The Significance of Purchasing Behavioural Characterisation on Sustainable Design Education of Students

More and more businesses appear to be adopting the societal (or sustainable) marketing concept as their business philosophy. This is an attempt to increase their competitiveness and promote their attitude of considering consumers' wants at the same time as meeting society's long term interests. Organisations are engaging with the sustainable agenda and many communicate this to publicly demonstrate their commitment to saving the worlds finite resources. Directives such as WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) have also forced organisations to consider the recovery of their products at the end of service life. In line with the industry environment, and in providing creative solutions to design problems, product design students are encouraged to take account of the market, technical, functional, visual, and humanistic aspects of design as well as exploring the possibility of making their designs sustainable. Consideration of factors including waste reduction, how the product could be manufactured more efficiently and hence more cheaply by using fewer parts, less material, reducing assembly time and non-conformance are very important and can give the edge, in terms of competitive advantage. This paper assesses the product related purchase behavioural characteristics, and associated decision making process, by which purchases are made. It endeavours to identify the difference between the considerations that students take as designers and the choices they make as consumers. Following critical analysis of the primary research undertaken the outcomes are discussed

Understanding physical and chemical change: the role of speculation

A research project is described in which students aged 11-18 years were offered computer-produced sentences about four everyday changes in materials. They were asked to indicate whether the sentences made sense to them. In their styles of commentary upon their own responses to the computer sentences, students gave incidental evidence of the degree to which they were willing to speculate beyond the knowledge about which they felt individually secure. The authors argue that confidence and willingness to speculate are of value to students learning science and should be fostered

An Instantiation-Based Approach for Solving Quantified Linear Arithmetic

This paper presents a framework to derive instantiation-based decision procedures for satisfiability of quantified formulas in first-order theories, including its correctness, implementation, and evaluation. Using this framework we derive decision procedures for linear real arithmetic (LRA) and linear integer arithmetic (LIA) formulas with one quantifier alternation. Our procedure can be integrated into the solving architecture used by typical SMT solvers. Experimental results on standardized benchmarks from model checking, static analysis, and synthesis show that our implementation of the procedure in the SMT solver CVC4 outperforms existing tools for quantified linear arithmetic

Which way to turn? Is the Haua Fteah a Levantine site?

Recent work has shown early modern human occupation at Jebel Irhoud, Morocco dating as far back as MIS 9 (337 – 300 Ka). Such early dates double the period in which modern humans were present in North Africa with implications for several key debates on modern human origins and subsequent spread. Routes across a ‘green Sahara’ allowed population movement intermittently from Sub-Saharan Africa and across the Saharan region in general (Armitage et al.2007; Drake et al. 2008; Osborne et al. 2008). This has implications for the debate about the timing and routes of modern human expansion across and Out of Africa (James & Petraglia 2005; Mellars 2006) but also has the effect of focussing discussion on the archaeological record of sub-Saharan Africa and even Arabia for evidence of human behaviour and adaptations. This may be unfortunate as the record for much of the vast area of sub-Saharan Africa and Arabia is extremely limited and the more detailed record of the Levantine region is overlooked. Work at the Haua Fteah and in its surrounding region (Cyrenaican Libyan) provides an opportunity to investigate how far the Palaeolithic record for this part of North Africa is, in fact, a product of trans-Saharan, North African or Levantine, influences. The genetic evidence suggests the process of modern human expansion Out of Africa and just as importantly, within Africa itself, was a complex one that may have involved population movements into and out of North Africa from several different directions. A concentration upon the Green Sahara hypothesis may distract current research from this broader picture

The triple test as a screening technique for Down syndrome: reliability and relevance

The triple test is a second trimester screening test used to identify those pregnant women who should be offered a diagnostic test to identify whether their fetus has an aneuploidy. It was first described in 1988, but has largely been superseded by newer tests either conducted earlier in the first trimester (ie, the combined test, using ultrasound measurement of nuchal translucency, pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, and human chorionic gonadotrophin [hCG]) or in the second trimester (ie, the quadruple test, using α-fetoprotein, hCG, uE3, and inhibin). These newer tests have been introduced because they offer greater detection and lower screen positive results thereby enhancing diagnosis rates, while decreasing the risk of iatrogenic harm caused by the invasive testing required when collecting suitable sample tissue. Noninvasive alternatives to the triple test have been identified, but these have not been adopted despite 13 years of development. It is likely, therefore, that the triple test (or variants thereof) will continue to be used in routine antenatal care for the foreseeable future