bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nanostructured material sensor processing using microfabrication techniques
Authors: Hunter Gary , Vander Wal Randy , Evans Laura , Xu Jennifer , Berger Gordon , Kullis Michael , Biaggi‐Labiosa Azlin 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe development of chemical sensors based on nanostructures, such as nanotubes or nanowires, depends on the capability to reproducibly control the processing of the sensor. Alignment and consistent electrical contact of nanostructures on a microsensor platform is challenging. This can be accomplished using labor‐intensive approaches, specialized processing technology, or growth of nanostructures in situ. However, the use of standard microfabrication techniques for fabricating nanostructured microsensors is problematic. The purpose of this paper is to address this challenge using standard photoresist processing combined with dielectrophoresis.Design/methodology/approachNanostructures are suspended in photoresist and aligned between opposing sawtooth electrode patterns using an alternating current (AC) electric field (dielectrophoresis). The use of photoresist processing techniques allow the burying of the nanostructures between layers of metal, thus improving the electrical contact of the nanostructures to the microsensor platform.FindingsThis approach is demonstrated for both multi‐walled carbon nanotubes and tin oxide nanowires. Preliminary data show the electrical continuity of the sensor structure as well as the response to various gases.Research limitations/implicationsIt is concluded that this approach demonstrates a foundation for a new tool for the fabrication of microsensors using nanostructures, and can be expanded towards enabling the combination of common microfabrication techniques with nanostructured sensor development.Originality/valueThis approach is intended to address the significant barriers of deposition control, contact robustness, and simplified processing to realizing the potential of nanotechnology as applied to sensors.
Application of homotopy perturbation and numerical methods to the magneto‐micropolar fluid flow in the presence of radiation
Authors: Madani Mohammad , Khan Yasir , Fathizadeh Mahdi , Yildirim Ahmet 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the effect of radiation on flow of a magneto‐micropolar fluid past a continuously moving plate with suction and blowing.Design/methodology/approachThe governing equations are transformed into dimensionless nonlinear ordinary differential equations by similarity transformation. Analytical technique, namely the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) combining with Padé approximants and finite difference method, are used to solve dimensionless non‐linear ordinary differential equations. The skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt numbers are also calculated. Beside this, the comparison of the analytical solution with numerical solution is illustrated by the graphs for different values of dimensionless pertinent parameters.FindingsThe authors have studied laminar magneto‐micropolar flow in the presence of radiation by using HPM‐Padé and finite difference methods. Results obtained by HPM‐Padé are in excellent agreement with the results of numerical solution.Originality/valueThe HPM‐Padé is used in a direct way without using linearization, discritization or restrictive assumption. The authors have attempted to show the capabilities and wide‐range applications of the HPM‐Padé in comparison with the finite difference solution of magneto‐micropolar flow in the presence of radiation problem.
Linking perceived value of mobile marketing with the experiential consumption of mobile phones
Authors: Andrews Lynda , Drennan Judy , Russell‐Bennett Rebekah 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThis study seeks to examine the nature of consumers' perceptions of the value they derive from the everyday experiential consumption of mobile phones and how mobile marketing (m‐marketing) can potentially enhance these value perceptions.Design/methodology/approachQ methodology is used with a framework of experiential consumption and perceived consumer value, to examine how consumers' subjective perceptions and opinions of the two areas of interest are shared at a collective level. A total of 40 participants undertook two Q sorts and the data were analysed using PQ‐method.FindingsThe first Q sort identified three clusters of perceived value: the Mobile Pragmatists, the Mobile Connectors and the Mobile Revellers. The second Q sort identified two clusters of perceived value of m‐marketing: one emerging from the shared opinions of the Mobile Pragmatists and the Mobile Connectors, and the second from the Mobile Revellers.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings show how consumers can be segmented based on their contextualised perceived value of consuming mobile phones. The findings also show that m‐marketing can be tailored to enhance these value perceptions. The study demonstrates how to use Q methodology to examine subjective areas of consumer behaviour. Limitations relate to deriving statements for the Q sorts and the generalisability of the results.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight ways to tailor m‐marketing strategies to complement consumers' perceptions of the value offered through their mobile phones.Originality/valueThe study contributes to existing theory and practice through using Q methodology to examine two subjective areas of consumer behaviour research: experiential consumption in everyday life and consumer perceived value, which is applied in the context of mobile phones and m‐marketing.
Limits to mobility: competence and qualifications in Europe
Authors: Le Deist Françoise , Tūtlys Vidmantas 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThis paper aims to explore structural and systemic influences in the development of competence models and qualifications systems at sectoral and national levels across Europe, considering the influences of different socio‐economic models of skill formation on the processes of design and provision of qualifications.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a meta analysis of three European projects that used literature review, documentary analysis and interviews with practitioners and policy makers.FindingsThe main methodological and practical challenges posed by varieties of competence and qualifications to inter‐country comparability of qualifications are shown to be related to different socio‐economic models of skill formation.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited to 13 countries and four sectors but these were carefully selected to maximise coverage of European diversity with respect to competence models, training regimes and approaches to qualifications. There is clearly a need for further research involving more countries and sectors.Practical implicationsThe paper offers recommendations for improving the potential of the European Qualifications Framework to promote comparability of qualifications and hence mobility of labour. These recommendations will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners involved in using the EQF and similar instruments.Originality/valueThis is the first systematic attempt to explore the methodological and practical difficulties of establishing comparability between qualifications.
Sustaining higher education reforms
Authors: Phusavat Kongkiti , Ketsarapong Suphattra , Ooi Keng‐Boon , Shyu Stacy H.P. 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe paper aims to share experiences in Thailand's higher educational reforms in which academic excellence cannot be sustained without proper financial and fiscal consideration. The overall goal is to disclose the experiences and future issues facing public universities.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on actual involvement by Kasetsart University in assisting the Commission of Higher Education's (CHE) university reform efforts. In addition to projects supported financially by CHE, Kasetsart University has also participated as a committee member and an invited expert. The paper is narrative in nature. It begins by showing the positive impacts from higher education on a country's level of competitiveness, and the inter‐relationship between higher education and innovation. The paper describes the country's recent major reform initiatives to achieve academic excellence and raises concerns over sustainability for public universities.FindingsThe experiences from Thailand can be helpful for many countries as the country is moving from an industrial‐based economy towards a knowledge‐based economy. The major concern is that academic excellence for public universities cannot be sustained without more effective fiscal management and public‐private partnership. Finally, despite the fact that the article is descriptive; the knowledge and lessons learned should be beneficial to scholars and practitioners who are interested in higher education reforms.Originality/valueAcademic excellence has often been discussed within the context of quality and innovation without explicitly considering fiscal management. The potential use of public‐private partnerships, which can improve the effectiveness of fiscal management, is revealed and discussed. The knowledge and lessons learned should be beneficial to scholars and practitioners who are interested in higher education reforms.
The ethics application
Authors: Daff Lyn 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThis poem aims to reflect on the process of preparing a successful ethics application and likens it to facing a giant.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a poem reflecting on factors that hinder and aid a successful ethics application and emotions that applicants may experience during the process.FindingsAchieving a successful ethics application requires attention to detail, knowledge of the process and persistence. Accountability falls heavily on the applicant while the committee wants to minimise risk for the university. One can experience a range of emotions during the application process.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the findings reflect the author's experience they are nevertheless often privately discussed amongst academics.Originality/valueThe paper brings to light issues that ethics applicants experience that are seldom publicly discussed.
Discursive constructions of the role of cultural intermediaries in the wine markets of Japan and Singapore
Authors: Rod Michel , Ellis Nick , Beal Tim 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role and influence of cultural intermediaries in the developing wine markets of Japan and Singapore by taking a discursive view of relationships amongst these cultural intermediaries, as well as between them and various members of the supply chain in international wine marketing – including consumers.Design/methodology/approachThe authors explore cross‐cultural issues by taking a discursive perspective to studying representations of self, and of inter‐organizational and inter‐personal relationships in the global wine business, specifically through the analysis of a series of accounts of cultural intermediaries and key stakeholders involved in potentially influencing the extent to which New Zealand wines achieve a greater presence in the Japan and Singapore marketplaces.FindingsIn their talk, participants explicitly (and sometimes implicitly) construct “vertical” relationships with downstream and upstream supply chain actors (consumers and producers, respectively) as needing guidance or assistance that seemingly only they are capable of providing. They also construct “horizontal” relations with fellow cultural intermediaries. In these discursive constructions, evaluative positioning often occurs, as the various actors are constructed positively or negatively, depending on the nature of the legitimisation sought by the speaker as they seek to justify their contribution to the network.Practical implicationsThe insights gained through an examination of discourse should help B2B practitioners in the increasingly globalising wine industry to navigate through the complexity of emerging wine markets in the Asian context.Originality/valueThe paper's contribution is in looking at these cultural intermediaries as cultural bridges in the context of “sophisticated globalization” in specific Asian societies not traditionally known for wine‐drinking.
Feasibility of adopting in‐and‐out‐sourcing
Authors: Haroun Ahmed E. , Elfaki Elkhawad Ali , Mahdi A. M. Beshir El 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to find the “effect of economic value of maintenance cost on the optimum selection of one alternative (either out‐or‐in‐sourcing) through the analysis of a case study of two projects: an existing on‐going project and a proposed bidding project”. In particular, the research is conducted to help PetroCost for Engineering Investment and Construction Company to take a decision on whether to have its own earth moving fleet (and hence maintain it) or rent one including the maintenance service as part of the outsourcing contract.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a case study approach whereby cost data and information are collected from two case projects, then presented and analyzed. Economic tools (measures of worth) and excel software were used in the first project, where payback period method and break‐even analysis are used in the second project. The two projects were considered as an integrated (complementary) case study, so different measures were applied to each project, although the three measures could be applied, implicitly, to each of them. The payback method is used as a quick screening method to determine, approximately, how long the project takes to recover the invested outlays. If the period is shorter than the period of time desired by the investor, then a further thorough analyses, rate of return and break‐even, are recommended to be undertaken. Two of the authors were consultants to the study, where the third was the technical manager of the company (PetroCost).FindingsThe results obtained from the analysis of the first case project (existing on‐going project) showed a saving of SDG717,484.31, while the second case study (bidding) showed a saving of 33.4 percent over the out‐sourcing cost, and a break‐even point of 27 days, one third of the recommended project life. Both cases are in favor of having their own trucks while conducting in‐house maintenance.Practical implicationsThe traditional in‐house approach is considered by many firms as the best maintenance strategy. Nevertheless, out‐sourcing becomes a recognized challenging competing option, worldwide. However, out‐sourcing option not widely practiced in Sudan. The decision criteria presented in this paper provides a useful management tool for selecting the appropriate maintenance organization strategy. Although the criteria is applied for a truck fleet case in a construction firm, but it can be extended to the management of maintenance activities in the growing oil and associated industries in the country, besides the existing ones, where the skills' shortage of qualified maintenance personnel is evident.Originality/valueMuch of previous and current research on outsourcing focuses on managing outsourcing projects and evaluating ex post decisions' consequences (e.g. output measurability) more than addressing early planning and feasibility study stages. Hence, the paper is relevant in this respect and intended to contribute to the practice of maintenance management.
Reliability analysis of drum shearer machine at mechanized longwall mines
Authors: Hadi Hoseinie Seyed , Ataei Mohammad , Khalokakaie Reza , Ghodrati Behzad , Kumar Uday 
Published: March 2012

PurposeLongwall mining is a special mining method with high productivity and smooth operation and the drum shearer is known as the most important component in longwall mines due to its direct role in the coal cutting and production process. Therefore, its reliability is important in keeping the mine production at a desired level. Hence, reliability analysis is essential in identifying and removing existing problems of this machine in order to achieve a better production condition. This paper seeks to learn about the reliability of the shearer machine in order to locate critical subsystems. The improvement of the reliability of the critical subsystems, to enhance the optimum operation of the shearer machine, is the main objective of this research.Design/methodology/approachA basic methodology was used in this paper for the reliability modeling of the shearer machine. First, failure and performance data from a two‐year period at the Tabas Coal Mine‐Iran was classified and sorted. The tests for validating the assumption of independent and identical distribution (iid) of TBF data are done and the best modeling method for each subsystem was selected among the renewal process, homogeneous Poisson process and non‐homogeneous Poisson process. Finally, the reliability of subsystems and the machine were assessed.FindingsThe study revealed that six important subsystems of the shearer machine are; water system, haulage, electrical system, hydraulic system, cutting arms, and cable system. Pareto analysis shows that the 30 percent of failures and stoppages of the shearer were related to the water system and this system is the most critical subsystem of the machine. The failure rate analysis shows that the failure rates of the hydraulic, haulage and electrical systems were decreasing, meanwhile, the failure rates of the water system, cutting arms and cable system were increasing. The reliability of drum shearer reaches the zero value after 100 hours.Originality/valueThis paper, for the first time, defines a practical set of subsystems for the coal shearer based on field data and machine design.
Baltic States and the Euro: a spectral analysis of the 2007 financial crisis
Authors: Gray David 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether the banking crisis in the USA and Western Europe that began in August 2007 precipitated a change in the relationship between the currencies of the Baltic States and the Euro, such that it could be described as shift contagion. The paper also considers whether the “hardness” of the currency peg affects the market reaction to that crisis.Design/methodology/approachShift contagion is said to be revealed if there a change in the co‐movements of exchange rates after August 2007 compared with before. Change is revealed by coherence and phase shifts. Both are drawn from cross‐spectral analysis.FindingsRather than weaken, the bonds between the currency board‐managed Kroon and the Litas, in a similar way to the Lat, exhibited greater bonding after the banking crisis began compared with before. The phase angles suggest some shift in money flows between the Baltic currencies and the Euro. With the Lat, the delays appear to be the same but at longer periodicies. The other two appear be subject to a reversal of money flows at various periodicies.Research limitations/implicationsSpectral analysis reveals that bonding between currencies of ERMII countries and the Euro increased, but the structure of money flows changed as a result of the Western banking crisis in related geographical and financial markets, before a local crisis became evident. To what extent this is an improvement over correlation methods could be the basis of further research. The phase switch is a structural change that other techniques could not have revealed.Originality/valueThe paper shows that spectral analysis could be more widely used in financial economics to reveal the impact of events on term structures.
Answering the journalistic six on the training needs assessment of pharmaceutical sales representatives
Authors: Zahid Iqbal Muhammad , Alam Malik Shahab , Khan Rashid Ahmad 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThis paper aims to offer a schema for carrying out a comprehensive training needs assessment (TNA) of medical representatives. The schema answers commonly posed questions, the journalistic six.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 292 medical representatives (trainees) and 60 training/sales managers (trainers) from 32 pharmaceutical organizations of Pakistan was surveyed. The study attempted to answer the why, what, when, and where aspects of TNA by using correlation and two independent samples t‐test. Who‐ and how‐related aspects were analyzed using descriptive statistics.FindingsThe results reveal that the perspectives of trainers and trainees are fully and partially consistent with each other on competency‐based TNA (why), and TNA inputs and TNA products/outcomes (what) respectively. However, a significant difference is found befallen TNA time‐line (when) and TNA situate (where). The results related to TNA decision makers (who), and TNA mechanisms (how) reveal a range of options.Research limitations/implicationsReliance on data elicited with one shot can border the issue of generalization. Therefore, to compensate this, the study design is explained in fair detail.Practical implicationsThe study identifies the gap between the existing literature on the journalistic six on TNA and the perceptions of the study participants on prevailing practices. To fill this gap, the study offers a framework to the pharmaceutical organizations for conducting a comprehensive TNA of their medical representatives.Originality/valueThe proposed schema reveals a set of six coherent areas to be considered for conducting a comprehensive TNA.
Inadequate return questions: return when? Sometime?
Authors: Wang Ching‐Tang , Huan Tzung‐Cheng , Kan Tang‐Chung 
Published: March 2012

PurposeThis paper has two main aims: to show responses like yes or very likely for inbound visitors returning to a destination can lead to misleading and unreliable information; and to clarify the kind of information that should be collected.Design/methodology/approachResponses from Taiwan's inbound visitors relating to returning are examined to see what can be learned. Modeling is used to extract meaningful quantitative information from data.FindingsModeling shows that survey responses about return are inconsistent. Although 95 percent of non‐visiting‐friends‐and‐relations (VFR) leisure visitors indicate returning, this is not consistent with a retention rate of 90 percent. A retention rate of 33 percent is consistent with the observation that 70 percent of person‐visits are first‐visits. However, 33 percent retention is not consistent with over 95 percent of visitors returning. Conventional questions are yielding highly unreliable information and, therefore, data collection should be changed.Originality/valueRelations between vague questions and return trips have been established. This research provides new evidence of the need for return data to include information allowing estimation of volume and timing of return.