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The purpose of this paper is to study the feasibility on the use of alternative parameters for representing acoustic emission (AE) and acousto-ultrasonic (AU) signals, using a wavelet-based approach and the computation of Chebyshev moments.

Two tests were performed, one on AE artificial signals generated on a CFRP plate and one on an AU setup used for actively detecting impact damage. The waveforms were represented using a data reduction technique based on the Daubechies wavelet and an image processing technique using Chebyshev moments approximation, to get 32 descriptors for each waveform.

The use of such descriptors allowed in the AE case to verify that the moments are similar when the waveforms are similar; in the AU setup the correlation coefficient of the descriptors with respect to a reference data set was found to be linked to the delimitation size.

Such a data reduction while retaining all the useful information will be positive for wireless sensor networks, where power consumption during data transmission is key. With having to send only a reliable set of descriptors and not an entire waveform, the power consumption is believed to be reduced.

This paper is a preliminary study that fulfils a need for a more reliable data reduction for ultrasonic transient signals, such as those used in AE and AU.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how knowledge is constructed and risk is induced within the workgroup environment of a large North American aerospace company.

Based on an epistemological position on knowledge and risk, an initial conceptual framework is proposed. This is then evaluated and re‐constructed across a qualitative and ethnographic case study approach involving direct observations and interviews, whereby empirical results were interpreted and analysed across discourse analysis.

A dialogical model is proposed describing both verbal and non‐verbal interactions between group members leading towards knowledge complexification on the one hand and risk mitigation on the other hand. Factors leading towards dialogical breakdown and subsequent risk induction are also presented.

This single case study prevents generalizing the findings across the entire firm in question, and by extension any manner of external validity outside of the firm's context. Additional workgroups/teams within the firm need to be evaluated, while similar studies in other institutions within the knowledge economy are to be envisaged.

Workgroup managers must nurture an environment conducive towards mutual trust and respect, where individuals are given the time and freedom to express themselves, all the while being open to differing viewpoints and experiences. Coercive dialogue between members should be discouraged. It is proposed that this can be achieved across a parental “safety net” approach.

The paper presents the “how” and “why” of an effective dialogical knowledge constructing process occurring at the interpersonal level, attempts to propose how management can to help achieve this within their organisation, and attempts to bridge the areas of knowledge creation and risk induction at the interpersonal/workgroup level.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills are crucial to the development of graduate skills and employability. This paper will explore the research undertaken at Edge Hill College of Higher Education to integrate and contextualise ICT skills within an undergraduate marketing programme, with the research and curriculum implementation undertaken through collaboration between Library and Information Services (LIS) and the subject area of Business, Management and Leisure (BML).

Transformation has become a commonly employed phrase in the field of community music. However, there has been little critical examination of its employment. This study aimed to explore how and why community musicians and project participants used this concept to describe their experiences of community music-making programmes.

A mixed methodological approach was utilised for this study. This included conducting an extensive literature review to establish a conceptual framework of transformations meaning within community music literature. Additionally, a historiography of the use of transformation in cultural policymaking and community music practice was developed to examine how this concept has gained prominence in the discourse. Alongside this, a case study was conducted on a music-making programme for adults with a mental health diagnosis to investigate the practical application of the concept of transformation.

The research reveals that musicians and participants often use “transformation” as a metaphor to articulate the personal impacts of community music programmes. These impacts include enhanced self-confidence, a greater sense of control and shifts in how individuals perceive themselves. The widespread use of this term is influenced by the messaging of funders and policymakers, who use the concept of personal transformation to rationalise funding for arts and cultural initiatives.

This research provides a new perspective on transformation and its meaning in community music practice. Additionally, it highlights the interconnection between community music activity and cultural policymaking, a relationship that has yet to receive much attention from scholars across both fields.

This paper takes stock of developments in, and the state of, the field of comparative and international education at the beginning of the 21st century, using as data base articles published in the journal Comparative Education Review during the second decade of the 21st century and to compare results with a content analysis done on the first 50 years of the existence of the Review and which was published in 2008. The 246 articles that were published in the Comparative Education Review during the decade 2010–2019 were analyzed under the following metrics: levels of analysis of articles; number of units covered by articles; research methods; narrative basis; phase of education articles cover; and mode of education articles deal with. Compared to the first 50 years of the existence of the Review, single-unit national-level studies still dominate the field, though less so. A case can be made out for a deconcentration to allow more space for research at geographic levels both larger and smaller than the nation-state. The most prominent narrative in which articles are framed is that of the social justice narrative. The neo-liberal economic narrative stands strong too, while the poor standing of the human rights narrative is disappointing. Turning to modes and phases of education is concerned, the shadow education system has registered on the comparative and international education research agenda, while there seems to be a modest upswing in interest in pre-primary education. Thoughts about the future trajectory of the field are suggested.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of participating in an eight‐week physical training (ie. balance or weight training) on psychosocial outcomes for independently living healthy older adults. Eighteen older adults (65 years old or older) voluntarily participated in this study. Participants were randomly and evenly distributed in three different groups such as balance, weight or control group; six participants in each. Fear of falling and social activity levels were statistically tested by evaluating questionnaires validated in previous studies. Psychological factors improved in all groups after eight weeks (P < 0.05). Social interaction levels did not improve in any of the three groups, although all participants exhibited improvements in being physically independent (P < 0.05). Results suggested that being physically active as well as being socially active could result in being less fearful of falls, more confident of leaving residency, being more independent, and being more active.

Vocational education and training (VET) in Australia has for some time been driven by an agenda of “reasonable adjustment”, in which practices are modified to ensure equitable access and participation by disadvantaged students. However, the growing marketization of VET has instead encouraged the use of more flexible approaches to attract and retain students from diverse backgrounds. They have thus paralleled and confounded reasonable adjustment practices for inclusive development. This study sought to identify the moral dilemmas experienced by VET teachers arising from implementing reasonable adjustment practices.

This phenomenological research project used in-depth conversational interviews with 19 experienced VET teachers from a diversity of teaching fields to identify moral dilemmas experienced as arising from changes in their workplace contexts.

One of the identified dilemmas was responding flexibly to heightened student diversity, to which study participants largely responded by prioritising the economic imperative over social inclusion. Well-intended actions thus led to unintentionally damaging outcomes, raising important ethical questions about the relative value of economic and social development outcomes and the role of reasonable adjustment in their attainment. The study also highlights the lack of appropriate VET teacher training in managing ethical conflicts to minimise risks to themselves and their employing organizations.

As a case study of inclusive development policies in practice, this research may be seen as a cautionary tale for inclusive development policies in other countries with similarly strong VET economic and socially inclusive development policies for sustainability. The paper thus opens a dialogue for critical reflection on the current problems in a reasonable development approach in the field of comparative and international education. Those two parallel agendas have presented VET teachers and trainers with ethically challenging situations in which the economic and social development imperatives are experienced as being conflict with each other.

This study adopts the popular culture lens to investigate the collective understanding behind the human resources (HR) occupations.

The empirical study analyzes 129 characters from 87 movies, television (TV) series, books and comics. The measurement model was tested using structural equation modeling and cluster analysis identified five HR representations in the popular culture.

Popular culture reflects five HR representations: The Executor, the Hero, the Buddy, the Bore, and the Good-time person. Results suggest that public opinion pays scarce attention to the so-called HR “strategic position” while underlining the need for a more socially responsible HR approach.

The authors' study serves as a means for integrating past research on HR role and reputation, occupational image, self-identity and popular media. While most scholars have addressed popular culture as a single case and paid almost no attention to the HR domain, this article complements the literature by offering a fruitful way to distil HR summative popular culture representations, thus advocating for both a theoretical and a methodological contribution.