Who Trusts in the Smart City? Transparency, Governance and the Internet of Things

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the community of Tillydrone in Aberdeen for giving their time to this project. A version of this work was previously made available for the Data for Policy conference 2019 (Jacobs et al, 2019) Data availability statement: The qualitative data collected as part of this research is not openly available, but may be accessed for research purposes by contacting the authors. This is for ethical reasons, due to the nature of the consent given by participants who contributed to the research. Funding statement: This research was funded through the TrustLens project, supported by the award made by the RCUK Digital Economy programme to the University of Aberdeen; award reference: EP/N028074/1. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Made-up rubbish: design fiction as a tool for participatory Internet of Things research.

As Internet of Things (IoT) technologies become embedded in public infrastructure, it is important that we consider how they may introduce new challenges in areas such as privacy and governance. Public technology implementations can be more democratically developed by facilitating citizen participation during the design process, but this can be challenging. This work demonstrates a novel method for participatory research considering the privacy implications of IoT deployments in public spaces, through the use of world building design fictions. Using three fictional contexts and their associated tangible design fiction objects, we report on findings to inform transparency and governance in public space IoT deployments

The ORACLE Children Study:educational outcomes at 11 years of age following antenatal prescription of erythromycin or co-amoxiclav

BACKGROUND: Antibiotics used for women in spontaneous preterm labour without overt infection, in contrast to those with preterm rupture of membranes, are associated with altered functional outcomes in their children. METHODS: From the National Pupil Database, we used Key Stage 2 scores, national test scores in school year 6 at 11 years of age, to explore the hypothesis that erythromycin and co-amoxiclav were associated with poorer educational outcomes within the ORACLE Children Study. RESULTS: Anonymised scores for 97% of surviving children born to mothers recruited to ORACLE and resident in England were analysed against treatment group adjusting for key available socio-demographic potential confounders. No association with crude or with adjusted scores for English, mathematics or science was observed by maternal antibiotic group in either women with preterm rupture of membranes or spontaneous preterm labour with intact membranes. While the proportion receiving special educational needs was similar in each group (range 31.6–34.4%), it was higher than the national rate of 19%. CONCLUSIONS: Despite evidence that antibiotics are associated with increased functional impairment at 7 years, educational test scores and special needs at 11 years of age show no differences between trial groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISCRT Number 52995660 (original ORACLE trial number)

The effect of a monetary incentive on return of a postal health and development questionnaire: a randomised trial [ISRCTN53994660]

BACKGROUND: Postal questionnaires are widely used to collect data in healthcare research but a poor response rate may reduce the validity and reliability of results. There was a lack of evidence available relating to use of a monetary incentive to improve the response rate in the healthcare setting. METHODS: The MRC ORACLE Children Study is assessing the health and development of nearly 9000 seven year old children whose mothers' joined the MRC ORACLE Trial. We carried out a randomised controlled trial of inclusion of monetary incentive (five pound voucher redeemable at many high street stores) with the reminder questionnaire to parents. This trial took place between April 2002 and November 2003. When the parents were sent the reminder questionnaire about their child's health and development they were randomly assigned by concealed computer-generated allocation stratified by week of birthday to receive a five pound voucher or no incentive. The population were 722 non-responders to the initial mailing of a 12-page questionnaire. Main outcome measures: Difference in response rate between the two groups. RESULTS: Inclusion of the voucher with the reminder questionnaire resulted in a 11.7%(95% CI 4.7% to 18.6%) improvement in the response rate between the two groups. CONCLUSION: This improvement in response rate and hence the validity and reliability of results obtained appears to be justified ethically and financially

High Resolution Interference Microscopy: A Tool for Probing Optical Waves in the Far-Field on a Nanometric Length Scale

High Resolution Interference Microscopy (HRIM) is a technique that allows the characterization of amplitude and phase of electromagnetic wave-fields in the far-field with a spatial accuracy that corresponds to a few nanometers in the object plane. Emphasis is put on the precise determination of topological features in the wave-field, called phase singularities or vortices, which are spatial points within the electromagnetic wave at which the amplitude is zero and the phase is hence not determined. An experimental tool working in transmission with a resolution of 20 nm in the object plane is presented and its application to the optical characterization of various single and periodic nanostructures such as trenches, gratings, microlenses and computer generated holograms is discussed. The conditions for the appearance of phase singularities are theoretically and experimentally outlined and it is shown how dislocation pairs can be used to determine unknown parameters from an object. Their corresponding applications to metrology or in optical data storage systems are analyzed. In addition, rigorous diffraction theory is used in all cases to simulate the interaction of light with the nano-optical structures to provide theoretical confirmation of the experimental results

Intrinsic wheat lipid composition effects the interfacial and foaming properties of dough liquor

Doughs were prepared from a single variety breadmaking flour (cv. Hereward), from three successive harvests (years; 2011, 2012 and 2013). A preparation of the aqueous phase from dough, known as dough liquor (DL), was prepared by ultracentrifugation and its physico-chemical properties were investigated. Surface tension and interfacial rheology, showed that the interface of DL was lipid-dominated and that 2013 DL had a different type of interface to 2011 and 2012 DL. This data was consistent with the improved foam stability observed for 2013 DL and with the types of lipids identified. All foams collapsed quickly, but the most stable foam was from 2013 DL with 89.2% loss in foam, followed by 2011 DL with 91.7% loss and 2012 had the least stable foam with a loss of 92.5% of the foam structure. Glycolipids (DGDG and MGDG) were enriched in 2013 DL, and were also present in DL foam, contributing towards improved stability. Neutral lipids, such as FFAs, were enriched in DL foams contributing towards instability and rapid foam collapse. Baking trials using 2012 and 2013 flour, showed increased loaf volumes and gas bubble diameter in 2013 bread compared to 2012 bread, highlighting the potential impact that surface active polar lipids, enriched in the aqueous phase of dough, could have on improving breadmaking quality