Inclusive or exclusive? Investigating how retail technology can reduce old consumers’ barriers to shopping

This paper investigates older consumers in-store shopping experiences and the barriers that they face. The aim is to understand how new retail technologies (e.g., interactive in-store displays, self-service tills, robots etc.) can help seniors access satisfying, autonomous retail experiences, helping them to achieve a sense of inclusion in physical retail settings. Drawing upon the social inclusion/exclusion theory and information overload theory, the research employs a qualitative approach based on an inductive design, including face-to-face semi structured interviews with 36 consumers aged 75+. The findings highlight (i) old consumers have scarce interactions with in-store technologies (adding knowledge to motivations literature), (ii) the need to develop new technologies to support these consumers, and (iii) the extent to which these technologies are excluding rather than including old consumers (adding knowledge to the drivers of the field of exclusion). Results provide guidelines for retailers to enhance the sense of inclusion for old consumers through a better usage of new technologies

Calculating Nonlocal Optical Properties of Structures with Arbitrary Shape

In a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 097403 (2009)], we outlined a computational method to calculate the optical properties of structures with a spatially nonlocal dielectric function. In this Article, we detail the full method, and verify it against analytical results for cylindrical nanowires. Then, as examples of our method, we calculate the optical properties of Au nanostructures in one, two, and three dimensions. We first calculate the transmission, reflection, and absorption spectra of thin films. Because of their simplicity, these systems demonstrate clearly the longitudinal (or volume) plasmons characteristic of nonlocal effects, which result in anomalous absorption and plasmon blueshifting. We then study the optical properties of spherical nanoparticles, which also exhibit such nonlocal effects. Finally, we compare the maximum and average electric field enhancements around nanowires of various shapes to local theory predictions. We demonstrate that when nonlocal effects are included, significant decreases in such properties can occur.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

Gyrotropic impact upon negatively refracting surfaces

Surface wave propagation at the interface between different types of gyrotropic materials and an isotropic negatively refracting medium, in which the relative permittivity and relative permeability are, simultaneously, negative is investigated. A general approach is taken that embraces both gyroelectric and gyromagnetic materials, permitting the possibility of operating in either the low GHz, THz or the optical frequency regimes. The classical transverse Voigt configuration is adopted and a complete analysis of non-reciprocal surface wave dispersion is presented. The impact of the surface polariton modes upon the reflection of both plane waves and beams is discussed in terms of resonances and an example of the influence upon the Goos–Hänchen shift is given

Information scraps: how and why information eludes our personal information management tools

In this paper we describe information scraps -- a class of personal information whose content is scribbled on Post-it notes, scrawled on corners of random sheets of paper, buried inside the bodies of e-mail messages sent to ourselves, or typed haphazardly into text files. Information scraps hold our great ideas, sketches, notes, reminders, driving directions, and even our poetry. We define information scraps to be the body of personal information that is held outside of its natural or We have much still to learn about these loose forms of information capture. Why are they so often held outside of our traditional PIM locations and instead on Post-its or in text files? Why must we sometimes go around our traditional PIM applications to hold on to our scraps, such as by e-mailing ourselves? What are information scraps' role in the larger space of personal information management, and what do they uniquely offer that we find so appealing? If these unorganized bits truly indicate the failure of our PIM tools, how might we begin to build better tools? We have pursued these questions by undertaking a study of 27 knowledge workers. In our findings we describe information scraps from several angles: their content, their location, and the factors that lead to their use, which we identify as ease of capture, flexibility of content and organization, and avilability at the time of need. We also consider the personal emotive responses around scrap management. We present a set of design considerations that we have derived from the analysis of our study results. We present our work on an application platform, jourknow, to test some of these design and usability findings

Stable isotope values in modern bryozoan carbonate from New Zealand and implications for paleoenvironmental interpretation

Bryozoan carbonate contains useful geochemical evidence of temperate shelf paleoenvironments. Stable isotope values were determined for 103 modern marine bryozoan skeletons representing 30 species from New Zealand. δ18O values range from -1.4 to 2.8 VPDB, while δ13C range from -4.5 to 2.8 VPDB (values uncorrected for mineralogical variation). These values are distinct from those of both tropical marine skeletons and New Zealand Tertiary fossils. Most bryozoans secrete carbonate in or near isotopic equilibrium with sea water, except for Celleporina and Steginoporella. The complex and variable mineralogies of the bryozoans reported here make correction for mineralogical effects problematic. Nevertheless, mainly aragonitic forms display higher isotope values, as anticipated. Both temperature and salinity constrain δ18O and δ13C values, and vary with latitude and water depth. Ten samples from a single branch of Cinctipora elegans from the Otago shelf cover a narrow range, although the striking difference in carbon isotope values between the endozone and exozone probably reflects different mineralisation histories. Our stable isotope results from three different laboratories on a single population from a single location are encouragingly consistent. Monomineralic bryozoans, when carefully chosen to avoid species suspected of vital fractionation, have considerable potential as geochemical paleoenvironmental indicators, particularly in temperate marine environments where bryozoans are dominant sediment producers

A model structure for coloured operads in symmetric spectra

We describe a model structure for coloured operads with values in the category of symmetric spectra (with the positive model structure), in which fibrations and weak equivalences are defined at the level of the underlying collections. This allows us to treat R-module spectra (where R is a cofibrant ring spectrum) as algebras over a cofibrant spectrum-valued operad with R as its first term. Using this model structure, we give suficient conditions for homotopical localizations in the category of symmetric spectra to preserve module structures.Comment: 16 page

Public sector reforms, privatisation and regimes of control in a Chinese enterprise

The Chinese economic reform has recently become a major focus of attention around the world. The underlying rationale for the Chinese government's privatisation and public sector reforms is the view that reformed state enterprises and privately managed firms will demonstrate superior management control and better performance, and hence encourage economic growth and employment. There are very few intensive case studies published in English journals studying whether firms privatised in China have reversed previous losses and introduced better management controls, leading to increased investment, productivity, and overall organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The researchers do not seek to deny the control problems of Chinese SOEs, but question the consequences of the new controls installed during the post-privatisation period. The paper also reveals a declining tendency in employment; altered distributions of wealth ? especially to the state ? and labour, and a lack of improvements in the accountability of privatised companies. Overall, the paper argues, the aims of reform policies in China, including better control, increased profitability and an improved working life for Chinese people, have not materialized. The paper calls for more research on the above issues in the Chinese context

Primary reading exercises for use with the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Horizontal band-saw

The effect of various parameters on the performance of the band saw when cutting mild steel-with a 10 t.p.i. raker-set blade were established over a limited range. These are discussed fully in the ‘conclusions'. With this limited survey it was not found possible to establish the optimum conditions of operation

The homotopy theory of simplicial props

The category of (colored) props is an enhancement of the category of colored operads, and thus of the category of small categories. In this paper, the second in a series on "higher props," we show that the category of all small colored simplicial props admits a cofibrantly generated model category structure. With this model structure, the forgetful functor from props to operads is a right Quillen functor.Comment: Final version, to appear in Israel J. Mat