Carol Byrd‐Bredbenner, Jaclyn Maurer, Virginia Wheatley, Ellen Cottone and Michele Clancy
The purpose of this paper is to observe young adults preparing two recipes in a controlled laboratory setting to identify food‐handling errors. Few studies have investigated…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to observe young adults preparing two recipes in a controlled laboratory setting to identify food‐handling errors. Few studies have investigated actual consumer food safety and food‐handling practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper shows that one of four trained observers used a check‐list to directly observe and record food‐handling practices; observation data were later analyzed to assess how closely participants followed recommended practices. The observation check‐list had four criterion‐referenced scales based on Fight Bac! food safety recommendations (e.g. clean, cook, separate, chill). Each recommended behaviour performed earned one point. Scale scores were calculated by summing points earned and could range from zero to the maximum observed behaviours on the scale. Means, standard deviations, and comparison of mean scores using analysis of variance were calculated.
Findings
Participants (n=154, mean age 20.73+1.30SD) were from a major US university. Overall, participants were observed performing only 50 percent of the recommended behaviours. Scores ranged from a low of 29 percent on the cook scale to a high of 67 percent on the separate scale. Females scored significantly higher on the clean scale (e.g. hands, produce, work surfaces) than males. No other significant gender differences were noted in the scales, despite a trend for higher scores for females in all scales. Young adults, particularly males, engage in unsafe food‐handling practices, putting them at increased risk for food‐borne disease.
Originality/value
The paper shows that innovative education and training opportunities for young adults are needed to assist them in developing and practising safe food‐handling practices.
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Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci, Michele Jacobsen, Lorelli Nowell, Georgina Freeman, Liza Lorenzetti, Tracey Clancy, Alessandra Paolucci, Helen Pethrick and Diane L. Lorenzetti
Student mental well-being is a matter of increasing concern on university campuses around the world. Social, psychological, academic and career aspects of graduate learning are…
Abstract
Purpose
Student mental well-being is a matter of increasing concern on university campuses around the world. Social, psychological, academic and career aspects of graduate learning are enriched through peer mentorship. Peer-mentoring experiences and the impacts of these relationships on the mental well-being of graduate students remain underexplored in the scholarship of teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to explore how engagement in formal and informal peer mentorship, as described by students across four academic disciplines, impacts the social connectedness and well-being of graduate students.
Design/methodology/approach
A convergent mixed methods research design was used, with quantitative and qualitative data gathered in parallel to gain a comprehensive, corroborated and integrated understanding of graduate students’ perspectives and experiences with peer mentorship. Online survey and interview data were collected from graduate thesis-based master’s EdD and PhD students in education, medicine, nursing and social work. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.
Findings
The authors found a commonality of graduate student experiences across disciplines with respect to the diverse psychosocial impacts of graduate peer mentorship. Peer-mentoring relationships offered mentees emotional support, motivation and a sense of community and offered mentors opportunities for self-development and gratification.
Originality/value
This research is unique in its in-depth exploration of the interdisciplinary perspectives and experiences of graduate students from Education, Nursing, Medicine and Social Work. While further research is needed to explore the implementation of structural approaches to support the development of peer-mentoring relationships in graduate education, the multidisciplinary focus and depth and breadth of this inquiry suggest the potential transferability of the study findings to other disciplines and academic settings. The findings from this study further highlight the need for strategic activation of existing program resources to foster greater connectedness and well-being among graduate students.
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Michele Jacobsen, Nicole Neutzling, Liza Lorenzetti, Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci, Lorelli Nowell, Tracey Clancy, Georgina Freeman and Diane L. Lorenzetti
The purpose of the study was to examine graduate student perspectives on the common and unique roles peer mentors and supervisors play in supporting student success and wellbeing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to examine graduate student perspectives on the common and unique roles peer mentors and supervisors play in supporting student success and wellbeing during their program.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research design involving semistructured interviews with 62 thesis-based masters and doctoral students from four professional faculties, Education, Medicine, Nursing and Social Work, at a large public research-intensive university in Canada.
Findings
Findings transcend the four disciplines of study. Communities of support are described that involve both supervisors and peers in combination, clusters of meaning by supervisory paradigm are identified and original findings presented that expand upon the learning alliance framework by explicitly considering the role of peer mentors in graduate student success.
Research limitations/implications
While supervisors bear primary responsibility for fostering effective research-based relationships, this study’s findings strengthen the argument that mentoring and advising of graduate students is most effective when conducted within a collaborative community of support that involves learning alliances among faculty, peers, program staff and academic leaders across the institution.
Practical implications
A four-pronged approach to graduate education that emphasizes the collective responsibility of institutions, programs, supervisors and students in creating a supportive ecosystem for holistic graduate student academic success and wellbeing is recommended.
Social implications
Key argument that it is essential to embrace a collaborative and community of support mindset, where multiple stakeholders actively contribute to the wellbeing and academic development of graduate students throughout their programs.
Originality/value
A cross-disciplinary perspective is offered on the importance of both supervisors and peers in assisting thesis-based graduate students to successfully navigate academic, social and personal journeys through graduate school.
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Michele Bianchi and Marcelo Vieta
This paper promotes a critical approach to co-operative studies by contributing new theoretical insights. The aim is to propose a new view on the co-operative firm as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper promotes a critical approach to co-operative studies by contributing new theoretical insights. The aim is to propose a new view on the co-operative firm as a socioeconomic phenomenon embedded into the local contexts in which it is situated. Sociological and economic analyses have mainly explored the relationship between co-operative members and the organization, the economic performance of co-operatives or compared co-operatives with other firm types. Less attention has been given to the co-operative–territory relation, which can reveal insights into members' collective actions, a co-operative's origins from specific social groups or how they establish relationships with certain community stakeholders over others.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper begins with a literature review of academic studies that situate co-operatives in relation to community, with a focus on how social capital theory has been deployed to understand this relation. It then proposes a theoretical examination of two fundamental authors in the field of social capital theory: Robert Putnam and Pierre Bourdieu. Drawing on findings from the literature review and considerations derived from the theoretical dialog between Putnam and Bourdieu, the paper proposes a revised social capital-based framework for analyzing key relations and expected outcomes of the co-operative–territory relation.
Findings
Reconsidering the role of social capital theory for co-operative studies, this article unfolds a dual reflection. First, it underlines the necessity for research that more closely considers co-operatives' territorial relationships. Second, it critically interrogates and pushes forward social capital theory as a framework for examining the social relations that embed co-operatives and their capacity to activate territorial economies.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the necessity for a further examination of the co-operative–territory relationship. It presents an innovative framework for improving sociological understanding of co-operatives as organizations embedded into their local socioeconomic contexts.
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On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined…
Abstract
On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined to replace the XT and AT models that are the mainstay of the firm's current personal computer offerings. The numerous changes in hardware and software, while representing improvements on previous IBM technology, will require users purchasing additional computers to make difficult choices as to which of the two IBM architectures to adopt.
Carlos Eduardo Díaz, Roemi Fernández, Manuel Armada and Felipe de Jesús García Gutiérrez
– This paper aims to provide an insight into recent advancements and developments of robotics for Natural Orifice Transluminal Surgery (NOTES) procedures.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an insight into recent advancements and developments of robotics for Natural Orifice Transluminal Surgery (NOTES) procedures.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an introduction that highlights the evolution from Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) to NOTES in the medical field, this paper reviews the main robotics systems that have been designed and implemented for MIS and NOTES, summarising their advantages and limitations and remarking the technological challenges and the requirements that still should be addressed and fulfilled.
Findings
The state-of-the-art presented in this paper shows that the majority of the platforms created for NOTES are laboratory prototypes, and their performances are still far from being optimal. New solutions are required to solve the problems confronted by the proposed systems such as the limited number of DOFs, the limited resolution, the optimal fixation and stiffening of the instruments for enabling stable and precise operation, the effective transmission of forces to the tip tools, the improvement of the force feedback feeling and the proper visualization and spatial orientation of the surgical field. Advances in robotics can contribute significantly to the development and future implementation of the NOTES procedure.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the current trends and challenges ahead in robotics applied to NOTES procedure.
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The highly contagious coronavirus and the rapid spread of COVID-19 disease have generated a global public health crisis, which is being addressed at various local and global…
Abstract
The highly contagious coronavirus and the rapid spread of COVID-19 disease have generated a global public health crisis, which is being addressed at various local and global scales through social distancing measures and guidelines. This is coupled with debates about the nature of living and working patterns through intensive utilisation of information and telecommunication technologies, leading to the social and institutional acceptability of these patterns as the “new normal”. The primary objective of this article is to instigate a discourse about the potential contribution of architecture and urban design and planning in generating knowledge that responds to pressing questions about future considerations of post pandemic architecture and urbanism. Methodologically, the discussion is based on a trans-disciplinary framework, which is utilised for conceptual analysis and is operationalized by identifying and discoursing design and planning implications. The article underscores relevant factors; originates insights for areas where future research will be critically needed, through key areas: a) Issues related to urban dynamics are delineated from the perspective of urban and human geography, urban design and planning, and transportation engineering; b) Questions that pertain to socio-spatial implications and urban space/ urban life dialectics stem from the field of environmental psychology; and c) Deliberations about new environments that accommodate new living/working styles supervene from ethnographical and anthropological perspectives. The article concludes with an outlook that captures key aspects of the needed synergy between architectural and urban education, research, and practice and public health in a post pandemic virtual and global world.