224092 research outputs found
Sort by
‘A desire of preserving the remembrance’: visualizing the East India Company voyage to Asia
No full textThis article explores the role of images and themes of visuality in representing East India Company voyages to Asia in the Age of Sail. The discussion draws extensively on the accounts of two travellers: James Forbes and Richard Rose. In addition to the sketches and drawings suffusing their accounts, both men employed the language and metaphors of vision and visuality in order to mediate their journeys. These strategies framed their experiences of the voyage to India, illuminating this important but frequently overlooked episode in the history of the Company and the British Empire more generally
Association between MASLD and increased risk of serious bacterial infections requiring hospital admission: a meta-analysis
No full textBackground: previous studies have reported an association between metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and the risk of serious bacterial infections. However, the magnitude of the risk and whether this risk varies with the severity of MASLD remains uncertain. We performed a meta-analysis of observational studies to quantify the association between MASLD and serious bacterial infections requiring hospital admission.Methods: we systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Embase from database inception to 1 April 2024, using predefined keywords to identify studies examining the risk of serious bacterial infections among individuals with and without MASLD. MASLD was diagnosed using liver biopsy, imaging or International Classification of Diseases codes. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effects modelling.Results: we identified six cross-sectional and two prospective cohort studies with aggregate data on ~26.6 million individuals. MASLD was significantly associated with higher odds of serious bacterial infections (pooled random-effects odds ratio 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44–2.58; I2 = 93%). Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies showed that MAFLD was associated with an increased risk of developing serious bacterial infections (pooled random-effects hazard ratio 1.80, 95% CI 1.62–2.0; I2 = 89%). This risk further increased across the severity of MASLD, especially the severity of fibrosis (pooled random-effects hazard ratio 2.42, 95% CI 1.89–2.29; I2 = 92%). These results remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, obesity, diabetes and other potential confounders. Sensitivity analyses did not modify these findings. The funnel plot did not reveal any significant publication bias.Conclusions: this meta-analysis shows a significant association between MASLD and an increased risk of serious bacterial infections requiring hospital admission
Looking for love: a monster-mapping
No full textInvited, accepted, in progress. James Baldwin likens the artist to the lover. ‘If I love you, I make you conscious of the things you don’t see’, states the Black queer author-activist. Baldwin’s quote captures my vision as an artist, academic and agitator. I cultivate critical interventions that seek to reveal how art and mobilities can work together to make the hidden or erased visible, and catalyse conversation and action toward change. By destabilising traditional knowledge-formations, and cultivating ‘tentacles’ to connect between distinct ideas, methods and fields, I seek to develop new, liminal spaces that enable knowledge-creation in others, as seen in my efforts to diversify, decolonise and neuroqueer running studies, neurodiversity studies and leadership studies. Love is the subject, method and proposed outcome of my creative research programme Looking for Love, 2024-2029. Through theory-building, embodied and collaborative action research, I seek to diversify, decolonise and neuroqueer how we understand and do leadership as a co-creative mobilities change- and future-making practice. ‘Love’ highlights the role of art and creative practice through non-western, decolonial and intersectional prisms; ‘looking for’ celebrates the origins of the term ‘leadership’ in travelling, struggling and guidance, which I have argued are embodied in marginalised culture workers (for example, Baldwin, hooks, Lorde, Friere et al), while ‘looking’ underpins how visual arts highlights blind-spots within art, mobilities and leadership studies, and the value of entangling both. I use the term ‘monster-mapping’ as a mobilities method of ‘way-finding and re-direction during and beyond crisis’, in order to map together my research pathways so far, align it with discourses on mobilities (creative mobilities, and mobility justice), themes of leadership and the arts, and visualise/envision where this can go for future creative practice/research
CSI-GPT: integrating generative pre-trained transformer with federated-tuning to acquire downlink massive MIMO channels
No full textIn massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, how to reliably acquire downlink channel state information (CSI) with low overhead is challenging. In this work, by integrating the generative pre-trained Transformer (GPT) with federated-tuning, we propose a CSI-GPT approach to realize efficient downlink CSI acquisition. Specifically, we first propose a Swin Transformer-based channel acquisition network (SWTCAN) to acquire downlink CSI, where pilot signals, downlink channel estimation, and uplink CSI feedback are jointly designed. Furthermore, to solve the problem of insufficient training data, we propose a variational auto-encoder-based channel sample generator (VAE-CSG), which can generate sufficient CSI samples based on a limited number of high-quality CSI data obtained from the current cell. The CSI dataset generated from VAECSG will be used for pre-training SWTCAN. To fine-tune the pre-trained SWTCAN for improved performance, we propose an online federated-tuning method, where only a small amount of SWTCAN parameters are unfrozen and updated using over-the-air computation, avoiding the high communication overhead caused by aggregating the complete CSI samples from user equipment (UEs) to the BS for centralized fine-tuning. Simulation results verify the advantages of the proposed SWTCAN and the communication efficiency of the proposed federated-tuning method. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/BIT-ZY/CSI-GP
The maxim ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ as a masterplot in international criminal justice
No full textViewed as a masterplot, the maxim ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is seen to undergird two narratives that run parallel with each other in the trial and punishment of international crimes, the first relating to procedural efficiency and the second to the timing of justice. After tracing the historical origins of the maxim, the chapter examines the operation of these coexisting narratives in international criminal justice according to the time it takes to tell the story (i.e. the length of the judicial process), the time between the stories (i.e. the period between the crime and the initiation of a process) and the time within the story (i.e. the temporal zone in which various factors coalesce to influence the timing of justice). The chapter concludes that while the masterplot appropriately governs procedural efficiency, it should be minimized when evaluating the timing of post-atrocity justice due to the complexities of each story
Multi-objective optimisation using expected quantile improvement for decision making in disease outbreaks
No full textOptimization under uncertainty is important in many applications, particularly to inform policy and decision making in areas such as public health. A key source of uncertainty arises from the incorporation of environmental variables as inputs into computational models or simulators. Such variables represent uncontrollable features of the optimization problem, and reliable decision making must account for the uncertainty they propagate to the simulator outputs. Often, multiple, competing objectives are defined from these outputs such that the final optimal decision is a compromise between different goals. Here, we present emulation-based optimization methodology for such problems that extends expected quantile improvement (EQI) to address multiobjective optimization. Focusing on the practically important case of two objectives, we use a sequential design strategy to identify the Pareto front of optimal solutions. Uncertainty from the environmental variables is integrated out using Monte Carlo samples from the simulator. Interrogation of the expected output from the simulator is facilitated by use of (Gaussian process) emulators. The methodology is demonstrated on an optimization problem from public health involving the dispersion of anthrax spores across a spatial terrain. Environmental variables include meteorological features that impact the dispersion, and the methodology identifies the Pareto front even when there is considerable input uncertainty
The challenge of making EVs just affordable enough: Assessing the impact of subsidies on equity and emission reduction in Ireland
No full textGovernments support the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) through subsidies and other incentives, as this is expected to help meet climate targets. This research examines the affordability of EVs for Irish households, focusing on equity implications and the impact of affordability on achieving decarbonisation goals. Affordability is estimated for eight scenarios, considering both current and reduced EV prices, and assessed across Ireland. The research finds that flat-rate subsidies do not adequately support lower-income households, impede EV adoption, and could jeopardise the achievement of emission reduction targets. Need-based subsidies would ensure more inclusive EV uptake. If current prices are considered, the target for the number of EVs on the road by 2030 can be met only with the purchase of small-sized EVs. This suggests that achieving EV targets is unlikely without promoting smaller vehicles. The current €3500 EV grant may be insufficient for many households without extended loan terms. Therefore, differentiated subsidies based on income and household size are recommended to increase EV adoption. Households in remote rural areas, where forced car ownership is high, require higher subsidies. In contrast, urban areas could receive lower subsidies to promote the use of more sustainable transport modes, such as cycling, shared mobility, and public transport.</p
Career boundary crossing: the importance of networks for the transition from the military to civilian employment
No full textResearch on the transition from the military to civilian life tends to focus on challenges such as unemployment, alcoholism, violence, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) even though these problems affect only a minority of veterans. In contrast, this study analyses what forms of economic, cultural, and social capital (Bourdieu) are obtained during military training and service and how they are transferred to civilian employment. I argue that during the transition from the military to civilian employment, all three forms of capital are important. In particular, social capital in the form of formal and informal networks plays a crucial role with respect to transferring cultural capital or skills from one field to the other, but also for the investment (or borrowing) of economic capital. Boundary crossing between different fields – in this case organisational and work cultures - requires the transformation of habitus. The notion of a ‘veterans’ habitus’ is introduced. This study contributes to the understanding of career transitions and is based on biographical interviews with veterans who served in the British military
Electrical and structural characterisation of electrodeposited 2D transition metal dichalcogenide
No full textSemiconductors are integral to modern technology and the chips that provide the processing power that drive devices that modern society relies on such as smartphones, tablets, and PCs. The demand for smaller, faster and lower power devices places an ever-increasing demand on the development of nanoscale semiconductors. The 2D-layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) represent an exciting class of highly tunable semiconductors for implementation into next generation electronic devices. TMDCs adopt layered structures, with strong covalent bonding within layers and weak van der Waals interactions between the layers. The layered structure allows their exceptional semiconducting “bulk” properties to remain when scaled down to single mono-layer.TMDC layer-by-layer growth approaches include techniques such as chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD). These are highly versatile and scalable approaches that enable production of ultrathin TMDCs with high crystal quality, scalable size, controllable thickness, and excellent electronic properties. However, grain boundaries occurred during CVD process weakens the electrical performance of TMDCs, and ALD requires further annealing for crystallinity improvement. These processes also offer very little scope for substrate-selective growth and have been motivation to explore alternative growth methods in the form of electrodeposition.As a well-established industrial manufacturing process, electrodeposition offers the capability of producing wafer-scale continuous films of mono-/few-layer TMDCs. Its substrate-selective deposition nature enables precise and controlled growth over any electrode surface, making it particularly well-suited for depositing materials inside complex structures and for creating micro-and nano-scale features in advanced devices. Moreover, electrodeposition provides exceptional control over the material, with the flexibility to fine-tune properties by selecting the appropriate precursors in the electrolyte, adjusting the deposition potential and time, and the capability to produce heterostructures. Therefore, it is an extremely promising technique to produce 2D-layered TMDCs with qualities that are suitable for different applications.In this thesis, I report MoS2, WSe2 and WS2 can be successfully electrodeposited on TiN using [NnBu4]2[MoS4], WSeCl4 and [NEt4]2[WS2Cl4] as a single-source precursor, respectively. The as electrodeposited TMDCs requires further high temperature annealing at 500 ℃ to 900 ℃ to transfer the amorphous state to the crystal state. Then the MoS2 shows its two characteristic Raman peaks, E_2g^1 (383 cm-1) and A1g (406 cm-1). For the WSe2, the in-plane and out-of-plane vibrations give one major peak located around 250 cm-1 and three minor second order peaks between 350 cm-1 to 400 cm-1. Higher annealing temperature leads to the higher crystallinity based on FWHM analysis performed by Lorentz fitting. AFM image analysis shows correlation between thickness and deposition time.I demonstrate the electrodeposition of atomic layers of WS2 and WSe2 over graphene electrodes using a single source precursor. Using conventional microfabrication techniques, graphene was patterned to create micro-electrodes where WS2 and WSe2 was site-selectively deposited to form 2D heterostructures. We used various characterization techniques, including atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to show that our electrodeposited WS2 and WSe2 layers are highly uniform and can be grown over graphene at a controllable deposition rate. This technique to selectively deposit TMDCs over microfabricated graphene electrodes paves the way towards wafer-scale production of 2D material heterostructures for nanodevice applications.Both MoS2 and WSe2 can be successfully laterally electrodeposited on the TiN patterned over the SiO2 layer. Both MoS2 and WSe2 exhibit dominant vertical growth near the electrode edge during the initial electrodeposition process. However, the lateral growth gradually surpasses the vertical growth during the process. I developed a dual-electrode patterned substrates to allow the growth of MoS2 and WSe2 heterostructures where each TMDC is grown subsequently from its own electrode. The heterostructures are electrically characterised and show some asymmetry due to Schottky barriers or p/n junction effects. Transistor structures were designed and fabricated. The patterned dimension of fabricated substrate is close to the designed specification. Capacitance-Voltage measurement, breakdown voltage measurement and resistivity measurements confirm the good quality of SiO2 gate dielectric, sputtered TiN electrodes and e-beam evaporated Al gate. Exfoliated MoS2 draped over the fabricated structure shows significant transistor behaviour with more than two orders swing between on and off current, which confirms the fabricated device are of good standard. Electrodeposited MoS2 with ionic liquid gate shows some signs of gating effect, but the result has not been convincing enough. <br/
Constraints on compact objects from the Dark Energy Survey 5-yr supernova sample
No full textGravitational lensing magnification of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) allows information to be obtained about the distribution of matter on small scales. In this paper, we derive limits on the fraction of the total matter density in compact objects (which comprise stars, stellar remnants, small stellar groupings, and primordial black holes) of mass M > 0.03 over cosmological distances. Using 1532 SNe Ia from the Dark Energy Survey Year 5 sample (DES-SN5YR) combined with a Bayesian prior for the absolute magnitude M, we obtain α < 0.12 at the 95 per cent confidence level after marginalization over cosmological parameters, lensing due to large-scale structure, and intrinsic non-Gaussianity. Similar results are obtained using priors from the cosmic microwave background, baryon acoustic oscillations, and galaxy weak lensing, indicating our results do not depend on the background cosmology. We argue our constraints are likely to be conservative (in the sense of the values we quote being higher than the truth), but discuss scenarios in which they could be weakened by systematics of the order of ...
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage e-Prints Soton? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!