953 research outputs found
A New Consumerism: The influence of social technologies on product design
Social media has enabled a new style of consumerism. Consumers are no longer passive recipients; instead they are assuming active and participatory roles in product design and production, facilitated by interaction and collaboration in virtual communities. This new participatory culture is blurring the boundaries between the specific roles of designer, consumer and producer, creating entrepreneurial opportunities for designers, and empowering consumers to influence product strategies. Evolving designer-consumer interactions are enabling an enhanced model of co-production, through a value-adding social exchange that is driving changes in consumer behaviour and influencing both product strategies and design practice. The consumer is now a knowledgeable participant, or prosumer, who can contribute to userâcentered research through crowd sourcing, collaborate and co-create through open-source or open-innovation platforms, assist creative endeavors by pledging venture capital through crowd funding and advocate the product in blogs and forums. Social media- enabled product implementation strategies working in conjunction with digital production technologies (e.g. additive manufacture), enable consumer-directed adaptive customisation, product personalisation, and self-production, with once passive consumers becoming product produsers. Not only is social media driving unprecedented consumer engagement and significant behavioural change, it is emerging as a major enabler of design entrepreneurship, creating new collaborative opportunities. Innovative processes in design practice are emerging, such as the provision of digital artifacts and customisable product frameworks, rather than standardised manufactured solutions. This paper examines the influence of social media-enabled product strategies on the methodology of the next generation of product designers, and discusses the need for an educational response
Using social engagement to inspire design learning
Social design and âdesign for needâ are important frameworks for establishing ethical understanding amongst novice product designers. Typically, product design is a value-adding activity where normally aesthetics, usability and manufacturability are the key agendas. Howard [1] in his essay âDesign beyond commodificationâ discusses the role of designers in contributing to cultural expressions designed to influence consumer aspirations and desires. He argues that designers are impelled âto participate in the creation of lifestyles that demand the acquisition of goods as a measure of progress and status.â As emerging consumers, student designers tend to reflect this consumer culture in their work, seeking to add âmarketabilityâ by focusing on aesthetic development. However value adding can occur in many different manifestations, often outside commercial expectations and the studentsâ experience. Projects that may be perceived as having limited market potential can often have significant personal impact for both recipient and designer. Social engagement provides a valuable insight for design students into the potential of design to contribute solutions to societal well-being, rather than serve market forces. Working in a local context can enhance this, with unlimited access to end users, their environs and the product context, enabling the development of user empathy and a more intgrated collaborative process. The âFixpertsâ social project discussed in this paper has proved to be an effective method of engaging undergraduate students in participatory design within their local community. This model for social engagement has provided an unprecedented learning experience, and established a strong ethical framework amongst Brunel design students
Personality in California Sea Lions (\u3ci\u3eZalophus californianus\u3c/i\u3e) and Harbor seals (\u3ci\u3ePhoca vitulina\u3c/i\u3e): Methodological Convergence and Species-Specific Emotional Repertoires
Despite the wide acceptance of animal personality as a valid area of study, research on marine mammal personality remains remarkably scarce. What literature does exist predominantly focuses on bottlenose dolphins (Frick, 2016; Highfill & Kuczaj, 2007; Kuczaj, Highfill & Byerly, 2012; Lilley, de Vere, Yeatre & Kuczaj, 2018; Moreno, Highfill & Kuczaj, 2017). There is also strong evidence for individual differences in grey seals (Robinson et al., 2015; Twiss & Franklin, 2010; Twiss, Culloch & Pomeroy, 2011; Twiss, Cairns, Culloch, Richards & Pomeroy, 2012), and preliminary research has provided evidence of broad personality factors in pinniped species using behavioral coding (de Vere, Lilley & Highfill, 2017) and trait rating methods (Ciardelli, Weiss, Powell & Reiss, 2017). Several aspects of personality are not well documented across many taxa, including age-related patterns, the species-relevance of emotional trait words, potential issues associated with the non-human Dominance factor, and the convergent validity of multiple methods. The current study therefore aimed to address these issues in two pinniped species, California sea lions and harbor seals, and provides the first cross-method validation of personality dimensions in these taxa. There was some evidence that pinniped trainers could reliably rate the emotional states experienced by these species. Trait rating assessments produced three personality factors for each species; these exhibited good cross-method convergence in California sea lions, but not harbor seals. Dominance rankings were correlated with one behavioral and one rating factor in each species, although this was somewhat confounded by the extremely close correspondence of dominance and age
The Ecology and Genetics of Cirsium dissectum (L.) Hill in the British Isles and Implications for its Conservation
The aim of this study was to research the ecology and genetics of Cirsium dissectum and to
discuss the implications of the results for its conservation. The ecology of C. dissectum
was described through a review of the literature. Site characteristics, plant communities
and reproductive biology were investigated by examining 22 populations throughout the
British Isles. Microsatellite genetic markers were used to investigate levels of genetic
diversity within and between these populations. Within populations, relationships between
genetic diversity, population size, fitness and habitat quality (concentrating on soil
nutrients and vegetation structure) were explored using multiple regression and structural
equation modelling. Differentiation between populations was examined by comparing
rnicrosatellite markers with morphological traits and this was supplemented by a crossing
experiment that investigated the effects of inbreeding and outbreeding.
This study showed that C. dissectum was a clonal species with a mixed mating
system. Previous research had suggested that clonal propagation was the dominant form of
reproduction but this study showed that sexual reproduction was important in this species,
as levels of genotypic diversity were high. There were interactions between population
size, genetic diversity, plant fitness and habitat quality. Smaller populations of C.
dissectum had lower genetic diversity and this subsequently reduced plant fitness. Higher
levels of bare soil and phosphorus were related to higher levels of genetic diversity; bare
soil may provide establishment gaps for seedlings and clonal offspring, while phosphorus
may encourage flowering and/or seedling survival.
Populations of C. dissectum showed high levels of genetic differentiation and
strong isolation by distance using microsatellite genetic markers. Both microsatellite
genetic markers and morphological traits revealed geographical structuring between
populations, but this was less pronounced using the morphological traits. Plants in Ireland
showed higher levels of morphological differentiation compared to Britain. C. dissectum
showed strong, early acting inbreeding depression when plants were selfed and a trend
towards outbreeding depression when genetically distant populations were crossed.
Populations of C. dissectum should be conserved throughout the geographical range
of the species in the British Isles. Sites should be managed so that habitat heterogeneity is
maintained, enabling C. dissectum rosettes to flower and to maintain bare soil for seedling
establishment. Habitat restoration should use seed collected from a number of local
populations of the same habitat
Do Pinnipeds Have Personality? Coding Harbor Seal (\u3ci\u3ePhoca vitulina\u3c/i\u3e) and California Sea Lion (\u3ci\u3eZalophus californianus\u3c/i\u3e) Behavior Across Contexts
Personality has now been studied in species as diverse as chimpanzees (King & Figueredo, 1997) and cuttlefish (Carere et al., 2015), but marine mammals remain vastly underrepresented in this area. A broad range of traits have been assessed only in the bottlenose dolphin (Highfilll & Kuczaj, 2007), while consistent individual differences in a few specific behaviors have been identified in grey seals (Robinson et al., 2015; Twiss & Franklin, 2010; Twiss, Culloch & Pomeroy, 2011; Twiss, Cairns, Culloch, Richards & Pomeroy, 2012). Furthermore, the context component of definitions of personality is not often assessed, despite evidence that animals may show individual patterns of consistency (Kuczaj, Highfill & Byerly, 2012). The current study therefore aimed to assess underlying personality factors and consistency across contexts in two unstudied marine mammal species, using behavioral coding.
Two California sea lion and three harbor seal personality factors were extracted using exploratory factor analysis. Two factors were broadly similar across species; the first, Boldness, resembled human Extraversion, and to some extent Openness. The second factor was labeled Routine Activity, and contained some Conscientiousness-like traits. Excitable-Interest emerged as a third factor in seals, but had low reliability. Species-specific patterns were also identified for interactive behaviors across two contexts. However, there was substantial individual variation in the frequency of these behaviors, as well as some animals who did not conform to species-level trends. This study therefore provides novel evidence for broad personality factors and both species- and individual-level patterns of contextual consistency in two pinniped species
Laterality of Eye Use by Bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) and Rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis) Dolphins While Viewing Predictable and Unpredictable Stimuli
Laterality of eye use has been increasingly studied in cetaceans. Research supports that many cetacean species keep prey on the right side while feeding and preferentially view unfamiliar objects with the right eye. In contrast, the left eye has been used more by calves while in close proximity to their mothers. Despite some discrepancies across and within species, laterality of eye use generally indicates functional specialization of brain hemispheres in cetaceans. The present study aimed to examine laterality of eye use in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and rough-toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) under managed care. Subjects were video-recorded through an underwater window while viewing two different stimuli, one predictable and static and the other unpredictable and moving. Bottlenose dolphins displayed an overall right-eye preference, especially while viewing the unpredictable, moving stimulus. Rough-toothed dolphins did not display eye preference while viewing stimuli. No significant correlations between degree of laterality and behavioral interest in the stimuli were found. Only for bottlenose dolphins were the degree of laterality and curiosity ratings correlated. This study extends research on cetacean lateralization to a species not extensively examined and to stimuli that varied in movement and degree of predictability. Further research is needed to make conclusions regarding lateralization in cetaceans
You\u27ll Miss Your Loving Baby Bye and Bye
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/5522/thumbnail.jp
Demographic vulnerability of the clonal and endangered meadow thistle
Contains fulltext :
65634.pdf ( ) (Open Access
The influence of work placement on the academic achievement of undergraduate design students
The aim of this paper is to investigate the contribution of work placement in enhancing the academic performance of undergraduate design students. A statistical analysis was carried out on a population sample which comprised design students who had graduated at Brunel University London in four different academic years. All the required (anonymous) data were obtained from the university electronic records system. The dataset comprises a total of 411 students, of which 323 were placement students and 88 non-placement students. Students were also classified as higher achievers (students whose second year average mark was 60% or above) and lower achievers. The results seem to suggest that for both higher and lower achievers the placement experience enables students to achieve on average a greater final year mark and a greater improvement from the second to the final year. The study also established that these grade gains were of a similar magnitude irrespective of the students overall academic standing. Finally, the results of this study seem to suggest that the work placement experience give students a particular advantage in the final year project and in the modules characterized by design-focused assessment components
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