83308 research outputs found
Sort by
On Clifford’s Concept of Space: Echoes of Riemann and Helmholtz
No full text克利福德是英国最早接纳非欧几何的数学家之一。他将几何学定义为研究空间的科学，通过从一般到特殊的系统性探究，揭示了欧几里得空间的四个基本属性：连续性、局部平坦性、可叠加性和相似性。黎曼的流形与度规，以及对空间度量性质与拓扑性质的区分，启发了克利福德对空间局部平坦性的刻画以及提出空间具有正常曲率的假说。亥姆霍兹将几何学基础归结为刚体的可自由移动，主张力学经验影响几何公理，催生了克利福德对空间可叠加性的描述，并强化了其经验主义的空间观。William Kingdon Clifford was among the earliest British mathematicians to accept Non-Euclidean Geometry. Defining geometry as the science of space, he systematically investigated the foundation from general principles to specific cases and revealed four essential postulates of Euclidean space: continuity, elementary flatness, superposition, and similarity. Bernhard Riemann’s concepts of manifolds and metrics, along with his distinction between the extensive and metrical properties, inspired Clifford’s characterization of elementary flatness and his hypothesis of spaces with positive constant curvature. Hermann von Helmholtz traced the foundations of geometry to the free mobility of rigid bodies, arguing that mechanical experience shapes geometric axioms. This perspective informed Clifford’s analysis of superpostion of space and reinforced his empiricist philosophy of spac
The date and context of the Astronomer's 'Life of Louis the Pious'
No full textThe Astronomer's Life of the emperor Louis the Pious (814–40) is a canonical source for scholars of Frankish history. It sits at the centre of recent debates about the nature and tone of Carolingian political discourse, and about the crisis of the empire in the 830s. Yet the date and precise context of the text's composition have hardly ever been debated. The consensus position, codified in Ernst Tremp's definitive 1995 edition, is that it was written very shortly after the death of its subject, during the succession war fought between his sons. In this article I argue that this reading is not as secure as is usually assumed, and that a later dating may be preferable. I propose a new interpretation of the text as a product of Charles the Bald's reign and argue that this context reinvigorates the Life's value as a source for ninth-century history
DiffProtect: generative adversarial examples using diffusion models for facial privacy protection
No full textThe increasingly pervasive facial recognition (FR) systems raise serious concerns about personal privacy, especially for billions of users who have publicly shared their photos on social media. To address this challenge, several adversarial attack methods have been proposed to protect individuals from being identified by unauthorized FR systems with perturbed facial images. However, these approaches suffer from poor visual quality or low attack success rates, which limit their practical utility. Recently, diffusion models have achieved tremendous success in image generation. In this work, we ask: can diffusion models be used to generate adversarial examples against FR systems to improve both visual quality and attack performance? We propose DiffProtect, a novel method leveraging a diffusion autoencoder to generate semantically meaningful perturbations on FR systems. Extensive experiments demonstrate that DiffProtect produces more natural-looking encrypted images than state-of-the-art methods while achieving significantly higher attack success rates, e.g., 24.5 % and 25.1 % absolute improvements on the CelebA-HQ and FFHQ datasets. We further evaluate the effectiveness of DiffProtect in the real world using a commercial FR API and validate its usefulness in practice through a user study. Our code is available at https://github.com/joellliu/DiffProtect
Health response to problematic usage of the internet:a global survey on trends, available treatments and key challenges
No full textBackground and Aims: Problematic usage of the internet (PUI) is agrowing global concern, emerging among more than 5.3 billion people who use the internet worldwide. While specific forms such as online gaming and gambling are recognized as disorders or conditions for further study in diagnostic manuals, global data on prevalence, treatment, and health responses to PUI remain limited. This study aimed to obtain perspectives from representativesof addiction medicine/psychiatry societies regarding the scope,treatment, and health responses to PUI and identify gaps. Methods: A global survey was conducted through the International Society of Addiction Medicine’s Global Expert Network (ISAM-GEN), involving addiction societies from 38 countries across Europe, Asia/Oceania, the Americas, and Africa. The survey assessed responses to non-specific PUI and five subtypes: online gaming, gambling,pornography, social media, and online shopping. It included case scenarios and questions on the significance and severity of PUI, and country-level health responses. Results: Online gambling (94.8%) and gaming (86.9%) were the most frequently reported PUI forms, followed by social media (84.2%), pornography (68.3%), and online shopping (52.6%). Psychotherapeutic approaches, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy, were the most widely available treatments, reported as accessible by over 70% of country respondents. Despite growing awareness—reflected in the formation of PUI interest groups in 44.7% of societies—gaps were reported, including lack of professional certification (78.9%), insufficient practitioner education (68.4%), and inadequate expert training (63.2%). Notably, 65.8% rated the 10-year severity of PUI asextremely or very important. Discussion & Conclusion: Globalattention to PUI is increasing, but more robust healthcare responses are needed. Addressing existing gaps requires enhanced training and sustainable international efforts
PAMGuard: application software for passive acoustic detection, classification, and localisation of animal sounds
No full textDetection, classification, and localisation of animal sounds are essential in many ecological studies, including density estimation and behavioural studies. Real-time acoustic processing can also be used in mitigation exercises, with the possibility of curtailing harmful human activities when animals are present. Animal vocalisations vary widely, and there is no single detection algorithm that can robustly detect all sound types. Human-in-the loop analysis is often required to validate algorithm performance and deal with unexpected noise sources such as are often encountered in real-world situations. The PAMGuard software combines advanced automatic analysis algorithms, including AI methods, with interactive visual tools allowing users to develop efficient workflows for both real-time use and for processing archived datasets. A modular framework enables users to configure multiple detectors, classifiers, and localisers suitable for the equipment and species of interest in a particular application. Multiple detectors for different sound types can be run concurrently on the same data. An extensible “plug-in” interface also makes it possible for third parties to independently develop new modules to run within the software framework. Here, we describe the software's core functionality, illustrated using workflows for both real-time and offline use, and present an update on the latest features.<br/
Investigating Bystander Privacy in Chinese Smart Home Apps
No full textBystander privacy in smart homes has been widely studied in Western contexts, yet it remains underexplored in non-Western countries such as China. In this study, we analyze 49 Chinese smart home apps using a mixed-methods approach, including privacy policy review, UX/UI evaluation, and assessment of Apple App Store privacy labels. While most apps nominally comply with national regulations, we identify significant gaps between written policies and actual implementation. Our traceability analysis highlights inconsistencies in data controls and a lack of transparency in data-sharing practices. Crucially, bystander privacy -- particularly for visitors and non-user individuals -- is largely absent from both policy documents and interface design. Additionally, discrepancies between privacy labels and actual data practices threaten user trust and undermine informed consent. We provide design recommendations to strengthen bystander protections, improve privacy-oriented UI transparency, and enhance the credibility of privacy labels, supporting the development of inclusive smart home ecosystems in non-Western contexts
Sharing our experiences of supporting neurodivergent students in higher education
No full textHigher education staff, both professional services and academic, are increasingly encountering neurodivergent students in their day-to-day practice. Pastoral support and access to adjustments can be complex for this cohort of students with the broad range of presentations, unique challenges and needs found in this diverse group. While registering with disability offices can allow access to adjustments, it is the staff who engage with these students every day who are in a powerful place to help students to thrive at university by adding nuance and additional adjustments to their learning experience. However, evidence for the range of bespoke accommodations that staff and students develop are thin on the ground. This chapter provides our observations of the challenges as well as practical suggestions on supportive approaches based on our lived experience.<br/
Increasing frequency and persistence of the summertime Greenland High regime not captured by a seasonal prediction model very large ensemble
No full textWeather regimes are widely used in weather prediction, but less often to study climate variability and change. Here, we use a year-round North American regime classification to identify summertime circulation trends from 1981 to 2024. We find large increases in the frequency, persistence and interannual variability of the Greenland High (GH) regime, similar to Greenland blocking. A simple Markov model shows that the observed increased GH frequency and variability can arise from increased persistence. We then show that a 10,000-member ensemble using SEAS5 seasonal model data fails to capture the observed trend in GH frequency because persistence trends are too weak. This occurs despite SEAS5 producing summers with more GH days and individual regimes more persistent than observed, so the issue is not simply an overall lack of persistence. Hence, the missing trends must arise from fundamental model deficiencies which develop on subseasonal timescales and are not rectified by initialization
Navigating interdisciplinary coastal research in the UK:challenges and solutions from an early career perspective
No full textCoastal areas are vital hubs for diverse ecosystems and socio-economic activities, but they face significant threats from climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. These challenges require urgent, cooperative actions and interdisciplinary approaches to develop sustainable solutions. However, interdisciplinarity requires blurring traditional academic disciplinary boundaries, and this can be a challenge. Increasingly, early-career researchers (ECRs) are undertaking interdisciplinary research while facing uncertainty about their career progression. In this research paper, we explore the challenges and opportunities faced by ECRs in the United Kingdom conducting Interdisciplinary Coastal Research (IDCR). We draw on findings from internal workshops, webinar discussions and an online survey, all conducted in 2024. The main barriers to IDCR are systemic in nature and include demanding workload, short-term contracts, ineffective supervisory and limited institutional support. Generally, ECRs felt positive about the benefits of interdisciplinarity to coastal research and their career development, but some ECRs expressed feelings of impostor syndrome. Enhanced flexibility in approaches, improved communication and open-mindedness are among the proposed solutions. This research highlights the mismatch between the ambition and the day-to-day reality of ECRs working in IDCR and provides recommendations for IDCR, which can both enhance the experience of ECRs and secure better outcomes for coastal areas
The use of machine learning to predict pharmacological therapy in gestational diabetes:a scoping review
No full textAims: Early identification of pharmacological therapy for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a common pregnancy complication, through machine learning could allow for better therapeutic strategies and improved treatment efficiency. This scoping review aimed to comprehensively review the machine learning models used to predict the need for pharmacological therapy in GDM. Methods: Four electronic databases—Embase, Medline, IEEE Xplore and Webof Science—were searched for publications between 1 July 2007 and 31 August 2024. Studies predicting pharmacological therapy for GDM using machine learning were included. The Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR checklist was followed, and the Prediction model Risk Of Bias ASsessment Tool (PROBAST)was used to assess quality. Results: Included were 17 studies presenting 44 models, 61.4% (27/44) predicted any pharmacological therapy use and 38.6% (17/44) predicted insulin use alone. All were binary classifiers, and logistic regression was typically used. The overall area under the receiver operating curve had a median of 0.75. Common clinical variables were found to be predictors, such as history of GDM, gestational week at GDM diagnosis, pregestational body mass index, maternal age, HbA1c, fasting and 1 h glucose from 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Though 65.9% of models were validated, there was a lack of external validation. There was no evidence of clinical application of the models. Conclusion: Logistic regression with common clinical variables was often used to predict pharmacological therapy for GDM. Few models were externally vali-dated or clinically applicable
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage University of St. Andrews - Pure? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!