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The ever present need for the miniaturization of electronic assemblies has driven the size of passive components to as small as the 01005 package size. However, the packaging standards for these components are still under development. The purpose of this work is to report results from experiments designed to establish optimum process parameters, pad sizes and component clearances for the surface mounting of 01005 passive components.

The experiments were designed using MODDE, an experimental design software tool, and were carried out with both 01005 capacitors and resistors. All the assembled components were examined under microscope and judged according to industrial workmanship standards.

It was found that a viable solder paste printing process for the assembly of 01005 components can be achieved with a 75 μm thick stencil. Type 5 solder paste achieved a similar printing performance to type 4. Under the experimental conditions used, the optimum pad dimensions for the 01005 capacitors were 210 μm length, 220 μm width, 160 μm separation and for the resistors were 190 μm length, 220 μm width, 160 μm separation. The smallest component clearance to reliably avoid bridging was found to be 100 μm. A high placement force of 3.5 N was found to cause cracking of 01005 resistors.

From this work, a surface mount process for 01005 passive components is established and it is concluded that electronics packaging density can be increased through the assembly of these small components. In the near future, the widespread use of them will definitely facilitate a further reduction in the size of electronic assemblies, especially in handheld and portable devices.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the basics of semiotic analysis and concept theory that represent two dominant approaches to knowledge representation, and explore how these approaches are fruitful for knowledge organization.

In particular the semiotic theory formulated by the American philosopher C.S. Peirce and the concept theory formulated by Ingetraut Dahlberg are investigated. The paper compares the differences and similarities between these two theories of knowledge representation.

The semiotic model is a general and unrestricted model of signs and Dahlberg's model is thought from the perspective and demand of better knowledge organization system (KOS) development. It is found that Dahlberg's concept model provides a detailed method for analyzing and representing concepts in a KOS, where semiotics provides the philosophical context for representation.

This paper is the first to combine theories of knowledge representation, semiotic and concept theory, within the context of knowledge organization.

This study aimed to analyze the most common child’s play of students (approximately seven years old) both during the playtime and the time they are not at school, also considering the teacher’s interpretation of the child’s play practiced in the school, located in a small slum of the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte. In this way, the analysis considered the issues that involve the recognition of the essentiality of childhood (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 2003; Sarmento, 2007), in the context of the reality and affectivity of children in the place called slum (Coelho, 2007; Perez & Jardim, 2015, Tuan, 1983), as well as in aspects that demonstrate the control of their bodies through the child’s play performed in the school (Brighente & Mesquida, 2011; Foucault, 2009). As a methodological basis, participant observation was chosen because it was believed that from this practice it was possible to extract important experiences and reflections from the research participants, know our actions and, by observing these people, their behaviours and attitudes in routine situations (Lüdke & André, 1986). The results suggested that the slum children’s play, both in school and outside, are different among boys and girls. In the open areas of the slum, the boys explore more spaces than girls, who prefer child’s play in the domestic sphere. At school, educators try to censure some behaviours and attitudes of children, suggesting the pursuit of obedient postures and disciplined bodies. In this context, it is crucial that educators do not convert the school into a place of censorship of the child’s play that resides in the slums and thus transforming the school into a space that reinforces the domestication of bodies from the earliest stages of childhood.

The purpose of this paper is to explain why the high quality cassava flour (HQCF) value chain in Nigeria has not performed as well as expected. The specific objectives are to: analyse important sources of uncertainty influencing HQCF value chains; explore stakeholders’ strategies to respond to uncertainty; and highlight the implications of different adaptation strategies for equity and the environment in the development of the value chain.

The authors used a conceptual framework based on complex adaptive systems to analyse the slow development of the value chain for HQCF in Nigeria, with a specific focus on how key stakeholders have adapted to uncertainty. The paper is based on information from secondary sources and grey literature. In particular, the authors have drawn heavily on project documents of the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa project (2008 to present), which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and on the authors’ experience with this project.

Policy changes; demand and supply of HQCF; availability and price of cassava roots; supply and cost of energy are major sources of uncertainty in the chain. Researchers and government have shaped the chain through technology development and policy initiatives. Farmers adapted by selling cassava to rival chains, while processors adapted by switching to rival cassava products, reducing energy costs and vertical integration. However, with uncertainties in HQCF supply, the milling industry has reserved the right to play. Vertical integration offers millers a potential solution to uncertainty in HQCF supply, but raises questions about social and environmental outcomes in the chain.

The use of the framework of complex adaptive systems helped to explain the development of the HQCF value chain in Nigeria. The authors identified sources of uncertainty that have been pivotal in restricting value chain development, including changes in policy environment, the demand for and supply of HQCF, the availability and price of cassava roots, and the availability and cost of energy for flour processing. Value chain actors have responded to these uncertainties in different ways. Analysing these responses in terms of adaptation provides useful insights into why the value chain for HQCF in Nigeria has been so slow to develop.

Recent developments suggest that the most effective strategy for the milling industry to reduce uncertainty in the HQCF value chain is through vertical integration, producing their own cassava roots and flour. This raises concerns about equity. Until now, it has been assumed that the development of the value chain for HQCF can combine both growth and equity objectives. The validity of this assumption now seems to be open to question. The extent to which these developments of HQCF value chains can combine economic growth, equity and environmental objectives, as set out in the sustainable development goals, is an open question.

The originality lies in the analysis of the development of HQCF value chains in Nigeria through the lens of complex adaptive systems, with a particular focus on uncertainty and adaptation. In order to explore adaptation, the authors employ Courtney et al.’s (1997) conceptualization of business strategy under conditions of uncertainty. They argue that organisations can assume three strategic postures in response to uncertainty and three types of actions to implement that strategy. This combination of frameworks provides a fresh means of understanding the importance of uncertainty and different actors’ strategies in the development of value chains in a developing country context.

This study aims to identify the impact of mobile payment on firm performance by developing a model based on the technology, organization and environment framework (TOE framework) including relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, innovativeness, mobile payment knowledge, critical mass, competitive pressure and external support.

The data were collected from the retail and service firms in Bangkok, Thailand (n = 387). Multiple regression analysis was applied to test the proposed model and carried out in SPSS version 25.

The results indicated that the TOE factors, including relative advantage, innovativeness, mobile payment knowledge, critical mass, competitive pressures and external supports, can predict firm performance. While innovativeness is the strongest predictor of positive firm performance, on the other hand, critical mass is found to be negatively significant on firm performance.

This research suggests that firms that accept mobile payment can identify the positive impact on firm performance and it is important for payment service providers and the government to work closely with firms.

As some merchants still refuse to implement mobile payment services in their business, this current study seeks to understand the impact of mobile payment. However, not many studies are reported its impact in Southeast Asia. This study is probably the first in Thailand to examine the impact of mobile payment on firm performance in the retail and service firms.

Loneliness is widely prevalent in modern society. Despite the growth in studies, very limited studies so far have attempted to systematically review the literature. This study aims to consolidate the antecedents of loneliness by reviewing the literature.

The systematic literature review method is adopted to identify the antecedents. Full texts of each article were taken for analysis which was published from 2002 to 2022. Multiple databases were examined and total of 60 articles were included for systematic literature review.

The study presents the descriptive analysis of the articles. Also, the paper thematically presents the key antecedents of loneliness in three themes (a) Loss of love, (b) Individual cognitive and personal factors and (c) Childhood experiences and parenting practices. The study also highlights the moderating effect of demographic factors and lifestyle changes.

The current study is the first systematic literature review to present the antecedents of loneliness. The study contributes by offering an enhanced understanding of loneliness. Also, the study presents contemporary understanding of loneliness and proposes a conceptual framework. The findings are useful to academicians as well as policymakers.

The authors discuss the lifeworld as a research concept for the field of information behaviour, which serves to problematise the concept of unit of analysis. In so doing, the authors demonstrate how the lifeworld can be adopted as a unit of analysis in information behaviour research, that is, how research can be based in the lifeworld rather than merely looking at the lifeworld. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors first situate our discussion in the current of information behaviour scholarship. The authors then introduce the concepts of lifeworld and unit of analysis and consider how they intersect. Next, to show the importance of the lifeworld, the authors present two recent studies in which the lifeworld emerged. Finally, the authors discuss how lifeworld-based research can be conducted more conscientiously.

Though many research approaches deal with lived experience in one way or another, they tend not to fully grasp these experiences. As opposed to units of analysis such as individual, social group, person-in-situation, etc., using lifeworld as a unit of analysis allows phenomena to be researched holistically and without reductionism.

The authors limit the discussion to the concept of the lifeworld as developed by Husserl, the concept’s originator. The lifeworld has been discussed and extended by other authors since, but this work is not considered here. The viewpoint is offered as a supplementary perspective, meant to be enriching to our field of study, rather than divisive.

This is the first time the concept of the lifeworld has been fully explicated in information science. As the authors discuss, two recent information behaviour studies that “discovered” the lifeworld through their analysis. Future studies that attend to the lifeworld from the start have the capacity to build on this work and extend the horizons of information science.

This chapter focuses on gender, sexuality and security in post-Apartheid South Africa.

The methodology includes secondary analysis of policy and research with the aim of highlighting and assessing the position of gender, sex and security in post-Apartheid South Africa. Feminist theory and intersectionality are used to discuss issues of sexuality, security, construction of gender relationships and experiences of being a woman in South Africa. The normalisation of violence against women is challenged.

The social implications of this research are that it challenges normalisation of gendered violence, questions gendercide and produces knowledge of a gendered social reality of living in South Africa. Women who consider assault a regular feature of their sexual relationships have been brought into a discourse which includes the liberalisation of sexual expression, claims to new sexual rights and aspirations to power and status through sexual relationships (Posel, 2005a).

Throughout the chapter the achievement of gender equality is problematised and questioned. However, gender and the relationship between power and sex remain at the centre of the inquiry, particularly with reference to the increasing culture of violence and men as the perpetrators of violence against women.

According to Posel ‘one of the most striking features of the post-apartheid era has been the politicization of sexuality’ (2005a, p. 125) and this chapter demonstrates that a response to the violation of the Women’s Charter of Effective Equality, passed in 2000, is a priority as women and families are disproportionately affected by violence in multiple ways.

At the beginning of the 21st century, multiple and diverse social entities, including the public (consumers), private and nonprofit healthcare institutions, government (public health) and other industry sectors, began to recognize the limitations of the current fragmented healthcare system paradigm. Primary stakeholders, including employers, insurance companies, and healthcare professional organizations, also voiced dissatisfaction with unacceptable health outcomes and rising costs. Grand challenges and wicked problems threatened the viability of the health sector. American health systems responded with innovations and advances in healthcare delivery frameworks that encouraged shifts from intra- and inter-sector arrangements to multi-sector, lasting relationships that emphasized patient centrality along with long-term commitments to sustainability and accountability. This pathway, leading to a population health approach, also generated the need for transformative business models. The coproduction of health framework, with its emphasis on cross-sector alignments, nontraditional partner relationships, sustainable missions, and accountability capable of yielding return on investments, has emerged as a unique strategy for facing disruptive threats and challenges from nonhealth sector corporations. This chapter presents a coproduction of health framework, goals and criteria, examples of boundary spanning network alliance models, and operational (integrator, convener, aggregator) strategies. A comparison of important organizational science theories, including institutional theory, network/network analysis theory, and resource dependency theory, provides suggestions for future research directions necessary to validate the utility of the coproduction of health framework as a precursor for paradigm change.

This chapter examines early childhood pedagogy in Germany. It developed in the wake of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) education debate, and the expansion of higher education led to new types of application-oriented courses. For a long time, child day care in Germany was not seen as a subject of theoretical worth. Vocational training for kindergarten teachers, overwhelmingly employed in day care centers, has not yet been academized. The academic study of childhood pedagogy is a thereof separate project, taught especially at universities of applied science. Nevertheless, constructions of new disciplines are directed toward professional fields, for which they claim relevance with their academic training. With its focus on “Bildung” childhood pedagogy in Germany claims to offer a scientifically based solution to the practical problems of action in child day care. This chapter discusses the specific content of the curricula statistical figures of graduates at universities and in the fields of practice. It provides first empirical clarification on observable phenomena of a scientific “penetration” of cognitive rationality in kindergartens. It fosters an academic habitus that induces a distancing from direct interaction with children, leads to a diversification of tasks in day care centers, and promotes hierarchical processes of professional role differentiation in the field of childcare.