Convergence calls: multimedia storytelling at British news websites

This article uses qualitative interviews with senior editors and managers from a selection of the UK's national online news providers to describe and analyse their current experimentation with multimedia and video storytelling. The results show that, in a period of declining newspaper readership and TV news viewing, editors are keen to embrace new technologies, which are seen as being part of the future of news. At the same time, text is still reported to be the cornerstone for news websites, leading to changes in the grammar and function of news video when used online. The economic rationale for convergence is examined and the article investigates the partnerships sites have entered into in order to be able to serve their audience with video content. In-house video is complementing syndicated content, and the authors examine the resulting developments in newsroom training and recruitment practices. The article provides journalism and interactive media scholars with case studies on the changes taking place in newsrooms as a result of the shift towards multimedia, multiplatform news consumption

Face morphology: Can it tell us something about body weight and fat?

This paper proposes a method for an automatic extraction of geometric features, related to weight parameters, from 3D facial data acquired with low-cost depth scanners. The novelty of the method relies both on the processing of the 3D facial data and on the definition of the geometric features which are conceptually simple, robust against noise and pose estimation errors, computationally efficient, invariant with respect to rotation, translation, and scale changes. Experimental results show that these measurements are highly correlated with weight, BMI, and neck circumference, and well correlated with waist and hip circumference, which are markers of central obesity. Therefore the proposed method strongly supports the development of interactive, non-obtrusive systems able to provide a support for the detection of weight-related problems

Stable reference genes for the measurement of transcript abundance during larval caste development in the honeybee

Many genes are differentially regulated by caste development in the honeybee. Identifying and understanding these differences is key to discovering the mechanisms underlying this process. To identify these gene expression differences requires robust methods to measure transcript abundance. RT-qPCR is currently the gold standard to measure gene expression, but requires stable reference genes to compare gene expression changes. Such reference genes have not been established for honeybee caste development. Here, we identify and test potential reference genes that have stable expression throughout larval development between the two female castes. In this study, 15 candidate reference genes were examined to identify the most stable reference genes. Three algorithms (GeNorm, Bestkeeper and NormFinder) were used to rank the candidate reference genes based on their stability between the castes throughout larval development. Of these genes Ndufa8 (the orthologue of a component of complex one of the mitochondrial electron transport chain) and Pros54 (orthologous to a component of the 26S proteasome) were identified as being the most stable. When these two genes were used to normalise expression of two target genes (previously found to be differentially expressed between queen and worker larvae by microarray analysis) they were able to more accurately detect differential expression than two previously used reference genes (awd and RpL12). The identification of these novel reference genes will be of benefit to future studies of caste development in the honeybee

Scaling-up of glass based DSC-modules for applications in building integrated photovoltaics

Within the German research projects ColorSol and InnoCo, a focus is put on the scaling-up of glass based dye solar cell modules and the development of a production technology. This paper reports on the successful scaling-up from 30 * 30 cm to 60 * 100 cm prototypes. First characteristics of these modules are lined out. The developed modules aim for applications in building integrated photovoltaic e.g. façades and PV-glazing. Size and technical specification of the modules follow requirements that were evaluated with architects and partners from the façade industry. For a future production partners for the value chain are being actively searched and integrated to create a network and a value chain on building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and façade applications

Dye solar modules for facade applications. Recent results from project ColorSol

With respect to a first market introduction, one advantage of dye solar cell (DSC) modules is the combination of photovoltaic (PV) solar electricity with decorative aspects. We report on the recent results achieved in the frame of the German project ColorSol. The project focuses on the application field of building-integrated PVs (facades, PV-glazing, etc.). Design concepts, as well as scenarios for the application of the DSC technology in architecture and facade planning are developed and the application potential is quantified in cooperation with potential users. Prototypes of glass facade elements (70 cm x 200 cm) have been developed which consist of several serially interconnected DSC modules each with a size of 30 cm x 30 cm. The results of module characteristics under various outdoor illumination conditions and under partial shading are reported. Visual impressions of the DSC facade elements are presented

Exploring the German living lab research infrastructure : opportunities for sustainable products and services

Living Labs for Sustainable Development aim to generate low-resource innovations in production-consumption systems by integrating users and actors. This chapter presents the results of a German study investigating potentials of and measures towards the realization of a German Living Lab infrastructure to support actor-integrated sustainability research and innovations in Germany Geibler et al. (2014). Generally, as the status quo analysis revealed, the sustainability and Living Lab communities in Germany are hardly intertwined. However, twelve Living Labs that explicitly consider sustainability aspects could be identified. The analyses of drivers and barriers as well as SWOT (Strengths and Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) provided the foundation to identify options for the promotion of a user-integrating research infrastructure supporting sustainable products and services. The measures suggested for Germany include a funding program for actor-integrated, socio-technical research based on a Living Lab network, a communication campaign, and programs to foster networking and the inclusion of SMEs. Some of the suggested measures have already been taken up