Assessing the social impacts of extreme weather events using social media

The frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as flooding, hurricanes/storms and heatwaves are increasing as a result of climate change. There is a need for information to better understand when, where and how these events are impacting people. However, there are currently limited sources of impact information beyond traditional meteorological observations. Social sensing, which is the use of unsolicited social media data to better understand real world events, is one method that may provide such information. Social sensing has successfully been used to detect earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, heatwaves and other weather hazards. Here social sensing methods are adapted to explore potential for collecting impact information for meteorologists and decision makers concerned with extreme weather events. After a review of the literature, three experimental studies are presented. Social sensing is shown to be effective for detection of impacts of named storms in the UK and Ireland. Topics of discussion and sentiment are explored in the period before, during and after a storm event. Social sensing is also shown able to detect high-impact rainfall events worldwide, validating results against a manually curated database. Additional events which were not known to this database were found by social sensing. Finally, social sensing was applied to heatwaves in three European cities. Building on previous work on heatwaves in the UK, USA and Australia, the methods were extended to include impact phrases alongside hazard-related phrases, in three different languages (English, Dutch and Greek). Overall, social sensing is found to be a good source of impact information for organisations that need to better understand the impacts of extreme weather. The research described in this project has been commercialised for operational use by meteorological agencies in the UK, including the Met Office, Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

THE LEGACY OF DESIGN: WHAT CONTRIBUTION DOES A DEGREE MAKE TO YOUR FUTURE DESIGN CAREER?

Much research has been conducted into the content of design curricula yet limited research has been undertaken into how early career design professionals view their undergraduate studies, and in turn if this experience adequately prepares them for entry into the design industry. This paper explores the relationship between product design curricula and the professional practice of design. The authors consult with early career design product design professionals to understand the perceived link between their undergraduate studies and the everyday practice of the design industry. Specifically, this paper reports upon the realities of working in the design industry and explores the extent to which their undergraduate training supported the transition from designer-in-training to design professional. Data was gathered via semi structured interviews with early career design product design professionals. The findings of the research indicate that although there is a gap between undergraduate studies and the design industry, and graduates do find the transition into their professional career challenging, on balance graduates feel that a university design education prepares them reasonably well to begin their career as a design professional. The research indicates that an undergraduate design education is perceived as the start of a journey in a professional design career

Knowledge Networks: Collaboration between industry and academia in design

Design education and industry can benefit greatly from collaboration. This paper discusses mechanisms of knowledge transfer through collaborative research, between academia and industry. It focuses upon the area of product and industrial design, detailing approaches to open innovation where industry and academia collaborate and form successful partnerships. Through case studies, it identifies how academia can facilitate knowledge transfer between numerous industries and across disparate market sectors. It concludes with an overview of the potential benefits to collaborators

Life after the party: Student experiences and graduate expectations

This paper considers students’ experience of product design education, and explores their expectations of working in the design industry. It provides a contextualisation of recent initiatives that call for increased emphasis upon the commercial awareness of design within the curriculum. Evidence of the ‘disconnect’ between students’ perceptions of design practice and the increasing demands from the industry are detailed

Using social media to measure impacts of named storm events in the United Kingdom and Ireland

This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordDespite increasing use of impact-based weather warnings, the social impacts of extreme weather events lie beyond the reach of conventional meteorological observations and remain difficult to quantify. This presents a challenge for validation of warnings and weather impact models. This study considers the application of social sensing, the systematic analysis of unsolicited social media data to observe real-world events, to determine the impacts of named storms in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the winter storm season 2017–2018. User posts on Twitter are analysed to show that social sensing can robustly detect and locate storm events. Comprehensive filtering of tweets containing weather keywords reveals that ~3% of tweets are relevant to severe weather events and, for those, locations could be derived for about 75%. Impacts of storms on Twitter users are explored using the text content of storm-related tweets to assess changes in sentiment and topics of discussion over the period before, during and after each storm event. Sentiment shows a consistent response to storms, with an increase in expressed negative emotion. Topics of discussion move from warnings as the storm approaches, to local observations and reportage during the storm, to accounts of damage/disruption and sharing of news reports following the event. There is a high level of humour expressed throughout. This study demonstrates a novel methodology for identifying tweets which can be used to assess the impacts of storms and other extreme weather events. Further development could lead to improved understanding of social impacts of storms and impact model validation.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Risk-Based Pretrial Release Recommendation and Supervision Guidelines

[Introduction] Pretrial services agencies in Virginia are actively engaged in identifying, testing, and implementing pretrial services legal and evidence-based practices (LEBP) that are consistent with the legal and constitutional rights afforded to accused persons awaiting trial, and that research has proven to be effective in reducing unnecessary detention while assuring court appearance and the safety of the community during the pretrial stage. The virginia pretrial risk assessment instrument (VPRAI), known nationally as the Virginia Model, was the first research-based statewide pretrial risk assessment in the country. The VPRAI examines eight risk factors that are weighted to create a risk score, and defendants are assigned to one of five risk levels ranging from low to high that represent the likelihood of pretrial failure

HAVE WE REACHED PEAK DESIGN THINKING? Are we entering a new paradigm for how it is used within practice and business?

Design Thinking has gained recognition as an acclaimed process for generating innovative, human centred solutions at a social and business level. It has also gained notoriety amongst many designers, who claim that its success as an exported element of the design process has resulted in its commodification, and led to it becoming a diluted series of processes that lack criticality. As design disciplines and the role of designers continue to evolve, we should reflect on design thinking’s original context and understand its progression into a non-design world. Our hypothesis is that design thinking has reached a ‘peak’ in contemporary practice, and as the term 'design' is further adapted and conformed to suit a business function, this conversational will elicit a constructive debate on the future of design thinking and its positioning within design and non-design industries. Has Design Thinking’s commodification and consumption as a step by step road map to innovation reduced it to a mainstream approach? Can we use the undoubted successes of design thinking as a catalyst for future design research? It is anticipated that through analysis and discussion, this conversation will inform the conceptualisation of enhanced methodological frameworks that aim to support innovation across divergent industry practices

Automated Semmes Weinstein monofilament examination replication using optical imaging and mechanical probe assembly

The World Health Organization reports more than 135 million people globally suffer from diabetes, with 25% developing peripheral neuropathy and estimates the numbers living with diabetes will reach over 300 million by 2025. Peripheral neuropathy is a term used to describe the loss of feeling in the peripheral limbs. If not properly managed, amputation of the lower limbs can be the result. Regular screening is required for this condition so as to avoid further deterioration. This paper describes an automated peripheral neuropathy testing device replicating the widely accepted Semmes Weinstein Monofilament Examination. In this paper a patient’s foot is scanned optically and the subsequent image processing and grid information algorithms presented reliably identify the plantar surface sensory neuropathy pressure points on a given patient’s foot. Then, these coordinates are relayed to an automated mechanical probe driven by a microcontroller where it randomly applies the accepted 98mN (10g) of force to those pressure points

Automated Peripheral Neuropathy Assessment using Optical Imaging and Foot Anthropometry

A large proportion of individuals who live with type-2 diabetes suffer from plantar sensory neuropathy. Regular testing and assessment for the condition is required to avoid ulceration or other damage to patient’s feet. Currently accepted practice involves a trained clinician testing a patient’s feet manually with a hand-held nylon monofilament probe. The procedure is time-consuming, labor-intensive, requires special training, is prone to error and repeatability is difficult. With the vast increase in type-2 diabetes, the number of plantar sensory neuropathy sufferers has already grown to such an extent as to make a traditional manual test problematic. This paper presents the first investigation of a novel approach to automatically identify the pressure points on a given patient’s foot for the examination of sensory neuropathy via optical image processing incorporating plantar anthropometry. The method automatically selects suitable test points on the plantar surface that correspond to those repeatedly chosen by a trained podiatrist. The proposed system automatically identifies the specific pressure points at different locations, namely the toe (hallux), metatarsal heads and heel (Calcaneum) areas. The approach is generic and has shown 100% reliability on the available database used. The database consists of Chinese, Asian, African and Caucasian foot images

Monoclonal antibodies to a proenkephalin A fusion peptide synthesized in Escherichia coli recognize novel proenkephalin A precursor forms

Monoclonal antibodies have been generated to a chimeric peptide comprised of Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase fused to the amino acid sequence 69-207 of human preproenkephalin A. Two monoclonal antibodies, PE-1 and PE-2, were identified by their ability to recognize the same segment of proenkephalin A fused to the cII gene product of the E. coli bacteriophage lambda. The binding domains of PE-1 and PE-2 have been broadly located, with respect to the primary translation product, within the amino acid sequences 152-207 and 84-131, respectively. Immunoblot analysis of total bovine adrenomedullary chromaffin granule lysate reveals PE-1 and PE-2 immunoreactive forms of observed molecular mass 35, 33, 29, 24, 22, and 15 kDa, and an 18-kDa PE-1 immunoreactive form. Separation of granule membranes from their contents reveals differential membrane association of these high molecular weight polypeptides. There is preliminary evidence that PE-1 may be detecting a subset of polypeptides where shortening from the NH2 terminus has occurred. We postulate that the 35-kDa form represents the intact bovine enkephalin precursor of predicted molecular mass 27.3 kDa. This experimental approach should be generally applicable to the generation of antibodies which will recognize intact peptide precursors together with their post-translational cleavage products