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From ‘take-ism’ to pursuit of newness and originality: design professionals and models of creativity in contemporary China
Get PDFChinese innovative workers are often discussed in terms of their exploitation and empowerment within the current intellectual property systems, but little attention is given to their creative processes. Meanwhile, design practitioners are viewed solely as an innovation resource in the field of design thinking. Based on interviews with Chinese interior designers and secondary data, this article provides an analysis that situates their practices and experiences within the intersection of these fields, emphasising practitioners’ accounts of creativity and production of innovative, cultural, and aesthetic forms. Drawing on theories of practice, genre, and post-Bourdieuian analysis of cultural production, this article argues that the valorisation of creativity needs to be understood in relation to the practices in which they engage, within particular contexts of history, organisation, and genre cultures that provide opportunities for the transformation of genre boundaries. Operating within a milieu that saw copying as part of creative process, the practitioners had no agreement on how the work should be understood within the rubric of creativity. Despite this, they aimed for slight differentiation in design, appropriating and rediscovering multi-cultural forms to resist ‘take-ism’ – the imitative culture of copying of foreign decorative elements and styles, while establishing themselves in the commercial world
Entwining Yang–Baxter maps over Grassmann algebras
Get PDFIn this work we construct novel solutions to the set-theoretical entwining Yang–Baxter equation. These solutions are birational maps involving non-commutative dynamical variables which are elements of the Grassmann algebra of order n. The maps arise from refactorisation problems of Lax supermatrices associated to a nonlinear Schrödinger equation. In this non-commutative setting, we construct a spectral curve associated to each of the obtained maps using the characteristic function of its monodromy supermatrix. We find generating functions of invariants for the entwining Yang–Baxter maps from the moduli of the spectral curves. Moreover, we show that a hierarchy of birational entwining Yang–Baxter maps with commutative variables can be obtained by fixing the order n of the Grassmann algebra, and we present the cases n=1 (dual numbers) and n=2. Then we discuss the integrability properties, such as Lax matrices, invariants, and measure preservation, for the obtained discrete dynamical systems
Intelligent speech handover for smart speakers through deep learning: a custom loss function approach
Get PDFThe consistent growth of the smart speaker market has established far-field speech communication as an alternative to traditional handsets. When multiple smart speakers are used, a mechanism for seamless handover is needed, which is not currently supported. This paper presents two novel contributions that, together, enable seamless handover: using speech signals to select a suitable smart speaker through machine learning; and, reduction in media disruption during handover by local modifications to the session initiation protocol (SIP). The proposed solution uses prediction based on a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1DCNN) and a custom loss function. A comprehensive evaluation with multiple datasets incorporating different types of audio signals, movement loci, and, varying room scenarios demonstrates the effectiveness of the suggested method in predicting the most appropriate smart speaker. Our proposal is shown to be highly effective when compared against a previously proposed predictor or using a standard 1DCNN loss function and operates with a low computational cost, suitable for consumer smart speakers
Constituent Assemblies
No full textWhat are the elements uniting (or distinguishing) entities that in different jurisdictions and historical periods, have been officially called General Congresses, Constituent Parliaments, Constituent Congresses, National Constituent Assemblies, Constitutional Assemblies, Assemblies of Revision, Parallel Constituent Assembles, or Conventions, but at the same time are generically labelled by political actors and academics as ‘constituent assemblies’? In attempting to answer that question, the objective of this chapter is threefold. First, to describe the main features of the type of institution that can be accurately identified as a constituent assembly. This requires a conception that is broad enough to cover most constitution-making bodies that would be normally labelled as ‘constituent assemblies’, but specific enough as to discriminate against entities that lack certain features. I propose that, while constituent assemblies may be understood in terms of their form or function, it is the nature of their power what distinguishes them from other constitution-drafting mechanisms. My second objective is to enquire into the limits of the power of -a properly understood- constituent assembly. Third, and relatedly, to consider the effects that the attempt to constitutionally regulate such an entity has on its ‘constituent’ nature
How the Concept of “Regenerative Good Growth” Could Help Increase Public and Policy Engagement and Speed Transitions to Net Zero and Nature Recovery
Get PDFJust and fair transitions to low-carbon and nature-positive ways of living need to occur fast enough to limit and reverse the climate and nature crises, but not so fast that the public is left behind. We propose the concept of “Regenerative Good Growth” (RGG) to replace the language and practice of extractive, bad GDP-growth. RGG centres on the services provided by five renewable capitals: natural, social, human, cultural and sustainable physical. The term “growth” tends to divide rather than unite, and so here we seek language and storylines that appeal to a newly-emergent cli-mate-concerned majority. Creative forms of public engagement that lead to response diversity will be essential to fostering action: when people feel coerced into adoption of single options at pace, there is a danger of backlash or climate authoritarianism. Policy centred around storytelling can help create diverse public responses and institutional frameworks. The practices underpinning RGG have already created business opportunity, while delivering sharp falls in unit costs. Fast transitions and social tipping points are emerging in agricultural, energy and city sectors. Though further risks will emerge related to rebound effects and lack of decoupling of material consump-tion from GDP, RGG will help cut the externalities of economies
“Not everyone should be a social worker.” A critical review of social work education admissions decision-making in English universities
Get PDFAdmissions is an under researched area of social work education. While the UK fair university admissions code of practice centres applicant inclusion as education justice, courses such as social work are exempt on safeguarding grounds. The social work profession centres social justice and inclusion values. While education justice is evidenced by scrutiny of inclusive student experience, applicant experience as education justice is less considered, sitting uncomfortably alongside safeguarding concerns and workforce representation.
Around 5,500 students enrol onto English social work education courses each year. Courses are accredited by a common professional regulator, Social Work England (SWE). While SWE provides admissions guidance to universities, it is for universities to set their own processes. SWE has overarching quality assurance validation processes which encompass admissions every four years otherwise there is no national picture of admissions processes or decision-making. To this end, for example, it is not currently known if decision-making impacts on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Admissions processes are expected to be holistic and multi-dimensional considering academic and non-academic applicant characteristics. This thesis critically examines the social work admissions as the classroom door through a social constructionist lens using a three-stage mixed-methods research design:
(1) policy and archive document review
(2) university webpage reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) (3) academic decision-maker survey data analysis (RTA)
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Findings: There is an absence of policy clarity, training or scrutiny with limited consideration of applicant experience, admissions decision-making and the impact on student experience and workforce representation. Findings show variation in process and decision-making rationale which attributed to lack of training, team discussion and concern for regulatory oversight. While local autonomy is valued, a regulator inclusion statement would be welcomed. Applicant experience would benefit from monitoring commonalities in rejected applicant characteristics, the impact of admissions experience on student progression and uncoupling bursary allocation from admissions performance
The brain-body link: The impact of trauma on interoceptive awareness & the presence of psychosomatic symptoms in adolescents, a community sample
Get PDFBackground: Interoception, the perception of one's internal bodily signals, has been suggested as an important underlying mechanism in psychological and physical issues. Traumatic childhood experiences may lead to a reduction in interoception, which may lead to issues with emotion regulation. Little research has explored the impact of trauma and interoception on the development of psychosomatic symptoms. Aims: This study aimed to explore the role of interoception in the presence of psychosomatic symptoms in adolescents and understand the impact of trauma on interoceptive awareness and psychosomatic symptoms. This study also sought to explore the impact of emotional and behavioural issues on psychosomatic symptoms and interoceptive awareness. Method: A cross-sectional design was employed for this study involving 66 children aged 9-14 from a community sample. Participants completed self-report questionnaires, followed by a clinical interview by a clinician using the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index (UCLA) with children who had a self-reported traumatic experience. Results: A total of 65.2% of participants self-reported a traumatic experience, and 24.2% of participants were identified as having a traumatic experience according to the UCLA. 6.1% of participants were found to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD. Interoceptive awareness was not associated with the presence of somatic symptoms. However, older children and children with greater emotional issues were found to exhibit higher levels of psychosomatic symptoms. Children with traumatic experiences, according to UCLA, did not have a higher frequency of psychosomatic symptoms. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence for the prevalence of self-reported trauma in a child community population and the possible relationship between emotional issues and psychosomatic symptoms. However, the results of this study are preliminary with a small sample size and more research is needed
A Complete Unknown: Chalamet’s brilliant performance captures the elusive essence of a young Dylan
No full textJust Energy Transition in Africa: Towards Social Inclusion and Environmental Rights-based Imperatives
Get PDFThis article examines the ‘just energy transition’ concept in the context of African countries dependent on fossil fuels for economic growth and development. Further, it explores the need for social inclusion and environmental rights-based approaches in just energy transition initiatives in Africa. This article focuses on the social exclusion of Indigenous communities from reaping the benefits of just transition initiatives in Africa. This article argues that social inclusion and environmental right-based approaches are key imperatives to successful just energy transition initiatives in Africa
Impact of Data Duplication on Deep Neural Network-Based Image Classifiers: Robust vs. Standard Models
Get PDFThe accuracy and robustness of machine learning models against adversarial attacks are significantly influenced by factors such as training data quality, model architecture, the training process, and the deployment environment. In recent years, duplicated data in training sets, especially in language models, has attracted considerable attention. It has been shown that deduplication enhances both training performance and model accuracy in language models. While the importance of data quality in training image classifier Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) is widely recognized, the impact of duplicated images in the training set on model generalization and performance has received little attention.
In this paper, we address this gap and provide a comprehensive study on the effect of duplicates in image classification. Our analysis indicates that the presence of duplicated images in the training set not only negatively affects the efficiency of model training but also may result in lower accuracy of the image classifier. This negative impact of duplication on accuracy is particularly evident when duplicated data is non-uniform across classes or when duplication, whether uniform or non-uniform, occurs in the training set of an adversarially trained model. Even when duplicated samples are selected in a uniform way, increasing the amount of duplication does not lead to a significant improvement in accuracy