Estimating fugitive bioaerosol releases from static compost windrows: feasibility of portable wind tunnel approach

An assessment of the fugitive release of bioaerosols from static compost piles was conducted at a green waste composting facility in South East England; this representing the initial stage of a programme of research into the influence of process parameters on bioaerosol emission flux. Wind tunnel experiments conducted on the surface of static windrows generated specific bioaerosol emission rates (SBER2s) at ground level of between 13 - 22 x10 3 cfu/m 2 /s for mesophilic actinomycetes and between 8 - 11 x10 3 cfu/m 2 /s for Aspergillus fumigatus. Air dispersion modelling of these emissions using the SCREEN3 air dispersion model in area source term mode was used to generate source depletion curves downwind of the facility for comparative purposes

Building Evaluability Assessments into Institutional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Frameworks

This CDI Practice Paper by Richard Longhurst, Peter Wichmand and Burt Perrin discusses how evaluability assessments (EAs) can support the choice of evaluation approaches for determining impact, drawing on recent experiences of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour of the International Labour Office. These experiences focused on developing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation strategy such that some elements of an EA were built into the system and could be deployed at most points in the programming cycle, in particular to address which questions are important for the evaluation. When used in conjunction with other criteria, this allows for a more informed choice of the evaluation method and related impact.UK Department for International Developmen

Sensitivity of predicted bioaerosol exposure from open windrow composting facilities to ADMS dispersion model parameters

Bioaerosols are released in elevated quantities from composting facilities and are associated with negative health effects, although dose-response relationships are not well understood, and require improved exposure classification. Dispersion modelling has great potential to improve exposure classification, but has not yet been extensively used or validated in this context. We present a sensitivity analysis of the ADMS dispersion model specific to input parameter ranges relevant to bioaerosol emissions from open windrow composting. This analysis provides an aid for model calibration by prioritising parameter adjustment and targeting independent parameter estimation. Results showed that predicted exposure was most sensitive to the wet and dry deposition modules and the majority of parameters relating to emission source characteristics, including pollutant emission velocity, source geometry and source height. This research improves understanding of the accuracy of model input data required to provide more reliable exposure predictions

The strategic evaluation of technology innovation opportunities in waste strategy planning

Technology innovation is needed to support sustainable waste management systems and innovation should be viewed as a central focus of policy design. The difficulty is that policy is designed at a single point in time where as the environment and the processes of innovation are dynamic. The research investigates the extent to which the design of European Union waste policy and its implementation in the UK stimulates the opportunity for technology innovation. The research investigates how understanding of the relationships between EU waste policy, the process of innovation and technology assessment technique affect the opportunity for technology innovation. The research reviews the development of integrated waste management system models highlighting their limitation in evaluating waste technology options within the wider policy context in an uncertain environment over time. The review identifies their failure to consider the interaction between the financial, environmental, social and operational objectives of new technology. The research describes how failure to simulate system characteristics such as waste process operational demands/constraints, varying spatial resolutions, flexible system boundaries and the uncertain environment over time can affect the opportunity for technology innovation. The research describes the development of a modelling tool addressing these limitations in SIMILE Process Simulation Modelling Software. The model uses the Bedfordshire sub-region of the UK as a case study mapping the flow of waste from generation to disposal. The model calculates a single cost function based on economic, environmental and social costs through, wherever feasible, attributing monetary values to all impacts of any technology. Scenarios are modelled to investigate the extent to which ED waste policy and its implementation affects the opportunity for technology innovation. The model is used to investigate the extent to which relationships between the financial, environmental, social and operational objectives of technology create barriers to new technology. The research identifies how the design, development and application of waste strategy assessment models can influence the opportunity for technology innovation. The research identifies how policy imposes additional cost burdens on the opportunity for technology innovation in the Bedfordshire region. The research concludes by suggesting how policy might be designed to stimulate and support technology innovation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The role of communication in enterprise system implementation

The research efforts up to date have not been directed towards the study of the role of communication during an implementation of an enterprise system. However, some efforts are noted which stress communication as a critical factor and a problem in general during the implementation. During the scoping phase of this research, communication was proved to be of significance as a process in the realisation of embedding of an enterprise system into the business. Considering the complexity of an implementation of a system and consequently the complexity of its study, the research method based on processual approach was developed to enable a better understanding of the dynamics of this process. Three case studies have been conducted with the focus on the understanding of the role and significance of communication. They included interviews with the employees involved in the project or affected by the new system: project managers, top managers, system specialists, and users. The findings focus on the elements important to realise the communication process: communication strategy, management activities such as announcements, motivation to communicate, resources such as time, how informed the people who are involved are, communication across the project, communication structure and process, facilitators as people who enable the communication process, and communication about the technical issues. Special focus was on the effect of communication on the transfer of psychological ownership of the system, concerns about change and employee commitment. Additionally, several themes are found to affect communication. These are: organisational structure, team cohesion and trust. The role of communication confirms that all the parties need to use the same language to enable common understanding. The communication process is found to have direct and indirect influence on development of common organisational goals, positive attitude towards the new system, and embedding of the new system in current organisational functioning.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for the rapid detection of Mycoplasma genitalium

Mycoplasma genitalium is a sexually transmissible, pathogenic bacterium and a significant cause of nongonococcal urethritis in both men and women. Due to the difficulty of the culture of M. genitalium from clinical samples, the laboratory diagnosis of M. genitalium infection is almost exclusively carried out using nucleic acid amplification tests. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a novel nucleic acid amplification technology, utilising a set of 4 primers specific to 6 distinct regions of the target DNA sequence, in order to amplify target DNA in a highly specific and rapid manner. A LAMP assay was designed to the pdhD gene of M. genitalium, and the limit of detection of the assay was determined as 10. fg of M. genitalium genomic DNA, equating to ~16 copies of the M. genitalium genome, which was equally sensitive as a gold standard 16S rRNA polymerase chain reaction assay. © 2015 Elsevier Inc

Academic motherhood and fieldwork: Juggling time, emotions and competing demands

The idea and practice of going ‘into the field’ to conduct research and gather data is a deeply rooted aspect of Geography as a discipline. For global North Development Geographers, amongst others, this usually entails travelling to, and spending periods of time in, often far-flung parts of the global South. Forging a successful academic career as a Development Geographer in the UK, is therefore to some extent predicated on mobility. This paper aims to critically engage with the gendered aspects of this expected mobility, focusing on the challenges and time constraints that are apparent when conducting overseas fieldwork as a mother, unaccompanied by her children. The paper emphasises the emotion work that is entailed in balancing the competing demands of overseas fieldwork and mothering, and begins to think through the implications of these challenges in terms of the types of knowledge we produce, as well as in relation to gender equality within the academy

Pregnancy and childbirth in English prisons : institutional ignominy and the pains of imprisonment

© 2020 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for SHIL.With a prison population of approximately 9000 women in England, it is estimated that approximately 600 pregnancies and 100 births occur annually. Despite an extensive literature on the sociology of reproduction, pregnancy and childbirth among women prisoners is under‐researched. This article reports an ethnographic study in three English prisons undertaken in 2015‐2016, including interviews with 22 prisoners, six women released from prison and 10 staff members. Pregnant prisoners experience numerous additional difficulties in prison including the ambiguous status of a pregnant prisoner, physical aspects of pregnancy and the degradation of the handcuffed or chained prisoner during visits to the more public setting of hospital. This article draws on Erving Goffman's concepts of closed institutions, dramaturgy and mortification of self, Crewe et al.'s work on the gendered pains of imprisonment and Crawley's notion of ‘institutional thoughtlessness’, and proposes a new concept of institutional ignominy to understand the embodied situation of the pregnant prisoner.Peer reviewe

Mode-hop-free tuning over 135 GHz of external cavity diode lasers without anti-reflection coating

We report an external cavity diode laser (ECDL), using a diode whose front facet is not antireflection (AR) coated, that has a mode-hop-free (MHF) tuning range greater than 135 GHz. We achieved this using a short external cavity and by simultaneously tuning the internal and external modes of the laser. We find that the precise location of the pivot point of the grating in our laser is less critical than commonly believed. The general applicability of the method, combined with the compact portable mechanical and electronic design, makes it well suited for both research and industrial applications.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure