Organizing for individuation: alternative organizing, politics and new identities

Organization theorists have predominantly studied identity and organizing within the managed work organization. This frames organization as a structure within which identity work occurs, often as a means of managerial control. In our paper our contribution is to develop the concept of individuation pursued through prefigurative practices within alternative organizing to reframe this relation. We combine recent scholarship on alternative organizations and new social movements to provide a theoretical grounding for an ethnographic study of the prefigurative organizing practices and related identity work of an alternative group in a UK city. We argue that in such groups, identity, organizing and politics become a purposeful set of integrated processes aimed at the creation of new forms of life in the here and now, thus organizing is politics is identity. Our study presents a number of challenges and possibilities to scholars of organization, enabling them to extend their understanding of organization and identity in the contemporary world

Coherent microscopy and optical coherence tomography for biomedical applications

This paper was presented at the 3rd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2011), which was held at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki in Greece. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute.In recent years many new methods of 3D optical imaging have been introduced that are applicable to the study of micro- and nano-scale flows. Coherent microscopy and optical coherence tomography join more established methods such as coherence scanning interferometry and confocal microscopy. These methods are very closely related and, using linear systems theory, can be compared in terms of their point spread and transfer functions. This paper introduces linear theory, demonstrates the main differences between the methods and discusses their use in micro- and nano-scale flow measurement. It is shown that coherent microscopy is currently the only method capable of single shot recording and consequently simultaneous whole-field flow measurement. Its use is limited to sparsely seeded flows however, such that individual particles can be identified. The other techniques provide increased 3D discrimination. Using a large numerical aperture, confocal microscopy and coherence scanning interferometry provide the most detailed 3D images making use the additional information available when the object is illuminated with plane waves propagating at different angles. In contrast optical coherence tomography uses the information that is available when the object is illuminated with different wavelengths. It is shown that the fundamental difference between these approaches is that the lateral and axial resolutions are decoupled in OCT making the technique easily scalable. This and the development of modern tunable laser sources, make OCT the method of choice for many biomedical applications

Time series forecasting using a TSK fuzzy system tuned with simulated annealing

In this paper, a combination of a Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy system (TSK) and simulated annealing is used to predict well known time series by searching for the best configuration of the fuzzy system. Simulated annealing is used to optimise the parameters of the antecedent and the consequent parts of the fuzzy system rules. The results of the proposed method are encouraging indicating that simulated annealing and fuzzy logic are able to combine well in time series prediction

Biodiversity offsets can be a valuable tool in achieving sustainable development: Developing a holistic model for biodiversity offsets that incorporates environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development

The interpretation and use of biodiversity offsets in planning and development is a contentious issue because they rarely encompass each of the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. While currently agreed best practice for biodiversity offsets includes consideration of scope, scale, location, timing and duration, and monitoring, current literature on these components does not consider all aspects of sustainable development. Furthermore, much of the current agreed best practice focusses on the design of biodiversity offsets, without consideration of ongoing management or end-of-life. This manuscript reviews current best practice for biodiversity offsets, giving consideration to the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. In particular, we report that consideration of cost and risk is key and the use of planning frameworks, bonds and advanced offsets could mitigate these risks and allow for long-term success. Following this approach, a holistic model for design, implementation and ongoing management of direct biodiversity offsets that balances all aspects of sustainable development is presented

Real-time evolution of an embedded controller for an autonomous helicopter

In this paper we evolve the parameters of a proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) controller for an unstable, complex and nonlinear system. The individuals of the applied genetic algorithm (GA) are evaluated on the actual system rather than on a simulation of it, thus avoiding the ldquoreality gaprdquo. This makes implicit a formal model identification for the implementation of a simulator. This also calls for the GA to be approached in an unusual way, where we need to consider new aspects not normally present in the usual situations using an unnaturally consistent simulator for fitness evaluation. Although elitism is used in the GAs, no monotonic increase in fitness is exhibited by the algorithm. Instead, we show that the GApsilas individuals converge towards more robust solutions

Measurement of cavitation in a sliding bearing using digital holography

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.Although most of the mathematical models for cavitation in bearings provide reasonable estimates of engineering parameters such as load capacity and friction, they are based on substantially different assumptions and further work is required to understand the fundamental operation of bearings. In this study digital holography was used to examine bubble formation within a glass sliding bearing. Digital holography collects the both the phase and amplitude of the transmitted wavefront and therefore contains quantitative information concerning the thickness of the cavitation bubbles. This paper introduces the experimental configuration and the digital holography system used to study cavitation. It also discusses the demodulation process and how the information can be used to find other interesting parameters such as bubble position and shape

Lost in time and space: temporal and spatial challenges facing older workers in a global economy from a career capital perspective

This paper develops a conceptual framework to enhance our understanding of the career challenges facing older workers in a global economy. A distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital of older workers is made. This distinction is then used to highlight potential temporal and spatial challenges for older workers in their later life careers. We draw on empirical evidence from existing studies of older workers and their careers. The contribution of this paper to human resource management debates is threefold. Firstly, we contribute to debates in the HRM(Human Resource Management) literature about intelligent careers and career capital by distinguishing between high and low career capital to explain the polarisation of older workers’ careers. Secondly, we synthesise career capital issues with spatial and temporal aspects of international labour markets to conceptualise the key issues and challenges which create potential boundaries for older workers when navigating later life careers thereby contributing to ‘boundary-focused scholarship’ (Inkson, K., Gunz, H., Ganesh, S., & Roper, J. (2012). Boundaryless careers; Bringing back boundaries, Organization Studies, 33, 323–340). Finally, we develop a series of propositions to provide a basis for further research into the issues of space and time relevant to older ‘high’ and ‘low’ career capital workers, their careers and HRM