Social Innovation Policy In Europe: Where Next?

The global challenges we face are resistant to conventional policy measures. Tackling issues like inequality, climate change and migration requires new thinking, new collaborations and new practices. Meanwhile, it is widely argued that to create an inclusive and cohesive society, we need more people to be involved in these processes.This builds the case for policymakers to take a different perspective on innovation. Innovation has long been an interest for public policy, but mainly for the purposes of economic (or military) advancement. Now, however, policymakers are increasingly becoming interested in how innovation can be directed to broader social goals, and how innovation processes can be opened up to a much broader range of people and organisations

Social innovation policy in Europe: where next?

The European Commission (EC) has been a leading proponent of social innovation for over ten years. The Commission and its Directorates-General have used several of the policy levers at its disposal - from structural funds and public procurement to regulation - to promote social innovation at a European level and in Member States, while working to facilitate international collaboration. In recent years a number of social innovation experiments and policies have emerged. As a result, we can start to see how ‘social innovation policy’ might eventually emerge as a recognised policy field. Although good progress has been made, the degree to which social innovation is supported by different parts of the Commission remains uneven. In the first of its annual policy reports, ‘Social innovation policy in Europe: where next?’, published late in 2016, the Social Innovation Community set out the future vision of what a distinctive field of social innovation policy could look like. While support for social innovation at a European level has gained ground in recent years, the report challenges European policymakers to go further in forging this new field, in particular by: 1. Creating a more joined-up approach to social innovation policy within the European Commission, as well as by policymakers at sub-EU level. 2. Empowering policymakers to use the tools of social innovation to make better policy. 3. Helping to find ways to enable social innovation to flourish in those places where the concept is still new but could add great benefit

The Virtual Tutor: Tasks for conversational agents in Online Collaborative Learning Environments

Online collaborative learning environments are becoming increasingly popular in higher education. E-tutors need to supervise, guide students and look out for conflicts within the online environment to ensure a successful learning experience. Web-based platforms allow for interactive elements such as conversational agents to disencumber the e-tutor. Repeatable tasks, which do not require a human response, can be automatized by these systems. The aim of this study is to identify and synthesize the tasks an e-tutor has and to investigate the automatisation potential with conversational agents. Using a design science research approach a literature review is conducted, identifying 13 tasks. Subsequently, a matrix is established, contrasting the tasks with requirements for the use of conversational agents. Furthermore, a virtual tutor framework is developed, clarifying the agent type selection, the technical structure and components for a prototype development in an online collaborative learning environment

HST Grism Observations of a Gravitationally Lensed Redshift 10 Galaxy

We present deep spectroscopic observations of a Lyman-break galaxy candidate (hereafter MACS1149-JD) at $z\sim9.5$ with the $\textit{Hubble}$ Space Telescope ($\textit{HST}$) WFC3/IR grisms. The grism observations were taken at 4 distinct position angles, totaling 34 orbits with the G141 grism, although only 19 of the orbits are relatively uncontaminated along the trace of MACS1149-JD. We fit a 3-parameter ($z$, F160W mag, and Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width) Lyman-break galaxy template to the three least contaminated grism position angles using an MCMC approach. The grism data alone are best fit with a redshift of $z_{\mathrm{grism}}=9.53^{+0.39}_{-0.60}$ ($68\%$ confidence), in good agreement with our photometric estimate of $z_{\mathrm{phot}}=9.51^{+0.06}_{-0.12}$ ($68\%$ confidence). Our analysis rules out Lyman-alpha emission from MACS1149-JD above a $3\sigma$ equivalent width of 21 \AA{}, consistent with a highly neutral IGM. We explore a scenario where the red $\textit{Spitzer}$/IRAC $[3.6] - [4.5]$ color of the galaxy previously pointed out in the literature is due to strong rest-frame optical emission lines from a very young stellar population rather than a 4000 \AA{} break. We find that while this can provide an explanation for the observed IRAC color, it requires a lower redshift ($z\lesssim9.1$), which is less preferred by the $\textit{HST}$ imaging data. The grism data are consistent with both scenarios, indicating that the red IRAC color can still be explained by a 4000 \AA{} break, characteristic of a relatively evolved stellar population. In this interpretation, the photometry indicate that a $340^{+29}_{-35}$ Myr stellar population is already present in this galaxy only $\sim500~\mathrm{Myr}$ after the Big Bang.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. This is the accepted versio

Yield-biodiversity trade-off in patchy fields of Miscanthus × giganteus

Increasing crop productivity to meet rising demands for food and energy, but doing so in an environmentally sustainable manner, is one of the greatest challenges for agriculture to date. In Ireland, Miscanthus 9 giganteus has the potential to become a major feedstock for bioenergy production, but the economic feasibility of its cultivation depends on high yields. Miscanthus fields can have a large number of gaps in crop cover, adversely impacting yield and hence economic viability. Predominantly positive effects of Miscanthus on biodiversity reported from previous research might be attributable to high crop patchiness, particularly during the establishment phase. The aim of this research was to assess crop patchiness on a field scale and to analyse the relationship between Miscanthus yield and species richness and abundance of selected taxa of farmland wildlife. For 14 Miscanthus fields at the end of their establishment phase (4–5 years after planting), which had been planted either on improved grassland (MG) or tilled arable land (MT), we determined patchiness of the crop cover, percentage light penetration (LP) to the lower canopy, Miscanthus shoot density and height, vascular plants and epigeic arthropods. Plant species richness and noncrop vegetation cover in Miscanthus fields increased with increasing patchiness, due to higher levels of LP to the lower canopy. The species richness of ground beetles and the activity density of spiders followed the increase in vegetation cover. Plant species richness and activity density of spiders on both MT and MG fields, as well as vegetation cover and activity density of ground beetles on MG fields, were negatively associated with Miscanthus yield. In conclusion, positive effects of Miscanthus on biodiversity can diminish with increasing productivity. This matter needs to be considered when assessing the relative ecological impacts of developing biomass crops in comparison with other land use. Keywords: Araneae, Carabidae, crop cover, light penetration, Miscanthus establishment, patchiness, vascular plants, vegetation coverYield-biodiversity trade-off in patchy fields of Miscanthus × giganteuspublishedVersio

Detection of a stroke volume decrease by machine-learning algorithms based on thoracic bioimpedance in experimental hypovolaemia

Compensated shock and hypovolaemia are frequent conditions that remain clinically undetected and can quickly cause deterioration of perioperative and critically ill patients. Automated, accurate and non-invasive detection methods are needed to avoid such critical situations. In this experimental study, we aimed to create a prediction model for stroke volume index (SVI) decrease based on electrical cardiometry (EC) measurements. Transthoracic echo served as reference for SVI assessment (SVI-TTE). In 30 healthy male volunteers, central hypovolaemia was simulated using a lower body negative pressure (LBNP) chamber. A machine-learning algorithm based on variables of EC was designed. During LBNP, SVI-TTE declined consecutively, whereas the vital signs (arterial pressures and heart rate) remained within normal ranges. Compared to heart rate (AUC: 0.83 (95% CI: 0.73–0.87)) and systolic arterial pressure (AUC: 0.82 (95% CI: 0.74–0.85)), a model integrating EC variables (AUC: 0.91 (0.83–0.94)) showed a superior ability to predict a decrease in SVI-TTE ≥ 20% (p = 0.013 compared to heart rate, and p = 0.002 compared to systolic blood pressure). Simulated central hypovolaemia was related to a substantial decline in SVI-TTE but only minor changes in vital signs. A model of EC variables based on machine-learning algorithms showed high predictive power to detect a relevant decrease in SVI and may provide an automated, non-invasive method to indicate hypovolaemia and compensated shock