An exploration of service design jam and its ability to foster social enterprise

Social enterprises (SE) are valued as innovative solutions to complex problems but require conditions to nurture and support them. Most support systems rely on individuals who already have an SE idea, and there is very little research on understanding what conditions can support to cultivate the willingness and motivation to engage individuals in this activity. An exploratory study was led to understand whether a particular event, Service Design Jam, can provide such conditions. The paper introduces the study of the Lufbra Jam, organised at Loughborough University, from which two social enterprises, Crop Club in 2013, and FrenPals in 2014 emerged. Through literature review desirability and feasibility were extrapolated as key variables to the formation process of social enterprises. A focus group with three Lufbra Jam organisers was led to identify important organisational elements of the Jam that were perceived to have an impact on the formation of the successful SE thus influencing the perception of desirability and feasibility of SE in individuals. The integration of the two created a thematic matrix that was used to analyse findings from the research with the participants of the two successful SE Cases. The research findings suggest that Lufbra Jam enabled individuals to identify socially and environmentally focused issues and formulate service solutions that they deemed to be desirable and feasible. It also provided an insight that winning and an enterprising workshop were important SDJ elements that helped teams to recognise their service ideas not only as feasible solutions but as SE opportunity for the team to take forward

Continuous Ultraviolet to Blue-Green Astrocomb

The characterization of Earth-like exoplanets and precision tests of cosmological models using next-generation telescopes such as the ELT will demand precise calibration of astrophysical spectrographs in the visible region, where stellar absorption lines are most abundant. Astrocombs--lasers providing a broadband sequence of ultra-narrow, drift-free, regularly spaced optical frequencies on a multi-GHz grid--promise an atomically-traceable, versatile calibration scale, but their realization is challenging because of the need for ultra-broadband frequency conversion of mode-locked infrared lasers into the blue-green region. Here, we introduce a new concept achieving a broad, continuous spectrum by combining second-harmonic generation and sum-frequency-mixing in an aperiodically-poled MgO:PPLN waveguide to generate gap-free 390-520 nm light from a 1 GHz Ti:sapphire laser frequency comb. We lock a low-dispersion Fabry-Perot etalon to extract a sub-comb of bandwidth from 392-472 nm with a spacing of 30 GHz, visualizing the thousands of resulting comb modes on a high resolution cross-dispersion spectrograph. Complementary experimental data and simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach for eliminating the spectral gaps present in second-harmonic-only conversion, in which weaker fundamental frequencies are suppressed by the quadratic \{chi}^((2)) nonlinearity. Requiring only ~100 pJ pulse energies, our concept establishes a practical new route to broadband UV-visible generation at GHz repetition rates.Comment: 14 pages; 4 figure

Reagent pencils: A new technique for solvent-free deposition of reagents onto paper-based microfluidic devices

Custom-made pencils containing reagents dispersed in a solid matrix were developed to enable rapid and solvent-free deposition of reagents onto membrane-based fluidic devices. The technique is as simple as drawing with the reagent pencils on a device. When aqueous samples are added to the device, the reagents dissolve from the pencil matrix and become available to react with analytes in the sample. Colorimetric glucose assays conducted on devices prepared using reagent pencils had comparable accuracy and precision to assays conducted on conventional devices prepared with reagents deposited from solution. Most importantly, sensitive reagents, such as enzymes, are stable in the pencils under ambient conditions, and no significant decrease in the activity of the enzyme horseradish peroxidase stored in a pencil was observed after 63 days. Reagent pencils offer a new option for preparing and customizing diagnostic tests at the point of care without the need for specialized equipment

Universal Mask Usage for Reduction of Respiratory Viral Infections After Stem Cell Transplant: A Prospective Trial

Background. Respiratory viral infections (RVIs) are frequent complications of hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Surgical masks are a simple and inexpensive intervention that may reduce nosocomial spread

A grounded theory of how social support influences physical activity in adolescent girls

Purpose: Adolescent girls are not sufficiently active to achieve health benefits. Social support from friends and family has been positively associated with physical activity in adolescent girls; however it is unclear how social support influences physical activity behaviour. This study aimed to develop a grounded theory of how social support influences physical activity in adolescent girls. Methods: A qualitative, constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted. Individual interviews explored adolescent girls’ perspectives of how significant others’ influenced their physical activity through providing social support, and through modelling physical activity. Results: Participants perceived social support to influence physical activity behaviour through performance improvements, self-efficacy, enjoyment, motivation and by enabling physical activity. Improvements in performance and self-efficacy were also linked to motivation to be active. Girls perceived modelling to influence behaviour through providing opportunities for them to be physically active, and by inspiring them to be active. Conclusion: The grounded theory outlines adolescent girls’ perceptions of how significant others influence their physical activity and provides a framework for future research examining the role of social support on physical activity

The Importance of Utilizing Diabetes Prevention Programs

Quality Insights and guests presented an innovative look at how the National Diabetes Prevention Programs are utilized and tracked throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This webinar will bring awareness to healthcare providers, partners, and stakeholders about the recommendations on screening, testing and referring to National Diabetes Prevention Programs

'Barter', 'deals', 'bribes' and 'threats': Exploring Sibling Interactions

This paper investigates forms of strategic interaction between siblings during childhood. We argue that these interactions, characterised by notions of reciprocity, equivalence and constructions of fairness, are worked out in relation to responsibility, power, knowledge and sibling status. Birth order and age are not experienced as fixed hierarchies as they can be subverted, contested, resisted and negotiated. To explore these issues, in-depth individual and group interviews were conducted with a sample of 90 children between the ages of 5 and 17, drawn from 30 families of mixed socio-economic backgrounds in central Scotland with three siblings within this age range