Product Service Systems : From Theory to Practice

This paper summarises the findings of the scoping phase of a pilot project, Exploring and developing ways to help people increase the useful life of products, through a leasing rather than ownership model of consumption. The focus of the research was into the provision of Baby and Nursery Equipment (B&NE). A primary objective was to explore attitudes towards this mode of consumption within both consumers and manufacturers. A secondary objective was to explore and demonstrate the feasibility of the business model(s) linked to modes of consumption through leasing rather than ownership. The project was funded by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and was part of their exploration of a Sustainable Lifestyle Framework, published in July 2011.The paper presents the initial stages of the research and does not attempt to give definitive conclusions. The key purpose of the paper is to outline the positive and negative findings highlighting both a possible structure and the barriers to a successful implementation of Product Service System Model of Consumption within this market sectorPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Google Search Mastery Techniques

Knowledge is no longer something we possess, it\u27s now something we access. The Internet requires highly developed skills to access and interpret information. Relevant information is not the same as specific information. Previous articles in this series outlined basic search skills and operators that improve the relevancy of search results. Knowing how to formulate a specific query that will return a specific answer is critical in the 21st century. Expanding your understanding of Google Search and applying the search techniques in this article will serve you in your consumption and dissemination of content as an Extension professional

A Guide to Evaluating the Experience of Media and Arts Technology

Evaluation is essential to understanding the value that digital creativity brings to people's experience, for example in terms of their enjoyment, creativity, and engagement. There is a substantial body of research on how to design and evaluate interactive arts and digital creativity applications. There is also extensive Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) literature on how to evaluate user interfaces and user experiences. However, it can be difficult for artists, practitioners, and researchers to navigate such a broad and disparate collection of materials when considering how to evaluate technology they create that is at the intersection of art and interaction. This chapter provides a guide to designing robust user studies of creative applications at the intersection of art, technology and interaction, which we refer to as Media and Arts Technology (MAT). We break MAT studies down into two main kinds: proof-of-concept and comparative studies. As MAT studies are exploratory in nature, their evaluation requires the collection and analysis of both qualitative data such as free text questionnaire responses, interviews, and observations, and also quantitative data such as questionnaires, number of interactions, and length of time spent interacting. This chapter draws on over 15 years of experience of designing and evaluating novel interactive systems to provide a concrete template on how to structure a study to evaluate MATs that is both rigorous and repeatable, and how to report study results that are publishable and accessible to a wide readership in art and science communities alike.Comment: Preprint. Chapter to appear in "Creating Digitally. Shifting Boundaries: Arts and Technologies - Contemporary Applications and Concepts", Anthony L. Brooks (Editor), Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/978303131359

Feral big cats in rural Gloucestershire - reflecting on the possible presence of exotic animals in the English landscape

In the winter of 2012 the discovery of savaged deer carcasses in Gloucestershire, quickly followed by reports of video footage from an area nearby thought to be of a big cat, gained a significant amount of regional and national press coverage. The presence of unexpected creatures in the British countryside is not a new phenomenon; from the Loch Ness Monster to the Beast of Bodmin Moor, reports of the unusual and unexplained have seeped into British culture. This paper investigates the presence of big cats in the county of Gloucestershire through an exploration of the experience and opinions of local people. The study incorporated an online survey, a media analysis and the mapping of big cat sightings in the area. The findings provide an interesting insight into the cultural function of the possible presence of big cats, in that it is the unexplained rather than the proven that captures people's interest. Understandings of nature, and the search for a re-enchanted countryside, outside of human knowledge or control, are brought to the fore

Impact of an Interprofessional Student-Led Concussion Clinic

This article describes the impact on the learners and health care institution of the OnTRACK-Concussion program, an innovative student-led clinic at a children’s rehabilitation hospital. The clinic, developed and operated by occupational therapists, serves the community full-time year-round. Interprofessional health care learners work together to provide education and intervention for youth with concussion and their families and to support research and community outreach initiatives. To determine the program’s impact on student learning, a post-placement questionnaire was used to capture feedback about their clinical education experience. To determine the program impact more broadly, the most significant change method was used to analyze data from in-depth qualitative interviews with stakeholders across and beyond the organization. Three Program Impact Pathways were identified that support the program’s success within and beyond the organization: 1) Having a clear message/vision of integration; 2) Enabling learners to work directly with patients; and 3) Enabling learners to work autonomously. Debriefing with peers and clinical supervisors was identified as an important learning experience by interprofessional learners. This student-led clinic, developed and operationalized by occupational therapists, supports the integration of patient care, research, and clinical education in pediatric concussion through clearly identified Program Impact Pathways

Investigation of Cyclic O−C Changes in a Sample of Eclipsing Binaries

In this work we present an analysis of cyclic or pseudo-cyclic O–C behavior in a sample of 29 eclipsing binaries, selected to exhibit large-amplitude changes in O–C. We attempt to explain the period variations by: 1) the light time travel effect due to an unseen third body orbiting a system; 2) a sudden jump in the linear ephemeris caused by either variations in the mass transfer rate or CME ejections. A search for tertiary components was carried out with adaptive optics imaging for six systems exhibiting the highest amplitude in their O–C diagrams

Commons: Governance of Shared Assets [PDF Version]

Abstract & Contents The idea for this book came slowly following a gradual collection of blog posts on the CCRI website in recent years. The posts centred around the general theme of how we manage shared assets and what alternative approaches there might be, informed by research and practice in the governance of commons resources. The whole area of commons and management of common pool resources has become more topical over the last 6 years following the award of the Nobel Prize for Economics to Elinor Ostrom, for her work on commons. Commons has long been an element of research within CCRI, particularly in relation to Common Land and Town and village Greens in England and Wales. Chris Short organised annual conferences on common land management from 1999-2010 which attracted over 1,500 delegates and sponsorship from the Countryside Agency, Defra, Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales. This book is no more than a set of ‘musings’ or collected thoughts about a range of issues which we have addressed in our professional activities. It does not claim to address all aspects of an issue, or to present a balanced view of research findings. The aim is simply to present some of our ideas about management and governance of a range of resources that can be perceived in some way as ‘shared assets’. The resources addressed range from the local to the global, and encompass what have been termed traditional commons (such as fisheries, pasture, water) and ‘new’ commons such as the internet and urban areas. Our purpose in producing this book is to raise awareness of the principles of commons governance. Our aim is to encourage thinking about the ways in which application of these principles might open up alternative solutions to achieving long-term and sustainable management of the many assets that we share in common. Contents • COP21 - ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ or new approach? • Cities and the concept of ‘urban commons’ • Designing the urban commons • Urban commons - the view from beneath • What value street art? • Marine fisheries • What future for Lowland commons? • Peatlands • Climbing the wall • The Internet is not a commons? • Final thought

Informative Collision Warnings: Effect of Modality and Driver Age

Research has revealed that when drivers are presented with an informative tactile collision warning, they are able to produce faster braking reaction times (BRTs) which may potentially reduce the likelihood and severity of rear-end collisions. To expand on this research, we investigated the effectiveness of unimodal (tactile) and multisensory (audiotactile) informative collision warnings for younger and older drivers. In line with our previous results, driver BRTs were significantly faster when they were presented with an informative signal as compared to a non-informative signal and a control condition in which no warnings were presented. The results also revealed that the unimodal informative warning was just as effective as the multisensory warning. Intriguingly, older drivers exhibited faster BRTs than younger drivers, and were significantly faster following the presentation of multisensory warning signals. Finally, this study identifies the need to compare new configurations of informative tactile collision warning signals