Exploring the role of marketing as a tool to aid smart meter adoption amongst fuel poverty and vulnerable groups

This study is concerned with exploring the role of marketing as a tool to improve smart meter adoption amongst different fuel poverty groups. The traditional view of marketing is that it is a process by which people and firms get what they require and desire by generating and trading value with others (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Nonetheless, a more recent view of marketing is that it provides a vehicle to aid the achievement of a wide range of social goals. In this instance, fuel poverty and energy efficiency. For example, social marketing could be used as a means of ‘engaging’ fuel poverty groups to improve the energy efficiency of their home. Despite this, few empirical studies have explored the role of marketing in alleviating fuel poverty and improving energy efficiency

Some research possibilities in diagnostic radiography

This is tha author's PDF version of an article published in Radiography© 1998. The definitive version is available at www.elsevierhealth.comAlthough scientific method is usually viewed as starting with hypotheses which must then be exposed to experimental test, there are situations where this rigid scenario is inappropriate. Fortunately, the alternatives provide avenues for valuable investigative work in radiographic research. Research questions may be addressed by collecting data from existing sources in a way that not only provides fundamental information about human biology, but may improve the efficacy of radiographic practice while avoiding ethical problems about the use of patients. Among those involved in osteology, it is radiographers who see and store the most bone images. Subsequently, they have access to more osteological information than anyone else. All that remains is for this information to be extracted and put into a more accessible form. Since they are closely involved with the patients from whom their radiographs stem, there are research questions which radiographers are uniquely situated to raise.Supported by a University of Liverpool research development gran

Wheel/Rail Contact Isolation Due to Track Contamination

An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the effect of sanding on the electrical isolation of a wheel/rail contact. Sand is applied to the wheel/rail interface to increase adhesion in both braking and traction. Train detection, for signalling purposes, can be by means of track circuits. Signalling block occupancy is triggered by the wheelset of the train ‘shorting out’ the track circuit. Sand in the wheel/rail interface means that contact between the wheelsets and the track may be compromised, inhibiting train identification. Static tests were performed using sections cut from wheels and rail and dynamic tests on a twin disc machine where rail and wheel steel discs are loaded together and driven under controlled conditions of rolling and slip. The electrical circuit used was a simplified simulation of the TI21 track circuit. The application of sand was carried out under a range of mild and severe test conditions. The results indicated that a transition exists in the amount of sand applied, below which there is a measurable, but not severe, change in voltage, but above which the contact conductance decreases by an order of magnitude. A model of electrical isolation has been developed assuming either full disc separation by a sand layer or partial disc contact with some sand present. Idealisations inherent in both test methods mean that they represent a severe case. Given these limitations, it is likely that the test methods, at their present stage of development, should be used as a means to qualitatively assess the relative effects on electrical isolation of different contaminants

The use of radiography in osteological measurement

This is the author's PDF version of an book chapter published in Current and Recent Research in Osteoarchaeology 2 ©1999. The paper was originally delivered at the sixth meeting of the Osteoarchaeological Research Group at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Durham on 7 June 1997.Radiographs provide a means of obtaining permanent images of objects. These images may be readily and repeatedly copied, disseminated or used in a variety of ways without the need further to disturb the original material. Although measurements are frequently taken from such images for metrical analysis, it must be remembered that these images are only representations of the original object. To obtain accurate data, one must be aware of the sources of error inherent in the image-forming process so that radiographs can be used in the appropriate way. This paper outlines the factors involved in the production of radiographic images and applies this to the generation of accurate metrical data

Head imaging and craniometry: A historical note on a base line error

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in Radiography today© 1995. Figure 1 and figure 2 are not available.This journal article discusses the work of Lysholm, Reid, and von Ihering in standarding patient positioning during radiological examination of the skull

Retrocausal Quantum Mechanics: Maudlin's Challenge Revisited

In 1994, Maudlin proposed an objection to retrocausal approaches to quantum mechanics in general, and to the transactional interpretation (TI) in particular, involving an absorber that changes location depending on the trajectory of the particle. Maudlin considered this objection fatal. However, the TI did not die; rather, a number of responses were developed, some attempting to accommodate Maudlin's example within the existing TI, and others modifying the TI. I argue that none of these responses is fully adequate. The reason, I submit, is that there are two aspects to Maudlin's objection; the more readily soluble aspect has received all the attention, but the more problematic aspect has gone unnoticed. I consider the prospects for developing a successful retrocausal quantum theory in light of this second aspect of the objection