From smart and corporate to urban and edgy: revitalising organisations in turbulent environments

Purpose: This paper aims to address issues surrounding the revitalising of organisations in turbulent environments. Design/methodology/approach: The paper contains a discussion of relevant issues and presentation of research which considers how leaders today are choosing to function in a very uncertain environment, that of higher education. Findings: The characteristics of urban and edgy organisations were all found to be evident in the leaders style in higher education. However, it was identified that this type of leadership rests on two critical axis–Knowledge management (shared and open) and the overarching style of leadership (empowerment and encouragement). Research limitations/implications: This work is introductory and used a small sample as a pilot–further more extensive work is needed in this area. Practical implications: This paper has introduced the idea of a new label for organisations which find themselves to be so full of diversity and differences that they can be characterised as being “on the edge” of danger–yet these organisations have found a way to be something which is separate from that of the urban character–important, flexible, dynamic, and playing a central role in development of new ideas. Originality/value: The contribution made to the discipline of leadership is the introduction of a new way of looking at organisation–the work offers new ways of looking at established ideas, through new lenses which may assist leaders and all who work in large organisations

Responding to challenges: the training and educating of the information professional for the next millenium

“… in most fields the issue of the professional competence and qualification of individuals is viewed as an integral part of the quality assurance of organisations and the services that they provide.” This view has long been embraced within the librarianship profession. Librarians and information professionals have a strong culture of responding to new opportunities in professional development to ensure that their skills meet the continually changing environments in which they work. This is illustrated by initiatives such as the Library Associations programme of Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Masters programmes for librarians entering management positions, increased availability of qualifications and training for paraprofessional staff and the adoption of the government instituted system of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SNVQs). Two further initiatives have been undertaken as a response to concern about the pace of change and the importance of sustaining an adequately skilled professional workforce. Firstly, the Library and Information Studies Training and Education Network (LISTEN), is working with employers, the profession and educational institutions to identify, CPD and post-qualification competencies required when staff have been in post for several or more years. Secondly, the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) which aims to accelerate the development and uptake of the ‘electronic library’ has recognised the need for CPD and has funded a number of training and awareness projects including EduLib. This paper will examine the role, education and training of information professionals from two distinct points of view. First the paper will concentrate on initial undergraduate training which students receive at an established Department of Library and Information Studies — with particular regard to the training and education of business information in order to prepare students for the global business world. The second part of the paper will deal with an aspect of continuing professional development for which there is an increasing demand in academic libraries — teaching skills for librarians. The paper will focus on EduLib — a development project which aims to provide a nationally recognised and accredited network of trainers in academic libraries

Education in a Datafied World: Balancing Children’s Rights and Schools' Responsibilities in the age of COVID-19

The Covid-19 pandemic created a situation where online learning extended at speed. During the national lockdowns, when it was not possible for most children to physically attend school, the efficacy and efficiency of digital platforms made it possible for schools to fulfill their duties to provide an education. However, the urgency of the situation carried the risk that this was put in place without adequate consideration of the data protection risks from various online learning tools. Although the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a framework of regulations and rights to protect users, the legal process is unwieldy to apply due to tensions in balancing the rights of the child learner with the public need to ensure that all children are provided with an education. This paper recommends that changes in digital schooling practices are needed so that children have realistically possible ways of enforcing their data protection rights as well as a clarified and uniformed approach to support schools

Developing Tasty and Nutritious Sustainable Foods Using Note by Note Cooking and 3D Food Printing

Aim: Note by Note (NbN) cooking and 3D food printing individually and in combination allow for the creation of customized nutritious foods. NbN cooking involves making foods from pure compounds or mixtures of compounds and allows for reduction of food spoilage and increase of the global output of agriculture. Method: NbN recipes were developed using pure compounds and mixtures of pure compounds, and printed with a Procusini® 3D food printer. The food item was selected. In this study, “Pasta” was selected for the soya and hemp samples and “Chocolate” for the pea protein sample. The recipes were prepared and the mixes were added to a 60mL cartridge, and then inserted into the printer which was then calibrated. The object for production was selected (lobster or cube). Production was started and the lobster (7 mins) or the cube (8 mins) were printed onto the silicone mat and then cooked for 15 mins at 150 oC in an Electrolux oven. Results: After a number of trials, to optimize the texture, a prototype savoury NbN recipe was developed which included cornflour, oil, sugar, salt, water, plant protein-rich ingredients i.e. either soya, hemp or pea-protein and dietary fibre. The three resulting mixes were printed either in a lobster shape (soya and hemp) or a cube shape (pea protein). During cooking of each sample there was loss of volume, due to water evaporation, but not of shape. The colour of each sample darkened and the texture became crisp. The final protein contents for the cooked soya lobster was 17.5%, 9.7% for the hemp and 12.9% for the pea protein. Conclusion: The recipes are prototypes and can be produced in various shapes, colours, flavours (including odours) and textures. The customized foods can be served to diners or developed as food products and allow for an expansion in creativity and innovation which addresses the dietary and sustainability requirements of a growing number of consumers e.g. vegan and/or lactose-intolerant, dietary needs of sports athletes and reduction of food waste

The party’s over at the digital society: some thoughts towards the search for serious theoretical frameworks.

Abstract: There has been much in the way of excitement and celebration concerning all things ‘digital’, which has provided the opening ‘context’ of the 21st century. We now need to stop, take a break and think clearly about our\ud newly emerging areas. This paper’s aim is to provide a discussion of the need for a robust theoretical framework for an idea embraced by the digital society – that all things, i.e., artefacts, – are connected by a story or a memory to each other and to people, resulting in an all consuming ‘internet of things’. The paper introduces a new project ‘The Search for New Frameworks for Digital\ud Research’ based at the University of Winchester at Winchester, UK and offers definitions of the area and key terms followed by initial thoughts about how other disciplines choose theoretical framework

Supermassive Black-hole Demographics & Environments With Pulsar Timing Arrays

Precision timing of large arrays (>50) of millisecond pulsars will detect the nanohertz gravitational-wave emission from supermassive binary black holes within the next ~3-7 years. We review the scientific opportunities of these detections, the requirements for success, and the synergies with electromagnetic instruments operating in the 2020s.Comment: Submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey. One of 5 core white-papers authored by members of the NANOGrav Collaboration. 9 pages, 2 figure

The Perceptions and Goals of Special Education Advocacy Trainees

Although the field of special education advocacy is growing, little is known about the perceptions and goals of individuals who participate in advocacy trainings. It is important to understand why individuals want advocacy training to design more effective programs and determine whether training meets participant expectations. In this study, we evaluated the perceptions of 142 participants who completed the Volunteer Advocacy Project (VAP), a special education advocacy training. Using participants’ responses to open-ended questions on the VAP application, we examined the perceptions of caregivers and professionals to understand their motivations for becoming advocates, their plans for using their newfound knowledge and skills, and their perceptions of the attributes of special education advocates. Findings indicated some key differences between caregivers and professionals in their reasons for becoming advocates and plans for using their newfound knowledge and skills. Participants wanted to become special education advocates to help their own child (if they were caregivers) and to help others. Participants planned to use their newfound knowledge and skills to advocate and to provide service to the community at three levels depending on their role: school, community, and state/national. Finally, regardless of role, participants perceived warmth, competence, and grit to be necessary attributes of successful advocates. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Sustainability of a physical activity and nutrition program for seniors

OBJECTIVE This prospective cohort study aimed to determine the impact of a low cost, home-based physical activity and nutrition program for older adults at 6 months follow-up. DESIGN A follow-up survey was conducted 6 months after program completion via computer-assisted telephone interviewing. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Fat and Fibre Barometer were used to measure physical activity levels and dietary behaviours, respectively. Self-reported height, weight, waist and hip circumferences were obtained. Changes over three time points of data collection (baseline, post-program, follow-up) and differences between the intervention and control groups were assessed. The use of program materials was also evaluated. SETTING Community and home-based. PARTICIPANTS Insufficiently active 60 to 70 year olds (n = 176, intervention and n = 198, control) residing in suburbs within the Perth metropolitan area.RESULTS A sustained improvement was observed for the intervention group in terms of fat avoidance behaviours (p interaction =.007). Significant improvements were found for strength exercises, fibre intake, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio at either post-program or follow-up, however the overall effect was not significant. At post-program, the intervention group increased time spent participating in moderate activity by 50 minutes (p >.05), which was followed by a significant decline at follow-up (p <.05). Among intervention group participants, males and females differed with respect to strength exercises and moderate physical activity. CONCLUSION This low-cost physical activity and nutrition intervention resulted in a sustained improvement in fat avoidance behaviours and overall short-term gains in physical activity. Future studies for older adults are recommended to investigate gender-specific behavioural barriers as well as booster interventions which focus on physical activity

The Outer-Temperley-Lieb algebra structure and representation theory

We define a new algebra the Outer-Temperley-Lieb algebra, OTLn(δ), as a fixed ring of the well known Temperley-Lieb algebra, with respect to an automorphism σ reflecting the known diagrammatic representations of the Temperley-Lieb elements in the vertical plane. We define the cell modules of the Outer-Temperley-Lieb algebra and determine that the algebra’s semi-simplicity is dependant entirely on that of the Temperley-Lieb algebra. We are therefore able to give the complete representation theory of the Outer-Temperley- Lieb algebra when it is semi-simple. The induction and restriction of the standard modules to higher and lower rank OTLn(δ) algebras is studied. We also begin a study of the representation theory of OTLn(δ) when it is not semi-simple by describing a large family of homomorphisms between standard modules and conclude with a conjecture on the labelling set of the blocks of the Outer-Temperley-Lieb algebra in the non semi-simple cases