White Space Research Articles

Analysis of strategic priorities of green building projects for the efficient energy consumption

Purpose This study aims to investigate the strategic priorities of green building projects and analyze energy consumption alternatives in green residence projects using two innovative methods. Design/methodology/approach This study uses two methods, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) to measure strategic priorities and golden-cut quantum spherical fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) to analyze energy consumption alternatives. Findings The study reveals that sustainability and atmosphere are the most significant factors in determining the priorities of green residence projects, whereas innovation has a limited impact on addressing environmental challenges in the building sector. The ranking of energy use alternatives shows that sustainability issues and atmosphere quality of space heating and cooking are the top priorities, whereas other factors like white goods, water heating, lighting and space cooling are ranked lower. Originality/value This paper offers a significant contribution to the understanding of green buildings by introducing innovative methodological approaches. Theoretically, it uses the DEMATEL to enhance traditional analytical frameworks, marking a novel effort in understanding green residence projects. In addition, the golden-cut quantum spherical fuzzy TOPSIS method is introduced, offering a comprehensive decision-making framework for green projects, considering factors like energy consumption and economic feasibility. This combination of methodologies provides a holistic evaluation, emphasizing sustainability in green building construction. This study reveals untapped potential for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, enriching the existing knowledge base.

A Comparative Aesthetics Analysis on Song Dynasty Lacquer Dish in the Form of Plum Blossoms with a Red-brushed Pattern of Two Phoenixes

The Chinese artcraft in Song and Ming Dynasty set a standard that is understood as both unique and influential. Through comparative research, the lacquered Artcraft in East Asia and Europe would provide a holistic view of how Chinese lacquer art craft transferred through dynasties. Two Chinese crafts, Ming Yongle red-painted tea flower round plate and the Song dynasty Lacquer dish in the form of plum blossoms with a red-brushed pattern of two phoenixes are illustrated. It then presents a gilt-bronze inlaid lacquer vessel from France in the reign of Louis XV, made by the Japanese and European Lacquer Bureau, and one can see the great difference between it and the two previous ones made in China. It is inlaid on the top surface with figures, carriages, and horses, as well as with figures of mountains, rocks, and trees, with most of the figures concentrated on the left side, while the right side is left relatively empty of white space. It is argued that from several aspects, the comparison is worthwhile.

Enhanced Signal Area Estimation in Radio-Communication Spectrograms Based on Morphological Image Processing

The concept of signal area (SA), defined as the rectangular time–frequency region in a spectrogram where a signal is detected, plays an important role in spectrum usage measurements. The need for signal area estimation (SAE) is justified by its role in the process of allocating white space spectrum to secondary users in dynamic spectrum access systems as well as in other interesting applications such as compliance verification and enforcement of spectrum regulations, signal interception, and network planning and optimisation. Existing SAE methods are far from perfect and therefore new solutions capable to provide more accurate estimations are thus required. In this study, a novel approach based on image processing techniques is explored. Concretely, the feasibility of using morphological operations (MOs) is explored to examine its usefulness in the context of SAE. By means of extensive simulations, the performance of different MOs (erosion, dilation, opening, and closing) in the context of SAE is investigated under various configurations, including different shapes and sizes of the structuring element (SE), when used both as standalone SAE methods and in combination with other SAE methods from the literature. Based on the obtained results, an MO-based SAE method is formulated based on the optimum MO and SE configuration for each specific SNR regime, which can improve substantially the performance of other proposed SAE methods when used as a pre- or postprocessing technique. Concretely, the accuracy improvement in terms of F1 score is up to 40% in the low-SNR regime while achieving a perfect accuracy of 100% in the high-SNR regime. This is achieved without having a noticeable impact on the associated computational cost (and even reducing it by up to 15% at high SNR). The performance improvement is thus particularly significant in the low-SNR regime, where most methods’ performances are limited, and as a result the proposed SAE approach can extend the operational SNR range of the existing SAE methods.

Cluster-aware allocation of spare TSVs for enhanced reliability in 3D ICs

Three-dimensional Integrated-Circuits (3D ICs) based on Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) technology offer numerous advantages, including high density, enhanced bandwidth, and lower power consumption. However, the complex manufacturing process introduces various defects, posing a considerable challenge to the reliability of 3D integration using TSVs. To address this issue, the utilization of spare TSVs as a solution for enhancing yield and reliability is a viable approach. In this study, we present a high-performance repair solution that efficiently allocates spare TSVs while minimizing hardware costs, area, and delay overhead. We introduce a spare TSV allocation scheme that considers the white space constraint, effectively reducing the delay overhead caused by excessive wire lengths. Our proposed solution achieves a significantly higher repair rate for densely clustered TSV defects compared to existing approaches. Moreover, our method stands out by reducing control logic area overhead by 65% or more when compared to previous works. Additionally, it significantly reduces delay overhead compared to other TSV redundancy architectures.

Decolonizing School Social Work Practice: The Delicate Dance Around Power, Privilege and Oppression

ABSTRACTSchool social work is a specialized area of clinical social work practice. Like any aspect of social work, it can be: at its best, used to support and uplift students, families and communities; and at its worst, used to oppress children, youth and their caregivers in both obvious and tacit ways. School social workers need to develop critical consciousness and think critically about their positionality within these institutions, as they have a voice and role in shaping social justice and well-being in schools. This paper reflects upon the notion of decolonization and its meanings within elementary and secondary school contexts, particularly as it relates to students from minoritized groups and cultures. I examine the ways in which school social workers may be drawn into becoming complicit in dominant ideas about academic achievement, behaviors and development, based on my own experiences as a racialized person working in predominantly white spaces. Using the metaphor of a dance, school-based relationships are highlighted as a means to disrupt the systemic structures that are designed to maintain the status quo.

Virtual Erasure: Ntozake Shange, Black Spaces, Wealth, and Children’s Biographies

In “‘The White Space’”, sociologist Elijah Anderson notes that, despite some integration post- Brown v. Board of Education, certain public areas continue to be perceived as ‘white spaces’. Conversely, Black spaces, largely due to media portrayals, are identified as the ghetto. This article explores how Ntozake Shange’s children’s biographies combat such limited characterisations and teach lessons that oppose notions of Black spaces as ghettoes.

‘Good Cause for Living’: Environmental Justice in Virginia Hamilton’s M. C. Higgins, the Great

This article offers an ecocritical reading of Virginia Hamilton’s celebrated novel M. C. Higgins, the Great (1974) to reposition it as a milestone of environmental writing for children. Arriving concurrently with the first Earth Day in the United States in 1970, the novel exposes the generational effects of environmental racism toward Black Americans in the steel industry and condemns the ongoing injustices of strip-mining in Appalachia. However, the novel remains neglected in the primarily white space of ecocriticism. Rereading it as a text for environmental justice recentres Hamilton’s contribution to environmental writing for children and prompts reflection amongst scholars about whose stories occupy which spaces in critical study.

Decolonizing Social Work Education and Practice with Students and Community Stakeholders: A Case Example from University of Calgary

ABSTRACTSocial work education in Canada has struggled to identify and disrupt systems of oppression and marginalization, rooted in a history of colonialism and slavery, that continues to reverberate through neocolonial policies, pedagogy, and practice. Universities and social work programs remain white spaces that uphold white supremacy, while actively excluding nonwhite members and their ways of knowing and being in the world. It wasn’t until the deepened retrenchment of anti-Black racism during the pandemic, punctuated by the killing of George Floyd, that a group of educators seized an opening to teach an anti-racist and anti-colonial praxis course for the Bachelor of Social Work students in spring of 2021, the first one of its kind in our faculty. Students were encouraged to engage with Indigenous and racialized community youth to imagine and integrate anti-racist and reconciliatory actions as part of their assignments. This paper shares our experiences co-designing and co-teaching this course together with community partners. We emphasize lessons from the applied pedagogical approaches as well as its implications for social work education and social work practice.

5G-RCOLAB: A system level simulator for 5G and beyond in rural areas

This paper describes 5G-RCOLAB, an open source simulation tool for performance evaluation of 5G/6G wireless networks in rural areas. The tool is designed with a layered architecture, based on three modules: (i) a link-level simulator of a communication channel for remote areas, with a mapping Link to System (L2S) interface; (ii) a Long-Term Evolution (LTE)-based physical layer adapted for remote areas, together with a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer that includes a novel Collaborative Spectrum Sensing (CSS) technique with security features for Byzantine attacks and spectrum usage efficiency; and (iii) an application oriented network layer that emulates the behavior of typical users in rural areas. The tool has the goal to reduce simulation complexity of large scale 5G rural networks and at the same time, to represent coherently the features of the physical and MAC layers, that include new channel models that cover long distances with the use of TV White Spaces (TVWS) in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) bands, as well as novel CSS techniques to improve spectrum efficiency. The 5G-RCOLAB was validated both by field test measurements from a Proof of Concept (PoC) prototype and by the simulation and evaluation of three 5G common core use cases in rural areas. The results show that the 5G-RCOLAB features allow a better evaluation of novel technologies implemented in the physical and MAC layers and provide paths for improvements and deployments of cost effective solutions of 5G in rural or remote areas.

Deep transfer learning approach for digital circuits vulnerability analysis

Hardware Trojans (HT) are the most malicious components attacking modern integrated circuits (ICs). Information leakage, incorrect functionality, and overheating are the major effects of HT insertion. Due to the outsourcing of multi-stage digital circuit design and fabrication, HTs can be inserted by rogues at every stage. The types of HTs and insertion methods evolve continuously and their detection becomes more complex. Consequently, designing integrated circuits robust to HT insertion seems efficient. A prerequisite for such a strategy is the evaluation of integrated circuit vulnerability to HT insertion. There are several factors involved in the vulnerability of fabricated integrated circuits such as the distribution of white spaces in the IC layout, the ratio of unutilized routing resources, the amount of activity of the circuit’s nodes, the geometrical properties of the circuit’s gates, the delay of various paths, and etc. The interrelation of these diverse factors makes IC vulnerability modeling a challenging problem. In this paper, a deep neural network (DNN) based approach is developed to combine all the effective factors in IC vulnerability analysis. Firstly, we generate a comprehensive dataset containing various types and sizes of hardware Trojans inserted into benchmark circuits. The benchmark circuits used in this study are ISCAS 85, ISCAS 89, and ITC 99. Then using the transfer learning concept seven state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural networks are trained and verified using the constructed dataset to classify every integrated circuit into three vulnerability levels (low, moderate, and highly vulnerable classes). Simulation results show that our proposed method achieves almost 95 % accuracy in the most successful case (VGG16). The lowest accuracy belongs to Inception V3 (∼87.65 %) which is much better than the most successful previous studies (72 %). This is mainly because the DNN-based method handles shortcomings (such as incomplete modeling of vulnerability-related factors) in the previous state-of-the-art methods efficiently.

Understanding light-skin privilege in relation to anti-Black racism: colourism, racism-induced stress and poor health outcomes amongst Black British women

ABSTRACT Light-skin privilege is a term that is often used to describe the relative advantages that racially minoritized people who are socially recognised as “light-skinned” receive when navigating predominantly white spaces compared to their peers with darker-skin. This article considers the relationship between racism-induced stress and poor health outcomes amongst Black British women who self-identify as having light-, medium-, or dark-skin to examine the extent to which light-skin privilege mitigates the negative effects that racial discrimination has on health. Drawing on interviews conducted with 20 Black British women, I complicate the understanding that light-skin privilege invariably leads to better health outcomes for Black British women with light-skin by revealing how its operation at a systemic level can coincide with individual experiences of anti-Black racism that can, in turn, lead to poor health.

KisanQRS: A deep learning-based automated query-response system for agricultural decision-making

Delivering prompt information and guidance to farmers is critical in agricultural decision-making. Farmers’ helpline centres are heavily reliant on the expertise and availability of call centre agents, leading to inconsistent quality and delayed responses. To this end, this article presents Kisan Query Response System (KisanQRS), a Deep Learning-based robust query-response framework for the agriculture sector. KisanQRS integrates semantic and lexical similarities of farmers’ queries and employs a rapid threshold-based clustering method. Before clustering, KisanQRS employs data cleaning by performing steps such as the removal of special characters and extra white spaces. It also removes crop names from the queries, which helps in putting similar queries to the same clusters irrespective of the crop. Subsequently, semantic and lexical similarities of queries are computed, and a final similarity matrix is generated based on the weighted sum of these two similarities. Next, a clustering algorithm is applied to organize the queries into clusters according to their similarity. A query mapping module is trained on these cluster labels as the target. For this query mapping module, LSTM is found to be the optimal method. Next, the answer retrieval method clusters candidate answers for a crop, ranks these answer clusters based on the number of answers in a cluster, and selects the leader of each cluster, finally providing the top-K answers. The dataset used in our analysis consists of a subset of 34 million call logs from the Kisan Call Centre (KCC), operated under the Government of India. We evaluated the performance of the query mapping module on the data of five major states of India with 3,00,000 samples and the quantifiable outcomes demonstrate that KisanQRS significantly outperforms traditional techniques by achieving 96.58% top F1-score for a state. The answer retrieval module is evaluated on 10,000 samples and achieves a competitive NDCG score of 96.20%. KisanQRS could be useful in enabling farmers to make informed decisions about their farming practices by providing quick and pertinent responses to their queries.

In the Shadow of the Palms: The Selected Works of David Eugene Smith

In the Shadow of the Palms: The Selected Works of David Eugene Smith

Listening at the edge of the line

Abstract To be listening, according to Jean-Luc Nancy, is ‘is always to be on the edge of meaning’. How do we listen to a poem’s edge? To the end of the line? This essay thinks about line endings and how they invite our listening. It explores the acoustics, dynamics, and somatic experience of line endings in the works of a number of poets, including Alice Oswald, Kathleen Jamie, William Wordsworth, and Jen Hadfield. It draws on Nancy, Denise Levertov, and Rita Dove’s thinking about line endings, and offers a series of amplified close-listenings which open up wider thinking about how we read and experience poetry. This is part of a larger exploration of what it means to listen to a poem — to the sounds a poem remembers, to the sounds a poem makes — on the page, in the air, in the ear — but also to the spaces, to the gaps and pauses, to the white space at the end of a line.

Bibliografia decolonial contra ementas hegemônicas: estratégia da negritude ante violências acadêmicas

From decades-old works like The Mis-Education of the Negro (Woodson, 1933) to contemporary texts by Black thinkers such as bell hooks and Grada Kilomba, there is repeated evidence that there is no neutrality in science, nor in academic environments. Given the mechanisms that maintain the university as a white, racist, and elitist space, Black female students are required to make extra efforts to obtain a master's degree, as we are forced to remain vigilant against intersectional oppressions. In order to reflect on the presence of non-white bodies in stricto sensu programs, I offer a phenomenological interpretation of racist episodes experienced during my master's studies. If Blackness was never reflected in the official curricula, it was through a decolonial framework and the formation of alliances that I found ways to combat racism that allowed me not only to enter but also to remain in good company.

A multiband SSr diode RF rectifier with an improved frequency ratio for biomedical wireless applications

This paper described a four-band implantable RF rectifier with simplified circuit complexity. Each RF-rectifier cell is sequentially matched to the four operational frequencies to accomplish the proposed design. The proposed RF rectifier can harvest RF signals at 1.830, 2.100, and white space Wi-Fi bands between 2.38 to 2.68 GHz, respectively. At 2.100 GHz, the proposed RF harvester achieved a maximum (radio frequency direct current) RF-to-DC power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 73.00% and an output DC voltage V_{DC} of 1.61 V for an RF power of 2 dBm. The outdoor performance of the rectenna shows a V_{DC} of 0.440 V and drives a low-power bq25504-674 evaluation module (EVM) at 1.362 V. The dimension of the RF-rectifier on the FR-4 PCB board is 0.27lambda _{g}times 0.29lambda _{g}. The RF-rectifier demonstrates the capacity to effectively utilize the frequency domain by employing multi-band operation and exhibiting a good impedance bandwidth through a sequential matching technique. Thus, by effectively controlling the rectenna’s ambient performance, the proposed design holds the potential for powering a range of low-power biomedical implantable devices. (BIDs).

LoRa Communication Using TVWS Frequencies: Range and Data Rate

Low power wide area network (LPWAN) is a wireless communication technology that offers large coverage, low data rates, and low power consumption, making it a suitable choice for the growing Internet of Things and machine-to-machine communication applications. Long range (LoRa), an LPWAN technology, has recently been used in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band for various low-power wireless applications. The coverage and data rate supported by these devices in the ISM band is well-studied in the literature. In this paper, we study the usage of TV white spaces (TVWS) for LoRa transmissions to address the growing spectrum demand. Additionally, the range and data rate of TVWS-based LoRa, for different transmission parameter values using different path-loss models and for various scenarios such as free space, outdoor and indoor are investigated. A path-loss model for TVWS-based LoRa is also proposed and explored, and the evaluations show that TVWS offers a longer range. This range and data rate study would be useful for efficient network planning and system design for TVWS-based LoRa LPWANs.

Giving children their due voice in human resource management research

ABSTRACT Parental reporting has long been the dominant method of determining children’s views when researching Human Resource Management (HRM). This prevailing adultist approach ignores the potential for children’s voices to make empirical, theoretical, and practical contributions to the study and practice of HRM. The purpose of this paper is twofold. In the first instance, building on Kavanagh’s (2013) broad call to address the white space around children and organisational studies, this paper seeks to highlight the key areas of HRM research where children have the potential to make a significant contribution to our empirical and theoretical understanding of work and life and our subsequent managerial recommendations. In the second instance, it builds on existing scholarship, while drawing on the author’s own experiences, to provide practical suggestions for addressing ethical challenges that are more pronounced when interviewing children – obtaining their informed consent, mitigating the potential for harm arising from power imbalances, and consideration of their right to privacy and confidentiality. This is in response to the demand for additional resources to support those who are willing give voice to children in their research.

“Racism Masked as Safety Concerns”: The Experiences of Residents of Color With Racialized Coveillance in a Predominantly White Neighborhood

Prior studies have focused on ways that White residents in predominantly White neighborhoods monitor their community for suspicious people and how these practices are racialized. However, only limited attention has been given to how residents of color in such neighborhoods experience these surveillance efforts. In this article, we explore how mostly White neighbors conduct on-the-ground monitoring of people of color in their daily lives, a process that we call “racialized coveillance.” Using data from neighborhood digital platforms, neighborhood materials, and 24 interviews with residents of color of an affluent, predominantly White community, we find that residents’ racialized coveillance sometimes misidentifies residents of color as suspicious outsiders. These efforts take the form of posts uploaded to the neighborhood’s social media sites, calls to the police, and in-person encounters. Such practices occur regularly and affect residents of color to varying degrees with Black male residents bearing the brunt of such efforts. As a result, we argue that racialized coveillance creates hostile territories for some residents of color in predominantly White neighborhoods, which contributes to the reproduction of these settings as White spaces.

Anti-Black racism in the early years: the experiences of Black families and early childhood educators in Nova Scotia.

Anti-Black racism is a social determinant of health that has significantly impacted Black children and families. Limited research has examined anti-Black racism during the early years-a critical period of development. In this study, we sought to understand the manifestations of anti-Black racism in early childhood and explore its impact on Black children and families. This qualitative research project was informed by critical race theory, Black Critical Theory and interpretive description. Early childhood educators (ECEs) and parents with Black children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years (n = 15) participated in virtual, semistructured interviews. Awareness of and protection against anti-Black racism was a constant in Black families' lives. Parents felt as though they had to remain hypervigilant and overprotective of their Black children, knowing they were liable to encounter racial violence. The early learning environment was a source of heightened stress for families, given the significant amount of time young children spend in child care. Black children were often "othered" in predominately White spaces and had been objectified by White ECE staff and children. Parents worked to instill a strong sense of self-confidence in their children to counteract the negative impacts of racial discrimination. Results from this study suggest that children as young as 18 months are experiencing racial violence and adverse childhood experiences. Findings may contribute to antiracist policy development and a focus on more inclusive early childhood education for Black children and families.