Search results for: reflective framework

Authors: Dalila Oulhaci, Mohammed Zahaf

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The watering technique is essential to maintain a moist perimeter around the roots of the crop. This is the case with topical watering, where the soil around the root system can be kept permanently moist between the two extremes of water content. Moreover, one of the oldest methods used since Roman times throughout North Africa and the Near East was based on the repeated pouring of water into porous earthen vessels buried in the ground. In this context, these two techniques have been combined by replacing the earthen vase with plastic bottles filled with sand which release water through their perforated walls into the surrounding soil. The objective of this work is to first determine the purifying power of the activated sludge treatment plant of Toggourt and then that of the bottled Sawdust filter. For the station, the BOD purification rate was (96.5%), the COD purification rate was (87%) and suspended solids (90%). For the bottle, the BOD removal rate was (35%), and COD removal rate was (12.58%). This work falls within the framework of water saving, sustainable development and environmental protection, and also within the framework of agriculture.

Keywords: wasterwater, sawdust, purification, irrigation, touggourt (Algeria)

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Authors: Hassan Younis

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Purpose: The objective of this study is to review influential papers in the sustainability and supply chain studies domain, leveraging insights from this review to develop a structured framework for academics and researchers. This framework aims to assist scholars in identifying the most impactful publications for their scholarly pursuits. Subsequently, the study will apply and trial the developed framework on selected scholarly articles within the sustainability and supply chain studies domain to evaluate its efficacy, practicality, and reliability. Design/Methodology/Approach: Utilizing the "Publish or Perish" tool, a search was conducted to locate papers incorporating "sustainability" and "supply chain" in their titles. After rigorous filtering steps, a panel of university professors identified five crucial criteria for evaluating research robustness: average yearly citation counts (25%), scholarly contribution (25%), alignment of findings with objectives (15%), methodological rigor (20%), and journal impact factor (15%). These five evaluation criteria are abbreviated as “ACMAJ" framework. Each paper then received a tiered score (1-3) for each criterion, normalized within its category, and summed using weighted averages to calculate a Final Normalized Score (FNS). This systematic approach allows for objective comparison and ranking of the research based on its impact, novelty, rigor, and publication venue. Findings: The study's findings highlight the lack of structured frameworks for assessing influential sustainability research in supply chain management, which often results in a dependence on citation counts. A complete model that incorporates five essential criteria has been suggested as a response. By conducting a methodical trial on specific academic articles in the field of sustainability and supply chain studies, the model demonstrated its effectiveness as a tool for identifying and selecting influential research papers that warrant additional attention. This work aims to fill a significant deficiency in existing techniques by providing a more comprehensive approach to identifying and ranking influential papers in the field. Practical Implications: The developed framework helps scholars identify the most influential sustainability and supply chain publications. Its validation serves the academic community by offering a credible tool and helping researchers, students, and practitioners find and choose influential papers. This approach aids field literature reviews and study suggestions. Analysis of major trends and topics deepens our grasp of this critical study area's changing terrain. Originality/Value: The framework stands as a unique contribution to academia, offering scholars an important and new tool to identify and validate influential publications. Its distinctive capacity to efficiently guide scholars, learners, and professionals in selecting noteworthy publications, coupled with the examination of key patterns and themes, adds depth to our understanding of the evolving landscape in this critical field of study.

Keywords: supply chain management, sustainability, framework, model

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Authors: Arnault Morisson

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Innovation districts are being implemented as urban regeneration strategies in cities as diverse as Barcelona (Spain), Boston (Massachusetts), Chattanooga (Tennessee), Detroit (Michigan), Medellin (Colombia), and Montréal (Canada). Little, however, is known about the concept. This paper aims to provide a framework to define innovation districts. The research methodology is based on a qualitative approach using 22@ Barcelona as a case study. 22@ Barcelona was the first innovation district ever created and has been a model for the innovation districts of Medellin (Colombia) and Boston (Massachusetts) among others. Innovation districts based on the 22@ Barcelona’s model can be defined as top-down urban innovation ecosystems designed around four multilayered and multidimensional models of innovation: urban planning, productive, collaborative, and creative, all coordinated under strong leadership, with the ultimate objectives to accelerate the innovation process and competitiveness of a locality. Innovation districts aim to respond to a new economic paradigm in which economic production flows back to cities.

Keywords: innovation ecosystem, governance, technology park, urban planning, urban policy, urban regeneration

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Authors: Mahalakshmi Vivekanandan S.

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As per the recent changes happening in the global policies, climate-related changes and the impact it causes across every sector are viewed as green swan events – in essence, climate-related changes can often happen and lead to risk and a lot of uncertainty, but needs to be mitigated instead of considering them as black swan events. This brings about a question on how this risk can be computed so that the financial institutions can plan to mitigate it. Climate-related changes impact all risk types – credit risk, market risk, operational risk, liquidity risk, reputational risk and other risk types. And the models required to compute this has to consider the different industrial needs of the counterparty, as well as the factors that are contributing to this – be it in the form of different risk drivers, or the different transmission channels or the different approaches and the granular form of data availability. This brings out the suggestion that the climate-related changes, though it affects Pillar I risks, will be a Pillar II risk. This has to be modeled specifically based on the financial institution’s actual exposure to different industries instead of generalizing the risk charge. And this will have to be considered as the additional capital to be met by the financial institution in addition to their Pillar I risks, as well as the existing Pillar II risks. In this paper, the author presents a risk assessment framework to model and assess climate change risks - for both credit and market risks. This framework helps in assessing the different scenarios and how the different transition risks affect the risk associated with the different parties. This research paper delves into the topic of the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases that in turn cause global warming. It then considers the various scenarios of having the different risk drivers impacting the Credit and market risk of an institution by understanding the transmission channels and also considering the transition risk. The paper then focuses on the industry that’s fast seeing a disruption: the automobile industry. The paper uses the framework to show how the climate changes and the change to the relevant policies have impacted the entire financial institution. Appropriate statistical models for forecasting, anomaly detection and scenario modeling are built to demonstrate how the framework can be used by the relevant agencies to understand their financial risks. The paper also focuses on the climate risk calculation for the Pillar II Capital calculations and how it will make sense for the bank to maintain this in addition to their regular Pillar I and Pillar II capital.

Keywords: capital calculation, climate risk, credit risk, pillar ii risk, scenario modeling

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Authors: Irum Matloob, Shoab Ahmad Khan, Fahim Arif

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As Indo-Pak has been the victim of heart diseases since many decades. Many surveys showed that percentage of cardiac patients is increasing in Pakistan day by day, and special attention is needed to pay on this issue. The framework is proposed for performing detailed analysis of ECG survey data which is conducted for measuring prevalence of heart diseases statistics in Pakistan. The ECG survey data is evaluated or filtered by using automated Minnesota codes and only those ECGs are used for further analysis which is fulfilling the standardized conditions mentioned in the Minnesota codes. Then feature selection is performed by applying proposed algorithm based on discernibility matrix, for selecting relevant features from the database. Clustering is performed for exposing natural clusters from the ECG survey data by applying spectral clustering algorithm using fuzzy c means algorithm. The hidden patterns and interesting relationships which have been exposed after this analysis are useful for further detailed analysis and for many other multiple purposes.

Keywords: arrhythmias, centroids, ECG, clustering, discernibility matrix

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Authors: Emrah Denizhan

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Policing studies have drawn attention to the changing role of law enforcement in favour of harsh policing strategies throughout the world. Turkey has become part of this global transition process by restructuring its policing through a series of allegedly democratic amendments to Turkish law. Nevertheless, severe violations of human rights continue to be widely experienced phenomena. This paper suggests problematizing the changing judicial framework of policing together with the persistent aggressive policing in Turkey, by considering Agamben's concept of police as a sovereign entity – sovereign police. In so doing, the paper analytically dissects sovereign police into three premises: the criminalization of the (perceived) enemy, the militarization of the police, and finally, the discretionary use of force. This examination of the state’s early ethno-racial policies and the history of the Turkish police force, and of the changing judicial framework of police-related laws in the 2000s, demonstrates that certain ‘internal enemies’ have been criminalized by increasingly militarized police using escalating discretionary use of force.

Keywords: criminalization, discretionary use of force, policing, sovereignty

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Authors: Till Gramberg

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In the dynamic world of machine and plant engineering, stagnation in the growth of new product sales compels companies to reconsider their business models. The increasing shift toward service orientation, known as "servitization," along with challenges posed by digitalization and sustainability, necessitates an adaptation of product portfolio management (PPM). Against this backdrop, this study investigates the current challenges and requirements of PPM in this industrial context and develops a framework for the application of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance agility and efficiency in PPM processes. The research approach of this study is based on a mixed-method design. Initially, qualitative interviews with industry experts were conducted to gain a deep understanding of the specific challenges and requirements in PPM. These interviews were analyzed using the Gioia method, painting a detailed picture of the existing issues and needs within the sector. This was complemented by a quantitative online survey. The combination of qualitative and quantitative research enabled a comprehensive understanding of the current challenges in the practical application of machine and plant engineering PPM. Based on these insights, a specific framework for the application of generative AI in PPM was developed. This framework aims to assist companies in implementing faster and more agile processes, systematically integrating dynamic requirements from trends such as digitalization and sustainability into their PPM process. Utilizing generative AI technologies, companies can more quickly identify and respond to trends and market changes, allowing for a more efficient and targeted adaptation of the product portfolio. The study emphasizes the importance of an agile and reactive approach to PPM in a rapidly changing environment. It demonstrates how generative AI can serve as a powerful tool to manage the complexity of a diversified and continually evolving product portfolio. The developed framework offers practical guidelines and strategies for companies to improve their PPM processes by leveraging the latest technological advancements while maintaining ecological and social responsibility. This paper significantly contributes to deepening the understanding of the application of generative AI in PPM and provides a framework for companies to manage their product portfolios more effectively and adapt to changing market conditions. The findings underscore the relevance of continuous adaptation and innovation in PPM strategies and demonstrate the potential of generative AI for proactive and future-oriented business management.

Keywords: servitization, product portfolio management, generative AI, disruptive innovation, machine and plant engineering

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Authors: Helen Potkin

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This paper presents a practice-based case study of a project in which the student group designed and planned the curriculum content, classroom activities and assessment briefs in collaboration with the tutor. It focuses on the co-creation of the curriculum within a history and theory module, Researching the Contemporary, which runs for BA (Hons) Fine Art and Art History and for BA (Hons) Art Design History Practice at Kingston University, London. The paper analyses the potential of collaborative approaches to engender students’ investment in their own learning and to encourage reflective and self-conscious understandings of themselves as learners. It also addresses some of the challenges of working in this way, attending to the risks involved and feelings of uncertainty produced in experimental, fluid and open situations of learning. Alongside this, it acknowledges the tensions inherent in adopting such practices within the framework of the institution and within the wider of context of the commodification of higher education in the United Kingdom. The concept underpinning the initiative was to test out co-creation as a creative process and to explore the possibilities of altering the traditional hierarchical relationship between teacher and student in a more active, participatory environment. In other words, the project asked about: what kind of learning could be imagined if we were all in it together? It considered co-creation as producing different ways of being, or becoming, as learners, involving us reconfiguring multiple relationships: to learning, to each other, to research, to the institution and to our emotions. The project provided the opportunity for students to bring their own research and wider interests into the classroom, take ownership of sessions, collaborate with each other and to define the criteria against which they would be assessed. Drawing on students’ reflections on their experience of co-creation alongside theoretical considerations engaging with the processual nature of learning, concepts of equality and the generative qualities of the interrelationships in the classroom, the paper suggests that the dynamic nature of collaborative and participatory modes of engagement have the potential to foster relevant and significant learning experiences. The findings as a result of the project could be quantified in terms of the high level of student engagement in the project, specifically investment in the assessment, alongside the ambition and high quality of the student work produced. However, reflection on the outcomes of the experiment prompts a further set of questions about the nature of positionality in connection to learning, the ways our identities as learners are formed in and through our relationships in the classroom and the potential and productive nature of creative practice in education. Overall, the paper interrogates questions of what it means to work with students to invent and assemble the curriculum and it assesses the benefits and challenges of co-creation. Underpinning it is the argument that, particularly in the current climate of higher education, it is increasingly important to ask what it means to teach and to envisage what kinds of learning can be possible.

Keywords: co-creation, collaboration, learning, participation, risk

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Authors: Roslina Ibrahim, Azizah Jaafar, Khalili Khalil

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Educational games (EG) are regarded as a promising teaching and learning tool for the new generation. Growing number of studies and literatures can be found in EG studies. Both academic researchers and commercial developers come out with various educational games prototypes and titles. Despite that, acceptance of educational games still lacks among the students. It is important to understanding students’ perceptions of EG, since they are the main stakeholder of the technology. Thus, this study seeks to understand perceptions of undergraduates’ students using a framework originated from user acceptance theory. The framework consists of six constructs with twenty-eight items. Data collection was done on 180 undergraduate students of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur using self-developed online EG called ROBO-C. Data analysis was done using descriptive, factor analysis and correlations. Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, attitude, and enjoyment factors were found significantly correlated with the intention to use EG. This study provides more understanding towards the use of educational games among students.

Keywords: educational games, perceptions, acceptance, UTAUT

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Authors: Li Ni, Pen ManMan, Li KenLi

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Clustering is an intensive research for some years because of its multifaceted applications, such as biology, information retrieval, medicine, business and so on. The expectation maximization (EM) is a kind of algorithm framework in clustering methods, one of the ten algorithms of machine learning. Traditionally, optimization of objective function has been the standard approach in EM. Hence, research has investigated the utility of evolutionary computing and related techniques in the regard. Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO) is a recently established method. So the property embedded in CRO is used to solve optimization problems. This paper presents an algorithm framework (EM-CRO) with modified CRO operators based on EM cluster problems. The hybrid algorithm is mainly to solve the problem of initial value sensitivity of the objective function optimization clustering algorithm. Our experiments mainly take the EM classic algorithm:k-means and fuzzy k-means as an example, through the CRO algorithm to optimize its initial value, get K-means-CRO and FKM-CRO algorithm. The experimental results of them show that there is improved efficiency for solving objective function optimization clustering problems.

Keywords: chemical reaction optimization, expection maimization, initia, objective function clustering

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Authors: Jesús Antonio Puente Fernández, Luis Javier Garcia Villalba

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New trends on streaming videos such as series or films require a high demand of network resources. This fact results in a huge problem within traditional IP networks due to the rigidity of its architecture. In this way, Software Defined Networks (SDN) is a new concept of network architecture that intends to be more flexible and it simplifies the management in networks with respect to the existing ones. These aspects are possible due to the separation of control plane (controller) and data plane (switches). Taking the advantage of this separated control, it is easy to deploy a monitoring tool independent of device vendors since the existing ones are dependent on the installation of specialized and expensive hardware. In this paper, we propose a framework that optimizes the traffic monitoring in SDN networks that decreases the number of monitoring queries to improve the network traffic and also reduces the overload. The performed experiments (with and without the optimization) using a video streaming delivery between two hosts demonstrate the feasibility of our monitoring proposal.

Keywords: optimization, monitoring, software defined networking, statistics, query

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Authors: Mansilla, Juan Camilo

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According to many studies, public space in the cities of Global South is constantly morcellated and captured by a multiplicity of actors in a permanent struggle for power. This imposed public space restricts the access to services and political actions to many inhabitants. The author has conducted several focus group sessions using video in a reflective mode with low-income communities in Medellín, Colombia in order to study how people in this city are shift from a physical public space to a hybrid public space shaped by internet. Beyond the fragmented city and the violent urban context manifested by participants, these activities have highlighted how the access to the city is currently going through a dialectic movement between the physical and the digital space. The purpose of this article is to make explicit the link between this hybrid public space and the boundaries of exclusion in the city. Urban marginality is closely related with the idea of access and space. Low-income communities in Medellín assume the digital realm like a “not controlled space” of resistance, where alternative ways of expression like hip hop movement, graffiti, dance, video and virtual communities produce effective changes in the physical realm.

Keywords: access to the city, hybrid public space, low-income communities, Medellín, urban marginality

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Authors: Muhammad Emad Feteha

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Cairo has been famous for the unique identity of its medieval architecture, which was formed by multiple dynasties that ruled Egypt. However, only a few researches were done on the identity of its public space. This paper links both the architectural and the socio-political aspects of the Cairene public space and studies how they affected each other. The subject of the study is Maydan Salah al-Din, the main city square of medieval Cairo, which reveals a quite useful information, not only about the architectural identity of the Cairene public space but also about the socio-political patterns that operated within. The analytical framework is based on Lefebvre’s theory, the ‘production of space’, in which he applied 'the Hegelian dialectic' in order to understand how the social practice forms the space, and how, in turn, the space forms the social practice. This framework offers a comprehensive understanding of the identity of the Cairene public space, which does not separate architecture from the social practice.

Keywords: architectural identity, Cairene public space, Islamic architectural history, production of space

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Authors: Wiseborn Manfe Danquah, D. Turgay Altilar

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Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) is an integral component of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) that has enjoyed a lot of attention from the research community and the automotive industry. This is mainly due to the opportunities and challenges it presents. Vehicular Ad-hoc Network being a class of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANET) has all the security concerns existing in traditional MANET as well as new security and privacy concerns introduced by the unique vehicular communication environment. This paper provides a survey of the possible attacks in vehicular environment, as well as security and privacy concerns in VANET. It also provides an insight into the development of a comprehensive cloud framework to provide a more robust and secured communication among vehicular nodes and road side units. Our proposal, a Metropolitan Based Public Interconnected Vehicular Cloud (MIVC) infrastructure seeks to provide a more reliable and secured vehicular communication network.

Keywords: mobile Ad-hoc networks, vehicular ad hoc network, cloud, ITS, road side units (RSU), metropolitan interconnected vehicular cloud (MIVC)

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Authors: Thanisa Sirithaporn

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The study aims to examine the diffusion of social innovation among Thai Community Enterprises in conjunction with a singular case study of a medium-sized corporation that has successfully transitioned from a charitable foundation to a sustainable, profitable entity creating value for both shareholders and the communities in which it operates. It seeks to bridge the gap between different streams of aligned research in the fields of diffusion, social innovation, and community enterprises into a more cohesive conceptual framework and thus to better understand the historical and current impediments that have resulted in so many enterprises failing to be sustainable. The methodology is mixed and dual phased. The initial quantitative phase uses a questionnaire as the main research instrument distributed among community enterprises throughout Thailand which will provide the themes for the qualitative phase through semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders at a commercial enterprise actively engaged in social innovation. The findings seek to present a more comprehensive conceptual framework and actionable guidelines to aid community enterprises to develop social innovation in a sustainable manner that creates value to its beneficiaries.

Keywords: diffusion, community enterprises, social innovation, Thailand

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Authors: Hycham Aboutaleb, Bruno Monsuez

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Current systems' complexity has reached a degree that requires addressing conception and design issues while taking into account environmental, operational, social, legal, and financial aspects. Therefore, one of the main challenges is the way complex systems are specified and designed. The exponentially growing effort, cost, and time investment of complex systems in modeling phase emphasize the need for a paradigm, a framework, and an environment to handle the system model complexity. For that, it is necessary to understand the expectations of the human user of the model and his limits. This paper presents a generic framework for designing complex systems, highlights the requirements a system model needs to fulfill to meet human user expectations, and suggests a graph-based formalism for modeling complex systems. Finally, a set of transformations are defined to handle the model complexity.

Keywords: higraph-based, formalism, system engineering paradigm, modeling requirements, graph-based transformations

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Authors: A. Chowdhury, P. Egodawatta, J. M. McGree, A. Goonetilleke

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Hydrologic models are increasingly used as tools to predict stormwater quantity and quality from urban catchments. However, due to a range of practical issues, most models produce gross errors in simulating complex hydraulic and hydrologic systems. Difficulty in finding a robust approach for model calibration is one of the main issues. Though automatic calibration techniques are available, they are rarely used in common commercial hydraulic and hydrologic modelling software e.g. MIKE URBAN. This is partly due to the need for a large number of parameters and large datasets in the calibration process. To overcome this practical issue, a framework for automatic calibration of a hydrologic model was developed in R platform and presented in this paper. The model was developed based on the time-area conceptualization. Four calibration parameters, including initial loss, reduction factor, time of concentration and time-lag were considered as the primary set of parameters. Using these parameters, automatic calibration was performed using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC). ABC is a simulation-based technique for performing Bayesian inference when the likelihood is intractable or computationally expensive to compute. To test the performance and usefulness, the technique was used to simulate three small catchments in Gold Coast. For comparison, simulation outcomes from the same three catchments using commercial modelling software, MIKE URBAN were used. The graphical comparison shows strong agreement of MIKE URBAN result within the upper and lower 95% credible intervals of posterior predictions as obtained via ABC. Statistical validation for posterior predictions of runoff result using coefficient of determination (CD), root mean square error (RMSE) and maximum error (ME) was found reasonable for three study catchments. The main benefit of using ABC over MIKE URBAN is that ABC provides a posterior distribution for runoff flow prediction, and therefore associated uncertainty in predictions can be obtained. In contrast, MIKE URBAN just provides a point estimate. Based on the results of the analysis, it appears as though ABC the developed framework performs well for automatic calibration.

Keywords: automatic calibration framework, approximate bayesian computation, hydrologic and hydraulic modelling, MIKE URBAN software, R platform

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Authors: Mireille Elhajj, Washington Ochieng, Deeph Chana

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The challenges of the rapid growth in the demand for transport has traditionally been seen within the context of the problems of congestion, air quality, climate change, safety, and affordability. However, there are increasing threats including those related to crime such as cyber-attacks that threaten the security of the transport of people and goods. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents for the first time, a comprehensive framework for the assessment of the current and future security issues of multi-modal transport systems. The approach or method proposed is based on a structured framework starting with a detailed specification of the transport asset map (transport system architecture), followed by the identification of vulnerabilities. The asset map and vulnerabilities are used to identify the various approaches for exploitation of the vulnerabilities, leading to the creation of a set of threat scenarios. The threat scenarios are then transformed into risks and their categories, and include insights for their mitigation. The consideration of the mitigation space is holistic and includes the formulation of appropriate policies and tactics and/or technical interventions. The quality of the framework is ensured through a structured and logical process that identifies the stakeholders, reviews the relevant documents including policies and identifies gaps, incorporates targeted surveys to augment the reviews, and uses subject matter experts for validation. The approach to categorising security risks is an extension of the current methods that are typically employed. Specifically, the partitioning of risks into either physical or cyber categories is too limited for developing mitigation policies and tactics/interventions for transport systems where an interplay between physical and cyber processes is very often the norm. This interplay is rapidly taking on increasing significance for security as the emergence of cyber-physical technologies, are shaping the future of all transport modes. Examples include: Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) in road transport; the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in rail transport; Automatic Identification System (AIS) in maritime transport; advanced Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) technologies in air transport; and the Internet of Things (IoT). The framework adopts a risk categorisation scheme that considers risks as falling within the following threat→impact relationships: Physical→Physical, Cyber→Cyber, Cyber→Physical, and Physical→Cyber). Thus the framework enables a more complete risk picture to be developed for today’s transport systems and, more importantly, is readily extendable to account for emerging trends in the sector that will define future transport systems. The framework facilitates the audit and retro-fitting of mitigations in current transport operations and the analysis of security management options for the next generation of Transport enabling strategic aspirations such as systems with security-by-design and co-design of safety and security to be achieved. An initial application of the framework to transport systems has shown that intra-modal consideration of security measures is sub-optimal and that a holistic and multi-modal approach that also addresses the intersections/transition points of such networks is required as their vulnerability is high. This is in-line with traveler-centric transport service provision, widely accepted as the future of mobility services. In summary, a risk-based framework is proposed for use by the stakeholders to comprehensively and holistically assess the security of transport systems. It requires a detailed understanding of the transport architecture to enable a detailed vulnerabilities analysis to be undertaken, creates threat scenarios and transforms them into risks which form the basis for the formulation of interventions.

Keywords: mitigations, risk, transport, security, vulnerabilities

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Authors: Khaled Ibrahim, Mathew Parackal, Damien Mather, Paul Hansen

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The integration between marketing and technology has given brands unprecedented opportunities to reach accurate customer data and competence to change customers' behaviour. Technology has generated a transformation within brands from traditional branding to algorithmic branding. However, brands have utilised customer data in non-cognitive programmatic targeting. This algorithmic persuasion may be effective in reaching the targeted audience. But it may encounter a moral conflict simultaneously, as it might not consider our social principles. Moral branding is a critical topic; particularly, with the increasing interest in commercial settings to teaching machines human morals, e.g., autonomous vehicles and chatbots; however, it is understudied in the marketing literature. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the recent moral branding literature. Furthermore, applying human-like mind theory as initial framing to this paper explores a more comprehensive concept involving human morals, machine behaviour, and branding.

Keywords: brand machines, conceptual framework, moral branding, moral machines

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Authors: Muhammad Sheraz, Vasile Preda, Silvia Dedu

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Concepts of econophysics are usually used to solve problems related to uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics. In the theory of option pricing the risk neutral probabilities play very important role. The application of entropy in finance can be regarded as the extension of both information entropy and the probability entropy. It can be an important tool in various financial methods such as measure of risk, portfolio selection, option pricing and asset pricing. Gulko applied Entropy Pricing Theory (EPT) for pricing stock options and introduced an alternative framework of Black-Scholes model for pricing European stock option. In this article, we present solutions to maximum entropy problems based on Tsallis, Weighted-Tsallis, Kaniadakis, Weighted-Kaniadakies entropies, to obtain risk-neutral densities. We have also obtained the value of European call and put in this framework.

Keywords: option pricing, Black-Scholes model, Tsallis entropy, Kaniadakis entropy, weighted entropy, risk-neutral density

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Authors: Richard Harrison

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Developing competency in mathematics and related critical thinking skills is essential to the education of undergraduate students of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Recently, the HE sector has been impacted by a seemingly widening disconnect between the mathematical competency of incoming first-year STEM students and their entrance qualification tariffs. Despite relatively high grades in A-Level Mathematics, students may initially lack fundamental skills in key areas such as algebraic manipulation and have limited capacity to apply problem solving strategies. Compounded by compensatory measures applied to entrance qualifications during the pandemic, there has been an associated decline in student performance on introductory university mathematics modules. In the UK, a number of online resources have been developed to help scaffold the transition to university mathematics. However, in general, these do not offer a structured learning journey focused on individual developmental needs, nor do they offer an experience coherent with the teaching and learning characteristics of the destination institution. In order to address some of these issues, a bespoke framework has been designed and implemented on our VLE in the Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (FEPS) at the University of Surrey. Called the FEPS Maths Support Framework, it was conceived to scaffold the mathematical development of individuals prior to entering the university and during the early stages of their transition to undergraduate studies. More than 90% of our incoming STEM students voluntarily participate in the process. Students complete a set of initial diagnostic questions in the late summer. Based on their performance and feedback on these questions, they are subsequently guided to self-select specific mathematical topic areas for review using our proprietary resources. This further assists students in preparing for discipline related diagnostic tests. The framework helps to identify students who are mathematically weak and facilitates early intervention to support students according to their specific developmental needs. This paper presents a summary of results from a rich data set captured from the framework over a 3-year period. Quantitative data provides evidence that students have engaged and developed during the process. This is further supported by process evaluation feedback from the students. Ranked performance data associated with seven key mathematical topic areas and eight engineering and science discipline areas reveals interesting patterns which can be used to identify more generic relative capabilities of the discipline area cohorts. In turn, this facilitates evidence based management of the mathematical development of the new cohort, informing any associated adjustments to teaching and learning at a more holistic level. Evidence is presented establishing our framework as an effective early intervention strategy for addressing the sector-wide issue of supporting the mathematical development of STEM students transitioning to HE

Keywords: competency, development, intervention, scaffolding

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Authors: Dorit Lemberger

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Wittgenstein directly used the term "metaphor" only infrequently and with reservations, but his writings include a number of metaphors that have become imprinted in the philosophical memory of Western thought. For example, the ladder in his book Tractatus, or in Philosophical investigations - the ancient city, the beetle in a box, the fly in the fly-bottle, and the duck-rabbit. In light of Wittgenstein's stressing, throughout his investigations, that the only language that exists is ordinary language, and that there is no "second-order" language, the question should be asked: How do these metaphors function, specifically, and in general, how are we to relate to language use that exceeds the normal? Wittgenstein did not disregard such phenomena, but he proposed viewing them in a different way, that would enable understanding them as uses in ordinary language, without necessarily exceeding such language. Two important terms that he coined in this context are "secondary sense" and "experience of meaning". Each denotes language use as reflective of a subjective element characteristic of the speaker, such as intent, experience, or emphasis of a certain aspect. More recent Wittgenstein scholars added the term "quasi-metaphor", that refers to his discussion of the possibility of aesthetic judgment. This paper will examine how, according to Wittgenstein, these terms function without exceeding ordinary language, and will illustrate how they can be applied, in an analysis of the poem "Butterfly" by Nelly Sachs.

Keywords: metaphor, quasi-metaphor, secondary sense, experience of meaning

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Authors: F. Moghtaderi, M. Burke, J. Troelsen

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There has been a significant decline in active travel as well as the massive increase use of car-dependent travel mode in many countries during past two decades. Evidential risks for people’s physical and mental health problems are followed by this increased use of motorized travel mode. These problems range from overweight and obesity to increasing air pollution. In response to these rising concerns, local councils and other interested organizations around the world have introduced a variety of initiatives regarding reduce the dominance of cars for the daily journeys. However, the nature of these kinds of interventions, which related to the human behavior, make lots of complexities. People’s travel behavior and changing this behavior, has two different aspects. People’s attitudes and perceptions toward the sustainable and healthy modes of travel, and motorized travel modes (especially private car use) is one these two aspects. The other one related to people’s behavior change processes. There are no comprehensive model in order to guide policy interventions to increase the level of succeed of such interventions. A comprehensive theoretical framework is required in accordance to facilitate and guide the processes of data collection and analysis to achieve the best possible guidelines for policy makers. Regarding this gaps in the travel behavior change research, this paper attempted to identify and suggest a multidimensional framework in order to facilitate planning interventions. A structured mixed-method is suggested regarding the expand the scope and improve the analytic power of the result according to the complexity of human behavior. In order to recognize people’s attitudes, a theory with the focus on people’s attitudes towards a particular travel behavior was needed. The literature around the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was the most useful, and had been proven to be a good predictor of behavior change. Another aspect of the research, related to the people’s decision-making process regarding explore guidelines for the further interventions. Therefore, a theory was needed to facilitate and direct the interventions’ design. The concept of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM) was used regarding reach a set of useful guidelines for the further interventions with the aim to increase active travel and sustainable modes of travel. Consequently, a combination of these two theories (TTM and TPB) had presented as an appropriate concept to identify and design implemented travel behavior change interventions.

Keywords: behavior change theories, theoretical framework, travel behavior change interventions, urban research

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Authors: Duangkamol Thitivesa

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This paper explores the use of project work in a content-based instruction in a Rajabhat University, Thailand. The use of project is to promote kinds of learning expected of student teachers as stated by Thailand Quality Framework: TQF. The kinds of learning are grouped into five domains: Ethical and moral development, knowledge, cognitive skill, interpersonal skills and responsibility, and analytical and communication skills. The content taught in class is used to lead the student teachers to relate their previously-acquired linguistic knowledge to meaningful realizations of the language system in passages of immediate relevance to their professional interests, teaching methods in particular. Two research questions are formulate to guide this study: 1) To what degree are the five domains of learning expected of student teachers after the use of project in a content class?, and 2) What is the academic achievement of the students’ writing skills, as part of the learning domains stated by TQF, against the 70% attainment target after the use of project to enhance the skill? The sample of the study comprised of 38 fourth-year English major students. The data was collected by means of a summative achievement test, student writing works, an observation checklist, and project diary. The scores in the summative achievement test were analyzed by mean score, standard deviation, and t-test. Project diary serves as students’ record of the language acquired during the project. List of structures and vocabulary noted in the diary has shown students’ ability to attend to, recognize, and focus on meaningful patterns of language forms.

Keywords: Thailand quality framework, project Work, writing skill, summative

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Authors: Tarek M. Ahmed, Ahmed S. El Mesalamy, Amro M. Youssef, Tawfik T. El Midany

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Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) machining is considered as one of the most powerful cutting processes. It can be used for cutting heat sensitive, hard and reflective materials. Aluminum 2024 is a high-strength alloy which is widely used in aerospace and aviation industries. This paper aims to improve aluminum alloy and to investigate the effect of AWJ control parameters on surface geometry quality. Design of experiments (DoE) is used for establishing an experimental matrix. Statistical modeling is used to present a relation between the cutting parameters (pressure, speed, and distance between the nozzle and cut surface) and responses (taper angle and surface roughness). The results revealed a tangible improvement in productivity by using AWJ processing. The taper kerf angle can be improved by decreasing standoff distance and speed and increasing water pressure. While decreasing (cutting speed, pressure and distance between the nozzle and cut surface) improve the surface roughness in the operating window of cutting parameters.

Keywords: abrasive waterjet machining, machining of aluminum alloy, non-traditional cutting, statistical modeling

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Authors: Kveta Olsanova, Gina Cook, Marija Zlatic

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This paper discusses the theoretical framework suggesting the dependencies between luxury brands’ CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) variables and the purchase intention of luxury shoppers. The framework is based on a literature review and in-depth individual interviews with a sample of luxury users and buyers. The measures of the model are based on existing research and the authors' qualitative research results. The model suggests that purchase intention in the luxury segment is dependent on the luxury values (symbolic, experiential, functional and social), individual sustainable dimension (composed of societal, environmental and economic variables) and awareness of the brand’s CSR, the last two relationships being potentially moderated by certain conditions such as demographics and general attitudes towards CSR and sustainability. The model’s output is in the formulation of several hypotheses, to be tested in an upcoming quantitative study. The qualitative phase indicated that the perceived symbolic, functional and experiential value dimensions of luxury brands were stronger drivers of purchase intention compared to the sustainable dimension. The contribution of the research consists of highlighting CSR’s impact on customer purchase intent as a potential implication for luxury brand management due to two aspects: (i) consumer awareness of the existing CSR activities of luxury brands is low, and this might be challenged by the demands of Gen Z entrants into the lux industry as they are known for their positive approach to CSR; (ii) the UN’s SDGs will bring CSR to the attention of all industries, including currently 'CSR silent' segments represented by luxury. Our research should contribute to incorporation of strategic CSR into the policies and strategies of the luxury segment by providing evidence that luxury customers do care.

Keywords: CSR, luxury shoppers, purchase intention, sustainability

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Authors: Joan Edwards, J. Lawlor

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Technological innovation is frequently defined in terms of bringing a new invention to market through a relatively straightforward process of diffusion. In reality, this process is complex and non-linear in nature, and includes social and cognitive factors that influence the development of an emerging technology and its related market or environment. As recent studies contend technological trajectory is part of technological paradigms, which arise from the expectations and desires of industry agents and results in co-evolution, it may be realised that social factors play a major role in the development of a technology. It is conjectured that collective social behaviour is fuelled by individual motivations and expectations, which inform the possibilities and uses for a new technology. The individual outlook highlights the issues present at the micro-level of developing a technology. Accordingly, this may be zoomed out to realise how these embedded social structures, influence activities and expectations at a macro level and can ultimately strategically shape the development and use of a technology. These social factors rely on communication to foster the innovation process. As innovation may be defined as the implementation of inventions, technological change results from the complex interactions and feedback occurring within an extended environment. The framework presented in this paper, recognises that social mechanisms provide the basis for an iterative dialogue between an innovator, a new technology, and an environment - within which social and cognitive ‘identity-shaping’ elements of the innovation process occur. Identity-shaping characteristics indicate that an emerging technology has a performative nature that transforms, alters, and ultimately configures the environment to which it joins. This identity–shaping quality is termed as ‘performative’. This paper examines how technologies evolve within a socio-technological sphere and how 'performativity' facilitates the process. A framework is proposed that incorporates the performative elements which are identified as feedback, iteration, routine, expectations, and motivations. Additionally, the concept of affordances is employed to determine how the role of the innovator and technology change over time - constituting a more conducive environment for successful innovation.

Keywords: affordances, framework, performativity, strategic innovation

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Authors: Kim Norgaard Helmersen, Jan Silberberger

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Questions of style and reproducibility in relation to architectural design are not only continuously debated; the very concepts can seem quite provocative to architects, who like to think of architectural design as depending on intuition, ideas, and individual personalities. This standpoint - dominant in architectural discourse - is challenged in the present paper presenting early findings from a comparative STS-inspired research study of architectural design teaching and research at different architecture schools in varying national contexts. In philosophy of science framework, the paper reflects empirical observations of design teaching at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and presents a tentative theoretical framework for the on-going research project. The framework suggests that architecture – as a field of knowledge production – is mainly dominated by three epistemological positions, which will be presented and discussed. Besides serving as a loosely structured framework for future data analysis, the proposed framework brings forth the argument that architecture can be roughly divided into different schools of thought, like the traditional science disciplines. Without reducing the complexity of the discipline, describing its main intellectual positions should prove fruitful for the future development of architecture as a theoretical discipline, moving an architectural critique beyond discussions of taste preferences. Unlike traditional science disciplines, there is a lack of a community-wide, shared pool of codified references in architecture, with architects instead referencing art projects, buildings, and famous architects, when positioning their standpoints. While these inscriptions work as an architectural reference system, to be compared to codified theories in academic writing of traditional research, they are not used systematically in the same way. As a result, architectural critique is often reduced to discussions of taste and subjectivity rather than epistemological positioning. Architects are often criticized as judges of taste and accused that their rationality is rooted in cultural-relative aesthetical concepts of taste closely linked to questions of style, but arguably their supposedly subjective reasoning, in fact, forms part of larger systems of thought. Putting architectural ‘styles’ under a loop, and tracing their philosophical roots, can potentially open up a black box in architectural theory. Besides ascertaining and recognizing the existence of specific ‘styles’ and thereby schools of thought in current architectural discourse, the study could potentially also point at some mutations of the conventional – something actually ‘new’ – of potentially high value for architectural design education.

Keywords: architectural theory, design research, science and technology studies (STS), sociology of architecture

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Authors: A. Binnui, O. Kalinowska-Beszczynska, G. Shaw

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It is postulated that innovative deployment of entrepreneurial activities leads to firm's growth. This paper draws upon the key predictions of the core theories on entrepreneurship and innovation to formulate a conceptual framework which can be used to depict the casual chain of events from which entrepreneurs can manage more innovatively and ultimately deliver higher growth which benefits of the regional and national economies. It examines the key firm-based factors extracted from the theories, namely the characteristics of entrepreneurial hi-tech firms, characteristics of innovating firms, and firm growth dynamics that lead to enhanced economic growth. The framework postulates that the key determinants extracted such as entrepreneurial demographics, firm characteristic, skills and competencies, research and development, product/service characteristics, market development, financial of the firm and internationalization might lead to the survival and long term development of high-technology startups.

Keywords: innovative entrepreneurial activities, entrepreneuship, determinants, growth, hi-technology start-upws

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Authors: Seonaid Hume, Gordon Dobie, Graeme West

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Detecting and localizing radioactive sources is a necessity for safe and secure decommissioning of nuclear facilities. An important aspect for the management of the sort-and-segregation process is establishing the spatial distributions and quantities of the waste radionuclides, their type, corresponding activity, and ultimately classification for disposal. The data received from surveys directly informs decommissioning plans, on-site incident management strategies, the approach needed for a new cell, as well as protecting the workforce and the public. Manual classification of nuclear waste from a nuclear cell is time-consuming, expensive, and requires significant expertise to make the classification judgment call. Also, in-cell decommissioning is still in its relative infancy, and few techniques are well-developed. As with any repetitive and routine tasks, there is the opportunity to improve the task of classifying nuclear waste using autonomous systems. Hence, this paper proposes a new framework for the automatic classification of nuclear waste. This framework consists of five main stages; 3D spatial mapping and object detection, object classification, radiological mapping, source localisation based on gathered evidence and finally, waste classification. The first stage of the framework, 3D visual mapping, involves object detection from point cloud data. A review of related applications in other industries is provided, and recommendations for approaches for waste classification are made. Object detection focusses initially on cylindrical objects since pipework is significant in nuclear cells and indeed any industrial site. The approach can be extended to other commonly occurring primitives such as spheres and cubes. This is in preparation of stage two, characterizing the point cloud data and estimating the dimensions, material, degradation, and mass of the objects detected in order to feature match them to an inventory of possible items found in that nuclear cell. Many items in nuclear cells are one-offs, have limited or poor drawings available, or have been modified since installation, and have complex interiors, which often and inadvertently pose difficulties when accessing certain zones and identifying waste remotely. Hence, this may require expert input to feature match objects. The third stage, radiological mapping, is similar in order to facilitate the characterization of the nuclear cell in terms of radiation fields, including the type of radiation, activity, and location within the nuclear cell. The fourth stage of the framework takes the visual map for stage 1, the object characterization from stage 2, and radiation map from stage 3 and fuses them together, providing a more detailed scene of the nuclear cell by identifying the location of radioactive materials in three dimensions. The last stage involves combining the evidence from the fused data sets to reveal the classification of the waste in Bq/kg, thus enabling better decision making and monitoring for in-cell decommissioning. The presentation of the framework is supported by representative case study data drawn from an application in decommissioning from a UK nuclear facility. This framework utilises recent advancements of the detection and mapping capabilities of complex radiation fields in three dimensions to make the process of classifying nuclear waste faster, more reliable, cost-effective and safer.

Keywords: nuclear decommissioning, radiation detection, object detection, waste classification

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