Zoekresultaten

Development and usability of educational material about workplace particulate matter exposure

Background: Particulate matter (PM) exposure is an important health risk, both in daily life and in the workplace. It causes respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and results in 800,000 premature deaths per year worldwide. In earlier research, we assessed workers’ information needs regarding workplace PM exposure, the properties and effects of PM, and the rationale behind various means of protection. We also concluded that workers do not always receive appropriate risk communication tools with regards to PM, and that their PM knowledge appears to be fragmented and incomplete. Methods: We considered several concepts for use as an educational material based on evaluation criteria: ease of use, costs, appropriateness for target audiences and goals, interactivity, implementation issues, novelty, and speed. We decided to develop an educational folder, which can be used to inform employees about the properties, effects and prevention methods concerning PM. Furthermore, we decided on a test setup of a more interactive way of visualisation of exposure to PM by means of exposimeters. For the development of the folder, we based the information needs on our earlier mental models-based research. We adjusted the folder based on the results of ten semi-structured interviews evaluating its usability. Results: The semi-structured interviews yielded commentaries and suggestions for further improvement, which resulted in a number of alterations to the folder. However, in most cases the folder was deemed satisfactory. Conclusion: Based on this study, the folder we developed is suitable for a larger-scale experiment and a practical test. Further research is needed to investigate the efficacy of the folder and the application of the exposimeter in a PM risk communication system.

Exploring Unique material characteristics by combining textile waste with biobased plastics

Appropriating relational value from collaborative networks for sustainability

Our study elucidates relational value creation and appropriation in collaborative networks for sustainability (CNfS) that focus on grand societal challenges and include a multiplicity and diversity of actors. Using a relational view lens, we conducted a longitudinal, multiple case, field study of collaborative networks for sustainability in the circular textile and fashion industry, unpacking the interplay between value creation from relational interdependence, relational-specific assets and material output and the multilevel appropriation of that value. Our findings show that value appropriation is contingent on the perception of relational use value and cascades through individual, organizational and network levels. The ability of actors to capture cascading value on different levels has a direct influence on the sustained continuity of value creation and to achieving the shared societal goals of CNfS. We developed a model of value appropriation in CNfS to illustrate the cascading flow of value at micro (individual), meso (organizational) and macro (network) levels. Our study makes novel contributions to the literatures on strategic alliances, cross-sector partnerships, and open innovation networks.

Homemaking by single person households in the northern part of the Netherlands

For over 30 years, the concept of home has been a popular, yet contested subject of research for scholars from different disciplines, e.g. architecture, philosophy, sociology, psychology and cultural studies. In line with this multifaceted, interesting subject, quite some studies have been devoted to the subject of homemaking.However, when reviewing the literature on home and homemaking, a great deal of scholars seems to have overlooked to date the home situation, and thus the homemaking activities and practices of single person households, or so called ‘solo livers’. This is remarkable because the number of single person households is increasing worldwide, as different recent studies show e.g. (Palmer G. , 2006), (Klinenberg, 2012), (Jamieson & Simpson, 2013). The aim of this working paper – which is part of a PhD proposal in progression – is to address the homemaking process from the perspective of solo living people in the geographical setting of the Provence of Groningen, in the northern part of the Netherlands. An underlying assumption is that by focusing on the homemaking of solo living people, i.e. on the individual level, this typical human phenomenon can be studied in its ‘purest form’.In the paper on homemaking in low-cost areas, Aziz & Ahmad (2012) connect the concepts of appropriation, attachment and identity as homemaking mechanisms, through which residents strive to achieve satisfaction and turn the surrounding area into their home. Aziz & Ahmad seek to identify specific behavioural components, called ‘attributes’, that belong to these three different concepts, in which they make a distinction between physical and social attributes. This focus of this paper is on the concept of appropriation as homemaking mechanism and how this concept can be refined to serve as conceptual framework.

Communities at a Crossroads

How to conceptualize online sociability in the 21st century? To answer this question, Communities at a Crossroads looks back at the mid-2000s. With the burst of the creative-entrepreneur alliance, the territorialisation of the internet and the commercialization of interpersonal ties, that period constituted a turning point for digital communitarian cultures. Many of the techno-libertarian culture’s utopias underpinning the ideas for online sociability faced systematic counter evidence. This change in paradigm has still consequences today.Avoiding both empty invocations of community and swift conclusions of doom, Annalisa Pelizza investigates the theories of actions that have underpinned the development of techno-social digital assemblages after the ‘golden age’ of online communities. Communities at a Crossroads draws upon the analysis of Ars Electronica’s Digital Communities archive, which is the largest of its kind worldwide, and in doing so presents a multi-faceted picture of internet sociability between the two centuries.Privileging an anti-essentialist, performative approach over sociological understandings of online communities, Communities at a Crossroads proposes a radical epistemological turn. It argues that in order to conceptualize contemporary online sociability, we need first to abandon the techno-libertarian communalist rhetoric. Then, it is necessary to move beyond the foundational distinction between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, and adopt a material semiotic approach. In the end, we might have to relinquish the effort to define online or digital communities and engage in more meaningful mapping exercises.

Structural design and material comparison for aircraft wing box beam panel

This paper aims to present a comprehensive investigation to obtain the structural calculations needed to design a rigid panel of aluminum alloy for the wing box beam of an ATR 72–500 aircraft. For this design process, several types of materials, including composites like CFRP, are considered so it is possible to compare the actual existing part made of aluminum to them, thus checking the advantages these new materials offer. The research presents an introduction to structural design and provides a study of the relevant literature. The aircraft's principal characteristics and performance abilities were collected so that structural loads can be computed. Research used several methods, a design using conventional methods, applying the theory of elasticity is performed using the Theory of Farrar, allowing us to obtain an analytical solution to the problem, followed by checking the obtained results using Ansys FEM software combined with the parts being designed with CATIA. Furthermore, this same panel is calculated using composite materials instead of conventional aluminum, allowing us to compare both solutions. This research shed light on the intricate process of aircraft structural design, materials selection, and calculation methodologies, highlighting the ongoing pursuit of new and advanced materials. This paper makes clear that using composite materials presents several advantages over traditional ones, allowing for lighter, safer, more fuel-efficient, and more sustainable aircraft. The use of composite materials in the construction of airplane structures is driven by many factors. The results show that the chosen composite materials reduce weight, are durable, have low maintenance requirements, reduce noise, enhance fuel economy, and are resistant to corrosion.