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Nature knows better? Nature as exemplar and/or inspiration?
No full textThe arising of the industrial society and the growth of human population have been main causes of resource depletion, climate change and the decline of ecosystems. Industrial systems and technologies have brought economic and public health progress, leading to an unprecedented population in relatively good conditions. But often, the new technologies that enabled this development turned out not to be the miracle solutions that they had been claimed to be: plastics contained toxics and caused world-wide litter, industrially processed food turned out to be a threat to public health, information and communication technologies provided a wealth of information but also threatened democratic society, and military technologies to secure freedom threatened humanity’s very existence. In reaction, there was a tendency to return to natural products and production processes. ‘Industry’ and ‘Modern Technology’ became suspect. Slogans emerged that emphasized the value of nature: ‘Nature knows better’ emphasizing healthier products without synthetic chemicals and “Nature does not produce any waste” criticizing the whole industrial society. Many of these slogans are in fact not verifiable empirical statements, and some of them are erroneous. Hence, ‘natural’ and ‘nature derived’ products and production processes are not a priori to be preferred above man-made products as the sustainable solution. Why are man-made products and processes not considered to be natural like the ones made by other animals? The first question that this paper addresses is how to assess ‘natural’-, ‘nature derived’- and ‘classic’ solutions to design challenges. In the first part of the paper, it is shown by various short case studies that design solutions from nature have survived long periods of selection pressure, which implies that they are in balance with their natural environment. The vast number of specific niches that ecosystems provide has created an abundance of natural design solutions. Hence, in the second part, the question will be addressed if the study of ‘natural principles’ can help industrial designers to think outside the box. Understanding biological analogies remains difficult for design students. Preliminary empirical research showed students using these, intentionally or unintentionally, copied aspects which are often misinterpreted into their design, i.e. blindly copying form while leaving out process or system. Biomimicry education offers new and compelling insights to measure and evaluate products, aiming to improve the sustainability score. This study reviews basic steps on how biomimicry could improve design education
Guidelines to improve engineering education for sustainability through transdisciplinarity learning processes
No full textActions for sustainability are promoted from the different areas of environment, society, technology and economy, with the common aspiration to face interconnected crises in a world that can no longer be conceived as “society without nature and nature without society”. From this imperative for the integration of epistemics, university is called to restructuring boundaries and processes to properly serve society. Given that engineering principles are aligned with that logic, it is argued that engineering education (EE) have to evolve to being engineering-problem oriented and further developed into socio-technically oriented. Transdisciplinarity emerged in this context pursuing integration of academic and practical or traditional knowledge outside the academia, to co-produce outcomes both socially robust and transferable, that is, useful for transitioning and scientifically innovative to formulate new guiding principles. In order to improve engineering education in sustainability (EESD) through transdisciplinary learning approaches, we performed a three phases research. Firstly, we analysed how sustainability was approached in EE, through a co-word analysis and characterization of the keywords’ networks of three relevant journals in the EESD field. The journal networks evolution analysis suggested that social concern in engineering is growing. The keywords characterisation showed relevant categories being related to transdisciplinary education strategies for applying sustainability and to cross-boundary schemes. Finally, a modularity analysis showed that keywords related to transdisciplinarity spread throughout all the areas of knowledge addressed by the journals, indicating a widening interest. The second phase studied how emergent EESD initiatives were approached from transdisciplinarity discourses. Most of them fitted in the problem-solving discourse, where co-production of knowledge and method-driven aspects are also relevant. Deepening this discourse, most initiatives corresponded to the real- world argument promoting science-society collaboration in societal problems (EU contexts); others looked for convergence of sciences in pursuit of human well-being (innovation argument, US contexts); and some initiatives brought together students and entities in a team-based learning process with social purpose (transcendent interdisciplinary research-TIR argument). None of the initiatives fitted the transgression discourse, attempting to reformulate the establishment, no longer for society but with society. The last phase consisted in the implementation of a transdisciplinary learning environment experience in a 5 ETCS course of the UPC Master degree in Sustainability Science and Technology. Civil organisations, students and educators undertook collaborative research on real-life sustainability case studies, following two cycles of action-reflection. While the course mainly fitted in the real-world argument of problem solving, service learning and CampusLab schemes also reproduced team-based learning with societal purpose (TIR argument). The transgression discourse was addressed through service learning focusing on social justice. Some students engaged further as professional researchers-activists. Additionally, a well- valued Emotional Intelligence module was developed to help students face some process paralyzing uncertainties. From the lessons learned, we proposed a set of fundamental features to be considered for an effective scheme for a transdisciplinary approach in EESD, methodically framing the science-society discourse on the issue at stake: work in real-world complex problems; involve diverse disciplines and fields cooperation; involve science-society cooperation and mutual learning processes; integrate types of knowledge; rely on disciplinary and cross-disciplinary practices
Gemma Tejedor1, Anna-Karin Högfeldt2, Jordi Segalas1, Lena Gumaelius2
No full textTwo contemporary academic movements can be argued to be important for the integration of more field- practice- and cross disciplinary team-based learning experiences into the engineering education curriculum. Firstly, the growth of research in sustainability challenges in combination with the need for change in engineering education, which is seen to evolve from environmental focus to the inclusion of social and transdisciplinary approaches. Secondly, the evolution of engineering education in general: from traditional and instructive to student centered, constructive and practice oriented as well as from isolated and exclusive to an inter-twined part of society, where society’s need for “socially responsible future entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders”. This implies that all engineers need to be equipped with knowledge, skills, values and experiences in order to meet the needs of society. Challenge driven education (CDE) is an evolving concept that can bridge engineering and sustainability. In the challenge driven education, students are working on real-life and often real-time challenges in society and industry. The students work with open-ended, ill-defined problems that do not have a single right answer. With the challenge driven education approach, the aim is to position ideas, innovations and decision making in the forefront of the learning process. InnoEnergy is a transnational educational initiative supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). From the investigation made on the integration of CDE in seven international and cross- border InnoEnergy Masters’ programs, the need appeared for a common understanding on CDE within the knowledge innovation community. The investigation aimed to explore: the perceived drivers and barriers for CDE; the different approaches for integrating CDE in the seven masters’ programs; and the perceived scope for CDE mapped to the achievement of competences for sustainability. Preliminary findings showed that there was a common core of successful initiation of the integration of the CDE approach, although differently in the seven masters’ programs, from different perceptions of CDE for sustainability within the community. Furthermore, the findings revealed a narrow view of sustainability, where the concept is implicitly integrated or “obviously” in some programs with a intend at finding more sustainable energy solutions. An InnoEnergy CDE White Paper has been elaborated, setting the goal for the future progress of challenge driven InnoEnergy MSc education. The paper contributes the definition behind this concept and a strategy on the future development, as well as some best practices of the work so far. Furthermore, the overarching learning outcomes for EIT programs and the UNESCO cross-cutting key competences needed for problem solving for sustainable development, have been merged as new expected outcomes, so that intended learning outcomes based on both perspectives are developed
Highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction enabled by phosphorus doping of the Fe electronic structure in iron–nickel selenide nanosheets
No full textThe electronic structure of active sites is critically important for
electrochemical reactions. Here, the authors report a facile approach to
independently regulate the electronic structure of Fe in Ni0.75Fe0.25Se2 by P
doping. The resulting electrode exhibits superior catalytic performance for the
oxygen evolution reaction (OER) showing a low overpotential (238 mV at 100
mA cm−2, 185 mV at 10 mA cm−2) and an impressive durability in an alkaline
medium. Additionally, the mass activity of 328.19 A g−1 and turnover
frequency (TOF) of 0.18 s−1 at an overpotential of 500 mV are obtained for
P─Ni0.75Fe0.25Se2 which is much higher than that of Ni0.75Fe0.25Se2 and RuO2.
This work presents a new strategy for the rational design of efficient
electrocatalysts for OER
Bringing the outside in through facilitated communication technology in long term care: How do facilitated, virtual communication interventions influence peer interaction, social engagement and participant well-being?
No full textThis paper aims to report on a qualitative, pre- and post-intervention study in a long-term care (LTC) setting in Ireland. The focus of the study was to ascertain how a facilitated, virtual communication intervention, delivered once per week over a four-week period, influenced peer interaction and social engagement. Ten residents participated in semi-structured interviews before and after four weeks of once-per-week virtual talks delivered via an online platform. The interviews allowed to gain an insight into participant perceptions on the use of technology for engaging with topics of interest and facilitating social interaction in an accidental community. Interviews were transcribed and then analysed from a phenomenological perspective. Pre-intervention themes included ‘wellbeing in LTC’, ‘risks to wellbeing’, ‘social engagement’, ‘reminiscing about the past’, ‘curiosity’ and a ‘dearth of experience with technology’. Post-intervention interviews revealed themes including ‘a break from routine’, ‘forming new ties’, ‘technology for learning and wellbeing in long term care’, and its use to ‘augment personal choice and autonomy’ in such settings. Based on participants’ lived experience and the themes which emerged in the post-intervention interviews, there is potential for the facilitated use of technology to mitigate social isolation which can arise in such settings, and provide opportunities for common ground, choice-making and forming new ties
Introduction: Discursive frameworks within academic research
No full textThe idea for this Special Issue arose from a transdisciplinary conference entitled ‘(dis)Covering Discourses’ which was held at University College Cork in 2018. The aim was to bring together scholars spanning a multiplicity of disciplines who, in their research, apply discursive methods and ‒ as the spelling indicates ‒ by doing so, aim to (dis)cover, in both senses of the word, discourses. In the first instance, (dis)covering was considered a process of finding or coming across something unexpectedly. Approaching it from the second perspective, and even more saliently, the implication turned towards the process of discovering as bringing something to light, so to speak, as a task of uncovering. A broad range of researchers from various fields such as Linguistics, Literature, Cultural Studies, Social Studies, Sociology, Government and Politics, Economy, Clinical Therapies and Media Studies answered our call. They succeeded in shedding light on themes such as Politics, Class, Gender, Health, Identity, Institutions, Knowledge, Economy, Migration, Multilingualism, Social Media, Space and Violence. What all the researchers and the papers shared was their methodological approach and their common interest in Discourse Analysis: each employing methods of Discourse Analysis / Critical Discourse Analysis from their own disciplinary perspectives
Impact of Bovine Diet on Metabolomic Profile of Skim Milk and Whey Protein Ingredients
No full textThe influence of bovine diet on the metabolome of reconstituted skim milk powder (SMP)
and protein ingredients produced from the milk of cows fed on pasture or concentrate-based diets
was investigated. Cows were randomly assigned to diets consisting of perennial ryegrass only
(GRS), perennial ryegrass/white clover sward (CLV), or indoor total mixed ration (TMR) for an
entire lactation. Raw milk obtained from each group was processed at pilot scale, to produce SMP
and sweet whey, and SMP was further processed at laboratory scale, to yield ideal whey and acid
whey. The total amino acid composition and metabolome of each sample were analyzed, using
high-performance cation exchange and a targeted combination of direct-injection mass spectrometry
and reverse-phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), respectively.
The nitrogen composition of the products from each of the diets was similar, with one exception being
the significantly higher nonprotein nitrogen content in TMR-derived skim milk powder than that
from the GRS system. Total amino acid analysis showed significantly higher concentrations of glycine
in GRS- and CLV-derived sweet whey and acid whey than in those from TMR. The cysteine contents
of CLV-derived ideal whey and acid whey were significantly higher than for TMR, while the valine
content of GRS-derived acid whey was significantly higher than TMR. The phenylalanine content of
GRS-derived ideal whey was significantly higher than that from CLV. Metabolomic analysis showed
significantly higher concentrations of the metabolites glutamine, valine, and phosphocreatine in
each ingredient type derived from TMR than those from GRS or CLV, while the serine content of
each GRS-derived ingredient type was significantly higher than that in TMR-derived ingredients.
These results demonstrate that the type of bovine feeding system used can have a significant effect on
the amino acid composition and metabolome of skim milk and whey powders and may aid in the
selection of raw materials for product manufacture, while the clear separation between the samples
gives further evidence for distinguishing milk products produced from different feeding systems
based on LC–MS/M
The Potential Impact of Probiotics on the Gut Microbiome of Athletes
No full textThere is accumulating evidence that physical fitness influences the gut microbiome and as
a result, promotes health. Indeed, exercise-induced alterations in the gut microbiome can influence
health parameters crucial to athletic performance, specifically, immune function, lower susceptibility
to infection, inflammatory response and tissue repair. Consequently, maintenance of a healthy gut
microbiome is essential for an athlete’s health, training and performance. This review explores the
effect of exercise on the microbiome while also investigating the effect of probiotics on various potential
consequences associated with over-training in athletes, as well as their associated health benefits
Automation: An Essential Component Of Ethical AI?
No full textThe 15th Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (MCCSIS 2021), Virtual Conference, 20-23 July 2021Ethics is sometimes considered to be too abstract to be meaningfully implemented in artificial intelligence (AI). In this paper, we reflect on other aspects of computing that were previously considered to be very abstract. Yet, these are now accepted as being done very well by computers. These tasks have ranged from multiple aspects of software engineering to mathematics to conversation in natural language with humans. This was done by automating the simplest possible step and then building on it to perform more complex tasks. We wonder if ethical AI might be similarly achieved and advocate the process of automation as key step in making AI take ethical decisions. The key contribution of this paper is to reflect on how automation was introduced into domains previously considered too abstract for computers.Science Foundation Irelan
Score Normalization and Aggregation for Active Learning in Multi-label Classification
No full textActive learning is useful in situations where labeled data is scarce, unlabeled data is available, and labeling a large number of examples is costly or impractical. These techniques help by identifying a minimal set of examples to label that will support the training of an effective classifier. Thus active learning is particularly relevant for the automation of annotation tasks in multimedia. In this paper we consider the problem of employing active learning for the assignment of multiple annotations or “tags” to images in personal image collections. This form of multi-label classification has received a lot of attention in recent years, however active multi-label classification is still a new research area. The main challenge in active multilabel classification is the selection of unlabeled examples that will be informative for all tags under consideration. This selection task proves surprisingly difficult primarily because of the paucity of labeled data available. In this paper we present some solutions to this problem based on aggregated rankings from classifiers for individual tags.Science Foundation Irelan