Production Costs Calculation Model in Crushing and Screening : Using a technical-economic approach tool for finding the optimal production costs when comparing technical and economical solutions

The mining and quarrying industries represent a highly important sector of the Swedish economy. The mining industry operates globally, whereas the quarrying industry operates on a regional/local basis. Demands for metal and construction aggregates have increased over the last decade, and almost 80 billion tons of solid minerals and rocks are extracted from the earth’s crust each year. Construction aggregates are the largest part of this extraction. Most of the metals in the crust are in mineral form, with one or more elements in chemical compounds. To extract the metals, one must first reduce the rock to fine or very fine particles, so creating the right properties for mineral beneficiation and metal extraction.Construction aggregates are used as ballast in concrete and in asphalt or by itself in road building and other infrastructure, such as dams, protection, filling, and landscaping. Construction aggregate ranges in sizes from large boulders to very fine sand, but normally the construction aggregate sizes are in the range of 1–100 mm. Where the railway aggregates are in the coarser part of this range, the aggregates used for asphalt and concrete in the middle part, and the sand in the finer part. Crushing and screening are among the common size reducers and size sorters in the mining and quarrying industries. The crushers are machines for breaking rocks or other minerals into smaller particles/fragments. The screens are the size-sorting machines for separating coarser particles from finer particles. Technical process simulation and equipment selection for crushing and screening (C&S) plants are well established today for mining and quarrying plants.In this dissertation I develop a product cost calculation model (PCCM) that adds one more dimension to the area of process simulation, providing guidelines for calculating product costs within C&S plants and finding the process alternative with the lowest product cost for a C&S plant process application.The PCCM calculates the product costs using process uptime costs, process downtime costs, salary costs and auxiliary costs. The process uptime and downtime costs include capital costs and dynamic process costs such as wear parts, spares, tools, and power consumption

Motivation, Peer Learning and Feedback in Flexible Learning

Based on material from previous classes, three features were examined 1) the respective roles of student-to-student, teacher-to-student and student-to-teacher feedback, 2) the ways in which students collaborated with each other in a peer-learning mode, and 3) the strategies used to enhance the students’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The purpose was to study and describe how feedback, peer learning and motivation were manifested in two VLE-based courses at our department, in order to learn how they relate to constructive alignment and how they support flexible learning in diverse student groups, and based on that suggest changes to enhance student learning

Moving Beyond Human Bodies on Display : Signs of a Shift in Categorisation

In this paper, we explore signs on toilet doors. Our aim is to contribute to an enhanced understanding of how goals and ambitions regarding inclusion are realised in design processes. We identify and outline three patterns for inclusive signage: 1) Addition, where inclusive signage is accomplished by adding more pictograms of different persons, 2) Combination, where inclusive signage is accomplished by composite pictograms, 3) what we choose to call Nonclusion, where nonclusive signage is accomplished by not depicting persons, bodies, or roles at all. We end by discussing the three patterns in terms of a growing unease towards inclusion as such and with the prevailing patterns of categorisation of people, bodies, and roles

Design for me?

In this paper, as a generative contrast to the notion of design “for all”, we present and discuss the potential benefits of a design “for me” approach, where the design process from the starts from, and initially is targeted at, just one person. Given many things developed for a user group or a constructed average user, in this text we describe starting from design for a single user as an alternative approach for achieving useful and useworthy designs. We provide an example from the development of an assistive device as the starting point and discuss how and why this alternative approach should be of interest for everyone interested in usability

Aktivitetsdiamanten : Modellering av en vidareutvecklad tillgänglighet

Syftet med forskningen som presenteras i denna avhandling är att vidareutveckla tillgänglighetsområdet i riktning mot en större perspektivrikedom. Avhandlingen baseras på kulturhistorisk aktivitetsteori (CHAT). Den analyserar en systemisk helhet utifrån sådana mänskliga, artefaktuella och naturliga faktorer som påverkar en individs handlingsmöjligheter i konkreta situationer.Avhandlingen har två huvudresultat:En vidareutvecklad tillgänglighet innehållande:* Epitillgänglighet, tillgänglighetens tidsanda, som innefattar hur erfarenheter av aktiviteter påverkar tillgänglighetsmöjligheter, lärande, förväntningar, attityder, tillit, krav och förnekanden hos individen och hennes mänskliga, artefaktuella och naturliga omvärld.* Levd tillgänglighet, som innefattar individens förväntningar och hur hon i den aktuella situationen upplever möjligheterna att kunna göra det hon vill.* Planerad tillgänglighet, som består av alla förutbestämda tillgänglighetsfaktorer utifrån planer, riktlinjer och principer.Aktivitetsdiamanten, en modell för tillgänglighet: Aktivitetsdiamanten beskriver ett mänskligt aktivitetssystem där subjekt-objekt-kopplingen inte sker direkt utan via mänskliga, artefaktuella och naturliga inslag i miljön. Modellen bygger på samspelet mellan dessa fyra element (subjekt, objekt, omgivande natur/artefakter och människor) och är situerad i tid och rum. Olika aktörer med olika aktivitetssystem kan vara inblandade. Modellen kan också användas longitudinellt över tid.Avhandlingen är baserad på en serie explorativa studier av unika individers aktivitetssystem där människor, artefakter och natur tillsammans påverkar tillgängligheten. Handlingen står i centrum, inte funktionsnedsättningarna och inte heller de diskriminerande faktorerna i samhället.Avhandlingen består av en avhandlingskappa och följande fyra publikationer:I. The Activity Diamond: a model for multifaceted accessibility. Status: Insänd till The Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research 2009-05-05.II. An Activity Systemic Approach to Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Status: Insänd till AAC Journal 2009-07-24.III. Towards the Era of Mixed Reality: Accessibility Meets Three Waves of HCI. Status: Long paper presenterat vid USAB 2009 (Usability & HCI Learning from the Extreme) 2009-11-10, http://usab.icchp.org/. Status: Insänd 2009-07-21, accepterad 2009-09-11.IV. An activity theoretical approach to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Status: Insänd till Disability and Rehabilitation 2009-10- 30

Planning for human diversity : design patterns of Universal Design

Ensuring the conditions for an inclusive society in the face of humandiversity places various demands on the built environment. Planning isessential for accommodating a wide range of individual preferences andabilities.This article examines the presence and absence of Universal Design (UD)in contemporary urban planning and construction in eight new or remodelledSwedish building and public space projects. The projects werestudied in-situ and via documentation from the planning and buildingprocess.The findings show two ways in which UD is present. The first is a patternwhere people are not separated from each other, whilst the secondis a pattern of facilitating equal use by placing low demands on users’abilities. It was revealed that UD was implemented more in remodellingprojects than in new constructions, which instead created new inequalitiesthrough categorisations of users and high demands on users’ abilities.They were also linked to an imbalance between green and socialsustainability.We argue that a change of mindset is pivotal for implementing UD.Human diversity must be a consideration throughout planning andbuilding processes, and creating a sustainable society requires UD. Thisarticle contributes new knowledge regarding patterns characterisingsuch a mindshift

Language that Supports Sustainable Development: How to Write about People in Universal Design Policy

Universal Design (UD) is a design approach that recognises and anticipates diversity as a fundamental human condition. UD is also frequently referred to in relation to the social dimension of sustainable development. Central to both UD and sustainability is the way “everyone,” as the target of UD and sustainability goals, is understood. The purpose of the study is to identify how UD’s “everyone” is conceptualised in Swedish UD policy and to provide a set of recommendations for how to categorise people with regards to UD. A qualitative text analysis is used, which investigates semiotic modes in relation to the content, form, and social relations of texts. Based on the analysis, two challenges for UD policy are identified: (i) how to convey that UD is design for everyone, and (ii) how to move away from a thought pattern of norm and deviation. Seven recommendations for how to approach categorisations of people in UD policy are formulated. We argue that an adoption of UD has the potential to bring about sustainable living environments for all, if integrated with social, economic, environmental, and spatial dimensions of development, but that in order for this to succeed, careful attention needs to be paid to how UD is conceptualised, and a radically different way of categorising people is necessary

Feeling controlled or being in control? Apps for self-management among older people with neurological disability

Purpose: The aim of this paper was to describe how people living with a neurological disability such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and stroke reason regarding using apps to facilitate self-management in everyday life.Material and methods: A qualitative research approach with a focus group methodology was used. The sample comprised 16 participants, 11 men and 5 women, with an average age of 64 years (ranging from 51–80 years). Six participants were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, six with Parkinson’s disease and four with stroke. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which is a method for identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns.Results: The results formed two themes. The first theme “using apps to have control of my health” comprises two subthemes; “monitor and take responsibility for a healthy lifestyle” and “compensate to facilitate everyday life”. The second theme “using the app as a tool and means for communication” also comprised two subthemes; “dare to trust the app” and “feeling safe when sharing information with health care professionals”.Conclusions: The use of apps put increased responsibility on the person and had the possibility to make them more involved in their own care. The use of an app can facilitate a healthy lifestyle and help to monitor disease-specific symptoms. In order to be able to use apps for communication with the health care sector legislation and safety issues need to be considered. Implications for rehabilitation Apps can be used for self-management if they are safe and can be trusted. People with neurological disabilities want to be involved in their healthcare and needs to be addressed by health care professionals. The use of apps grasp over a wide variety of areas this is something that may be considered in health care and something that can be addressed by interdisciplinary approaches. Ordinary health-oriented apps and disease-specific apps were used differently and for different purposes

Co-Designing with Extreme Users: A Framework for User Participation in Design Processes

The demand for user participation in design processes is increasing, and there is a need to formulate guidance on how to involve disabled users and their representative organisations. Their participation contributes an extreme user perspective to the design process. The aim of this study was to develop an empirically grounded framework for user participation in co-design processes, involving the users with wide range of characteristics. The study was theoretically grounded in ‘participatory design’ and ‘value sensitive design’ and used an exploratory study design with online workshops to iteratively collect and analyse data. All participants collaborated on an online Miro-board to identify themes and formulate guiding principles for the framework. We propose a framework consisting of three themes: participation fundamentals, participation ethics and participation practicalities, entailing 11 guiding principles. By applying this framework, the premises, methods and activities in the design process will be accessible to all participants, and user participation in design projects will become more transparent, equitable and easier to implement. It will enable all users, people with disabilities and others, to participate and contribute to a design that can be used by the widest range of people