scholarly journals The Alexafication of Adult Social Care: Virtual Assistants and the Changing Role of Local Government in England

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 812
Author(s):  
James Wright
Keyword(s):  
Social Care ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Technological Infrastructure ◽  
Global Corporations ◽  
Potential Alternative ◽  
Care Technology ◽  
Data Broker ◽  
Consumer Devices

Voice controlled virtual assistants, delivered via consumer devices such as smart speakers and tablets, are being trialled by local authorities across England as a convenient and low-cost supplement or potential alternative to “traditional” telecare. Few papers have explored this increasingly widespread phenomenon, despite its growing importance. This article looks at choices by some local authorities to trial Alexa, within the context of the ongoing care crisis in England, with councils facing depleted funds, a lack of expert guidance on care technologies, and an increasingly complex and fragmented care technology marketplace. It draws on interviews with managers from eight English local authorities involved in the commissioning and trialling of technologies for adult social care to examine how and why virtual assistants are being implemented, and what implications their use might hold for care. Scaling up the application of such technologies could shift the role of local authorities towards one of an app developer and data broker, while generating considerable risks of reliance on the precarious technological infrastructure of global corporations that may have little interest in or sensitivity towards local care concerns. The findings suggest an urgent need for a national social care technology strategy and increased support for local authorities.

Success and Failure in New Business Start-Ups

1990 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Smalibone
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
New Firms ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Senior Lecturer ◽  
Local Business ◽  
New Business ◽  
Start Ups

DAVID SMALIBONE IS A SENIOR LECTURER IN the school of Geography and planning at Middlsex Polytechnic, Engalnad,with urrentresearch interest in enterprise agaencies, new business and adjusttment processes in nature small frims. this paer aims to ccontribute to knowlede of the charctersitics nd problems of new firms through a lngtudiinal study of a group ofo new business helped tostart by a loca lenterpriise eagency, a unique British organisatiion which provides free or low-cost advice andsupport to young firm and which are themselves funded by laarge local business and local authorities. The characteristics of survving andfaled businesses are described, together wiith theproblems faced in the itnitial trading periodl. the role of external agencies n provding continued support aftr start upsi also discussed breifly. Apart from contributing to a more informed assesment of the recent grwth in the number of new business and self-employed, the paer outlines smeimplcation of the findings for improving the qualty of new business starts.

Practices of inclusion for carers who are higher education students

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Taylor ◽  
Paula Gleeson ◽  
Tania Teague ◽  
Michelle DiGiacomo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Students With A Disability ◽  
Crucial Part

The role of unpaid and informal care is a crucial part of the health and social care system in Australia and internationally. As carers in Australia have received statutory recognition, concerted efforts to foster engagement in carer participation in work and education has followed. However, little is known about the strategies and policies that higher education institutions have implemented to support the inclusion of carers. This study has three components: first, it employs a review of evidence for interventions to support to support carers; second, it reviews existing higher education institutions’ policies to gauge the extent of inclusive support made available to student carers, and; third it conducts interviews with staff from five higher education institutions with concerted carer policies in Australia were held to discuss their institutions’ policies, and experiences as practitioners of carer inclusion and support. Results indicate difficulty in identifying carers to offer support services, the relatively recent measures taken to accommodate carers in higher education, extending similar measures which are in place for students with a disability, and difficulties accommodating flexibility in rigid institutional settings. A synthesis of these findings were used to produce a framework of strategies, policies and procedures of inclusion to support carers in higher education.

Understanding the Role of Chlorine and Ozone to Control Postharvest Diseases in Fruit and Vegetables: A Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-461
Author(s):  
Gabriela M. Baia ◽  
Otniel Freitas-Silva ◽  
Murillo F. Junior
Keyword(s):  
Chlorine Dioxide ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Residual Effects ◽  
Pathogenic Microorganisms ◽  
Postharvest Diseases ◽  
Post Harvest ◽  
By Products

Fruits and vegetables are foods that come into contact with various types of microorganisms from planting to their consumption. A lack or poor sanitation of these products after harvest can cause high losses due to deterioration and/ or pathogenic microorganisms. There are practically no post-harvest fungicides or bactericides with a broad spectrum of action that have no toxic residual effects and are safe. However, to minimize such problems, the use of sanitizers is an efficient device against these microorganisms. Chlorine is the most prevalent sanitizing agent because of its broad spectrum, low cost and well-established practices. However, the inevitable formation of disinfection by-products, such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), is considered one of the main threats to food safety. Alternative sanitizers, such as chlorine dioxide (ClO2) and ozone, are becoming popular as a substitute for traditional post-harvest treatments. Thus, this review addresses the use of chlorine, chlorine dioxide and ozone emphasizing aspects, such as usage, safe application, spectrum of action and legislation. In order to ensure the quality and safety of final products, the adoption of well-prepared sanitation and sanitation programs for post-harvest fruits and vegetables is essential.

The transformation of the Russian notary in the new economic realities

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
KONSTANTIN A. KORSIK ◽  
◽  
ANASTASIYA A. PARFENCHIKOVA ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
The State ◽  
Technological Infrastructure ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
The Social ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
World Development

The article is devoted to the review of current changes in the legislation on notaries related to the development of electronic civil circulation, analysis of existing digital risks and assessment of the role of notaries in combating them. In modern economic realities, a significant expansion of the sphere of competence of the notary is carried out by introducing completely new notarial actions into the scope of the notary’s terms of reference. At the same time, the notary does not just follow the general ‘digital’ trend, but independently makes significant efforts to effectively perform the tasks of the social sphere regulator assigned to it by the state. The creation of the Unified Notary Information System as part of the formation of the technological infrastructure to ensure the security and stability of legal relations in the context of electronic civil circulation takes to a new level the quality of notarial services and the security of legally relevant information. The role of notaries significantly increases in conditions when the use of digital technologies in the economy, public administration, social sphere becomes one of the main vectors of world development, and society and the state inevitably face the flip side of this process – digital risks that jeopardize the safety of participants in civil turnover and their property. In 2020, as part of the implementation of the national program ‘Digital Economy’, it is planned to introduce a number of innovations that will create the basis for a stable and secure ‘digital’ turnover.

Advanced Treatment of Coking Wastewater by Oxidation Process Using Pyrite and Hydrogen Peroxide

2013 ◽  
Vol 726-731 ◽  
pp. 2521-2525
Author(s):  
Zhi Yong Zhang ◽  
De Li Wu
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Oxidation Process ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Utilization Efficiency ◽  
Advanced Treatment ◽  
Coking Wastewater ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Potential Alternative ◽  
High Utilization

Coking wastewater is a kind of recalcitrant wastewater including complicate compositions. Advanced treatment of coking wastewater by Fenton-Like reaction using pyrite as catalyst was investigated in this paper. The results show that the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of coking wastewater decreased significantly by method of coagulation combined with two-stage oxidation reaction. COD of wastewater can decrease from 250mg/l to 45mg/l after treatment, when 2g/L pyrite was used in each stage oxidation and the dosage of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is 0.2ml/l for first stage treatment, 0.1ml/l for second stage treatment respectively. The pyrite is effective to promote Fenton-Like reaction with low cost due to high utilization efficiency of H2O2, moreover, catalyst could be easily recovered and reused. The Fenton-Like reaction might be used as a potential alternative to advanced treatment of recalcitrant wastewater.

scholarly journals Beyond clinical trials: Extending the role of the clinical research nurse into social care and homeless research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Biswell R ◽  
Michael Clark ◽  
Michela Tinelli ◽  
Gillian Manthorpe ◽  
Joanne Neale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Clinical Research ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Research Nurse

scholarly journals Virtualizing AI at the Distributed Edge Towards Intelligent IoT Applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Claudia Campolo ◽  
Giacomo Genovese ◽  
Antonio Iera ◽  
Antonella Molinaro
Keyword(s):  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Iot Applications ◽  
Software And Hardware ◽  
Iot Devices ◽  
Consumer Devices ◽  
Hardware Platforms ◽  
Smart Factories

Several Internet of Things (IoT) applications are booming which rely on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and, in particular, machine learning (ML) algorithms to assist the users and make decisions on their behalf in a large variety of contexts, such as smart homes, smart cities, smart factories. Although the traditional approach is to deploy such compute-intensive algorithms into the centralized cloud, the recent proliferation of low-cost, AI-powered microcontrollers and consumer devices paves the way for having the intelligence pervasively spread along the cloud-to-things continuum. The take off of such a promising vision may be hurdled by the resource constraints of IoT devices and by the heterogeneity of (mostly proprietary) AI-embedded software and hardware platforms. In this paper, we propose a solution for the AI distributed deployment at the deep edge, which lays its foundation in the IoT virtualization concept. We design a virtualization layer hosted at the network edge that is in charge of the semantic description of AI-embedded IoT devices, and, hence, it can expose as well as augment their cognitive capabilities in order to feed intelligent IoT applications. The proposal has been mainly devised with the twofold aim of (i) relieving the pressure on constrained devices that are solicited by multiple parties interested in accessing their generated data and inference, and (ii) and targeting interoperability among AI-powered platforms. A Proof-of-Concept (PoC) is provided to showcase the viability and advantages of the proposed solution.

‘She Made You Feel like There’s Hope’: Gaining a Better Understanding of How Children Negotiate Their Relationships with Social Workers from Their Own Accounts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Gorin ◽  
Mary Baginsky ◽  
Jo Moriarty ◽  
Jill Manthorpe
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Signs Of Safety ◽  
Relational Resilience ◽  
Children’S Accounts ◽  
Care Innovation

Abstract Recent years have seen a re-emergence of international interest in relationship-based social work. This article uses children’s accounts of their relationships with social workers to build on previous research to promote children’s safety and well-being. Interviews were undertaken with 111 children aged six- to eighteen-years old across ten different local authorities in England, as part of the evaluation of Munro, Turnell and Murphy’s Signs of Safety pilots within the Department for Education’s Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme. The interviews reveal four key findings: that children look for care and reciprocity in their relationships with social workers and this can be achieved through listening and small acts of kindness; that they are adept at recognising aspects of social workers’ verbal and non-verbal communications which indicate to the child whether they are listening and interested in them; that there are times in which children are particularly vulnerable especially if parents are resistant to engagement or children’s trust is broken; and that children actively use their agency to control their communication and engagement. The article concludes by highlighting children’s relational resilience and the importance of ensuring opportunities for children to develop new relationships with social workers when previous relationships have broken down.

scholarly journals Vanadium doped CaTiO3 cuboids: Role of vanadium in improving the photocatalytic activity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harsha Bantawal ◽  
Sandhya U. Shenoy ◽  
Denthaje Krishna Bhat
Keyword(s):  
Photocatalytic Activity ◽  
Water Splitting ◽  
Dye Degradation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Physicochemical Stability ◽  
Photocatalytic Dye Degradation

CaTiO3 has attracted enormous interest in the field of photocatalytic dye degradation and water splitting owing to its low cost, excellent physicochemical stability and structural tunability. Herein, we have developed...

scholarly journals Do Institutional Transplants Succeed? Regulating Raiffeisen Cooperatives in South India, 1930–1960

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Maanik Nath
Keyword(s):  
South India ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Credit Market ◽  
Rural Credit ◽  
Market State ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Rural Credit Market

The government in British-ruled India established cooperative banks to compete with private moneylenders in the rural credit market. State officials expected greater competition to increase the supply of low-cost credit, thereby expanding investment potential for the rural poor. Cooperatives did increase credit supply but captured a small share of the credit market and reported net losses throughout the late colonial and early postcolonial period. The article asks why this experiment did not succeed and offers two explanations. First, low savings restricted the role of social capital and mutual supervision as methods of financial regulation in the cooperative sector. Second, a political-economic ideology that privileged equity over efficiency made for weak administrative regulation.

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