User involvement and value co-creation in well-being ecosystems

Purpose: This article aims to examine how users' involvement in value co-creation influences the development and orchestration of well-being ecosystems to help tackle complex societal challenges. This research contributes to the public management literature and answers recent calls to investigate novel public service governances by discussing users' involvement and value co-creation for novel well-being solutions. Design/methodology/approach: The authors empirically explore this phenomenon through a case study of a complex ecosystem addressing increased well-being, focussing on the formative evaluation stage of a longitudinal evaluation of Sweden's first support centre for people affected by cancer. Following an abductive reasoning and action research approach, the authors critically discuss the potential of user involvement for the development of well-being ecosystems and outline preconditions for the success of such approaches. Findings: The empirical results indicate that resource reconfiguration of multi-actor collaborations provides a platform for value co-creation, innovative health services and availability of resources. Common themes include the need for multi-actor collaborations to reconfigure heterogeneous resources; actors' adaptive change capabilities; the role of governance mechanisms to align the diverse well-being ecosystem components, and the engagement of essential actors. Research limitations/implications: Although using a longitudinal case study approach has revealed stimulating insights, additional data collection, multiple cases and quantitative studies are prompted. Also, the authors focus on one country but the characteristics of users' involvement for value co-creation in innovative well-being ecosystems might vary between countries. Practical implications: The findings of this study demonstrate the value of cancer-affected individuals, with “lived experiences”, acting as sources for social innovation, and drivers of well-being ecosystem development. The findings also suggest that participating actors in the ecosystem should utilise wider knowledge and experience to tackle complex societal challenges associated with well-being. Social implications: Policymakers should encourage the formation of well-being ecosystems with diverse actors and resources that can help patients navigate health challenges. The findings especially show the potential of starting from the user's needs and life situation when the ambition is to integrate and innovate in fragmented systems. Originality/value: The proposed model proposes that having a user-led focus on innovating new solutions can play an important role in the development of well-being ecosystems

Quantitative and qualitative workload assessment in steep terrain forest operations: fostering a safer work environment through yarder automation

Many forestry roles have changed from being manual tasks with a high physical workload to being a machine operator task with a high mental workload. Automation can support a decrease in mental fatigue by removing tasks that are repetitive and monotonous for the operators. Cable yarding presents an ideal opportunity for early adoption of automation technology; specifically the carriage movement along a defined corridor. A Valentini V-850 cable yarder was used in an Italian harvesting setting, in order to gauge the ergonomic benefit of carriage control automation. The study showed that automating yarder carriage movements improved the ergonomic situation of the workers directly involved in the related primary tasks. However, the caveat is that improving one work task may negatively affect the other work tasks, and therefore introducing automation to a worksite must be done after considering all impacts on the whole system. Practitioner summary: Automation decreased the winch operator’s mental workload while improving overall productivity. At the same time, the mental and physiological workload of the operator tasked with bucking were slightly increased. Ideally, winch automation should be coupled with bucking mechanisation to balance the intervention and boost both operator well-being and productivity.publishedVersio

Three-dimensional hydrodynamic and sediment transport modeling to test the sediment focusing hypothesis in upland lakes

Palaeolimnological studies rely on assumptions regarding the distribution and completeness of lake deposits that are not always fully supported by observations. In particular, the assumption that “focusing” of suspended sediments leads to preferential deposition in the deepest part of a lake is not always justified, especially in upland lakes subject to energetic wind forcing. Few studies have investigated the hydrodynamic controls on lake sediment focusing, especially the importance of wind-driven currents in deep water. We combine a three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic and suspended sediment model (FVCOM) with a semi-empirical wind wave model to investigate the potential mobility of bottom sediments in a small oligotrophic upland lake (Llyn Conwy, north Wales, UK). Exploratory simulations of wave- and current-generated bottom stress and suspended sediment dynamics confirm the expected importance of wave-generated bottom stresses in shallower waters (< 3 m depth) around the shore. Field survey shows that lake sediments are largely absent from this zone. This is consistent with peripheral wave action as a sediment focusing mechanism. In deeper water, wind-driven currents become the dominant contributor to bottom stress. Strong wind forcing events drive an energetic circulation with peak bottom stresses that intermittently exceed any realistic erosion threshold over a large proportion of the lake at depths far below those at which waves can be effective. The spatial distribution of lake sediments, and the completeness of the sediment record, is thus determined by a complex interaction between wind-driven circulation and bathymetry, rather than by bathymetry alone. Although our sediment dynamics simulations are purely exploratory, the results are consisted with survey results that show a patchy distribution of deep-water accumulation. Some implications of these results for the selection of sediment coring locations and the interpretation of sediment records are considered

How to facilitate improvements in public service systems: propositions for action

Purpose The purpose of this article is to increase the understanding of how improvements can be facilitated in a public service containing multiple actors in terms of identifying, aligning and prerequisites for the improvements. Design/methodology/approach The research utilizes an interactive research approach where data were gathered though a conference, workshop and a survey. The study alternately combines quality management methods such as affinity and interrelationship diagrams with computer aided text mining and latent semantic analysis. Findings The research shows that practitioners must consider interconnectedness between improvements and benefits that are crossing organizational levels of the public service system as well as professional borders. In public service systems, the complex reality can be better understood when improvements and benefits are classified into different organizational layers and an interconnectedness and sequence of improvement areas are acknowledged. Research limitations/implications The research is set in the Swedish public service of the tax-paid sick leave insurance. Future research would benefit by investigating similar cases in other nations and other services. Practical implications The used methodology can be applied by practitioners to enhance a unified understanding of the system required to improve. The study also guides practitioners for how to support, relive hinders and prioritize improvements. Originality/value The research fills a gap of understanding of improvements in public services with multiple actors. As this area is difficult to improve, a novel combination of qualitative and quantitative methods paved the way for deeper and more unified understanding of the system

The limitations of in vitro experimentation in understanding biofilms and chronic infection

We have become increasingly aware that during infection, pathogenic bacteria often grow in multi- cellular biofilms which are often highly resistant to antibacterial strategies. In order to understand how biofilms form and contribute to infection, in vitro biofilm systems such as microtitre plate as- says and flow cells, have been heavily used by many research groups around the world. Whilst these methods have greatly increased our understanding of the biology of biofilms, it is becoming increasingly apparent that many of our in vitro methods do not accurately represent in vivo conditions. Here we present a systematic review of the most widely used in vitro biofilm systems, and we discuss why they are not always representative of the in vivo biofilms found in chronic infections. We present examples of methods that will help us to bridge the gap between in vitro and in vivo biofilm work, so that our bench-side data can ultimately be used to improve bedside treatment

Acta Societatis pro fauna et flora Fennica

Kielet ruotsi, latina ja suomi. Typis impr. 1924-1926

CROPS : Clever robots for crops

In the EU-funded CROPS project robots are developed for site-specific spraying and selective harvesting of fruit and fruit vegetables. The robots are being designed to harvest crops, such as greenhouse vegetables, apples, grapes and for canopy spraying in orchards and for precision target spraying in grape vines. Attention is paid to the detection of obstacles for autonomous navigation in a safe way in plantations and forests. For the different applications, platforms were built. Sensing systems and vision algorithms have been developed. For software the Robot Operating System is used. A 9 degrees of freedom manipulator was designed and tested for sweet-pepper harvesting, apple harvesting and in close range spraying. For the applications different end-effectors were designed and tested. For sweet pepper a platform that can move in between the crop rows on the common greenhouse rail system which also serves as heating pipes was built. The apple harvesting platform is based on a current mechanical grape harvester. In discussion with growers so-called \u2018walls of fruit trees\u2019 have been designed which bring robots closer to the practice. A canopy-optimised sprayer has been designed as a trailed sprayer with a centrifugal blower. All the applications have been tested under practical conditions