Crowdfunding as Donations to Entrepreneurial Firms

The bulk of today's (“preorder-,” “reward-,” “gift-,” and “donation-based”) crowdfunding raises funds for small, private entrepreneurial ventures without granting funders private claims to the projects’ income or the ability to guarantee the realization and delivery of project outcomes. We theorize and show empirically – via a mixed-method approach applied to a representative and remarkably informative case – that the payoff structure for crowdfunders, akin to a public good contribution problem, leads to the tangible value of main project outputs exerting little influence on contributions to crowdfunding. This then raises the question of which funder motivations fund seekers may have to address to crowdfund their projects. We demonstrate the especially large role of non-pecuniary motivations and pinpoint three particular motivations that profit-seeking entrepreneurs may stimulate to be financed through crowdfunding. The findings hold important implications for entrepreneurs’ crowdfunding strategies, platform design, and our understanding of how this funding institution works in general. The study also adds to emerging research on the implications of the public good nature of crowdfunding.     

Accuracy between optical and inertial motion capture systems for assessing trunk speed during preferred gait and transition periods

Motion capture through inertial sensors is becoming popular, but its accuracy to describe kinematics during changes in walking speed is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of trunk speed extracted using an inertial motion system compared to a gold standard optical motion system, during steady walking and stationary periods. Eleven participants walked on pre-established paths marked on the floor. Between each lap, a 1-second stationary transition period at the initial position was included prior to the next lap. Resultant trunk speed during the walking and transition periods were extracted from an inertial (240 Hz sampling rate) and an optical system (120 Hz sampling rate) to calculate the agreement (Pearson’s correlation coefficient) and relative root mean square errors between both systems. The agreement for the resultant trunk speed between the inertial system and the optical system was strong (0.67 < r ≤ 0.9) for both walking and transition periods. Moreover, relative root mean square error during the transition periods was greater in comparison to the walking periods (>40% across all paths). It was concluded that trunk speed extracted from inertial systems have fair accuracy during walking, but the accuracy was reduced in the transition periods.     

Indirect estimation of injected mortar volume in historical walls using the electrical resistivity tomography

The electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) represents one of the widely used geophysical techniques for the exploration of the subsurface. In the last few years, this method has been demonstrated to be an efficient reconnaissance tool not only for monitoring degradation status of walls and foundations of historical buildings, but also for imaging the spatial distribution of injected mortar, commonly employed for consolidation purposes. A 3D resistivity tomography survey was carried out on four selected wall portions of the historical church of Montepetriolo, Perugia, Central Italy. The obtained 3D resistivity distribution models before and after grouting provided suggestive images of the internal structure of the studied walls. Moreover, the spatial distribution of the zones being filled with mortar was determined quantitatively by scaling the post- to the preinjection resistivity values. Using a well known correlation between resistivity and porosity, established in the geophysical community, a further step towards a more quantitative assessment was attempted to indirectly determine the unit volumes of the injected mortar The obtained results were satisfactory and in some cases almost similar to the yard data. Furthermore, two flat-jack tests confirmed the local increment of the mechanical resistance of the studied left front (2) and right lateral (3) wall portions.     

The Effects of Concreteness on Mathematical Manipulative Choice

There is mixed evidence as to whether concrete manipulatives (e.g., toy animals) are better than abstract manipulatives (e.g., counters) for teaching mathematical concepts to children. Concreteness is defined as the amount of extraneous information a manipulative provides, and in this study we aimed to unpick which dimensions of concreteness influence manipulative choice. Researchers, teachers, and parents completed a comparative judgment task comparing images of manipulatives varying in different dimensions of concreteness, selecting which they would choose to teach arithmetic to children. The findings indicated homogeneous, 3-dimensional manipulatives were the most preferred across all groups to teach arithmetic to children, regardless of more extraneous features. This contradicts research recommendations to minimize the use of concrete manipulatives due to their distractive qualities. Instead, it suggests that some concrete features may be preferred in more naturalistic contexts. More research is required to investigate how different dimensions of concreteness influence learning outcomes for children both in artificial research contexts and in practice.     

Agency online: trends in a university learning course

This article aims to investigate how university students perform agency in an online course and whether the collaborative nature of the course affects such expression. A total of 11 online web forums involving 18 students (N = 745 posts in total) were qualitatively analysed through the use of a codebook composed of five categories (individual, interpersonal, epistemic, transformative and collective) and several sub-categories purposely developed for the sake of this research. The results show that each category follows a specific path, although two events – the re-mixing of the groups and the assumption of the peer-tutor role – particularly affected the evolution of trends. Although this study needs further development, the authors believe that an in-depth understanding of the nature of agency, including how to analyse it as well as empower it when implementing blended educational activities, engages relevant theoretical and pedagogical issues.     

Measuring Weathering and Nanoparticle Coating Impact on Surface Roughness of Natural Stones

ABSTRACT

The surface texture of a stone represents a sensitive parameter in evaluating its conservation state. In monuments and sculptures, in fact, external agents continuously alter the appearance of stones, determining peculiar weathering patterns and modifying properties such as retention of water and particles, interaction with light, color, and finishing. The application of protective coatings also determines changes in surface appearance of a stone, usually evaluated and monitored by color change tests. Surface metrology methods offer the possibility to quantify these changes, evaluating the impact of external agents (natural, i.e. weathering, and artificially, i.e. protective coatings) on natural stones. In this research, we demonstrate the potential of surface areal measurements in describing the evolution of weathering processes and the effects of protective treatments on porous stone materials. The obtained results suggest that the extent of the modifications is related to the scale of observation (small- vs. large-scale undulations, i.e. roughness and waviness, respectively), with an overall increase of surface roughness as the weathering proceeds. Unexpectedly, coatings based on nanoparticle dispersions increase the topographic height parameters, due to the absence of a homogeneous film.     

Is microrheometry affected by channel deformation?

Microrheometry is very important for exploring rheological behaviours of several systems when conventional techniques fail. Microrheometrical measurements are usually carried out in microfluidic devices made of Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). Although PDMS is a very cheap material, it is also very easy to deform. In particular, a liquid flowing in a PDMS device, in some circumstances, can effectively deform the microchannel, thus altering the flow conditions. The measure of the fluid relaxation time might be performed through viscoelasticity induced particle migration in microfluidics devices. If the channel walls are deformed by the flow, the resulting measured value of the relaxation time could be not reliable. In this work, we study the effect of channel deformation on particle migration in square-shaped microchannel. Experiments are carried out in several PolyEthylene Oxyde solutions flowing in two devices made of PDMS and Poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA). The relevance of wall rigidity on particle migration is investigated, and the corresponding importance of wall rigidity on the determination of the relaxation time of the suspending liquid is examined.     

Collaboration,knowledge and innovation toward a welfare society: the case of the Board of Social Farming in Valdera (Tuscany), Italy

Purpose: Through an analysis of a social farming (SF) case study, this article investigates how collaboration and knowledge co-creation between different actors can support the process of rural transition in order to stimulate innovation in the welfare system using agricultural resources.

Methodology: We used the ‘Antecedent-Process-Outcome Framework’ developed by Wood and Gray [1991. “Toward a Comprehensive Theory of Collaboration.” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 27 (2): 139-162] and adapted by Thomson and Perry [2006. “Collaboration Processes: Inside the Black Box.” Public Administration Review 66 (s1): 20-32], to analyse the collaborative process within the Board of Social Farming (BSF) in Valdera, Italy. The BSF in Valdera is particularly important as it was the first transition arena developed in Italy for SF development.

Findings: The article highlights the difficulties and opportunities encountered by the BSF in the knowledge co-creation and collaboration, and identifies key elements to facilitate innovation in SF and more generally in transition processes.

Practical implications: The article aims to generalize crucial practical elements in the relationship between collaborative approaches and innovation in the field of innovative welfare society, which is increasingly key to rural transition.

Theoretical implications: Innovation in SF is complex due to the need to identify new knowledge, diverse kinds of organizations and innovative interactions among many private and public stakeholders. The article explores the concept of collaboration in SF in order to re-define the production of public and private goods within local and rural communities.

Originality: The article aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of collaboration in order to reinforce rural transition pathways.