Product Service System Innovation in the Smart City

Product service systems (PSS) may usefully form part of the mix of innovations necessary to move society toward more sustainable futures. However, despite such potential, PSS implementation is highly uneven and limited. Drawing on an alternate socio-technical perspective of innovation, this paper provides fresh insights, on among other things the role of context in PSS innovation, to address this issue. Case study research is presented focusing on a use orientated PSS in an urban environment: the Copenhagen city bike scheme. The paper shows that PSS innovation is a situated complex process, shaped by actors and knowledge from other locales. It argues that further research is needed to investigate how actors interests shape PSS innovation. It recommends that institutional spaces should be provided in governance landscapes associated with urban environments to enable legitimate PSS concepts to co-evolve in light of locally articulated sustainability principles and priorities

Detection of Cosmic Microwave Background Structure in a Second Field with the Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope

We describe observations at frequencies near 15 GHz of the second 2x2 degree field imaged with the Cambridge Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope (CAT). After the removal of discrete radio sources, structure is detected in the images on characteristic scales of about half a degree, corresponding to spherical harmonic multipoles in the approximate range l= 330--680. A Bayesian analysis confirms that the signal arises predominantly from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation for multipoles in the lower half of this range; the average broad-band power in a bin with centroid l=422 (theta = 51') is estimated to be Delta_T/T=2.1^{+0.4}_{-0.5} x 10^{-5}. For multipoles centred on l=615 (theta =35'), we find contamination from Galactic emission is significant, and constrain the CMB contribution to the measured power in this bin to be Delta_T/T <2.0 x 10^{-5} (1-sigma upper limit). These new results are consistent with the first detection made by CAT in a completely different area of sky. Together with data from other experiments, this new CAT detection adds weight to earlier evidence from CAT for a downturn in the CMB power spectrum on scales smaller than 1 degree. Improved limits on the values of H_0 and Omega are determined using the new CAT data.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures (gif), submitted to MNRA

Data production models for the CDF experiment

The data production for the CDF experiment is conducted on a large Linux PC farm designed to meet the needs of data collection at a maximum rate of 40 MByte/sec. We present two data production models that exploits advances in computing and communication technology. The first production farm is a centralized system that has achieved a stable data processing rate of approximately 2 TByte per day. The recently upgraded farm is migrated to the SAM (Sequential Access to data via Metadata) data handling system. The software and hardware of the CDF production farms has been successful in providing large computing and data throughput capacity to the experiment.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures; presented at HPC Asia2005, Beijing, China, Nov 30 - Dec 3, 200

A wireless system for monitoring leakage current in electrical substation equipment

In this paper, the design and the development of a remote system for continuous monitoring of leakage currents and ground currents in high voltage electrical substations are proposed. Based on wireless local area network technology, the system can be used to monitor continuously a variety of plants within the substation and has low power consumption with inbuilt overvoltage protection. It consists of a transmitter module equipped with a data acquisition (DAQ) system connected to leakage current and voltage sensors, and a receiver module connected to a remote controller for data processing and storage. The principle of operation and the characteristics of the various components of the system are described. Validation tests have been used to verify its performance in three different test situations: A) laboratory monitoring of the leakage current and voltage of a distribution surge arrester; B) laboratory measurement of the leakage current of an outdoor insulator; and C) field monitoring of the earth current and potential rise of high-voltage tower. The measured results are in close agreement with those recorded directly through a DAQ card with fiber-optic and coaxial cable connected systems. Data processing is carried out at the receiving end so that the monitored parameter is displayed continuously or at specified time intervals. The operation of the system has been tested and proved resilient under high-frequency interference signals such as those generated by corona and surface discharges

Childhood and the politics of scale: Descaling children's geographies?

This is the post-print version of the final published paper that is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2008 SAGE Publications.The past decade has witnessed a resurgence of interest in the geographies of children's lives, and particularly in engaging the voices and activities of young people in geographical research. Much of this growing body of scholarship is characterized by a very parochial locus of interest — the neighbourhood, playground, shopping mall or journey to school. In this paper I explore some of the roots of children's geographies' preoccupation with the micro-scale and argue that it limits the relevance of research, both politically and to other areas of geography. In order to widen the scope of children's geographies, some scholars have engaged with developments in the theorization of scale. I present these arguments but also point to their limitations. As an alternative, I propose that the notion of a flat ontology might help overcome some difficulties around scalar thinking, and provide a useful means of conceptualizing sociospatiality in material and non-hierarchical terms. Bringing together flat ontology and work in children's geographies on embodied subjectivity, I argue that it is important to examine the nature and limits of children's spaces of perception and action. While these spaces are not simply `local', they seldom afford children opportunities to comment on, or intervene in, the events, processes and decisions that shape their own lives. The implications for the substance and method of children's geographies and for geographical work on scale are considered