Exploring the Evolution of the Mousetrap

This paper contributes to a pedagogical approach to teaching design related to social development by presenting and discussing the technical-solution and design evolution of a simple, everyday product. There is a need to explore the influence of social developments on approaches to product development and design solutions. It is important that students experience and observe how social conventions influence design. This paper investigates whether the evolution of the mousetrap has been driven by highly pragmatic and ergonomic influences or by certain social developments influencing how the (Western) world behaves towards fundamental questions, such as the issue of death. A case study of mousetraps focuses on what has been a principal solution of mousetrap construction from the first patented trap in the early 1900s to the latest models: a stroke against the neck of mice. How has the evolution of this solution been expressed in the objects? Immaterial values are reflected in the traps, and this case study shows how social norms can outweigh technical and ergonomic considerations in product development. Describing and analysing the history of the trap and considering relevant theory can have an impact on design students to reflect more on the market and social awareness. Using specific and typical examples from the history of the mousetrap and visually showing how the development of the trap over more than 100 years will contribute to understanding the complex issues involved in simple, everyday objects

Exploring the design of mousetraps

Based on a case study of a collection of a couple of hundred mousetraps this paper presents a systematic categorisation of their principles of technical construction, material consistence and principles of function. This study of mousetraps introduces decision making involving ethical dilemmas, the discussion of intrinsic value of animals of this kind, and finally the user’s need to be comfortable with the process of use. The principle of its technical construction among a large diversity of possible solutions must be chosen on the basis of a set of criteria. Equal for all traps is the demand for inclusive usability and low cost results. This criterion promotes low-tech constructions with high visual transparency. The presentation of the mousetrap study introduces in a way the general connections between material and technical constructions and moral consequences of ethical perspectives. Ethical values are guidelines in the decision making. Together with a categorisation and presentation of technical principles of mousetraps, the graphical design illustrations and text information on the belonging packaging shows in a pedagogical way how it is possible to contribute to complex issues with simple everyday object

AFD2-D-GEN-EG-0001 Environmental Baseline Survey Report

An Environmental Baseline Investigation was performed at AF Miljøbase Vats in Rogaland, Southwest Norway. The contamination of seafloor sediments, well-water and soil was analyzed, and the occurrence of anthropogenic debris and biological state at the bottom outside the facility was investigated with an ROV. The results show that the sediments are contaminated with TBT (SFT Class IV, TA-2229/2007) and PAH (Class II), but not at a higher level than was previously shown. The remaining components (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, P, Pb, V, Zn, PCBs, 5CB, alpha- and gamma-HCH, HCB, OCS, DDE, DDD, MBT, DBT, MPT, DPT and TPT) in sediments close to the site were either in Class I (background), not included in TA-2229/2007, or not detected. This includes mercury that leaked into the bays between 2004 and 2006. The well-water was not contaminated, whereas soil samples were slightly contaminated with zinc and arsenic just above the SFT norm for sensitive land use. Large rocks and metallic debris are found along the shore, smothered with rock-dust due to the recent expansion of the quay areas. The biological state is typical for a quay area in this region.AF Decom Offshor

Social Competence as a Mediating Factor in Reduction of Behavioral Problems

The main purpose of the present study was to explore how social competence reduces behavioral problems. Based on previous findings, we assume that increased social competence can be regarded as a mediating factor in reducing behavior problems. All participants (children and adolescents, n ¼ 112) received an intervention intended to increase social competence: Aggresion Replacement Training (ART). Social competence and problem behavior were assessed twice before the ART intervention and then twice afterwards. Both measures improved following the training period, but no changes occurred during the pre-training period. Further, behavioral problems continued to reduce notably in follow-up probes after the training period. More detailed analyses indicate that in youngsters, increased social competence (e.g., improved self-control and cooperation) mediates the effect of ART on behavioral problems, but important moderating factors (e.g., age, individual levels of social competence, and problem behavior) need to be taken into consideration

The response of denervated muscle to long-term electrical stimulation

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Perspektivstudie av kråkeboller - fra problem til ressurs. - Analyse av ressursgrunnlaget for høsting av kråkeboller og veurdering av økologiske perspektiver knyttet til høstingen

NIVA har utarbeidet modeller over fordeling av tare og høstbare forekomster av kråkeboller i våre tre nordligste fylker. Det er anslått at bunnarealer i størrelsesorden 3 500 km2 er nedbeitet og at det er ca. 80 milliarder kråkeboller i dette området. Det foreslås en høstestrategi for kommersiell utnyttelse av kråkeboller som går ut på å høste i grensesonen ut mot tareskog der kråkebollene forventes å ha best kondisjon. Det er også anbefalt en høstestrategi som vil føre til gradvis gjenvekst av tareskog, noe som vil gi miljømessig gevinst ved økt biologisk produksjon og mangfold på kysten samt at ny tareskog binder opp CO2.Fiskeri- og havbruksnæringens servicekonto

Breaking the Redshift Deadlock - I: Constraining the star formation history of galaxies with sub-millimetre photometric redshifts

Future extragalactic sub-millimetre and millimetre surveys have the potential to provide a sensitive census of the level of obscured star formation in galaxies at all redshifts. While in general there is good agreement between the source counts from existing SCUBA (850um) and MAMBO (1.25mm) surveys of different depths and areas, it remains difficult to determine the redshift distribution and bolometric luminosities of the sub-millimetre and millimetre galaxy population. This is principally due to the ambiguity in identifying an individual sub-millimetre source with its optical, IR or radio counterpart which, in turn, prevents a confident measurement of the spectroscopic redshift. Additionally, the lack of data measuring the rest-frame FIR spectral peak of the sub-millimetre galaxies gives rise to poor constraints on their rest-frame FIR luminosities and star formation rates. In this paper we describe Monte-Carlo simulations of ground-based, balloon-borne and satellite sub-millimetre surveys that demonstrate how the rest-frame FIR-sub-millimetre spectral energy distributions (250-850um) can be used to derive photometric redshifts with an r.m.s accuracy of +/- 0.4 over the range 0 < z < 6. This opportunity to break the redshift deadlock will provide an estimate of the global star formation history for luminous optically-obscured galaxies [L(FIR) > 3 x 10^12 Lsun] with an accuracy of 20 per cent.Comment: 14 pages, 22 figures, submitted to MNRAS, replaced with accepted versio