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1 – 10 of 64Elaine Lim, Tze Cheng Kueh and Yew Mun Hung
The present study aims to investigate the inverse-thermocapillary effect in an evaporating thin liquid film of self-rewetting fluid, which is a dilute aqueous solution (DAS) of…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to investigate the inverse-thermocapillary effect in an evaporating thin liquid film of self-rewetting fluid, which is a dilute aqueous solution (DAS) of long-chain alcohol.
Design/methodology/approach
A long-wave evolution model modified for self-rewetting fluids is used to study the inverse thermocapillary characteristics of an evaporating thin liquid film. The flow attributed to the inverse thermocapillary action is manifested through the streamline plots and the evaporative heat transfer characteristics are quantified and analyzed.
Findings
The thermocapillary flow induced by the negative surface tension gradient drives the liquid from a low-surface-tension (high temperature) region to a high-surface-tension (low temperature) region, retarding the liquid circulation and the evaporation strength. The positive surface tension gradients of self-rewetting fluids induce inverse-thermocapillary flow. The results of different working fluids, namely, water, heptanol and DAS of heptanol, are examined and compared. The thermocapillary characteristic of a working fluid is significantly affected by the sign of the surface tension gradient and the inverse effect is profound at a high excess temperature. The inverse thermocapillary effect significantly enhances evaporation rates.
Originality/value
The current investigation on the inverse thermocapillary effect in a self-rewetting evaporating thin film liquid has not been attempted previously. This study provides insights on the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of thermocapillary evaporation of self-rewetting liquid, which give rise to significant thermal enhancement of the microscale phase-change heat transfer devices.
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By solving a long-wave evolution model numerically for power-law fluids, the authors aim to investigate the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of thermocapillary flow in an…
Abstract
Purpose
By solving a long-wave evolution model numerically for power-law fluids, the authors aim to investigate the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of thermocapillary flow in an evaporating thin liquid film of pseudoplastic fluid.
Design/methodology/approach
The flow reversal attributed to the thermocapillary action is manifestly discernible through the streamline plots.
Findings
The thermocapillary strength is closely related to the viscosity of the fluid, besides its surface tension. The thermocapillary flow prevails in both Newtonian and pseudoplastic fluids at a large Marangoni number and the thermocapillary effect is more significant in the former. The overestimate in the Newtonian fluid is larger than that in the pseudoplastic fluid, owing to the shear-thinning characteristics of the latter.
Originality/value
This study provides insights into the essential attributes of the underlying flow characteristics in affecting the thermal behavior of thermocapillary convection in an evaporating thin liquid film of the shear-thinning fluids.
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Wei Sheng Timmy Ng and Elaine Wilson
The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework describing teachers’ affective and cognitive thought processes, as well as the sensemaking and decision making ongoing within…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework describing teachers’ affective and cognitive thought processes, as well as the sensemaking and decision making ongoing within them, during the various stages of the appropriation of an educational innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The Rubicon model of action phases, borrowed from psychology, is first used as a lens to understand teachers’ will. The model is subsequently adapted to reconcile it with existing literature on teacher beliefs, teacher sensemaking, and teachers’ resistance.
Findings
The proposed framework shows that teachers’ appropriation of an educational innovation is multi-layered and multi-dimensional. This contradicts appropriation as simply a procedural implementation of research recommendations, culminating in only success or failure.
Originality/value
The paper sensitises policymakers, school leaders, and teacher educators to the complexity of the appropriation process. The proposed framework serves as a starting point for school and reform leaders, to re-examine their school’s implementation of an educational innovation from a more human relations perspective.
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The purpose of this research is to examine how consumers interpret and understand sustainable fashion production and how this informs their fashion consumption practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine how consumers interpret and understand sustainable fashion production and how this informs their fashion consumption practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts an interpretivist approach with in-depth interviews with 28 participants. Sampling criterion sought consumers already engaged with sustainable production – professionally working mothers – to explore how their sustainability knowledge was evaluated for sustainable fashion claims. Garment labels that descripted facets of sustainable production were introduced to encourage discourse of sustainable fashion knowledge.
Findings
The findings illustrate that sustainable fashion production is not understood and efforts to apply sustainability concepts were often misunderstood which led to scepticism for higher pricing and marketing claims. Despite this, there was concern for the wider implications of sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations include the small sample from one geographical area (Edinburgh), despite the richness of the data collected.
Practical implications
The research offers practical advice for fashion marketers to educate consumers through effective communication strategies how sustainable fashion concepts improve consumer concerns surrounding fashion production.
Social implications
The research indicates increased concern for fashion sustainability, something that fashion retailers should be mindful of.
Originality/value
There has been little research examining consumer interpretation of sustainable fashion terminology, and this research adds to understanding how sustainability is evaluated within fashion production.
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Sara Catalán, Eva Martínez and Elaine Wallace
This paper aims to explain the effect of flow, game repetition and brand familiarity on players’ brand attitude and purchase intention in the context of mobile advergaming.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explain the effect of flow, game repetition and brand familiarity on players’ brand attitude and purchase intention in the context of mobile advergaming.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 227 participants who played a mobile advergame were analysed. Structural equation modelling with partial least squares was used to test the research model.
Findings
The results reveal that the independent variables (i.e. game repetition and brand familiarity) significantly influence the dependent variables explored in this study (i.e. brand attitude and purchase intentions of players). Results also show that brand familiarity influences players’ flow experience, which in turn significantly affects players’ purchase intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study are important for advertising practitioners and advergames’ developers as understanding the determinants of mobile advergaming effectiveness is crucial for designing successful advergames that persuade players the most.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it provides new insights into the effectiveness of mobile advergames, which is an under-researched area. Second, it offers empirical evidence of the effects of game repetition, flow and brand familiarity on mobile advergaming effectiveness.
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Elaine Chiao Ling Yang, Mona Ji Hyun Yang and Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore
This study aims to explore the meanings of solo travel for Asian women, focussing on how Asian women construct and negotiate their identities in the heteronormalised, gendered and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the meanings of solo travel for Asian women, focussing on how Asian women construct and negotiate their identities in the heteronormalised, gendered and Western-centric tourism space.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews were conducted with 35 Asian solo female travellers from ten Asian countries/societies and analysed using constructivist grounded theory. The interpretation was guided by a critical stance and intersectionality lens.
Findings
The findings show that solo travel provides a means for self-discovery but the path was different for Asian women, for whom the self is constructed by challenging the social expectations of Asian women. Western-centric discourse was identified in the participants’ interactions with other (Western) travellers and tourism service providers, as well as in the ways these Asian women perceive themselves in relation to Western travellers. In addition to gendered constraints and risks, the findings also reveal the positive meaning of being Asian women in the gendered tourism space.
Research limitations/implications
By labelling Asian women, the study risks adopting an essentialised view and overlooking the differences within the group. However, this strategic essentialism is necessary to draw attention to the inequalities that persist in contemporary tourism spaces and practices.
Originality/value
This study investigated Asian solo female travellers, an emerging but under-researched segment. It provides a critical examination of the intersectional effect of gender and race on identity construction for Asian solo female travellers. This study shows the need for a more inclusive tourism space.
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Discusses US use of drug testing in the workplace, screening employees for smoking, AIDS, genetic traits and reproductive hazards. Attributes this to the costs employers face in…
Abstract
Discusses US use of drug testing in the workplace, screening employees for smoking, AIDS, genetic traits and reproductive hazards. Attributes this to the costs employers face in insurance, litigation and compensation. Points out that the purpose of drug testing is to circumvent management responsibility for: accidents in the workplace, stress, bad management practices, and disregarding health and safety initiatives. Acknowledges that the tests are harmful and indefensible. Reports that 81 per cent of members of the American Management Association in 1996 conducted drug testing. Claims that screening is the alternative to monitoring – that is screening out individuals who are seen as high risk in some way – yet that misses the point – the focus should be on making hazardous working conditions safe. Indicates that companies may use drug testing as a means of deterring drug users from gravitating towards their organization. Mentions that workplace‐induced stress can lead to substance abuse and that, therefore it is management driven, rather than being a problem the worker brings to the workplace. Quotes a number of company physicians who object to policing drug use. Indicates that drug testing has diverted attention away from health and safety issues and hazardous working conditions.
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Kaz Stuart, Mark A. Faghy, Elaine Bidmead, Ruth Browning, Catriona Roberts, Sam Grimwood and Thea Winn-Reed
This paper proposes a biopsychosocial (BPS) analysis of COVID-19 experiences which enhances understanding of complex and interrelated factors and leads to the proposition of a BPS…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes a biopsychosocial (BPS) analysis of COVID-19 experiences which enhances understanding of complex and interrelated factors and leads to the proposition of a BPS recovery framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Online narrative research was used to explore people's experiences of COVID-19 and was conducted over a four-month period. The call was distributed via a short open-ended qualitative online survey advertised on social media platforms and 305 responses came from across England.
Findings
The findings illustrate people with a narrow range of BPS characteristics experienced over a wide range of BPS impacts which are nuanced, complex and dynamic. Left unaddressed these may create future adverse BPS characteristics. An integrated BPS framework for recovery is proposed to avoid such further negative outcomes from the pandemic.
Research limitations/implications
The sample contained a bias in age, gender and living arrangements.
Practical implications
The paper offers a clear framework to enable integrated holistic recovery/regrowth planning.
Social implications
Using the framework would reduce social and health inequities which have been recently deepened by COVID-19 in the long-term.
Originality/value
The paper is original in its use of a BPS analytical framework.
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Multinational enterprises are increasingly interested in improving employee engagement across diverse geographies, signifying the importance of understanding antecedents of…
Abstract
Purpose
Multinational enterprises are increasingly interested in improving employee engagement across diverse geographies, signifying the importance of understanding antecedents of engagement across different national business systems. This study aims to explore the relationship between an important job resource, perceived performance appraisal fairness and employee engagement in two countries: the UK and India. Critically, the mediating role of perceived supervisor support in these contrasting cultural contexts is investigated, as well as differentiating between two types of engagement: work and organization.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on a UK-based multinational enterprise operating in its home country and in India, survey data from 249 employees are analyzed.
Findings
The survey results indicate that there are positive relationships between elements of perceived performance appraisal fairness and engagement in both countries, and that supervisor support plays an important mediating role. There are, however, important differences between the two countries’ results.
Research limitations/implications
Cross-sectional data from a single firm are a limitation of this study, as well as using national culture as an explanatory variable although this is not measured. Future research should attempt to measure culture, especially in India, where cultural heterogeneity is high.
Practical implications
The study demonstrates the importance of ensuring appropriate mechanisms in different overseas operations to achieve engagement when implementing performance appraisal.
Originality/value
This study expands significantly our knowledge surrounding the engagement construct by including both work and organization engagement, measured simultaneously in two contrasting national contexts. Furthermore, it highlights the value of national business systems cultural theorizing to explain differences in employee workplace experiences.
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Hoi Ching Cheung, Yan Yin Marco Lo, Dickson K.W. Chiu and Elaine W.S. Kong
This study examines academic librarians' perceptions and attitudes toward Internet of Things (IoT) applications in Hong Kong academic libraries and the problems and possible…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines academic librarians' perceptions and attitudes toward Internet of Things (IoT) applications in Hong Kong academic libraries and the problems and possible improvements in using IoT technologies to strengthen library services.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative research used video conferencing software for semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. Participants were given introductory material about the IoT and asked to complete an interview. The data were analyzed using inductive theme clustering for this study.
Findings
The analysis identified three themes: perception about applying IoT technology to the library, problems and improvements in using IoT. Participants were generally optimistic about the potential benefits of IoT for improving library operations and providing personalized services. However, they also expressed concerns about privacy and security, errors and extra efforts for information literacy training. They suggested improvements such as incorporating facial recognition technology, advanced RFID technology and collections identification technology to enhance user experience.
Originality/value
Most studies examined users' views rather than librarians' on IoT applications, which few studies cover, especially in East Asia.
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