Nonholonomic Research Articles

Path dependence, stigmergy, and memetic reification in the formation of the 27 Club myth

The "27 Club" refers to the widespread legend that notable people, particularly musicians, are unusually likely to die at age 27. A 2011 inquiry in The BMJ showed this is not the case, dismissing the 27 Club as a myth. We expand on this discourse by demonstrating that although the existence of the phenomenon cannot be empirically validated, it is real in its consequences. Using Wikipedia data, we show that while age 27 does not hold greater risk of mortality for notable persons, those who died at 27 are as a group exceptionally notable compared to those who died at other young ages. The 27 Club legend originated from a statistically improbable event circa 1970, wherein four superstar musicians died within the span of 2 y all at age 27. This coincidence captured the public imagination such that our fascination with the 27 Club brought itself into being, producing greater interest in those who died at age 27 than would have been otherwise. This demonstrates path dependence in cultural evolution, whereby an effectively random event evolves into a narrative that shapes otherwise unrelated events and thus the way we make and interpret history.

Implications of accelerated and delayed climate action for Ireland’s energy transition under carbon budgets

Limiting global warming requires the effective implementation of energy mitigation measures by individual countries. However, the consequences of the timing of these efforts on the technical feasibility of adhering to cumulative carbon budgets—which determines future global warming—are underexplored. Moreover, existing national studies on carbon budgets either overlook integrated sectoral interactions, path dependencies, or comprehensive demand-side strategies. To address this, we analyse Ireland’s mitigation pathways under equal per-capita carbon budgets using an energy systems optimisation model. Our findings reveal that delayed mitigation brings forward the need for a net-zero target by five years, risks carbon lock-in and stranded assets, increase reliance on carbon dioxide removal technologies and leads to higher long-term mitigation costs. To keep the Paris Agreement targets, countries must set and meet accelerated mid-term mitigation goals and address energy demand.

Dynamic inversion and optimal tracking control on the ball-plate system based on a linearized nonholonomic multibody model

This paper addresses the optimal control of the ball-plate system, a well-known nonholonomic system in the context of nonprehensile manipulation, using a multibody dynamics approach. The trajectory tracking control of a steady-state circular motion of the ball on the plate, for any radius and potentially off-centric with respect to the plate’s pivoting point, is achieved by designing a Linear-Quadratic Regulator. A spatial multibody model of the ball-plate system is considered. A key contribution is the analytical computation of the circular steady motion of the ball by dynamic inversion, including the control actions to achieve this reference solution. This enables the analytical computation of the linearized equations along this reference motion, resulting in a periodic linear time-varying (LTV) system, and the application of linear controllability criteria for LTV systems. A controllable linear system, involving the Cartesian coordinates of the contact point and the yaw angle of the sphere, is obtained using a convenient coordinate partition in the linearization. Compared to existing results on the same problem, closed-loop stability about the desired trajectory is achieved for any radius of the circular trajectory.

Effect of pre- and post-migration neighborhood environment on migrants’ mental health: the case of Shenzhen, China

ABSTRACT Existing mental health studies usually disregard people’s neighborhood experiences in the past, which may have long-lasting mental health effects. This may particularly be true for migrants. To assess how the perceived pre- and post-migration neighborhood environment shapes migrants’ mental health later on in life, a quasi-longitudinal survey (N = 591) among migrants was conducted in Shenzhen, China. The risk of poor mental health was screened with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Perceptions of the pre- and post-migration neighborhood environment were measured retrospectively and assessed with structural equation models. The results show that the direct pathways linking the perceived post-migration neighborhood physical (NPE) and social environment (NSE) to migrants’ mental health are significant. No direct association is found between the pre-migration neighborhood environments and mental health. The indirect path between the pre-migration NPE/NSE and mental health is significantly mediated by the post-migration NPE and NSE. Migrants’ SES development and their neighborhood attainment interplay overtime which have long-term impacts on their mental health. Our findings suggest that the pre-migration neighborhood plays a crucial role in migrants’ mental health. This confirms a path dependency of migrants’ neighborhood environment throughout their migrations. Future mental health studies are advised to incorporate neighborhood characteristics along migrants’ residential histories.

Global prescriptions and local adaptations: the role of political culture in shaping governance strategies for university funding

ABSTRACT This article explores the influence of New Public Management (NPM) reforms on local higher education (HE) governance in the context of globalisation, focussing on the funding mechanisms of universities in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Through the development of an analytical framework for governance strategies, the study examines the principles underlying funding allocation and distribution decisions in these regions. The findings show that, although both regions adopt performance-based funding aligned with NPM principles, significant differences emerge due to their distinct political cultures and societal expectations. Taiwan’s strategy is characterised by regulatory oversight driven by societal shifts and electoral pressures, while Hong Kong’s approach is market-oriented, reflecting its British colonial heritage and alignment with industry demands. This study highlights the role of path dependency in shaping localised adaptations of global governance models, demonstrating the diversity and adaptability of HE governance strategies. The paper concludes by proposing directions for further research into the interplay between political culture and HE governance, advocating for the development of context-sensitive frameworks that address evolving governance strategies.

Relay Switching–Based Event‐Triggered Finite‐Time Tracking Control for Nonholonomic Systems: Theory and Experiment

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the event‐triggered finite‐time trajectory tracking controller based on a type of chained‐form nonholonomic systems under unknown disturbances by utilizing relay switching technology. A key design idea is that the entire control design is grouped into two separated control stages to produce different finite‐time tracking controllers with correspondingly event‐triggered control rules. By using some nonlinear design methods, a relay switching–based event‐triggered finite‐time tracking control method is adopted to assure that the resulting closed‐loop tracking error system converges to an arbitrarily small neighborhood around zero within a finite time. All closed‐loop error system states keep bounded throughout the entire process. Simulation and experiment results demonstrate the rationality of the designed tracking control strategy.

The Historical Change, Evolutionary Logic and Dynamic Mechanism of China's Major Enrollment System

The general enrollment system is a hot issue in the field of higher education reform. And the scientific cognition of its historical evolution, internal logic and dynamic mechanism is helpful to promote the reform of China's undergraduate enrollment system. From the perspective of historical institutionalism, the evolution of Chinese enrollment categories can be divided into four major historical stages: historical gestation, preliminary exploration, rapid rise and in-depth development. Tracing the hidden institutional logic behind the policy, it is found that the initial conditions, positive feedback mechanism and mindset make the change of the major enrollment system have a strong path dependence. In terms of dynamic mechanism, politics, economy and society constitute the basic factors of institutional change; learning effect, adaptive expectation and resource optimization orientation constitute the internal driving force of self-strengthening in the system; and the interest game among various action subjects constitutes the direct driving force of institutional change. In the future, the major enrollment system will accelerate the comprehensive reform of higher education through the three aspects of deepening rational practice examination, enhancing cross-cultivation and exploration, and promoting the transformation of human-oriented management, so as to enable the connotative development of higher education.

Path dependency, social capital and the geography of dirty inventions

ABSTRACT Dirty inventions are technologies inherently designed with features that pose significant risks to both human health and the environment. In this study, we focus on a particularly pernicious type of dirty invention within the chemical technological space: persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These chemicals are internationally recognised as among the most toxic and persistent, with properties that render them resistant to natural degradation. For the first time, we construct a comprehensive dataset of POP patents – those patents that incorporate at least one POP in their formulation – filed between 1990 and 2014. We then georeferenced these patents to analyse their distribution at both global and regional scales. Our analysis delves into the regional factors influencing the prevalence of POP inventions. They reveal a pronounced path dependency effect: regions with a more developed knowledge base in technologies relevant to POPs tend to have a higher volume of POP-related patents. However, this effect is mitigated by the presence of strong social capital within these regions.

Optimized trajectory tracking control with disturbance resistance for wheeled mobile robot

When unavoidable disturbances exist in practical applications, the unicycle wheeled mobile robot (WMR) with non-holonomic constraint is challenging to be accurately controlled in finite time. An optimized dual closed-loop strategy is proposed in this paper to solve the trajectory tracking control problem of the unicycle WMR. The control strategy with fast time convergence and anti-disturbance properties consists of kinematic and dynamics controllers and an optimization algorithm. The kinematic controller is designed with an improved backstepping method to eliminate the non-holonomic constraints. The robust sliding mode control (SMC) method with fixed-time convergence is used to construct the dynamics controller. The optimization algorithm enhances the performance of the strategy and achieves accurate control. The global convergence and robustness of the strategy are theoretically demonstrated. The effectiveness of the strategy is verified by comparison in simulations.

Cosmic Ray Diffusion in Magnetic Fields Amplified by Nonlinear Turbulent Dynamo

The diffusion of cosmic rays (CRs) in turbulent magnetic fields is fundamental to understanding various astrophysical processes. We explore the CR diffusion in the magnetic fluctuations amplified by the nonlinear turbulent dynamo in the absence of a strong mean magnetic field. Using test particle simulations, we identify three distinct CR diffusion regimes: mirroring, wandering, and magnetic moment scattering (MMS). With highly inhomogeneous distribution of the dynamo-amplified magnetic fields, we find that the diffusion of CRs is also spatially inhomogeneous. Our results reveal that lower-energy CRs preferentially undergo the mirror and wandering diffusion in the strong-field regions, and the MMS diffusion in the weak-field regions. The former two diffusion mechanisms play a more important role toward lower CR energies, resulting in a relatively weak energy dependence of the overall CR mean free path (MFP). In contrast, higher-energy CRs predominantly undergo the MMS diffusion, for which the incomplete particle gyration, i.e., the limit case of mirroring, in strong fields has a more significant effect than the scattering by small-scale field tangling/reversal. Compared with lower-energy CRs, they are more poorly confined in space and their MFPs have a stronger energy dependence. We stress the fundamental role of magnetic field inhomogeneity of nonlinear turbulent dynamo in causing the different diffusion behavior of CRs compared to that in sub-Alfvénic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence.

Implementing sustainability taxonomies to redirect capital flows: the case of South Africa

ABSTRACT Sustainability taxonomies are comprehensive classification systems that define what constitutes a sustainable economic activity. They aim to increase transparency in financial markets and redirect capital flows to sustainable investments. Such sustainable finance policies can be important levers for the transformation of the economy towards climate neutrality, as today’s investments will shape economic production processes for decades to come. While sustainability taxonomies have been developed in recent years in many countries, existing research on taxonomies has so far often focused on the European Union and has hardly addressed questions of policy implementation. This case study focuses on South Africa’s Green Finance Taxonomy (GFT) and addresses the question of what factors influence the adoption of sustainability taxonomies by potential users. Based on 44 semi-structured expert interviews with taxonomy stakeholders from the private sector, government, civil society and academia, it finds that one year after its publication, the GFT has hardly been used in practice. Important factors hindering an effective implementation are a lack of regulatory embedding, the absence of a legal recognition of the GFT by the European Union (EU), hesitance among financial market participants to build capacity to collect the necessary data, and fossil-fuel path dependencies in South Africa’s economy. Given the difficulties many jurisdictions currently face in implementing their newly developed sustainability taxonomies, these findings have important policy implications not only for South Africa but also for other countries.

Genesis of Polish Populism (1945–2023) and its Impact on the Transformation and Support of “Law and Justice”

The article analyzes the formation of Polish populism at the present stage represented by the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS, Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc) using the theoretical apparatus of neoinstitutionalism, as well as historical and comparative approaches. Both general features of populism and those specific to Eastern Europe are considered. The process of development of ideas, practices and results contributing to the rooting of populist values and a picture of the world in the Polish public consciousness is also studied within the framework of the path dependence concept. The final part describes the essential guidelines, ideology, program and electorate of PiS. The party is compared with its main competitor Civic Platform (PO, Platforma Obywatelska) in terms of its strategy, and specific results of PiS rule are also mentioned. Poland is characterized by weak and unstable connections between voters and parties, which leads to the absence of a stable social base and support for parties and, in turn, leads to their constant fragmentation and high party volatility. Parties in Poland have historically been organizations with the lowest level of public trust. In such a context, parties that can truly attract voters will immediately find themselves in a more advantageous position. One of the most suitable methods is therefore simple, often primitive slogans, intransigence of discourse, aggressive rhetoric, unrealistic promises of universal abundance, sharp opposition to everyone else and the rejection of democratic norms of representation in favor of strong leadership, that is, classic populism.

Invariant Extended Kalman Filtering for Pedestrian Deep-Inertial Odometry

Abstract. Indoor localization for pedestrians, which relies solely on inertial odometry, has been a topic of great interest. Its significance lies in its ability to provide positioning solutions independently, without the need for external data. Although traditional strap-down inertial navigation shows rapid drift, the introduction of pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR), and artificial intelligence (AI) has enhanced the applicability of inertial odometry for indoor localization. However, inertial odometry continues to be affected by drift, inherent to the nature of dead reckoning. This implies that even a slight error at a given moment can lead to a significant decrease in accuracy after continuous integration operations. In this paper, we propose a novel approach aimed at enhancing the positioning accuracy of inertial odometry. Firstly, we derive a learning-based forward speed using inertial measurements from a smartphone. Unlike mainstream methods where the learned speed is directly used to determine the position, we use the forward speed combined with non-holonomic constraint (NHC) as a measurement to update the state predicted within a strap-down inertial navigation framework. Secondly, we employ an invariant extended Kalman filter (IEKF)-based state estimation to facilitate fusion to cope with the nonlinearity arising from the system and measurement model. Experimental tests are carried out in different scenarios using an iPhone 12, and traditional methods, including PDR, robust neural inertial navigation (RONIN), and the EKF-based method, are compared. The results suggest that the method we propose surpasses these traditional methods in performance.

Neoliberalism in question: The Philippines' nurse education and labour export as liberal neo‐statist development agenda

AbstractMany scholars have used neoliberalism as an analytical framework to examine the Philippines' labour export policy. While neoliberalism entails a retreat of the state in favour of market reforms, evidence shows that state intervention of the market becomes larger and stronger over time. This paper utilises liberal neo‐statism as an alternative framework to understand the Philippines' nurse labour export by explaining that the state's role is larger than and goes beyond labour brokerage. Following the historical institutionalism approach, we show the significant timing, sequence, and path dependence that affect the emergence of institutions that govern the Philippines' nurse labour export. Our paper reveals how specific policies and regulations in labour export are tucked within the disguise of market reforms, but which are manifest within a larger state's control. These policies serve as the state's apparatus for remittance generation and protection of migrant labour rights and welfare.

Challenging Institutional Path Dependence Through Field Configuring Events: Exploring the Collective Institutional Entrepreneurship of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative

ABSTRACTResearch Question/IssueHow can a global social movement, mobilized through a multi‐stakeholder initiative, promote the uptake of novel governance practices in distinct national institutional environments?Research Findings/InsightsUsing data from all 114 of the world's stock exchanges, covering over 99% of global stock market capitalization as of 2018, I find that exchanges in common‐law countries were more likely to become early partners of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSEI) after its launch in 2012. However, exchanges based in civil‐law countries experienced a higher likelihood (i.e., risk) of adoption, as measured by the hazard ratio, particularly during a series of sustained field‐configuring events (FCEs) promoted by the SSEI. Over time, this increased hazard ratio indicated a rising likelihood of adoption for civil‐law‐based exchanges, eventually surpassing that of their common‐law counterparts.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsWhile institutional environments' path dependency can facilitate or hinder the adoption of governance practices, collective institutional entrepreneurship (CIE) can moderate this path dependency and reveal new information regarding the structural fit between promoted governance practices and their institutional environments.Practitioner/Policy ImplicationsThe insights provided by this study can help practitioners understand why some practices face resistance in specific institutional environments, while others are more readily accepted. These insights also help practitioners communicate the elements of governance practices that implicitly align with the institutional environments in which they are seeking adoption.

Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Control of Mobile Robots with Fractional-Order Exponential Super-Twisting Sliding Mode

Industrial mobile robots easily experience actuator loss of some effectiveness and additive bias faults due to the working scenarios, resulting in unexpected performance degradation. This article proposes a novel adaptive fault-tolerant control (FTC) strategy for nonholonomic mobile robot systems subject to simultaneous actuator lock-in-place (LIP) and partial loss-of-effectiveness (LOE) faults. First, a nominal fractional-order sliding mode controller based on the designed exponential super-twisting reaching law is investigated to reduce the reaching phase time and eliminate the chattering. To address the time-varying LIP faults and uncertainties, a novel barrier function (BF)-based gain is explored to assist the super-twisting law. An estimator is designed to estimate the lower bound of the time-varying partial LOE fault coefficients, thus without requiring the boundary information of faults that is commonly requested in traditional FTC schemes. Combined with the nominal controller clubbed with BF and estimator-based LOE fault compensation term, the fault-tolerant controller is finally constructed. The proposed FTC scheme achieves fast convergence and the sliding variables can be confined in a predetermined neighborhood of the sliding manifold under actuator faults. The results show that the proposed controller has superior tracking performance under faulty conditions compared with other state-of-the-art adaptive FTC approaches.

A co-evolutionary approach to MNE-assisted industry development: Uruguay’s forest-based pulp sector

Purpose This study aims to investigate how co-evolutionary interactions between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and local actors shaped resource-intensive industry development over several decades, examining the economic, industrial and social implications of these interactions. It details the long-term effects of MNEs’ activities on the host country’s economic and social development and unfolds the path-dependent sequence and mechanisms of occurrence. Design/methodology/approach In a historical case study of Uruguay’s forest-based pulp sector during the 1970s to 2023, the authors analyze data from interviews with local industry actors and from company archives, academic publications and public environmental organizations. Findings The findings untangle the path-dependent co-evolution between MNEs’ activities and local actors and the resulting gradual development of the local industry. The increasing commitment of MNEs to the host country and their engagement with business and social communities impact the development of the industry’s technology basis, activity networks, identity and market. Spillovers and linkages occur in these interactions, driving industry development processes forward. The authors also reveal how MNEs attempt to address the social and environmental tensions associated with their operations to support their long-term presence in the host country. Research limitations/implications The authors contribute to the MNE-assisted development literature by untangling the specific mechanisms of MNEs’ engagement in local industry development over a long-term period and elaborating on its industrial and social implications. The authors enhance knowledge about spillovers by capturing a wide range of spillover and linkage effects and assessing their long-term impacts on industry development. Practical implications The authors offer insights into how policymakers can tailor instruments for attracting MNEs by adopting a long-term perspective regarding the implications for local development and accounting for economic, industrial and social impacts. This approach can maximize beneficial outcomes from MNEs’ presence and limit tensions between MNEs and local actors. Social implications This historical case study illustrates the complexity of MNEs’ engagement with local actors over time, including various tensions and positive developments. It illustrates the importance of social acceptance in achieving quality linkages between local and foreign actors. Originality/value This historical analysis untangles the path dependency in the long-term impacts of MNE-assisted development, illustrating the value of a temporal perspective.

Under double shadows: how U.S.–China trade relations and path dependence shape China's IP preliminary injunction system

ABSTRACT The current IP preliminary injunction system in China is an awkward mixture that has developed under two shadows: U.S.–China trade relations, and path dependence. This article traces the historical moments when China amended its rules on IP preliminary injunctions. It finds that, while U.S.–China trade relations facilitated the transplantation of equitable standards into the regime, the basic procedural framework, rooted in the civil law tradition, remains largely intact. These double shadows have introduced pressing problems into the system. However, most of these issues can be attributed to China's retention of its basic procedural framework, which is shared with and originates from the property preservation system. Path dependence theory aptly explains this developmental trajectory and offers normative guidance for future reforms. It may not be feasible to conduct a full cost–benefit analysis on establishing a standalone framework for IP preliminary injunctions in China, which would represent a radical alteration of the system. However, the developmental-evolution model of path dependence theory can still provide valuable insights, even if the system currently exhibits a semi-strong form of path dependence. Chinese legislators could design future incremental reforms with path evolution in mind, aiming for a gradual recombination that ultimately pulls the IP preliminary injunction system out of its original procedural framework. Once sufficient incremental reforms have accumulated, decision-makers can seize critical junctures (such as future escalations in U.S.–China trade conflicts) as opportunities to establish a new, standalone framework for IP preliminary injunctions, thereby breaking the lock-in loop.

The role of engagement strategies and path-dependency in online learning

ABSTRACT Despite its importance, research on the dynamic nature of student engagement and its relationship with academic success is limited. In this study, we investigate the consistency of student engagement and its relationship to academic achievement. We conduct an analysis of digital trace data on students’ interaction with webinars. Specifically, we examine the attendance records of 426 high school students participating in the online literature course designed to prepare them for university enrolment. We demonstrate engagement’s path dependency as well as categorise different types of engagement strategies. We found that stable strategies do not lead to more engagement, however adaptive strategies do lead to greater engagement. Importantly, higher levels of engagement lead to better student achievement. These results demonstrating the strategic path-dependent nature of engagement, as well as give insight to the importance of engagement in online learning when considering students’ learning paths.

Google news initiative innovation challenge in Latin America: business models between path dependence and power relations

ABSTRACT In response to growing regulatory pressures, tech companies have partnered with media organizations to support news production through programs, grants, and financial aid for journalism. Notably, the Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge has invested millions in Latin American news projects. This study explores the characteristics of these projects and their impact on the business models of Latin American media organizations. By examining project descriptions, a typology clarifies the connection between these initiatives and their effects on publishers’ business models. This analysis is complemented by 20 semi-structured interviews conducted from January 2020 to March 2023 with key regional informants. Results show three types of projects emerging through the GNI Innovation Challenge: audience-building, revenue generation, and technological innovation. It becomes evident that these media organizations are trapped in a dependent cycle, significantly contributing to their challenges in establishing sustainable business models. Furthermore, the study suggests that media organizations perceive these grants as a temporary financial resource, enabling them to hire additional staff and implement technological advancements within their newsrooms for a short time. Meanwhile, Google exerts its influence across the media industry by promoting cutting-edge technologies, which increases media dependence on its infrastructure. Ultimately, this research highlights the complex dynamics between big tech firms and the news industry, raising questions about the journalism sustainability and the potential consequences of its path dependence and capture by platforms.