Towards a service system ontology for service science

Service Science is a new interdisciplinary approach to the study, design, implementation, and innovation of service systems. However due to the variety in service research, there is no consensus yet about the theoretical foundation of this domain. In this paper we clarify the service systems worldview proposed by Service Science researchers Spohrer and Kwan by investigating its foundational concepts from the perspective of established service theories and frameworks. By mapping the proposed service system concepts on the selected service theories and frameworks, we investigate their theoretical foundations, examine their proposed definitions and possible conflicting interpretations, discover their likely relationships and general structure, and identify a number of issues that need further discussion and elaboration. This analysis is visualised in a multi-view conceptual model (in the form of a UML class diagram) which we regard as a first step towards an explicitly and formally defined service system ontology

Resilience Management: A Framework for Assessing and Improving the Resilience of Organisations

Resilient Organisations Research Report 2007/01Organisations today are increasingly aware of the need to prepare for the unexpected. High profile international events of the last decade, such as the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the emerging threat of a pandemic all serve to remind organisations that the unimaginable can and does happen. Stories emerge from these events of organisations that survived or failed; at first glance there does not appear to be a particular pattern. Some survivors had excellent disaster response plans in place; others had none, surviving purely on the merits of strong leadership and the commitment and determination of staff. Many organisations that are devastated simply never reopen again; others evolve so radically that they are hard to recognise from their pre-crisis form. This research project seeks to explore what it is that makes some organisations more able to survive a major crisis than others, and suggests a framework for both evaluating and improving the resilience of individual organisations

Effect of Planting Coleus blumei on Insect Populations in Taro (Colocasia esculenta) Fields in American Samoa

In a Rapid Rural Appraisal Survey, conducted in American Samoa in November, 1990, farmers reported that planting Coleus blumei (pate in Samoan) with taro (Colocasia esculenta) kept armyworms (Spodoptera litura) and/or planthoppers (Tarophagus proserpina) from their taro fields. Two experiments were conducted at the Land Grant Station in American Samoa from May to November, 1991 and February to August 1992, respectively, to test this hypothesis. In the first study, semi-monthly insect counts were made on two fields, one planted with Coleus blumei in the center and one without the Coleus. Insect data were collected from each of eight quadrates surrounding the Coleus and at three distances away from the center of the field. There were no significant differences in pest incidence between Coleus and non-Coleus fields. Results indicated a slight trend toward fewer armyworms and planthoppers in the field planted with Coleus. A second study compared insect incidence in eight taro plots, four with and four without a border of Coleus. Insect counts were collected semi-monthly. No statistical differences were found between insect incidence in the two types of plots. There was a trend toward more armyworms in the non-Coleus plot. Future studies will focus on examining other environmental factors that might influence taro pest and/or parasite incidence, as well as modifications in experimental design

Shoulder pain due to cervical radiculopathy: an underestimated long-term complication of herpes zoster virus reactivation?

Purpose To evaluate if herpes zoster virus (HZV) reactivation may be considered in the aetiology of cervical radiculopathy. Methods The study group was composed of 110 patients (52 M-58F;mean age ± SD:46.5 ± 6.12; range:40-73) with a clinical diagnosis of cervical radiculopathy. Patients with signs of chronic damage on neurophysiological studies were submitted to an X-ray and to an MRI of the cervical spine in order to clarify the cause of the cervical radiculopathy and were investigated for a possible reactivation of HZV; HZV reactivation was considered as “recent” or “antique” if it occurs within or after 24 months from the onset of symptoms, respectively. Data were submitted to statistics. Results Thirty-eight patients (34,5%,16 M-22F) had a history of HZV reactivation: four (2 M-2F) were “recent” and 34 (14 M-20F) were “antique”. In 68 of 110 participants (61,8%,30 M-38F), pathological signs on X-ray and/or MRI of the cervical spine appeared; in the remaining 42 (38,2%,22 M-20F) X-ray and MRI resulted as negative. Among patients with HZV reactivation, seven (18,4%) had a “positive” X-ray-MRI while in 31 (81,6%) the instrumental exams were considered as negative. The prevalence of “antique” HZV reactivations was statistically greater in the group of patients with no pathological signs on X-ray/MRI of the cervical spine with respect to the group with a pathological instrumental exam (p < 0.01). Conclusions It may be useful to investigate the presence of a positive history of HZV reactivation and to consider it as a long-term complication of a cervical root inflammation especially in patients in which X-ray and MRI of the cervical spine did not show pathological findings

Thinking with a New Purpose: Lessons Learned from Teaching Design Thinking Skills to Creative Technology Students

This paper reports on the insights gained from introducing design thinking into the final year of a UK university course where students created positive behavior change interventions. The rationale for the course design and teaching process are outlined, with a focus on design as engineering versus innovation process. The students took a design thinking journey using Stanford University d.school's 5-step approach of Empathize-Define-Ideate-Prototype-Test, and their journey is described in detail. We found that at first students found the Design Thinking approach counter-intuitive and confusing, yet throughout the process they recognized the strengths and opportunities it offers. On the whole, students reflected positively on their learning and on their re-evaluation of the role of a (service) designer. Lessons learned from a teaching point of view are also outlined, the most poignant being the realization that it was necessary to 'un-teach' design practices students had come to take for granted, in particular the view of design as a self-inspired, linear and carefully managed process

An Integrative Design Framework for New Service Development

Service innovation is focused on customer value creation. At its core, customer-centric service innovation in an increasingly digital world is technology-enabled, human-centered, and process-oriented. This requires a cross-disciplinary, holistic approach to new service design and development (NSD). This paper proposes a new service strategy-aligned integrative design framework for NSD. It correlates the underlying theories and principles of disparate but interrelated aspects of service design thinking: service strategy, concept, design, experience and architecture into a coherent framework for NSD, consistent with the service brand value. Application of the framework to NSD is envisioned to be iterative and holistic, accentuated on continuous organizational and customer learning. The preliminary framework's efficacy is illustrated using a simplified telecom case example. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014

Digital Drugs: an anatomy of new medicines

Medicines are digitalized as aspects of their regulation and use are embodied in or draw from interlinked computerized systems and databases. This paper considers how this development changes the delivery of health care, the pharma industry, and regulatory and professional structures, as it reconfigures the material character of drugs themselves. It draws on the concept of assemblage in presenting a theory-based analysis that explores digital drugs’ ontological status including how they embody benefit and value. The paper addresses three interconnected domains – that of use of drugs (practice), of research (epistemology) and of regulation (structures)

A mathematical model of a criminal-prone society

Criminals are common to all societies. To fight against them the community takes different security measures as, for example, to bring about a police. Thus, crime causes a depletion of the common wealth not only by criminal acts but also because the cost of hiring a police force. In this paper, we present a mathematical model of a criminal-prone self-protected society that is divided into socio-economical classes. We study the effect of a non-null crime rate on a free-of-criminals society which is taken as a reference system. As a consequence, we define a criminal-prone society as one whose free-of-criminals steady state is unstable under small perturbations of a certain socio-economical context. Finally, we compare two alternative strategies to control crime: (i) enhancing police efficiency, either by enlarging its size or by updating its technology, against (ii) either reducing criminal appealing or promoting social classes at ris

Transpapillary drainage has no added benefit on treatment outcomes in patients undergoing EUS-guided transmural drainage of pancreatic pseudocysts: a large multicenter study

Background and Aims The need for transpapillary drainage (TPD) in patients undergoing transmural drainage (TMD) of pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs) remains unclear. The aims of this study were to compare treatment outcomes between patients with pancreatic pseudocysts undergoing TMD versus combined (TMD and TPD) drainage (CD) and to identify predictors of symptomatic and radiologic resolution. Methods This is a retrospective review of 375 consecutive patients with PFCs who underwent EUS-guided TMD from 2008 to 2014 at 15 academic centers in the United States. Main outcome measures included TMD and CD technical success, treatment outcomes (symptomatic and radiologic resolution) at follow-up, and predictors of treatment outcomes on logistic regression. Results A total of 375 patients underwent EUS-guided TMD of PFCs, of which 174 were pseudocysts. TMD alone was performed in 95 (55%) and CD in 79 (45%) pseudocysts. Technical success was as follows: TMD, 92 (97%) versus CD, 35 (44%) (P = .0001). There was no difference in adverse events between the TMD (15%) and CD (14%) cohorts (P = .23). Median long-term (LT) follow-up after transmural stent removal was 324 days (interquartile range, 72-493 days) for TMD and 201 days (interquartile range, 150-493 days) (P = .37). There was no difference in LT symptomatic resolution (TMD, 69% vs CD, 62%; P = .61) or LT radiologic resolution (TMD, 71% vs CD, 67%; P = .79). TPD attempt was negatively associated with LT radiologic resolution of pseudocyst (odds ratio, 0.11; 95% confidence interval, 0.02-0.8; P = .03). Conclusions TPD has no benefit on treatment outcomes in patients undergoing EUS-guided TMD of pancreatic pseudocysts and negatively affects LT resolution of PFCs