Applying Human-Centered Design Methods in Industry – a Field Report

Human-centered design methods are nowadays widely used in the design of consumer products. These methods aim at designing products with a high usability and a positive user experience (UX). However, in the domain of the design of industrial machines, design is often driven by functional requirements mostly neglecting the usability and user experience of products. Together with a medium-sized manufacturer of industrial laundry machines we applied the human-centered design process in an industrial context. In this field report, we describe the human-centered design methods applied in the project, the adaptations we had to make in the process and the challenges and opportunities for applying human-centered design in an industrial environment in general

Children with Standard Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Induction And Consolidation Phase

Prednisone has an important role in the therapy of patient with standard risk ALL. Patients with standard risk ALL receiving high dose prednisone as therapy and supraphysiology dose of prednisone are expected to cause suppression in HPA-axis (Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis). This suppression could reduce immune system in children with ALL and increase infection risk because reduction of cortisol level. In Indonesia, we did not find study about the incident of adrenal suppression after high dose prednisone therapy, especially in induction to consolidation phase ALL patient. The aim of this study was to analyze adrenal suppression after high dose prednisone therapy on children with standard risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia in induction and consolidation phase. This study has received a certificate of Ethical Clearance No. 588/Panke.KKE/X/2016, a longitudinal observational, prospective, non-randomized trial involving children with ALL who received prednisone for 49 days during the induction phase. We collected and compared laboratory result of cortisol level in children with ALL and received prednisone therapy during induction to consolidation phase. Sample was taken at week 0,4,5,6,7,8,10,12 in the course of ALL chemotheraphy Indonesian protocol year 2013. Serum was examined using methods CLIA ADVIA Centaur® XP. Between June 2016 – January 2017, 13 patients (8 males, 5 females) were included in this study. Decrease of cortisol level after prednisone therapy occured in week-10 as much as 53% compared with week-0  (p=0.027). Cortisol level increased 64% of week-12 compared with week-10 (p=0.003). In conclusion, high dose prednisone is not significant to causing adrenal suppression in induction phase of ALL patients, and the reducing cortisol level is reversible

Challenges for industrial robot applications in food manufacturing

The global food industry is facing many challenges due to the impact of climate change, ever-changing demands by consumers, and increasing legislative pressures by the government, which have resulted in several drivers for changes. Current large scale rigid manufacturing systems are increasingly seen as incapable of supporting the underlining requirements for implementation of such changes. In this context, one of the key requirements is the need for improved flexibility and reconfigurability of production facilities, often provided by adoption of Industrial Robots in other manufacturing sectors. However, despite their recent technological advancements, in particular the advent of the 4th industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), and significant reduction in overall implementation cost over the last two decades, the uptake of industrial robots in food processing has been slow. This paper explores the application of industrial robots in food manufacturing, the benefits of their use and the challenges currently hindering their uptake

Crisis? What Crisis? The Normality of the Current Food Crisis

The 2005–8 food crisis was a shock to political elites, but in some respects the situation was normal. Food policies are failing to respond adequately to the squeeze on land, people, health and environment. Strong evidence of systems failure and stress, termed here New Fundamentals, ought to reframe twenty-first century food politics and effort. Yet so far, international discourse is too often narrow and technical. The paper suggests that 2005–8 reinforced how the dominant twentieth century productionist policy paradigm is running out of steam. This assumed that producing more food would resolve social problems. Yet distortions in markets, access and culture remain. At national and international levels of governance, despite realization of the enormity of the challenge ahead, there is still a belief in slow incremental change

Single-visit approach of cervical cancer screening: See and Treat in Indonesia

BACKGROUND: We performed a cross-sectional study in Indonesia to evaluate the performance of a single-visit approach of cervical cancer screening, using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), histology and cryotherapy in low-resource settings. METHODS: Women having limited access to health-care facilities were screened by trained doctors using VIA. If the test was positive, biopsies were taken and when eligible, women were directly treated with cryotherapy. Follow-up was performed with VIA and cytology after 6 months. When cervical cancer was suspected or diagnosed, women were referred. The positivity rate, positive predictive value (PPV) and approximate specificity of the VIA test were calculated. The detection rate for cervical lesions was given. RESULTS: Screening results were completed in 22 040 women, of whom 92.7% had never been screened. Visual inspection with acetic acid was positive in 4.4%. The PPV of VIA to detect CIN I or greater and CIN II or greater was 58.7% and 29.7%, respectively. The approximate specificity was 98.1%, and the detection rate for CIN I or greater was 2.6%. CONCLUSION: The single-visit approach cervical cancer screening performed well, showing See and Treat is a promising way to reduce cervical cancer in Indonesia

Anatomy of a buzzword: the emergence of ‘the water-energy-food nexus’ in UK natural resource debates

The existence of a water-energy-food ‘nexus’ has been gaining significant attention in international natural resource policy debates in recent years. We argue the term ‘nexus’ can be currently seen as a buzzword: a term whose power derives from a combination of ambiguous meaning and strong normative resonance. We explore the ways in which the nexus terminology is emerging and being mobilised by different stakeholders in natural resource debates in the UK context. We suggest that in the UK the mobilisation of the nexus terminology can best be understood as symptomatic of broader global science-policy trends, including an increasing emphasis on integration as an ideal; an emphasis on technical solutions to environmental problems; achievement of efficiency gains and ‘win-wins’; and a preference for technocratic forms of environmental managerialism. We identify and critique an ‘integrative imaginary’ underpinning much of the UK discourse around the concept of the nexus, and argue that attending to questions of power is a crucial but often underplayed aspect of proposed integration. We argue that while current efforts to institutionalise the language of the nexus as a conceptual framework for research in the UK may provide a welcome opportunity for new forms of transdisciplinary, they may risk turning nexus into a ‘matter of fact’ where it should remain a ‘matter of concern’. In this vein, we indicate the importance of critique to the development of nexus research