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Large Language Model Aided Integrated Sensing and Communication for Low-Altitude Economy
Full text linkThe rapid expansion of the low-altitude economy (LAE) necessitates robust and intelligent integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems. These systems are critical for managing dense airspace, ensuring safe navigation of drones and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), and delivering seamless data services. This paper explores the transformative potential of large language models (LLMs) in advancing ISAC technologies for LAE applications. LLMs, with their profound capabilities in contextual understanding, multi-modal data fusion, and probabilistic reasoning, can be leveraged to interpret complex sensing data, optimize communication resources, and facilitate intelligent decision-making in dynamic environments. As a concrete example, we introduce an LLM-based multi-scale three-dimensional (3D) localization framework. This algorithm utilizes an LLM as a cognitive engine to integrate and analyze the acquired data streams and is capable of providing multi-scale positioning for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Moreover, we outline a number of key technical challenges as well as potential solutions associated with LLM-aided ISAC for LAE
10 Steps to Successfully Developing a New University Program in Kinesiology and Sport Science
No full textDeveloping new academic programs in higher education requires strategic alignment, data26 informed decision-making, and collaboration across departments. Kinesiology and sport science programs face distinct challenges, including specialized placements and facility needs. This article outlines a ten-step model to guide faculty and administrators through key stages of program creation, including academic justification, student demand, curriculum design, financial analysis, and long-term viability. Drawing from research, workforce data, institutional best practices, and professional experience, the model offers practical strategies to ensure programs
are academically rigorous, market-responsive, and financially sustainable
Socioeconomic position and the gut microbiota: a narrative synthesis of the association and recommendations
Full text linkEvidence suggests that socioeconomic position (SEP) may shape the gut microbiota (GM), representing a mechanism through which social and environmental factors may drive health inequalities, yet no systematic review has examined this association. In this narrative systematic review, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus up to 30 November 2024 for observational studies examining associations between measures of SEP and GM diversity, composition, or function in participants of any age, ethnicity, or location. We identified 1,479 unique studies, of which 26 met the inclusion criteria for this review. Associations were observed between SEP indicators and GM features, including alpha (α) and beta (β) diversity, taxonomic composition, and functional pathways. Notably, socioeconomic patterns in α-diversity differed by context, with greater diversity observed in advantaged groups in high-income countries (HICs) but in disadvantaged groups in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Differences in β-diversity suggest that advantaged and disadvantaged groups have distinct GM profiles. Furthermore, considerable heterogeneity was evident across studies, particularly in sampling, sequencing, and analytical methods. Overall, socioeconomic-related differences in the GM are evident globally, highlighting the microbiota as a potential target for interventions aimed at reducing health disparities. Further research employing larger and more diverse cohorts, longitudinal designs, metagenomic sequencing approaches, and comprehensive measurement and adjustment of key covariates is needed to deepen understanding of this relationship
A Policymaking Perspective on International Business and The Natural Environment
Full text linkMultinational enterprises are central to today’s economy, simultaneously driving environmental pressures and holding capabilities to mitigate them. What matters for policymaking is how cross-border firms that orchestrate global value chains shape environmental outcomes that spill over borders, and how policy mixes can steer behaviors. We advance a policymaking perspective, framework, and research agenda on the international business–natural environment nexus. They direct scholars to specify geo-physical, geo-economic, and geo-political linkages; trace how policy instruments shape firm responses, how these scale into system trajectories, and how feedback/feedforward loops alter policy and strategy over time and across places; and unravel emerging tensions
Orthogonal Chirp Delay-Doppler Division Multiplexing (CDDM) Modulation for High Mobility Communications
Full text linkThis paper proposes a novel multi-carrier modulation framework for high-mobility communication scenarios. Our key idea lies in spreading data symbols across the delay- Doppler (DD) domain through orthogonal chirp-Zak transform (CZT). To enable efficient signal multiplexing, the proposed modulation scheme employs a transmitter signal that maintains orthogonality with the inherent resolution characteristics of the DD plane. Termed as Orthogonal Chirp Delay-Doppler Division Multiplexing (CDDM), we demonstrate a synergistic integration of chirp waveform properties with the channel structure of the DD domain, thereby achieving advantages with both lower computational efficiency and improved detection performance. We introduce a novel CZT-based superimposed sparse pilot structure to enable simultaneous estimation of delay-Doppler shifts and channel coefficients. For enhanced performance, we further develop an embedded pilot scheme that demonstrates channel estimation performance comparable to that of Orthogonal Delay-Doppler Division Multiplexing (ODDM) systems. Simulation results demonstrate that CDDM achieves significant bit error rate (BER) improvements over existing modulation schemes , under perfect channel state information (CSI), as well as superior out-of-band emissions (OOBE). Further, for the imperfect CSI case, the proposed CZT-based superimposed pilot scheme leads to significantly reduced normalized mean square error (NMSE), whilst attaining equivalent estimation accuracy to that of ODDM with lower computational complexity
Regulating bodily states and emotions: the influence of child and caregiver factors on emotional eating in 18-month-old toddlers.
Full text linkParental feeding practices, child temperament, and poor emotion regulation abilities are central factors associated with Emotional Eating (EE) during childhood (3-10 years). Yet, it is poorly understood how children develop EE behaviours in early life. This experimental study investigated the influences of parental and child factors on early expression of EE behaviours in 18-month-old toddlers (N = 71). Toddlers attended the lab twice. After eating lunch to satiation, we manipulated internal emotional states and examined how toddlers regulated their responses to a mildly stressful (experimental) task compared to a control task, using the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery "attractive toy behind a barrier" task. Immediately after, an Eating in the Absence of Hunger (EAH) protocol was administered. Toddlers' behaviours during each task were coded, along with measuring the energy consumption of snack food items. We found that experimental condition alone did not predict EE. However, toddlers exhibiting higher behavioural reactivity to changes in emotional state showed higher EE and consumed more energy. Higher parental use of food to regulate emotions predicted fewer calories EAH. Child eating traits were not found to be predictive of EE in the absence of hunger. We conclude that EE is a behaviour performed by some toddlers, yet an emotional perturbation alone is not enough to elicit EE at this developmental stage. Having a temperament that results in high behavioural reactivity to the situation and poor emotional regulation abilities may facilitate EE's occurrence. Future research should further investigate how both individual and situational factors interact to inform the development of EE in early life
Green Instructions: Intelligent Lighting via Real-Time Chlorophyll Fluorescence Feedback: Enhancing Yield and Energy Efficiency in Controlled Environment Agriculture."
Full text linkControlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) delivers increased crop production per unit land, contributing to resilient food systems amidst challenges of climate change, population growth and urbanization. However, high energy costs and the associated carbon footprint for using LED lighting imposes substantial barriers to the widespread adoption of CEA. While light is indispensable for growth, critically its utilization by crops throughout the photoperiod remains sub-optimal, reducing photosynthetic efficiency and wasting energy. Here we have developed and demonstrated a novel real-time plant bio-feedback system that enables crops to directly ‘communicate’ optimal lighting requirements. Continuous non-invasive monitoring of photochemistry elicited decreased demand for light by basil at the end of the photoperiod, which, delivered by our system, improved yield per unit power. Specifically, our innovative approach increased yield by 13.5 % and reduced energy consumption per unit fresh mass by 6.2 %, delivering a 17 % decrease in CO2 required to generate fresh mass yield. Application of this technique at scale can significantly improve resource management of CEA, supporting the productivity, profitability and sustainability of this food industry
A Novel Design of Sparse Vector Coding Aided URLLC With Periodic Quasi-Complementary Pairs
Full text linkRecently, sparse vector coding (SVC) has emerged as a promising coding scheme for short-packet transmission in ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLCs). The encoding and decoding of SVC are jointly formulated as a standard compressed sensing (CS) problem, in which a codebook with low mutual coherence is required to achieve reliable decoding performance. In this paper, we propose the concept of periodic quasi-complementary pairs (PQCPs), based on which we present a novel design of a deterministic spreading matrix with low mutual coherence for efficient SVC encoding. Furthermore, a modified multipath matching pursuit (MMP) decoder for the proposed SVC scheme is developed. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed designs significantly improve the block error rate (BLER) performance of SVC compared with existing approaches
Physical characteristics of youth female football training
Full text linkThe aim of this thesis was to quantify the physical training characteristics of U10, U12, U14 and U16 youth female footballers, and compare within and between age groups and drill-types. Firstly, a systematic scoping review of the scientific literature involving youth female football players was conducted, to collate and summarise the aims, methodological approaches and findings of research across eight topics of sports science and medicine (biomechanics, fatigue and recovery, injury, match-play, nutrition, physical qualities, psychology and training load). Studies focused on physical qualities and injury topics, whilst training load was the least investigated, identifying it as a key area for future research. Therefore, the physical training characteristics of 116 youth female footballers representing two of The Football Association’s (The FA) Emerging Talent Centres (ETCs) across U10, U12, U14 and U16 age groups were quantified over 80 training sessions using global positioning system (GPS) units. External load generally increased across age-groups for overall sessions, drill-specific results determined that small-sided games (SSGs) resulted in greater physical outputs regarding total distance (TD) (moderate-very large ESs; 0.93 - 2.42), high-speed running (HSR) (moderate-large ESs; 1.17 - 1.67), maximum velocity (moderate-large ESs; 0.85 - 1.62) and decelerations (small-moderate ESs; 0.24 - 0.62) than possession and technical drills for all age-groups. Between age-group results revealed that older age-groups (U14 and U16) demonstrated greater external load across all drills in comparison to U10s and U12s (small-very large ESs; 0.33 - 2.82), except for U10s who performed more decelerations during possession and SSGs compared to U12s and U14s (small-moderate ESs; 0.54 - 0.69). To conclude, this thesis presents novel information regarding the current physical training characteristics of youth female footballers which can serve as an evidence-base for practitioners working within ETCs to draw from. Furthermore, this thesis discusses practical implications of the data and potential recommendations for stakeholders within female football in England, and the potential directions for future research within youth female football
Corporate governance in Ghanaian banks: exploring neo-patrimonial networks, bank governance dynamics, and challenges to banking stability
Full text linkThis study investigates the dynamics of bank governance within the neopatrimonial context of Ghana. Broadly, it analyses the interplay between formal institutional frameworks enshrined in the form of bank regulations and regulatory circulars or directives issued by the Bank of Ghana and entrenched informal social, political, and patron-client networks. Existing research on bank governance in emerging economies frequently highlights challenges posed by regulatory gaps and institutional weaknesses; however, this study takes a closer look at the role of neopatrimonialism. Specifically, then, it considers how personal connections, loyalty, and reciprocal obligations intersect with official organizational hierarchies in shaping both internal and external bank governance mechanisms and outcomes of Ghana’s banking sector. This qualitative case study gathered its primary data through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 49 participants (recruited via purposive selection, initially through direct invitations then via snowball sampling). Participants were bank executives, regulatory officials, and industry experts such as consultants with extensive banking sector experience and former senior bank executives. Secondary data derived from analysing key banking sector reports and regulatory documents from the Bank of Ghana and other significant stakeholders, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. By applying neopatrimonialism, this study examines how informal networks shape board oversight, regulation, compliance, and risk management in banking governance. The findings reveal that although Ghanaian banks are formally regulated and governed according to established standards and policies, informal social networks profoundly influence decision-making, resource allocation, and risk assessment. These informal dynamics present both advantages and challenges: while trust-based relationships may facilitate smooth operations and responsiveness, they can also lead to conflicts of interest, weakened oversight, and increased susceptibility to political influence, which risk negative effects on bank governance and even lead to the collapse of banks. This study makes an important contribution to the understanding of bank governance in emerging markets by illustrating how neopatrimonialism reshapes traditional governance expectations within Ghana’s banking sector. It also highlights the dual structure of bank governance, where formal mechanisms of bank regulations are continually shaped by informal networks and social norms, and underscores the need for bank governance reforms that address the unique complexities of neopatrimonial systems. The findings provide a foundation for developing governance strategies that are contextually adaptive and resilient, accommodating the convergence of formal and informal institutions in such neopatrimonial environments