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ESG Integration and Technical Efficiency:A Comparative Frontier Analysis in Kuwait Financial Sector
Get PDFSustainability initiatives have gained significant attention; however, limited research has examined whether ESG factors facilitate or hinder financial sector efficiency. This research investigates the differences between the traditional stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and the ESG-integrated SFA model in explaining inefficiency. In addition, it examines how ESG factors influence inefficiencies in a truncated regression. The sample includes 9 banks (4 Islamic and 5 commercial) and 11 financial firms—all the ESG adopters in Kuwait financial sector. Quarterly data were employed from 2018 to 2023. The findings revealed that the ESG-integrated model improves the explanatory power of the cost function, partially reducing stochastic noise in financial operations. Moreover, ESG facilitates lending consistently and reduces the marginal cost of non-interest activities. Nonetheless, capital reliance in both models is associated with higher inefficiencies. Additionally, we found that financial institutions on average operate at 33% below the best-practice technology frontier, indicating moderate gaps across the sector. Overall, strong ESG alignment is associated with improved cost-efficiency when supported by strong institutional quality.</p
Fisher information for the momentum parameter from quantum many-particle arrival time measurements
Get PDFWe formulate a quantum arrival time measurement process for a Bosonic many-particle system, with the aim of extracting statistical information on single-particle properties. The arrival time is based on a dynamical multi-particle absorption model in the Fock space, and we consider systems in coherent and incoherent mixtures of N-particle states. We find the resulting probability distributions for arrival time sequences, which we consider as parametric models for the statistical inference of single-particle parameters, and derive a tractable expression for the associated (classical) Fisher information for a general single particle parameter. Subsequently focusing on the concrete case of the momentum parameter of a 1D particle, we consider the idealised limits of a point (Dirac delta) detector and an infinite particle system forming a spatially uniform ‘beam’. We observe that even though no information remains in the spatial distribution, the single-particle momentum is indeed identifiable from the arrival time data, even in the limit of ‘sparse beams’ of vanishing particle density, where we obtain simple analytical form for the Fisher information, which, interestingly, coincides with the one obtained from a hypothetical time-stationary detection model. Our results contribute to the fundamental understanding of temporal measurement data arising from quantum systems consisting of freely evolving particles
AI-Driven Adaptive Segmentation of Timed Up and Go Test Phases Using a Smartphone
Get PDFThe Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is a widely used clinical tool for assessing mobility and fall risk in older adults and individuals with neurological or musculoskeletal conditions. While it provides a quick measure of functional independence, traditional stopwatch-based timing offers only a single completion time and fails to reveal which movement phases contribute to impairment. This study presents a smartphone-based system that automatically segments the TUG test into distinct phases, delivering objective and low-cost biomarkers of lower-limb performance. This approach enables clinicians to identify phase-specific impairments in populations such as individuals with Parkinson’s disease, and older adults, supporting precise diagnosis, personalized rehabilitation, and continuous monitoring of mobility decline and neuroplastic recovery. Our method combines adaptive preprocessing of accelerometer and gyroscope signals with supervised learning models (Random Forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and XGBoost) using statistical features to achieve continuous phase detection and maintain robustness against slow or irregular gait, accommodating individual variability. A threshold-based turn detection strategy captures both sharp and gradual rotations. Validation against video ground truth using group K-fold cross-validation demonstrated strong and consistent performance: start and end points were detected in 100% of trials. The mean absolute error for total time was 0.42 s (95% CI: 0.36–0.48 s). The average error across phases (stand, walk, turn) was less than 0.35 s, and macro F1 scores exceeded 0.85 for all models, with the SVM achieving the highest score of 0.882. Combining accelerometer and gyroscope features improved macro F1 by up to 12%. Statistical tests (McNemar, Bowker) confirmed significant differences between models, and calibration metrics indicated reliable probabilistic outputs (ROC-AUC > 0.96, Brier score < 0.08). These findings show that a single smartphone can deliver accurate, interpretable, and phase-aware TUG analysis without complex multi-sensor setups, enabling practical and scalable mobility assessment for clinical use
French Connections:Zoe Skoulding's European cities
Get PDFAlthough born in Bradford and raised in East Anglia, Zoë Skoulding can be considered a ‘Welsh European’, to adapt Raymond Williams’s phrase. She regards her adopted homeplace, Bangor, as a European city, and her poetry is frequently preoccupied with the connections – both material and imaginative – between places, especially where urban and non-urban spaces, the local and the global, are mutually entangled. This chapter will examine in detail her representations of European cityscapes, particularly as mediated by engagements with French or Francophone writers and thinkers, from the Situationist International to Michel de Certeau, Charles Baudelaire to Guillaume Apollinaire. Beginning with an account of Skoulding’s debts to, and deviations from, the Situationists in The Mirror Trade (2004) and Remains of a Future City (2008), we trace the growing significance of Paris and Parisian avant-gardes in Skoulding’s more recent work, including The Museum of Disappearing Sounds (2013), Footnotes to Water (2019), and A Revolutionary Calendar (2020). However, Skoulding’s restless, shape-shifting cityscapes, in which walking is a key spatial practice, are persistently informed by her location in and ambivalent identification with her home ground in North Wales. Consequently, in her poetry Bangor figures both as a place on the margins of post-Brexit Britain and a central node in the wider network that is European culture
Exploring the Capability of Earth Observation Data and a New ‘4S’ Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction:An Experience from July 2022 Flash Floods in Amarnath Valley, India
No full textThe holy cave shrine of Amarnath is thronged annually by over three lakh devotees. However, the cryogenic-sensitive region is increasingly becoming vulnerable to anomalies in precipitation events and rising anthropogenic footprints. On the evening of 8 July 2022, a highly localized extreme rainfall event took place leading to a short-lived flash flood along with unsorted debris flow in the Amarnath valley, surmounting heavy loss of lives and local livelihoods. This article uses Earth Observation (EO) datasets to capture and understand the implications of using such data applications in mitigating disasters for remote and inaccessible areas. Despite the valuable insights provided by EO data, their applicability is often restricted by the temporal limitations, particularly those derived from open-source radar and optical satellite imagery, which are frequently incapable of capturing ephemeral or rapidly evolving phenomena. Some meaningful information about the present study was captured with the use of GPM (IMERG) satellite-based rainfall data, while others failed to gauge the situation. Eight topographical parameters have been examined to understand the local factors contributing to flash flood conditions in the Amarnath watershed. An AHP-based flash flood susceptibility zonation (FFSZ) was derived using Google Earth Engine (GEE) along with an interactive user interface was developed for visualization of the computed parameters. The FFSZ contains five classes with their areal percentages: Very Low (20.03%), Low (19.69%), Moderate (20.43%), High (20.14%) and Very High (19.71%) respectively. Our findings suggest the need for more ground-based automated weather stations (AWS) complementing satellite-based EO systems' limitations for providing high-precision regular interval observation. Finally, we propose a new ‘4S’ framework, namely, ‘source’, ‘setting’, ‘susceptibility’ and ‘solution’ for flash flood risk assessment. This framework has also been discussed in complementary to a cross-sectoral interface containing ‘science-governance-disaster risk reduction (DRR)-society’ aspects alongside major targets based on Global Goals (UN SDGs) and India’s national DRR agenda points.</p
NightTrack:Joint Night-Time Image Enhancement and Object Tracking for UAVs
No full textUAV-based visual object tracking has recently become a prominent research focus in computer vision. However, most existing trackers are primarily benchmarked under well-illuminated conditions, largely overlooking the challenges that may arise in night-time scenarios. Although attempts exist to restore image brightness via low-light image enhancement before feeding frames to a tracker, such two-stage pipelines often struggle to strike an effective balance between the competing objectives of enhancement and tracking. To address this limitation, this work proposes NightTrack, a unified framework that optimizes both low-light image enhancement and UAV object tracking. While boosting image visibility, NightTrack not only explicitly preserves but also reinforces the discriminative features required for robust tracking. To improve the discriminability of low-light representations, Pyramid Attention Modules (PAMs) are introduced to enhance multi-scale contextual cues. Moreover, by jointly estimating illumination and noise curves, NightTrack mitigates the potential adverse effects of low-light environments, leading to significant gains in precision and robustness. Experimental results on multiple night-time tracking benchmarks demonstrate that NightTrack outperforms state-of-the-art methods in night-time scenes, exhibiting strong promises for further development
AI-Driven Adaptive Segmentation of Timed Up and Go Test Phases Using a Smartphone
No full textThe Timed Up and Go (TUG) test is a widely used clinical tool for assessing mobility and fall risk in older adults and individuals with neurological or musculoskeletal conditions. While it provides a quick measure of functional independence, traditional stopwatch-based timing offers only a single completion time and fails to reveal which movement phases contribute to impairment. This study presents a smartphone-based system that automatically segments the TUG test into distinct phases, delivering objective and low-cost biomarkers of lower-limb performance. This approach enables clinicians to identify phase-specific impairments in populations such as individuals with Parkinson’s disease, and older adults, supporting precise diagnosis, personalized rehabilitation, and continuous monitoring of mobility decline and neuroplastic recovery. Our method combines adaptive preprocessing of accelerometer and gyroscope signals with supervised learning models (Random Forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and XGBoost) using statistical features to achieve continuous phase detection and maintain robustness against slow or irregular gait, accommodating individual variability. A threshold-based turn detection strategy captures both sharp and gradual rotations. Validation against video ground truth using group K-fold cross-validation demonstrated strong and consistent performance: start and end points were detected in 100% of trials. The mean absolute error for total time was 0.42 s (95% CI: 0.36–0.48 s). The average error across phases (stand, walk, turn) was less than 0.35 s, and macro F1 scores exceeded 0.85 for all models, with the SVM achieving the highest score of 0.882. Combining accelerometer and gyroscope features improved macro F1 by up to 12%. Statistical tests (McNemar, Bowker) confirmed significant differences between models, and calibration metrics indicated reliable probabilistic outputs (ROC-AUC > 0.96, Brier score < 0.08). These findings show that a single smartphone can deliver accurate, interpretable, and phase-aware TUG analysis without complex multi-sensor setups, enabling practical and scalable mobility assessment for clinical use
From fragments to assemblage: An interview with Professor Colin McFarlane
No full textThis edited transcript presents an interview with Colin McFarlane, Professor of Urban Geography at Durham University, conducted by Emanuele Amo and Fabiana D’Ascenzo at the Gregynog Theory School, Gregynog Hall, Wales, on March 19, 2024. McFarlane discussed his theoretical and methodological approach to urban geography, considering fragmentation, inequality, social justice, and assemblage theory, whilst drawing on his fieldwork experiences. The conversation touched on the unequal power relations in these encounters and considered the potential of assemblage theory for understanding rural spaces and rural-urban interconnectedness. The audience contributed a series of pointed questions, further emphasising the complexity of this approach to fragmentatio
Justice Signified:Naming Injustice in the Therapeutic Space
Get PDFIn psychotherapeutic practice, trauma—and its resolution—frequently requires some recognition of the role played by injustice. How and to what extent societies and their legal systems choose to provide formal recognition mechanisms in support of resolving traumas will have a direct impact upon the incidence of mental health, crimes and individual and collective values in the wider community. Trauma associated with the legal system itself, or with broader notions such as ‘social injustice’ may invoke consideration of justice, yet the word ‘injustice’ alone does not appear readily in the lexicon of therapeutic modalities in speaking to the ‘everyday’ experiences emerging in the therapeutic space. So much of client trauma derives from an assault upon personal agency, whether by accident or design, and much recovery involves the restoration of agency by at least calling out the fact of injustice and, through therapy, supporting the empowerment of individuals in determining aspects of their own lives and choices. This paper explores the relevance of the words ‘justice’ and ‘injustice’—especially in their relevance to ‘everyday’ experience—in the therapeutic space.</p
Sexual partner number and distribution over time affect long-term partner evaluation:Evidence from 11 countries across 5 continents
Get PDFA prospective partner’s sexual history provides important information that can be used to minimise mating-related risks. Such information includes the number of past sexual partners, which has an inverse relationship with positive suitor evaluation. However, sexual encounters with new partners vary in frequency over time, providing an additional dimension of context not previously considered. Across three studies (N = 5,331) with 15 samples, we demonstrate that the impact of past partner number on a suitor’s desirability as a long-term partner varies as a function of distribution over time. Using graphical representations of a suitor’s sexual history, we found that past partner number effects were smaller when the frequency of new sexual encounters decreased over time. This moderation effect was stronger, and often curvilinear, when past partner numbers were higher. We replicated these findings in 11 countries from five world regions. Sex differences were minimal and inconsistent pointing to a lack of a sexual double standards. Sociosexuality (openness to casual sex) was a consistent moderator and tended to mute the sexual history effects. These findings suggest that people not only attend to a potential long-term mate’s quantity of sexual partners, but also the context surrounding these encounters such as pattern and timing. Together, the findings raise the possibility of an evolved mechanism for managing mating risks present in both sexes and across populations and adds nuance to a contentious topic of public interest