Search results

This study examines the effect of temperature-dependent material models for normal-strength (NSC) and high-strength concrete (HSC) on the thermal analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) walls.

The study performs an one-at-a-time (OAT) sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of variables defining the constitutive and parametric fire models on the wall's thermal response. Moreover, it extends the sensitivity analysis to a variance-based analysis to assess the effect of constitutive model type, fire model type and constitutive model uncertainty on the RC wall's thermal response variance. The study determines the wall’s thermal behaviour reliability considering the different constitutive models and their uncertainty.

It is found that the impact of the variability in concrete’s conductivity is determined by its temperature-dependent model, which differs for NSC and HSC. Therefore, more testing and improving material modelling are needed. Furthermore, the heating rate of the fire scenario is the dominant factor in deciding fire-resistance performance because it is a causal factor for spalling in HSC walls. And finally the reliability of wall's performance decreased sharply for HSC walls due to the expected spalling of the concrete and loss of cross-section integrity.

Limited studies in the current open literature quantified the impact of constitutive models on the behaviour of RC walls. No studies have examined the effect of material models' uncertainty on wall’s response reliability under fire. Furthermore, the study's results contribute to the ongoing attempts to shape performance-based structural fire engineering.

This paper aims to examine the gender perceptions of members within women’s NGOs in Türkiye, highlighting the persistence of patriarchal values despite the rise in these organizations. The study provides insights into the influence of socio-political factors and demographic variables on gender attitudes within these organizations.

The research utilized a survey conducted among 735 members of women’s NGOs in Istanbul and Ankara, gathering quantitative data on their attitudes toward gender inequality. The study employs a gender inequality index, supplemented with demographic and personal factors like age, marital status, education, political ideology and religiosity.

Findings reveal that members of women’s NGOs often exhibit gender-inequitable attitudes, influenced by factors such as age, religiosity, political ideology and education. Contrary to expectations, these NGOs do not uniformly promote feminist values, and gender inequity is deeply entrenched within the organizational culture.

The study is limited by its focus on two major cities, which may not reflect the experiences of NGO members in other regions of Türkiye. The findings underscore the necessity to address structural constraints within women’s NGOs to promote genuine gender equality.

This research suggests the need for critical awareness and capacity-building within women’s NGOs in Türkiye. Policymakers and organizational leaders can use these insights to develop targeted interventions that enhance gender consciousness and challenge patriarchal norms in civil society.

This study provides a novel exploration of gender attitudes within women’s NGOs in Türkiye, challenging the assumption that such organizations inherently promote feminist ideals. By combining empirical data with a socio-political analysis, the research reveals how entrenched patriarchal values persist within organizations that advocate for gender equality. This work contributes to understanding the complexities and contradictions in civil society’s role in gender politics, offering valuable insights for scholars and practitioners interested in gender, civil society and socio-political dynamics in Türkiye.

Green finance aims to promote sustainable financial activities, environmental conservation and ecological balance. This study examines how renewable energy consumption (REN), technological innovation (TEC) and green finance (GRF) influence CO2 emissions in Vietnam from 2000 to 2022.

We utilize a novel three-stage methodology including quantile-on-quantile regression, wavelet coherence and wavelet-quantile regression to explore the relationship in the structure of intercorrelation in terms of quantile, time and frequency.

The findings show that Vietnam will increase environmental quality for higher green development. Specifically, there is a negative influence of TEC, REN and GRF on CO2 emissions across different quantiles and timescales.

The study recommends policies that support green development and reduce carbon emissions, such as increasing the use of renewable energy and conducting well-planned research to achieve a carbon-free, sustainable environment.

This article looks into the effects of GRF, TEC and REN on CO2 emissions in Vietnam. Some studies argue that green development in underdeveloped nations is insufficient to reduce CO2 emissions, thereby limiting the sample to a few advanced economies. Adopting diverse methodologies demonstrates the varied and intricate nature of understanding CO2 drivers. Additionally, our work makes detailed policy implications for Vietnam to meet its net-zero emission target and achieve sustainable development by 2050.

This chapter describes the possibilities for fusing ethnography and evaluation to transform educational inquiry and educational entities (programs, systems, and policies). The central question explored is, how do we best pursue work connecting evaluation and ethnography to fulfill our commitments to diversity, justice, and cultural responsiveness in educational spaces, to make tangible transformative change? With 40 years of literature on ethnography-evaluation connections as a foundation, this chapter describes three coalescing themes: transformative, intersectional, and comparative. These themes are proposed as valuable for guiding contemporary educational inquiry that serves social justice. The transformative theme denotes educational inquiry in which the researcher or evaluator ethically collects data, makes defensible interpretations, and facilitates social change in collaboration with others. Doing transformative work that meaningfully fuses ethnography and evaluation rests on essential factors like time, values engagement, collaboration, and self-work. The intersectional theme describes intersectionality as an evolving analytical framework that promotes social problem-solving and learning via investigating the significance of intersecting social identities in (a) how people's lives are shaped, (b) their access to power across circumstances, and (c) their everyday experiences of subordination and discrimination. Finally, the comparative theme refers to sensibilities and practices gleaned from the interdisciplinary and transnational field of comparative education, including developing comparative cultural understanding and analyzing complex systems in one's inquiry projects. Across themes, this chapter emphasizes positionality, responsibility, and theory-bridging to make sense of the uses of ethnographic concepts and practices in transformative evaluation work in educational spaces.

Despite recent economic progress, Bangladesh still faces significant challenges from natural disasters that impact food security and employment. In 2017, a severe flash flood caused by excessive rain and onrush from India devastated the haor-based Sunamganj district. The study explores the impacts of the flash flood on food security, employment and the overall well-being of the affected population, as well as evaluates government and NGO initiatives taken to alleviate the crisis using a mixed-methods approach, incorporating qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews and surveys from the flash flood-affected people residing in the five affected villages. The study observes that the flash flood caused severe damage to the agricultural sector, with almost every farmer in the affected area losing their single-season high-yielding Boro paddy, resulting in year-long food insecurity and unemployment. The government responded to the situation by providing year-long food and monetary aid through various social safety net programmes, although some accusations of nepotism and embezzlement were reported. The study found that the majority of the people were reliant on government aid for survival throughout the year. Moreover, some NGOs also played a crucial role by providing food and other support. The research suggests that transparency and accountability must be prioritized to ensure fairness, and positive lessons learned from the government's efforts during this flash flood might be helpful in reducing vulnerability and distributing relief more effectively.

Student engagement has become increasingly significant in sustainability education for engineers because it enables future engineers to develop competencies, knowledge and values relevant to acting for sustainability. Therefore, this paper aims to examine characteristics of student engineer engagement with sustainability and to discuss the meanings of this concept.

To build a more holistic picture of student engineer engagement with sustainability, this study followed a literature review approach to search, screen and appraise relevant journal articles on this topic. As a result of this research, 30 articles were identified as eligible.

Based on the theoretical framework for student engagement with sustainability, newly synthesized here, and the content analysis of the 30 papers included in this study, four patterns of engagement were identified: intrapersonal engagement, inter-relational engagement, engagement as connection and disconnection and situated engagement.

This review provides practical recommendations about how to support the engagement of student engineers with sustainability at the levels of the individual, staff, educational programmes and associated curricula. Future research directions are also discussed.

This study contributes a theoretical framework synthesizing student engagement theory with sustainability education. It also describes current characteristics of student engineers’ engagement with sustainability.

This chapter examines the plight of Bangladeshi labourers after experiencing labour trafficking during irregular migration via a perilous maritime route to Malaysia in 2015, most of them involved in the Andaman Sea crisis. Their journey and their experiences of trauma are examined at four stages of their journey; pre-commencement/commencement; being trafficked and sold as a batch; at the transfer point when extortion of their families at home occurs, and at the end of their journey as returnees to Bangladesh (the large majority never reaching their destination). The theoretical framework helps highlight the significance of culture on the trauma experienced by the returnees in the broad context of economic and social pressures. It also leverages the individual/collectivism model from cultural psychology, self-discrepancy and resiliency theory to explain how individuals respond to and deal with such trauma, with implications for government policy and NGO support (both pro-active and re-active responses).

Migrants have been posed with less familiarity in their new environment during COVID times, faced with various social, psychological and emotional traumas. Research indicates that they may have been originating from apprehension of being abandoned by their neighbours. Most of them were precarious with little wages, competing for their basic need fulfilment, putting them under more mental stress. Looking forward to the ancient principle, ‘Athithi Devo Bhavah’ (Visitors are Gods), and immediate response, measures were taken to promote community shelters and kitchens, maintaining social distancing and ensuring physical safety. The governments of different countries took proactive initiatives to study and assess their needs. The study here includes the cases being evaluated regarding migrants' need for surveillance and psycho-social support given by the government and non-profit associations during the pandemic at the global level. Remarkably, certain countries proved the working of their sustainable poverty reduction model by evaluating various factors. The study started by introducing who migrants were, diagnosing their problems faced during the pandemic, how Sustainable Development Goals can be implemented and various measures taken at government and institutional levels to protect the migrant workforce.

The purpose of this study is to detect the bolt loosening under conditions of impact loading with a low-cost self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator sensor.

In this work, an Al/PTFE-based triboelectric nanogenerator (AP-TENG) is used as a sensor. A pendulum impact device and a force hammer were used to apply the impact loads. The bolt status and the applied torque can be monitored under impact loading conditions by using the output voltage results of the AP-TENGs.

The output voltage results of the current AP-TENG sensor under five different bolt torques, i.e. from 0.5 to 2.5 N m, were measured. The measurements revealed that a thicker buffer layer significantly contributed to the generation of higher voltages. Besides, the AP-TENG was also used to light ten commercial green LEDs in series, and the brightness of the LEDs was high enough even for the daytime, which showed that it can be used as the alarm device. In addition, a sudden loose test was also carried out, and the obvious voltage spikes can be seen without the external impact. The force hammer impact tests have expanded the application scope of the AP-TENG in the bolt loosening detection.

The bolt loosening monitoring is important and useful for the safe operation. The application of TENG technology for detecting bolt loosening remains relatively unexplored. In addition, ten commercial green LEDs can be driven by the AP-TENG sensor, which can be used for the early warning of the bolted loosening status.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-06-2024-0216/

This paper proposes a framework to identify a pattern in the relationship between firms’ cost structure (i.e. fixed versus variable) and their volatility in stock returns.

Our empirical analysis is based on a panel data regression where we use an extended sample period and a time-series regression-based elasticity measure of operating leverage.

We document significantly higher systematic risk among firms with large fixed costs, a conclusion which confirms theoretical predictions of earlier studies. In new findings, we document high firm-specific risk and high stock return volatility among firms with a fixed cost structure.

The paper fills a gap in the literature by examining the effect of cost structure using various operating leverage measures and other control measures for firm characteristics on idiosyncratic risk. Studies that seek to explain firms’ systematic risks are numerous; conversely, there are relatively fewer studies on the determinants of firms’ specific risks.