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Transindustrialisation: Art, regeneration and cultural inequalities
No full textArt of all forms is inherently political, even if it does not pursue an explicitly political agenda. Who is and who is not depicted and what is commemorated and what is not can reflect power and representational relations within a society. Similarly, the accessibility of art, and how art can transform landscapes such as urban environments is the result of political decisions. Drawing on work highlighting how some post-industrial cities have been transformed through art installations we consider, drawing on explorative walking in deindustrialised city spaces, the neighbouring communities where art is devoid of context. Spaces where there is a lack of art and so a failing to transform landscapes or to commemorate and memorialize their industrial heritage. We focus on the socio-cultural significance of such art in – or, notably, without – context in deindustrialised spaces and propose a critical reading of these as sites of “meaning”. We ask how the art that is and is not contributes to senses of exclusion and marginalization when urban environments fail to move into a trans-industrial phase
Avoiding an academic penalty: Ethics approval for BUBS UG dissertations and projects
Get PDFEach year most UG BUBS students complete a dissertation or project as part of their final year. Students are required to comply with the ethics process and gain approval for primary data capture and secondary data usage. Failure to do so constitutes an academic penalty. This project sought to help students and staff comply with BU policy. What we thought would be a case of combining ethics applications with supervisor allocations proved to be a lot more complicated by the time we completed the project
The significance of crystal structure on grain refinement during severe plastic deformation
No full textThis study focused on the significance of crystal structure on the grain refinement occurring during severe plastic deformation without considering the activation of softening mechanisms which inherently hinder grain refinement. Pure metals of Fe, Co and Ni, with relatively close melting points and initial grain sizes, were selected as models for BCC, HCP and FCC materials, respectively, for processing by high-pressure torsion under similar condition at room temperature. Severe plastic deformation of the BCC, HCP and FCC materials led to grain refinement with average grain sizes of ~90, ~60 and ~120 nm, respectively, with the FCC material showing the lowest hardness and microstrain among the studied materials. The formation of shear bands in the BCC and HCP materials were effective in microstructure fragmentation during straining which facilitated a finer grain size compared to the FCC material without shear bands. A significant grain refinement with the highest dislocation density was obtained due to an insufficient number of slip systems in the HCP material which encouraged deformation-induced twinning and a transformation for strain accommodation. The results demonstrate the high potential for achieving exceptional grain refinement in materials with an HCP crystal structure by comparison with BCC and then FCC materials
Multi-user Virtual Reality for Social Connectedness: Exploring the Design Preferences of People Living with Dementia and Their Support Persons
Get PDFVirtual reality (VR) is increasingly being adopted in dementia research. However, much of the research to date has focused on single-user VR applications with limited attention paid to how multi-user VR (MUVR) applications may be designed to promote or maintain social connectedness. This paper explores the design preferences of seven people living with dementia and their seven support persons to inform a MUVR application for social connectedness. The qualitative data obtained from four focus groups were analysed thematically and resulted in two main themes. The first theme, promoting social connectedness through familiarity, described people living with dementias’ need to experience MUVR with someone familiar, including familiar avatars, activities, and multisensory content. The second theme related to the need for an easy-to-use MUVR application to enrich social experiences and improve the quality of the shared MUVR experience. These findings provided design guidelines which supported the development of a MUVR application to promote or maintain the social connectedness of this population. The paper also provides information to support future MUVR design research in this area
Care for sexual health in oncology survey: a regression analysis of variables associated with the likelihood of people with cancer having a sexual health discussion with the hospital cancer team
Get PDFPurpose: Despite high levels of sexual dysfunction following cancer treatment, people with cancer report that sexual health is infrequently discussed during cancer care. Reasons for this infrequency have been identified in the qualitative literature. The purpose of this paper is to identify statistically significant barriers to, or facilitators of sexual health care identified by people with cancer. Methods: The care for sexual health in oncology survey (CaSHOS) was a cross-sectional, analytical, retrospective, online survey of people with cancer who had received treatment and follow-up care for any type of cancer in the UK during the previous 10 years. A convenience sample was recruited via UK cancer charities. A minimum sample size of 120 people with cancer was required. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were conducted. Despite attempts to mitigate recall bias, this remained a limitation of this study. Results: Sexual activity worsened following cancer treatment for the majority of participants. Sixty-one per cent self-reported never having talked about their sexual health during their cancer care. Univariate analysis found little agreement with proposed barriers to care but more agreement with proposed facilitators of care. Bivariate/multivariate analyses found four statistically significant variables that decreased the likelihood of ever having talked to professionals about sexual health (two related to privacy in the hospital setting) and two that increased the likelihood (one related to being sexually active in the past year). Conclusions: Although few barriers to care for sexual health were identified, most of these related to organisational aspects of the hospital setting. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT06074445; UK NIHR CRN Portfolio of Studies CPMS ID 52741
Five conversations and new directions for law and technology
Get PDFThis article introduces five conversations that we might have about law and its imperfect governance. These conversations prompt a new direction for inquiry in law and technology which, broadly speaking, asks questions about the characteristics of governance projects (whether legal, regulatory, or technological), about the limits, problems, and challenges faced by those projects, and about the prospects for those projects and for governance itself. The article concludes by underlining the significance, both practical and theoretical, of this direction of inquiry, where we view law as a particular kind of governance project and where we are guided by an aspiration for good governance that builds from the foundational conditions for human social existence
Explainable Approach Using Semantic-Guided Alignment for Radiology Imaging Diagnosis
Get PDFThe increased success of deep learning in the radiology imaging domain has significantly advanced automated diagnosis and report generation, aiming to enhance diagnostic precision and clinical decision-making. However, existing methods often struggle to achieve detailed morphological description, resulting in reports that provide only general information without precise clinical specifics and thus fail to meet the stringent interpretability requirements of medical diagnosis. Also, the critical need for transparency in clinical automated systems has catalyzed the emergence of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) as an essential research frontier. To address these limitations, we propose an explainable system for report generation that leverages semantic-guided alignment and interpretable multimodal deep learning. Our model combines hierarchical semantic feature extraction from medical reports with fine-grained features that guide the model to focus on lesion-relevant visual features and use Concept Activation Vectors (CAVs) to explain how radiological concepts affect report generation. A contrastive multimodal fusion module aligning textual and visual modalities through hierarchical attention and contrastive learning. Finally, an integrated concept activation system that provides transparent explanations by quantifying how radiological concepts influence generated reports. Validation of our approach in comparisons with existing methods indicates a corresponding boost in report quality in terms of clinical accuracy of the description, localization of the lesion, and contextual consistency, positioning our framework as a robust tool for generating more accurate and reliable medical reports
Cybersecurity challenges and opportunities of machine learning-based artificial intelligence
Get PDFArtificial intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity are the topics of discussion of contemporary information technology sector and computing research. This study investigates the integration of machine learning-based artificial intelligence in the context of cybersecurity. This paper presents an overview of the recent literature, focusing on selected popular areas related to the challenges and opportunities that such implementations introduce. The authors also assess how selected problems related to the application of machine learning algorithms affect the real effectiveness represented by the resulting models. To support this analysis, an experimental study was conducted using a real-world cybersecurity system. This demonstration illustrates the practical implementation of a machine learning-based software solution in cybersecurity and highlights the potential challenges encountered during such implementations
Information access, governance support and operational flexibility are needed to drive adaptation of European forests to global change
Get PDFMany forest owners and professionals recognize global change and increasing forest disturbances as pressing challenges but have yet to implement adaptation options to counteract the impacts on their forests. The ecological effectiveness of these options is context-dependent, influenced by site conditions and the quality of implementation. In addition, the socio-economic context can support or impede the implementation of adaptation options. To assess the relevance of implementation barriers and how they are perceived, we surveyed over 800 forest owners and professionals across Europe. Adaptation options that were perceived as effective were also more likely to be applied. Owing to its low evidence of effectiveness and conflicts with other management objectives, non-management was largely regarded as a non-viable adaptation option. Overall, respondents rated the importance of most implementation barriers as low to moderate. However, for certain adaptation options, specific barriers were perceived as particularly relevant. Forest owners and professionals with experience in practicing forest adaptation regarded potential barriers as less constraining than other groups of participants. More timber production-oriented owners and professionals identified economic issues as particularly constraining. To facilitate implementation of adaptation, participants suggested improved communication, more education, more flexible legislation and simpler access to financial support. Different specific site and management contexts complicate the development of general recommendations. Therefore, local science-practice collaborations and platforms to share experiences regarding adaptation options could promote the adaptive capacity of forest owners and professionals
Game, set, glitch: Why post-match press conferences are broken and how holograms could fix them
Get PDFThis commentary presents a speculative technological solution to the future of post-match press conferences, in the form of holographic technology. Current post-match press conference formats, whether it be in person, or through the use of Zoom, present challenges. To address these issues, this paper proposes a technologically driven solution to facilitate a transformation of the press conference, in order to reshape a format that has largely been the same for over a 100 years. In particular, the authors present holographic technology as an effective
means of supporting the athletes’ voice whilst engaging with the press, sponsors and fans alike. In the tennis arena, holographic technology has been used by players such as Emma Radacanu and there is the potential to for it to be used more widely. This commentary identifies the benefits and challenges holographic technology presents and highlights its significance as a communications platform in a reimagined press conference