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Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to analyze how the Neo-documentalist movement, initiated in 1996 by Michael Buckland, Boyd Rayward and Niels Lund, has evolved in its 27 years history, how the choice of documentation as name of the new program in Tromsø has made a difference in the LIS field and how different documentation scholars around the world has participated and approached the movement until now. Design/methodology/approach: The paper has approached the "Neo-documentalist movement" in a historical perspective from 1996 to 2023 discussing what difference does the choice of a concept make, when the concept of documentation is chosen instead of information in the name of a program and for the general discussion of the object of an academic field like Library and Information Science. Findings: The analysis shows that it did make a difference to choose the concept of documentation as name of the program in Tromsø and the Neo-documentalist movement contributed to a new focus and discussion of the informative objects, the documents and their creation, not only in Tromsø, but in different parts of the world across linguistic borders. Originality/value: The paper is original by the fact that it is the first time that the neo documentalist movement has been reviewed on a global scale across linguistic barriers. It has value by a discussion of the ways in which a choice of concept matter in relation to defining a field and the research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main purpose of the paper is to offer a personal view on the development of documentation/information and documentation (IuD) in Germany, while pointing out the need to further investigate the specific features of its development paths. The methodology is based on critical review of the available literature sources in the German language. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses the method of critical review of published documents in journals (especially in Nachrichten für Dokumentation), books and reports of state and provincial administrations that are directly related to monitoring and/or encouraging the development of the young field of documentation. Findings: The paper offers a review and interpretation of the most significant development phases, the contributions of individuals and the influence of the official state and information policy based on the consulted sources. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited to the literature written in German language. Practical implications: The paper could be of interest to researchers and professionals who are interested in the development of documentation. Social implications: The paper covers the period after the World War II until the end of 1980s that is especially interesting from the social point of view in divided Germany. Originality/value: To the author's knowledge, there is no comprehensive history of documentation in German-speaking countries written in English. This paper is the result of a research project started three years ago with colleagues from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, that aims to cover all phases of the appearance and development of information science in German-speaking countries and could be understood as a kind of introduction to papers planned to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to conduct a numerical and experimental investigation into the properties of nanofluids containing spherical nanoparticles of random sizes flowing through a porous medium. The study aims to understand how the thermophysical properties of the nanofluid are affected by factors such as nanoparticle volume fraction, permeability of the porous medium, and pore size. The paper provides insights into the behavior of nanofluids in complex environments and explores the impact of varying conditions on key properties such as thermal conductivity, density, viscosity, and specific heat. Ultimately, the research contributes to the broader understanding of nanofluid dynamics and has potential implications for engineering and industrial applications in porous media. Design/methodology/approach: This paper investigates nanofluids with spherical nanoparticles in a porous medium, exploring thermal conductivity, density, specific heat, and dynamic viscosity. Studying three compositions, the analysis employs the classical Maxwell model and Koo and Kleinstreuer's approach for thermal conductivity, considering particle shape and temperature effects. Density and specific heat are defined based on mass and volume ratios. Dynamic viscosity models, including Brinkman's and Gherasim et al.'s, are discussed. Numerical simulations, implemented in Python using the Langevin model, yield results processed in Origin Pro. This research enhances understanding of nanofluid behavior, contributing valuable insights to porous media applications. Findings: This study involves a numerical examination of nanofluid properties, featuring spherical nanoparticles of varying sizes suspended in a base fluid with known density, flowing through a porous medium. Experimental findings reveal a notable increase in thermal conductivity, density, and viscosity as the volume fraction of particles rises. Conversely, specific heat experiences a decrease with higher particle volume concentration.xD; xA; The influence of permeability and pore size on particle volume fraction variation is a key focus. Interestingly, while the permeability of the medium has a significant effect, it is observed that it increases with permeability. This underscores the role of the medium's nature in altering the thermophysical properties of nanofluids. Originality/value: This paper presents a novel numerical study on nanofluids with randomly sized spherical nanoparticles flowing in a porous medium. It explores the impact of porous medium properties on nanofluid thermophysical characteristics, emphasizing the significance of permeability and pore size. The inclusion of random nanoparticle sizes adds practical relevance. Contrasting trends are observed, where thermal conductivity, density, and viscosity increase with particle volume fraction, while specific heat decreases. These findings offer valuable insights for engineering applications, providing a deeper understanding of nanofluid behavior in porous environments and guiding the design of efficient systems in various industrial contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review on what is known about unpaid family carers who are at risk of or have experienced abuse from the people they provide care for and relevant policy/legal and practice responses for affected family carers. Design/methodology/approach: A literature search was carried out to locate literature relating to unpaid family carers who are at risk of or have experienced abuse from the people they provide care for. This also incorporated grey literature, including policy guidance and law, to determine the existing knowledge base, gaps in practice and areas that might require further research. Findings: The findings suggest that although carer harm is serious, it is under-researched. In addition, the unique needs of unpaid family carers who are at risk of or have experienced abuse, violence and harm from the people they provide care for are subsumed in safeguarding policy/law processes and practice under the auspices of the protection of "adults at risk" rather than the protection of "carers at risk". Research limitations/implications: It is important that those who support unpaid family carers who are at risk of abuse and harm know about their unique safeguarding needs and concerns to offer appropriate support. It is also apparent that policy and law need to address the gap in provision relating to the unique safeguarding concerns involving the abuse of unpaid family carers by the people they provide care for. This paper is based on this literature review and not on other types of research. Originality/value: The paper provides insights into what is known about the abuse of unpaid family carers by the people they provide care for, and the policy/legal and practice responses to affected unpaid family carers. It contributes to the body of knowledge on carer abuse and safeguarding carers from abuse and harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to introduce the concept of using the well-established Shared Lives approach to support survivors of domestic abuse with complex needs including those with learning and physical disabilities, older people and carers. Design/methodology/approach: Survivors with complex needs are often excluded from traditional domestic abuse support services thus increasing their risk and making recovery impossible. Using the Shared Lives approach in suitable cases could address gaps in provision and improve the outcomes for survivors with disabilities, older survivors and carers. Findings: The paper draws on evidence from reports and research about the experiences of these cohorts of survivors to explain how the Shared Lives approach could increase support options for specific categories of survivors. Practical implications: Using the Shared Lives approach to support cohorts of victims/survivors who experience barriers to accessing support could improve outcomes for these people, reduce risk of serious harm and improve quality of life. Originality/value: With the recent recommendation from Association of Directors of Adult Social Services around increasing use of Shared Lives, this paper provides one potential way to meet this recommendation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper will challenge normative disaster studies and practice by arguing that thriving communities require the pursuit of imperfection and solidarity. The authors use Lewis Carroll's Looking-Glass World as a lens to critique both how disasters are understood, and how disaster researchers and practitioners operate, within a climate-change affected world where cultural, political and historical constructs are constantly shifting. Design/methodology/approach: The paper will undertake an analysis of both disasters and disaster studies, using this unique (and satirical) critical lens, looking at the unfolding of systemic mistakes, oppressions and mal-development that are revealed in contemporary disasters, that were once the critiques of Lewis Carroll's Victorian-era England. It shows how disaster "resilience-building" can actually be a mechanism for continuing the status quo, and how persistent colonizing institutions and systems can be in reproducing themselves. Findings: The authors argue the liberation of disaster studies as a process of challenging the doctrines and paradigms that have been created and given meaning by those in power – particularly white, Western/Northern/Eurocentric, male power. They suggest how researchers and practitioners might view disasters – and their own praxis – Through the Looking Glass in an effort to better understand the power, domination and violence of the status quo, but also as a means of creating a vision for something better, arguing that liberation is possible through community-led action grounded in love, solidarity, difference and interconnection. Originality/value: The paper uses a novel conceptual lens as a way to challenge researchers and practitioners to avoid the utopic trap that wishes to achieve homogenized perfection and instead find an "imperfect" and complex adaptation that moves toward justice. Considering this idea through satire and literary criticism will lend support to empirical research that makes a similar case using data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper proposes a way of reflexing on how we think within critical disaster studies. It focuses on the biases and unthought dimensions of two concepts – resilience and development – and reflects on the relationship between theory and practice in critical disaster studies. Design/methodology/approach: Premised on the idea of epistemic reflexivity developed by Pierre Bourdieu, and drawing on previous research, this theoretical article analyses two conceptual biases and shortcomings of disaster studies: how resilience builds on certain agency; and how development assumes certain political imagination. Findings: The article argues that critical disaster scholars must reflect on their own intellectual practice, including the origin of concepts and what they do. This is exemplified by a description of how the idea of resistance is intimately connected to that of resilience, and by showing that we must go beyond the capitalist realism that typically underlies development and risk creation. The theoretical advancement of our field can provide ways of thinking about the premises of many of our concepts. Originality/value: The paper offers an invitation for disaster researchers to engage with critical thought and meta-theoretical reflexions. To think profoundly about our concepts is a necessary first step to developing critical scholarship. Epistemic reflexivity in critical disaster studies therefore provides an interesting avenue by which to liberate the field from overly technocratic approaches and develop its own criticality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Using critical disaster studies and state theory, we assess the disaster aid platform named Lebanon Reconstruction, Reform and Recovery Framework (3RF) that was put in place by international donors in the aftermath of the Beirut Port Blast in August 2020, in order to examine the effectiveness of its inclusive decision-making architecture, as well as its institutional building and legislative reform efforts. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses the case study approaach and relies on two original data sets compiled by authors, using desk reviews of academic literature and secondary data, in addition to 24 semi-structured expert interviews and participant observation for two years. Findings: The aid platform appears innovative, participatory and effectively functioning toward recovery and reform. However, in practice, the government dismisses CSOs, undermines reforms and dodges state building, whereas the 3RF is structured in incoherent ways and operates according to conflicting logics, generating inertia and pitfalls that hinder effective participatory governance, prevent institutional building, and delay the making of projects. Research limitations/implications: The research contributes to critical scholarship as it addresses an important research gap concerning disaster aid platforms' institutional design and governance that are under-studied in critical disaster studies and political studies. It also highlights the need for critical disaster studies to engage with state theory and vice-versa. Practical implications: The research contributes to evaluations of disaster recovery processes and outcomes. It highlights the limits of disaster aid platforms' claims for participatory decision-making, institutional-building and reforms. Originality/value: The paper amplifies critical disaster studies, through the reflexive analysis of a case-study of an aid platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper argues that extractivist logic creates the environmental conditions that produce "natural" hazards and also the human conditions that produce vulnerability, which combined create disasters. Disaster Risk Creation is then built into the current global socio-economic system, as an integral component not accidental by-product. Design/methodology/approach: As part of the movement to liberate disasters as discipline, practice and field of enquiry, this paper does not talk disasters per se, but rather its focus is on "extractivism" as a fundamental explanator for the anthropogenic disaster landscape that now confronts us. Findings: Applying a gender lens to extractivism as it relates to disaster, further highlights that Disaster Risk Management rather than alleviating, creates the problems it seeks to solve, suggesting the need to liberate gender from Disaster Risk Management, and the need to liberate us all from the notion of managing disasters. Since to 'manage' disaster risk is to accept uncritically the structures and systems that create that risk, then if we truly want to address disasters, our focus needs to be on the extractive practices, not the disastrous outcomes. Originality/value: The fundamental argument is that through privileging the notion of "disaster" we create it, bring it into existence, as something that exists in and of itself, apart from wider socio-economic structures and systems of extraction and exploitation, rather than recognising it for what it is, an outcome/end product of those wider structures and systems. Our focus on disaster is then misplaced, and perhaps what disaster studies needs to be liberated from, is itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper is a critique of Western modernity and the problems and promises of postmodernism in (re)liberating disaster studies. It criticizes metanarratives and grand theories of Western discourses to advance postmodern discourses in disaster studies. Design/methodology/approach: This paper outlines a conceptual domain through which approaches of postmodernism can be employed to (re)liberate disaster studies. Findings: Metanarratives and grand theories frame the scope and focus of disaster studies. But the increasing number and the aggravated impacts of disasters and environmental challenges in the late 20th and early 21st centuries are proofs that our current "frames" do not capture the complexities of disasters. Postmodernism, in its diversity and various meanings, offers critical and complementary perspectives and approaches to capture the previously neglected dimensions of disasters. Research limitations/implications: Postmodernism offers ways forward to (re)liberate disaster studies through ontological pluralism, epistemological diversity and hybridity of knowledge. Originality/value: The agenda of postmodernism in disaster studies is proposed in terms of the focus of inquiry, ontological and epistemological positionalities, research paradigm, methodologies and societal goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The question of "why we are in disaster studies" can be essential to reflect on discourses and practices – as students, researchers and professors – in constituting an oppressive disaster science and finding ways to liberate from it. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on autobiographical research and institutional ethnography to observe and analyze the discourses and practices about career trajectories as students, researchers and professors in disaster studies. Findings: The paper provides some categories, concepts, theoretical approaches and lived experiences helpful for discussing ways of liberating disaster studies, such as public sociology of disaster. Originality/value: Few papers have focused on professional trajectories in disaster studies, bringing insights from public sociology and questioning oppressive disaster science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Research in critical disaster studies stresses the urgency to explore alternative ontological framings (Gaillard and Raju, 2022) that encourages researchers and practitioners, especially Indigenous communities, to nurture spaces where Indigenous voices are well represented. It is imperative that research in the Pacific should be guided by Pacific research methodologies to maximize positive outcomes (Ponton, 2018) and break free from limited Eurocentric ideologies that are often ill-suited in Pacific contexts. Hazards in the South Pacific region have become more frequent and volatile. This has created a growing interest in the study of disasters in the region. However, current disaster studies in the Pacific are often problematic as they often fail to challenge the implicit coloniality of the discipline. Design/methodology/approach: This paper will expand on these arguments, suggesting ways to overcome the limits of common Eurocentric research frameworks in disaster studies and to illustrate the significance and relevance of Pacific methodologies. Findings: It is pertinent that critical disaster studies encapsulate Pacific worldviews and knowledge as valued and valid to reconstruct Pacific research. Decolonizing disaster research will ultimately liberate the discipline from limitations of its colonial past and allow for truly engaging and critical research practices. Originality/value: This paper will illustrate and articulate how Talanoa, a pan-Pacific concept, could offer a more culturally appropriate research methodology to disasters, seen through a Samoan lens. Talanoa is an informal conversation that is widely shared among Pacific communities based on pure, authentic and real conversations which are crucial elements in building relationships with Pacific communities (Vaioleti, 2006). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Scholars of disaster have discussed how place attachment affects the disaster landscape. The rupture of self from home, of familiar into strange and disconnected is explored through this lens. I propose in this paper that it is possible that what we are seeing is not a sudden disruption of place attachment, but an ongoing process of alienation. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper I discuss the concepts of both place attachment and alienation. In particular I explore Marx's concept of alienation. I then look at examples from disaster research and identify instances and concepts that can be better interpreted as an ongoing process of alienation. Findings: I find that, when using Marx's framework of alienation, we can take examples from disaster studies that might appear as a sudden disruption of place attachment and critically examine them as cases of alienation. Originality/value: This exploration of disaster theory offers a new framework for bringing together urban theory, in particular critical urban theory, with disaster research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework for integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into teaching practices for educators in rural Ghana lacking computer and internet access. Bridging the rural–urban digital divide is critical for equitable quality education. This research identifies distinct infrastructure, financial, human, and socio-cultural challenges of ICT adoption in underserved Ghanaian schools through an exhaustive literature review. The framework provides tailored strategies to empower teachers to leverage ICT for innovative pedagogy despite limitations. Ultimately, the goal is to offer pragmatic, evidence-based solutions to advance ICT-enabled instruction and digital equity in marginalized settings. Design/methodology/approach: This study utilizes a qualitative literature review methodology to develop a conceptual framework for ICT teaching techniques tailored to the rural Ghanaian context. Published empirical studies, theoretical papers, and reports focused on ICT education in developing countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, were systematically reviewed across multidisciplinary databases. Relevant theories and models, like TPACK and SAMR, were analyzed to determine appropriate modifications for the framework design. The proposed strategies emphasize affordable technologies, teacher training, localized content, and culturally relevant pedagogies selected based on evidence from literature to address the unique barriers and needs of the rural setting. Findings: The literature review revealed profound infrastructure, financial, human, and socio-cultural barriers to ICT adoption in rural Ghanaian schools. These include lack of electricity, internet, hardware, and software alongside inadequate teacher training and support. The proposed conceptual framework offers solutions including leveraging low-cost technologies like mobile devices, prioritizing teacher professional development, developing localized digitally-enabled resources, and fostering community participation. Culturally relevant pedagogies are also emphasized. This tailored, evidence-based approach holds promise for enhancing ICT-enabled instruction and bridging digital divides to promote equitable quality education. Further findings will emerge through framework implementation and evaluation. Research limitations/implications: This conceptual framework requires implementation and evaluation to truly determine its impact and effectiveness in the intended rural Ghanaian context. As a literature review, primary data collection was not undertaken. Practical application of the framework in schools can yield direct insights through surveys, interviews, observations, and analysis of key educational outcomes pre and post-implementation. Comparisons with control groups may further illuminate its efficacy. Monitoring and adaptation over time is also essential. Ultimately, this research sets the foundation for praxis-oriented work transforming ICT integration in marginalized communities to advance digital equity and inclusion. Practical implications: This research provides an evidence-based, context-aware framework with pragmatic solutions to enhance ICT-enabled teaching and learning in underserved rural Ghanaian schools. It offers guidance to teachers, administrators, and policymakers on integrating technology despite infrastructure and resource constraints. The emphasis on cost-effective innovations, educator training, localized content, and community participation can inform planning and investments in ICT education. Broader applications include adapting the framework for other developing country contexts facing comparable challenges. Overall, this work promotes digital equity and quality education access, catalyzing social development and aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Social implications: This research highlights the urgent need to address digital divides exacerbating educational inequalities between rural and urban communities in Ghana. Lack of technology access and utilization in rural schools threatens to widen gaps in skills, capabilities, and opportunities for students. Strategic integration of ICT can promote social inclusion, cultivate digital literacy, and equip youth to participate in the global digital economy, thereby enhancing prospects. More broadly, advancing digital equity and ICT-enabled education empowers marginalized groups, fosters community empowerment, and drives progressive social change. This work underscores that localized, context-appropriate solutions are pivotal for promoting development and social justice. Originality/value: This research fills a crucial gap by proposing a conceptual framework tailored specifically for integrating ICT in teaching practices in rural Ghanaian schools lacking digital access, responding to context-specific barriers and needs. While extensive literature examines ICT education models globally, few studies offer localized strategies for resource-constrained environments. This framework adapts established models based on a systematic literature review, emphasizing affordability, capacity building, and cultural relevance. By synthesizing evidence-based, pragmatic solutions to advance ICT-enabled instruction in marginalized settings, this work provides a valuable foundation for praxis transforming rural education. The localization approach could inform frameworks for other developing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: People are more likely to participate in work-related events that might cause positive and negative affective reactions. Prior research linked coworker friendship with incivility; however, few studies investigated negative workplace gossip. Simultaneously, linking coworker friendship with incivility through positive/negative affective responses is lacking. As such, this paper aims to examine this relationship via the dual mediation effect of positive and negative workplace gossip. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 398 subordinates at family restaurants in Greater Cairo were surveyed, and data was analyzed using SmartPLS4. Findings: Coworker friendship significantly influences coworker incivility via positive and negative workplace gossip and other underlying mechanisms. Research limitations/implications: Managers should take the initiative to decrease gossip by sharing information promptly and thoroughly and establishing effective channels for information exchange. In the case of an informal plan, restaurant managers may seek to create a welcoming and motivating corporate atmosphere and cultivate social ties among subordinates to prevent the creation of negative gossip. Restaurant managers should give victims of negative gossip timely psychological counseling. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the restaurant literature on affective emotional responses to coworkers' judgment-driven behavior from new perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Identification of the direction of the sound source is very important for human–machine interfacing in the applications such as target detection on military applications and wildlife conservation. Considering its vast applications, this study aims to design, simulate, fabricate and test a bidirectional acoustic sensor having two cantilever structures coated with piezoresistive material for sensing has been designed, simulated, fabricated and tested. Design/methodology/approach: The structure is a piezoresistive acoustic pressure sensor, which consists of two Kapton diaphragms with four piezoresistors arranged in Wheatstone bridge arrangement. The applied acoustic pressure causes diaphragm deflection and stress in diaphragm hinge, which is sensed by the piezoresistors positioned on the diaphragm. The piezoresistive material such as carbon or graphene is deposited at maximum stress area. Furthermore, the Wheatstone bridge arrangement has been formed to sense the change in resistance resulting into imbalanced bridge and two cantilever structures add directional properties to the acoustic sensor. The structure is designed, fabricated and tested and the dimensions of the structure are chosen to enable ease of fabrication without clean room facilities. This structure is tested with static and dynamic calibration for variation in resistance leading to bridge output voltage variation and directional properties. Findings: This paper provides the experimental results that indicate sensor output variation in terms of a Wheatstone bridge output voltage from 0.45 V to 1.618 V for a variation in pressure from 0.59 mbar to 100 mbar. The device is also tested for directionality using vibration source and was found to respond as per the design. Research limitations/implications: The fabricated devices could not be tested for practical acoustic sources due to lack of facilities. They have been tested for a vibration source in place of acoustic source. Practical implications: The piezoresistive bidirectional sensor can be used for detection of direction of the sound source. Social implications: In defense applications, it is important to detect the direction of the acoustic signal. This sensor is suited for such applications. Originality/value: The present paper discusses a novel yet simple design of a cantilever beam-based bidirectional acoustic pressure sensor. This sensor fabrication does not require sophisticated cleanroom for fabrication and characterization facility for testing. The fabricated device has good repeatability and is able to detect the direction of the acoustic source in external environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Nanosensors have a wide range of applications because of their high sensitivity, selectivity and specificity. In the past decade, extensive and pervasive research related to nanosensors has led to significant progress in diverse fields, such as biomedicine, environmental monitoring and industrial process control. This led to better and more efficient detection and monitoring of physical and chemical properties at better resolution, opening new horizons in the development of novel technologies and applications for improved human health, environment protection, enhanced industrial processes, etc. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors discuss the application of citation network analysis in the field of nanosensor research and development. Cluster analysis was carried out using papers published in the field of nanomaterial-based sensor research, and an in-depth analysis was carried out to identify significant clusters. The purpose of this study is to provide researchers to identify a pathway to the emerging areas in the field of nanosensor research. The authors have illustrated the knowledge base, knowledge domain and knowledge progression of nanosensor research using the citation analysis based on 3,636 Science Citation Index papers published during the period 2011 to 2021. Findings: Among these papers, the bibliographic study identified 809 significant research publications, 11 clusters, 556 research sector keywords, 1,296 main authors, 139 referenced authors, 63 nations, 206 organizations and 42 journals. The authors have identified single quantum dot (QD)-based nanosensor for biological applications, carbon dot-based nanosensors, self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator-based nanosensor and genetically encoded nanosensor as the significant research hotspots that came to the fore in recent years. The future trend in nanosensor research might focus on the development of efficient and cost-effective designs for the detection of numerous environmental pollutants and biological molecules using mesostructured materials and QDs. It is also possible to optimize the detection methods using theoretical models, and generalized gradient approximation has great scope in sensor development. Research limitations/implications: The future trend in nanosensor research might focus on the development of efficient and cost-effective designs for the detection of numerous environmental pollutants and biological molecules using mesostructured materials and QDs. It is also possible to optimize the detection methods using theoretical models, and generalized gradient approximation has great scope in sensor development. Originality/value: This is a novel bibliometric analysis in the area of "nanomaterial based sensor," which is carried out in CiteSpace software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Artificial fruit ripening is hazardous to mankind. In the recent past, artificial fruit ripening is increasing gradually due to its commercial benefits. To discriminate the type of fruit ripening involved at the vendors' side, there is a great demand for on-sight ethylene detection in a nondestructive manner. Therefore, this study aims to deal with a comparison of various laboratory and portable methods developed so far with high-performance metrics to identify the ethylene detection at fruit ripening site. Design/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on various types of technologies proposed up to date in ethylene detection, fabrication methods and signal conditioning circuits for ethylene detection in parts per million and parts per billion levels. The authors have already developed an infrared (IR) sensor to detect ethylene and also developed a lab-based setup belonging to the electrochemical sensing methods to detect ethylene for the fruit ripening application. Findings: The authors have developed an electrochemical sensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes whose performance is relatively higher than the sensors that were previously reported in terms of material, sensitivity and selectivity. For identifying the best sensing technology for optimization of ethylene detection for fruit ripening discrimination process, authors have developed an IR-based ethylene sensor and also semiconducting metal-oxide ethylene sensor which are all compared with literature-based comparable parameters. This review paper mainly focuses on the potential possibilities for developing portable ethylene sensing devices for investigation applications. Originality/value: The authors have elaborately discussed the new chemical and physical methods of ethylene detection and quantification from their own developed methods and also the key findings of the methods proposed by fellow researchers working on this field. The authors would like to declare that the extensive analysis carried out in this technical survey could be used for developing a cost-effective and high-performance portable ethylene sensing device for fruit ripening and discrimination applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Microribbon with meander type based on giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect has become a research hot spot due to their higher sensitivity and spatial resolution. The purpose of this paper is to further optimize the line spacing to improve the performance of meanders for sensor application. Design/methodology/approach: The model of GMI effect of microribbon with meander type is established. The effect of line spacing (Ls) on GMI behavior in meanders is analyzed systematically. Findings: Comparison of theory and experiment indicates that decreasing the line spacing increases the negative mutual inductance and a consequent increase in the GMI effect. The maximum value of the GMI ratio increases from 69% to 91.8% (simulation results) and 16.9% to 51.4% (experimental results) when the line spacing is reduced from 400 to 50 µm. The contribution of line spacing versus line width to the GMI ratio of microribbon with meander type was contrasted. This behavior of the GMI ratio is dominated by the overall negative contribution of the mutual inductance. Originality/value: This paper explores the effect of line spacing on the GMI ratio of meander type by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results. The superior line spacing is found in the identical sensing area. The findings will contribute to the design of high-performance micropatterned ribbon with meander-type GMI sensors and the establishment of a ribbon-based magnetic-sensitive biosensing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors have attracted great attention worldwide for a variety of applications in measuring physical, chemical and biological parameters. However, stability has been one of the key issues which have limited their effective commercial applications. To fully understand this challenge of operation stability, this paper aims to systematically review mechanisms, stability issues and future challenges of SAW sensors for various applications. Design/methodology/approach: This review paper starts with different types of SAWs, advantages and disadvantages of different types of SAW sensors and then the stability issues of SAW sensors. Subsequently, recent efforts made by researchers for improving working stability of SAW sensors are reviewed. Finally, it discusses the existing challenges and future prospects of SAW sensors in the rapidly growing Internet of Things-enabled application market. Findings: A large number of scientific articles related to SAW technologies were found, and a number of opportunities for future researchers were identified. Over the past 20 years, SAW-related research has gained a growing interest of researchers. SAW sensors have attracted more and more researchers worldwide over the years, but the research topics of SAW sensor stability only own an extremely poor percentage in the total researc topics of SAWs or SAW sensors. Originality/value: Although SAW sensors have been attracting researchers worldwide for decades, researchers mainly focused on the new materials and design strategies for SAW sensors to achieve good sensitivity and selectivity, and little work can be found on the stability issues of SAW sensors, which are so important for SAW sensor industries and one of the key factors to be mature products. Therefore, this paper systematically reviewed the SAW sensors from their fundamental mechanisms to stability issues and indicated their future challenges for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to concentrate on recent innovations in flexible wearable sensor technology tailored for monitoring vital signals within the contexts of wearable sensors and systems developed specifically for monitoring health and fitness metrics. Design/methodology/approach: In recent decades, wearable sensors for monitoring vital signals in sports and health have advanced greatly. Vital signals include electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, electromyography, inertial data, body motions, cardiac rate and bodily fluids like blood and sweating, making them a good choice for sensing devices. Findings: This report reviewed reputable journal articles on wearable sensors for vital signal monitoring, focusing on multimode and integrated multi-dimensional capabilities like structure, accuracy and nature of the devices, which may offer a more versatile and comprehensive solution. Originality/value: The paper provides essential information on the present obstacles and challenges in this domain and provide a glimpse into the future directions of wearable sensors for the detection of these crucial signals. Importantly, it is evident that the integration of modern fabricating techniques, stretchable electronic devices, the Internet of Things and the application of artificial intelligence algorithms has significantly improved the capacity to efficiently monitor and leverage these signals for human health monitoring, including disease prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Human-induced marine environmental noise, such as commercial shipping and seismic exploration, is concentrated in the low-frequency range. Meanwhile, low-frequency sound signals can achieve long-distance propagation in water. To meet the requirements of long-distance underwater detection and communication, this paper aims to propose an micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) flexible conformal hydrophone for low-frequency underwater acoustic signals. The substrate of the proposed hydrophone is polyimide, with silicon as the piezoresistive unit. Design/methodology/approach: This paper proposes a MEMS heterojunction integration process for preparing flexible conformal hydrophones. In addition, sensors prepared based on this process are non-contact flexible sensors that can detect weak signals or small deformations. Findings: The experimental results indicate that making devices with this process cannot only achieve heterogeneous integration of silicon film, metal wire and polyimide, but also allow for customized positions of the silicon film as needed. The success rate of silicon film transfer printing is over 95%. When a stress of 1 Pa is applied on the x-axis or y-axis, the maximum stress on Si as a pie-zoresistive material is above, and the average stress on the Si film is around. Originality/value: The flexible conformal vector hydrophone prepared by heterogeneous integration technology provides ideas for underwater acoustic communication and signal acquisition of biomimetic flexible robotic fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To remain sustainable, open source software (OSS) projects must attract new members—or newcomers—who make contributions. In this paper, the authors develop a set of hypotheses based on the knowledge barriers framework that examines how OSS communities can encourage contributions from newcomers. Design/methodology/approach: Employing longitudinal data from the source code repositories of 232 OSS projects over a two-year period, the authors employ a Poisson-based mixed model to test how community characteristics, such as the main drivers of knowledge-based costs, relate to newcomers' contributions. Findings: The results indicate that community characteristics, such as programming language choice, documentation effort and code structure instability, are the main drivers of knowledge-based contribution costs. The findings also suggest that managing these costs can result in more inclusive OSS communities, as evidenced by the number of contributing newcomers; the authors highlight the importance of maintaining documentation efforts for OSS communities. Originality/value: This paper assumes that motivational factors are a necessary but insufficient condition for newcomer participation in OSS projects and that the cost to participation should be considered. Using the knowledge barriers framework, this paper identifies the main knowledge-based costs that hinder newcomer participation. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study that does not limit data collection to a single hosting platform (e.g., SourceForge), which improves the generalizability of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: One of the most important challenges confronting enterprise managers is that of controlling employees' social cyberloafing. The use of enterprise social media entails opportunities for cyberloafing. However, previous research on how enterprise social media use affects cyberloafing is rather limited. Using the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, this paper proposes a research model to investigate the relationship between enterprise social media usage and employees' social cyberloafing behavior. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling was performed to test the research model and hypotheses. Surveys were conducted in an online platform in China, generating 510 employees' data for analysis. Findings: First, both public social media and private social media used for work-related and social-related purposes have a positive effect on employees' job engagement. Further, job engagement has a negative effect on employees' social cyberloafing. Second, the use of public social media for work-related and social-related purposes has no effect on employees' emotional exhaustion. However, work-related private social media usage has a negative effect on employees' emotional exhaustion, and social-related private social media usage has a positive effect on employees' emotional exhaustion. Further, employees' emotional exhaustion has a positive effect on employees' social cyberloafing. Third, there are significant differences in the effects of enterprise social media on employees' social cyberloafing between male and female employees. Originality/value: First, this paper contributes to the social cyberloafing literature by establishing a relationship between enterprise social media usage and social cyberloafing in relation to the dual influence mechanism. Second, it contributes to the JD-R model by clarifying how the use of enterprise social media with different motivations affects social cyberloafing through a mediation mechanism, namely, an enabling mechanism and a burden mechanism. Third, this paper also contributes to the social cyberloafing literature by revealing the boundary condition, namely gender, between enterprise social media use and employees' social cyberloafing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the applicability of 3D-printed molds to be used as a substitute for photolithography in the formation of polymer-based stamps. It proposes leveraging 3D printing as a rapid prototyping tool to be applied to microfluidic fabrication.Design/methodology/approach Different designs are created using computer-aided design (CAD) software and printed via Makerbot 3D printer. The molds serve as negative reliefs for a PDMS stamp. The stamp is used to apply paraffin wax to chromatography paper, creating hydrophobic barriers and hydrophilic channels. The minimum functional channel widths and barrier widths are determined for the method.Findings The method is demonstrated to be effective for bypassing the more cost-prohibitive photolithography approach for rapid paper microdevice fabrication. This approach produces functional channels that can be used for on-chip analytical assays. The minimum functional barrier widths and minimum functional channel widths are in good agreement with other published methods for paper-based microchannel fabrication.Research limitations/implications The approach cannot generate the high-resolution structures possible with photolithography. Therefore, if higher resolutions are needed for a particular application, this approach is not the best.Practical implications The simplicity of the approach introduces an affordable method to create disposable devices that can be used at the point of testing.Originality/value The paper satisfies a need for inexpensive, rapid prototyping of paper-based devices. The method is simple and can be used as a tool for introducing labs to microfluidics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Although many interventional approaches have been proposed to address the apparent gap between novices and experts for literature review (LR) search tasks, there have been very few approaches proposed for manuscript preparation (MP) related tasks. The purpose of this paper is to describe a task and an incumbent technique for shortlisting important and unique papers from the reading list (RL) of researchers, meant for citation in a manuscript.Design/methodology/approach A user evaluation study was conducted on the prototype system which was built for supporting the shortlisting papers (SP) task along with two other LR search tasks. A total of 119 researchers who had experience in authoring research papers participated in this study. An online questionnaire was provided to the participants for evaluating the task. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on the collected evaluation data.Findings Graduate research students prefer this task more than research and academic staff. The evaluation measures relevance, usefulness and certainty were identified as predictors for the output quality measure “good list”. The shortlisting feature and information cues were the preferred aspects while limited data set and rote steps in the study were ascertained as critical aspects from the qualitative feedback of the participants.Originality/value Findings point out that researchers are clearly interested in this novel task of SP from the final RL prepared during LR. This has implications for digital library, academic databases and reference management software where this task can be included to benefit researchers at the manuscript preparatory stage of the research lifecycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study a feasible visualization of large-size three-dimension (3D) color models which are beyond the maximum print size of newest paper-based 3D printer used 3D cutting-bonding frame (3D-CBF) and evaluate the effects of cutting angle and layout method on printing time of designed models. Design/methodology/approach: Sixteen models, including cuboid model, cylinder model, hole model and sphere model with different shape features, were divided into two symmetric parts and printed by the Mcor IRIS HD 3D printer. Before printing, two sub-parts were rearranged in one of three layout methods. Nine scaled sizes of original models were printed to find the quantitative relationship between printing time and scale values in each type. For the 0.3 times of original models, six cutting angles were evaluated in detail. Findings: The correlation function about colorization time and printed pages was proposed. Based on 3D-CBF, the correlation between printing time and scale size is statistically defined. Optimization parameters of designed parts visualization about cutting angel and layout method were found, even if their statistical results were difficult to model their effects on printing time of specimens. Research limitations/implications: The research is comparative and limited to the special models and used procedures. Originality/value: The paper provides a feasible visualization and printing speed optimization methods for the further industrialization of 3D paper-based printing technology in cultural creative field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on several issues related to the graphic paper demand in the market including the development of gross domestic product (GDP), population, and the price of paper. It also mentions that diffusion of information and communication technologies are now regarded as a possible driver of its consumption, indicating that the emerging markets for paper demand is a combination of classical and new factors. It examines panel data regression analysis of Russian market along with system dynamics simulation using Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis. It also integrates different quantitative approaches to sketch long-term paper demand.

Purpose - This paper aims to describe and evaluate the traditional methods for effective ink removal during the recycling of printed papers. Additionally, novel techniques for dealing with the newer "difficult to deink" inks such as toners from photocopiers, UV-cured ink films and liquid toner suspensions or Electroinks® are to be evaluated. Design/methodology/approach - High intensity ultrasound was applied to pulps derived from papers printed with these newer inks in order to evaluate its effectiveness in detaching the inks from paper and establishing the resultant ink particle size distributions. Findings - When exposed to ultrasound at a frequency of 20?kHz, it was found that "difficult to deink" pulps did exhibit significant ink detachment. In the case of toners, temperature did have an effect on particle breakdown with larger numbers of particles produced at temperatures well below the softening point which was attributed to a greater brittleness of the toner at lower temperatures. Electroinks® can be effectively de-inked by exposure to ultrasound coupled with washing under neutral conditions. With all the inks investigated, exposure to ultrasound resulted in the detached ink having particle size distributions that can be removed by conventional flotation and washing techniques. Research limitations/implications - The exposure of the pulp to ultrasound was only carried out using a batch-wise process. A future development would be to use a continuous flow system incorporating an annular ultrasound horn. Practical implications - Introducing ultrasound exposure into a conventional deinking plant, all post-consumer printed waste paper could be deinked without the use of deinking chemicals. Originality/value - The findings are of interest to those in paper recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to find a suitable solution to treat the solidification paper by using hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) to improve the mechanical, physical and chemical properties of paper. Design/methodology/approach: The samples have gone several stages, starting with the manufacture of paper from the linen pulp and the same components of the hardened manuscript papers. It was subjected to artificial aging to reach an age comparable to the manuscript age, then it was subjected to natural aging by inoculation it with A. niger. Mechanical cleaning of the leaves was done with soft brushes. The samples have been consolidated by HPC 2%. Digital microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, mechanical properties measurement, color change, Fourier transform infrared and pH measurements were used to assess the effect of HPC on the qualities of leaves. Findings: HPC succussed in strengthening and restoring the natural, chemical and mechanical properties for the solidified leaves. Originality/value: The solidified papers phenomenon constitutes severe suffering for manuscripts and books conservators. The paper consolidation initial stage is one of the most important conservation stages because paper has lost many natural, mechanical and chemical properties. The most important feature of this study is providing a solution to the hardened leaves strengthening problem and restoring their chemical, natural and mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The coating process is broadly employed in the manufacturing of wallpapers, adhesive tapes, wrapping, protection of fabrics and metals, X-ray and photographic films, beautification, books and magazines, film foils, magnetic records, coated paper, etc. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, an incompressible flow of non-Newtonian fluid is modeled to inspect the rheological behavior of finite coating thickness in the reverse roll coating process. With the assistance of lubrication approximation theory (LAT), the dimensionless form of governing expressions is simplified. Exact solutions for distributions for velocity, flow rate, temperature and pressure gradient attained utilizing perturbation technique and their variation is presented as well as discussed in graphs. Meanwhile, some important factors from an engineering perspective including coating thickness and transition point were calculated mathematically and are displayed in a tabular manner. Also, streamlines are drawn to observe the flow pattern. Findings: Prandtl fluid parameters provide a controlling factor to regulate the flow rate, velocity, coating thickness, and pressure gradient leading to an efficient coating process. Moreover, the Brinkman number and Prandtl fluid parameters significantly improve the temperature distribution. Originality/value: In the literature, this study fills a gap in the theoretical prediction of coating thickness rheologically influenced by Prandtl fluid in reverse roll coating process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate the use of engineering conference papers by examining where the papers presented at the Stapp Car Crash Conference from 1980-2005 were subsequently cited. Also, to examine whether the references were made to the conference paper or to the individual, the SAE Technical Paper, the second publication method. It also aims to study whether the citations were made to the lead author or secondary authors. Design/methodology/approach – The individual papers were searched in Science Citation Index on the Web of Science platform using the "Cited author" search and the appropriate work(s) were selected using the "Cited work" information. The number of citations to each paper was recorded and the bibliographic information from the citing articles for the "top cited" articles were retrieved and examined to determine the subject focus of the citing journals. Findings – Almost two-thirds of the papers from the Stapp Car Crash Conference were cited at least once, mirroring that of engineering journal articles. These citations appear in journals representing a wide variety of disciplines besides engineering including journals covering "clinical neurology", "orthopedics", "rehabilitation" and "surgery". The majority of citations (92 per cent) were found to be to the lead author and approximately 85 per cent were cited as papers within the conference proceedings with the remaining papers cited as individual technical papers. Originality/value – The results on the impact and use of engineering conference papers, especially the results in terms of author and material type, will provide valuable insight into this literature, providing librarians and researchers with a better understanding of their use in the advancement of research and scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on examining the research impact of papers written with and without funding. Specifically, the citation analysis method is used to compare the general and funded papers published in two leading international conferences, which are ACM SIGIR and ACM SIGKDD. Design/methodology/approach – The authors investigate the number of general and funded papers to see whether the number of funded papers is larger than the number of general papers. In addition, the total citations and the number of highly cited papers with and without funding are also compared. Findings – The analysis results of ACM SIGIR papers show that in most cases the number of funded papers is larger than the number of general papers. Moreover, the total captions, the average number of citations per paper, and the number of highly cited papers all reveal the superiority of funded papers over general papers. However, the findings are somewhat different for the ACM SIGKDD papers. This may be because ACM SIGIR began much earlier than ACM SIGKDD, which relates to the maturity of the research problems addressed in these two conferences. Originality/value – The value of this paper is the first attempt at examining the research impact of general and funded research papers by the citation analysis method. The research impact of other research areas can be further investigated by other analysis methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information regarding organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and electronic-paper with an assessment of their potential to disrupt existing markets. It mentions that the new technologies offer an opportunity for the European firms in the information and communication technologies (ICTs) sector. It discusses a study which includes literature review, its potential application and market analysis. It states that information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an important role in the transformation of the economy.

Purpose: Parental advocacy is an emerging area of research and policy interest in Wales and across the UK. Although there is little research in the UK context to date, international research has indicated that parental advocacy can improve the relationship between parent and professional in the field of child protection social work. This paper aims to ascertain how the implementation of a parental advocacy programme supports parents to play a meaningful role in decision-making when children's services are working with them and their families. Design/methodology/approach: This study used interviews, surveys and focus groups to obtain qualitative data from 18 parents, seven parent advocates, two advocacy managers and four social workers, to explore the potential impact of parental advocacy on decision-making. The study identified challenges in implementing parental advocacy, particularly relating to awareness of the service. Participants also discussed experiences of the child protection system and how parents are supported by advocates. Findings: Despite challenges surrounding implementation, initial findings were encouraging, and generated examples of how parental advocacy services have helped parents to understand children's services and develop relationships of trust with social care professionals. In doing so, this study identified potential mechanisms that may be useful to support future service delivery. Originality/value: This paper and research is novel as it explores parental advocacy within the Welsh context. Although there has been research conducted into parental advocacy, this has largely come from the USA. This research comes from the evaluation of an innovative and promising parental advocacy scheme in Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Additive manufacturing also known as 3D printing is an evolving advanced manufacturing technology critical for the new era of complex machinery and operating systems. Manufacturing systems are increasingly faced with risk of attacks not only by traditional malicious actors such as hackers and cyber-criminals but also by some competitors and organizations engaged in corporate espionage. This paper aims to elaborate a plausible risk practice of designing and demonstrate a case study for the compromised-based malicious for polymer 3D printing system. Design/methodology/approach: This study assumes conditions when a machine was compromised and evaluates the effect of post compromised attack by studying its effects on tensile dog bone specimens as the printed object. The designed algorithm removed predetermined specific number of layers from the tensile samples. The samples were visually identical in terms of external physical dimensions even after removal of the layers. Samples were examined nondestructively for density. Additionally, destructive uniaxial tensile tests were carried out on the modified samples and compared to the unmodified sample as a control for various mechanical properties. It is worth noting that the current approach was adapted for illustrating the impact of cyber altercations on properties of additively produced parts in a quantitative manner. It concurrently pointed towards the vulnerabilities of advanced manufacturing systems and a need for designing robust mitigation/defense mechanism against the cyber altercations. Findings: Density, Young's modulus and maximum strength steadily decreased with an increase in the number of missing layers, whereas a no clear trend was observed in the case of % elongation. Post tensile test observations of the sample cross-sections confirmed the successful removal of the layers from the samples by the designed method. As a result, the current work presented a cyber-attack model and its quantitative implications on the mechanical properties of 3D printed objects. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the original work from the team. It is currently not under consideration for publication in any other avenue. The paper provides quantitative approach of realizing impact of cyber intrusions on deteriorated performance of additively manufactured products. It also enlists important intrusion mechanisms relevant to additive manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the role played by the National Archives of South Africa in human rights promotion and protection. The study examined the challenges that archivists encounter when undertaking archival functions, such as acquisition, appraisal and access provision, that contribute to forming documentary archives crucial for human rights promotion and protection. Design/methodology/approach: A review of literature dealing with acquisition, appraisal and access was used in this research. It was supplemented with interviews. Findings: This paper provides recommendations of benefits in the field of archives management with a focus on the areas of acquisition, appraisal and access. The transformational discourse in the jurisdiction of archives management challenges archival institutions to be active players in selecting historical and cultural archives' significance that is significant in human rights protections. However, despite judicial requirements that recommend the importance of archives, there is evidence that archival functions such as appraisal, acquisition and access are not being fully used, resulting in national archives institutions that are subject to irregularities that contribute to an unbalanced archives collection. Research limitations/implications: The paper was limited only to the National Archives of South Africa. Practical implications: The paper makes practical implications concerning the acquisition, appraisal and providing access to human rights records. Social implications: Sufficient funding resource allocation ought to be provided to advance human rights promotion. Originality/value: This paper offers informed recommendations to address the challenges of acquisition, appraisal and access provision of archive materials. The availability of archives materials reinforces the community by aiding to protect legal rights and prevent human rights violations. It was, thus, necessary to establish whether the National Archives of South Africa is actively building the archives collections that are important for human rights promotion and protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study presents a two-step numerical iteration method specifically designed to solve absolute value equations. The proposed method is valuable and efficient for solving absolute value equations. Several numerical examples were taken to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method. Design/methodology/approach: We present a two-step numerical iteration method for solving absolute value equations. Our two-step method consists of a predictor-corrector technique. The new method uses the generalized Newton method as the predictor step. The four-point open Newton-Cotes formula is considered the corrector step. The convergence of the proposed method is discussed in detail. This new method is highly effective for solving large systems due to its simplicity and effectiveness. We consider the beam equation, using the finite difference method to transform it into a system of absolute value equations, and then solve it using the proposed method. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights into how to solve a system of absolute value equations. Originality/value: This paper fulfills an identified need to study absolute value equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims to clarify the distribution of excess pore pressure during cone penetration in two-layered clay and its influence on penetrometer resistance. Design/methodology/approach: An arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian scheme is adopted to preserve the quality of mesh throughout the numerical simulation. Simplified methods of layered penetration and coupled pore pressure analysis of cone penetration have been proposed and verified by previous studies. The investigation is then extended by the present work to study the cone penetration test in a two-layered clay profile assumed to be homogeneous with the modified Cam clay model. Findings: The reduction of the range of pore pressure with decreasing PF will cause a decrease of the sensing distance. The PF of the underlying soil is one of the factors that determine the development distance. The interface can be obtained by taking the position of the maximum curvature of the penetrometer resistance curve in the case of stiff clay overlying soft clay. In the case of soft clay overlying stiff clay, the interface locates at the maximum curvature of the penetrometer resistance curve above about 1.6D. Research limitations/implications: The cone penetration analyses in this paper are conducted assuming smooth soil-cone contact. Originality/value: A simplified method based on ALE in Abaqus/Explicit is proposed for layered penetration, which solves the problem of mesh distortion at the interface between two materials. The stiffness equivalent method is also proposed to couple pore pressure during cone penetration, which achieves efficient coupling of pore water pressure in large deformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute novel insights into the analysis of thin functionally graded material (FGM) plates with variable thickness, considering both temperature-dependent and independent material properties, focusing on critical linear buckling temperature rise and the effect of critical linear moisture for various moisture concentrations. Design/methodology/approach: The study derives stability and equilibrium equations for thin rectangular FGM plates under hygrothermal loading, employing classical plate theory (CPT). Buckling behavior is examined using Galerkin's method to obtain pre-buckling force resultants. Findings: The findings highlight significant increases in critical buckling temperature with aspect ratio, distinct temperature sensitivity between materials and increasing moisture susceptibility with larger aspect ratios. These insights inform material selection and design optimization for FGM plates under hygrothermal loading, enhancing engineering applications. Research limitations/implications: This research primarily focuses on hypothetical scenarios and mathematical model development and analysis. Originality/value: This paper presents original contributions in the field by addressing the hygrothermal buckling analysis of thin FGM rectangular plates with variable thickness, utilizing CPT, thereby enriching the understanding of structural behavior in varying environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how libraries use Twitter as a social media platform and examine the tweets they post, including multimedia content such as images and video clips. The study also aims to analyse the relationship between post types and user engagement and evaluate the effects of post features, such as multimedia content, on user engagement. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology of the study involved three phases. In Phase 1, a review of related literature was conducted to develop a holistic approach for the study. In Phase 2, official Twitter handles of selected libraries were identified and verified for authenticity using various methods, including cross-checking with library websites. During Phase 3, data was collected from the Twitter handles. The data was then tabulated and interpreted to achieve the set objectives of the study. Findings: The paper examined the tweets posted by select libraries on Twitter and their impact on user engagement. The study found that most tweets were related to library resources/collection and announcements, followed by events hosted by libraries. Emotionally inspiring posts and daily facts were also commonly posted. The findings also showed that including images in tweets resulted in higher levels of user engagement than video clips did. The study suggests that incorporating images fosters engagement and boosts retweets, while watching a video takes more effort and time. Practical implications: The practical implications of the study can provide insights into the tweets that generate user engagement, which can help libraries tailor their social media strategies to attract and retain more followers. The paper can help libraries measure the success of their social media activities by evaluating user engagement metrics. Originality/value: The originality/ value of the study lies in its examination of how libraries use Twitter as a social media platform, including the tweets they post and the impact of multimedia content on user engagement. While previous studies have examined the use of social media by libraries, this study focuses specifically on Twitter and provides a detailed analysis of the tweets that generate user engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Performance problems in the public sector (PS) necessitate adaptation due to the sector's uniqueness. Purposeful leadership (PL) may resolve PS adaptive performance (AP) problems. However, there is a paucity of research on the influence of PL on AP. Using data from three large PS organisations in Ghana, this research explores the relationship between PL and AP through job satisfaction (JS) and organisational identification (OI). It also explores the moderating effect of organisational integrity (IN) on the PL–JS and PL–OI relationships. Design/methodology/approach: This paper created and tested a research model using the responses of 875 public servants in Smart PLS 4. Contract fulfilment and perceived organisational support functioned as control factors influencing JS (an intervener). Perceived procedural justice and psychological need satisfaction serve as control factors for OI (another intervener). Age, sex, tenure, education and job position were used as control variables in AP. To assess the role of moderation, we utilised the product indicator approach, and to estimate the role of mediation, we used variance accounted for (VAF). A significance level of 5% was established. Findings: As anticipated, this study found that PL and AP had a significantly positive connection (t = 2.229, p = 0.000, β = 0.138). Both JS (VAF = 27.37%) and OI (VAF = 39.21%) partially mediated this connection. IN positively moderated the PL–JS (t = 4.249, p = 0.000, β = 0.165) and PL–OI (t = 3.704, p = 0.002, β = 0.099) connections. Research limitations/implications: This paper provides a theoretical and empirical understanding of the PL–AP relationship, how this relationship is facilitated and how the PL–JS and PL–OI relationships are strengthened. It provides a roadmap for upcoming scholars to test the hypotheses in diverse PS contexts globally to broaden the field of leadership. It will be insightful to show how JS and OI jointly mediate this relationship and the potential mediating role of job embeddedness in further studies. Practical implications: Human resource (HR) practices in PS organisations, such as selecting, leadership enhancement initiatives, promotions, training and performance evaluations, must be guided by a "values-driven strategy" if leadership is to find, cultivate and keep employees capable of devising innovative strategies to manage unforeseen circumstances at work. The leaders are required to demonstrate the values of their organisations in order to set up a role model. Social implications: This study highlights the obstacles that purposeful leaders have the potential to mitigate, as well as the prospects that they might offer. It shows the essence for PS organisations to uphold and maintain high integrity standards as their hallmark. Originality/value: This paper is the first to create and test a research model that shows the relationship between PL and AP. It also shows the different mechanisms (JS and OI) that make this effect possible, as well as the good work environment (i.e. IN) that allows the PL–JS and PL–OI relationships to grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The government of Ghana since independence has undertaken steps to develop educational infrastructure setup. This notwithstanding, the educational sector is beset with challenges such as low-quality education and low enrolment rates in Senior High Schools (SHS) of children from large households, among others. Given the myriad of challenges bedevilling the education sector, there have been calls for collaboration among public leaders to promote education. The paper, therefore, examines traditional leaders' roles in promoting quality education in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: Through a desk review approach, the study examines the role of traditional leaders in promoting quality education in Ghana. This approach was adopted due to its flexible nature. Findings: The study found that traditional leaders have provided educational materials and resources to deprived schools. They have established scholarship schemes for needy but brilliant students, promoted gender parity in education, constructed educational facilities and promoted a healthy teaching environment. Practical implications: The paper provides stakeholders in Ghana's educational sector with the opportunity to review educational policies and include traditional leaders to influence educational policies. The recommendations call for support from the GETFUND and Scholarship Secretariat of Ghana to assist community-initiated projects and scholarship schemes established by traditional leaders. Originality/value: The paper provides evidence to support the importance of traditional leadership, which has come under criticism from a democratisation perspective in contemporary times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to make a contribution towards reducing the deflections of silicon wafers. The deformation of silicon wafers used in the manufacture of electronic micro-components is one of the most common problems encountered by industrialists during manufacturing. Stack warping is typically produced during the process of depositing thin layers on a substrate. This is due to the thermal-mechanical stresses caused by the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of the materials. Reducing wafer deformation is essential to increase reliability and improve quality. In this paper, the authors propose an approach based on minimal geometrical modifications to reduce the deformation of a silicon wafer coated with two thin layers. Numerical finite element models have been developed to evaluate the impact of geometrical modifications on warping amplitude. Finite element models have been validated compared with experimental models. The results obtained are encouraging and clearly show a considerable reduction in wafer deformation. Design/methodology/approach: Reducing wafer deformation is essential to increase reliability and improve quality. In this paper, the authors propose an approach based on minimal geometrical modifications to reduce the deformation of a silicon wafer coated with two thin layers. Numerical finite element models have been developed to evaluate the impact of geometrical modifications on warping amplitude. Finite element models have been validated compared with experimental models. Findings: The results obtained are encouraging and clearly show a considerable reduction in wafer deformation. Originality/value: This paper describes the influence of geometric modification on wafer deformation. The work show also the cruciality of stress reduction in the purpose to obtain less wafer deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to develop a condition-based maintenance (CBM) scheme for pneumatic cylinders. The CBM scheme will detect two common types of air leaking failure modes and identify the leaky/faulty cylinder. The successful implementation of the proposed scheme will reduce energy consumption, scrap and rework, and time to repair. Design/methodology/approach: Effective implementation of maintenance is important to reduce operation cost, improve productivity and enhance quality performance at the same time. Condition-based monitoring is an effective maintenance scheme where maintenance is triggered based on the condition of the equipment monitored either real time or at certain intervals. Pneumatic air systems are commonly used in many industries for packaging, sorting and powering air tools among others. A common failure mode of pneumatic cylinders is air leaks which is difficult to detect for complex systems with many connections. The proposed method consists of monitoring the stroke speed profile of the piston inside the pneumatic cylinder using hall effect sensors. Statistical features are extracted from the speed profiles and used to develop a fault detection machine learning model. The proposed method is demonstrated using a real-life case of tea packaging machines. Findings: Based on the limited data collected, the ensemble machine learning algorithm resulted in 88.4% accuracy. The algorithm can detect failures as soon as they occur based on majority vote rule of three machine learning models. Practical implications: Early air leak detection will improve quality of packaged tea bags and provide annual savings due to time to repair and energy waste reduction. The average annual estimated savings due to the implementation of the new CBM method is $229,200 with a payback period of less than two years. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first in terms of proposing a CBM for pneumatic systems air leaks using piston speed. Majority, if not all, current detection methods rely on expensive equipment such as infrared or ultrasonic sensors. This paper also contributes to the research gap of economic justification of using CBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to fill the momentous gap by explicitly investigating the asymmetric effects of monetary policy (MP) on non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI) assets. Design/methodology/approach: The authors utilized panel data from 29 countries for the period of 2012–2020 and used the quantile regression estimation. In addition to simultaneous quantile regression (SQR), the authors also employ quantile regression with clustered data (Parente and Silva, 2016) and the generalized quantile regression (GQR) method (Powell, 2020). Findings: The empirical results show a significant heterogeneous impact of MP. While there is a positive relationship between MP and NBFI assets ("waterbed effect") at lower quantiles of NBFI assets, at middle and higher quantiles, MP has a negative impact on NBFI assets ("search for yield" effect). The authors further find that negative impact strengthens as the quantile levels of NBFI assets rise from mid to high. Findings also reveal that "procyclicality" (except higher quantile) and "institutional demand" hypotheses hold. However, regarding "regulatory arbitrage," mixed results are observed indicating the impact of Basel III requirements. Originality/value: Previous empirical studies have concentrated on either the Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) framework or conditional mean regression approaches and delivered mixed findings of the MP effects on NBFI. The current paper takes a step toward dealing with this issue by deploying quantile regression methodology, which shows the impact of MP on NBFI at different conditional distributions (quantiles) of NBFI assets instead of just NBFI's conditional mean distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This systematic review aims to gain the studies regarding the effect of Nigella Sativa (N. sativa) on adipokines including leptin, adiponectin and resistin. Design/methodology/approach: Search was carried out using databases Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar with no restriction on language or date until February 2023 and alert services were applied to identify any paper after the primary search. Findings: Eighteen animal and human studies were eligible for the current systematic review. Leptin and resistin levels showed a downward tendency after consuming N. sativa and its ingredients [e.g. oil, thymoquinone (TQ) and thymol] as well as its extracts (e.g. water extract). Furthermore, considering 4 of 8 animal research studies and 2 of 5 human studies that evaluated adiponectin levels, a significant increase was observed after using N. sativa and its ingredients (e.g. oil, TQ and thymol). Originality/value: The present paper collates evidence from animal and human studies regarding the effect of N. sativa on adipokines including leptin, adiponectin and resistin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The global rise in obesity can be closely linked to excessive calorie consumption and misperceptions regarding food intake. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature to have a better understanding how heuristic cues – mental shortcuts used for decision-making – impact calorie underestimation and consequently lead to unhealthy eating habits. Design/methodology/approach: A search was conducted across multiple databases with priority given to studies in developed countries that provided insights into the cognitive processes behind food choices, the application of specific heuristics, and the association with eating behaviours. Articles were also selected based on their methodological quality. Findings: The main findings are that the dichotomous categorization of foods as healthy or unhealthy can result in underestimating the calorie content in those foods perceived as healthy. Although nutrition claims, health claims and campaigns help in the fight against obesity, there is also the risk that consumers' reliance on heuristic-based decision-making could aggravate the problem because a misinterpretation or misrepresentation could lead to calorie underestimation and overeating. Practical implications: To establish effective behavioural interventions for obesity prevalence -, it is critical for interventions and policies to understand how consumers perceive calorie content and how they interpret claims on food marketing or packaging. Recognizing and addressing these heuristic-driven biases and understanding the factors influencing food choices are crucial for encouraging healthier eating habits. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the only review to date that consolidates research on the topic, drawing from multiple disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In collaboration with their home cities, universities increasingly develop courses in which students investigate urban sustainability challenges. This paper aims to understand how far-reaching the collaboration with urban stakeholders in these courses is and what students are meant to learn from the transdisciplinary pedagogies. Design/methodology/approach: This research is designed as a qualitative multiple-case study into the intentions of transdisciplinary courses in which universities collaborate with their home cities: Delft University of Technology in Delft and Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions in Amsterdam. The study compares the written intentions of eight courses in course descriptions with the ideal intentions that teachers describe in interviews. Findings: First, seven of the eight investigated courses were designed for urban stakeholders to participate at a distance or as a client but rarely was a course intended to lead to a collaborative partnership between the city and students. Second, the metacognitive learning objectives, such as learning to deal with biases and values of others or getting to know one's strengths and weaknesses in collaboration, were often absent in the course descriptions. Learning objectives relating to metacognition are at the heart of transdisciplinary work, yet when they remain implicit in the learning objectives, they are difficult to teach. Originality/value: This paper presents insight into the levels of participation intended in transdisciplinary courses. Furthermore, it shows the (mis)alignment between intended learning objectives in course descriptions and teachers' ideals. Understanding both the current state of transdisciplinarity in sustainability courses and what teachers envision is vital for the next steps in the development of transdisciplinary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to present numerical simulations for a series of flight processes for the postlaunching stage of the "balloon-borne UAV system." It includes the balloon further ascent motion after airborne launching. In terms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the tailspin state and the charge-out process with an anti-tailspin parachute-assisted suspending are analyzed. Then, the authors conduct trajectory optimization simulations for the long-distance gliding process. Design/methodology/approach: The balloon kinematics model and the parachute Kane multibody dynamic model are established. Using steady-state tailspin to reduced-order analysis and achieving change-out simulation by parachute suspension dynamic model. A reentry optimization control problem is developed and the Radau pseudo-spectral method is used to calculate the glide trajectory. Findings: The established dynamic model and trajectory optimization method can effectively simulate the motion process of balloons and UAVs. The system mass reduction for launching UAVs will not cause damage to the balloon structure. The anti-tailspin parachute can reduce the UAV attack angles effectively. The UAV can glide to the designated target position by adjusting the attack angle and sideslip angle. The farthest flight distance after launching from 20 km height is 94 km and the gliding time is 40 min, which demonstrates the potential application advantage of high-altitude launching. Practical implications: The research content and related conclusions of this article achieve a closed-loop analysis of the flight mission chain for the "balloon-borne UAV system," which provides simulation references for relevant balloon launching experiments. Originality/value: This paper establishes a complete set of numerical simulation models and can effectively analyze various postlaunching behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]