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Cybersecurity Challenges in the Age of AI, Space Communications and Cyborgs
No full textThe buzz around AI systems emphasises the dangers or negatives of AI generative systems. The AI debate needs to move towards the centre ground so that balanced discussion can be achieved. AI systems can make, and are making, many successful contributions to society and individuals, and this should be celebrated but one needs to be wary of the dangers. Governments, society, technology firms and consulting firms are developing and deploying guidelines that can help keep AI systems safe for society. However, there is an urgency to move forward fast because AI is in its infancy and there is an explosion of innovation of new AI systems and applications. Proactiveness is the way to harness the benefits of AI systems so that they are based on ethical AI. This article makes the case for AI as a force for good, but also realises pitfalls lie ahead that need addressing.</p
Women’s rights in India’s IT sector: Does equality work across continents?
No full textThe paper investigates experiences of women IT professionals in India from two groups - first group comprising of women experiencing differences in work-life balance, inequalities, and challenges of equal rights when they are working in different IT projects with a Swedish or US client. The second group of women comprising of ‘activists who have initiated to set up solidarity network groups on social media to ensure better work-life balance and equal rights. An interpretive research approach with one hundred and fifty semi-structured interviews with IT professionals and an inductive analysis was adopted for this study. Findings highlight how equality, diversity and inclusion policies from West are transformed in Indian contexts, how this has implications for women’s work-life balance and retention in transnational organisations in India. The importance of women’s activism in IT is highlighted as it contributes to creating solidarity networks providing unique bonding space, comfort for women IT professionals. Keywords – equality, IT, women’s rights, work-life balance, solidarity networks</p
Difficult at dusk? Illuminating the debate on cricket ball visibility
No full textObjective: Investigate the visibility of new and old red, white and pink cricket balls under lighting and background conditions experienced during a day-night cricket match.
Design: We modelled the luminance contrast signals available for a typical observer for a ball against backgrounds in a professional cricket ground, at different times of day.
Method: Spectral reflectance (light reflected as a function of wavelength) was derived from laboratory measurements of new and old red, white and pink balls. We also gathered spectral measurements from backgrounds (pitch, grass, sightscreens, crowd, sky) and spectral illuminance during a day-night match (natural afternoon light, through dusk to night under floodlights) from Lord's Cricket Ground (London, UK). The luminance contrast of the ball relative to the background was calculated for each combination of ball, time of day, and background surface.
Results: Old red and old pink balls may offer little or no contrast against the grass, pitch and crowd. New pink balls can also be of low contrast against the crowd at dusk, as can pink and white balls (of any age) against the sky at dusk.
Conclusion: Reports of difficulties with visibility of the pink ball are supported by our data. However, our modelling also shows that difficulties with visibility may also be expected under certain circumstances for red and white balls. The variable conditions in a cricket ground and the changing colour of an ageing ball makes maintaining good visibility of the ball a challenge when playing day-night matches.</p
Short- and long-term neuropsychiatric outcomes in long COVID in South Korea and Japan: binational population-based discovery and validation cohort study
No full textNo description supplied</p
The importance of incorporating religious, cultural and linguistic evidence in UK immigration procedures: an analysis of the semiotic codes of asylum seekers
No full textAsylum seekers who claim asylum in the United Kingdom flee from a diverse range of
threats of persecution, particularly in the MENA (Middle East & North African) region.
These threats may comprise of war, tribal violence and trafficking to honour-killings, female
genital mutilation and witchcraft. Some of these threats may be alien to Western immigration
tribunals as they either do not occur in their respective countries or are not understood,
particularly because of the intricate religious and cultural nature of the threat in question. For
example, a single woman who has had sexual relations outside of marriage would be
regarded as having insulted tribal and familial honour in some regions of MENA countries.
Here, the word ‘tribe’, which in Arabic is ‘qabilah’, has a distinct historical, cultural and
lexical meaning that lawyers, judges and policy-makers may not be aware of; the same may
be said of ‘nikah’ (marriage) or ‘Voodoo’ (a type of witchcraft) and many other
terminologies. These terminologies are intimately linked to the experiences of immigration
applicants and asylum seekers who desire to express their fear of persecution to lawyers,
judges and policymakers.
Using two real-life case studies involving a Yemeni immigration applicant and Nigerian
asylum seeker respectively and my practitioner experience as a country expert having written
140 reports, I will critically explore the value of a primary, semiotic understanding of key
religious, cultural and linguistic dimensions in asylum claims (as opposed to secondary
source evidence). I argue that the UK’s immigration tribunal system should place more value
on how language is embodied within the MENA regions. I do not wish to just highlight this
issue but semiotically analyse immigration and asylum procedure, the arguments of the Home
Office and tribunals in accepting or rejecting claims and suggest substantive reform by
broadening the nature of evidence.
Using Peirce’s framework of semiotics, a sign (representamen) is the fundamental entry point
to comprehend an object – an object being the referent of a sign. Once we understand a sign
and its object, we arrive at the interpretant which is the sense or meaning derived from the
object. This triad relationship of sign, object and interpretant constitutes semiois. Here, I
argue that analysing the nature of a sign and what it purports to represent can provide us with
a theoretical basis by which to reformulate the mechanisms which judges and lawyers use to
understand religious, cultural and linguistic evidence in asylum claims. It is through signs
that we can arrive at a deeper meaning and the larger picture of the intricate components of an
asylum seeker’s claim thereby accessing their semiotic code.</p
Food insecurity and academic performance in Spanish adolescents: Results from the EHDLA study
No full textIntroduction
Food insecurity is a growing global issue that affects both developed and developing nations, and mounting evidence suggests that decreased consumption of healthy foods has been linked to lower academic performance in adolescents. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between food insecurity and academic performance in a sample of Spanish adolescents aged 12–17 years from the Valle de Ricote (Region of Murcia, Spain).
Methods
The present study analyzed data from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities study, which included a sample of 777 adolescents (55.3 % girls). The Spanish Child Food Security Survey Module was used to assess food insecurity, and academic performance was evaluated using school records provided by the schools. Linear regression models (fitted by robust methods) were used to compare the relationships between food insecurity status and academic performance-related indicators.
Results
Adolescents with the highest levels of food insecurity reported the lowest academic performance in language (mean [M] = 4.7; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 3.6 to 5.7), math (M = 4.6; 95 % CI 3.5 to 5.8), foreign language (M = 4.8; 95 % CI 3.8 to 5.8), and grade point average (M = 5.7; 95 % CI 4.9 to 6.5). Conversely, adolescents with the lowest levels of food insecurity reported the highest academic performance in language (M = 6.2; 95 % CI 6.0 to 6.5), math (M = 5.9; 95 % CI 5.5 to 6.2), foreign language (M = 6.2; 95 % CI 5.9 to 6.4), and grade point average (M = 6.7; 95 % CI 6.5 to 6.9) compared to those with higher food security.
Conclusions
Living in a more food-insecure household could explain the lower academic performance of adolescents. Food insecurity should always be on the agenda of public policies. The availability of quality basic food essentials must be ensured in permanently satisfactory quantities without compromising access to other fundamental needs.</p
Unmasking the triad of burnout, absenteeism, and poor sleep among healthcare workers during the third wave of COVID-19 pandemics. Results from the national AMADEUS study.
No full textBackground: Burnout and absenteeism are prevalent among healthcare workers, reflecting prolonged work-related stress and dissatisfaction with their job. Identifying poor sleep as a contributing factor can assist in developing targeted interventions. This study explored the relationship between burnout, absenteeism, and sleep among healthcare workers.Methods: A nationwide online cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals in France during the third wave of COVID-19, from May 2021 to June 2021. Recruitment strategies included outreach through social and professional networks and email invitations. Burnout was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, absenteeism through self-reported days absent in the preceding 12 months, and sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The association between burnout, absenteeism, and poor sleep was analyzed using multivariate logistic regression, accounting for individual and professional variables. The study also explored various sleep dimension abnormalities.Results: Of 10,087 healthcare workers, 55.2 % reported burnout, 20.5 % absenteeism, and 64.8 % poor sleep. Burnout and absenteeism were more frequent in individuals with poor sleep compared to those with good sleep (74.2 % vs. 25.8 % and 75.6 % vs. 24.4 %, respectively). The multivariate analyses confirmed the associations between burnout, absenteeism, and poor sleep (Adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] = 2.15, 95 % CI [1.97–2.35], p Interpretation: The study highlighted the intricate relationship between burnout, absenteeism, and poor sleep among healthcare professionals, informing workforce management and policy decisions to foster a supportive work environment and enhance their well-being.</p
In Northcliffe Jail: Iris Barry, film journalist
No full textA reinvestigation of Iris Barry’s work for the Daily Mail in the period 1925–30. Barry is celebrated as a critic and curator. As a founder of the Film Society in London in the 1920s and first curator of film at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the 1930s she is a heroine of minority film culture. This article argues that her role in mass film culture has been overlooked. While it has been acknowledged that Barry wrote for the Daily Mail, one of Britain’s most popular newspapers, this article demonstrates that the number of articles she wrote for the paper has been underestimated by a factor of ten. Beyond the case of Barry, this article argues that elite institutions like the Film Society have been given undue credit for the phenomenon of ‘taking film seriously.’.</p
To what extent does a focus on accountability promote regulatory compliance in the UK financial services sector?
No full textExcessive risk-taking and poor corporate culture led to a number of high-profile financial scandals for which the regulators found it difficult to hold any individual responsible. In response to this, an accountability regime referred to as the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) was introduced in the UK as a governance measure. This investigation is embarked upon because the impact of accountability mechanisms on regulatory compliance in general and in the financial sector in particular is only partially understood in the way it drives behaviour, risk-taking, and decision-making. This research explores whether the implementation of SMCR is having any impact on the conduct and management practices of senior executives, either in the way they govern or in their support for developing an effective culture of compliance.This primarily explorative study is based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 20 compliance practitioners covering banking, insurance, and investment. The study found that compliance directors still, to some extent, felt underappreciated and lacking in support. Nonetheless, the SMCR does place a greater burden on senior executives to take responsibility for behaviour and conduct, which does give compliance directors more status and prominence and facilitates wider participation in compliance activities within financial services companies. Additionally, despite competing accountability pressures between commercial and regulatory considerations, compliance directors are more confident about emphasising to their boards that more focus on regulatory compliance is in the long-term best interest of their organisation.This study recommends that regulators disaggregate the values inherent in SMCR and carry out thematic reviews and so more certainly incentivize good compliance behaviours and disincentivize bad ones. It also re-contextualizes accountability theories in a regulator-regulated relationship and contributes to the debate on how, in the context of financial services, to improve compliance culture and reduce the occurrence of financial scandals.</p
Virtual influencer presentation strategy coding & analysis
No full textCoded dataset and analysis for research into representative virtual influencer self-presentation strategies on social media. </p
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