to create new ideological divisions within the Conservative coalition. In my third paper, an original survey experiment finds that priming respondents on the cultural dimension shifts their left-right self-placement towards their cultural values. Alternatively, it finds no effect of priming on the economic dimension. These papers demonstrate a shift in British politics in the last decade, where cultural issues have become more central to how voters define their left-right self-placement. This has disrupted the coalitions of the two major parties and provides the grounds for a realignment in British politics, where the cultural dimension will exist alongside or even replace the economic dimension
Enhancing Supply Chain Agility and Performance through Big Data Analytics: The Role of Digitalization and Top Management Support
No full textPurpose: This study aims to examine the relationships between big data analytics capabilities (BAC), supply chain digitalization (SCD), supply chain agility (SCA), and supply chain performance (SCP), while assessing the moderating role of top management support (TMS) in these relationships. It seeks to advance understanding of how digital transformation and leadership support enhance supply chain agility and performance outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach: This study applies regression modeling to survey data collected from manufacturing firms. The model examines the direct effects of BAC on SCA and SCP, while assessing the mediating role of SCA and the moderating influence of SCD and TMS. The analysis also explores how these relationships contribute to sustainable supply chain performance outcomes.
Findings: The results demonstrate that BAC positively influences SCA, which in turn enhances SCP. SCD amplifies the effect of BAC on SCA, while TMS significantly moderates the relationships between SCD and both BAC-SCA and SCA-SCP. These findings suggest that digital technologies and leadership support jointly drive supply chain agility and performance in dynamic business environments.
Originality/value: This study contributes to supply chain management literature by integrating BAC, SCD, and TMS into a comprehensive framework that elucidates their combined effects on agility and performance. It highlights the strategic importance of digital transformation and top management support in fostering agile and high-performing supply chains, offering actionable insights for managers and policymakers
This business is mine! Intra-household effects of property rights in micro-enterprises
No full textThis paper studies the intra-household impact of property rights in micro-enterprises. A randomized field experiment on firm formalization in Benin provides exogenous variation in individual property rights. The results reveal significant gender differences. Women entrepreneurs who formalize invest more in their businesses and are more likely to pay to conceal a large windfall transfer from their husbands—a measure of intra-household inefficiency. These findings suggest that while stronger property rights secure and incentivize investment, they may also reduce household cooperation, leading to efficiency losses. Despite this trade-off, women report higher overall well-being when granted formal property rights. In contrast, formalization improves intra-household efficiency for men, likely by reinforcing their authority over household decision-making. Consistently, male entrepreneurs who formalize are more likely to separate business and household finances and to resist pressure to share resources
A Lightweight Multimodal Fusion Method for Object Detection Based on Bird’s Eye View
Get PDFThis article proposes a lightweight multimodal fusion object detection algorithm based on bird’s eye view (BEV) perception, addressing the challenges of high computational complexity and insufficient feature fusion when integrating camera and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data in autonomous vehicles. To alleviate the computational burden, depthwise separable convolution and large separable kernel attention (LSKA) are introduced, constructing a lightweight feature extraction network that effectively captures features from camera data. To enhance computational efficiency, a parallel-optimized BEV pooling structure is proposed that improves the computation process and memory access patterns. In the feature fusion stage, a novel dualmodality dual-attention feature fusion module is designed that integrates the features from both modalities using parallel channel attention and spatial attention mechanisms to strengthen correlations between multimodal features. In addition, a weight generation network is introduced to adaptively assign fusion weights to features of the two modalities. The proposed algorithm has a lightweight structure and achieves cross-modal feature alignment in the BEV space. The experimental results of the public nuScenes dataset show that the proposed algorithm achieves an mAP of 0.682 and a normalized discounted success (NDS) of 0.710, while maintaining detection accuracy similar to the baseline model. Furthermore, the algorithm reduces the computational load from 253.2 to 202.3 G MACs, approximately a 20% decrease, and improves the inference speed from 8.4 to 10.0 FPS. Furthermore, our algorithm has also been experimentally validated on theWaymo dataset, demonstrating performance comparable to that of the BEVFusion method. These results demonstrate significant improvements in both computational efficiency and deployment-friendliness while preserving detection performance
The performance, health and development of youth women's footballers: a systematic scoping review
Get PDFThe primary aim of this scoping review was to summarise the current scientific literature on the performance, health and development of youth women’s footballers. The review provides a summary of the research topics, including methodological approaches adopted and key findings, and identifies gaps in the literature. A systematic search of electronic databases was conducted in December 2023 and June 2025, with keywords relating to the population, football, and performance, health and development. Studies which involved youth women’s footballers playing at any competitive standard, and quantified at least one aspect of performance, health or development were included. Of the 16,473 studies identified in the database searches, 294 studies met the eligibility criteria to be included in the review. Of the eight research topics investigating the performance, health and development of youth women’s footballers, physical qualities was the most investigated (n=119; 40%), followed by injury (n=49; 17%), biomechanics (n=40; 14%), psychology (n=31; 11%), match-play (n=20; 7%), nutrition (n=14; 5%), fatigue and recovery (n=13; 4%) and training load (n=8; 3%). Players competing in regional (42%) and national competitions (32%), and within an U17 age-group (23%) were the most investigated. Over half of all studies (56%) were published from 2020 onwards, demonstrating recent rapid growth in youth women’s football literature. This comprehensive resource can be used to inform practices supporting the performance, health and development of youth women’s footballers across various competitive standards. Furthermore, multiple research areas are highlighted as underdeveloped, and areas for future research concerning this population to explore
The web of perception: reinterpreting Duchamp’s ‘Mile of String’ in <i>First Papers of Surrealism</i>
Get PDFIn 1942, a group of Surrealist artists led by André Breton—then living in exile following the Nazi occupation of Western Europe—organised the first Surrealist exhibition in the United States. Entitled First Papers of Surrealism, the exhibition presented works by more than thirty artists, including objects then categorised as ‘primitive art'. Marcel Duchamp's installation was one of the most daring exhibitions of the early 20th century, installing the entire gallery space with his so‐called ‘Mile of String'. This web‐like structure by Duchamp not only gave Breton and the Surrealists a scandalous success that exceeded their expectations but also almost completely wiped out the visibility of some of their works that should have attracted attention. The string in this exhibition has often been discussed as a barrier, as T.J. Demo called it ‘the greatest obstacle between the painting and the viewing space'. This essay aims to reassess prevailing interpretations by examining ‘Mile of String' as a transparent medium that reconfigured the dynamics of spectatorship. In this light, the discussion situates Duchamp’s installation within broader Surrealist exhibition strategies, demonstrating how it invited spectators to engage critically and imaginatively with art beyond conventional dualisms
Materiality assessment and interconnectedness of sustainable development goals: uncovering misalignments between corporate and stakeholder priorities
Get PDFPurpose Companies are encouraged to proactively identify and address the sustainability issues most relevant to stakeholders and respond to their concerns and expectations. This paper aims to examine how materiality assessment and the interconnectedness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can help uncover misalignments between corporate sustainability priorities and stakeholder expectations.
Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on Nestlé as a case study, analyzing its sustainability reports alongside stakeholder discussions on Twitter. Nestlé’s SDG-related disclosures were used to construct a materiality matrix, while stakeholder communications were manually coded. The authors then compared the constructed matrix with Nestlé’s own materiality matrix provided in its sustainability report. In addition, the authors conducted social network analysis to explore the interconnectedness of SDGs as portrayed in Nestlé’s sustainability report and reflected in stakeholder discussions on Twitter.
Findings The study reveals misalignments between Nestlé’s sustainability report and stakeholders’ sustainability concerns expressed on social media. For example, while both Nestlé and stakeholders recognize the importance of SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, stakeholders place greater emphasis on SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation than the company’s matrix suggests. Social network analysis of SDG interconnectedness further highlights distinct perspectives between Nestlé and its stakeholders, with SDG 12 emerging as a central theme.
Practical implications When developing their methodologies for materiality assessment, companies should consider using various sources of information, including social media. Furthermore, interconnectedness analysis can help uncover misalignments between corporate and stakeholder priorities. Finally, materiality assessment may be more effective and credible when conducted independently from a third party.
Social implications Achieving the SDGs requires coordination, collaboration, and effective reporting. Our findings suggest that misalignments between corporate materiality assessments and stakeholder priorities may weaken public trust and limit meaningful progress toward the SDGs. Incorporating stakeholder perspectives–particularly those expressed through social media–can support more inclusive sustainability governance, enhance transparency, and promote more coherent action across interconnected SDGs
Originality/value This study contributes new insights into the use of materiality assessment and SDG interconnectedness to reduce misalignments between corporate and stakeholder SDG priorities. It demonstrates the value of alternative data sources, particularly social media, in supporting materiality assessments and SDG interconnectedness analysis. Moreover, it illustrates how stakeholder discussions on social media and social network analysis can be used to examine the interconnections among SDGs as perceived by both companies and stakeholders
The psychological impact of adult-onset craniopharyngioma: A follow-up survey
Get PDFPurpose Adult-onset craniopharyngioma (AoC) is a rare benign tumour of the sellar/parasellar region associated with significant physical morbidity and a poorer quality of life. Limited medical studies have documented the psychological impact of AoC, but psychological studies may be better placed to investigate these effects. This study used an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to develop and administer a new patient-informed survey to quantitatively assess the psychosocial consequences of AoC.
Methods A 30-item questionnaire was developed based on previous qualitative interviews with AoC patients and clinicians. Items covered psychological and physical impacts, including mood, social functioning, and emotion regulation. Participants (N = 25) were recruited online via a UK-based charity and completed the survey through Qualtrics. Percentage endorsements were calculated for each item, and regression analyses examined associations with individual history.
Results There was a clear psychosocial impact of AoC: 88% reported low mood, 68% felt they no longer recognized themselves, and 56% missed social events due to anxiety. Physical symptoms were also prominent, but importantly these were associated with significant psychosocial implications. Finally, growth hormone replacement therapy was significantly associated with reduced physical impact.
Conclusion Findings demonstrate a significant psychosocial impact of AoC, highlighting the importance of integrated mental health care in its management and the need for further psychosocial research to improve quality of life for patients