bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The role of environmentally conscious purchase behaviour and green scepticism in organic food consumption
Authors: Golob Ursa , Kos Koklic Mateja , Podnar Klement , Zabkar Vesna
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Despite numerous scholarly attempts, there is a lack of consensus regarding the relevance of various factors used to promote organic food consumption. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of environmentally conscious purchase behaviour (ECPB) and green scepticism on organic food consumption. Moreover, the paper examines the indirect impact of attitudinal and contextual forces on organic food consumption (through ECPB).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper develops a conceptual model of organic food consumption. Data were collected through an online survey on a sample of 462 consumers in Slovenia. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationships.

Findings

The findings indicate that ECPB positively and green scepticism negatively affects organic food consumption. In addition, ECPB is positively influenced by personal and social norms, perceived availability and consumer sustainability orientation. Interestingly, the social norms exert the strongest indirect effect on organic food consumption.

Research limitations/implications

This study informs organic food producers and policy makers about the relative importance of ECPB and scepticism for increasing organic food consumption. It also highlights the role of general attitudinal and contextual factors for ECPB and organic food consumption.

Originality/value

The proposed model enables a better understanding of the relevance of ECPB, its antecedents and green scepticism as (direct or indirect) determinants of organic food consumption.
Household food waste quantification: comparison of two methods
Authors: Delley Mathilde , Brunner Thomas A.
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to quantify household food waste by using two different methods. A comparison of the results highlights a divergence between the perceived contribution to the problem and more objective measurements.

Design/methodology/approach

Self-reported quantities, collected by means of a postal survey sent out to a random sample of the French- and German-speaking Swiss population, were compared to extrapolations from a national waste compositional analysis report.

Findings

The results of the self-reported survey showed 8.9 kg of avoidable and possibly avoidable household food waste per capita per year, whereas calculations based on the second method resulted in a total of 89.4 kg of mostly avoidable household food waste per capita per year.

Research limitations/implications

This striking tenfold discrepancy between the two sets of results highlights the extent of under-reporting in self-assessment and speaks in favour of using more objective methods to quantify food waste, building on the example of the second method used in this study.

Practical implications

The discrepancy highlighted here could be used as a hook in an awareness-raising campaign to highlight everyone’s contribution to the food waste issue and encourage citizens to reconsider their behaviour and adopt recommended behavioural changes.

Originality/value

By highlighting the divergence between self-reported and actual waste management facts and figures, this paper justifies the need to develop measures to encourage citizens to reconsider their attitudes and practices.
How knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs impact dairy anti-consumption
Authors: Allen Shannon , Goddard Ellen , Farmer Anna
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how individual’s health beliefs, nutrition knowledge (NK) and attitudes towards food technologies play a role in the anti-consumption of dairy products or the consumption of dairy alternatives.

Design/methodology/approach

Self-reported data concerning the consumption of milk, yogurt and dairy products in general were collected online among 1,705 adults in Canada. Also included in the survey instrument were measures of NK and health beliefs as well as questions from the food technology neophobia scale. Anti-consumption of milk, yogurt and dairy as well as alternative dairy consumption as a function of these characteristics, in addition to demographic characteristics, is analysed using probit models.

Findings

Individuals who demonstrate resistance to innovations in food technology, those with lower levels of dairy-specific NK, and people who have less belief that dairy avoidance will have negative impacts on their health are more likely to be anti-consumers of milk and/or yogurt. The same is true for dairy products in general with the exception that people with higher levels of dairy-specific NK are more likely to be anti-consumers of dairy products in general.

Originality/value

Inadequate intake of calcium and vitamin D has negative consequences for long-term health. Given that dairy products are the primary source of these nutrients in the Canadian diet, it is important to understand the reasons behind dairy anti-consumption so that appropriate policy measures can be taken to address potential public health issues.
Constructive intercultural contact: yes we can. Introduction of a new concept
Authors: Spijkerman Hans , Benschop Yvonne W.M. , Bücker Joost
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of constructive intercultural contact. This concept refers to intercultural contact in which majority as well as minority participants are intercultural effective, i.e. can perceive themselves as comfortable and successful.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on exploration and review of intergroup, contact, acculturation and organization literature.

Findings

Five input elements of constructive intercultural contact are distinguished: responsibility, deliberate choice to postpone judgment, acknowledging the relative relevance of cultural differences, perspective taking and respect. What participants have to do to make constructive intercultural contact in organizations not only possible between colleagues, but also in hierarchical relationships is elaborated by reflection on the interrelation between majority/minority and manager/employee positions in constructive intercultural contact.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to diversity management literature by introducing a new concept which, focusing on the interaction level, explains how participants can make intercultural contact into a comfortable and successful experience for both. Other contributions are the differentiation between majority and minority actors and the elaboration of the complexity of intercultural employee/manager contacts.
Key factors selection approach for SMCDA problem based on GIA model with rate of change
Authors: Luo Dang , Li Haitao , Qian Qicun
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to construct a key factors selection approach for a class of small-sample multi-factor cross-sectional data analysis (SMCDA) problem, which is very common in productive practice and scientific research, such as coal-bed methane (CBM) content analysis, civil aircraft cost analysis, etc. Key factors selection is an important basic work for SMCDA problem; the proposed method is constructed to improve the accuracy and explanatory of the selected key factors.

Design/methodology/approach

Using grey system theory to solve SMCDA problem is more reasonable under few data and poor information. Therefore, this paper constructs a grey incidence analysis (GIA) model with rate of change to select the key factors of an SMCDA problem. The basic idea of the proposed method is to simulate time series by randomly sorting the selected samples, and to calculate the degree of grey incidence with rate of change by loop iterative algorithm, then to construct the degree matrix of grey incidence with rate of change, and finally by which, to utilise quantitative and qualitative analysis methods to select the key factors.

Findings

The experimental analysis of application cases demonstrates that the key factors of system’s characteristic can be successfully screened out by the proposed method, the results are consistent with actual conditions, and they have a clearer meaning and a better interpretability.

Practical implications

The method proposed in this paper could be utilised to select key factors for such a class of SMCDA problem, which has fewer observation samples (small-sample), which is influenced by a number of factors (multi-factor) and whose observation samples are placed randomly rather than by time (cross-sectional data). Taking the key influence factors of CBM content and the key driving factors of the vulnerability of agricultural drought in Henan as examples, the results proved the feasibility and superiority of this proposed method.

Originality/value

Most of the existing GIA models mainly focus on these classes of issues with time series data or panel data. However, few GIA models take SMCDA problem as the research object. In this paper, the authors develop the GIA model with rate of change according to the characteristics of SMCDA problem, and present some properties and application suggestions of the proposed method.
Exploring customer experiences with robotics in hospitality
Authors: Tung Vincent Wing Sun , Au Norman
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore consumer reviews with robotics based on the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences (i.e. embodiment, emotion, human-oriented perception, feeling of security and co-experience), as derived from research in human-robot interactions (HRI).

Design/methodology/approach

The study first reviews the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences in HRI and then analyzes user experiences with robotics at four hotels (i.e. Yotel New York, Aloft Cupertino, Henn-na Hotel Japan and Marriott Residence Inn LAX) based on reviews on TripAdvisor, Agoda, Yelp and Booking.com.

Findings

The findings highlight the influence of robotic embodiment and human-oriented perceptions on consumer experiences. The findings also suggest that users and robots can co-create novel experiences, with some guests even proactively seeking new opportunities to interact and communicate with robots to develop a certain level of “relationship” with them.

Research limitations/implications

An understanding of user experiences from HRIs can inform future hospitality and tourism research and management.

Practical implications

This study contributes to hospitality and tourism management by highlighting current practices with robotics to suggest areas of improvements for enhancing future consumer experiences.

Social implications

Consumer experiences will change rapidly as hospitality and tourism management deploys robotics in the future.

Originality/value

This is one of the early studies in the field to explore consumer experiences with robotics based on the five dimensions for evaluating user experiences from research in HRI. In doing so, this study provides a number of theoretical and managerial implications relevant for hospitality and tourism research and practice.
The reading public in the United Arab Emirates
Authors: Amaize Odekhiren , Buigut Steven
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the socioeconomic factors that influence the public’s reading interest in specific genres of literature, as well as what the public actually reads or listens to in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of 1,377 households, consisting of 650 and 727 from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, respectively, was conducted in 2012 as part of the country’s first, and to date only, comprehensive Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. A multivariate probit model is applied to analyze factors that influence interest in reading fiction, religion and spirituality and health and fitness. In addition, factors that influence public’s likelihood to read novels, short stories and poems are also assessed.

Findings

The results indicate that ethnicity, gender and education level significantly influence both the interest in reading, and actual reading habits. For example, while Asian and Western expatriate groups show more interest in fiction and health and fitness literature, Emirati are more likely to read poems. A gender difference is identified with females more likely to read.

Research limitations/implications

The survey focused on regular dwelling units and within a household, family and resident relatives. Hence, it excludes a segment of residents, such as domestic workers and unauthorized migrants.

Originality/value

This is the first study to empirically assess the factors influencing the public’s interest and reading habits across a range of genres of literature in the UAE.
Gender perspective on life insurance demand in Ghana
Authors: Ampaw Samuel , Nketiah-Amponsah Edward , Owoo Nkechi Srodah
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Against the background that Ghanaians seldom purchase insurance policies, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of life insurance uptake among male and female household heads in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employs data on 775 male and 233 female household heads from the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey. Adjusted Wald test statistics and logistic regressions are employed for the empirical estimations.

Findings

Results from the adjusted Wald test show that the sampled male household heads significantly differ from their female counterparts in terms of the selected socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Though ill health status, higher wealth, being self-employed or in wage or salaried employment and residing in either of the three northern regions (upper east, upper west and northern regions) in Ghana broadly affect the demand for life insurance among both male and female heads, other factors are peculiar to either parties. Particularly, whereas female heads who are married and those with more dependants have a higher propensity of purchasing life insurance policies, their male counterparts with higher education are more likely to buy life insurance policies.

Research limitations/implications

The paper adds to the paucity of cross-sectional studies on life insurance demand in Africa.

Practical implications

Based on the explored determinants, insurers could better regulate the purchase of their products by taking into consideration the gender differences to maximize their sales and enhance economic growth and development.

Originality/value

This paper explores the gender dynamics in the determinants of life insurance demand in a developing country, Ghana. Besides, findings from related literature are reported to be mixed. Though the current paper is not wholly nationally representative, it utilizes data from across all the ten administrative regions of Ghana. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study has been conducted in this manner.
Determinants of enrolment in the NHIS for women in Ghana – a cross sectional study
Authors: Kusi Anthony , Fenny Ama , Arhinful Daniel Kojo , Asante Felix Ankomah , Parmar Divya
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was introduced in 2005 to provide equitable access to healthcare. Furthermore, concessions were made for pregnant women, yet inequities in access continue to exist. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether dimensions of social exclusion explain why some groups of women are not benefitting from the scheme.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 4,050 representative households in five districts. Logistic regression is used to examine the factors that determine enrolment of women under the NHIS.

Findings

The study sample consists of a sub-sample of 3,173 women out of whom 58 per cent were insured. The majority (64.9 per cent) of the women were in the reproductive age (15–45 years). The results show that wealth status, age, health status, locality, perception about the quality of care at health facilities and perception of the NHIS, are the key factors that determine enrolment into the scheme.

Practical implications

By conceptualising social exclusion as the multi-dimensional processes driven by unequal power relationships which lead to differential inclusion and exclusion in social systems, the study provides evidence to show that certain groups of women are systemically excluded from participating in the NHIS.

Social implications

With women dominating the informal sector of Ghana’s economy which is often characterised by relatively low incomes, these inequities in access need to be addressed.

Originality/value

Although gender equality incorporates discussions on issues affecting men and women this paper focusses on women in Ghana due to disadvantaged position in which many of them find themselves in terms of access to resources. Almost all of the identified barriers in previous studies have been worsened by gender with women generally facing greater difficulties in accessing adequate care. Few of these papers have taken account the specific health needs and gender-specific constraints of women in the NHIS. The authors aim to fill this gap by using a social exclusion lens to explore whether Ghanaian women (i.e. 15 years and above) are participating in the NHIS and examine the processes by which exclusion occurs and what explains the patterns observed.
Modeling and optimization for fly ash reinforced bronze-based composite materials using multi objective Taguchi technique and regression analysis
Authors: Kus Hüsamettin , Basar Gokhan , Kahraman Funda
Published: August 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effect of fly ash reinforcement ratio (Rr) and sintering temperature (T) on the transverse rupture strength (TRS), hardness and density of fly ash reinforced bronze-based composite materials by using multi-objective Taguchi technique, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The bronze-based composite materials containing 5, 10 and 15 Wt.% fly ashes were prepared by using spark plasma sintering carried out under a pressure of 35 MPa, at 750, 800 and 850 °C for 3 min. Sintering temperature and fly ash reinforcement ratio were considered as input parameters; the TRS, hardness and density were considered as output parameters. Experiments were designed according to Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. Multi signal-to-noise ratio (MSNR) was computed to define the optimal process parameters. ANOVA was conducted to detect the importance of the input parameters for the process performance. Moreover, the linear model was developed for predicting the performance parameters by using regression analysis.

Findings

Fly ash can be a good alternative as reinforcement to reduce the cost for composite materials. Optimal process parameters had obtained 850°C sintering temperature and 5 per cent reinforcement ratio by using multi-objective Taguchi technique. The per cent contributions of the control factors on the performance parameters had obtained sintering temperature (95.78 per cent) and fly ash reinforcement ratio (3.00 per cent) with ANOVA. The obtained results indicate that the sintering temperature was found to be the dominant factor among controllable factors. However, the reinforcement ratio showed an insignificant effect.

Originality/value

It has been indicated that multi-objective Taguchi technique and regression analysis are effective and powerful tools in modeling and simultaneous optimization of quality characteristics for composite materials.
A proposed framework for accelerated innovation in data-driven environments
Authors: Zhan Yuanzhu , Tan Kim Hua , Perrons Robert K.
Published: August 2018

Purpose

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, the case for accelerated innovation processes has become increasingly compelling at both a theoretical and practical level. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for accelerated innovation in a data-driven market environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on a two-step approach. First, a set of propositions concerning the best approaches to accelerated innovation are put forward. Then it offers qualitative evidence from five case studies involving world-leading firms, and explains how innovation can be accelerated in different kinds of data-driven environments.

Findings

The key sets of factors for accelerated innovation are: collateral structure; customer involvement; and ecosystem of innovation. The proposed framework enables firms to find ways to innovate – specifically, to make product innovation faster and less costly.

Research limitations/implications

The findings from this research focus on high-tech industries in China. Using several specific innovation projects to represent accelerated innovation could raise the problem of the reliability and validity of the research findings. Additional research will probably be required to adapt the proposed framework to accommodate the cultural nuances of other countries and business environments.

Practical implications

The study is intended as a framework for managers to apply their resources to conduct product innovation in a fast and effective way. It developed six propositions about how, specifically, data analytics and ICTs can contribute to accelerated innovation.

Originality/value

The research shows that firms could harvest external knowledge and import ideas across organisational boundaries. An accelerated innovation framework is characterised by a multidimensional process involving intelligence efforts, relentless data collection and flexible working relationships with team members.
Duality of self-promotion on social networking sites
Authors: Islam A.K.M. Najmul , Mäntymäki Matti , Benbasat Izak
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Self-promotion on social networking sites (SNSs) is a controversial issue as it has been attributed to various positive and negative consequences. To better understand the reasons for the mixed consequences and the nature of self-promotion on SNSs, the purpose of this paper is to theorize and empirically investigate the duality of SNS self-promotion and its underlying socio-psychological mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

By drawing on the motivational affordance lens and self-determination theory, this study develops a theoretical account of the duality of self-promotion on SNSs. The author places subjective vitality and SNS addiction as the positive and negative consequences of self-promotion. The model was tested using partial least squares technique with data collected from 289 Finnish Facebook users using a survey.

Findings

The results show that self-promotion contributes to both subjective vitality and to SNS addiction. Importantly, exhibitionism attenuates the effect of self-promotion on subjective vitality and amplifies the effect of self-promotion on SNS addiction. The feature-level analysis shows that status updates, adding photos, commenting in others’ posts and profile completeness are the main determinants of self-promotion. Status updates, adding photos and check-ins, in turn, have high exhibitionistic appeal.

Originality/value

To date, the empirical attempts to investigate the duality of SNS use have been rare. In particular, prior research is largely silent in explaining what tilt the outcomes of self-promotion either toward positive or negative direction. The paper fills this theoretical and empirical gap and thus contributes to literature on dualities of SNS use.
How do entrepreneurship rates vary across different races?
Authors: Sabbaghi Omid
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the time-series dynamics of entrepreneurship rates for different race classifications based on household characteristics over the 1996 through 2013 period.

Design/methodology/approach

Using microdata from the Kauffman Foundation, this study investigates the roles of unemployment, homeownership, income, immigration, education, age, gender and marital status in relation to entrepreneurship rates for different race classifications through ridge regression analysis.

Findings

Results suggest that the time-series variation in entrepreneurship rates for different race classifications are variable-dependent, moreover, the economic and statistical significance of the candidate explanatory variables are sensitive to the time period under analysis. Unemployment, homeownership, education, age and marital status are significant variables for whites while unemployment, income, immigration and gender variables are significant for blacks. For the case of Native Americans and Asians, the candidate explanatory variables do not explain the time-series variation in entrepreneurship rates for the sample periods in this study.

Social implications

This study exhibits implications for public policy in helping to promote entrepreneurship at the individual level and help stimulate entrepreneurial activity as a mechanism for promoting economic growth.

Originality/value

The findings suggest the importance of examining entrepreneurship rates across time based on race classifications. This study highlights the importance of conducting ridge regression analysis for different sub-periods in time when assessing entrepreneurship rates.
Reflecting the voice of the student
Authors: Borrelli Steve , Chao Zoe , Su Chao
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper, conducted at Penn State University, is to inform a redesign of the library facility integrating a Collaboration Commons projected to cost over $20m.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods design comprised of observation, focus groups, conversations with students, interviews with Knowledge Commons personnel and a UX Café was employed. Researchers investigated the students’ need for workspaces and soft-seating.

Findings

Findings suggested that students generally come to the libraries with a goal of being productive and they value the productivity generated by spacious and well-designed workspaces over the comfort of soft-seating. Students desire an increase in the availability of workspaces.

Originality/value

These findings informed facility enhancement recommendations, and have been integrated into the program statement made available to design firms bidding on the renovation project.
Supporting the next generation of Texas A&M University scholars
Authors: Moberly Heather K. , Lee Dong Joon , Kessler Michael David , Carrigan Esther Elizabeth
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The speed of information transfer, discovery, and evaluation is accelerating the timeline for young researchers to establish their scholarly identity. A clear scholarly identity is an essential element in developing and maintaining a scholar’s reputation. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

Texas A&M University is developing workflows and programmatic support for graduate students as they navigate a labyrinth of tools, such as ORCID iD, to establish and manage their identity and reputation.

Findings

This paper discusses the evolution of a collaboration between the Texas A&M University Libraries (A&M UL) and the Office of Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences to educate graduate-level students about scholarly identity and reputation.

Originality/value

The collaboration between the Texas A&M UL and the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences Office of Research and Graduate Studies evolved into an intentional practice to assist emerging researchers as they navigate the labyrinth of standards and research information systems to establish their scholarly identity.
The influence of exploration and exploitation on born globals’ speed of internationalization
Authors: Lin Song , Si Steven
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate exploration and exploitation as antecedents to speed of internationalization in born global firms.

Design/methodology/approach

By using 150 born global firms in China, the authors demonstrate that the influence of exploration and exploitation on born globals’ speed of internationalization. The statistical method in this study is hierarchical regression model.

Findings

The results revealed that exploration has a negative effect on the internationalization of born global firms, whereas exploration does not. The interaction between exploration and exploitation has positive influence on born globals’ speed of internationalization.

Practical implications

The study helps entrepreneurs and managers to better understand how to achieve international entrepreneurship success and internationalization success.

Originality/value

This study makes a theoretical development of internationalization speed, a core aspect of international entrepreneurship theory. First, this study contributes to theories on born globals’ speed of internationalization, which the authors redefined in the current study by using two approaches to measure the speed of internationalization of born global firms. Second, the study used exploration and exploitation as the two designated factors that are supposed to affect the speed of internationalization of born globals which contributes to the theoretical literature of international opportunity.
Evaluation of a peer support specialist led group
Authors: Taylor Amber , Dorer Gemma , Gleeson Kate
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a Peer Support Specialist (PSS) and NHS practitioner co-produced “Enabling Recovery” group that supports service-users’ recovery whilst providing pathways for appropriate transition from mental health teams.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample included 23 service-users (f=10,m=13) with a range of mental health conditions. The evaluation set out to assess how the attendees experienced the group and the impact of the group on subsequent contact with services. The design involved a content analysis of focus groups and group evaluation forms; an assessment of direct and indirect contacts made in the three months prior, and following, the group; and a record of the number of discharges and referrals made following the group.

Findings

Group content and social contact were rated as most helpful and cognitive demands and paperwork as least helpful. Number of direct and indirect contacts significantly reduced, four attendees were discharged due to improved mental health and 17 began accessing third-sector/community organisations.

Research limitations/implications

Future evaluations could seek feedback from service-users who disengaged from the group and indirect contacts could be broadened to include service initiated contacts.

Practical implications

Findings suggest that PSS and NHS Practitioner co-produced group interventions are effective in reducing service demand and increasing service-user satisfaction.

Originality/value

This paper adds a novel contribution to the PSS literature offering support to the utility of co-produced PSS interventions in an NHS setting.
Evaluation of surface roughness during turning of Al-SiC and Al-SiC-Gr composites
Authors: Suresh P. , Poongodi T.
Published: August 2018

Purpose

In the current scenario, new materials are gaining popularity due to higher specific properties of strength and stiffness, increase in wear resistance, dimensional stability at higher temperature, etc. Subsequently, the need for precise machining has also been increased enormously. The purpose of this paper is to study the surface roughness during the turning of Al-10%SiC and Al-5%SiC-5%Gr composites under different cutting conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

Artificial neural network (ANN) has been effectively employed in solving problems with effortless computation in the areas such as fault diagnosis, process identification, property estimation, data smoothing and error filtering, product design and development, optimisation and estimation of activity coefficients. Response surface method is also used to analyse the problems involving a number of input parameters and their corresponding relationship between one or more measured dependent responses. Using Design Expert.8 evaluation software package, a simpler and more efficient statistical RSM model has been designed. RSM models are created by using 27 experimental data measurements obtained from different turning conditions of aluminium alloy composites.

Findings

In this work, the surface roughness during turning of Al-10%SiC and Al-5%SiC-5%Gr composites under different cutting conditions has been studied. The surface roughness value is proportional with the increase in feed rate and depth of cut while inversely proportional with the cutting speed. In all turning conditions, Al-10%SiC composite has lower surface roughness values than Al-5%SiC-5%Gr hybrid composite. An ANN and response surface models have been developed to predict the surface roughness of machined surface. The experimental results concur well with predicted models.

Originality/value

In the present trend, new materials are gaining popularity due to higher specific properties of strength and stiffness, increase in wear resistance, dimensional stability at higher temperature, etc. Subsequently, the need for precise machining has also been increased enormously. In this work, the surface roughness during turning of Al-10%SiC and Al-5%SiC-5%Gr composites under different cutting conditions has been studied.
Developing students’ understandings of citizenship and advocacy through action civics
Authors: Blevins Brooke , LeCompte Karon Nicol , Bauml Michelle
Published: August 2018

Purpose

In the wake of the 2016 US presidential election and the political turmoil that has ensued since, the need to prepare youth as active, well-informed citizens is self-evident. Middle and high school students have the potential to shape public and political opinion and encourage others to engage in collective, grassroots civic efforts to enact positive change in their communities through social media and face-to-face communication (CIRCLE Staff, 2018). Action civics has emerged as a promising civic education practice for preparing young people for active and informed civic participation. By providing students with the opportunity to “engage in a cycle of research, action, and reflection about problems they care about personally while learning about deeper principles of effective civic and especially political action” (Levinson, 2012, p. 224). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This interpretive qualitative case study utilized Westheimer and Kahne’s (2004) citizen typology to examine 30 fifth through ninth graders’ conceptions of citizenship, civic action and advocacy as a result of their participation in an action civics inquiry project that took place during summer civics camps.

Findings

Findings show that overall, students’ conceptions of citizenship remained relatively unchanged after participating in the summer civics camps; however, students did develop increased understanding of advocacy and were more readily able to identify the “root causes” of community issues.

Originality/value

Implications of this study add to a small but growing body of literature on the outcomes of action civics programs and may inform the design and implementation of these kinds of programs.
3D upper crustal density structure of the Deccan Syneclise, Central India
Authors: Prasad K.N.D. , Singh A.P. , Tiwari V.M.
Published: August 2018

A constrained 3D density model of the upper crust along a part of the Deccan Syneclise is carried out based on the complete Bouguer anomaly data. Spectral analysis of the complete Bouguer gravity anomaly map of the study region suggests two major sources: short wavelength anomalies (<100 km) caused primarily due to the density inhomogeneities at shallow crustal level and long wavelength anomalies (>100 km) produced due to the sources deeper than the upper crust. A residual map of the short wavelength anomalies is prepared from the complete Bouguer anomaly using Butterworth high‐pass filter (100 km cut‐off wavelength). Utilizing the constraints from deep resistivity sounding, magnetotellurics and deep seismic sounding studies, 2.5D density models have been generated along 39 profiles of this region. The mismatch between the calculated response of the a priori 2.5D model with the residual (short wavelength) gravity anomalies is minimized by introducing high‐density intrusive bodies (≥2.81 g/cm3) in the basement. With these 2.5D density models, the initial geometry of our 3D density model, which includes alluvium, Deccan trap, Mesozoic sediment and high‐density intrusive bodies in the basement up to a depth of 7 km (upper crust), is generated. In the final 3D model, Deccan trap extends from 200 m to nearly 1700 m below the 90–150 m thick Quaternary sediment. Further down, the sub‐trappean Mesozoic sediment is present at a depth range of 600–3000 m followed by the basement. The derived 3D density model also indicates six intrusive bodies of density 2.83 g/cm3 in the basement at an average depth of about 4–7 km that best fits the residual gravity anomaly of the study area.
The infrastructure of telecare: implications for nursing tasks and the nurse‐doctor relationship
Authors: Nickelsen Niels Christian Mossfeldt
Published: August 2018

Telecare can offer a unique experience of trust in patient‐nurse relationships, embracing new standards for professional discretion among nurses, but also reflects an increasingly complicated relationship between nurses and doctors. The study uses ethnographic methodology in relation to a large 5 million euro project at four hospitals caring for 120 patients withCOPD. Twenty screen‐mediated conferences were observed and two workshops, centring on nurses’ photo elucidation of the practice of telecare, were conducted with a focus on shifting tasks, professional discretion, responsibility and boundaries between nurses and doctors. Analytically, the study draws on Star's notion of ‘infrastructure’ and Mol, Moser and Pols's ideas of care as ‘tinkering’. Infrastructure is understood as human and non‐human conduct that is embedded into wider organisational conventions, sites and structures. The analysis demonstrates and proposes that, in telecare, greater accountability, discretion and responsibility are imposed on the nurse, but that they also have less access to the means of clinical decision‐making, namely, doctors. The article explores how relational infrastructures ascribe the professions they constitute (nurses and doctors) functions of power and accountability and highlights the ethical problem of the nurse being given greater responsibility while simultaneously becoming more dependent on the doctor.
Lifestyle drift and the phenomenon of ‘citizen shift’ in contemporary UK health policy
Authors: Williams Oli , Fullagar Simone
Published: August 2018

Despite political change over the past 25 years in Britain there has been an unprecedented national policy focus on the social determinants of health and population‐based approaches to prevent chronic disease. Yet, policy impacts have been modest, inequalities endure and behavioural approaches continue to shape strategies promoting healthy lifestyles. Critical public health scholarship has conceptualised this lack of progress as a problem of ‘lifestyle drift’ within policy whereby ‘upstream’ social contributors to health inequalities are reconfigured ‘downstream’ as a matter of individual behaviour change. While the lifestyle drift concept is now well established there has been little empirical investigation into the social processes through which it is realised as policies are (re)formulated and implementation is localised. Addressing this gap we present empirical findings from an ethnography conducted in a deprived English neighbourhood in order to explore: (i) the local context in the process of lifestyle drift and; (ii) the social relations that reproduce (in)equities in the design and delivery of lifestyle interventions. Analysis demonstrates how and why ‘precarious partnerships’ between local service providers were significant in the process of ‘citizen shift’ whereby government responsibility for addressing inequity was decollectivised.
Village Redevelopment and Desegregation as a Strategy for Metropolitan Development: Some Lessons from Guangzhou City
Authors: Wong Siu Wai , Tang Bo‐Sin , Liu Jinlong
Published: August 2018

How to integrate millions of migrant workers into local communities remains a core challenge in China's urban transformation. Recently some cities, driven by a national policy of integrated metropolitan development, have aggressively engaged in the redevelopment of urbanizing villages (chengzhongcun) to promote formalization and desegregation. This article adopts a historical micro‐perspective to examine the actual role of urbanizing villages in city making, through an in‐depth analysis of how migrants and villagers have struggled since the 1980s for symbiotic co‐existence during various stages of urbanization. It argues that state‐led village redevelopment has created more problems than it has solved. Redevelopment eliminates some of the spatial and institutional separations characterizing Chinese socialist villages by dismantling barriers hindering formalization and marketization of collective village land, but this produces new social inequalities and tensions as it uproots pre‐existing self‐governing communities to facilitate spontaneous grassroots rural‐to‐urban transition for villagers and migrants. To cope with these problems, intervention to resolve the emerging problems of Chinese cities must consider a fundamental policy shift, away from sole reliance on the means of formalization and integration, to greater emphasis on the benefits of informality and segregation.
Hospital–Skilled Nursing Facility Collaboration: A Mixed‐Methods Approach to Understanding the Effect of Linkage Strategies
Authors: Rahman Momotazur , Gadbois Emily A. , Tyler Denise A. , Mor Vincent
Published: August 2018

Objective

To characterize the nature and degree of hospitals’ efforts to collaborate with skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and associated patient outcomes.

Data Sources/Study Setting

Qualitative data were collected through 138 interviews with staff in 16 hospitals and 25 SNFs in eight markets across the United States in 2015. Quantitative data include Medicare claims data for the 290,603 patients discharged from those 16 hospitals between 2008 and 2015.

Study Design/Data Collection

Semi‐structured interviews with hospital and SNF staff were coded and used to classify hospitals’ collaboration efforts with SNFs into high versus low collaboration hospitals, and risk‐adjusted, claims‐based hospital readmission rates from SNF were compared.

Principal Findings

Hospital collaboration efforts were defined as establishing SNF partners, transition management initiatives, and hospital staff visits to SNFs. High collaboration hospitals were more likely to send patients to SNFs (as opposed to home, home with home health, or other PAC settings), sent a higher share of patients to high quality SNFs, and had fewer hospital readmissions from SNF sooner than did low collaboration hospitals.

Conclusions

Although collaboration with SNF requires significant administrative and clinical time investment, it is associated with positive patient outcomes.
Amiodarone for sustained stable ventricular tachycardia in the prehospital setting
Authors: Foerster Christopher R , Andrew Emily , Smith Karen , Bernard Stephen
Published: August 2018

Objective

Amiodarone is commonly used in the treatment of stable ventricular tachycardia (VT), but its efficacy has not been empirically examined in the prehospital setting. The objective of this study was to examine the safety and efficacy of amiodarone administered by paramedics to patients with stable VT.

Methods

Patient records from Victoria, Australia between 1 May 2007 and 30 June 2017 were examined retrospectively. Patients attended by Ambulance Victoria with stable sustained VT who were administered amiodarone by paramedics as the initial treatment were included. Data were used to determine the prevalence of treatment with amiodarone, the incidence of VT termination prior to transfer of care, and the incidence of progression to electrical cardioversion.

Results

Sixty‐one patients were identified who met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 72 years (standard deviation = 14) with 77% (n = 47) being male. Of the patients treated with amiodarone, 52% (n = 32) reverted successfully during paramedic care while 48% (n = 29) did not. Two patients required cardioversion for haemodynamic instability after amiodarone administration. One patient experienced cardiac arrest after receiving amiodarone and was successfully resuscitated by paramedics.

Conclusions

Approximately half of the patients treated with amiodarone reverted from VT while under paramedic care. Patient deterioration was rare, with cardiac arrest or requirement for cardioversion occurring very infrequently. Amiodarone was relatively safe and moderately effective for the treatment of sustained stable VT. However, given recent evidence of increased efficacy of procainamide for stable VT, further studies are required in the prehospital setting to compare these two drugs.
Effect of Gum Arabic, β‐Cyclodextrin, and Sodium Caseinate as Encapsulating Agent on the Oxidative Stability and Bioactive Compounds of Spray‐Dried Kenaf Seed Oil
Authors: Chew Sook Chin , Tan Chin Ping , Nyam Kar Lin
Published: August 2018

Kenaf seed oil is prone to undergo oxidation due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, thus microencapsulation stands as an alternative to protect kenaf seed oil from the adverse environment. This study primarily aimed to evaluate the oxidative stability of microencapsulated refined kenaf seed oil (MRKSO) by the use of gum arabic, β‐cyclodextrin, and sodium caseinate as the wall materials by spray drying. Bulk refined kenaf seed oil (BRKSO) and MRKSO were kept at 65 °C for 24 days to evaluate its oxidative stability, changes of tocopherol and tocotrienol contents, phytosterol content, and fatty acid profile. The results showed that the peroxide value, p‐Anisidine value, and total oxidation value of BRKSO were significantly higher than the MRKSO at day 24. The total tocopherol and tocotrienol contents were reduced 66.1% and 56.8% in BRKSO and MRKSO, respectively, upon the storage. There was a reduction of 71.7% and 23.5% of phytosterol content in BRKSO and MRKSO, respectively, upon the storage. The degradation rate of polyunsaturated fatty acids in BRKSO was higher than that of MRKSO. This study showed that the current microencapsulation technique is a feasible way to retard the oxidation of kenaf seed oil.

Practical Application

There is increasing research on the functional properties of crude kenaf seed oil, but the crude kenaf seed oil is not edible. This study offered in developing of microencapsulated refined kenaf seed oil by spray drying, which is suitable for food application. The microencapsulation of refined kenaf seed oil with healthier wall materials is beneficial in developing a diversity of functional food products and supplements.