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Google Trends and Baidu index data in tourism demand forecasting: a critical assessment of recent applications
No full textThe application of search query (SQ) data in tourism demand forecasting is an intriguing area of ongoing research. The present research note aims to (i) critically examine recent studies from leading tourism journals using SQ data for demand forecasting, (ii) synthesize the prevailing key problems, limitations and challenges in the studies, and (iii) provide recommendations emerging from the critical assessment of literature to help improve the quality of future SQ-data-based tourism forecasting research
Identification and prioritization of drivers for successful green manufacturing implementation employing the Best-Worst Method: evidence from Iranian manufacturing industries
No full textPurpose
Green manufacturing (GM) has emerged as a vital strategy to minimize environmental impacts and maximize resource efficiency in industrial production. The main aim of this work is to identify and validate essential criteria for GM and prioritize drivers of successful GM implementation frameworks for the manufacturing industry based on Best–Worst Methodology (BWM).
Design/methodology/approach
This work explores the essential factors required to achieve long-term success in GM, followed by their comparison using the BWM to determine the most and least important indicators. The study conducted purposive sampling to gather data from 15 experts representing diverse industries in the manufacturing sector. The research methodology consists of three main steps: criteria identification through literature review, criteria validation using the content validity ratio (CVR) method and the BWM application to rank the indicators.
Findings
The main success factors identified included top management commitment, organizational culture, employee training, cost saving, investment in innovation and technology, environmental regulation, zero-emission and waste management. The results obtained through BWM indicated top management commitment, investment in innovation and technology and organizational culture as the most critical factors for successful GM implementation. Other factors, such as zero-emission, waste management and cost savings, were also significant but ranked lower in significance. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of top management commitment to successfully adopting GM initiatives.
Originality/value
This research provides insights into the key success factors, through which decision-makers are assisted in prioritizing efforts and implementing sustainable and eco-friendly practices in manufacturing processes. However, further research is recommended to address existing gaps and foster a deeper understanding of crucial success factors for successful GM implementation
Delay-minimization and back-off aware Q-learning with advanced bio-inspired CH selection for multi-hop communication in vehicular ad-hoc networks
Get PDFThe increasing significance of Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) in intelligent transportation systems has introduced challenges related to high mobility, network congestion, and energy efficiency. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a new approach based on Delay-Minimization and Back-Off Aware Q-Learning with Advanced Bio-Inspired Cluster Head (CH) Selection (DBACH) to enhance multi-hop data transmission in VANETs. The DBACH framework is structured around network construction, delay minimization, a back-off Q-learning model, and an improved dragonfly algorithm-based CH selection process. By integrating these mechanisms, the proposed approach effectively minimizes transmission delay, routing overhead, and power consumption, thereby improving Quality of Service (QoS) in VANETs. To validate the performance of DBACH, extensive experiments were conducted, comparing it with existing approaches such as RCDC, DCPA, and WCAM. The simulations were carried out by varying the number of vehicles and their speeds (km/h), analyzing key performance metrics such as energy efficiency, throughput, packet delivery ratio, data loss ratio, computational time, and routing overhead. The results demonstrate that DBACH achieves significant performance gains, with energy efficiency reaching 85 joules, throughput improving to 160–200 Kbps, and an 11–13% increase in packet delivery ratio. Additionally, end-to-end delay is reduced to 60–94 ms, data loss is minimized to 7–15%, and routing overhead is maintained within 170–300 packets. These improvements affirm that DBACH provides high efficiency, greater communication stability, and superior success rates compared to existing methods, making it a promising solution for enhancing reliable and energy-efficient communication in VANETs
Panels of the self: self-referentiality, memory and speaking out on traumatic abuse in Sole Otero’s Poncho fue (2017)
No full textMontenegro examines the graphic novel Poncho fue (2017) by Argentine female comics artist Sole Otero. This fictionalised autobiographical graphic narrative allows Montenegro to explore the implications of self-referentiality in narrating and illustrating personal experiences of domestic abuse. This chapter explores female subjectivity through the enunciative graphic voice and the portrayal of the autobiographical self. Remembering, recounting and drawing personal experiences serve to examine themes of memory, trauma and self-depiction, termed ‘self-drawgraphies’. Poncho fue is a personal story and yet this study argues that it holds universal value in writing and speaking out on abuse and in graphically portraying psychological violence against women. By analysing Otero's graphic novel, this chapter aims to contribute to the broader discourse on female subjectivity and abuse in graphic narratives by women
Editorial: Multimodality in face-to-face teaching and learning: contemporary re-evaluations in theory, method, and pedagogy
Get PDFSites of teaching and learning have long been a concern in the study of multimodality because of the impact education has on the production of future social subjects and the individual and collective potentials they embody. As such, it is incumbent upon teachers and researchers in education to take into account the impact that modes such as gesture, gaze, image, and the use of classroom space have in teaching, both independent of and in conjunction with spoken or written language. For instance, in one early multimodal classroom study, Kress et al. (2005) examined the multimodal structuring of knowledge in subject English at three state secondary schools in London, and found that image, gesture, and the use of classroom space communicated curricular elements which would be impossible in speech or writing alone. Other work on classroom multimodality of note includes de Silva Joyce and Feez's (2018) collection of studies, primarily from the pioneering social semiotic approach inspired by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996), containing chapters examining the classroom role of a range of modes, from gesture, to gaze, music, and design
ESG integration in residential real estate: the case of Constanța, Romania
Get PDFThis study examines the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles within Romania’s residential real estate sector, concentrating on Constanța, a rapidly evolving urban centre in a transitional economy. Drawing on qualitative data
from semi-structured interviews with local real estate professionals and secondary analysis of policy and market documents, the research uncovers inconsistencies in ESG implementation. Environmental compliance is advancing, largely driven by EU
regulations such as the European Grean Deal, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Voluntary certification schemes like BREEAM and LEED are emerging as benchmarks for environmental
performance; however, their uptake remains limited and insufficiently tailored to local conditions. Meanwhile, the social and governance dimensions lag behind, characterised by inconsistent application and weak institutional backing. Key barriers to effective ESG integration in Romania’s residential real estate sector include weak regulatory enforcement, fragmented policies, limited green finance, low awareness, and a lack of standardised social value metrics. The study concludes that without moving beyond mere
regulatory compliance to a framework embedding social inclusivity and adaptive governance, ESG efforts risk perpetuating existing inequalities. It calls for a reconceptualisation of ESG frameworks, developed for mature markets, to better suit transitional urban contexts and support long-term resilience in residential real estate
A new convex approach for grid-supporting inverter control based on DLMIs
Get PDFThe objective of this article is to validate a dynamic output-feedback (DOF) control synthesis methodology to be implemented through digital signal processors in the scope of electrical microgrid applications. The DOF controller, originally designed in continuous-time, is developed aiming to comply with strict transient behavior requirements associated with electrical systems, by using an adaptation of the D-stability concept to handle linear systems affected by time-varying parameters (linear parameter varying model). In order to allow a digital implementation of the control action, a discrete-time equivalent representation of the continuous-time DOF controller is obtained from the Taylor series expansion of the exponential terms associated with the discretization. Additional contributions of this article include: the use of a formulation based on differential linear matrix inequalities to ensure the stability of the hybrid system (composed of the analog plant and the digital controller), and the validation of the redesigned controller performance when applied to a real-time simulation of a three-phase inverter with a grid-supporting configuration emulated via hardware-in-the-loop device. The results demonstrate that the controlled system has achieved a regular operation for all the load cases investigated after the anomalies presented, even regulating a voltage drop of 20%. The proposed method was compared with a method in the literature, showing a decrease of 17.5% in the harmonic distortion of the currents holding similar voltage distortion
FlexScale: scalable and efficient management approach for near-RT RIC in O-RAN
Get PDFThe Near-Real-Time (Near-RT) Radio Access Network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (RIC) in the Open RAN (O-RAN) architecture provides flexibility and programmability, enabling dynamic network management through Machine Learning based applications known as xApps. However, scalability and strict latency requirements hinder the support of numerous xApps. Existing orchestration solutions struggle to efficiently manage large-scale xApp deployments while maintaining latency below one second. Connecting multiple next-generation NodeBs (gNBs) to a single Near-RT RIC risks performance bottlenecks and single points of failure in the O-RAN architecture. To address these challenges, we propose FlexScale, a scalable approach to enhance O-RAN system capacity for extensive xApp deployments. It dynamically scales Near-RT RIC instances connected to gNB modules (E2 Nodes) using Kubernetes-based Horizontal and Vertical Pod Autoscaling (HPA, VPA) and native load balancing. FlexScale optimizes CPU utilization while meeting latency requirements. Simulations show that FlexScale efficiently scales xApps across multiple Near-RT RIC pods, addressing system limitations. Under high E2AP traffic, HPA and VPA autoscaling reduce latency by up to 96% compared to a single Near-RT RIC deployment. Additionally, CPU usage is reduced by approximately 70%, ensuring balanced resource utilization during traffic fluctuations. FlexScale demonstrates its capability to support large-scale xApp deployments while maintaining performance and efficiency
A multi-beam circularly polarised Fabry-Perot resonator antenna array using SIW for X-Band applications
Get PDFThis paper presents a novel multi-layer beamforming antenna array based on Fabry-Perot resonator that is excited by a high performance compact 4 × 4 Butler matrix using substrate integrated waveguide SIW) technology for X-band application. The adapted ring patch antenna is fed through the aperture on a rectangular SIW cavity and forms the radiating element in the antenna array. Enhanced characteristics of the antenna array are realised by inserting an electromagnetic andgap (EBG) structure between the radiating elements and a superstrate constituted from two complementary frequency selective surfaces (FSS) that forms a Fabry-Perot resonator (FPR). Circular polarisation in the proposed FPR SIW antenna array (FPRSAA) is achieved by using a combination of sequential phase rotation and orthogonal feeding techniques. Measured results of antenna array (Ant. II) show |S11| ≤ −10 dB between 8–12.0 GHz, a circular polarisation (CP) gain variation between 15.64–18.54 dBic, 3 dB axial-ratio between 8.5–11 GHz, and scanning angle covering −47 to 47 degrees
A Deleuzian social psychology
No full textIntroduction:
Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) was one of the major figures in French philosophy in the second half of the twentieth century. His work builds on the post-phenomenological approach to fundamental questions of thought, being and knowledge that is usually referred to as ‘continental philosophy’ (to distinguish it from the so-called ‘analytical’ approach that has dominated the discipline of Philosophy in the English-speaking world since the mid twentieth century). Deleuze’s early works are philosophically inventive re-readings of singular intellectual figures such as Nietzsche, Spinoza, and Bergson, whose metaphysics Deleuze re-imagined for a modern audience. His major works Difference and Repetition and Logic of Sense appeared in the late 1960s, during a time of major political and social unrest across Europe (notably ‘the events’ in Paris of May 1968). Although Deleuze was not as publicly engaged with politics as his friend and colleague Michel Foucault, his collaborative work with the psychoanalyst Félix Guattari - in particular Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus - developed a complex and heterogeneous account of history and subjectivity (amongst many other topics) that has proved profoundly influential to critical social science. Deleuze also extensively engaged with questions of aesthetics, affect and perception, most notably in the two Cinema books which reflected his lifelong interest in the medium