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The apps for drawing are present in our children's life. Nevertheless, little is known about the impact of mobile technology on the freehand drawing educational activity. There are few works which are contextualised within short periods of time, with teachers who are not theirs and, in some cases, outside the children's classroom. In this paper, we are focussed on the use of technology on freehand drawing activity. Thus, we have compared the graphics produced by 4- and 5-year-old children with paper&crayon in comparison with those with tablet-finger. Children made the drawings during a planned free-drawing activity, in their ordinary classrooms, with their teachers and during five sessions. Assessment of drawings has evidenced tablet feasibility for making graphics. Nevertheless, with the passing of time, quality of graphics (tablet-finger vs paper&crayons), are nearly matched, demonstrating the low impact level technology has on this activity. In addition, if drawings are analysed specifically according to ages, results have shown that both groups have to develop adaptation strategies of visual perceptual skills and fine motor skills for the touch screen in order to obtain the same quality in the drawings made on both support types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although various academic disciplines use data papers to support effective research practices, data papers are still uncommon in the educational sciences. Main goals of data papers are enhancing transparency regarding research processes and supporting data sharing among researchers and thus, open science. As many educational research projects include personal data often of minors, publishing raw data can be challenging due to privacy regulations and laws (GDPR). The present article aims at exploring how a data paper can contribute to open science and enhancing transparency regarding research and publication processes for educational research projects, often containing personal data that cannot be made openly available in its raw form. To this end, we describe a dataset of a research project on teachers' noticing as basis for their classroom management. As this project includes rich process-tracing recording methods, the dataset is diverse and serves as basis for multiple analyses and publications while containing personal data of teachers and minors. By elaborating on the characteristics of the dataset, its gathering, analysis approaches and sharing preprocessed and anonymized data files, this data paper explores how to contribute to transparency and open science in educational sciences while acting within the boundaries set by privacy regulations and laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate paper-based technology (APT) is used to provide postural support for children with cerebral palsy (CP) in low-resourced settings. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the impact of APT on the children's and families' lives. A convenience sample of children with CP and their families participated. Inclusion was based on the Gross Motor Function Classification System levels IV and V. APT seating or standing frames were provided for six months. A mixed methods impact of APT devices on the children and families included the Family Impact Assistive Technology Scale for Adaptive Seating (FIATS-AS); the Child Engagement in Daily Life (CEDL) questionnaire; and a qualitative assessment from diary/log and semi-structured interviews. Ten children (median 3 years, range 9 months to 7 years). Baseline to follow-up median (IQR) FIATS-AS were: 22.7 (9.3) and 30.3 (10.2), respectively (p=.002). Similarly mean (SD) CEDL scores for "frequency" changed from 30.5 (13.2) to 42.08 (5.96) (p=.021) and children's enjoyment scores from 2.23 (0.93) to 2.91 (0.79) (p=.019). CEDL questionnaire for self-care was not discriminatory; seven families scored zero at both baseline and 6 months. Qualitative interviews revealed three key findings; that APT improved functional ability, involvement/interaction in daily-life situations, and a reduced family burden of care. APT devices used in Kenyan children with non-ambulant CP had a meaningful positive effect on both the children's and their families' lives. Assistive devices are often unobtainable for children with cerebral palsy (CP) in low-income countries. APT is a low cost and sustainable solution to make seating and standing devices for disabled children in Kenya. The regular use of a postural support device enhanced the children's motor skills, ability to function and participate in everyday activities, reduced the burden of care for the families and promoted the children's social interaction. The postural support devices were highly valued and utilised by the children and families in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the use of lexical bundles in the results and discussion sections of public health research articles (RAs) by comparing the native English writers with Iranian non-native English writers. To this end, four-, five-, and six-word lexical bundles were contrastively investigated in two different sub-corpora i.e. a native English corpus (NEC) and a non-native English corpus (NNEC). The corpus contained 496 985 words, and each sub-corpora included 100 RAs. The RAs were then examined structurally and functionally. The data were analysed both quantitatively, using frequency count and chi-square analyses, and qualitatively through content analysis. Based on the results, from among the lexical bundles, 29 four-word, 17 five-word, and one six-word bundles were identified in the NEC, while 52 four-word, 27 five-word, and five six-word bundles were found in the NNEC. The findings highlight that Iranian non-native English authors employed more four-word, five-word and six-word lexical bundles than native English authors. The descriptive and overall findings also suggested some differences in the two groups' functional and structural patterns of lexical bundles, whereas statistically insignificant differences were identified in the structural patterns of bundles in the groups. These findings lay considerable emphasis on the central part that lexical bundles play in English for academic purposes (EAP) and English for specific purposes (ESP) courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Users' experiences in mental health assessment are multifaceted, including their emotional experiences. Yet, studies of mobile apps for psychiatric assessment have centered on diagnostic accuracy and perceived usability, with little consideration of the impact of user emotional experiences. In this study, we focused on users' perceived usability and emotions and compared the user experience of a paper-and-pencil and an app-based collection of mental health screening questionnaires: EarlyDetect. The System Usability Scale (SUS) and modality-directed emotion questionnaires were administered using paper-and-pencil or iPad. Modality was assigned pseudo-randomly on patients' first visit at a referral-based mental health clinic. We found that patients assigned to the iPad app reported a significantly higher SUS score than patients assigned to paper-and-pencil, qualified by a modality-by-gender interaction where modality effects were significant for men but not for women. Moreover, enjoyment was positively linked to perceived usability, whereas boredom, frustration, and anxiety were negatively linked to usability. Our findings illustrate the added value of studying user experience applied to psychiatric assessments, where both emotions and gender-specific user experience should be taken into consideration. We further discuss the implications for psychiatric assessments via app versus traditional data collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, the fourth industrial revolution has attracted more and more attentions all around the world. In the current literature, there is still a lack of efforts to systematically review the state of the art of this new industrial revolution wave. The aim of this study is to address this gap by investigating the academic progresses in Industry 4.0. A systematic literature review was carried out to analyse the academic articles within the Industry 4.0 topic that were published online until the end of June 2016. In this paper, the obtained results from both the general data analysis of included papers (e.g. relevant journals, their subject areas and categories, conferences, keywords) and the specific data analysis corresponding to four research sub-questions are illustrated and discussed. These results not only summarise the current research activities (e.g. main research directions, applied standards, employed software and hardware), but also indicate existing deficiencies and potential research directions through proposing a research agenda. Findings of this review can be used as the basis for future research in Industry 4.0 and related topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine research collaboration between universities and industry in the field of computer science using bibliometric methods. To further understand the impact of individual countries on university-industry (UI) collaboration, data were retrieved from the computer science journal papers included in the Science Citation Index and published during the period 2002--2011. The density, degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality of UI collaborative networks were calculated in order to ascertain the core countries involved in international UI collaboration. This study investigates university-industry collaborative papers (UI papers) at the global and country levels. At the global level, the results show an increasing trend in UI papers and a stable UI collaboration ratio during the last decade. The average number of authors for UI papers is 4.13, which is higher than that for all other papers. Most UI papers result from two-institution collaboration, but we observed an increase in the number of UI papers produced by multiple universities and industrial entities. At the country level, the results also show that international UI paper collaboration has intensified. Meanwhile, the USA is the dominant collaborative partner with many countries and has produced the highest number of UI papers globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the present research study, the co-pyrolysis of paper waste and mustard press cake was conducted in a 50 mm diameter and 640 mm long semi-batch pyrolyzer in the temperature range of 673 to 1173 K in nitrogen atmosphere and synergistic relationship between the pyrolysis of two feed stocks has been observed. The paper wastes were composed of local packing paper, newspaper-based food packets of grocery, and printing paper in the ratio of 6:3:1. During co-pyrolysis, response surface methodology (RSM) technique has been employed using Design Expert Version 7.0.0 to determine the collective effects of factors, namely, A: ratio of paper waste to mustard press cake and B: pyrolysis temperature, on the yield of bio-oil, energy yield, and oxygen content of bio-oil. Optimization has been done by using RSM to identify the individual sets of values of independent parameters corresponding to maximum bio-oil yield (A: 9.0:1, B: 874.75 K), energy yield (A: 8.80:1, B: 812 K), and minimum oxygen content of bio-oil (A: 2.75:1, B: 883.06 K). Bio-oil obtained at maximum energy yield condition has been characterized using the Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopic analyses. The array of compounds present in the bio-oil compounds has been compared with literature data available on pyro-oil obtained from similar feed stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Society & Leisure / Loisir & Société is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The increasing availability of high quality digital texts and usage data about them provides opportunities to identify new uses for collections, alternative ways to present and explore content, and expanded audiences for the materials. Using this information and a rapid development model called a “flash build,” JSTOR is creating and partnering with other organizations to build new tools that add value to library investments in digital collections. Two examples are discussed: “Classroom Readings,” a tool designed to help educators find articles on JSTOR that are good candidates for teaching, and “Understanding Shakespeare,” a resource created in collaboration with the Folger Shakespeare Library that enables scholars to follow links in lines from Shakespeare plays to articles on JSTOR that reference them. The rapid development model used for these projects is easily reproducible and effective, and could be applied to many library-driven efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of a paper-based tally sheet systems for gathering reference statistics has been unchanged for decades. However, with new technology and data gathering tools being developed, libraries now have an alternative for gathering statistical data more efficiently. This paper will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of both paper-based tally sheet forms and electronic tracking systems being used in libraries and will encompass a variety of commercial, open source, and homegrown products. Preference for either tool will be explored and determine reasons for a libraries reluctance to embrace new technology and keeping with old methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underlying thematic analysis are a few fundamental human cognitive processes, such as categorizing, prototyping and metaphorical mapping. By unpacking these basic processes of human cognition, this paper hopes to provide a cognitive basis for thematic analysis as a foundational method in data analysis for qualitative research. In particular, it hopes to address the gap between qualitative methodologists' assumption of thematic analysis as a subjective, creative and flexible process and editors/reviewers' expectation that thematic analysis shall be objective, reliable and rigorous. By consciously and purposefully applying these cognitive processes, thematic analysis can be subjective and yet disciplined, creative and yet rigorous, flexible and yet reliable. The ultimate goal of this paper is to demystify, delineate and further demarcate the thematic analysis process for young and novice qualitative researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With dramatic global expansion of secondary schooling there has been significant research interest in how education is related to future aspirations, with important calls to acknowledge connections within processes of aspiring to young people's social, economic and cultural circumstances. This paper presents findings from thematic analysis of interview, participant observation and classroom observation data from an ethnographic study in two secondary schools in Tanzania. It argues that an important, and often overlooked, aspect of this complex process is the way in which aspirations for the future are connected not only to present realities, but also aspirations in the present. Focusing on students' aspirations relating to 'being a "good" student' and being able to 'soma kwa bidii' or 'study hard', this paper uses the conceptual language of the capability approach to assert the importance of considering aspirations for 'being' in education in conjunction with future aspirations for 'becoming'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the ageing of the population, environmental degradation and dietary abnormalities, the incidence of global cardiovascular disease has increased sharply, its serious impact on physical and mental health of humans is an important factor. Chinese medicine has a long history and significant efficacy in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Based on the bibliometric method in the context of big data, this paper searched and screened the relevant literatures of TCM in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases included by SCI from 2004 to 2016 and analysed them from the aspects of annual change, regional distribution, institutional distribution, journal source, research field, highly cited literatures, high-frequency keywords and so on. The analysis results show that the total amount of literature in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases by traditional Chinese medicine is on the rise, mainly focusing on the application of traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese herbal compound, acupuncture and moxibustion, and taiji and other traditional Chinese medicine regimen. The research results of this paper provide a direction reference for TCM researchers to better understand the current research status of TCM in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases under the background of big data and for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For forcibly displaced people, high educational attainment is economically and socially empowering. Using experiences of African refugee youth in Australia as an empirical case and drawing on the capability approach to social justice, this paper aims to assess the substantiveness of education opportunities of refugees. Qualitative data were generated through policy review and semi-structured interviews. The analysis shows that not only are refugees invisible in equity policies, but educational inequality is also framed homogeneously as a lack of access. The restrictive framing disregards differences in people's ability to convert resources into valuable outcomes. Specifically, the paper identifies four overlooked factors of educational inequality among African refugee youth: early disadvantage, limited navigational capacity, adaptive preferences, and racial stereotypes. Without an expansive view of disadvantage, it is hardly possible to break the link between marginal social position and low educational attainment of refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphic facilitation is a growing international practice and is often used to describe what professionals do when visually facilitating group processes. Although the professional arena has grown, there is a lack of empirical research in the field, especially regarding long-term perspectives on applying the practice in organisations. This paper aims at investigating employees' experiences and competence development over time within graphic facilitation. The study followed three employees, first in a 2-day basic graphic facilitation course, then in follow-up interviews, eight months, and two years after completing the course. The empirical data were analysed based on a literature review conducted on long-term perspectives, focusing on three themes: 1. The graphic facilitation practice at individual, group, and organisational level; 2. Contextual knowledge and knowing about the participants; 3. Relation between objects, processes and competencies needed. The findings show that all three employees from different organisations continued to use graphic facilitation and found it valuable for giving new insights and overviews of processes and tasks. The methods aided in creating common ground and goals. The employees activated their contextual organisational knowledge to aid the process and found that being sensitive to various groups' needs and personal preferences were effective when applying the methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip following the 2021 and 2022 wars, placing these efforts in the context of previous reconstruction experiences after the 2008/09, 2012, and 2014 conflicts. Employing a mixed-methods approach that includes interviews, primary data analysis, and policy document reviews, the study uncovers the dynamics and challenges shaping the recent reconstruction processes. A key finding of this research is the marked slowdown and ineffectiveness of the post-2021 reconstruction, contrasting with earlier efforts. Unlike previous rounds where material flow restrictions due to the blockade were the predominant hindrance, the study identifies a critical shift in the recent context: a significant lack of funds emerged as the primary obstacle. This change reflects evolving political, economic, and security landscapes in the region, including donor fatigue and shifting international priorities. The paper explores continuities and discontinuities in the factors influencing reconstruction outcomes in Gaza, offering a nuanced understanding of how the changing context has impacted rebuilding efforts. It examines the implications of these findings for future reconstruction initiatives in Gaza and similar conflict-affected regions, providing insights into the complex interplay of financial, political, and logistical challenges in post-conflict reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of the forms of meaning making in Teaching in Higher Education between 2005 and 2013. Unlike other papers which have reviewed higher education journals the analysis was based on reading full papers. Previous analyses of journals have commented on the a-theoretical nature of much research into higher education. As we encourage critical work it was important to read in order to identify the practices of authors. Exemplars of different forms of meaning making were identified and these are discussed in greater depth. They included: description, reflection and reflexivity, explicit theorising and diverse forms of theoretically informed empirical analyses. The paper argues for a view of theorisation as an active, agentic, social practice. The paper suggests that there are rich knowledge making practices in the field. Rather than an a-theoretical activity analysing and theorising teaching in higher education in its all its necessary relations appears to be flourishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues 1 and 2 of 2024 are composed of papers selected for the special section in memory of Dr. Jean-Marie Proth. Some papers are extended versions of articles presented at the 10th IFAC MIM 2022 conference (hub.imt-atlantique.fr/mim2022/) in the invited sessions in memory of Dr. Proth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust is an essential underpinning foundation of effective functioning amongst all staff in higher education. However, there is limited knowledge on the ways in which trust operates, including the extent to which it exists, is recognised, can be built, or lost. This article systematically scopes the international literature on trust amongst staff in higher education institutions, the value of that literature, the research methods used, areas of research focus involved, and overall findings. A systematic scoping literature review, combining descriptive synthesis and textual narrative synthesis, was undertaken. As far as we are aware, this is the first review of this type to be undertaken on trust amongst all types of personnel in the higher education workforce. The review followed a data-based convergent synthesis design, identifying qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies in a single search, integrated throughout analysis, synthesis, and presentation. PRISMA and ENTREQ reporting guidelines were followed: 512 records were identified in two search phases (2020, 2022). Findings revealed relatively little research on trust amongst all types of staff in HE, with a surprising lack of research on trust relating to remote working during COVID. The heterogeneity of papers was striking, yet a wide variety of perspectives on trust tended to be located in single institutions or situations and provided little robust empirical evidence linked to theoretical definitions of trust. Qualitative papers were generally more thoughtful in investigating the complexity of trust. Further research on the relatively neglected but essential field of trust amongst staff in higher education is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Public Money & Management is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this survey, 60 research papers are reviewed based on various web data classification techniques, which are used for effective classification of web data and measuring the semantic relatedness between the two words. The web data classification techniques are classified into three types, such as semantic-based approach, search engine-based approach, and WordNet-based approach, and the research issues and challenges confronted by the existing techniques are reported in this survey. Moreover, the analysis is carried out based on the research works using the categorized web data classification techniques, dataset, and evaluation metrics are carried out. From the analysis, it is clear that semantic-based approach is the widely used techniques in the classification of web data. Similarly, Miller-Charles dataset is the most commonly used dataset in most of the research papers, and the evaluation metrics, like precision, recall, and F-measure are widely utilized in web data classification. The insights from this manuscript can be utilized to understand various research gaps and problems in this area. Those can be considered in the future by developing novel optimization algorithms, which might enhance the performance of web data classifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the complexity of thermodynamic models in predicting wax precipitation, they have not shown satisfactory results in the literature. This paper proposes the least-squares support vector machine optimized by the genetic algorithm to forecast wax precipitation based on the mole fractions, specific gravity, and temperature of crude oil samples. The genetic algorithm was used to prevent sticking in local optima in optimizing the parameters of the predictive model. A dataset of 88 experimental wax precipitation samples was used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The results revealed that the suggested algorithm could predict wax precipitation with an accuracy of 0.939 and 0.997 before and after sensitivity analysis, respectively. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis improved the Coefficient of Determination, Mean Squared Error, and Root Mean Squared Error from 0.939, 0.768, and 0.877 to 0.997, 0.041, and 0.202, respectively. The results were compared with the results of previous data-driven and mathematical models that showed the outperformance of the proposed method. The contribution of this paper can be summarized as demonstrating the ability of intelligent models to predict wax precipitation without a need for complex thermodynamic models. Also, it was shown that a proper feature selection could improve the model's performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article seeks to identify the reasons why some articles are more cited than others, with a specific focus on the recent and innovative research area of the sharing economy. To determine how characteristics of the research drive citations, we carry out a systematic analysis of articles published from 2012 to 2018 in high-impact social science journals. Comparative analyses were conducted to visualise what features relate to higher citations. The results show that citations vary depending on the approach, field, unit of analysis, and the data analyses used in the research. Our contributions will be useful both for authors when deciding the type of analysis to undertake and the journal to which to send their papers, as well as for editors setting editorial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercoder reliability is a statistic commonly reported by researchers to demonstrate the rigour of coding procedures during data analysis. Its importance is debatable in the analysis of qualitative interview data. It raises a question on whether researchers should identify the same codes and themes in a transcript or they should produce different accounts in analyzing the transcript. This study reports how articles in four science education journals, International Journal of Science Education, Research in Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching and Science Education report intercoder reliability in their analysis of interview data. This article explores whether 103 papers published in these science education journals in a single year (2019) have reported intercoder reliability test when the authors analyse their interview data. It was found that 19 papers have reported the test results. The authors of these studies have different interpretation towards a similar value of intercoder reliability. Moreover, the percentage of data used in the intercoder reliability test and the identity of intercoder vary across the studies. As a result, this paper aims to raise an issue on whether a replicability of coding can show the reliability of the results when researchers analyze interview data. We propose two major principles when authors report the reliability of the analysis of interview data: transparency and explanatory. We also argue that only when the authors report intercoder reliability test results that are based on these two principles, the reliability statistics of studies are convincing to readers. Some suggestions are offered to authors regarding how to carry out, analyze and report the intercoder reliability test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of information technology, big data analysis has been highlighted in operations and management. From this viewpoint, this paper studies a buyer's optimal purchasing decisions in combined procurement. For combined procurement, a buyer first signs a long-term contract with a supplier to guarantee a certain level of commodity supply, and can then replenish the commodities from the spot market if necessary. The optimal purchasing quantity in the long-term contract is examined to maximise the buyer's expected profit from combined procurement. In view of the imperfectness in the spot market, the spot trading liquidity is considered in the buyer's optimal purchasing decision. The properties of the two optimal purchasing quantities are examined and several interesting results are obtained. For example, it is illustrated that a buyer's expected profit may decrease in the spot capacity, a result that has never appeared in the existing literature, which reveals the importance of a buyer's optimal order decision in the presence of spot replenishment. Numerical results and sensitivity analysis are performed to verify the results. Management insights are suggested for a buyer's optimal purchasing decisions in combined procurement with a long-term contract and spot replenishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have identified a deficit with the higher education (HE) decision-making support offered by further education (FE) colleges, compared with other post-16 providers. However, there has been little research as to why this might be the case. This paper explores this issue by considering the HE choice-making experiences of Level 3 Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) students and the staff supporting them in an FE college in England. Data are viewed through the theoretical lens of the Theory of Practice Architectures, a framework which illuminates the pre-existing conditions holding the practices of HE choice-making in place. The investigation reveals inconsistent College HE choice support, with a reliance on tutors and local universities that can both enable and constrain the programme. Factors underlying the construction of the programme include the structural parameters of both the BTEC qualification and the College, competing College priorities and the varying relationships the College has with different types of universities. The paper concludes by highlighting the complexity of the tensions and conflicts inherent in FE and making a number of practical recommendations as to the underlying conditions that would need to change in order for FE HE choice support to fulfil its potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colleges are important providers of vocational education and training and in some countries they are the major provider. Although the international literature on colleges has grown considerably in the past two decades, it still consists primarily of qualitative descriptions of college sectors in different countries. Quantitative studies of differences in the activity mix of colleges in different countries could improve knowledge of international variation in the roles of colleges and provide a stronger foundation for study of the sources and consequences of variation in college roles. After reviewing different methodological frameworks for comparative analysis of college activity, the research reported here employs one of these frameworks to analyse differences in the activity mix of colleges in five countries. In addition to finding some noteworthy differences among the five countries, the paper also identified several problems of comparability of college data from different countries. The paper concludes that the development of internationally comparable data on colleges would require leadership by international organisations and agencies and is an undertaking well worth pursuing both for the benefits that it could bring to those whom colleges serve and for its contribution to the advancement of comparative study of vocational education and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit) is a burgeoning field of study seeking to challenge and improve the use of statistical data in social research. It pulls lessons and insights from Critical Race Theory and applies them to understanding social challenges. In this paper, we aim to improve the quality of quantitative research produced by showing examples of how pioneers in this field are effectively enacting QuantCrit. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to include all empirical education studies published since 2010 through 2022. Twenty-seven studies fit the criteria. Our data shows there is room for innovation, experimentation, and exploration. However, the study highlights exemplars of authors who embody QuantCrit principles through their professional and personal positionality statements, cognizance of community, robust racial/ethnic categories, intentionality on not centering whiteness, use of atypical methods, new measurement tools centering Black and Brown students, and innovative interpretations of findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firm financials are well-established predictors of stock returns, being the basis for both the traditional econometric, and growing Machine Learning, asset pricing literature. Employing topological data analysis ball mapper (TDABM), we revisit the association between seven of the most commonly studied financial ratios and stock returns. Upon outlining the methodology to the finance literature, this paper offers three key contributions to the study of asset pricing. Firstly, the characteristic space is visualised to showcase non-monotonic relationships in multiple dimensions that were as yet unseen. Secondly, the means through which neural networks and random forest regressions fit stock returns is also visualised, showing where Machine Learning is contributing to understanding. Finally, an initial application of TDABM for the segmentation of the cross-section is posited, with significant abnormal returns identified. Collectively these three expositions signpost the value of TDABM for financial researchers and practitioners alike. The scope for benefit is limited only by the availability of information to the analyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a methodological paper that seeks to encourage thought about the nature of auto-ethnography and which types of auto-ethnography might be most worthwhile within educational research. It reviews the various types of auto-ethnographic writing within education, focusing initially on the accounts of the process of doing educational research which started to be published in the 1970s and 1980s. The paper discusses the merits and potential problems of such accounts, drawing upon examples of such work. During the 1980s and 1990s other forms of auto-ethnography in education started to be published that focused more on a contribution to knowledge through providing new data related to education. The paper discusses the merits and potential problems of this type of account, again drawing on various published examples. The paper argues that worthwhile auto-ethnography, of whatever type, should meet the criteria set for worthwhile ethnography as such. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public participation in local governance is crucial for effective climate action and for ensuring that policies are designed in a way that respects the rights of communities. Policy developments and choices are shaped by the groups that participate, by the ideas that they hold, and by the institutions that enable and constrain their participation. This paper seeks to understand local climate change governance in Ireland by identifying the environmental interests and the ideas of the groups that participate, and by examining how they engage with institutionalised local policymaking processes and with the organisations that represent the officially recognised views of the country's national environmental movement. An analysis of survey data collected from the groups that are members of one of Ireland's Public Participation Networks shows that a majority of groups are small, rural, voluntary, interested in a wide variety of environmental issues and have a pro-ecological worldview. Most groups follow a pro-institutional advocacy strategy at the local level, while only a minority interact with the national environmental movement, mostly limiting their engagement to the acquisition of information. This paper contributes to the literature that examines how interests, ideas, and institutions shape public participation in local climate politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many studies on disease progression, biomarkers are restricted by detection limits, hence informatively missing. Current approaches ignore the problem by just filling in the value of the detection limit for the missing observations for the estimation of the mean and covariance function, which yield inaccurate estimation. Inspired by our recent work [Liu and Houwing-Duistermaat (2022), 'Fast Estimators for the Mean Function for Functional Data with Detection Limits', Stat, e467.] in which novel estimators for mean function for data subject to detection limit are proposed, in this paper, we will propose a novel estimator for the covariance function for sparse and dense data subject to a detection limit. We will derive the asymptotic properties of the estimator. We will compare our method to the standard method, which ignores the detection limit, via simulations. We will illustrate the new approach by analysing biomarker data subject to a detection limit. In contrast to the standard method, our method appeared to provide more accurate estimates of the covariance. Moreover its computation time is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to the field's predominant focus on teacher-led talk in reading contexts, this study considers child-led relaxed conversations about texts. It examines what is afforded by the occurrence of such relaxed book talk and how this is enabled with young children in school. Data are drawn from a co-participative study with four teachers in England that captured naturalistic video observations. The paper offers novel insights about the social and personal affordances of informal book talk, the role it can play in developing positive dispositions towards reading and the salience of familiar texts and the classroom reading culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating the Internet of Things (IoT) in smart cities can solve rapid urbanization. It will provide better urban services, addressing urban problems that develop because of enhancing urbanization without establishing policies focusing on well-being. The present investigation explores the growing trend of the dynamic publications associated with the advanced technologies integrated into smart city publication productivity using bibliometric analysis. This approach enables the detection of the usage history, the usage scheme, and the research landscape topic in scientific papers on IoT in smart cities. This study included 976 articles from 2013 to 2023. The area of research in smart cities is categorized into six important clusters: (1) IoT application areas in smart cities, (2) IoT infrastructure for smart cities, (3) IoT security and privacy for smart cities, (4) IoT architecture for smart cities, (5) IoT technologies and communication protocol for smart cities, (6) IoT data analysis for smart cities. Moreover, this study reveals that the issues related to new technologies, security, and privacy of IoT to integrate into smart cities would be an interesting topic for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) to address the quality of built spaces is widely recognized. This paper deals with the artifact 'Como Você Mora? – CVM' (How Do You Live?) – BIM', which incorporates questions from the POE CVM in BIM. The hypothesis raised was that POE data incorporated into BIM assists in understanding and analyzing the data designers obtained, for it provides clearer and more contextualized answers in the information model. The objective of the paper is to demonstrate the potential of incorporating a POE into the BIM information model, with the POE questionnaire CVM as a case study. To achieve the proposed goal, the work steps are based on Design Science Research, and are divided into (1) problem identification, (2) definition of expected results, (3) development, (4) demonstration, (5) evaluation, and (6) communication. In this paper, the first three steps of the method are presented. The contribution is made by the methodological advance in the area of POE over previous research, seeking artifacts that assist the realization of more efficient projects in terms of housing quality assessment. Results show the potential of incorporating CVM POE into BIM, to facilitate data analysis and looking for patterns of responses by project typology, through the color map in floor plans, as well as the possibility of concentrating all project information permanently linked to a single BIM model. This can in turn avoid the loss of information we obtained in the POE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exhaustive review of the measured rovibrational transitions of the $ ^{16} $ 16 O $ ^{12} $ 12 C $ ^{32} $ 32 S isotopologue of carbonyl sulphide is undertaken. A comprehensive analysis of data from 100 papers is carried out using a consistent set of harmonic oscillator quantum numbers which are recommended for future studies. A corrected compilation of 14,071 OCS transitions is then subjected to a Measured Active Rotational-Vibrational Energy Levels (MARVEL) analysis, resulting in 5729 empirical energy levels. The uncertainties corresponding to these levels are analysed using different procedures; the newly implemented bootstrap method is used to provide final uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractModern public transport systems are typically designed by following universal aspirations to predictability and standardisation. In the case of Santiago’s public transport, however, this design philosophy has often translated into concrete, practical struggles for users with more vulnerable corporealities. In analysing the case of a controversial turnstile installed in Santiago’s buses in 2016, this paper draws on video analysis to examine how passengers respond to, and locally deal with, its exclusionary design. Passengers’ interactions with this technology demonstrate how the turnstile is taken up as more than a mere sorting device, to become a matter of concern around mobility (in)justice. A detailed analysis of these interactions – through ethnomethodological analysis of video data – describes how passengers respond to the turnstile’s exclusionary design by deploying diverse embodied practices of care towards other users experiencing trouble with it. Such practices of care align with a grounded, embodied sense of mobility (in)justice as opposed to more abstract understandings of distributive justice. The paper concludes by discussing the potential forpublic transport systems to become more just and inclusive environments designed as infrastructures of care, whereby materialities may not only allow, but support, practices of care among users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an attempt is made to calculate the profit rate of the banking sector in the period following the 2007–2008 financial crisis, in order to compare it with that of other real productive sectors. Various techniques are used, highlighting the differences between the results of national accounts data—on which the GDP calculation is based—and those of the central bank. This paper studies the problem of this difference on Italian data and offers a possible explanation, which confirms some analysis (Banque de France on French data) related to an earlier period. The second step in the analysis is directed at comparing bank profit rate and the productive profit rate. The result is that the bank profit rate has been surprisingly low in recent years, due to a decrease in net interest income, an increase in capital and an increase in non-performing loans. However, since 2021, bank profitability has improved greatly, thanks in part to institutional interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Incremental Learning (IL)" is the niche area of "Machine Learning." It is of utmost essential to keep learning incremental for ever-increasing data from all domains for effectual decisions, predications and solving problems. This can be achieved effectually by applying "Incremental Clustering" methods on real-time data sources. IL can be achieved by "Incremental Clustering" easily as well as effectively. To achieve worldwide data analysis related to the data and to achieve broader perspectives, it is essential to deploy "Incremental Clustering" algorithms on distributed platforms, which will enable them to accept data from varied sources; analyze it and produce distributed worldwide solutions. This paper hence focuses on understanding the current status of "Distributed Incremental Clustering Algorithms (DICA)," its scope, limitations and other details so as to formulate better than the best algorithm in future. To enhance the analysis further Word-Clouds of impactful papers were explored and added in this paper, along with the details about platforms used to implement DICA by various upcoming researchers, readers and authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores school principals' and teachers' views of the Italian teachers' appraisal system and related indicators. In particular, the research aimed at examining the opinions of school principals and teachers regarding the domains to be considered for teacher appraisal purposes. An investigation involving 37 school principals and 868 in service teachers, from three Italian regions, is presented. The data was collected through a questionnaire and statistically analysed. Findings suggest operationalising new data sources - specifically students and parent, - is beneficial to evaluate teacher quality as a construct in data-based professional learning communities. They show different positioning: teachers seem to be really inclined to be evaluated, especially by students and parents, while school principals still seem very cautious in entrusting the teachers' appraisal to an external point of view. This paper adds to the existing research showing the perspective of a new teachers' appraisal, inspired by multi-faceted models based on multiple points of view (students, parents, not only principals) and not reduced to simplistic solutions of an accounting type. Furthermore, the study answers the call for research into teachers' appraisal as part of the professional learning actions and in view of more integrated professional leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge extraction and reuse are critical topics for manufacturing companies willing to strengthen their Product-Service Systems (PSS) offerings. In manufacturing's maintenance processes, effectiveness and efficiency depend on the ability to learn from past field interventions. Dealing with unstructured descriptions of maintenance activities has prevented manufacturing companies from analyzing them, causing the loss of useful information. Natural Language Processing (NLP) demonstrated high potential, allowing simplified text knowledge extraction and summarization. Besides, the literature presents only a few applications of topic modeling for maintenance improvement in the manufacturing domain. Using a case study, the paper demonstrates the potentialities of NLP adoption to improve not only the maintenance management and execution but also the asset design and management, impacting the whole PSS. In other words, implications will have effects on the operational (e.g. maintenance execution), managerial (e.g. maintenance management), and business levels (e.g. PSS offering definition) of manufacturing firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through big data analysis of borrowing information, it is possible to find the characteristics of different users. This paper applied K-means clustering to classify users. User feature vectors were extracted, and several algorithms were utilized to recommend books to different users. The hybrid algorithm achieved a precision of 96.29%, a recall rate of 92.13%, and an score of 94.16%, significantly higher than other algorithms. The findings prove that it is feasible to discover the characteristics of different users through big data analysis for book recommendation, and the hybrid algorithm performs the best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the presence of framing mechanisms in Dutch media reporting on the Second Karabakh war. The paper is led by the following questions: To what extent, and why, does the reporting of the Dutch press favour/undermine certain actors in the conflict? What kind of framing patterns are involved in generating such partiality? And did the frames change over the course of the war? In order to evaluate the presence of framing mechanisms in Dutch media reporting on the second Karabakh war, this research conducted a qualitative data analysis of 188 articles on the topic in nine major national Dutch news media. The paper finds that Dutch newspapers created a rather stereotypical, simplified picture of the Second Karabakh war. There are instances where the reporting gave the impression of a possible bias or overemphasis on certain dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper calls for greater scrutiny of data journalism as a practice in the semi-authoritarian context of Zimbabwe. Based on in-depth interviews with practising journalists in Zimbabwe, this paper answers two main questions: In what ways is data journalism practised in the Zimbabwean context? To what extent are newsrooms in Zimbabwe "tooled" and capacitated for data journalism practices? We note that data journalism is widely understood by individual journalists in this country but paradoxically less practised due to many challenges. By answering these two questions, we sustain an argument that data journalism appropriation in semi-authoritarian contexts can be instrumental in promoting monitorial democracy and reversing media decadence. In such a political context, which suffers from a democratic deficit, data journalism can cushion journalists from state-sanctioned harassment by "presenting facts to authorities" and reinvigorating "persecutory" practices like investigative journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although more students have formally gained access to higher education, universities continue to present students with norms and ideals that can function as invisible barriers to them. This paper investigates how norms and expectations in Danish higher education pose certain challenges to mature students, who, due to their age and often different life situations, do not fit the characteristics of the ideal student. Based on qualitative data, the paper shows that living up to the ideal includes engaging in social and extracurricular activities, as well as dedicating oneself to being a student. Moreover, the ideal relates to dominant ideas about the normal biography of university students. The paper contributes to the understanding of mature students' experiences and provides a framework for unpacking how norms and ideals pose barriers to some students. Our findings underline higher education institutions' responsibilities in challenging existing norms and ideals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops the pedagogical implications of xenolexia, a concept introduced as a phenomenon in the learning and teaching of academic writing (Beighton, C. 2020. "Beyond Alienation: Spatial Implications of Teaching and Learning Academic Writing." Teaching in Higher Education 25 (2): 205–222.). Complementing this theoretical base, this paper examines xenolexia's positivity and its ability to both analyse and propose specific academic writing pedagogies in today's challenging HE context(s). Drawing on data from students/teachers of academic writing (n = 33), this paper uses xenolexia aetiologically and practically. Aetiologically, I identify and categorise different sets of practices in terms of the way they respond to this positivity as two pedagogical tropes: the material and its affective counterpart. Practically, I discuss pedagogical practices associated with these tropes in the light of the data. My conclusions about the extent to which each contributes to the development of academic writing link the latter to the current context of teaching and learning in higher education, challenging approaches based on identity with more productive material, affective alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of a dual teacher-leader identity in education is elusive. This article builds on existing research by reporting a qualitative, interpretive case study. The study explored the perspectives of 16 early childhood teachers with and without leadership positions regarding their own leadership practice and leader identity, and 10 parents about the leadership activity of their children's teachers. Data were generated through interviews, focus groups, and observations of teaching practice, and analyzed using a leadership-as-practice perspective. Two findings underpin this paper. Several of the teachers and parents understood leadership in relation to the teacher self as an accessible, everyday identity and practice. Yet, some of the teachers struggled to articulate a teacher-leader identity. This paper illuminates complexities and tensions associated with teachers navigating a teacher-leader identity in the context of team-based settings. It argues that for teachers to realize their potential as formal or informal teacher-leaders, they need support to grapple with a dual teacher-leader identity. This support includes opportunities to engage in critical dialogs that: challenge traditional ideas of leadership as positional power over others; encourage a reflective and affective reframing of their teacher-leader identity; and introduce alternative possibilities of leadership that resonate with teachers' collaborative work with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distribution centres (DCs) are the hubs connecting transport streams in the supply chain. The synchronisation of coming and going cargo at a DC requires reliable arrival times. To achieve this, a reliable method to predict arrival times is needed. A literature review was performed to find the factors that are reported to predict arrival time: congestion, weather, time of day and incidents. While travel time receives considerable attention, there is a gap in literature concerning arrival vs. travel/journey time prediction. None of the reviewed papers investigate arrival time: all the papers found investigatetravel time. Arrival time is the consequence of travel time in combination with departure time, so though the travel time literature is applicable, the human factor involved in planning the time of departure can affect the arrival time (especially for truck drivers who have travelled the same route before). To validate the factors that influence arrival time, the authors conducted a detailed case study that includes a survey of 230 truckers, a data analysis and a data mining experiment, using real traffic and weather data. These show that although a ‘big data’ approach delivers valuable insights, the predictive power is not as high as expected; other factors, such as human or organisational factors, could influence arrival time, and it is concluded that such organisational factors should be considered in future predictive models. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]