Dynamic electricity pricing is widely advocated for demand-side management, yet its distributional consequences under crisis conditions remain poorly understood. We examine the equity implications of hourly spot pricing during the European energy crisis using metered consumption from 1136 Norwegian households (October 2020-March 2022) linked to socio-demographic surveys. Southern Norwegian wholesale prices nearly tripled (+192%), and mean household electricity costs rose from 484 to 1785 NOK/month. Energy poverty emerged from a zero baseline: no household exceeded the conventional 10% income-burden threshold before the crisis, versus 1.2% during it, and 6.8% exceeded a 6% burden. Impacts were steeply regressive: the mean burden of the lowest-income group reached 7.4%, against 1.9% for the highest - a fourfold gap. SHAP analysis shows that housing characteristics dominate income and price as predictors of consumption, indicating that vulnerability is structural, rooted in the building stock, rather than purely economic. We term this the vulnerabilityresponsiveness paradox: the households facing the greatest welfare exposure have the least structural capacity to adjust. Counterfactual simulations show that a 1.0 NOK/kWh price cap cuts poverty to 0.3%, and that pairing the cap with targeted retrofits of high-consumption detached homes performs best across cost, poverty, and inequality simultaneously. Crisis pricing policy should combine short-term price caps with structural buildingefficiency programmes.
Abstract Purpose Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) is a rare genetic condition characterised by unpredictable swelling episodes that can affect almost any part of the body, with throat swellings posing a potentially life-threatening risk. Individuals with HAE commonly experience psychological difficulties, and unmanaged stress is known to increase the likelihood of attacks. As a result, psychological support may offer important benefits for this population. There is growing evidence that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can be an effective psychological intervention for people living with long-term health conditions. To consider the potential value of ACT-based interventions for HAE this brief report reviews data from a wider study exploring HAE life stories to examine how individuals with HAE experience acceptance. Method Data were collected through open-ended qualitative survey responses from 65 individuals living with HAE. In addition, 11 of these participants also completed in-depth photo-elicitation interviews. Results Many participants described how adopting an attitude of acceptance enabled them to engage more actively in life and supported their overall wellbeing. In contrast, some participants recounted times when struggling to accept their HAE led to heightened fear and anxiety, which they felt could trigger attacks and negatively affect their mental health. Conclusions The participants’ accounts illustrate examples of how accepting HAE diagnosis and its associated symptoms could support greater engagement in everyday life. These findings suggest that approaches aimed at fostering acceptance may offer a valuable means of enhancing psychological wellbeing in this population. The implications for developing acceptance-informed psychological interventions for individuals with HAE are discussed.
Objective This study aimed to explore commercial pilots' perceptions and experiences of stress and mental health while working in the aviation industry Background Although previous research has examined pilots' mental health, most studies have used quantitative methods. This study adds the direct voices of pilots themselves, enabling a richer understanding of the types of stress they encounter, the workplace and personal stressors involved, and the potentially modifiable factors that could inform targeted support. Method Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with commercially licensed pilots (N = 8), recruited through convenience and purposive sampling via pilot networks. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Coding was carried out iteratively, with multiple authors independently reviewing transcripts and collaboratively developing subthemes through discussion and consensus. Results Four key themes were identified from the data: Fatigue; Fear of the Medical; Organizational Communication and Support; and Family Pressures. Conclusion There were multiple factors identified that impacted a pilot's mental health, some personal to the pilot's interviewed and others more generalized to the whole pilot population. All of the pilots interviewed encountered common elements such as fatigue and family issues which can lead to comparable instances of stress and mental health. Implications of the findings in terms of support of pilots and their mental health are discussed.
Proportional–Integral–Derivative (PID) controller remains the cornerstone of industrial and academic control systems due to their conceptual simplicity, ease of implementation, and robust performance across a wide range of applications. However, the performance of PID controller heavily depends on the optimal tuning of their parameters, which poses significant challenges in complex systems. In recent decades, metaheuristic optimization has emerged as a powerful paradigm for PID tuning, offering global search capabilities and adaptability to multiple objectives and constraints. This paper provides a comprehensive review of metaheuristic optimization of PID controller, we classify tuning methods into classical approaches and metaheuristic techniques, classical tuning methods, such as Ziegler-Nichols, Cohen-Coon and Relay Auto-Tuning approaches, are presented, followed by an overview of metaheuristic techniques, including Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), and several others, focusing on their methodologies and applications in PID tuning. Finally, we discuss the current challenges confronting metaheuristic algorithms and outline promising future research trends. This Paper mainly aims to construct an architecture diagram of meta-heuristic algorithms in the PID field for scholars and provide them with some insights on the application of meta-heuristic algorithms in the PID field.
Purpose - Although digital marketing capabilities (DMCs) represent an opportunity for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the drivers and the complementarity effects of these newer marketing capabilities need further investigation. This study aims to examine the development and impact of DMCs on SME performance. Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative survey method was implemented using data provided by 224 managers and directors of SMEs in the UK. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling, hierarchical regression and fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis. Findings - The results indicate that DMCs contribute to SME performance beyond the influence of customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities, and market orientation (MO) contributes to the development of these capabilities. Furthermore, the findings reveal that three distinct configurations of MO, DMCs and CRM capabilities are sufficient to achieve higher SME performance. Practical implications - The results suggest that SMEs possessing extensive knowledge of their market and customers current and latent needs are more capable of providing better services using DMCs. Also, the finding of this study informs SMEs managers that DMCs contribute to performance beyond the presence of CRM capabilities. Originality/value - This study contributes to the marketing and entrepreneurship literature by identifying the driver and complementarity benefit of DMCs on SME performance.
