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The physics of higher-order interactions in complex systems
Get PDFComplex networks have become the main paradigm for modelling the dynamics of interacting systems. However, networks are intrinsically limited to describing pairwise interactions, whereas real-world systems are often characterized by higher-order interactions involving groups of three or more units. Higher-order structures, such as hypergraphs and simplicial complexes, are therefore a better tool to map the real organization of many social, biological and man-made systems. Here, we highlight recent evidence of collective behaviours induced by higher-order interactions, and we outline three key challenges for the physics of higher-order systems
Homological scaffold via minimal homology bases
Get PDFThe homological scaffold leverages persistent homology to construct a topologically sound summary of a weighted network. However, its crucial dependency on the choice of representative cycles hinders the ability to trace back global features onto individual network components, unless one provides a principled way to make such a choice. In this paper, we apply recent advances in the computation of minimal homology bases to introduce a quasi-canonical version of the scaffold, called minimal, and employ it to analyze data both real and in silico. At the same time, we verify that, statistically, the standard scaffold is a good proxy of the minimal one for sufficiently complex networks
Is it really about being british?
Get PDFIn this short piece, I argue in favour of the practice of imagining ‘others’ in a global way and taking universal moral thinking seriously. We are in need of a sense of global identity which can then create global moral thinking. In this way, we can start to see and treat global challenges, such as the environment, social justice, poverty, racism and Covid-19, more effectively
Experiences of Black Students at the University of Northampton
No full textIn recent years, considerable progress has been made to widen the participation of black students in UK higher education, in the past few months alone, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have shone a stark light on the racial inequalities that exist throughout all sections of UK society, including within higher education. Higher education (HE) has the potential to break intergenerational poverty by bringing about social mobility and justice. Thereby, transforming the lives of many from a disadvantaged background, the wider society and particularly the Black students who may face some level of prejudice. In this paper, the holistic experiences of students of African descent attending the University of Northampton have been explored. Findings reveal that substantial inequalities persist throughout their student lifecycle exposing systemic discrimination, broader political and social realities evident on the campus
Avoiding project failure and achieving project success in NHS IT system projects in the United Kingdom
No full textAlthough project success varies from business to business depending on different internally agreed success criteria, most organisations measure project success by analysing if the project delivered the planned project objectives within the set budget, schedule (project timelines), and quality. However, for some projects especially, development projects success goes beyond just meeting time frames and budget goals. In such projects and programmes, success refers to delivering the benefits coupled with the required expectations by stakeholders, beneficiaries, and funding bodies. This paper re-examines why the National Programme for IT (NPfIT), the largest public-sector IT programme that was ever undertaken in the UK, failed and how any future NHS National IT System implementations can be completed successfully
Investigating the Opportunities to Improve the Thermal Performance of a Case Study Building in London
No full textThis study was carried out to investigate the opportunities of improving thermal performance by focusing on envelope effects of a building located in London. Firstly, through a broad literature review of the previous conducted case studies, an investigation of all the building envelope aspects and parameters influencing the thermal performance of the building was conducted to provide critical information of thermal performance of the envelope components within the UK buildings. Then, onsite measurements were carried out to obtain the building's base case heating load using the standard CIBSE GUIDE A 2017 heat load calculation methodology. Neglecting thermal bridging in the heating calculation showed 8% reduction in the building's total heating load. Also, 17% reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions was achieved by applying polyurethane-foam and polystyrene-boards as cavity and external wall insulations, respectively. Moreover, the effect of applying both insulation in the energy consumption, CO2 emissions, cost and payback period analysis was analysed
Next steps for correctional industries: Study on economic activities in the penitentiary system of the Republic of Moldova
Get PDFFinding a way of earning a living is one of the most important elements of a prisoner’s ability
to reintegrate into society upon release from prison. For many convicted prisoners their time
in prison may be the first opportunity that they have had to develop vocational skills and to do
regular work. The main purpose of requiring prisoners to work is to prepare them for a normal
working life on their release from prison and to run factories for the benefit of other parts of
public authorities run by the state. Of course, prisoner employment or ‘correctional labour’ is
only one element of social rehabilitation. A full response to reducing recidivism and prisoners’
reoffending requires opportunities to develop all the skills needed to return to society; for many
prisoners this also includes education, social and vocational skills training. Several research
studies in the UK and USA have established that inmates who worked in ‘real’ work situations
in correctional industries were found to be significantly more successful in post-release
employment in the open labour market. That is to say, they became tax-paying citizens quicker
and remained in that status longer than those who had not engaged in meaningful employment
whilst serving a prison sentence. Additionally, post-release prisoners were more successful in
staying away from crime, due to the fact they had savings accrued from their wages inside
prisons, and were found to have slower and reduced recidivism, as measured by arrest,
conviction and re-incarceration, than those post-releasees who had not worked inside.1
This study firstly defined and analysed the present economic activities, including prisoner
labour, in the penitentiary system of the Republic of Moldova, as administered by the National
Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP). The research looked specifically at the state of prison
industries in four penitentiaries, so-called State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs); these were the
female prison Rusca (nr 7) and the male adult prison institutions of Branesti (nr 18), Cricova
(nr 4) and Soroca (nr 6). Furthermore, the study looked into the existing incentives for private
businesses to contract-in prison labour as well as possible constraints. Similarly, the study
examined the motivation of prison management to engage prisoners in economic activities.
The study established that low prisoner employment in Moldovan penitentiaries – at around
15% of prisoner population at the time of writing the study – has led to negative consequences,
particularly, the so-called ‘wasted years’ leading to low savings, violence among prisoners and
proliferation of the gang culture.
Secondly, the study aimed to formulate public policy options and recommendations for the
future of Moldovan prison industries, based on international comparisons and best practice of
‘what works’ in other countries. Specifically, a number of binding constraints have to be
addressed irrespective of the selected policy option, such as: a) unresolved ownership of
existing SOEs; b) a current gap in legislation appropriate to deal with the internal market of
the penitentiaries (e.g. tendering; licensing; procurement etc); c) impossibility to lease factory
workshop space for more than one year; d) physical infrastructure of prison factories; and e)
insufficient motivation from the prison management to engage in economic activities. Upon
resolving these immediate concerns, decision makers may select from a range of policy
options aiming to strengthen CI in Moldova, opting for either a decentralised style of CI
management based on self-management of penitentiaries, or for having a centralised body in
charge of CI under NAP with strategic development potential
Sustainability engagement’s impact on tourism sector performance: linear and nonlinear models
No full textPurpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between the level of sustainability reporting and tourism sector’s performance (operational, financial and market).
Design/methodology/approach
Using data culled from 1,375 observations from 37 different countries for ten years (2008–2017), an independent variable derived from the environmental, social and governance (ESG score) is regressed against dependent performance indicator variables (return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and Tobin's Q (TQ)). Two types of control variables complete the regression analysis in this study: firm-specific and macroeconomic.
Findings
The findings elicited from the empirical results of the linear models demonstrate that there is a significant relationship between ESG and operational performance (ROA) and market performance (TQ). However, there is no significant relationship between ESG and financial performance (ROE). Furthermore, the results of the nonlinear models suggest that the relationship between sustainability performance and firm's profitability and valuation is nonlinear (inverted U-shape).
Originality/value
The models in this study presents a valuable analytical framework for exploring sustainability reporting as a driver of performance in the tourism sector's economies. In addition, this study highlights the tourism sector's management lacunae manifesting in terms of the weak nexus between each component of ESG and tourism sector's performance
Developmental effects of oxytocin neurons on social affiliation and processing of social information
Get PDFHormones regulate behavior either through activational effects that facilitate the acute expression of specific behaviors or through organizational effects that shape the development of the nervous system thereby altering adult behavior. Much research has implicated the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) in acute modulation of various aspects of social behaviors across vertebrate species, and OXT signaling is associated with the developmental social deficits observed in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs); however, little is known about the role of OXT in the neurodevelopment of the social brain. We show that perturbation of OXT neurons during early zebrafish development led to a loss of dopaminergic neurons, associated with visual processing and reward, and blunted the neuronal response to social stimuli in the adult brain. Ultimately, adult fish whose OXT neurons were ablated in early life, displayed altered functional connectivity within social decision-making brain nuclei both in naive state and in response to social stimulus and became less social. We propose that OXT neurons have an organizational role, namely, to shape forebrain neuroarchitecture during development and to acquire an affiliative response toward conspecifics
Likelihood-based approach to discriminate mixtures of network models that vary in time
Get PDFDiscriminating between competing explanatory models as to which is more likely responsible for the growth of a network is a problem of fundamental importance for network science. The rules governing this growth are attributed to mechanisms such as preferential attachment and triangle closure, with a wealth of explanatory models based on these. These models are deliberately simple, commonly with the network growing according to a constant mechanism for its lifetime, to allow for analytical results. We use a likelihood-based framework on artificial data where the network model changes at a known point in time and demonstrate that we can recover the change point from analysis of the network. We then use real datasets and demonstrate how our framework can show the changing importance of network growth mechanisms over time