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Mark Robinson and John Roberts
This chapter provides a taxonomy of key rolling stock types and covers the key engineering principles. This chapter concentrates on the aspects of the rolling stock that make it…
Abstract
This chapter provides a taxonomy of key rolling stock types and covers the key engineering principles. This chapter concentrates on the aspects of the rolling stock that make it sustainable in terms of passenger transportation; these aspects are primarily safety and crashworthiness. These are specific items that contribute to make the rolling stock and hence rail system more sustainable; passengers need to be confident that they are travelling in safe rolling stock and the vehicle consist, manufacturing technique or materials used should not compromise the crashworthiness aspects. For this reason, all aspects of this chapter reference vehicle safety and crashworthiness.
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Monique Lathan and Manfred Stock
In this chapter, the interplay between the development of the discipline, the development of the field of study, and the emergence of professional fields is examined using the…
Abstract
In this chapter, the interplay between the development of the discipline, the development of the field of study, and the emergence of professional fields is examined using the example of mathematics. In connection with the formation of the modern research university, mathematics has emerged as an independent scientific discipline and as an independent field of study. In the process, mathematics attains a high degree of formalization and internal coherence. This is the basis for the penetration of mathematicians into more and more professional fields, even outside science. Real problems or real facts are reduced to aspects that are amenable to mathematical modeling by treating them as quantifiable parameters. As mathematics expands as a field of study, more and more professional sectors become applications of mathematical models. As a consequence, more mathematical fields of study are differentiating themselves, specializing in these application fields. This chapter analyzes this dynamic and its preconditions.
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Lida P. Kyrgidou, Theodosios Sapounidis and Ioannis Stamelos
The current study addresses an entrepreneurial program offered by a Greek Higher Education Institution – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – to Information and Communication…
Abstract
Purpose
The current study addresses an entrepreneurial program offered by a Greek Higher Education Institution – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – to Information and Communication Technology undergraduate students and examines its effect on participants’ attitudes and perceptions towards entrepreneurship, within the wider context of entrepreneurship and education.
Methodology/approach
The program is part of a wider pilot project called “InnoEntre.” The particular pilot program is provided in cooperation with Aarhus University of Denmark. The objective was for Danish and Greek students attending the particular course to interact, come up with a novel idea, and transform it through a business plan, into a value-creating outcome, while presenting the steps, actions, experiences, and insight through the pilot program.
Findings
The study offers important implications sharpening knowledge around the area of entrepreneurship, focusing on the intersection between entrepreneurship and education. It highlights key dimensions critical for the successful combination of these two fields, pointing to the importance of young individuals’ perceptions and attitudes towards Innovation-Entrepreneurship Education (I&E), their expectations and particular needs from related educational programs, antecedents of entrepreneurial intention, etc.
Originality/value
Findings contribute to the combination of components to approach the wider fields of I&E, besides the University context, highlighting their multidisciplinary nature. Furthermore, the study adds to innovative pedagogy, highlighting the importance of the use of certain appropriate methods, models, and practices, and the use of ICT in supporting the development of business ideas into actual ventures. The study equally outlines critical managerial implications for entrepreneurs, managers, and policy-makers alike that can foster entrepreneurial activity undertaking among the youth.
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Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund and Yannick Lemel
To compare France and Germany, we will take a new approach to the discussion on lifestyles and social stratification. Instead of anchoring our definition of social stratification…
Abstract
To compare France and Germany, we will take a new approach to the discussion on lifestyles and social stratification. Instead of anchoring our definition of social stratification in predefined concepts, such as social class and status, we will empirically explore the latent patterns of social stratification and lifestyles. Our strategy allows us to investigate whether social stratification is best measured by one, two, or more dimensions; and then to map the associated patterns of lifestyles onto this/these dimension(s).
As indicators of social stratification, we use education, household income, and occupational status; and to measure lifestyles, we use data from two surveys on lifestyles and cultural consumption (Media og kulturforbruksundersøkelsen 2004, Norway; and module Pratiques culturelles et sportives, Enquête Permanente sur les Conditions de Vie 2003, France). We limit our analysis to occupationally active respondents, 20–64 years of age.
We would expect our findings to differ somewhat between the two countries; but given that social stratification is a pervasive element of all modern societies, we would also expect to find common empirical patterns that may be of relevance to the way we conceptualize lifestyles and social stratification.
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In the mid-2000s, the operator of New York City’s mass transit network committed more than a half-billion dollars to military contractor Lockheed Martin for a security technology…
Abstract
In the mid-2000s, the operator of New York City’s mass transit network committed more than a half-billion dollars to military contractor Lockheed Martin for a security technology capable, in part, of inferring threats based on analysis of data streams, of developing response strategies, and taking automated action toward alerts and calamities in light of evolving circumstances. The project was a failure. This chapter explores the conceptualization and development of this technology – rooted in cybernetics – and compares its conceptual underpinnings with some situated problems of awareness, communication, coordination, and action in emergencies as they unfold in one of the busiest transport systems in the world, the New York subway. The author shows how the technology, with all the theatrical trappings of a “legitimate” security solution, was apparently conceived without a grounded understanding of actual use-cases, and the degree to which the complex interactions which give rise to subway emergency can be anticipated in – and therefore managed through – a technological system. As a case-study, the chapter illustrates the pitfalls of deploying technology against problems which are not well-defined in the first place, to the neglect of investments against much more fundamental problems – such as inadequate communication systems, and unstable relationships with emergency response agencies – which might offer guaranteed benefits, and indeed lay a firm groundwork for future deployment of more ambitious technology.
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