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1 – 10 of over 5000Property market forces rarely dictate attention to the more complex and specialist needs of minority groups, like the disabled, unless such a consideration is specifically…
Abstract
Property market forces rarely dictate attention to the more complex and specialist needs of minority groups, like the disabled, unless such a consideration is specifically included in the brief. Overcoming that selfishness and to integrate disabled people into the built environment of our community, is a struggle which has been receiving increasing attention for the last two decades. On 14th December, 1987, an approved document giving guidance on the provision of facilities for disabled people wishing to use certain buildings accompanied an updated mandatory requirement, which became Part M of Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations. This means that all local authorities, many of whom had dragged their feet in the matter up to then, have some real, if arbitrary, standards which they are expected to enforce on many developers. That probably marks the end of the beginning of a process which started, very tentatively, with the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
Yixiong Feng, Chuan He, Yicong Gao, Hao Zheng and Jianrong Tan
To find the system with minimum investment and best quality performance that is capable of producing all of the product variants, assessing the complexity of designing assembly…
Abstract
Purpose
To find the system with minimum investment and best quality performance that is capable of producing all of the product variants, assessing the complexity of designing assembly system at the early concept stage is an essential step, which helps and instructs a designer to create a product- and system-oriented assembly solution with the least complexity. The purpose of this paper is to propose a quantifying measurement of complexity in the design of a modular automated assembly system.
Design/methodology/approach
The configurable assembly system is becoming a trend, which enables companies to quickly respond to changes caused by different product variants but without a large investment. One of the enabling factors is the availability of modular solutions of assembly modules that can be configured according to different technical requirements. This paper develops a methodology using fuzzy evaluation to calculate the design complexity in the design phase for a modular automatic assembly system. Fuzzy linguistic variables are used to measure the interaction among the influence factors, to deal with the uncertainty of the judgement. The proposed method investigates three matrices to present how the function-based assembly modules, design complexity factors, part attributes and product components, which are regarded as the main influence factors, complicate the construction of a modular assembly system. The design complexity is derived and quantified based on these assessments.
Findings
The proposed approach presents a formal quantification to evaluate the design complexity with regard to a modular assembly system from beginning, which can be identified and used as criteria to indicate the quality of performance and investment cost in advance. A mathematical model based on the fuzzy logic is established to provide both theoretical and practical guidance for the paper. To validate the predictive model, the statistic relationships between the assessed system design complexity, real assembly defect rate and investment cost are estimated based on regression analysis. The application of the presented methodology is demonstrated with regard to a traditional rear drive unit in the automotive industry.
Originality/value
This paper presents a developed method, which addresses the measures of complexity found in the design of a modular assembly system. It would help to run the design process with better resource allocation and cost estimation in a quantitative approach.
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Eva Garin and Diane Yendol-Hoppey
This study provides an analysis of professional development school (PDS) dissertation research that focuses on learning in PDSs. These 103 dissertations written between 1990 and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides an analysis of professional development school (PDS) dissertation research that focuses on learning in PDSs. These 103 dissertations written between 1990 and 2020 address an aspect of learning in PDS work, including inquiry as a pedagogical learning tool, student learning PK-12, intern/teacher candidate learning, university teacher educator learning, and inservice teacher learning. From the current exploration of PDS dissertations, most especially from the comparison studies, the authors have learned that there is still no clear path to presenting PDS as having a positive impact when compared with non-PDS experiences..
Design/methodology/approach
Within each of these categories, the authors examine the dissertations by methodology and explore common themes among dissertation findings. As the PDS movement enters its third decade of inquiry and builds its efficacy on models of learning, the findings provide insight into the degree to which PDS scholars are building on the past to determine future PDS research agendas around learning.
Findings
The authors examine the dissertations by methodology and explore common themes among dissertation findings. The themes included: intern learning does happen in PDS sites; PDSs provide structures for intern learning; teacher educators can learn from their PDS work; dissertations in the area of student learning overwhelmingly had inconclusive findings, except for research that focused on targeted interventions, which demonstrated student gains.
Research limitations/implications
With fewer PDS-focused dissertations being written in more recent years, the authors wonder if the complexity of PDS may be a deterrent to the growth and sustainability of this model?
Practical implications
From the current exploration of PDS dissertations, most especially from the comparison studies, the authors have learned that the authors still do not have a clear path to presenting PDS as having a positive impact when compared with non-PDS experiences. However, the authors are beginning to understand the types of studies that are needed to move this agenda forward and hope the work will help inform the PDS community of some.
Originality/value
This is the first known study of PDS dissertations across time.
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Joel Owen, Laura Biggart, Paul Fisher, Analtina Figueredo, Sharif Al-Rousi, James Colvin-Jarvis, Euan Williamson and Kristy Sanderson
This systematic review aims to identify what works for psychological interventions or teaching strategies designed to improve wellbeing in psychological therapy trainees (PTTs).
Abstract
Purpose
This systematic review aims to identify what works for psychological interventions or teaching strategies designed to improve wellbeing in psychological therapy trainees (PTTs).
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review was conducted in keeping with best-practice guidelines. The protocol for the review was registered prospectively on PROSPERO.
Findings
Seventy studies were included in the review. The balance of evidence across quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies cautiously suggests that interventions designed to improve PTT wellbeing may be of value. Novel findings regarding barriers and facilitators of successful intervention were identified. Particularly notable in this regard was the finding that providing trainees with a degree of choice or control over elements of the intervention appeared to be an important facilitator of success. Importantly, however, the review identified a number of methodological weaknesses in the literature, undermining the certainty of findings. More high-quality research is needed to answer the questions of the review decisively.
Practical implications
Evidence tentatively suggests that interventions to support trainee wellbeing are often received well by trainees and are frequently perceived by trainees as beneficial. Providing trainees with some degree of choice or control regarding how to engage with wellbeing interventions during training may be important.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review to systematically identify and synthesise findings on this important topic.
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Charitable Choice Policy, the heart of President Bush’s Faith‐Based Initiative, is the direct government funding of religious organizations for the purpose of carrying out…
Abstract
Charitable Choice Policy, the heart of President Bush’s Faith‐Based Initiative, is the direct government funding of religious organizations for the purpose of carrying out government programs. The Bush presidential administration has called for the application of Charitable Choice Policy to all kinds of social services. Advocates for child‐abuse victims contend that the Bush Charitable Choice Policy would further dismantle essential social services provided to abused children. Others have argued Charitable Choice Policy is unconstitutional because it crosses the boundary separating church and state. Rather than drastically altering the US social‐policy landscape, this paper demonstrates that the Bush Charitable Choice Policy already is in place for childabuse services across many of the fifty states. One reason this phenomenon is ignored is due to the reliance on the public‐private dichotomy for studying social policies and services. This paper contends that relying on the public‐private dichotomy leads researchers to overlook important configurations of actors and institutions that provide services to abused children. It offers an alternate framework to the public‐private dichotomy useful for the analysis of social policy in general and, in particular, Charitable Choice Policy affecting services to abused children. Employing a new methodological approach, fuzzy‐sets analysis, demonstrates the degree to which social services for abused children match ideal types. It suggests relationships between religious organizations and governments are essential to the provision of services to abused children in the United States. Given the direction in which the Bush Charitable Choice Policy will push social‐policy programs, scholars should ask whether abused children will be placed in circumstances that other social groups will not and why.
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Using a variety of public opinion polls over a number of years and from a number of countries this paper revisits the questions of crossnational public concern for global warming…
Abstract
Using a variety of public opinion polls over a number of years and from a number of countries this paper revisits the questions of crossnational public concern for global warming first examined over a decade ago. Although the scientific community today speaks out on global climatic change in essentially a unified voice concerning its anthropogenic causes and potential devastating impacts at the global level, it remains the case that many citizens of a number of nations still seem to harbor considerable uncertainties about the problem itself. Although it could be argued that there has been a slight improvement over the last decade in the public’s understanding regarding the anthropogenic causes of global warming, the people of all the nations studied remain largely uniformed about the problem. In a recent international study on knowledge about global warming, the citizens of Mexico led all fifteen countries surveyed in 2001 with just twenty‐six percent of the survey respondents correctly identifying burning fossil fuels as the primary cause of global warming. The citizens of the U.S., among the most educated in the world, where somewhere in the middle of the pack, tied with the citizens of Brazil at fifteen percent, but slightly lower than Cubans. In response to President Bush’s withdrawal of the Kyoto Protocol in 1991, the U.S. public appears to be far more supportive of the action than the citizens of a number of European countries where there was considerable outrage about the decision.
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R. Rashidi Meybodi, A. Rasoolizadeh Shooroki and M. Zare Mehrjardi
The purpose of this study is to examine the thermo-hydrodynamic performance of tilted non-circular journal bearings lubricated with a micropolar fluid. The investigated bearing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the thermo-hydrodynamic performance of tilted non-circular journal bearings lubricated with a micropolar fluid. The investigated bearing types are two- and three-lobe journal bearings with finite length.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, modified Reynolds, energy and three-dimensional Laplace equations are solved numerically by using generalized differential quadrature method. The effects of micropolarity characteristics of lubricants, such as characteristic length and coupling number, as well as tilt angle as a design parameter, on the performance of non-circular two- and three-lobe journal bearings are studied.
Findings
The results show that the tilt angle can affect the temperature and pressure profiles causing variation in the performance of non-circular bearings. Increasing coupling number and decreasing characteristic length cause the load-carrying capacity to decrease because of the increase in maximum oil temperature of the fluid film of lubricant and decrease in the minimum oil base viscosity. So, it is possible to select suitable values of tilt angle for achieving optimum performance of these bearings.
Originality/value
The non-circular bearings suggest several design parameters such as tilt angle for designers. By considering thermal effects for micropolar lubricant, the requirements of a specific application can be fulfilled.
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Sigitas Kilikevicius and Bronius Baksys
The paper aims to investigate theoretically and experimentally the process of compliantly supported peg insertion into a bush for high‐speed assembly, when vibrations are provided…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to investigate theoretically and experimentally the process of compliantly supported peg insertion into a bush for high‐speed assembly, when vibrations are provided to the bush in the axial direction, and to analyse the influence of the parameters of the dynamic system and excitation on the assembly process.
Design/methodology/approach
The mathematical model of parts vibratory insertion process is formed and the simulation is performed using a numerical computing software environment. The model includes inertia, compliance, dry friction, insertion speed and vibratory excitation. The three‐dimensional simulation of peg‐in‐hole insertion is accomplished using motion analysis software to test the influence of vibratory excitation on assembly failures, such as jamming and wedging. The experimental setup for the robotic vibratory assembly and the investigation methodology were presented. The experimental analysis of the vibratory insertion process of cylindrical parts with clearance is performed when the compliantly supported peg is inserted by the robot into the bush, which is excited in the axial direction.
Findings
The vibratory excitation allows preventing the balance between the insertion force and frictional forces and so to avoid jamming and wedging. It is advantageous to select such the frequency of vibrations under which the resonance state of the compliantly supported peg does not occur. The parameters of vibratory excitation and initial assembly state are defined which have the principal influence on the insertion duration and the success of the process. The experimental results show the applicability of the mathematical approach.
Research limitations/implications
The assumption is made that the chamferless rigid peg moves in a plane in respect of the rigid bush with a chamfer. Also, it is considered that there is no impact during the peg and bush contact. The dynamic and static friction coefficient between the parts is equivalent and the insertion speed is constant.
Practical implications
The results can be useful aiming to design the reliable high‐performance vibratory assembly equipment for peg‐hole type parts, which does not require sensors, feedback systems and control algorithms.
Originality/value
The proposed method of applying the vibratory excitation during the peg‐in‐hole insertion process allows to avoid jamming and wedging, and to minimize the duration of the process.
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Keywords
Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American…
Abstract
Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.
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