Integrated optical directional coupler biosensor

We present measurements on biomolecular binding reactions, using a new type of integrated optical biosensor based on a planar directional coupler structure. The device is fabricated by Ag+-Na+ ion-exchange in glass and definition of the sensing region is achieved by use of transparent fluoropolymer isolation layers formed by thermal evaporation. The suitability of the sensor for application to the detection of environmental pollutants is considered

A guide to research with care homes

Purpose - A growing older population with complex care needs, including dementia, are living in care homes. It is important to support researchers in conducting ethical and appropriate work in this complex research environment. The purpose of this paper is to discuss key issues in care homes research including examples of best practice. The intention is to inform researchers across disciplines, leading to more sensitive and meaningful care home research practice. Design/methodology/approach - Experienced care homes researchers were invited to provide methodological insights and details not already reported in their publications. These have been analysed, creating key themes and linked to project publications. Findings - The need for reflexivity was a key finding. In particular, researchers need to: appreciate that the work is complex; see participants as potential research partners; and consider how cognitive and physical frailty of residents, staffing pressures and the unique environments of care homes might impact upon their research. Other challenges include recruitment and consenting people who lack mental capacity. Research limitations/implications - As the care homes research landscape continues to develop and grow, there still remains limited reflection and discussion of methodological issues with a need for a "safe space" for researchers to discuss challenges. Originality/value - This review is an updated methodological guide for care homes researchers, also highlighting current gaps in the mechanisms for continuing to share best research practice

Dealing with mobility: Understanding access anytime, anywhere

The rapid and accelerating move towards the adoption and use of mobile technologies has increasingly provided people and organisations with the ability to work away from the office and on the move. The new ways of working afforded by these technologies are often characterised in terms of access to information and people ‘anytime, anywhere’. This paper presents a study of mobile workers that highlights different facets of access to remote people and information, and different facets of anytime, anywhere. Four key factors in mobile work are identified from the study: the role of planning, working in ‘dead time’, accessing remote technological and informational resources, and monitoring the activities of remote colleagues. By reflecting on these issues, we can better understand the role of technology and artefact use in mobile work and identify the opportunities for the development of appropriate technological solutions to support mobile workers

The power of stories: Using narrative methods in playwork research

Two academics from early childhood education, colleagues with some playwork involvement, offer insights into the potential for collaborative narrative research to generate rich and deep understandings of the value of playwork and its fascination for those who work in the field. Hazel Wright sets out the methodological framework she favours to explore meaning through biographical interviews; Paulette Luff shows how participants’ written journal entries may capture elements of practice and convey meaning through reflectivity and indicates how these can be harnessed as an element of action research supporting positive change in a work context. Their joint account is clearly set within a playwork research tradition and draws on a small-scale narrative research study with playworkers, discussing their comments within a framework of key earlier studies. Overall the analysis reinforces the view that – and demonstrates how – playwork is a distinctive practice with a very clear ethos of play for its own sake

Women's ways of working: Circumventing the masculine structures operating within and upon the University

Three female, and feminist, academics become participant researchers to explore their working practices seeking to make visible the ways they work to wo(manage) the masculinist environment of the University. After reviewing the literature, the paper starts by considering what ‘masculinist’ means in this context, finding that it refers to both rigidity of structure positioned as ‘impartial’ and, paradoxically, processes that enable competition and the clear identification of winners and losers; a University regime compatible with neo-liberal governance. Such values are at odds with those promoted within Early Years Education where ‘caring’ and ‘inclusion’ are fundamental, embedded in a strong ‘domestic’ tradition. The paper examines the historical practice of transferring ‘mothering’ skills into the educational institution and considers current attitudes and behaviours in relation to this synergy. Analysing their own attitudes and practices through an innovative (and time-effective) methodology, AAA/I (Asynchronous Associative Auto/Inquiry), the participant researchers consider the ways in which, through collaboration, they ameliorate University processes and working conditions to support each other and their students. Findings are discussed in relation to masculinist traditions and competitiveness, collaboration and caring, and the creation of ‘protective enclaves’, feminised micro-contexts within the larger masculinist domain. Considering their actions in toto, the trio reflect on the extent that their actions promote, evade or hinder a move towards greater gender equality and admit to the personal costs of continually striving to change the working environmen

Study of luminol electrochemiluminescence with a planar optical waveguide for peroxide sensor application

The work presented in this paper is aiming at the development of a highly sensitive, specific, cheap and widely applicable new sensor based on the combination of optical and electrochemical techniques. In addition to the analytically valuable information of light intensity generated, the light transient resulting from a double potential step experiment contains kinetic information for both the electrochemical step as well as for the successive diffusion and chemical steps in the reaction layer. The comparison of transients due to short range waveguide-evanescent field coupling as shown in Fig. 2 and those obtained by measuring light over the full depth of the diffusion layer in Fig. 3 can be used to obtain such information

Secondary user relations in emerging mobile computing environments

Mobile technologies are enabling access to information in diverse environ.ments, and are exposing a wider group of individuals to said technology. Therefore, this paper proposes that a wider view of user relations than is usually considered in information systems research is required. Specifically, we examine the potential effects of emerging mobile technologies on end-­‐user relations with a focus on the ‘secondary user’, those who are not intended to interact directly with the technology but are intended consumers of the technology’s output. For illustration, we draw on a study of a U.K. regional Fire and Rescue Service and deconstruct mobile technology use at Fire Service incidents. Our findings provide insights, which suggest that, because of the nature of mobile technologies and their context of use, secondary user relations in such emerging mobile environments are important and need further exploration