‘Scaling Up’ the Social Impact of Innovation in Services – Significant Findings and Best Practice Examples from Specialty Research

„Social innovation” have gained the focus of interest of many researchers and professionals preoccupied to find solutions to heavy societal problems manifesting themselves as challenges or obstacles for public organizations in the field of services of general interest. The present article explores the specialty research on the impact of social innovation concentrating on the most recent trends and concepts that better describe the ways that can lead to the „diffusion” of social innovation, particularly in the domain of services that are designed with the goal to ensure a higher quality life for all citizens. The main objective of our paper is to contribute to the conceptual field of innovation, by presenting a clear definition and by highlighting the newest trends in research. We also tried to identify what are the possible strategies to be applied by stakeholders in order to ensure the process of scaling up, bringing examples that prove the relevance of this concept in the field of public services. In light of recent developments in the field of social innovation, we consider that both research and practice related to „scaling up” need further evolution and more efforts in order to become solid points of reference for all interested parties. At the same time, the development of rigorous systems of evaluation of the effects and impact of innovation is strongly needed. The methods used are mainly qualitative, based on the evaluation of the specialty literature on innovation in services, and comparative, applied to highlight similarities and differences between various cases of innovation in the social sector that may be transferred in the public sector.

Computational Scale-Up for Flood Fed/Starve Fed Single Screw Extrusion of Polymers

A novel scaling-up computer system for single screw extrusion of polymers has been developed. This system makes it possible to scale-up extrusion process with both starve feeding and flood feeding. Each of the scale-up criteria can be an objective function to be minimized, represented by single values or functional dependencies over the screw length. The basis of scaling-up is process simulation made with the use of the GSEM program (Global Screw Extrusion Model). Scaling-up is performed using the GASES program (Genetic Algorithms Screw Extrusion Scaling) based on Genetic Algorithms. Scaling-up the extrusion process has been performed to increase extrusion output according to the scaling-up criteria defined by the single parameters of unit energy consumption, polymer plasticating rate and polymer temperature, as well as by the process parameters profiles of the temperature and plasticating. The global objective function reached the lowest value for the selected process parameters, and extrusion throughput was significantly increased.

First Step towards the Upscaling of the Production of Washing Fines - Hemp Composite. Study of Multiphysical Properties

This study investigates the feasibility of scaling-up to industrial scale the production of washing fines – hemp composite. In previous studies (Mazhoud, 2017), (Mazhoud et al., 2017), such composites were developed with a high control of formulation. The washing mud were fully dried, and then milled. The washing fine – hemp composites were prepared from stabilized washing fine and hemp. This study aims to reduce the mud conditioning process in order to save energy and time. In a first time, the methodology for the conditioning of washing mud is detailed. Composite are then prepared considering unstabilized matrix and stabilized matrix with three stabilizer to fine mass ratios (5, 10 and 20 %). The apparent density increases with stabilizer to fine mass ratios according a degree two polynomial law. The mechanical compressive strength increases linearly with apparent density and the performance allows the studied composites to be used as wall formulation regarding the French national rules for hemp concrete. The thermal conductivity values range from 0.107 to 0.123 W/(m.K) at (23°C; 50%RH) reached from production point, this corresponds to a mass water content about 6%. Like for mechanical compressive strength, the thermal conductivity is mainly induced by apparent density. These thermal conductivity values make studied composite suitable for use as distributed insulation or thermal corrector. On hygric point of view, the Moisture Buffer Values classify all formulations as excellent hygric regulators. Finally, this paper shows the feasibility of scaling-up and that multi-physical properties of produced composites make them suitable for use in building envelop. The HSC-10 formulation seems to be the most promising regarding MBV results and considering that it would be possible to reduce thermal conductivity by acting on implementation in order to reduce apparent density.

Building a large-scale quantum computer with continuous-variable optical technologies

Realizing a large-scale quantum computer requires hardware platforms that can simultaneously achieve universality, scalability, and fault tolerance. As a viable pathway to meeting these requirements, quantum computation based on continuous-variable optical systems has recently gained more attention due to its unique advantages and approaches. This review introduces several topics of recent experimental and theoretical progress in the optical continuous-variable quantum computation that we believe are promising. In particular, we focus on scaling-up technologies enabled by time multiplexing, bandwidth broadening, and integrated optics, as well as hardware-efficient and robust bosonic quantum error correction schemes.

The Waiver of Certain Intellectual Property Rights Provisions of the TRIPS for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of COVID-19: A Review of the Proposal under WTO Jurisprudence

This article is a critical legal analysis of the proposed TRIPS waiver under World Trade Organization (WTO) law. It reviews the existing TRIPS flexibilities and the “August 2003 TRIPS waiver”, highlighting the obstacles to achieving the goals of these legal instruments. It demonstrates that numerous critical TRIPS flexibilities, notably TRIPS Article 31bis, are ineffective, prompting some countries to submit a new waiver proposal to the WTO. It highlights several WTO rules that are also quite ambiguous. This paper argues that a WTO clarification might be an alternative to the new TRIPS waiver proposal if it is ultimately rejected due to a lack of consensus among WTO members. Finally, this article emphasises the importance of adopting a balanced approach that may simplify complicated TRIPS rules, decrease the risk of trade-based retaliation and improve collaboration in knowledge transfer and scaling up the manufacture of and access to lifesaving vaccines, pharmaceuticals and healthcare equipment.