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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2000

E. Appleton and N.W. Stutchbury

This paper describes a novel drive mechanism for a robotic tractor for traversing pipelines, including sewers, in a poor condition. Traction is obtained by the reciprocating…

Abstract

This paper describes a novel drive mechanism for a robotic tractor for traversing pipelines, including sewers, in a poor condition. Traction is obtained by the reciprocating motion of two cylindrical brushes of a diameter larger than the pipe bore. The brushes move forwards down the pipe but grip the pipe wall to resist backward translation. A simple analytical model of the gripping mechanism is described. Three tractors here have been designed, manufactured and used on 20 field trials. The sewers inspected were initially considered to be uninspectable using conventional tractors. The novel tractors were easily able to deal with the majority of the sewers and the paper describes the three most difficult cases, illustrating the considerable capability of the tractors to deal with extremely poor sewer conditions.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2003

Zhelong Wang and Ernest Appleton

This paper presents the concept and design of a strain gauge sensor, which is a part of a pipe crawling robot and can be used for the purpose of detecting the shape of a collapsed…

Abstract

This paper presents the concept and design of a strain gauge sensor, which is a part of a pipe crawling robot and can be used for the purpose of detecting the shape of a collapsed pipe or tunnels like voids within rubble. The paper illustrates the sensor's working principle. The sensor uses a spline interpolation algorithm combined with a looking‐up table method to estimate the void shape. The paper also presents the software interface and the laboratory experiment of the sensor. Discussions about the experimental results are given in the later part of the paper.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1916

According to a report just issued by Dr. ARTHUR NEWSHOLME, the Principal Medical Officer of the Local Government Board, it appears that a majority of the staff of the Medical…

Abstract

According to a report just issued by Dr. ARTHUR NEWSHOLME, the Principal Medical Officer of the Local Government Board, it appears that a majority of the staff of the Medical Department of the Board have been engaged in assisting to establish as favourable sanitary conditions as possible at the training centres for the new troops so that the risks associated with the concentration and feeding of large numbers of men under temporary conditions should be reduced to a minimum.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 15 August 2024

Sakirat Olayinka and Edward Maxwell Deniran

This study explores a program to transform rural schools in Kwara State, Western Nigeria, into community knowledge hubs by leveraging local networks and community-based workshops…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores a program to transform rural schools in Kwara State, Western Nigeria, into community knowledge hubs by leveraging local networks and community-based workshops. It aims to demonstrate how local resources are utilized to enhance educational outcomes and community engagement in rural settings.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a qualitative research methodology, the study analyzes the implementation of this program through interviews with 13 teachers and in-field participation, examining the perspective of local teachers.

Findings

The findings reveal that this program has significantly enriched community engagement with practical skills both for students and the adult population, fostering collaboration between community and schools. Local teachers, leveraging their rural networks and knowledge, have been central to mobilizing networks and integrating practical education that addresses community-specific issues.

Research limitations/implications

The critical role of participatory educational strategies is highlighted, designing interventions for the distinct needs of communities. It notes the variability in potential outcomes due to the self-designed networks by local teachers, suggesting a need for exploration into how these networks’ configurations are developed in different places.

Practical implications

This study advocates for the creation of comprehensive programs including all local stakeholders in developing a dedicated support community network. It emphasizes non-formal education to offer a variety of learning experiences, which may be more effective in fostering community-wide educational engagement.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the academic literature by highlighting the critical role of local networks in African rural education settings. It provides a novel perspective on how rural schools can serve as hubs for community development and lifelong learning for the whole community, extending beyond traditional educational outcomes only for students.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2014

Abel Duarte Alonso, Alessandro Bressan, Michelle O’Shea and Vlad Krajsic

For many wineries, internationalisation strategies, particularly in the form of exports may provide opportunities and financial gains. However, as more wine producers enter and…

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Abstract

Purpose

For many wineries, internationalisation strategies, particularly in the form of exports may provide opportunities and financial gains. However, as more wine producers enter and compete in an increasingly convoluted wine market, accordingly the “playing field” in the wine industry becomes increasingly complex. To shed more light into wineries’ internationalisation efforts through exports in the currently uncertain business climate, this preliminary study investigates a group of predominantly micro, small, and medium wineries from both New and Old Worlds of wine. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

An online questionnaire was designed to gather data from winery owners and managers that invited to participate voluntarily in the study; a total of 499 usable responses were obtained.

Findings

Diversifying and entering new markets, especially due to domestic competition are respondents’ main reasons for embarking in exports, while unfavourable currency exchange, issues of trust, or entry barriers are key challenges many of them face. Further, despite the relatively limited wine production of most participating wineries, respondents perceive a necessity to be present internationally. Indeed, rather than fitting into a specific business model/cycle, the current complex business environment is triggering export strategies among entrepreneurs.

Originality/value

The fiercely competitive wine market and continuously changing consumer trends significantly contribute to the complexities the wine industry faces. However, few academic studies have investigated some of the complexities that wineries located in different geographic, economic, political, and social environments face. In this regard, the study makes a contribution by identifying several developments related to complexity theory, including the impacts of globalisation, competition, and change, and the resulting complexity in the wine sector.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 September 2022

Sara Bolduc, John Knox and E. Barrett Ristroph

This article considers how the evaluation of research teams can better account for the challenges of transdisciplinarity, including their larger team size and more diverse and…

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Abstract

Purpose

This article considers how the evaluation of research teams can better account for the challenges of transdisciplinarity, including their larger team size and more diverse and permeable membership, as well as the tensions between institutional pressures on individuals to publish and team goals.

Design/methodology/approach

An evaluation team was retained from 2015 to 2020 to conduct a comprehensive external evaluation of a five-year EPSCoR-funded program undertaken by a transdisciplinary research team. The formative portion of the evaluation involved monitoring the program’s developmental progress, while the summative portion tracked observable program outputs and outcomes as evidence of progress toward short- and long-term goals. The evaluation team systematically reviewed internal assessments and gathered additional data for an external assessment via periodic participation in team meetings, participant interviews and an online formative team survey (starting in Year 2).

Findings

Survey participants had a better understanding of the project’s “Goals and Vision” compared to other aspects. “Work Roles,” and particularly the timeliness of decision-making, were perceived to be a “Big Problem,” specifically in regard to heavy travel by key managers/leadership. For “Communication Channels,” Year 2 tensions included differing views on the extent to which management should be collaborative versus “hierarchical.” These concerns about communication demonstrate that differences in language, culture or status impact the efficiency and working relationship of the team. “Authorship Credit/Intellectual Property” was raised most consistently each year as an area of concern.

Originality/value

The study involves the use of a unique survey approach.

Details

Higher Education Evaluation and Development, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-5789

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 March 2021

Luis García-Rico, L. Fernando Martínez-Muñoz, María Luisa Santos-Pastor and Oscar Chiva- Bartoll

The purpose of this study is to know the contribution of service-learning (SL) on the awareness-raising and sensitivity with regards to sustainable development goals (SDGs) in…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to know the contribution of service-learning (SL) on the awareness-raising and sensitivity with regards to sustainable development goals (SDGs) in physical education teacher education (PETE) programs.

Design/methodology/approach

The research used a qualitative methodology with a case study design from an ethnographic-interpretative approach. The participants were 81 higher education level students from the PETE program. For the collection of information, the following techniques and instruments were used: non-participant observation, students’ portfolios, focus groups and group-interviews.

Findings

The main findings show the teaching positive features of SL experiences in the PETE students. In alignment with the sustainable development model, the findings suggest that SL can boost and strengthen knowledge, comprehension, sensitivity and compromise in relation to the SDGs. It can be concluded that SL allows teacher educators to train socially critical professionals and to progress toward a sustainable development.

Originality/value

SL emerges as an appropriate pedagogical model to meet the educational needs of higher education and to face global challenges in relation to the sustainable development of the planet.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 June 2024

Jubilate Rogathe Shuma, William A.L. Anangisye and Mjege Kinyota

This paper aims to unveil opportunities for promoting teacher ethics through quality school-based professional development (S-BPD) programmes to improve teachers’ ethical conduct…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to unveil opportunities for promoting teacher ethics through quality school-based professional development (S-BPD) programmes to improve teachers’ ethical conduct in Tanzanian primary schools.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study uses an institutional ethnography design. The data were collected through interviews, focus group discussion, observation and documentary review. Data analysis was guided by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) framework of thematic analysis.

Findings

Opportunities to promote teacher ethics drew on quality S-BPD programmes. These opportunities include interactions with morally committed teachers, introduction of the civic and moral subject, prevalence of teacher misconduct, ideal school leadership and development and access to affordable technology.

Practical implications

The study provides useful insights into how to reshape teachers’ ethical competences and to link theory and practice in teaching. Moreover, the study suggests school-based solutions to the problem of resource scarcity for teachers to retool their professional competences.

Originality/value

The opportunities revealed are critical for promoting teacher ethics through quality S-BPD programmes in primary schools because teacher ethics is learned. The study offers insights into how to improve teacher ethics in primary schools. It concludes that internalising these opportunities as a whole is vital, as they have the potential to promote teacher ethics in Tanzanian public primary schools.

Details

Quality Assurance in Education, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-4883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2021

Basil P. Tucker and Hank C. Alewine

The contribution of accounting research to the space sector has arguably been less discernible, less visible and less appreciated than that made by STEM disciplines. This paper…

Abstract

Purpose

The contribution of accounting research to the space sector has arguably been less discernible, less visible and less appreciated than that made by STEM disciplines. This paper aims to ascertain the nature and extent to which management accounting can contribute to interdisciplinary advancements of the space sector. This is accomplished by investigating possible contributions realised by management accounting research to the space sector and identifying the opportunities and challenges facing interdisciplinary accounting researchers in making a contribution.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative empirical study draws on interviews with 25 academic researchers and practitioners from Australia, the USA, the UK, Canada, Europe, India and China, with research or practitioner experience on accounting issues germane to the space sector. The purpose is to seek their perceptions of how interdisciplinary management accounting research can solve contemporaneous problems in the space sector.

Findings

The potential contribution that management accounting research can make in the space sector is grounded in the inherent interdisciplinary of the discipline. The propensity to draw on other disciplines, theories, methodologies and methods is a strength of management accounting, as it is arguably by such interdisciplinarity that “wicked problems’ such as those presented by space exploration, policy and research can be solved.

Originality/value

This is one of the first papers to explore the role and contribution management accounting research can offer to what has traditionally been a STEM-dominated field. In so doing, it underscores the central importance and value-added by an interdisciplinary approach to management accounting research.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2022

Sandi Ferdiansyah, Ahmad Winarno and Zally Ardhita

This phenomenological case study reports how 16 participating students built their leadership skill through a community-based service-learning project as a part of their…

Abstract

Purpose

This phenomenological case study reports how 16 participating students built their leadership skill through a community-based service-learning project as a part of their undergraduate program at an Islamic university in Indonesia. Education for sustainability framework promoted by Warwick (2016) was employed to portray students' leadership development and explore their lived experience while doing service-learning project in their neighborhood.

Design/methodology/approach

Phenomenological case study was employed to portray how the participants engaged in projects that empower the community during their service amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. They were interviewed using online platforms such as WhatsApp and Zoom Meeting. To triangulate the data, the photos elicited during their field study posted in social media were also presented as visual data. The interview data and photo elicitation were transcribed, interpreted using interpretative phenomenological analysis and thematically analyzed.

Findings

The findings of the study showcase that the student participants transformed their sense of agency as learners into leaders. The service-learning program has also become a springboard for them to engage in the community service and build strategy to fill the local community's need, especially amid the pandemic of COVID-19.

Research limitations/implications

There are two limitations in regards to this study. First, this study only examined data garnered from a small number of participants that could not be used to overgeneralize the results of the study. Second, the participants were interviewed upon the completion of their service-learning project. It did not investigate the sustainability of the projects that the participants had carried out after the service-learning program ended.

Originality/value

While ample previous studies investigated how service-learning program that involved undergraduate students were enacted during COVID-19 pandemic, the present study specifically looked into how participants exercise their leadership skill upon the implementation of service-learning from education for sustainability framework promoted by Warwick (2016).

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

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