Kester Rebello, Karan Jaggi, Seosamh Costello, Daniel Blake, May Oo, James Hughes and Temitope Egbelakin
The purpose of this paper is to trial the application of a criticality framework for roads in an urban environment. The failure or disruption of critical transport routes can have…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to trial the application of a criticality framework for roads in an urban environment. The failure or disruption of critical transport routes can have substantial impacts on the economy and societal well-being. Determining the criticality of transport routes is thus of crucial importance for infrastructure providers, city planners and emergency management officials, as it enables appropriate resilience assessments and targeted improvement/intervention and investment strategies to be conducted.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors summarise the proposed criticality framework developed by Hughes (2016) for road networks and apply and validate the framework to an area containing 907 km of roads in the central Auckland area of New Zealand. Following an initial trial of the framework, alterations were made to the framework logic, which included the introduction of a new criticality level to account for some roads providing minimal direct societal and economic benefit and a rationalisation step to ensure that road sections always link to others with either an equal or higher criticality.
Findings
The modified framework and five-level criticality scale, when applied to the study area in central Auckland, is suitable for determining critical roads and can therefore assist with future assessments of road infrastructure resilience.
Originality/value
The framework also has the potential to be applied more widely and adapted so that it is applicable for determining the criticality of other infrastructure types and in other settings, which would allow improved assessments within and across sectors.
Details
Keywords
Ding Chen, Navajyoti Samanta and James Hughes
Over the past two decades, China’s stock market has experienced rapid growth. This period has seen the transplantation of many “OECD principles of corporate governance” into the…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the past two decades, China’s stock market has experienced rapid growth. This period has seen the transplantation of many “OECD principles of corporate governance” into the Chinese corporate regulatory framework. These regulations are dominated by shareholder values. This paper aims to discover whether there is a causal relationship between the changes in China’s corporate governance and financial market growth.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses data from 1995-2014 to create a robust corporate index by looking at 52 variables and a financial index out of five financial market parameters. Subsequently, data are subject to a panel regression analysis, with the financial market index as the outcome variable, corporate governance index explanatory variable and a variety of economics, social and technological control variables.
Findings
This paper concludes that changes in corporate regulation have in fact had no statistically significant impact on China’s financial market growth, which must therefore be attributed to other factors.
Originality/value
The study is the first in the context of Chinese corporate governance impact studies to use Bayesian methodology to analyse a panel dataset. It uses OECD principles as the anchor to provide a clear picture of evolution of corporate governance for a 20-year period which is also longer than previous studies.
Details
Keywords
Abdullah AlFaify, James Hughes and Keith Ridgway
The pulsed-laser powder bed fusion (PBF) process is an additive manufacturing technology that uses a laser with pulsed beam to melt metal powder. In this case, stainless steel…
Abstract
Purpose
The pulsed-laser powder bed fusion (PBF) process is an additive manufacturing technology that uses a laser with pulsed beam to melt metal powder. In this case, stainless steel SS316L alloy is used to produce complex components. To produce components with acceptable mechanical performance requires a comprehensive understanding of process parameters and their interactions. This study aims to understand the influence of process parameters on reducing porosity and increasing part density.
Design/methodology/approach
The response surface method (RSM) is used to investigate the impact of changing critical parameters on the density of parts manufactured. Parameters considered include: point distance, exposure time, hatching distance and layer thickness. Part density was used to identify the most statistically significant parameters, before each parameter was analysed individually.
Findings
A clear correlation between the number and shape of pores and the process parameters was identified. Point distance, exposure time and layer thickness were found to significantly affect part density. The interaction between these parameters also critically affected the development of porosity. Finally, a regression model was developed and verified experimentally and used to accurately predict part density.
Research limitations/implications
The study considered a range of selected parameters relevant to the SS316L alloy. These parameters need to be modified for other alloys according to their physical properties.
Originality/value
This study is believed to be the first systematic attempt to use RSM for the design of experiments (DOE) to investigate the effect of process parameters of the pulsed-laser PBF process on the density of the SS316L alloy components.
Details
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Rania Ali Albsoul, James Hughes, Muhammad Ahmed Alshyyab and Gerard Fitzgerald
The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate interventions shown to improve nurse resilience in the acute care settings.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate interventions shown to improve nurse resilience in the acute care settings.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was a systematically conducted scoping review of the literature. Databases including MEDLINE/PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Emerald insight and Google Scholar were searched and this complemented by reviews of the reference lists.
Findings
In total, 13 papers were included in the review but there was limited evidence of the effectiveness of individual programs. The authors found that resilience training programs for individuals reviewed provided some evidence for the effectiveness of the training. However, the context of job design, work risks and leadership require attention.
Originality/value
Resilience is an important requirement for nursing staff that helps to mitigate the stress of the working environment, particularly in the acute care setting. However, the managerial strategies required to build resilience are not well known or applied. The findings of this research may help to design cohesive and comprehensive management programs to promote and preserve nursing resilience in acute care settings. Any such program needs to reflect the four key themes that appear to underpin resilience: relationships, motivation, emotions and well-being.
Details
Keywords
Between 1963 and 1971 the number of places available at Government Training Centres (GTCs) increased by over 400 per cent, so that by 1971 there were 52 centres with 11,000 places…
Abstract
Between 1963 and 1971 the number of places available at Government Training Centres (GTCs) increased by over 400 per cent, so that by 1971 there were 52 centres with 11,000 places capable of retraining about 20,000 persons annually. Early in 1972 the Conservative Government announced plans for a further large expansion in the manpower training and retraining programme. The long term aim of that government was to provide retraining opportunities for about 100,000 annually, but as an interim measure it hoped to provide such opportunities for 60–70,000 people by 1975. The government intended that about half of these opportunities—i.e. 30,000—would be catered for by the GTCs, of which there would be 64 by 1975, with a total of 17,000 training places.
A recent paper by James Hughes in this journal arguing that in the recent past the regional distribution of Government Training Centre (GTC) capacity has been sub‐optimal, stirred…
Abstract
A recent paper by James Hughes in this journal arguing that in the recent past the regional distribution of Government Training Centre (GTC) capacity has been sub‐optimal, stirred me to write an article both criticising the criteria he used in reaching this judgement and, more positively, offering results from a cost benefit study addressed to the same issue. Hughes' more recent, discursive paper is a reply to this. Whilst his paper is replete with minor points of detail, I shall concentrate here on his major points only. These are:
It is just over fifty years since the British government instigated the scheme that was to lead to the setting up of Government Training Centres (GTCs) shortly afterwards.
May 7, 1974 Master and Servant — Breach of statutory duty — Workman working on platform of scaffolding erected by employer — Scaffolding not properly secured — Workman injured on…
Abstract
May 7, 1974 Master and Servant — Breach of statutory duty — Workman working on platform of scaffolding erected by employer — Scaffolding not properly secured — Workman injured on falling off — Loss of one kidney — Assessment of damage — Approach to assessment of damage — Construction (Working Places) Regulations 1966 (S.I. 1966, No. 94),regs. 6(2), 15(1).