Business models for sustained ehealth implementation: lessons from two continents

There is general consensus that Computers and Information Technology have the potential to enhance health systems applications, and many good examples of such applications exist all over the world. Unfortunately, with respect to eHealth and telemedicine, there is much disillusionment and scepticism. This paper describes two models that were developed separately, but had the same purpose, namely to facilitate a holistic approach to the development and implementation of eHealth solutions. The roadmap of the Centre for eHealth Research (CeHRes roadmap) was developed in the Netherlands, and the Telemedicine Maturity Model (TMMM) was developed in South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the commonalities and differences of these approaches, and to explore how they can be used to complement each other. The first part of this paper comprises of a comparison of these models in terms of origin, research domain and design principles. Case comparisons are then presented to illustrate how these models complement one another

A Load of Cobbler’s Children: Beyond the Model Designing Processor

HCI has developed rich understandings of people at work and at play with technology: most people that is, except designers, who remain locked in the information processing paradigm of first wave HCI. Design methods are validated as if they were computer programs, expected to produce the same results on a range of architectures and hardware. Unfortunately, designers are people, and thus interfere substantially (generally to good effects) with the ‘code’ of design methods. We need to rethink the evaluation and design of design and evaluation methods in HCI. A logocentric proposal based on resource function vocabularies is presented

The societal embedding of sustainable Product-Service Systems: Looking for synergies between strategic design and transition studies

Copyright @ 2014 Greenleaf Publishing.Eco-efficient Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability, but their implementation and diffusion is hindered by several cultural, corporate and regulative barriers. Hence, an important challenge is not only to conceive sustainable PSS concepts, but also to understand how to manage, support and orient the introduction and diffusion of these concepts. Building upon recent advances in the innovation studies field (in particular the contributions from transition studies) this chapter puts forward a conceptual framework for the introduction and scaling-up of eco-efficient PSSs. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments: protected spaces where radical innovations can be tested, become more mature, and potentially challenge and change dominant socio-technical practices, habits and institutions. Starting from these considerations this chapter investigates the potential contribution that a strategic design approach can make to stimulating and supporting the societal embedding of eco-efficient PSS innovations. A new strategic design role thus emerges, a role in which the ideation and development of sustainable PSS concepts is coupled with the designing of appropriate transition paths to gradually incubate, introduce and diffuse these concepts. Starting from these considerations the chapter outlines and discusses the new design approach and capabilities required by strategic designers

The role of socio-technical experiments in introducing sustainable Product-Service System innovations

This is the pre-print version of the chapter published in 2015 by Springer in the book “The Handbook of Service Innovation” (edited by Renu Agarwal, Willem Selen, Göran Roos and Roy Green). The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6590-3_18Product-Service System (PSS) innovations represent a promising approach to sustainability, but their implementation and diffusion are hindered by several cultural, corporate, and regulative barriers. Hence, an important challenge is not only to conceive sustainable PSS concepts, but also to understand how to manage, support, and orient the introduction and diffusion of these concepts. Building upon insights from transition studies (in particular, the concepts of Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management), and through an action research project, the chapter investigates the role of design in introducing sustainable radical service innovations. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments, partially protected spaces where innovations can be incubated and tested, become more mature, and potentially favor the implementation and scaling up process

Transcription associated proteins in plant development and evolution

Gene expression, the process in which DNA information is conveyed into a functional unit, is fundamental to cellular life. The extent to which gene expression can be regulated corresponds to a cells potential to modify its ability. One example is the progression through life stages of e.g. plants, going from seed to a tree, all achieved through different application of gene regulation upon the same identical DNA information. Transcriptional regulation is the process of regulating the initial step in gene expression, the transcribing of DNA into RNA. This is carried out by transcription associated proteins (TAPs). The work in this thesis aims to increase our knowledge of TAP involvement in plant development and to shed new light on TAP evolution in plants. By first providing an up-to-date method to screen for TAPs in plants (TAPscan), it was possible to screen a wide selection of plant genomes and transcriptomes. Using the data, ancestral states as well as gains, losses, expansion and contractions of TAPs, throughout the evolution of plants, could be calculated. The results suggest that many previously thought to be land plant specific TAPs actually predates the emergence of land plants. By analyzing RNA-sequence (RNA-seq) libraries of the dimorphic seed producing plant Aethionema arabicum (provided through the SeedAdapt consortium) it was possible to investigate TAP influence on seed development. In addition, a study evaluating the usefulness of a de novo assembly compared to a reference genome when identifying differentially expressed genes was conducted. The RNA-seq analysis, with TAP annotations, showed a clear distinction between the two seed morphs. The dehiscent (short term) seed being geared towards faster maturation and the indehiscent (long term) seed being geared towards dormancy was evident using both the de novo and reference approach

How the design of socio-technical experiments can enable radical changes for sustainability

Sustainability requires radical innovations, but their introduction and diffusion usually encounter the opposition of existing socio-technical regimes. An important challenge is, therefore, to understand how to catalyse and support the process of transitioning towards these innovations. Building upon insights from transition studies (in particular the concepts of Strategic Niche Management and Transition Management), and through an action research project (aimed at designing, introducing and diffusing a sustainable mobility system in the suburban areas of Cape Town), the paper investigates the role of design in triggering and orienting societal transformations. A key role is given to the implementation of socio-technical experiments. A new socio-technical system design role emerges: a role in which the ideation and development of sustainable innovation concepts is coupled with the designing of appropriate transition paths to gradually incubate, introduce and diffuse these concepts

Growth and Yield of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) on Substrate Composed of Maize (Zea mays L.) Stem and Cotton (Gossypium spp) Seed Waste

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is known to utilize a wide range of agricultural by -products and organic wastes from agro-processing industries. This study was carried out in order to evaluate the usability of maize stem along with  different proportion of cotton seed waste for the growth, yield and yield related parameters of oyster mushroom. From all the different treatments tested, those composed the maize stem: cotton seed waste in the ratio of (60:40 and30:70) showed fastest mycelial run, 3.6 and 7.2 cm respectively, on 7th and 14th days of incubation. Maize stem: cotton seed waste (60:40 and 80:20) took shortest time from incubation to 1st flush 30 days; while maize stem: cotton seed waste (90:10 and 80:20) showed shortest pinning to maturation throughout the flushes. Maize stem: cotton seed waste (30:70) observed to have higher number of aborts 105, higher number of fruiting bodies 125 and maize stem: cotton seed waste (30:70) showed larger pilus diameter 9.2cm, higher fresh weight of matures 795g and highest biological efficiency 159%. Although the total yields of the mushroom biomass, as well as the biological efficiency were greatly affected by the different substrate compositions, all combination of the substrate gave more than 100% biological efficiency which makes maize stem together with cotton seed waste a good option for mass production of oyster mushroom which can produce good quality mushroom fruit bodies. Keywords: Cotton seed waste, growth, maize stem, oyster mushroom, yiel

STERapp: semiautomatic software for stereological analysis. Application in the estimation of fish fecundity

Postprin

Development and Evaluation of "Where Are We?" Map-Skills Software and Curriculum

The "Where are We?" software and lessons are designed to help children in grades two through four learn to "translate" between the visually-perceived world that they sense around them, and the schematic representation of that landscape on a map. Field-based tests were developed to examine students' ability to absorb information in the real world and to transfer it onto a map and, conversely, the ability to absorb information from a map and transfer it into an action in the real world. Formative evaluation of a prototype version of "Where are We?" resulted in the following improvements in the instructional materials: more and prompter feedback for students, additional assessment tools for teachers, development of lessons to model successful map-using strategies, development of lessons to overcome common misconceptions, and replacement of text-based instructions with a voiceover demo. Educational levels: Graduate or professional

The Influence of Green Strategies Design onto Quality Requirements Prioritization

[Context and Motivation] Modern society is facing important challenges that are critical to improve its environmental performance. The literature reports on many green strategies aimed at reducing energy consumption. However, little research has been carried out so far on including green strategies in software design. [Question/problem] In this paper, we investigate how green software strategies can contribute to, and influence, quality requirements prioritization performed iteratively throughout a service-oriented software design process. [Methodology] In collaboration with a Dutch industry partner, an empirical study was carried out with 19 student teams playing the role of software designers, who completed the design of a real-life project through 7 weekly deliverables. [Principle ideas/results] We identified a list of quality requirements (QRs) that were considered by the teams as part of their architectural decisions when green strategies were introduced. By analyzing relations between QRs and green strategies, our study confirms usability as the most used QR for addressing green strategies that allow to create people awareness. Qualities like reliability, performance, interoperability, scalability and availability emerged as the most relevant for addressing service-awareness green strategies. [Contribution] If used at the beginning of a green software project, our results help including the most relevant QRs for addressing those green software strategies that are e.g. the most domain-generic (like increase carbon footprint awareness, paperless service provisioning, virtualization)