On the distribution of clicks and inbreaths in class presentations and spontaneous conversations: blending vocal and kinetic activities

The present exploratory study compares the distribution of clicks and inbreaths in the productions of French students in two different communication settings (semiread oral class presentations vs spontaneous dyadic conversations). Grounded in a conversation analytic and discourse-pragmatic approach, mixing qualitative and quantitative methods, this study looks at the functions of clicks and inbreaths as well as accompanying kinetic behaviors (e.g swallowing, facial expressions, hand movement) in discourse. Preliminary results show a higher rate of pre-utterances clicks and inbreaths during oral presentations, which reflects the type of talk produced (structured and clear, which requires planning and preparation). And the qualitative analyses illustrate the ways speakers blend vocal and kinetic activities when producing clicks and inbreaths

Suurten yritysten haasteet ja tukitoimet muotoiluajattelun soveltamisessa

Nowadays, traditional industries are being increasingly disrupted by innovative solutions that are being brought onto the market by startups. To deal with the pressure from new startup disruptions, large and established organizations need to activate their corporate innovation efforts, to more efficiently convert new ideas into value-creating solutions. For this, one potential solution is to implement ‘Design thinking’ into company processes. Design thinking is a human-centered method to innovation that seeks solutions to users’ exact needs and desires. No uniform definition for design thinking exists in current literature. For years, the literature focused on challenges that are solved with the method, instead of challenges in its implementation to existing and defined processes. This thesis addresses these gaps by first exploring the differences in perception of design thinking within one large organization, and then investigating the challenges faced and support actions experienced as beneficial in the implementation of design thinking. This thesis conducted a thematic analysis of nine semi-structured interviews with industrial and user experience designers in a Fortune 500 multinational technology corporation, with operations in around 100 countries. The interviewees represented three distinct organizational contexts pre-defined based on their position and impact in the organization: lone designer in the region, unit-embedded design teams and global-level design managers. The results echoed previous literature as there was no consensus found in the definition of design thinking among interviewees, and instead the method was seen as a continuous scale of practices. The higher position the interviewee possessed in the organization, the more design thinking activities they were able to recognize, the less challenges they faced and the more supportive actions they knew. The practices of design thinking are implemented most efficiently when introduced in the processes incrementally. The managers had a key role in the success of implementation, both directly and indirectly. However, further research with increased data is needed to prove reliability of conclusions.Tänä päivänä perinteiset teollisuuden toimialat joutuvat muuttamaan strategiaansa ja toimintaansa markkinoille tulevien uusien yritysten ja keksintöjen myötä. Suuret yritykset pystyvät paremmin vastaamaan kilpailijoidensa tuottamiin uusiin ratkaisuihin kehittämällä omia sisäisiä innovaatiokykyjä ja -prosesseja. Tavoitteena on saada ideat tehokkaasti muutettua arvoa tuottaviksi ratkaisuiksi. Yksi tapa kehittää yrityksen innovatiivisuutta on omaksua muotoiluajattelu (engl. design thinking) osaksi organisaation toimintaa. Muotoiluajattelu on käyttäjäkeskeinen menetelmä tai lähestymistapa, joka pyrkii löytämään uusia ja innovatiivisia ratkaisuja palvellakseen käyttäjien todellisia tarpeita ja haluja. Muotoiluajattelua ja sen sovelluksia ei ole määritelty kirjallisuudessa yksiselitteisesti. Tähän asti tutkimus on pääasiallisesti keskittynyt haasteiden osalta niihin haasteisiin, joita menetelmän avulla voidaan ratkoa, eikä niihin jotka ilmenevät menetelmän tuomisessa suurten yritysten prosesseihin ja yrityskulttuuriin. Toisaalta menetelmän omaksumista ja sen sovelluksia on aikaisemmin tutkittu pääasiassa muotoilutoimistojen näkökulmista eikä niinkään teknologiayritysten osalta. Tämä tutkimus pyrkii ymmärtämään, miten muotoiluajattelu koetaan eri puolilla isoa teknologiaorganisaatiota, mitä haasteita tulee vastaan sen omaksumisessa sekä millä tukitoiminnoilla niistä voisi selviytyä. Tutkimus toteutettiin teema-analyysina yhdeksän semi-strukturoidun haastattelun pohjalta. Haastateltavina toimivat teolliset-ja käyttäjäkokemusmuotoilijat kansainvälisestä Fortune 500 -listatusta teknologiayrityksestä. Haastateltavat edustivat kolmea eri organisaatiokontekstia: alueen ainoita muotoilijoita, yksikön sisällä toimivia muotoilutiimejä sekä globaalien muotoilutiimien vetäjiä. Vaikka lisätutkimuksia tarvitaan vielä suuremmalla tutkimusotannalla, jo tämän työn tulokset heijastavat aikaisempaa kirjallisuutta muotoiluajattelun termin monista eri tulkinnoista ja merkityksistä. Haastateltavien erilaisten määritelmien pohjalta voidaan todeta, että menetelmä voidaan nähdä käytäntömuotojen jatkuvana prosessina. Toisaalta mitä korkeammassa asemassa haastateltava työskenteli, sitä tutumpi menetelmä oli ja sitä vähemmän haasteita he raportoivat kohtaavansa. Nämä muotoilijat käyttivät myös enemmän tukitoimia hyödykseen. Esimiehet olivat suorasti ja epäsuorasti keskeisessä asemassa muutoksen onnistumisessa jokaisessa organisaatiokontekstissa. Tehokkaimpana tapana omaksua muotoiluajattelu osaksi oman organisaation prosesseja koettiin uusien käytäntöjen asteittainen levittäminen yritykseen

Evolution of physiological traits in the invasive cane toad (Rhinella marina)

Cane toads are native to warm humid landscapes of the Americas, but since its introduction to Australia, the rapid geographic spread has exposed toads to climatic conditions well outside those of the native range, with many Australian sites hotter and seasonally drier than those in which the species evolved. I investigated the impacts of temperature and hydration on aspects of dispersal behaviour and physiological traits of toads, to clarify the ways in which toads may have changed as a result of encountering novel environments within their invaded range, by comparing populations within the native range (Brazil) to ones introduced to Hawai’i and Australia. When stimulated to run at high or low temperatures, or when dehydrated, Australian toads exhibited greater performance endurance than either Brazilian or Hawai’ian toads. When raised under the same conditions, toads whose parents were collected from the climatic challenging area of Western Australia exhibited better performance than the offspring of Queensland toads. Rates of evaporative water loss, skin resistance and rehydration showed that toads from eastern Australia had higher skin resistance to water loss whereas Brazilian toads had faster rehydration rates, suggesting a shift in water balance strategy after toads were introduced to Australia. Histological examination of the skin structure showed that Australian toads have thinner skin than do native-range conspecifics. Laboratory trials revealed that toads from Townsville heated faster than toads from northwestern Australian populations, especially when deprived of water. When exposed to extreme heat or desiccation, Brazilian toads exhibited higher levels of corticosterone and of heat-shock protein 70 than Australian toads, suggesting a more reactive stress response. My studies clarify some of the mechanisms that have allowed cane toads to colonize diverse areas that impose climatic challenges not present within the species’ native range

Engineering study for a mass memory system for advanced spacecrafts Final report, 1 Dec. 1969 - 1 Jul. 1970

Mass memory system for advanced spacecraf