Invisible computer for collaborative design: evaluation of a multimodal sketch-based environment

In the areas of design, especially in architectural design, collaboration has become an important challenge. The specialization of skills increase, work teams are more and more extensive and the geographic distance between them increases too. The economic and ecological stakes related to remote collaboration are an evidence. This context involves the need to support most efficiently possible remote working meetings. We present the Distributed Collaborative Digital Studio (DSDC), a tool designed to recreate, in distant situations, the context of copresence meetings. This shared environment is created in the "invisible computer" approach [11]. The idea is that the tool should disappear from user's consciousness. Indeed, creative design activities require some fluidity in their process. Therefore, any involuntary interruption created by the system can potentially brake creativity. In this perspective, we investigate specifically the "invisibility" of our environment. To do this, we propose a framework for the operationalization of the concept and a methodology to test the system invisibility. This methodology was applied through a case study consisting of a corpus of 12 hours of remote collaborative design sessions with the DSDC. We highlight the learning effects while using our system, conclude on its effectiveness and discuss our methodology.     

Fitting In: Socio-Economic Attainment Patterns of Foreign-Born Egyptians in the United States

This paper analyzes socio-economic attainment patterns of foreign-born Egyptians in the United States, as tabulated in the 1980 U. S. Census. This is achieved first through an examination of their earnings, followed by an analysis of the rate at which their human capital characteristics are converted into wages.
The findings suggest that this more recent immigrant group has likely attained higher earnings largely because of their skills and educational levels. Thus, while assimilation theory posits the crucial importance of time as a linkage to higher socio-economic attainment, this may not necessarily be the case for these immigrant men and women.     

Supplier Strategies and Routines for Capability Development: Implications for Upgrading

This paper examines the strategies and routines adopted by small and medium-sized suppliers to develop capabilities that enable them to engage in upgrading, despite a precarious relational and institutional context. To this end, we investigate the strategic behaviour of two Bangladeshi garment manufacturers. Both started out as small suppliers for multinational enterprises (MNEs) and have eventually grown into micro-multinationals. The firms are involved in ‘tacit promissory contracting’ with their buyers, a specific form of international outsourcing relationship. The study adopts a multiple case study design that involves interviews with managers/owners of the firms. The analysis yields two key findings. Both firms have devised strategies and taken coherent routines involving actions to develop skills and motivation needed to perform appropriate functional activities (i.e. pre-production, production and post-production) as they embarked on different stages of upgrading. Furthermore, firms have designed routines to internalise the challenges originating from their relationships with their buyers and the institutional environment at the time that had the potential to affect their upgrading goals. The paper contributes to IB studies by highlighting how suppliers, even in a precarious context, can control their own strategies and routines, so as to develop capabilities that allow them to gradually redress the power imbalance between themselves and their buyers.     

A mathematical model of a theoretical sleeping sickness vaccine

ABSTRACT

Human African sleeping sickness is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It affects up to 70,000 individuals per year, primarily the poor. Existing treatments are limited, costly, and often toxic. Recent evidence suggests that a vaccine may be viable. Potential vaccines against Rhodesian sleeping sickness may be imperfect, may only be delivered to some proportion of the population, may wane over time, and may not always mount an immunogenic response in the individual receiving it. The potential effects of such a vaccine are addressed and compared to vector control. The basic reproductive ratio for both unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals is derived. The fitness ratio is used to show that vaccines that grant longer life must be accompanied by a corresponding reduction in transmissibility. A sensitivity analysis shows that control of tsetse flies through insecticide is superior to an idealized vaccine. Such a vaccine is unlikely to eradicate the disease, even if delivered to 100% of the population. Consequently, efforts to control sleeping sickness that do not incorporate vector control may be flawed.     

Review of female immigrant entrepreneurship research: Past findings,gaps and ways forward

We conduct a review of the literature on entrepreneurship by females with an ethnic minority background based on immigration to a new country and focus on entrepreneurial resources, entrepreneurial strategies, outcomes, and context. The intersection of gender and ethnicity influences entrepreneurship in specific ways that we discuss. The literature review indicates that particular (human, social, and financial) resources help shape entrepreneurial strategies, which in turn result in particular outcomes at the individual, firm, and societal levels. These factors are influenced by the co-ethnic and host country cultural and institutional contexts that we review. Situating our study in the mixed embeddedness perspective, we organize and synthesize extant research on the business endeavors of female immigrant entrepreneurs and discuss important gaps that provide opportunities for future research. We also address policy and practice implications.     

Insights from big Data Analytics in supply chain management: an all-inclusive literature review using the SCOR model

Abstract

When supply chain management (SCM) intersects with Big Data Analytics (BDA), uncountable opportunities for research emerge. Unfortunately, how analytics can be applied to supply chain processes is still unclear for both academics and industries. To better connect SC processes needs and what BDA offer, we present a structured review of academic literature that addresses BDA methods in SCM using the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model. The literature since 2001 is reviewed to provide a taxonomy framework resulting in a nomenclature grids and a SCOR-BDA matrix. The most important result of this paper indicates a clear disparity and points to an urgent need to bring the efforts closer in a collaborative way for more intelligent use of BDA in SCM. Furthermore, this paper highlights a misalignment between data scientists and SC managers in BDA applicability. It also highpoints upcoming research tracks and the main gaps that need to be stunned.     

Child‐led research in the context of Australian social welfare practice

This paper details the first child‐led research programme to be implemented in Australia in which children design and lead their own research about issues they identify. The programme was specifically adapted for children who were service users of a nongovernment organization that provides social welfare and support services to vulnerable children and their families, living in communities of the disadvantaged. The practitioner – researchers faced the expected challenges of power in child–adult relations pertinent to the status of children in a genuinely child‐led research endeavour. However, the paper details the additional challenges and responses required when conducting research in a practice environment and the successful adaptations that were used to meet these challenges. The positive findings of an independently commissioned programme evaluation raise important questions about the place and purpose of child‐led research within the field of children's social welfare practice.     

A multivariate Gompertz-type distribution

The Gompertz distribution has many applications, particularly in medical and actuarial studies. However, there has been little recent work on the Gompertz in comparison with its early investigation. The problem of finding and analysing a bivariate (or multivariate) Gompertz distribution is of interest and the focus of this paper. A search of the literature suggests there is currently no multivariate or even useful bivariate Gompertz distribution.     

The Maine Savvy Caregiver Project: Translating an Evidence-Based Dementia Family Caregiver Program Within the RE-AIM Framework

This article presents findings of a 3-year Savvy Caregiver Program translational study designed with the RE-AIM framework to create a statewide sustainable infrastructure and improve dementia family caregiver outcomes in one rural state. The RE-AIM dimensions—reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance—were evaluated using mixed methods. The program reached 770 caregivers and 87.7% (n = 676) participated in the study with 60.5% (n = 409) residing in rural locations. Participants demonstrated improved confidence, fewer depressive symptoms, and better managed their situation. Trainer resources, partnerships, and adequate planning were essential for program adoption and sustainability. Implications for replication are discussed.