Adam Mather, Raymond Cipra and Thomas Siegmund
Topologically interlocked materials are a class of materials in which individual unit elements interact with each other through contact only. Cracks and other defects occurring…
Abstract
Purpose
Topologically interlocked materials are a class of materials in which individual unit elements interact with each other through contact only. Cracks and other defects occurring due to external loading are contained in the individual unit elements. Thus, topologically interlocked materials are damage tolerant and provide high structural integrity. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the concepts of remanufacturing in the context of a material for which the intended use is structural such that the material's structural integrity is of concern. In particular, the study is concerned with the mechanical behavior of a topologically interlocked material.
Design/methodology/approach
A topologically interlocked material based on tetrahedron unit elements is investigated experimentally. Manufacturing with aid of a robotically controlled end‐effector is demonstrated, and mechanical properties are determined for a plate configuration. A conceptual mechanical model for failure of topologically interlocked materials is developed and used to interpret the experimental results.
Findings
It is demonstrated that remanufacturing of the topologically interlocked material is possible with only a limited loss of material performance. The proposed model predicts trends in agreement with the experimental findings.
Research limitations/implications
While the model predictions are qualitatively in agreement with experiments, more detailed finite element models are needed to predict the material performance accurately. Experiments were conducted on a model material obtained from a 3D printer and should be verified on other solids.
Practical implications
The authors demonstrate that damage containment together with the absence of binders or adhesives enables reuse through remanufacturing without loss of structural integrity.
Social implications
Topologically interlocked materials emerge as attractive materials for sustainable engineering once their material performance are weighted with an environmental impact factor.
Originality/value
Remanufacturing experiments on a novel class of materials were conducted and a new model for the characterization of the structural integrity of topologically interlocked materials is proposed and successfully evaluated against experiments in at least qualitative form.
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Cirila Estela Vasquez Guzman, Gilbert Mireles, Neal Christopherson and Michelle Janning
Researchers have spent considerable time studying how racial-ethnic minorities experience poorer health than whites [Townsend, P., & Davidson, N. (Eds). (1990). Inequalities in…
Abstract
Researchers have spent considerable time studying how racial-ethnic minorities experience poorer health than whites [Townsend, P., & Davidson, N. (Eds). (1990). Inequalities in health: The black report. England: Penguin Press; Platt, L. (2006). Assessing the impact of illness, caring and ethnicity on social activity. STICERD Research Paper No. CASE108 London England), and how low socioeconomic status (SES) can negatively influence health status (Lynch, J., & Kaplan, G. (2000). Socioeconomic position. In: L. F. Berkman & I. Kawachi (Eds), Social epidemiology (pp. 13–55). New York: Oxford University Press]. This research investigates the relationship between class and race and perceived health status among patients with chronic conditions. More specifically, we apply the concept of social capital to assess whether the quantity of health information seeking behaviors (HISB) via social networks mediates the relationship between race and health status, and between SES and health status. Regression, t-test and ANOVA analyses of 305 surveys completed at a chronic illness management clinic in a Northwest research hospital reveal three important findings: first, that social class affects perceived health status more strongly than race; second, that frequency and amount of HISB do not play a significant role in perceived health status, regardless of race or SES; and third, that an interaction effect between frequency and amount of HISB suggests that the way that patients seek health information, and the quality of that information, may be more useful indicators of the role of social capital in HISB than our study can provide.
Paul Mather, Alan Ramsay and Adam Steen
This paper investigates the use of graphs, selection of variables to graph and construction of graphs in prospectuses issued by Australian companies making their initial public…
Abstract
This paper investigates the use of graphs, selection of variables to graph and construction of graphs in prospectuses issued by Australian companies making their initial public offering (IPO) of shares to the Australian capital market. The paper formulates and tests hypotheses concerning selectivity in the use of graphs and distortion in the construction of graphs presented in IPO prospectuses, as well as providing descriptive evidence about the use of graphs in such prospectuses. Results show that firms enjoying improving profit performance are significantly more likely to include graphs of key financial variables in their prospectuses than firms suffering deteriorating profit performance. Thus, similar to studies of graphs in annual reports, evidence of selectivity in the inclusion of graphs is found. No significant relationship is found between performance on the variable being graphed and distortion in the construction of the graph. When the graphs are split between those covering key financial variables and other variables, a significant relationship is found in both categories. For graphs of other variables, a significant positive association is found between performance and distortion. However, the relationship for key financial variables is in the opposite direction to that suggested by impression management. Further analysis identifies significant sub‐period differences in selectivity and distortion which are consistent with the view that the major regulatory and institutional changes outlined in the paper, reduced the extent of selectivity and graphical distortion in the post‐1991 period. As far as we are aware, this is the first study reported in the literature to investigate the use of graphs in prospectuses. The results also have policy implications for the regulatory authority in Australia.
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The papers collected here were written for the second biennial Wirth conference on Austrian Economics. The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies sponsored the…
Abstract
The papers collected here were written for the second biennial Wirth conference on Austrian Economics. The Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies sponsored the conference in cooperation with the University of Toronto in Mississauga. The conference was held from 17 to 18 October 2008 in Mississauga. The Wirth Institute has a natural home in Edmonton on the campus of the University of Alberta, which is a leading center for Central European Studies. The fact that the Institute has received support not only from government of Austria, but also from the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia reflects its historically minded recognition of the unique intellectual milieu of the Habsburg Empire. This intellectual milieu lasted beyond the breakup of the empire right through to the Anschluss in 1938. It is this milieu that shaped the Austrian school of economics and helped shape the context for the conference.
Noah Lorincz-Comi, Samba Bah, Howard T. Welser and Jack Maduka
The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of depression symptoms and their associated severity on reducing treatment sought for chronic medical conditions in respondents…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of depression symptoms and their associated severity on reducing treatment sought for chronic medical conditions in respondents living in a low-/middle-income country.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this paper are provided by the national cross-sectional World Health Survey (2003) completed in Pakistan. The authors constructed two samples: one reporting an angina diagnosis (n=150) and another an arthritis diagnosis (n=176), each reporting two or more respective disease symptoms. Logistic regression models, after controlling for confounding variables, were performed to predict treatment received in the last two weeks for respondents’ respective disease.
Findings
In respondents with angina, depression severity significantly reduced the likelihood of angina treatment received in the two weeks before survey; depression treatment significantly increased this likelihood. In respondents with arthritis, no psychopathologic variables predicted arthritis treatment received.
Research limitations/implications
This paper works to elucidate the constructs underlying the heavy chronic disease burdens, we currently witness in low-/middle-income countries. As the authors’ design is cross-sectional, future research would benefit from using longitudinal designs to further investigate the relationship between these morbidities.
Practical implications
These findings encourage further collaboration between medical and mental health professionals to develop stratified treatment strategies, especially in potentially underdeveloped settings, such as Pakistan. This paper also encourages the development of policy intended to provide residents of Pakistan and countries in similar socioeconomic positions with more medical and psychiatric treatment services.
Originality/value
This paper is unique in identifying the relationship between these morbidities in a large, population-based sample of respondents from a low-/middle-income country, Pakistan.
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Akanksha Mishra and Neeraj Pandey
This study aims to map and analyze health-care pricing information research. This work highlights current gap in pricing information research in health care and proposes future…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to map and analyze health-care pricing information research. This work highlights current gap in pricing information research in health care and proposes future research avenues to academia and industry professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric method was adopted to analyze extant literature on pricing information asymmetry. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in health care to triangulate the findings.
Findings
Pricing information is crucial for all stakeholders including health-care consumers, providers and regulators. The popular research areas were the rising health-care cost, cost-saving, outcome-based pricing, price based on service supply and demand, insurance and out-of-pocket spending. Cost–quality perceived linkages, cost–demand correlation in health-care service and cost–price interlinked drivers were the dominant themes in extant literature. The study highlighted that pricing information asymmetry pushed patients from weaker sections into a debt trap due to unplanned out-of-pocket health-care expenses. The study suggests areas of research to minimize this pricing information asymmetry.
Practical implications
The emerging themes in health pricing asymmetry will help key stakeholders to identify areas for improvement and take remedial actions in the health-care domain.
Originality/value
This study is a pioneering effort to summarize extant literature published in the health-care information pricing domain and analyze it from a bibliometric perspective. The study also triangulates the finding with primary data from key stakeholders and highlights emerging research areas.
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Mehdi Dadkhah, Mohammad Mehraeen, Fariborz Rahimnia and Khalil Kimiafar
Internet of things (IoT) promises advantages in different sectors, especially the health-care sector. Due to its capabilities for chronic disease management, IoT has attracted the…
Abstract
Purpose
Internet of things (IoT) promises advantages in different sectors, especially the health-care sector. Due to its capabilities for chronic disease management, IoT has attracted the attention of researchers. Nowadays, there is research that focuses on the use of IoT for chronic disease management. However, the use of IoT in various contexts faces different barriers. This paper aims to explore Iranian experts’ conceptions of the barriers to using IoT in Iran regarding its application for chronic disease management.
Design/methodology/approach
This study follows a phenomenographic method to investigate Iranian experts’ conceptions of the barriers to using IoT in Iran regarding its application for chronic disease management.
Findings
The results show that there are four categories of description (governance, technical, economic and social barriers) that vary among experts’ conceptions.
Originality/value
The findings of the present work could provide valuable insights for managers and policymakers who want to address IoT barriers.
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Arthur Midwinter and Murray McVicar
The political background in the United Kingdom leading to thedevelopment of performance indicators for public libraries is discussed.Corporate planning and value for money models…
Abstract
The political background in the United Kingdom leading to the development of performance indicators for public libraries is discussed. Corporate planning and value for money models are examined. A survey is reported of Scottish public library authorities and their use of performance indicators in relation to planning, budgeting and evaluation, and the development of public library objectives in Scotland is outlined. The major problems in applying performance measures to public libraries are considered.
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Karin Sandmel, Kristen D. Wilson, Karen R. Harris, Kathleen Lynne Lane, Steve Graham, Wendy P. Oakes, Sharlene A. Kiuhara and Trish D. Steinbrecher
Relatively limited attention has been paid to the academic needs of students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Effective interventions are needed to support these…
Abstract
Relatively limited attention has been paid to the academic needs of students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Effective interventions are needed to support these students academically, behaviorally, and socially. The purpose of the concurrent studies reported here was to investigate the effectiveness of academic support in writing for fourth- and fifth-grade students (six boys, two girls) and second- and third-grade students (seven boys, one girl) with writing and behavioral difficulties. The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) approach was implemented as a tier-2 intervention within a comprehensive, integrated three-tiered model of prevention including academic-, behavioral-, and social-skills components. Students learned an on-demand writing strategy for their state writing-competency test. Dependent measures included number of story writing elements, total number of words written, and writing quality. Fourth- and fifth-grade students who completed the intervention improved in total number of story elements. There were mixed results for the total number of words written and writing quality. Second- and third-grade students did not improve their total number of story elements, total words written, or writing quality. Students in both studies scored the intervention favorably, while there were mixed reactions from teachers. Findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Implications for the construct of evidence-based practice (EBP) are also explored, including concerns regarding frequent assessment of writing throughout intervention regardless of stage of instruction in the SRSD model.