Bottom-up Insights Research Articles

‘Brexit put us in the Fridge, Covid in the Freezer’: The Impact of Covid-19 and Brexit on UK Freelance Dance Artists

This article investigates how Covid-19 and Brexit have impacted the practices, finances and wellbeing of UK dance professionals, drawing on first-hand data collected in early 2021 from interviews, questionnaires and a panel discussion. The testimonies of freelance practitioners from different backgrounds, as well as key stakeholders from national institutions and organisations employing or otherwise interacting with freelancers, present bottom-up insights from the scene. Our research project more specifically explored the ramifications of the pandemic and Brexit, and the impact of these crises on the diversity of the UK dance scene (broadly construed). The voices and findings presented are framed by a discussion of the economic and political infrastructure of the so-called ‘creative industries’ in the country, with particular attention to the freelance creative labour model, risk and precarity. The article concludes by proposing a politics of small resistive steps which might help to mitigate these challenges, working from within the dance ecosystem.

The Standardization of the Emergency Department Response to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Events: Human Factors/Ergonomics Approach.

To provide standardized recommendations for the emergency department (ED) response to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) events by combining the human factors/ergonomics method of hierarchical task analysis with the theoretical framework for Work as Imagined versus Work as Done. Document analyses were used to represent CBRN response operational procedures. Semi-structured interviews using scenario cards were carried out with 57 first receivers (ED staff) to represent CBRN practice at 2 acute hospitals in England. Variability existed in general organizational responsibilities associated with the CBRN response. Variability was further evident in top level CBRN tasks and CBRN phases at both EDs. Operational procedures focused on tasks such as documentation, checking, and timing. CBRN practice focused on patient needs through assessment, treatment, and diagnosis. The findings provide top-down and bottom-up insights to enhance the ED CBRN response through standardization. The standardized CBRN action card template embeds the choice approach to standardization. The standardized CBRN framework implements the streamlined categorization of CBRN phases. Work as Imagined versus Work as Done is a useful theoretical framework to unpack a complex sociotechnical system, and hierarchical task analysis is an effective system mapping tool in health care.

Nanoscale insights into the anti-erosion performance of concrete: A molecular dynamics study

The erosion effect of high-velocity water flow would lead to the failure of concrete in hydraulic structures. This study aims to characterize the anti-erosion ability of concrete at the nanoscale and study the reinforced mechanisms of SCMs, epoxy, and GO for the erosion resistance of concrete. A series of erosion models of concrete including C-S-H, C-A-S-H, C-S-H/Epoxy, and C-S-H/GO models were constructed. The results show that under the erosion effect of high-velocity water flow, some Caw atoms and water molecules would escape from the C-S-H substrate which is consistent with experimental results. Besides the structure of C-S-H affects its anti-erosion capability: The C-S-H model with a high Ca/Si ratio has a poor anti-erosion performance. The erosion resistance of C-S-H is enhanced by SCMs, epoxy, and GO as the addition of SCMs could increase the stability of C-S-H structure while the application of epoxy and GO can reduce the erosion damage of C-S-H caused by high-velocity water flow. These findings in the present investigation provide bottom-up insights on the anti-erosion performance of concrete at the nanoscale and enhanced mechanism of SCMs, epoxy, and GO, which play an important role in the designing and the development of anti-erosion concrete materials.

Photochromism of UV-annealed Fe-doped SrTiO3

High-temperature annealing coupled with above bandgap UV illumination is an emerging approach to manipulate defect chemistries and resultant properties of electroceramics. To explore defect-processing-property relationships in these materials, an advanced multiphysics and multiscale model has been developed, which involves (a) high-fidelity first principles simulations of defect energies, (b) grand canonical thermodynamics of defect equilibria, (c) UV-perturbed defect formation energies from Shockley–Read–Hall generation and recombination, and (d) finite-element analyses of electrostatic potential and defect redistribution. Using this model, bottom-up insights into defect mechanisms associated with the UV-induced brown photochromism of Fe-doped SrTiO3 at high temperatures are provided. It is found that UV illumination leads to dissociation of the FeTi-vO complex and reduction in the oxygen vacancy concentration through exchange with the gas reservoir. Changes to these defect populations cause reionization of the FeTi defect from −1 to 0 charge state to maintain charge neutrality. This collectively gives rise to an increased concentration of FeTi0, which is the source of brown chromism. In addition, this model reproduces the experimentally observed electrical resistance degradation of samples annealed in this manner due to the increasing hole concentration in the material with time. The present model itself offers a route to guide and facilitate future efforts in this field.

Residential moblity in the Inka sacred valley: Oxygen, strontium, and lead isotopic analysis at Patallaqta, Peru

The Inka Empire (1400–1532 CE) made common practice of relocating individuals, households and entire communities throughout their expansive realm for different reasons depending on subjects’ assigned social status. Reconstructing patterns of residential mobility and both intra- and extra-regional mobility at Inka sites, particularly in the imperial heartland, could therefore permit some estimation of the social status(es) of their constituents, and thereby provide bottom-up insights into Inka statecraft and political economy. However, this is a difficult endeavor using only archaeological lines of evidence. This study presents oxygen, strontium and lead isotopic results from archaeological human remains (N = 81) from the site of Patallaqta, near Machu Picchu in the Sacred Valley of the southern Peruvian highlands. Isotopic data are used to reconstruct patterns of immigration at the site, which are in turn used to estimate the social status of the population. The resulting 87Sr/86Sr show moderate variation, with most individuals clustering within a range higher than the estimated values for the locale, while 206,7,8Pb/204Pb results show greater variation spanning multiple Pb isotope provinces, and δ18O results cluster broadly around estimated local water values. Taken together, these results are consistent with the expected distribution of groups drawn from communities within the vicinity of the Sacred Valley and possibly the Peruvian or Bolivian altiplano. These results are in notable contrast to published isotopic results from the nearby site of Machu Picchu, and suggest distinct compositions among the resident populations of each site. This study provides further insights into the intersection of residential movement and status dynamics in the Inka Empire.

A Demonstration of Symbiotic Academic-Social Enterprise in Subsistence Marketplaces: Researching and Designing Customized Sustainability Literacy Education in Tanzania

This article demonstrates symbiotic academic-social enterprise (SASE), a bottom-up approach intertwined with the subsistence marketplace research stream. The SASE approach is unique in coevolving academic and social initiatives in parallel for the express purpose of achieving dual objectives: societally relevant research and social impact over an extended period. Distinct from typical action research approaches, the directionality between research and practice in this approach is circular or mutual rather than linear, the time frame continuous rather than discrete, and the unit of analysis the entire enterprise rather than a single project. Thus, SASE is fundamentally a bottom-up, learning-by-doing approach that developed in contexts characterized by a confluence of uncertainties for communities and a confluence of unfamiliarities for researchers and practitioners. The authors demonstrate this approach in the context of creating sustainability literacy education in Tanzania based on unique climate change impacts in the region. The academic research enterprise provides bottom-up insights about climate change and potential approaches to sustainability literacy education. A sustainability literacy education pilot project demonstrates an initiative in the social enterprise aspect of the approach. Finally, the authors derive public policy and marketing implications of SASE.

East Asia’s Other New World, China and the Viceroyalty of Peru: A Neglected Aspect of Early Modern Maritime History

At least officially, the Chinese government showed little to no interest in the Asia-Pacific region. We also know very little about Chinese state interference except for attempts to fight against piracy in the Southeast Asian waters. This article will consequently address and survey a neglected aspect of China’s maritime history, namely China’s (indirect) relationship with the Viceroyalty of Peru, its capital Lima (= Ciudad de los Reyes), and its port of Callao, and with the ‘silver centre’ in the Spanish Indies—the Villa Imperial (= Potosí), in the hinterlands of the Viceroyalty of Peru. These active, but at first sight less obvious and frequently neglected parts of the trans-Pacific trade, I would like to call ‘the other New World’. The article introduces a variety of micro-historical bottom-up insights into connections between two places that at first sight seem related to each other only through the shipments of huge quantities of silver from the Cerro Rico in Potosí via Acapulco and Manila to China, in exchange for Chinese silks and porcelains, looking specifically at some micro networks, contraband, informal, accidental, and undesired exchanges. It offers preliminary results and a general framework and survey of trade connections, routes and information on the variety of Chinese products that reached Peru.

User needs and the building blocks of regulation: Using participatory design to prototype social enterprise legal structures in Australia

Although co-design is acknowledged as an emerging tool in public administration for use in program or service system design, it has not been widely applied to complex policy spheres, such as law and regulation. In the context of policy development for the field of social enterprise, we explored the use of co-design as a facilitation method to elicit end-users’ experience of regulation and to generate options for reform. Specifically, this involved the use of LEGO® Serious Play® to understand end-user views on legal structures following a push by policy advocates in Australia for a structure to serve the needs of social enterprise, similar to that available in the United Kingdom. The article makes two contributions to research on co-design in public policy. The first contribution is methodological. We offer insights into the application of co-design to a new area, law and regulation, finding that co-design is useful for generating bottom-up insights into the regulatory preferences of end-users but has certain limitations as a tool for research and policy development, notably in relation to the feasibility of the insights it may provide. The second contribution is uncovering empirical insights into end-user preferences regarding how regulatory reform might improve the policy environment for social enterprise development in Australia and beyond.

P112: FLO on flow: front line ownership of emergency department, hospital, and health system patient flow a novel approach to ED overcrowding (Part 1)

Introduction: Hospital access block, often called Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding when it manifests there, is an important public health issue and seemingly intractable problem in our evolving Health Care system. The multiple, dynamic, and inter-dependent factors influencing its cause (and potential solutions) may best fit a complex adaptive systems analysis and approach. One technique described in similar contexts is Front Line Ownership (FLO) based on the theoretical framework of positive deviance. The aim of this study is to discover where pragmatic bottom-up insights and adaptive work-arounds can be elicited, described, iterated, and potentially implemented at a broader scale to catalyze systems change, in service of improving patient flow. Methods: This is a qualitative study which identified, convened, and surveyed stakeholders representing three components of the system. Purposive sampling was used to gather a full range of perspectives from three groups: 1) patients and or families, 2) front-line providers, and 3) management/leaders. Interviews were recorded and transcribed by a third party, then each transcription was coded independently by two investigators (at least one of which was the PI). Informed consent was obtained from all participants and each was offered the opportunity to review the transcription to ensure accuracy. A framework analysis was used to synthesize, reflect upon, and interpret the data from multiple perspectives using a structured, iterative approach. Results: In part 1 of this study, three broad over-lapping themes emerged from the analysis as being areas of opportunity for reducing hospital access block. They are: 1. Boundary Conditions (the historical, organizational cultural, psychological, economic, and other contexts influencing system performance), 2. Systems Integration (how well the parts interface with each other relate to the whole), and 3. Operations management (the more technical aspects of patient flow). When these three broad themes are cross-analyzed with a more conventional input-throughput-output approach, previously under-emphasized avenues for improvement may become apparent. Conclusion: A front-line ownership analysis of ED overcrowding is feasible. There are adaptive behaviors by some front-line individuals at each “level” of perspective that have been identified and could be modified and implemented locally to improve patient flow in the ED (and the rest of the health system).

User-centred design with visually impaired pupils: A case study of a game editor for orientation and mobility training

Abstract Digital technology facilitates the lives of visually impaired people. To design accessible technology accepted by the target group, comprehensive methods of user-centred design are needed. In this paper, we present a case study with visually impaired pupils aiming for gaining bottom-up insights to support the ideation and design of a game editor to support orientation and mobility training. We involved relevant stakeholders (pupils, teachers, mobility trainers) using multiple methods, including (contextual) interview, focus group, (ideation) workshop, Gamestorming, digital survey, behavioural observation, self-experience, and early stage prototype testing. With our approach, we were able to gain a rich understanding of the needs of visually impaired pupils. The objective of this paper is to serve as reference for researchers cooperating with visually impaired pupils by providing (1) design implications for a game editor, and (2) a comprehensive reflection on approaches and issues of user-centred design methods with visually impaired pupils.

BTOP and Bottom-Up Insights for Closing the Digital Divide

BTOP and Bottom-Up Insights for Closing the Digital Divide

From Subsistence Marketplaces Up, from General Macromarketing Theories Down

Marketing researchers have recently begun exploring the specific context of subsistence marketplaces in developing and emerging economies using a bottom-up approach. Such literature offers an increasing number of conceptual frameworks and theoretical approaches derived from or inspired by a sound understanding of the real-life contexts of subsistence marketplaces. This article draws attention to a complementary top-down approach that begins from basic thinking on marketing’s contribution to development and, through midrange theories, eventually connects with bottom-up insights into subsistence marketplaces. The top-down approach helps create a unique theoretical midrange for development-oriented research in marketing that is complementary to other disciplines in the development debate. A bottom-up and top-down shaped theoretical midrange promises transformative interventions that can attend to the specific context at hand, while connecting with basic marketing principles on development.

Striking the balance: the role of English and German in a multilingual English-medium degree programme in German higher education

In 2002, English-medium degree programmes (EMDPs) became a permanent feature of German higher education (HE). While this action marked an important step towards government-supported institutionalisation of English in Germany, no formal strategy or guidelines governing the role of English in HE have been developed. To date, research in this area in Germany has been predominantly focused on the top-down perspectives of decision-makers comparatively few studies have been conducted into bottom-up perspectives of those directly experiencing such language policy and planning decisions. In this paper, empirical data resulting from a mixed-method case study conducted at a German HE institution will be analysed to reveal hitherto unexplored bottom-up insights into the lived reality of an EMDP in Germany. The paper begins with an introduction to such programmes in Germany, before outlining the methodology pursued and exploring demographics and participant motivations within the programme under investigation. Applying Spolsky's (2004, p. 39) framework for analysing language policy, the de facto language policy experienced by study participants is revealed, providing insights into daily linguistic practices within the programme, and the pragmatic and ideological roles that English and German play in participants' reported experiences. Uncovering this de facto language policy serves to provide policy-makers at the top level with bottom-up perspectives for future policy formulation which may lead to a more well-grounded language policy (Shohamy, 2009, p. 188).

In the Eyes of the Beholder!

In the Eyes of the Beholder!

Cultivation and Use of Opium in Rural India: Bottom-Up Insights Into Anti-Drug Efforts

Although India is a major supplier of licit (i.e., legally grown) opium, it is also a leading producer of illicit (i.e., illegally grown) opium. To learn who might be involved in both types of production, the researchers interviewed 50 licensed opium farmers in Madhya Pradesh. Those interviews covered, among other aspects, farmers’ opium use, community attitudes towards addiction and trafficking, and knowledge of government-set opium prices and regulations. In general, some of those interviewed outlined both informal social controls and shunning, used against rural addicts, and support, even if grudgingly given, for government regulation. Those same interviews, however, revealed evidence of important social/economic changes that are undercutting the limited efficacy of extant formal controls in curtailing opium use, addiction, and trafficking.