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Recovering belief structures using a language model on a naturalistic dataset of attitude change
Get PDFOn the Reddit forum ChangeMyView, users post beliefs and invite others to challenge them. In this study, we aimed to determine whether a GPT-4-based analytical pipeline could accurately recover belief structures from a subset of posts on predefined topics, identified through covariation statistics from a lab sample. This approach would enable us, in a second stage, to extract novel insights from naturalistic data on belief structures that have not been directly elicited in lab studies, providing a bottom-up examination at scale. Our findings suggest that the pipeline captures meaningful belief patterns, aligning moderately with human responses in structured surveys. Analyzing 3082 posts from 346 users revealed distinct ideological clusters and belief patterns that mirrored well-established political divisions. This method offers a scalable way to study belief networks, shedding light on their role in shaping societal attitudes
Animal health: resistance to antimicrobials and anthelmintics
Get PDFAntimicrobial and anthelmintic drugs are used in large quantities in animal agriculture today. Since their introduction in livestock farming in the mid-20th century, widespread resistance to these medicines has emerged and the supply of novel drugs has diminished in recent decades. Resistant infections in livestock can be challenging to treat, seriously compromising animal health, welfare and productivity, with consequences for food security and economic and environmental outcomes. Furthermore, resistance, particularly to antimicrobials, represents a serious problem for human medicine. This chapter considers the current situation in its historical context, as well as the varied and context-dependent drivers of antimicrobial and anthelmintic use and resistance. A range of technical and policy approaches and their respective challenges are discussed. Possible future scenarios are explored, along with factors which may influence the future trajectory of antimicrobial and anthelmintic resistanc
"We Don't Do Digital, We Dig It All":Experimenting with 'Data Civics' methods to support urban development in Granton, Edinburgh
Get PDFGranton is a neighbourhood on the waterfront periphery of North Edinburgh that challenges conventional imaginaries of Edinburgh’s heritage status. It has, thus, been the focal point of a six-month knowledge exchange project between the research team, local businesses, heritage, non-governmental organisations, support networks, activists and policymakers. The aim has been to investigate the interfaces between these stakeholders against the backdrop of COVID-19 measures and in light of the Granton Waterfront regeneration sponsored by the Edinburgh City Council. The methodological approach adopted is a fusion of digital and physical ethnography, civic participation and community-led regeneration observation through knowledge exchange workshops. Based on the use of these experimental Data Civics methods, this chapter presents the findings, including informal network formation within local communities, frustration towards local policies, and the local perspective on research. A cross-platform comparison of the presence of local businesses on locative media was also conducted. This study reveals a cultural heritage obscured by mainstream perceptions, contributing to contemporary heritage redefinitions. Noteworthy aspects include a longstanding tradition of community-led activism, supported by various local networks (physical, digital, or hybrid), gardening, and the resistance to technological solutionism, namely a two-year electric car factory from the late nineteenth century, raising questions about technological possibilities
A roundtable discussion on the politics of EURO 2024:A collective commentary
Get PDFEvery European Football Championship raises a host of important political questions. Euro 2024 in Germany was no exception in this regard, as this commentary demonstrates. This roundtable discussion – in form of mini essays – reconsiders this politicized event. Indeed, this collectively written commentary involves short, but sharp insights from five scholars aiming to provide a responsive account of politically significant moments or trends at before, during and in the immediate aftermath of Euro 2024. By exploring important questions relating to, inter alia, nationalism, security and safety, sustainability, and children’s rights – in Euro 2024’s context – it is hoped that this commentary paper will offer something to future discussions concerning Euro 2024, European football and sport mega-events more widely, and, finally, socio-political processes in contemporary Europe
The Edinburgh International Accents of English Corpus
No full textEnglish is the most widely spoken language in the world, used daily by millions of people as a first or second language in many different contexts. As a result, there are many varieties of English. Although the great many advances in English automatic speech recognition (ASR) over the past decades, results are usually reported based on test datasets which fail to represent the diversity of English as spoken today around the globe. We present the first release of The Edinburgh International Accents of English Corpus (EdAcc). This dataset attempts to better represent the wide diversity of English, encompassing almost 40 hours of dyadic video call conversations between friends. Unlike other datasets, EdAcc includes a wide range of first and second-language varieties of English and a linguistic background profile of each speaker. Results on latest public, and commercial models show that EdAcc highlights shortcomings of current English ASR models. The best performing model, trained on 680 thousand hours of transcribed data, obtains an average of 19.7% WER -- in contrast to the the 2.7% WER obtained when evaluated on US English clean read speech. Across all models, we observe a drop in performance on Jamaican, Indonesian, Nigerian, and Kenyan English speakers. Recordings, linguistic backgrounds, data statement, and evaluation scripts are released on our website under CC-BY-SA
CaFeFeNbO6 – an iron-based double double perovskite
No full textOrdering of cations is important for controlling properties of ABO3 perovskites, and CaFeFeNbO6 is the first example of an Fe-based AA’BB’O6 double double perovskite, with Ca2+/Fe2+ ordered on A-site columns, and Fe3+/Nb5+ at the octahedral B-sites. Substantial (37%) antisite disorder of the latter cations leads to spin glassy magnetism below a freezing transition at 12 K. The CaMnFeNbO6 analogue also shows substantial cation disorder and spin glassy behaviour. Comparison of synthesis pressures for ordered materials based on different A-site transition metals, suggests that pressures of at least 14-18 GPa will be required to discover the expected plethora of double double perovskites based on A’ cations smaller than Mn2+Files are magnetic and powder neutron diffraction data for the two samples shown in the publication Ji, K., Bedward, J.R., Li, Q., Manuel, P., Ritterc, C. and Attfield, J.P. (2023), "CaFeFeNbO6 – an iron-based double double perovskite", Chemical Communications 59, 6371 - 6374 ( https://doi.org/10.1039/D3CC01115A )
Looking inside the ‘black box’ of digital firm scaling:An ethnographically informed conceptualisation
Get PDFIn recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in firm scaling. Owing to the fact our conceptual and theoretical grasp of this phenomenon remains under-developed, this paper offers a novel conceptualisation of the scaling process based on an in-depth ethnographic study of a London-based digital Fintech. Scaling involves deliberately enacting and surmounting a series of managerial challenges such as human capital re-positioning, business model reconfiguration, customer acquisition and the acquisition of external growth capital. Our theoretical contribution views the micro-foundations of scaling as a distinctive relational process-based phenomenon. Under the conceptual framework posited, entrepreneurial human capital and successful scaling are inextricably interwoven. Entrepreneurial founders and managers are pivotal for orchestrating scaling and our conceptualisation builds upon the trigger point model of firm development, which reinforces the primacy of entrepreneurial agency for optimising growth triggers
Past Answers to Present Concerns. The Relevance of the Premodern Past for 21st Century Policy Planners: Comments on the State of the Field
Get PDFHow is history relevant to the present, or indeed the future? Governments around the world have used history to inform planning and decision-making in various fields for years, but more recently it has taken on a renewed importance as governments grapple with increasingly complex challenges arising from the impacts of climatic change. Yet identifying “lessons from the past” is not straightforward. Especially in the case of big questions about historical structures and social processes, establishing precise causal relationships is complex and interpretive, making consensus difficult among specialists. A second major challenge arises over the uses of history. Historical precedent can and does play a role in some contexts in helping formulate new strategies for addressing local environmental challenges. At the national level policy-makers and politicians often look to the past for inspiration, guidance, or justification. In both respects, the cases and examples chosen are often highly selective and tend to align with pre-existing assumptions. This article briefly reviews these challenges within the context of climate change and associated environmental and sustainability issues, comments on recent work in the field, and suggests some ways forward for historians
Little Emperor CEOs:Firm risk and performance when CEOs grow up without siblings
Get PDFUsing hand-collected data on the CEOs of Chinese companies, we find that managers who grow up without siblings are associated with riskier firms and worse performance. Our analysis exploits regional and time variation in China's compulsory one-child policy as a shock to fertility rates. Consistent with explanations that only-children have not experienced competition among siblings, we show that firms led by only-child CEOs underperform when industry competition is stronger. Our findings suggest that fertility policies affect the supply of managerial capital and, consequently, corporate policies and performance.</p
Attachment-related anxiety and social anxiety: the mediating role of self-esteem
No full textThe dataset includes a unique reference number for each participant. It includes participants' responses to a 'consent to participate' question. It includes participant data, namely: gender, age group, relationship status, and ethnicity. Participants responded to a shortened version of the Anxiety Subscale of the Experiences in Close Relationships Revised Scale (ECR-R). Reponses to the items of this questionnaire are listed under AA_1 : AA_9. The nine items chosen were those that load most strongly on the Anxiety subscale (see Sibley, Fischer & Liu, 2005). Participants also responded to the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. Responses to the items of this questionnaire are listed under SA_1 : SA_20. Participants also responded to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Responses to the items of this questionnaire are listed under SEst_1 : SEst_10
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