248 research outputs found
Failure to consider local political processes and power relations in the development of a transdisciplinaryresearch project plan: Learning lessons from a stormy start
No full textExtreme weather, complex spaces and diverse rural places: An intra-community scale analysis of responses to storm events in rural Scotland, UK
No full textThe impacts that increasing rural demographic and socio-cultural diversity has had upon the responses of rural community members to weather-related hazard events has remained relatively understudied within the Disaster Risk Reduction scholarship. Drawing upon interview evidence obtained from a study of three rural communities in Scotland, UK, the article explores how variation in length of residence amongst community members affects abilities to cope during periods of extreme weather, with long-term residence being associated with more positive outcomes than more recent in-migration. The article suggests that differences in responses between long-term residents and more recent in-migrants results from a complex array of differences in exposure to previous storm events, differences in occupational backgrounds that result in differences in ways of relating to the land, and differences in social relationship preferences and expectations. The article makes the claim that policies and practices of Disaster Risk Reduction, including the Scottish Community Resilience initiatives, need to focus more on the intra-community scale in rural settings in order to better protect residents from the risks that extreme weather poses to human well-being. In their present form, Scottish Community Resilience initiatives are likely to be limited in their ability to improve the storm-coping abilities of residents because their implementation at the whole-community scale reflects outdated assumptions about the character of rural communities and ignores the impacts of several decades of demographic change. The findings also raise questions about how the knowledge that enables successful adaptation to environmental hazard events can be effectively mobilised within increasingly complex and diverse societies
Transcending the triad: Political distrust, local cultural norms and reconceptualising the drivers of domestic energy poverty in the UK
No full textThis study contributes to the existing understandings of the drivers of domestic energy poverty by examining how locally-embedded cultural factors intersect with wider economic and political processes in constituting and perpetuating energy deprivation. Drawing upon qualitative evidence obtained from research in four case study sites in the United Kingdom, the chapter argues that energy poverty needs to be reconceptualised beyond simple triadic approaches to one that highlights the significance of the role that locally-embedded cultural norms play in driving experiences of energy poverty and in generating resistance to engagement with energy poverty alleviation initiatives
ILC detection: Applying image processing and deep learning to improve the detection of Invasive Lobular Carcinoma using mammography
No full textDeep learning is a growing field of research and and so is the application of deep learning to the analysis of medical images. Convolutional neural networks are used to diagnose diseases, determine risk of disease development, finding the exact area of abnormalities and and so on. Mammography is an imaging technique, which aims at the early detection of breast cancer. Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) is a type of breast cancer with properties that make it less visible on mammography. This study compares six models which apply convolutional neural networks to detect breast cancer, on its ability to detect ILC. Furthermore, transfer learning with ILC and healthy images is applied to one of these models to improve the performance on ILC data.For the evaluated breast cancer detection models, the performance on ILC data is worse than for a dataset which includes all breast cancer types and more healthy images. The model that transfer learning is applied to performs better on ILC data after transfer learning than before, with an increase of 0.09 for the AUC value. Additional analyses of the results show that women with high breast density have a lower chance of getting a correct ILC diagnosis from the model than women with low beast density and this also holds for other types of breast cancer. Lastly, the model outcomes are compared to radiologist reviews, to determine the additional value of models to the routine screening performed by radiologists. Within the images that are labeled as healthy by the radiologists, a model could be applied to detect tumor that have been missed by radiologists. When a specificity of 89% was allowed, 23% of the missed tumors could have been detected by the original GMIC model. In this way, the models used in this study and other deep learning models that are in development now, can contribute to breast cancer detection from mammography, and ILC specifically.Applied Mathematic
Cross-Coupled Iterative Learning Control for Complex Systems: A Monotonically Convergent and Computationally Efficient Approach
No full textCross-coupled iterative learning control (ILC) can achieve high performance for manufacturing applications in which tracking a contour is essential for the quality of a product. The aim of this paper is to develop a framework for norm-optimal cross-coupled ILC that enables the use of exact contour errors that are calculated offline, and iteration-and time-varying weights. Conditions for the monotonic convergence of this iteration-varying ILC algorithm are developed. In addition, a resource-efficient implementation is proposed in which the ILC update law is reframed as a linear quadratic tracking problem, reducing the computational load significantly. The approach is illustrated on a simulation example.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Team Jan-Willem van Wingerde
Metrology Requirements for the Integrated Luminosity Measurement Using Small-Angle Bhabha Scattering at ILC
No full textPrecision measurement of the integrated luminosity at future Higgs factories, including the International Linear Collider (ILC), is of crucial importance for the cross-section measurements, and in particular for the line-shape measurements at the Z-pole. Since there is no up-to-date estimate of the integrated luminosity uncertainties arising from metrology effects at ILC, here we review the metrology requirements for the targeted precision of at foreseen ILC center-of-mass energies: 91.2 GeV, 250 GeV, 500 GeV and 1 TeV, using small-angle Bhabha scattering. © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Physical Society of Japan
Deconstructing Fragmentation: Koskenniemi\u27s 2006 ILC Project
No full textThis essay – a contribution to a workshop organized to assess Martti Koskenniemi’s scholarship – focuses principally on Koskenniemi’s work as a member of the International Law Commission (ILC) from 2002 to 2006, and in particular his chairmanship of an ILC study group. Unlike Koskenniemi’s scholarship, which is solely his own or perhaps his in conjunction with a co-author, the ILC study group report on Fragmentation of International Law: Difficulties Arising from the Diversification and Expansion of International Law (Report), and the 42 associated conclusions, were a group effort, though it is well-understood that Koskenniemi was the driving force in writing, editing, and finalizing them. In considering Koskenniemi’s scholarly contributions to the field of international law, I think it reasonable to take into account this Report, especially since part of my interest lies in assessing the Report in relationship to Koskenniemi’s scholarship.In briefly “deconstructing” the Report, the essay examines three different vantage points. First, is the Report mostly a scholarly think-piece that will sit on the jurisprudential shelf in the library – a self-contained intellectual regime of a sort? Or is the Report useful for the practical lawyer toiling in the field of international law, one that will prove illuminating for emerging areas of international law in the years to come? Second, how does the Report relate to Koskenniemi’s own scholarship; might the Report be viewed as a confirmation or extension of that scholarship, or – more provocatively – a betrayal of it? Third, will the Report have “legs” in helping point the direction for future work by the ILC and other comparable institutions? Does it suggest new ways of thinking about codification and progressive development of international law
Structural Limitations and Possible Future of the Work of the International Law Commission
No full textThe article offers a theoretical response to the current identity crisis of the International Law Commission (ILC). Examining the ILC's working procedure, topic selection and social context, the author reveals some inherent limitations structuring its work. In his analysis, the author maintains that the success of the ILC owes much to its consensus-generating process and its focus primarily on secondary rules of international law. Consequently, the author expresses some doubt about the productivity of the ILC's work in fields involving substantive value judgments of the international community, such as human rights. Considering the challenges of institutional fragmentation and competition, the author suggests the ILC adopt a policy of strategic diversification and serve as the guider of general international law aiming at preserving the legal unity and coherence of international law.International RelationsLawSSCI0ARTICLE2473-484
Planning for health in higher density living: learning from the experience of Green Square, New South Wales
No full textUrban densification proceeds apace. However, and notwithstanding a renewed awareness of the intrinsic link between urban form and human health, we are only beginning to query the impact of higher density living on health-supportive behaviours. Using Green Square, Sydney as a case study, this paper reports recent research that addresses this gap. Findings include a consistency–though largely unrecognized–with the healthy built environments research literature; a lack of a consistent ‘healthy environments’ language, including any definition of ‘healthy density’; a lack of attention to high-rise high density; and a need for an active engagement with complexity, as well as substantial and ongoing institutional support.</p
The UK Equity Bank - Towards income security in old age
No full textA brief for ILC-UK on the role for an equity bank in providing secure income for retirement.
With shrinking pension pots and longer life expectancy, retirement incomes look set to come under increasing pressure unless alternative sources of income become available.
The UK Equity Bank would allow people to exchange a fixed proportion of the equity in their home for a lifetime income linked to inflation. Providing people with a secure income by unlocking the equity in housing assets could improve standards of living for the benefit of the people themselves, the local community and society as a whole.
This paper was launched at a breakfast meeting in the House of Lords on Thursday 12th June. Speakers included Professor Les Mayhew, co-author of the paper, Nick Kirwan of the ILC-UK and Paul Burstow MP, former Social Care Minister
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