Search results

This study aims to uncover the mechanisms behind the marginalization of county-level public libraries.

The research surveyed 25 counties in central China, including Hubei, Chongqing, Hunan, and Guizhou provinces. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with library directors and deputy directors, focusing on main and branch library construction, cultural inclusivity, library assessment, and digital services.

Contributing factors to library marginalization were identified as economic pressure, institutional domain, longstanding issues, organizational entity, and societal misconceptions. Building on this, the study introduces the HBAC model to explain county-level public library marginalization. Considering the actual social context of these libraries, the article proposes a “3 + 1” approach to mitigate their marginalization.

The research methodology, analysis process, theoretical model, and recommendations provided could shed light on academic research and practical exploration in the field of public libraries globally.

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of intelligence-led policing in fighting crime, particularly robbery. The study also looks at the impediments to the implementation of intelligence-led policing in fighting robbery.

This study adopted a mixed method design on a sample of 60 police officers in Mutare policing district, who were selected using stratified and purposive sampling techniques. Data were collected through a mainly closed-ended questionnaire and in-depth interviews. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to analyse quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data.

Findings revealed that the Zimbabwe Republic Police has embraced intelligence-led policing, with informer management, crime database management and physical surveillance as the main intelligence-led policing strategies. Findings also revealed that the intelligence-led policing strategy has largely been reactive rather than proactive. Notwithstanding some positives, such as intelligence-led arrests, the implementation of the initiative has been hampered by lack of resources, such as human resource, modern technology and motor vehicles.

This study interrogates the effectiveness of one of the widely used crime fighting strategies across the globe. While most of the previous studies focused on developed countries, this study focused on a developing country that, however, is one of the first countries to embrace the intelligence-led policing strategy on the African continent. The study also highlights the impediments to the effective implementation of intelligence-led policing, as well as offering prescriptive measures to deal with these challenges.

The term recovery is an abstract concept. It differs for each and every person regardless of race, sexual orientation, culture or belief system. Throughout the age of modern medicine, doctors and scholars have tried to understand the concept of recovery for those in mental distress and those who are in the process of addiction. This chapter aims to highlight the different understandings of the concept of recovery from both a mental health and addiction perspective in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the processes of recovery and how its definition and qualities have changed over time as new and more compelling clinical evidence emerges.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the interplay of stressor (e.g. fear of missing out, FoMO) and strains (e.g. perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) in social networking sites (SNS) use can contribute to users’ SNS fatigue from a configurational view.

Data were collected among 363 SNS users in China via an online survey, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was applied in this study to scrutinize the different combinations of FoMO and overload that contribute to the same outcome of SNS fatigue.

Six combinations of casual conditions were identified to underlie SNS fatigue. The results showed that FoMO, perceived information overload and system feature overload are the core conditions that contribute to SNS fatigue when combined with other types of overloads.

The current work supplements the research findings on SNS fatigue by identifying the configurations contributing to SNS fatigue from the joint effects of stressor (FoMO) and strain (perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) and by providing explanations for SNS fatigue from the configurational perspective.

The residential real estate market represents the entire complex of economic and social relations at the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels. This publication aims to evaluate developments in the field of financing and the development of the residential real estate market in Slovakia, with a special focus on the determinants affecting the demand, supply, and prices of residential real estate in Slovakia and Bratislava. Owner-occupied housing is the dominant type of housing and has a significant impact on the development of housing issues. Research into the issue of multiple ownership of real estate provides answers to questions about the growth of real estate prices in the conditions of Bratislava. The influence of financial indicators, especially interest rates, the availability of housing loans, and the regulation of the banking sector explain the essential connections in the area of the development of residential real estate prices and factors of their development. The analysis points to the need for the development of rental housing in Slovakia.

Allocation problems in accounting require joint costs to be allocated among participating agents. In this setting, however, unfair allocations can stifle cooperation and lead to inefficient group outcomes. Then, what qualifies as fair enough for individual agents to agree to cooperate and extract joint benefits? Building on prior analytical literature that has offered perspectives involving joint cost allocations, we experimentally evaluate two common notions of fairness that present competing predictions in the cost allocation context – proportionality and equality. We operationalize two notions of fairness using a behavioral approach and examine which fairness notion prevails in cost allocation problems. More specifically, we examine fairness considerations in the cost allocation context using a modified ultimatum game, where joint cost savings can only be acquired through cooperation between two agents and individual contributions are varied transparently. Our experimental evidence suggests that fairness considerations in cost allocations coincide more with the proportionality notion when individuals make different contributions to create joint benefits. These findings provide important insights on the key rationale underlying the prevalent cost allocation method in accounting practices and the design of fair cost allocations that promote cooperation among agents.

This paper aims to introduce the concept of Islamic locus of control (ILoC) and explores its influence on individual behavior within organizational contexts. It aims to integrate Islamic values into the traditional understanding of LoC and investigate how ILoC affects motivation, responsibility and resilience among Muslim individuals in the workplace.

Using a conceptual approach, this paper draws from Islamic sources such as the Qur’an and Hadith, as well as literature on psychology, human resource management and Islamic theology. It synthesizes relevant theories and concepts to develop a comprehensive understanding of ILoC and its significance in organizational settings.

ILoC encompasses key dimensions including ikhtiyar (effort), tawakkul (reliance on Allah) and qadr (Divine Decree), which shape individuals’ perceptions of control and action within organizations. Individuals with a high ILoC are expected to exhibit greater motivation, responsibility and resilience, while also maintaining acceptance of Allah’s decree.

Future research should focus on developing valid measurement instruments for assessing ILoC and conducting empirical studies to test its impact on organizational outcomes.

Understanding and fostering a supportive environment for individuals with a high ILoC can enhance motivation, responsibility and overall productivity within Islamic organizations.

Promoting an environment that respects and integrates religious beliefs can contribute to social cohesion and harmony within diverse organizational settings.

This paper contributes to the existing literature by introducing the novel concept of ILoC and offering insights into its implications for organizational behavior within Islamic contexts. It bridges the gap between psychology, human resource management and Islamic theology, providing a unique perspective on how religious beliefs influence individual behavior in the workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the specific characteristics of consumers’ lived experience in a brand museum within a luxury context. While previous research has investigated this experience through the lens of brand heritage, the unique attributes and prestigiousness of the luxury field have not yet been examined. The authors argue that these distinctive features may alter the brand heritage experience in significant ways.

To understand the dimensions of a brand heritage experience in a luxury context, the authors applied a qualitative method using reflexive introspection. Specifically, the authors used 89 reflective introspections of 29 visitors of nine different luxury brand museums.

The findings indicate that a brand heritage experience in luxury is based on four dimensions: aesthetic, authentic, scientific and mythic. The data also reveal the heterogeneous aspect of the experience, which varies according to the level of consumers’ brand familiarity as well as whether the museum visit is led by a guide or not.

The authors contribute to the literature by emphasizing a new dimension of a brand heritage experience in luxury: a mythic dimension. This study also unveils the impact of contextual factors on the brand heritage experience.

Auditory hallucinations (“hearing voices”) are a relatively common experience, which is often highly distressing and debilitating. As mental health services are under increasing pressures, services have witnessed a transformative shift with the integration of technology into psychological care. This study aims to narratively synthesise evidence of technology-enhanced psychological assessment and treatment of distressing voices (PROSPERO 393831).

This review was carried out according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Web of Science were searched until 30th May 2023. The Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) tool assessed methodological quality of studies.

Searching identified 9,254 titles. Fourteen studies (two assessment studies, twelve treatment studies, published 2010–2022, n = 1,578) were included in the review. Most studies were conducted in the UK, the USA or Canada. Technologies included avatar therapy, mobile apps, virtual reality, a computerised Web-based programme and a mobile-assisted treatment. Overall, technology-enhanced psychological assessments and treatments appear feasible, acceptable and effective, with avatar therapy the most used intervention. EPHPP ratings were “strong” (n = 8), “moderate” (n = 5) and “weak” (n = 1).

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic review to investigate these technologies, specifically for distressing voices. Despite the relatively small number of studies, findings offer promising evidence for the clinical benefits of these technologies for enhancing mental health care for individuals with distressing voices. More high-quality research on a wider range of technologies is warranted.

This paper aims to provide a full introduction, new classification, comparison and investigation of the challenges as well as applications of layerless 3D printing, which is one of the industry 4.0 pioneers.

Given the significance and novelty of uniform 3D printing, more than 250 publications were collected and reviewed in an unbiased and clear manner.

As a result, the majority of uniform parts printed in polymer form are known up to this point. In a novel division for better researchers’ comprehension, uniform printing systems were classified into three categories: oxygen inhibition (OI), liquid lubrication (LL) and photon penetration (PP), and each was thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, these three approaches were evaluated in terms of printing speed, precision and accuracy, manufacturing scale and cost.

The parameters of each approach were compared independently, and then a practical comparison was conducted among these three approaches. Finally, a variety of technologies, opportunities, challenges and advantages of each significant method, as well as a future outlook for layerless rapid prototyping, are presented.