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Management of Smart Spaces
No full textThis paper introduces the M-Zones (www.m-zones.org) approach for the integrated management of networks, distributed services and applications within Smart Spaces. The main objective of this approach is to facilitate the realisation of software, systems and services that address composition, scalability, reliability and robustness and self-adaptation. It focuses on middleware for management, control and use of fully distributed resources. The term “integrated management” is used to highlight the fact that the approach is founded on the unification of existing middleware and management components, not their replacement. Current approaches to Smart Spaces and their management are characterised by the interworking of separate components and systems; we argue that there is a pressing need for the integration of management and middleware concepts
Impact of lime, nitrogen and plant species on bacterial community structure in grassland microcosms
No full textA microcosm-based approach was used to study impacts of plant and chemical factors on the bacterial community structure of an upland acidic grassland soil. Seven perennial plant species typical of both natural, unimproved (Nardus stricta, Agrostis capillaris, Festuca ovina and F. rubra) and fertilized, improved (Holcus lanatus, Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens) grasslands were either left unamended or treated with lime, nitrogen, or lime plus nitrogen in a 75-day glasshouse experiment. Lime and nitrogen amendment were shown to have a greater effect on microbial activity, biomass and bacterial ribotype number than plant species. Liming increased soil pH, microbial activity and biomass, while decreasing ribotype number. Nitrogen addition decreased soil pH, microbial activity and ribotype number. Addition of lime plus nitrogen had intermediate effects, which appeared to be driven more by lime than nitrogen. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis revealed that lime and nitrogen addition altered soil bacterial community structure, while plant species had little effect. These results were further confirmed by multivariate redundancy analysis, and suggest that soil lime and nitrogen status are more important controllers of bacterial community structure than plant rhizosphere effects
A STUDY OF THE PRACTICE OF USER INVOLVEMENT IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (RIKON Group)
Get PDFDespite the increasing importance attributed to the involvement of industrial users in the early stages of product development, little is known about the current state of practice. In this paper, the authors empirically assess the extent and intensity of involving users in these stages through the analysis of 572 telephone surveys and 50 postal questionnaires. Results indicate that the practice of involving users in predevelopment activities only occurs to a minimum extent and that intense customer involvement in certain stages has a positive impact on the performance of the process. Implications of these findings for managers are also discussed
Distribution of residence times in bistable noisy systems with time-delayed feedback
No full textThe residence time distribution of bistable systems in the presence of noise and time-delayed feedback was analyzed. A two-state model was used along with an experiment based on a Schmitt trigger to study the various nonexponential features of the residence time distribution. There was found to be an enhancement or suppression of the switching rate at multiples of the delay time. This experiment can be used to study more complicated systems such as those with colored noise or multiple memory loops
Strengthening Families through Fathers: Developing policy and practice in relation to vulnerable fathers and their families
Get PDFThis report is a qualitative study of social work and family support with fathers. Contexts of fatherhood explored included, teenage fathers, men in prison, homeless fathers, men and violence. The report makes recomendations for the development policy and practice in relation to supporting families through ways of working with fathers
An investigation of co-fired varistor-ferrite materials
Get PDFThe purpose of this work was to co-fire crack-free varistor-ferrite ceramic multilayers fabricated via a dry pressing route. Multilayers
were sintered using a standard industrial grade varistor sintering regime. Sinter shrinkages of both varistor and ferrite
materials were measured using dilatometry and showed that the varistor shrunk significantly more than the ferrite material. X-ray
diffraction analysis indicated that no significant phase changes occurred in the materials under investigation as a result of the sintering
process. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the dry-pressed co-fired varistor-ferrite revealed vertical cracking in
the ferrite due to thermal expansion mismatch between the materials. By pressing a mixed composition interlayer in the ratio 50:50,
between the varistor and ferrite materials, a crack-free multilayer structure could be obtained. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis of
the co-fired ferrite and varistor confirmed diffusion of Fe and Ni components from the ferrite into the varistor material. The degree
of diffusion was reduced by using 50:50 ratio mixed composition interlayers
On the catwalk: WIT Libraries learning support model
Get PDFThe need for Learning Support programmes in academic libraries is discussed. The development and progress of WIT Libraries programme, from its origin in 1996 to its present day initiatives, is documented. The service began on a small scale in a small library building in 1996. Today, seven years and a new library building later, the service is going from strength to strength. Advances have been made in line with learner needs and expectations and according to the goals of the Library Strategic Plan. The programme currently consists of a number of modules, including a specific programme for 1st years, one for 2nd to final years and tailored research sessions for postgraduates and staff. Furthermore, it incorporates a combination of modes of delivery. Face-face training is complemented by an evolved online element
Investigating Consumer Motivations to Participate in Marketing-Events
Get PDFIn recent years, due to an increasing saturation and fragmentation of markets and the subsequent competition of communications, marketers are confronted with the decreasing effectiveness of their classic marketing communications (Wohlfeil and Whelan 2004). As a consequence, event-marketing has become a popular alternative for marketers that creates 3-dimensional brand-related realities by staging marketing-events, in which consumers are actively involved on a behavioural level (Zanger and Sistenich 1996). However, as a pull strategy within marketing communications, event-marketing strategies must be designed in a way that consumers are motivated to participate voluntarily. Thus, marketers must have an understanding of the needs consumers seek to satisfy by participating in marketing-events. As consumer behaviour in affluent societies is largely driven by the intrinsic pursuit of happiness and enjoyment of life right here and now (Opaschowski 1998) to compensate for the deficits in consumers’ everyday lives (Mitchell 1988), event-marketing is setting up the stage for consumers to experience flow (Drengner 2003), to take on roles that differ from their everyday lives (Sistenich and Zanger 1999) and even become part of the social community that they associate with the brand (McAlexander et al. 2002) or the event-content (Bauer et al. 2003). However, while previous research in event-marketing focused in detail on its effectiveness (Drengner 2003; Lasslop 2003; Nufer 2002), consumers’ predispositional involvement and their motivations to participate in marketing-events, which is crucial to the subsequent communicative success, has not been addressed in literature so far. To narrow this information gap, this research has developed a conceptual framework of how event-marketing works by proposing that consumers’ motivations to participate in marketing-events are determined by at least one of four types of predispositional involvement, which represent the long-lasting personal relevance of either the event-object (brand), the event-content (dramaturgy), event-marketing (communication strategy) or social interaction (brand community) for the consumer
Incongruity between Expression and Experience: The Role of Imagery in Supporting the Positioning of a Tourism Destination Brand
Get PDFBranding has a role to play in integrating efforts to promote tourism. The positioning strategy for the Tourism Brand Ireland initiative is based on the core values of friendly people and unspoiled beautiful scenery. Images on the main national tourism promotion websites are examined in the context of the expectations created for visitors to Ireland. As the nature of Ireland changes with increasing economic success, the sustainability of the current positioning for the Irish tourism brand may be questioned. Ongoing in-depth research into the perceptions and expectations of visitors, as well as the attitudes of the host population, is critical to guide strategic marketing planning for destinations