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Polymer‐carbon black composites are a new class of chemical detecting sensors used in electronic noses. These composites are prepared by mixing carbon black and polymer in an appropriate solvent. The mixture is deposited on a substrate between two metal electrodes, whereby the solvent evaporates leaving a composite film. Arrays of these chemiresistors, made from a chemically diverse number of polymers and carbon black, swell reversibly, inducing a resistance change on exposure to chemical vapors. These arrays generate a pattern that is a unique fingerprint for the vapor being detected. With the aid of algorithms these patterns are processed and recognized. These arrays can detect and discriminate between a large number of chemical vapors.

ASLIB – the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux – was founded in 1924 with the aim of co‐ordinating the activities of specialist information services in the UK. This article seeks to present a new history of the first quarter‐century of the Association.

This is a historical study based substantially on two collections of primary documents: ASLIB's own records, held at Aslib Headquarters, London; and the papers of Edith Ditmas, held at the National Library of Wales.

The paper explores the origins of ASLIB, and its roots in the “science lobby” of the time; it then traces the development of ASLIB as both a “national intelligence service” for science, commerce and industry, and as a quasi‐professional association with international significance. It concludes that the first of these two functions was the Association's fundamental raison d'être.

The research is limited to study of ASLIB in the period 1924‐1950 and an obvious continuation would be a history of “corporate” ASLIB (1950‐1997). More generally, the paper reveals that the history of UK documentation and information science in the twentieth century is underexplored: there is scope for future research focused on key pioneers and ideas, as well as institutions such as ASLIB.

As far as is known, this is the first historical study of ASLIB to be based on contemporary records: it should therefore be of value to both historians of information and library science and practitioners interested in their professional heritage.

This paper aims to empirically examine the financing of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) through a financial growth lifecycle model.

Data in publicly available databases are generally unsuitable to examine the financial lifecycle model, thus a questionnaire survey was employed to collect data. Because of the well‐documented reticence of SME owners to reveal detailed financial information, data were requested in percentage form. This innovative methodology was successful, as 92 per cent of respondents disclosed detailed financing data. A response rate of 42.6 per cent across six industry sectors provided data to employ parametric techniques. Reporting and analysing the large primary data set across six age categories, a number of statistical tests were conducted to test the financial growth lifecycle model.

Analysis of respondents' capital structures across age groups indicates distinct changes in sources of finance employed by firms over time. Financing choices are consistent with Myers's pecking‐order hypothesis, and the importance of profitability in financing SMEs is emphasised. Contrary to conventional wisdom, respondents in the youngest age category report a relatively high use of debt financing. This is explained by the provision of firm owners' personal assets to secure firm debt.

The key contribution of this paper is to provide an empirical examination of the financial growth lifecycle model by combining a number of statistical tests. This approach is significantly different to that traditionally adopted in empirical investigations of SME financing, which is to examine the applicability of theories developed in corporate finance on panel data. Additionally, the paper presents data on personal sources of finance employed by firm owners, which is typically not available, even in comprehensive secondary databases.

This research investigates the top five pharmaceutical companies in India to determine whether their financial structures are sound and if they face the risk of bankruptcy, highlighting the potential contribution of intellectual capital (IC) to financial stability.

The analysis outlines operating ratios, profitability ratios, possibility of bankruptcy (through Z-scores) and attractiveness of the financial structure (through the F-score), with consequent focus on (IC).

The financial structure of the selected companies seems stable. Changes in the Indian pharmaceutical scenario, above all, regarding the patent system, will force the companies to consider the impact of IC carefully.

Indian pharmaceutical companies need sustainability and development, with increasing focus on patent issues. To enhance innovation capabilities and overcome international competition, they should redesign their business orientation towards IC, mainly when impacting patents.

Using established approaches for predicting potential bankruptcy, this study focuses on the financial performance of top Indian pharmaceutical companies. IC can support financial stability, and this study provides further perspectives for managing their financial structure, both statically and dynamically.

This study aims to establish a friction coefficient model relative to the rotation speed of a wet clutch engagement, which can predict friction coefficient under different stages of slipping velocity and different load pressures. In particular, the model has been improved by accounting the speed effect for the perdition of wet friction-element boundary friction, which is significant for understanding the friction mechanisms and for supporting the development of more efficient and related products.

This research investigated the mechanism of wet friction in a wet clutch engagement. A mixed friction model is established based on the asperity model and Newton’s law of viscosity. To obtain a friction coefficient computed by the model, the normal load shared by both asperities and lubrication fluid needs to be determined. Therefore, rough surface contact mechanism is analysed; a surface topography model is established; and surface parameters are obtained by means of surface topography measurement and reconstruction. Finally, verification of the mixed friction model is achieved.

Friction will be generated by both the asperity contact and the lubrication film shear relative to the rotation speed. And, the higher the relative speed, the larger the shearing power of lubrication film. It is caused by decrease in contact area of asperity. Surface morphology of a sintered bronze friction disk was obtained by a Laser-Micro-Test. The predicted results by the established model show that the total friction coefficient slightly reduced and then increased suddenly with speed. The surface topography model is responsible for the nonlinear behaviour of the asperity friction. Results of the simulation model are in agreement with those of the wet clutch engagement experiments.

This research is original and it is supported by the national defence project. The wet friction element which is applied on tracked vehicles is analysed for the first time. Through the model, the trend of the friction coefficient can be more accurately predicted. The problem of the wet friction plate modelling difficult is solved by using the mixed friction model.

The study explores extant knowledge on the nature of the relationship between internal and external corporate governance mechanisms, particularly board characteristics and audit quality, respectively, while also investigating how the relationship varies across geographies.

The extant knowledge is synthesized using a meta-analysis, which is conducted using a sample of 56 empirical studies from publications of varying grades. The studies span over 25 years (1996–2021) and cover 147 empirical samples (343,787 firm-year observations) across more than 20 countries. The dependent variable is audit fees, and the independent variable captures 12 different measures of board characteristics.

Overall, the results reveal a positive association between board characteristics and audit fees, indicating complementarity between governance mechanisms. Effect size analysis shows board characteristics, like size and independence, are positively associated with audit fees. However, heterogeneity is noted for some characteristics, and further analysis by geography (developed vs emerging countries) explains the heterogeneity.

This study helps multiple stakeholders like firms, shareholders, boards, regulators and policymakers in designing and strengthening governance frameworks.

Both governance and auditing literature benefit from identifying specific board characteristics that drive audit quality consistently across different institutional settings and samples. Heterogeneity analysis helps improve the understanding of contradictions documented in prior literature.

This meta-analysis is the first to explore the interplay between internal and external corporate governance mechanisms, with a focus on board characteristics and audit quality. The study provides valuable insights on how different governance mechanisms influence each other while highlighting, for the first time, how the interaction between governance mechanisms varies by a country's level of development.

Describes self‐reported dietary supplement use among elderly people in the UK and explores the association between supplement use and socioeconomic, physical and dietary factors. A three‐phase survey incorporating face‐to‐face interviews, self‐completed four‐day dietary diaries with a food frequency questionnaire and follow‐up face‐to‐face interviews took place in urban Nottingham and rural Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. A total of 957 elderly people (aged over 65) were randomly selected from general practitioner lists. A total of 36 per cent of the urban respondents and 41 per cent of rural respondents were taking at least one dietary supplement. Respondents who did not smoke were of a higher social class and had more qualifications were the most likely to take supplements. Fish oil was the most commonly taken supplement, followed by multivitamins, garlic tablets and vitamin C. The mean dietary intake of all respondents was above the reference nutrient intakes (RNIs) for nutrients studied. The diets of supplement users, excluding nutrients derived from supplementation, contained more iron, vitamin C, fibre, folate and oily fish than non‐users. Dietary supplement usage is widespread among the UK elderly, although supplement users within this sample do not appear to have diets which warrant supplementation to meet RNIs in the nutrients studied. Many advantages are, however, reported of consuming fish oils, garlic and higher intakes of anti‐oxidants.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the phenomenon of earnings management in the Egyptian initial public offerings (IPO) market where most of the IPOs were the privatisations of state‐owned enterprises (SOEs).

Using a sample of 59 Egyptian IPOs, the extent of earnings management was computed using a modified cross‐sectional version of Jones’ model.

The initial results do not provide support for the hypothesis that Egyptian IPO firms tend to overstate their earnings before the IPO date. However, when the sample firms were classified under two groups based on the pre‐IPO discretionary accruals, the results illustrate that most privately‐owned companies were found among those which contemplate to aggressively manage earnings upwards in order to maximise the IPO proceeds, whereas privatised public enterprises were found with no systematic pattern of earnings manipulation. The results also demonstrate that pre‐offering discretionary accruals do not explain the post‐offering underperformance in earnings but predict a portion of the subsequent poor share returns performance.

The findings could be of assistance to all those involved in IPOs, such as the regulatory authorities and the primary and secondary market investors.

With a few exceptions, most of the literature on earnings management has been based on the US data. Therefore, it is hoped that undertaking a research in a country such as Egypt, where the shareholding structures of most Egyptian IPO companies were concentrated in the hands of the state before going public, may reveal a different perception of earnings management and help determine whether this setting would lead to a higher or lower propensity for earnings management.

The purpose of this article is to deepen understanding of how emotional intelligence (EI) and artificial intelligence (AI) affect organizational behavior from a phenomenological perspective. Through philosophical lenses – particularly Descartes, Husserl and Merleau-Ponty – it highlights the contrasts and similarities between these forms of intelligence. The study aims to explore how AI and EI shape human experience and meaning-making in organizations, providing insights into how AI integration can foster more human-centered organizational practices.

This study employs a phenomenological approach to explore the philosophical underpinnings of EI and AI. By examining Descartes’ Cartesian dualism and Husserl’s phenomenology, the study analyzes the alignment and divergence between AI and these philosophical perspectives. The methodology integrates literature review and conceptual analysis to link philosophical insights with their organizational behavior implications, offering a framework that critically examines AI’s impact on human experience and organizational dynamics.

The findings highlight that emotional intelligence, rooted in the body-mind interaction, offers a human-centered view of experience, distinct from artificial intelligence. However, combining AI with EI can enhance organizational behavior by promoting more empathetic approaches. While AI can mimic cognitive functions, it lacks the embodied emotional experiences essential for human interaction. This insight emphasizes the need for AI systems to support, rather than disrupt, organizational meaning-making processes.

This article offers an original interdisciplinary perspective, merging phenomenological philosophy with organizational behavior. By examining emotional and artificial intelligence through Descartes, Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, the study presents fresh insights into AI design that prioritizes human-centered development. It contributes to AI ethics and organizational behavior literature by emphasizing the role of emotional intelligence in guiding AI integration within organizational contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the state of extinction accounting, and the motivations for its use in the UK public sector. Prior studies are mostly concerned with corporate attempts to account for species, despite studies in related areas calling for examinations of the public sector context.

The paper analyses the use of extinction accounting in three separate case organisations, conducting a total of 21 interviews across the three cases. Interviews were conducted with a range of organisational participants each having experience with extinction accounting.

Interviews reveal a number of common uses and applications of extinction accounting across the three councils. Practices are used to generate reports on species loss and recovery within each region, and to facilitate planning for species protection and recovery. However, in attempting to use this information, key trade-offs emerge between satisfying economic and ecological criteria, and even trade-offs are created regarding development of protection schemes. This leads to a subversion of extinction accounting.

Commensurate with prior studies in the corporate context, the study finds the presence of an economic logic impinging upon ecological decision making, suggesting that practices of extinction accounting may be affected by the same acknowledged economic motivations that reside in corporate attempts to account for nature.

The paper makes an important contribution by evaluating the public sector context of extinction accounting, which is lacking in existing research. The findings relating to the public sector use of species and extinction information also provide a useful context to understand how relatively new social and environmental accounting practices are deployed in organisations, as well as some indication of their effectiveness and limitations.