This study set out to better understand the feelings of stakeholders from the UK food packaging supply chain towards a move to circular economy (CE) systems. The research areas studied included current and future challenges facing supply chain stakeholders, the consideration of transformative technologies (TT) to enable packaging solutions in the move to CE systems and what CE systems using TT would look like for the UK's chilled food packaging sector. A questionnaire was selected to obtain data from across the UK food packaging supply chain. Participants were selected from six industry stakeholder groups, with 24 completing the questionnaire. This study has clearly shown there is a large spectrum of solutions in a move to CE, each with their own benefits and limitations. TT has an ability to enable these, but in selecting the best one for a specific packaging solution, a decision maker must take into consideration business constraints of the supply chain and the consumer's behaviour towards new solutions.
Anti-theft designs relating to mobile phones are reviewed. The physical and electronic design of handsets includes visual deterrents, owner-identification, and handset tracking options. The systems design of phone networks includes the blacklisting of stolen phones. Other measures include biometric-locking of handsets, and designs that encourage 'safe' phone use and transportation. Characteristics that promote anti-theft designs are proposed and form the acronym 'IN SAFE HANDS': identifiable, neutral, seen, attached, findable, executable, hidden, automatic, necessary, detectable, and secure. The set of characteristics is presented as a heuristic device to aid designing-out crime from frequently stolen electronic goods.
Spectrometry requires high spectral resolution and high photometric precision while also balancing cost and complexity. We address these requirements by employing a compressive-sensing camera capable of improving signal acquisition speed and sensitivity in limited signal scenarios. In particular, we implement a fast single pixel spectrophotometer with no moving parts and measure absorption and emission spectra comparable with commercial products. Our method utilizes Hadamard matrices to sample the spectra and then minimizes the total variation of the signal. The experimental setup includes standard optics and a grating, a low-cost digital micromirror device, and an intensity detector. The resulting spectrometer produces a 512 pixel spectrum with low mean-squared error and up to a 90% reduction in data acquisition time when compared with a standard spectrophotometer.
This paper describes research relating to the design semantics of desirable products and the crime of theft. The methods employed range from the review of existing designs of mobile phones and associated systems and technologies, the perception of crime from a student designer's viewpoint and, importantly, and the opinions of young offenders about proposed design solutions. We developed conceptual designs in consultation with the Mobile Data Association and these were reviewed by a sample of groups of young offenders and 'non-offender' consumers of similar age, to reflect the different user perspectives. The conclusions reveal differences between offenders and non-offenders in their perceptions of the deterrent effect of different design solutions. It is suggested that the research offers insight into the use of empathic strategies in the design of frequently stolen 'hot products'.
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