Brunel University London

About: Brunel University London is a education organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 10918 authors who have published 29515 publications receiving 893330 citations. The organization is also known as: Brunel & University of Brunel.

Fuzzy-Model-Based Robust Fault Detection With Stochastic Mixed Time Delays and Successive Packet Dropouts

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the network-based robust fault detection problem for a class of uncertain discrete-time Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems with stochastic mixed time delays and successive packet dropouts. The mixed time delays comprise both the multiple discrete time delays and the infinite distributed delays. A sequence of stochastic variables is introduced to govern the random occurrences of the discrete time delays, distributed time delays, and successive packet dropouts, where all the stochastic variables are mutually independent but obey the Bernoulli distribution. The main purpose of this paper is to design a fuzzy fault detection filter such that the overall fault detection dynamics is exponentially stable in the mean square and, at the same time, the error between the residual signal and the fault signal is made as small as possible. Sufficient conditions are first established via intensive stochastic analysis for the existence of the desired fuzzy fault detection filters, and then, the corresponding solvability conditions for the desired filter gains are established. In addition, the optimal performance index for the addressed robust fuzzy fault detection problem is obtained by solving an auxiliary convex optimization problem. An illustrative example is provided to show the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed design method.

International Olympic Committee consensus statement: harassment and abuse (non-accidental violence) in sport.

Abstract: Despite the well-recognised benefits of sport, there are also negative influences on athlete health, well-being and integrity caused by non-accidental violence through harassment and abuse. All athletes have a right to engage in 'safe sport', defined as an athletic environment that is respectful, equitable and free from all forms of non-accidental violence to athletes. Yet, these issues represent a blind spot for many sport organisations through fear of reputational damage, ignorance, silence or collusion. This consensus statement extends the 2007 IOC Consensus Statement on Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sport, presenting additional evidence of several other types of harassment and abuse-psychological, physical and neglect. All ages and types of athletes are susceptible to these problems but science confirms that elite, disabled, child and lesbian/gay/bisexual/trans-sexual (LGBT) athletes are at highest risk, that psychological abuse is at the core of all other forms and that athletes can also be perpetrators. Harassment and abuse arise from prejudices expressed through power differences. Perpetrators use a range of interpersonal mechanisms including contact, non-contact/verbal, cyber-based, negligence, bullying and hazing. Attention is paid to the particular risks facing child athletes, athletes with a disability and LGBT athletes. Impacts on the individual athlete and the organisation are discussed. Sport stakeholders are encouraged to consider the wider social parameters of these issues, including cultures of secrecy and deference that too often facilitate abuse, rather than focusing simply on psychopathological causes. The promotion of safe sport is an urgent task and part of the broader international imperative for good governance in sport. A systematic multiagency approach to prevention is most effective, involving athletes, entourage members, sport managers, medical and therapeutic practitioners, educators and criminal justice agencies. Structural and cultural remedies, as well as practical recommendations, are suggested for sport organisations, athletes, sports medicine and allied disciplines, sport scientists and researchers. The successful prevention and eradication of abuse and harassment against athletes rests on the effectiveness of leadership by the major international and national sport organisations.

Leanness: experiences from the journey to date

Abstract: Purpose – Although leanness is certainly not a new concept it is doubtless still relevant. Interestingly, newly developed manufacturing paradigms and systems are always examined in relation to leanness. In other words, leanness serves in most cases as the landmark paradigm with which comparisons are being drawn between the latter and recently pioneered approaches. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the evolutional orbit that leanness has followed over the years and serve as a herald of the current state of this evolution, which will be discussed further, in a separate paper.Design/methodology/approach – A great part of this paper is devoted to highlighting the misconceptions surrounding issues such as what leanness really constitutes and what are the key concepts and practices that leanness encompasses. Two successful lean transition stories are presented showing how these lean tools and techniques were implemented in the cases of two UK‐based manufacturing companies.Findings – Because of its inher...

Cultural "Insiders" and the Issue of Positionality in Qualitative Migration Research: Moving "Across" and Moving "Along" Researcher-Participant Divides

Abstract: Positionalitat ist bis zum heutigen Tag von Sozialwissenschaftler(inne)n als zentrale Komponente in dem Prozess qualitativer (und bis zum einen gewissen Grad auch quantitativer) Datenerhebung konzeptionalisiert worden. Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist es, auf dem Konzept der Positionalitat aufbauend insbesondere den Einfluss zu reflektieren, den die Klassen- und Generationszugehorigkeit auf die qualitative Migrationsforschung ausuben konnen. Im Einzelnen argumentieren die Autoren, dass der Insiderstatus im Interview eine komplexere und vielschichtigere Grose darstellt als weithin diskutiert. Die Verfasser behaupten, dass bei Interviews innerhalb der eigenen "kulturellen" Gemeinschaft Forschende – als Insider – ein Ausmas sozialer Nahe erreichen (konnen), das paradoxerweise die Wachsamkeit der Forschenden und der "Beforschten" gegenuber den sozialen Trennlinien, die zwischen ihnen existieren, steigert. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag suchen die beiden Autoren ihre Behauptung anhand von zwei Beispielen zu belegen: zum einen untersucht eine italienische Forscherin italienische Zuwanderer(innen) in Nottingham (UK), zum anderen interviewte ein britischer Forscher Migrant(inn)en britischer Abstammung in Paris (Frankreich). Dabei wird zunachst gezeigt, wie Forschende im Interviewprozess "sozial-okonomisch aufsteigen", um dann darauf hinzuweisen, dass durch die Moglichkeit einer derartigen "Statusbewegung" – wenn strategisch eine Beziehung hergestellt wird – eine gewisse Machtungleichheit unausweichlich ist. Desweiteren werden – unter Verweis auf die Konzepte des "Insiders" und des "unbeteiligten Beobachters" – Wege vorgestellt, wie Forschende (zumindest teilweise) die Generationengrenzen innerhalb der eigenen "kulturellen" Gemeinschaft der Zuwanderer(innen) "uberwinden" konnen. Diese methodologischen Reflektionen sind dazu gedacht, zukunftige Untersuchungen, die innerhalb der (eigenen) Zuwanderungsgemeinschaft gefuhrt werden, zu unterstutzen und zu verbessern. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs060379

An in vivo testing system for endocrine disruptors in fish early life stages using induction of vitellogenin

Abstract: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on carp ( Cyprinus carpio) vitellogenin (c-VTG, an estrogen- dependent precursor of egg yolk) was developed to quantify VTG in the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) and was employed to establish an in vivo testing system for estrogens in fish early life stages. The working range of the c-VTG ELISA was between 1 and 50 ng/ml (20%-80% binding). The inter- and intraassay variations were 9.7 6 3% and 8.9 6 3.4% (n 5 15), respectively. Plasma and whole body homogenates from females and from estrogenized male fathead minnow diluted parallel with the c-VTG standard. Measurements of plasma VTG fractionated on sodium dodecyl sulphate gels and quantified using densitometry were compared with measurements with the same plasma samples using the c-VTG ELISA and they were similar for the carp and fathead minnow. The plasma concentration of VTG in the male fathead minnow was 256 6 ng/ml, whereas in females, plasma concentrations of VTG ranged from 5.3 6 1 mg/ml to 182 6 7.6 mg/ml, depending on the state of maturity. Exposure of fathead minnows to estradiol-17b in the water (nominal concentrations of 25 ng/L, 50 ng/L, and 100 ng/L) from 24 h postfertilization to 30 d posthatch induced VTG synthesis in a dose-dependent manner. Shorter periods of exposure to 100 ng/L estradiol-17b (24 h postfertilization to 10 or 20 d posthatch) similarly induced a vitellogenic response. This work demonstrates that fathead minnow are sensitive to estrogen and are able to synthesize VTG very early in development; this provides the basis for the adaptation of existing fish early- life-stage tests for the in vivo testing of estrogenic chemicals.