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This paper aims to study the tribological characteristics of the electrical contact system under different displacement amplitudes.

First, the risk frequency of real nuclear safety distributed control system (DCS) equipment is evaluated. Subsequently, a reciprocating friction test device which is characterized by a ball-on-flat configuration is established, and a series of current-carrying tribological tests are carried out at this risk frequency.

At risk frequency and larger displacement amplitude, the friction coefficient visibly rises. The reliability of the electrical contact system declines as amplitude increases. The wear morphology analysis shows that the wear rate increases significantly and the degree of interface wear intensifies at a larger amplitude. The wear area occupied by the third body layer increases sharply, and the appearance of plateaus on the surface leads to the increase of friction coefficient and contact resistance. EDS analysis suggests that oxygen elements progressively arise in the third layer as a result of increased air exposure brought on by larger displacement amplitude.

Results are significant for recognizing the tribological properties of electrical connectors in nuclear power control systems.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-03-2024-0098/

Agricultural extension has played a central role in building the capacity of smallholders for decades. In efforts to improve extension outcomes, demand-driven approaches have emerged to better align extension content with smallholder context. The aim of this paper is to explore the challenges facing demand-driven extension in Papua New Guinea.

Exploratory case study methodology was used to explore the challenges facing demand-driven extension from the perspectives of 11 practitioners experienced in community engagement in Papua New Guinea.

Although there is great potential for demand-driven extension, this research found extension services in Papua New Guinea are ill-equipped to introduce and sustain a resource-intensive approach like demand-driven extension. It further found that rural farmers who extension organisations have long neglected lack the necessary skills and trust to gain from these services.

A limitation of this research is that it only reflects the opinions of practitioners working in Papua New Guinea. Further research featuring a broader sample of value chain actors connected to extension would provide a more complete understanding of the potential challenges to demand-driven engagement in this context.

With a growing interest among development projects to utilise demand-driven engagement with farmers, this research is the first study to explore the challenge facing this promising approach in Papua New Guinea.

Organizational scholars studying compensation often place an emphasis on certain employee groups (e.g., executives). Missing from this discussion is research on the compensation systems for low-wage jobs. In this review, the authors argue that workers in low-wage jobs represent a unique employment group in their understanding of rent allocation in organizations. The authors address the design of compensation strategies in organizations that lead to different outcomes for workers in low-wage jobs versus other workers. Drawing on and integrating human resource management (HRM), inequality, and worker literatures with compensation literature, the authors describe and explain compensation systems for low-wage work. The authors start by examining workers in low-wage work to identify aspects of these workers’ jobs and lives that can influence their health, performance, and other organizationally relevant outcomes. Next, the authors explore the compensation systems common for this type of work, building on the compensation literature, by identifying the low-wage work compensation designs, proposing the likely explanations for why organizations craft these designs, and describing the worker and organizational outcomes of these designs. The authors conclude with suggestions for future research in this growing field and explore how organizations may benefit by rethinking their approach to compensation for low-wage work. In sum, the authors hope that this review will be a foundational work for those interested in investigating organizational compensation issues at the intersection of inequality and worker and organizational outcomes.

The years following the 9/11/2001 terrorists attacks saw a marked increase in community and hospital emergency preparedness, from communications across community networks, development of policies and procedures, to attainment and training in the use of biological warfare resources. Regular drills ensured emergency and health care personnel were trained and prepared to address the next large-scale crisis, especially from terrorist and bioterrorist attacks. This chapter looks at some of the more familiar global health issues over the past two decades and the lessons learned from hospital responses to inform hospital management in preparation for future incidents.

This study is a narrative review of the literature related to lessons learned from four major events in the time period from 2002 to 2023 – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19.

The initial search yielded 25,913 articles; 57 articles were selected for inclusion in the study.

Comparison of key issues and lessons learned among the four major events described in this article – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19 – highlight that several lessons are “relearned” with each event. Other key issues, such as supply shortages, staffing availability, and hospital capacity to simultaneously provide care to noninfectious patients came to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic. A primary, ongoing concern for hospitals is how to maintain their preparedness given competing priorities, resources, and staff time. This concern remains post-COVID-19.

This paper explores the way in which industrial pollution has been expressed in the narrative accounts of nature, landscape and industry by William Gilpin in his 18th-century picturesque travel writings. A positive description of pollution is generally outdated and unacceptable in the current society. The authors contrast his “picturesque” view with the contemporary perception of industrial pollution, reflect on these early accounts of industrial impacts as representing the roots of impression management and use the analysis to inform current accounting.

The research uses an interpretive content analysis of the text to draw out themes and features of impression management. Goffman's impression management is the theoretical lens through which Gilpin's travel accounts are interpreted, considering this microhistory through a thematic research approach. The picturesque accounts are explored with reference to the context of impression management.

Gilpin's travel writings and the “Picturesque” aesthetic movement, it appears, constructed a social reality around negative industrial externalities such as air pollution and indeed around humans' impact on nature, through a lens which described pollution as adding aesthetically to the natural landscape. The lens through which the picturesque tourist viewed and expressed negative externalities involved quite literally the tourists' tricks of the trade, Claude glass, called also Gray's glass, a tinted lens to frame the view.

The paper adds to the wealth of literature in accounting and business pertaining to the ways in which companies socially construct reality through their accounts and links closely to the impression management literature in accounting. There is also a body of literature relating to the use of images and photographs in published corporate reports, which again is linked to impression management as well as to a growing literature exploring the potential for the aesthetic influence in accounting and corporate communication. Further, this paper contributes to the growing body of research into the historical roots of environmental reporting.

Establishing integrated reporting and thinking within mainstream business practice as the norm in the public and private sectors is fundamental. Corporate governance assessment in the APRM Country Review Reports is not done in a way to enable more decision-useful reporting. This policy brief urges APRM's consultants to adopt a particular approach to frame corporate governance assessment. By adopting an inductive qualitative approach, retrieving academic articles and institutions' reports from the literature, this study develops a novel framework to ensure more reliability, completeness, consistency and comparability in the Country Review reporting. It is contended that such reporting can assist the APRM Country Review Missions in corporate governance assessment.

The relationship between robots and spirituality in the workplace is an interesting and evolving area of research that could provide important insights into the role of technology in promoting human well-being and personal growth. Robots are becoming increasingly common in the workplace and their functions in the business world are increasing. The use of robots in the workplace can affect people's spiritual values. Spiritual values such as being successful in their work, providing a sense of purpose and satisfaction, and feeling valued and important are important. The use of robots in the workplace may cause some people to take over many of the tasks that their jobs once did. In this case, employees may feel that their work no longer makes sense and may experience a loss of motivation. The fact that robots don't need the skills and experience of humans can make people feel inadequate in their jobs. However, the use of robots in the workplace can also support people's spiritual values. When robots work with humans, they have responsibilities such as interacting with them, showing empathy, respecting coworkers, and treating humans appropriately. This is important for people's mental and emotional health in the workplace. This approach will help people in the workplace work successfully and happily with robots. The use of robots in the workplace raises moral and ethical questions. In this section, research on the production of artificial intelligence-equipped robots and other intelligent technological machines and their use in organizations is evaluated within the framework of spirituality.

This is the application of the Entropy and TOPSIS model to assess the eco-efficiency of European financial institutions using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies. The aim is to categorize financial institutions based on key factors such as environmental training and management and to examine the alignment between ideal ESG performance and eco-efficiency.

The study uses environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies to identify and categorize eco-entrepreneurs in European financial institutions. The study utilizes data to examine the structure between environmental training, effective management practices, and the green performance of financial institutions.

The study shows that European financial institutions exhibit varying degrees of eco-efficiency as assessed using the Entropy and TOPSIS model applied to ESG strategies. Surprisingly, the study found that institutions with a high ESG performance do not always match those with the highest eco-efficiency.

They emphasize the need for financial institutions to align their operations with sustainable practices. This research provides insights to increase eco-efficiency and improve the ESG performance of financial institutions. It also informs policy and decision-making in these institutions in relation to environmental training and management practices, contributing to the wider dialogue on sustainable finance.

This indicates a discrepancy between ESG ratings and actual eco-efficiency, emphasizing the need to reassess the ESG framework. The study findings are crucial for aligning financial institutions with sustainable practices and improving the effectiveness of the ESG framework, especially for institutions at the lower end of the eco-efficiency spectrum.

This study explores the role of international schools in creating safe and inclusive environments for lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth, particularly in light of the challenging political climate of the current prevailing authoritarian education policy in Poland. Drawing upon Merton’s concept of “educational functions” influenced by socio‐political and economic factors, we investigate how international schools navigate and subvert authoritarian policies to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. Through a multi‐faceted approach analyzing curricula, media discourse, and school law documents, we examine the potential of international schools as agents of change in fostering educational inclusivity for marginalized groups. By examining the interplay between planned educational functions and implementation, the study sheds light on the potential of international schools to serve as inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals in politically charged environments. Our findings highlight the positive impact of international education programs in supporting LGBTQ+ students and contributing valuable insights to ongoing discussions on promoting diversity and acceptance in educational settings. Ultimately, the findings contribute to ongoing discussions about the challenges and possibilities of fostering educational inclusivity for marginalized groups in such politically charged environments as authoritarian systems of education.

Global social restrictions driven by COVID-19 exposed the vast potential of digital technologies for remote mental health and wellbeing provision. To combat the youth mental health crisis, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers must seek innovative solutions. The digital adaptation of evidence-based, in-person programmes offers one such promising approach. Co-authored by a young person, this chapter discusses democratising the research agenda and presents an exploratory study with co-production at its heart. The aim of the project was to inform the development of digitalised resources based on the robustly evidenced Super Skills for Life psychosocial intervention for adolescents. ‘Key ingredients’ for effective online content are presented by the young person developer, alongside their personal reflections on co-production research. This case study illustrates how collaboration with intervention recipients can augment programme development and expand access to evidence-based support. Not only extending reach but offering a choice of support pathways to a digital generation.