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Generating continuous multi-objective benchmark problems by the object-oriented method
No full textThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Designing multi-objective benchmark test functions is an important topic in the field of evolutionary multi-objective optimization because it can help researchers identify the strengths and weaknesses of algorithms and contribute to improving their performance. However, existing methods for constructing multi-objective test problems exhibit certain specific limitations, such as the homogeneous structure of objectives, regular shapes of the Pareto optimal sets, and so on. To address these issues, this paper proposes an object-oriented construction method that abstracts components of a multi-objective optimization problem’s fitness landscape into classes. By designing attributes of these components, such as size, shape, position, and quantity, diverse test classes can be generated. Through a combination of these attributes, test cases with varying difficulty levels and distinct characteristics can be constructed. Based on this generator, several novel features are displayed. Moreover, five classic multi-objective evolutionary algorithms are tested on them. The results show different behaviors of these algorithms on the constructed test cases. At the same time, these generated features pose significant challenges to the tested algorithms
Sonification Mappings for Sensing Tree Stress: A DIY Approach
Get PDFTree stress data is commonly obtainable through costly hardware devices, often requiring interpretation by scien- tists with existing background knowledge. However, such data can benefit laypeople’s tree management practices and raise climate change awareness. This work aims to discover suitable tree and climate data mappings to sound, for mean- ingful interpretation by non-specialists, using a low-cost, Do- it-Yourself (DIY) approach. A budget-friendly custom tree- talker prototype was created, streaming dendrometer, soil moisture, temperature, and humidity data to a web-based backend. A frontend web application explores differing com- plexities of sonified data mappings to users through the Web Audio API. We propose that distinct mappings will be re- quired for clear data parameter interpretation, and inclu- sivity for users of diverse backgrounds. This initial explo- ration suggests that sonification presents a promising solu- tion, with future work required to identify the most suitable environmental-to-sound mappings
Being and Becoming: British Muslim Students’ First-Year Journeys in Higher Education
Get PDFA range of intersecting issues impact the lived experiences of British Muslim students in higher education (HE), including: a lack of religious literacy from staff and peers, which often leads to isolation and alienation; support for the representation and expression of faith on campus; access to appropriate funding for study; Islamophobia and normative truths about Muslims (amplified recently in relation to Gaza/Palestine); surveillance and the Prevent strategy; the relationship between universities, students unions, and Islamic societies; and, the availability of and access to appropriate, faith-based spaces and environments. Moreover, there has been a tendency towards limited opportunities for institutions to engage productively and generatively with the complexity of the student experience, and to enrich that experience through faith-based analyses.
This is important for individual institutions, precisely because context matters, in how they create, share and celebrate generative and generous narratives about the student experience. In this, it is important to reiterate that the Muslim experience of HE is not homogeneous, and that experiences are richly differentiated. In working with this reality, the De Montfort University (DMU), Muslim-Friendly Universities audit focuses upon the student experience of British Muslim, first-year undergraduate students. It situates this experience against those students’ conceptions of their faith, and also draws out emergent relations to ethnicity, gender and disability. The primary intention of this audit was to understand how these students experience their Muslimness in HE. A secondary intention was for this research to impact, materially, the ways in which universities can recognise intersectional and faith-based complexities in the undergraduate student experience.
The project team included four experienced academic researchers, at a range of career positions, and with a range of identities, committed to social justice and a politics that celebrates diversity. However, crucially, it also included five second-year British Muslim students as advisers, able to co-create the project’s research design. This partnership was designed to enable voice and agency, through authentic and meaningful partnerships with students, facilitated with support, advice and guidance from the Aziz Foundation. A primary gain was enhanced engagement with the richness of British Muslim student identities, in order to support students' sense of belonging and positively impacting attainment, retention, progression and engagement
Advancing the visual turn in tourism, hospitality and leisure studies
No full textopen access articlePurpose
This conceptual paper aims to inspire further advancement of the visual turn in tourism, hospitality and leisure studies. It offers an updated overview of the implications of different philosophical positions for visual data and provides insights into both big and small data studies. Future research possibilities within the visual turn in these fields of studies are also discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the conceptual nature of this paper, the lines of arguments are largely informed by existing literature in both the wider social sciences and humanities as well as the multidisciplinary fields of tourism, hospitality and leisure studies. While not attempting to provide a systematic review, this paper critically discusses both the wide variety of visual data types used in tourism, hospitality and leisure research, as well as the relevant, philosophy of science informed, theoretical framing of visual research.
Findings
This paper offers insights into possible futures for the visual turn in tourism, hospitality and leisure, while being neither prescriptive nor favouring a particular philosophical position or methodology. Some of the key directions for the future of the visual turn in fact, are expected to be influenced by the very diversity of approaches. Namely, both big and small data studies are expected to play a significant role in visual tourism, hospitality and leisure studies in the future, in much the same way the studies underpinned by the broad umbrellas of paradigms belonging to a variety of different paradigms will.
Originality/value
The originality of this paper lies in its offering of an updated meaningful synthesis of relevant literature which spans across disciplines and fields of studies to offer both an overview of the current state of the visual turn in tourism, hospitality and leisure studies and visions for its future. This is supported through an updated table outlining the key paradigms and their implications for visual data, and an emphasis of the important roles both big and small data studies play in knowledge production in these fields of studies
Exploring the Politics of Large Infrastructure Projects: A Case Study of Collaborative Governance Failure in the Amman Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
No full textopen access articleThis paper explores the complex governance challenges underlying the contested delivery of Amman’s BRT project, drawing broader implications for developing contexts. The BRT, intended to upgrade Amman's deteriorating transport infrastructure, faced significant delays, construction halts, and stakeholder disputes despite public demands for improved transport. Through a diachronic timeline analysis of public documents and statements from 2009-2022, the paper traces how issues within policymaking culture and stewardship disrupted the BRT’s development. The analysis problematizes simplified narratives of project mismanagement, highlighting instead the political costs underlying transport policy failure. While the BRT reiterated management pitfalls found internationally, governance limitations in Jordan evidently amplified such challenges. The study explains the complexity of factors that disrupt large-scale infrastructure delivery, arguing that decontextualized policy borrowing and absent political stewardship fundamentally undermine project trajectory. Ultimately, it finds that strengthening collaborative governance and institutional capacity are instrumental for facilitating efficient infrastructure development in contexts facing similar constraints
To Sit In A Box Can Only Mean Death
No full textFACE - (Fashion Academics Creating Equity)
FACE MISSION STATEMENT
FACE is a not-for profit organisation dedicated to catalysing transformation within Higher Education Arts and Design fields, and the creative industries. Our mission is to champion equity, inclusivity and unity, with a specific focus on addressing issues related to race, colour, and ethnicity.
We believe in interrogating the euro-centric gaze and exploring the etymology of fashion, identity, colonisation and neo-colonisation to disrupt norms and foster progressive dialogue, thus facilitating a landscape where diversity is normalised and celebrated. We commit to amplifying marginalised voices through collaborative efforts and unwavering advocacy. We will inspire, educate, and empower individuals within academic and industry spheres to dismantle systemic barriers, fostering a more equitable and harmonious future for all.
https://www.weareface.uk/about-usHair, Identity & Representation in Fashion and Textile Education
To sit in a box can only mean death.
Artwork presented by Davina Hawthorne forms part of an ongoing collaborative project with FACE (Fashion Academics and the Arts Creating Equity) and the Horniman Museum that explores personal narratives attached to hair from Black, Brown and Asian perspectives within the UK. Both students and academics create works examining Black, Brown, and Asian hair narratives, centering racialised experiences.
To sit a box can only mean death is underpinned by social, political, historical and cultural research around race, beauty standards and Black hair discrimination. Upcycling of materials (hair) and self - portraits (selfies) are hand embroidered into words, used and reused, collaged and digitised to create new meaning, context and visual abstraction for fashion and textiles.
Question’s
1. How and why are hair stories from Black, Brown and Asian perspectives important and how can these stories be expanded and incorporated within fashion and textile industry and education?
2. How are we perpetuating western beauty standards and why is this important within history, society and culture within the context of fashion and textile industry and education?
Davina is interested in how her research and collaboration can be incorporated within her own practice as curator, educator, researcher and designer and how these can be interlinked to inform each other.
Student space: FACE x Horniman - Student Space - Horniman Museum and Gardens
Academic space: FACE X Horniman: Academic Space - Horniman Museum and Gardens
FACE Our stories: About 1 — FAC
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