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1 – 10 of 84Very occasionally a movement is born which is so timely and relevant it is clear that it will make an enduring impression on our attitudes and institutions. In the autumn of 1980…
Abstract
Very occasionally a movement is born which is so timely and relevant it is clear that it will make an enduring impression on our attitudes and institutions. In the autumn of 1980, just over a year after the General Election which brought to power the first British woman Prime Minister, the 300 Group was formed to encourage, in all possible ways, the increased participation of women in electoral politics. The name was intended to suggest that since there are 635 M.P.s in the British House of Commons and women are half the electorate, there should in justice be roughly 300 women in the House. The election in 1979 of Mrs. Thatcher and a Cabinet bereft but for herself of women ministers, served to high‐light the position of women at Westminster. Figures which hitherto had apparently only interested a few academics — on the numbers of women candidates and of women representatives over time — suddenly became common knowledge and no newspaper or magazine at the time was complete without its piece on the women — or lack of women — in politics. The figures are indeed compelling. In spite of the woman at the top, the General Election of 1979 in Britain produced only nineteen women out of the 635 members of Parliament — that is, slightly under 3%. This was in fact the worst result for women for nearly thirty years, but in the intervening time, the heights they had reached were hardly giddy. Never had a 5% representation been achieved and during the whole of the 50's, 60's and early 70's the figure stayed mainly around 3–4%. This grim situation was compounded by the fact that for the last five elections, the number of women standing as candidates had gone up each time, yet with no equivalent increase in the numbers of women elected but rather a clear fall in the 1979 total (2.9%) over that of October, 1974 (4.3%).
Hardian Reza Dharmayanda, Agus Budiyono and Taesam Kang
The purpose of this paper is to design a model‐based robust controller for autonomous hovering of a small‐scale helicopter.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to design a model‐based robust controller for autonomous hovering of a small‐scale helicopter.
Design/methodology/approach
The model is developed using prediction error minimization (PEM) system identification method implemented to flight data. Based on the extracted linear model, an H∞ controller is synthesized for robustness against parametric uncertainties and disturbances.
Findings
The proposed techniques for modelling provide a linear state‐space model which correlates well with the recorded flight data. The synthesized H∞ controller demonstrates an effective performance which rejects both sinusoidal and step input disturbances. The controller enables the attitude angle follow the reference target while keeping the attitude rate constant about zero for hover flight condition.
Research limitations/implications
The synthesized controller is effective for hovering and low‐speed flight condition.
Practical implications
This work provides an efficient hovering/low‐speed autonomous helicopter flight control required in many civilian UAV applications such as aerial surveillance and photography.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the challenges of controlling a small‐scale helicopter during hover with inherent modelling uncertainties and disturbances.
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Keywords
Monica J. Barratt, Ross Coomber, Michala Kowalski, Judith Aldridge, Rasmus Munksgaard, Jason Ferris, Aili Malm, James Martin and David Décary-Hétu
Drug cryptomarkets increase information available to market actors, which should reduce information asymmetry and increase market efficiency. This study aims to determine whether…
Abstract
Purpose
Drug cryptomarkets increase information available to market actors, which should reduce information asymmetry and increase market efficiency. This study aims to determine whether cryptomarket listings accurately represent the advertised substance, weight or number and purity, and whether there are differences in products purchased from the same listing multiple times.
Design/methodology/approach
Law enforcement drug purchases – predominantly cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and heroin – from Australian cryptomarket vendors (n = 38 in 2016/2017) were chemically analysed and matched with cryptomarket listings (n = 23). Descriptive and comparative analyses were conducted.
Findings
Almost all samples contained the advertised substance. In most of these cases, drugs were either supplied as-advertised-weight or number, or overweight or number. All listings that quantified purity overestimated the actual purity. There was no consistent relationship between advertised purity terms and actual purity. Across the six listings purchased from multiple times, repeat purchases from the same listing varied in purity, sometimes drastically, with wide variation detected on listings purchased from only one month apart.
Research limitations/implications
In this data set, cryptomarket listings were mostly accurate, but the system was far from perfect, with purity overestimated. A newer, larger, globally representative sample should be obtained to test the applicability of these findings to currently operating cryptomarkets.
Originality/value
This paper reports on the largest data set of forensic analysis of drug samples obtained from cryptomarkets, where data about advertised drug strength/dose were obtained.
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Jeanette Kirk, Thomas Bandholm, Ove Andersen, Rasmus Skov Husted, Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, Per Nilsen and Mette Merete Pedersen
The aim of this study is to explore and discuss key challenges associated with having stakeholders take part in co-designing a health care intervention to increase mobility in…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to explore and discuss key challenges associated with having stakeholders take part in co-designing a health care intervention to increase mobility in older medical patients admitted to two medical departments at two hospitals in Denmark.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative design to investigate the challenges of co-designing an intervention in five workshops involving health professionals, patients and relatives. “Challenges” are understood as “situations of being faced with something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person's ability” (Cambridge Dictionary). Thematic content analysis was conducted with a background in the analytical question: “What key challenges arise in the material in relation to the co-design process?”.
Findings
Two key challenges were identified: engagement and facilitation. These consisted of five sub-themes: recruiting patients and relatives, involving physicians, adjusting to a new researcher role, utilizing contextual knowledge and handling ethical dilemmas.
Research limitations/implications
The population of patients and relatives participating in the workshops was small, which likely affected the co-design process.
Practical implications
Researchers who want to use co-design must be prepared for the extra time required and the need for skills concerning engagement, communication, facilitation, negotiation and resolution of conflict. Time is also required for ethical discussions and considerations concerning different types of knowledge creation.
Originality/value
Engaging stakeholders in co-design processes is increasingly encouraged. This study documents the key challenges in such processes and reports practical implications.
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Rasmus Jørgensen and Enrico Scarso
This paper aims to study a circular economy business model that offers services with embedded information exchange capabilities to extend product life through maintenance and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study a circular economy business model that offers services with embedded information exchange capabilities to extend product life through maintenance and repair. Information exchange has been identified as a critical factor in advancing the principles of a circular economy, and this research was conducted to illustrate how information exchange can facilitate maintenance and repair.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has a case study approach of collecting data through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires.
Findings
Information exchange on what and when to do something engages end-users in maintenance and facilitates learning. For repair, the problem description and possible solutions are information that must be exchanged. Both types of information exchange are facilitated by simple tech solutions relying on known and inexpensive technology (e.g. e-mail service, video call and text messaging).
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to the organisational development and knowledge management fields with novel insights on how information exchange and circular economy are related and can be facilitated.
Practical implications
The study provides insights for companies looking for solutions on how to generate revenue from services and reduce resource consumption. The findings of the study suggest that the development of circular business models does not always require expensive high-tech solutions.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is unique as it is empirically based on insights into how information exchange can extend product life through the use of simple digital tools.
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Christian Gjersing Nielsen, Line Bjørnskov Pedersen and Rasmus K. Storm
The purpose of this paper is to examine citizens’ willingness to pay (WTP), in relation to having a professional first-tier football club in a medium-sized Danish municipality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine citizens’ willingness to pay (WTP), in relation to having a professional first-tier football club in a medium-sized Danish municipality, when tangible economic benefits such as economic growth and/or inbound migration produced by these are absent.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the contingent valuation method on survey respondents, the study examines factors affecting WTP using binary logistic regression and interval regression and further extrapolates the WTP from the sample to the municipal population.
Findings
Citizens significantly value having a first-tier football club in their municipality even when tangible benefits are absent, although a large proportion of respondents stated to be against the municipality being financially involved in professional team sports clubs (PTSC). WTP is largely driven by interest in sports and the local football club. It is argued that the findings cannot be generalized across contexts.
Research limitations/implications
There can be circumstances where public subsidy of PTSCs is beneficial to economic welfare. However, authorities should be careful in their evaluation of whether to subsidize PTSCs.
Originality/value
The study expands on existing research by informing respondents about the lack of tangible benefits produced by PTSCs, hereby focusing on WTP on an informed basis.
Details
Keywords
Kathrin Kirchner, Rasmus Jørgensen, Ettore Bolisani and Enrico Scarso
Enterprise social media (ESM) platforms are rapidly diffusing in the business context because they can bring substantial benefits to companies by enhancing their knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise social media (ESM) platforms are rapidly diffusing in the business context because they can bring substantial benefits to companies by enhancing their knowledge management (KM) processes. However, such benefits materialize only if active employee participation is ensured. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how individual employees use an ESM platform to assist their knowledge-related activities. This paper contributes to this topic by proposing a classification of ESM users based on two dimensions: frequency and type (active or passive) of use.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the results of a survey of 262 employees of an international engineering service company that has adopted an ESM platform to support its KM processes. Statistical methods (e.g. ANOVA, Tukey’s b) were applied to verify the usefulness of the proposed typology and identify the main aspects that characterize the different user groups.
Findings
The survey results confirm the existence of different types of ESM users and provide the empirical basis for developing a bi-dimensional classification from which four user groups were derived and characterized: frequent contributors, sporadic contributors, frequent lurkers and sporadic lurkers.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is that only one company in one sector with specific knowledge needs and capabilities was investigated.
Practical implications
The study provides useful suggestions for how to promote the use of an ESM and particularly for how to encourage less frequent and less active users to increase their participation in a platform.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a better understanding of how employees approach ESM by identifying factors that characterize different user groups.
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Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen, Jessica Burns, Reba Khoshabe, Nicole Raposo, Danielle Sng, Jarkko Jalava and Stephanie Griffiths
The purpose of this study was to survey practitioners’ use and perceptions of psychopathy assessments in Canadian forensic psychiatric settings. Psychopathy assessments are widely…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to survey practitioners’ use and perceptions of psychopathy assessments in Canadian forensic psychiatric settings. Psychopathy assessments are widely used in forensic settings to inform decisions about sentencing, placement, rehabilitation and parole. Recent empirical evidence suggests that the utility of psychopathy assessments might be overestimated, leading to a debate about their legal and ethical justification. However, one shortcoming of these discussions is that they rely heavily on anecdotal evidence about how exactly psychopathy assessments influence forensic decisions, due to a general lack of survey data on field uses. Some data are available in European and American contexts, but little is known about Canadian clinical practice.
Design/methodology/approach
To address this shortcoming in the literature, the authors conducted a pilot study of practitioners in forensic psychiatric units in Ontario (N = 18), evaluating their use of psychopathy assessments, reporting habits and their perceptions of psychopathic offenders.
Findings
Practitioners reported that they primarily used the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) as a risk assessment tool, often in combination with other tools. Most clinicians reported using psychopathy assessments infrequently, that there was a low base rate of psychopathic offenders and their attitudes and beliefs about psychopathy were generally consistent with the empirical literature.
Originality/value
This pilot study provides novel insights into the use of psychopathy assessments in Canadian forensic psychiatry with the potential to inform current debates.
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Keywords
Karsten Winther Johansen, Rasmus Nielsen, Carl Schultz and Jochen Teizer
Real-time location sensing (RTLS) systems offer a significant potential to advance the management of construction processes by potentially providing real-time access to the…
Abstract
Purpose
Real-time location sensing (RTLS) systems offer a significant potential to advance the management of construction processes by potentially providing real-time access to the locations of workers and equipment. Many location-sensing technologies tend to perform poorly for indoor work environments and generate large data sets that are somewhat difficult to process in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, little is still known regarding the practical benefits of converting raw worker tracking data into meaningful information about construction project progress, effectively impeding widespread adoption in construction.
Design/methodology/approach
The presented framework is designed to automate as many steps as possible, aiming to avoid manual procedures that significantly increase the time between progress estimation updates. The authors apply simple location tracking sensor data that does not require personal handling, to ensure continuous data acquisition. They use a generic and non-site-specific knowledge base (KB) created through domain expert interviews. The sensor data and KB are analyzed in an abductive reasoning framework implemented in Answer Set Programming (extended to support spatial and temporal reasoning), a logic programming paradigm developed within the artificial intelligence domain.
Findings
This work demonstrates how abductive reasoning can be applied to automatically generate rich and qualitative information about activities that have been carried out on a construction site. These activities are subsequently used for reasoning about the progress of the construction project. Our framework delivers an upper bound on project progress (“optimistic estimates”) within a practical amount of time, in the order of seconds. The target user group is construction management by providing project planning decision support.
Research limitations/implications
The KB developed for this early-stage research does not encapsulate an exhaustive body of domain expert knowledge. Instead, it consists of excerpts of activities in the analyzed construction site. The KB is developed to be non-site-specific, but it is not validated as the performed experiments were carried out on one single construction site.
Practical implications
The presented work enables automated processing of simple location tracking sensor data, which provides construction management with detailed insight into construction site progress without performing labor-intensive procedures common nowadays.
Originality/value
While automated progress estimation and activity recognition in construction have been studied for some time, the authors approach it differently. Instead of expensive equipment, manually acquired, information-rich sensor data, the authors apply simple data, domain knowledge and a logical reasoning system for which the results are promising.
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Niklas Rönnberg, Rasmus Ringdahl and Anna Fredriksson
The noise and dust particles caused by the construction transport are by most stakeholders experienced as disturbing. The purpose of this study is to explore how sonification can…
Abstract
Purpose
The noise and dust particles caused by the construction transport are by most stakeholders experienced as disturbing. The purpose of this study is to explore how sonification can support visualization in construction planning to decrease construction transport disturbances.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents an interdisciplinary research project, combining research on construction logistics, internet of things and sonification. First, a data recording device, including sound, particle, temperature and humidity sensors, was implemented and deployed in a development project. Second, the collected data were used in a sonification design, which was, third, evaluated with potential users.
Findings
The results showed that the low-cost sensors used could capture “good enough” data, and that the use of sonification for representing these data is interesting and a possible useful tool in urban and construction transport planning.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need to further evolve the sonification design and better communicate the aim of the sounds used to potential users. Further testing is also needed.
Practical implications
This study introduces new ideas of how to support visualization with sonification planning the construction work and its impact on the vicinity of the site. Currently, urban planning and construction planning focus on visualizing the final result, with little focus on how to handle disturbances during the construction process.
Originality/value
Showing the potentials of using low-cost sensor data in sonification, and using sonification together with visualization, is the result of a novel interdisciplinary research area combination.
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