Experiential learning is a well-established educational practice in higher education and includes several different activities, from work placements to other university hands-on experiences. However, to date there is no clear understanding of the various types of experiential activities used in tourism and events programmes, especially in relation to what they feature and how they are interrelated. This research note critically reflects on four experiential learning projects conducted in Ireland, England and Italy between 2012 and 2022. It suggests conceptualising experiential learning activities as a continuum, according to an evolution of involvement of the students with the activity and the stakeholders, as well as an evolution of intensity and complexity from the organisational point of view, including levels of control and risks. Conceptualising the experiential learning activities being used in tourism and event programmes is important for evaluating their relative suitability for both students and inst…
Fiscal revenue incentives and local government industrial behavioral choices are informed by the characteristics of local tax systems, which impact local industrial emissions. This study uses data on commodity taxes and industrial emissions in prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2021 to validate the theoretical hypotheses. The results show that (1) there is a significant positive correlation between the proportion of local commodity taxes and industrial emissions; this conclusion is robust. Moreover, under a tax-sharing system, heterogeneity in the emission effects of commodity tax industries can be caused by internal divisions and adjustments in commodity taxes. (2) Transmission channels include expanding the production scale of heavily polluting enterprises and reducing environmental requirements for large taxpayers, and increasing land development. Local areas have been locked into an extensive economic development model, which has increased industrial pollution through dependence on commodity ta…
Quantifying uncertainty is fundamental in machine learning tasks, including classification, detection in complex domains such as computer vision (CV) and text generation in large language models (LLMs). This is especially crucial when artificial intelligence (AI) is used in safety-critical applications, such as, e.g., autonomous driving or medical diagnosis, where reliable decisions are crucial to prevent serious consequences. The Epistemic AI project explores the use of random sets for quantifying epistemic uncertainty in AI. A mathematical framework which generalizes the concept of random variables to sets, random sets enable a more flexible and expressive approach to uncertainty modeling. This work proposes ways to employ the random sets formalism to model classification uncertainty over both the target and parameter spaces of a machine learning model (e.g., a neural network), as well as detection uncertainty, within the context of computer vision. The applicability and effectiveness of random sets is also…
Predictions of uncertainty-aware models are diverse, ranging from single point estimates (often averaged over prediction samples) to predictive distributions, to set-valued or credal-set representations. We propose a novel unified evaluation framework for uncertainty-aware classifiers, applicable to a wide range of model classes, which allows users to tailor the trade-off between accuracy and precision of predictions via a suitably designed performance metric. This makes possible the selection of the most suitable model for a particular real-world application as a function of the desired trade-off. Our experiments, concerning Bayesian, ensemble, evidential, deterministic, credal and belief function classifiers on the CIFAR-10, MNIST and CIFAR-100 datasets, show that the metric behaves as desired.
The hotel is a key setting for Hollywood’s fight sequences, which we argue are always determined and understood through spatial orientation and architectural setting. Offering both private and public spaces, the upscale hotel offers a compendium of the contemporary action film’s fight scenes in one locale. Foregrounding a compelling fantasy of extravagance and mobility, the luxury hotel fight is foundational to the resilience of action heroes such as John Wick or James Bond. Indeed, John Wick is unimaginable without the fictional assassin hotel, the Continental. But the action hotel fight is not singular. For instance, the hotel room fight scene in Haywire plays with the erotic secrecy of the clandestine hotel room meeting, whereas the expansive lobby in John Wick 3 becomes a multi-participant battlefield. We argue that the hotel fight is a notable, specific, and underexamined space in action cinema with a particular relation to propulsion and violent action anchored to concepts of luxury, erotics, and preca…
This article examines how the war-torn context in Iraq has affected men’s entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial masculinities. Drawing on the entrepreneurship masculinities literature, Connell’s notion of hegemonic masculinity and in-depth interviews with 21 Iraqi men entrepreneurs, this article demonstrates the complex interplay between entrepreneurship, masculinity and patriarchal dynamics in the context of wars and economic instability in Iraq. Study findings show how Iraqi men often turn to entrepreneurship out of necessity to meet patriarchal expectations of them as primary providers for their families. We contribute to the literature on entrepreneurship, men and masculinities by demonstrating how entrepreneurship not only serves as an imperfect economic solution to familial poverty but also enables some men to conform to patriarchal norms of hegemonic masculinity that continue to disadvantage women. Theoretically, the article shows how men’s entrepreneurial hegemonic masculinities in contexts of war can …
The automotive industry is transforming from traditional private vehicle ownership to innovative shared mobility solutions, presenting unprecedented cybersecurity challenges. This transition introduces complex security vulnerabilities where malicious actors could exploit the access of a rental vehicle to manipulate the software systems on board. Unlike physical damage, which can be easily detected, software modifications represent an insidious threat that can compromise user safety and vehicle integrity. Our research proposes a blockchain-based approach to address these critical security challenges. We introduce a novel method for ensuring data authenticity and integrity within vehicle systems by leveraging blockchain’s immutable ledger and advanced encryption technologies. Our methodology utilizes the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to securely archive vehicle data in the central gateway, creating a tamper-evident environment that fundamentally transforms traditional data management approaches. The key innovat…
Background: Mammo-50, a randomised phase III trial, demonstrated that for women aged 50 years or older and 3-years post breast cancer diagnosis, less frequent mammograms (2-yearly after conservation surgery; 3-yearly after a mastectomy) were non-inferior to annual mammograms in terms of detection of recurrences, or new breast primaries. It is important to assess Quality of life (QoL) in this population to ensure no detriment is associated with a less frequent mammographic surveillance schedule. Methods: A mixed methods QoL sub-study was undertaken to explore potential differences between the trial arms in terms of fear of recurrence, QoL and distress levels and to explore patient reported experiences. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire booklet annually whilst on the trial. Longitudinal random effects regression models were fitted to assess changes in QoL over time and across trial arms. Free text data were collected on participants worries or concerns. Results: 5235 women were randomise…