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Book part
Publication date: 27 May 2020

Bland Tomkinson and Rosemary Tomkinson

This chapter is based on the work of Professor Charles Engel who, sadly, passed away early in 2019. Some 20 years ago, Professor Engel was advocating that higher education should…

Abstract

This chapter is based on the work of Professor Charles Engel who, sadly, passed away early in 2019. Some 20 years ago, Professor Engel was advocating that higher education should take a lead in remediating global challenges, particularly those of sustainability. He took a broad view of the concept of “sustainability,” based largely on the Brundtland (1987) view of global challenges. Engel proposed that successful approaches to address the complex problems of sustainability should be explored across disciplinary boundaries. The University of Manchester developed a series of course modules focusing on these major challenges, largely run on interdisciplinary lines. Initially the concept was explored across science and engineering, with the support of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Charles Engel, a leading authority on its use, advised using Problem-Based Learning as a means of addressing the wicked problems in interdisciplinary groups. The pilot modules were extensively evaluated and reported. Since then the course units have developed and diversified, with extension to other schools, universities, countries, and to postgraduate courses. This transformative concept has also been explored in hybrid online format. The current chapter will re-introduce some of the original ideas and bring together the many threads that have emerged.

Details

Teaching and Learning Strategies for Sustainable Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-639-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1990

Alejandro B. Engel, Silvio J. Bezerra and Siguemituzo Arie

The mathematical model and computer algorithm reported in a previous issue of this journal have been tested on 21 normal heart moulds by comparing the true volume value, measured…

Abstract

The mathematical model and computer algorithm reported in a previous issue of this journal have been tested on 21 normal heart moulds by comparing the true volume value, measured by Archimedes' principle, with the predicted theoretical volume.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1996

Alejandro B. Engel, Eduardo Massad and Petronio Pulino

Proposes a modified Hill model for the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve. The model fits normal oxyhaemoglobin dissociation experimental data quite accurately, and can easily be…

Abstract

Proposes a modified Hill model for the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve. The model fits normal oxyhaemoglobin dissociation experimental data quite accurately, and can easily be adapted to experimental data of subjects suffering haemoglobinopathies when available. Discusses the Adair equation, as well as correcting factors for varying temperature and pH.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Book part
Publication date: 30 December 2004

Valentina I. Uspenskaya and Dmitry Y. Borodin

During the first two decades of the 20th century, the Russian family went through some institutional transformations. Peasant migrations (from European Russia to more distant…

Abstract

During the first two decades of the 20th century, the Russian family went through some institutional transformations. Peasant migrations (from European Russia to more distant destinations, and more importantly, from the countryside to the cities), World War I, the upheavals of the revolutionary period and the Civil War years all changed the country’s demographic situation. This led to more women (at least in the cities) being employed outside their households. Their sub-standard living conditions and legal vulnerability attracted the attention of intellectuals (Engel, 1991) and helped reformulate the women’s question, which had by then become one of the central issues of the political and intellectual life of the country. Alongside the quest for equality from upper and middle-class women, which was manifested in the burgeoning public and literary life of the Fin-de-Siécle Russia (Engelstein, 1992), emerged “Marxist feminism.” This movement assumed the task of promoting the rights of working women and the destruction of (bourgeois) gender inequality. It also played a decisive role in shaping scholarly discourse on the family and state policies towards it. Despite the dramatic social changes, they did not readily bring about alterations in popular mentality, particularly in popular attitudes towards the roles played by men and women within the family. Barbara Engel (1991, p. 147) has observed that: Revolutionary transformation did not end most women’s loyalty to the family and especially to their children. However, food shortages, poor housing, lack of job opportunities, and especially family instability made women’s traditional responsibilities considerably harder to fulfill. The deserting husbands and short-term unions that led some women to seek abortion prompted others to demand more conservative family policy to ensure their ability to provide for their children. Instead of unions easily contracted and dissolved they wanted strong and stable marriages.Meanwhile, during the first post-revolutionary decade, some representatives of the new elite regarded the family as holding the most strength within the ancien régime, which was doomed to collapse as new relations between the sexes and among generations were getting stronger.1 A great deal of writing produced in the 1920s by Communist theoreticians discussed questions related to the pace, social context and forms in which the withering away of the family might manifest itself (Preobrazhenskii, 1923; Trotsky, 1923). It also examined the problems of sexual ethics and the upbringing of genuinely collectivist-minded people (Kollontai, 2003a–c; Lunacharsky, 1927; Zalkind, 1923 (reprinted in 2001)). “There are reasons to believe,” argued Bukharin (1921, p. 170) “that in the Communist society, as the private property vanishes for good, the family and prostitution will follow suit.” He also stated his opposition to the family’s rearing of the younger generation: “The future lies with the communal upbringing. The communal upbringing will enable the Communist society to bring up the young in the way it deems appropriate, minimizing efforts and expenses” (Bukharin, 1920, p. 197).

Details

Families in Eastern Europe
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-76231-116-3

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2000

B. Engel and D.L. Bourell

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a solid freeform fabrication process whereby a part is built layerwise by scanning a powder bed. The processability of metal powder varies…

2134

Abstract

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a solid freeform fabrication process whereby a part is built layerwise by scanning a powder bed. The processability of metal powder varies depending on the state of the powder prior to SLS. A powder thermal pre‐treatment was developed which involved degassing the powder at an elevated temperature in a vacuum. Without powder thermal pre‐treatment, the powder may flow poorly and may “ball” or form molten clumps during the laser exposure rather than wetting into the present and previous layer. These effects result in SLS parts with poor surface finish, mechanical properties and density. The purpose of this study was to identify for titanium alloy powder the mechanisms responsible for the improvements obtained after powder thermal pre‐treatment and to optimize the thermal excursion.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2001

Alejandro B. Engel

The area of artificial neural networks, which dates back to the early twentieth century, could only offer positive contributions to technology after the back‐propagation algorithm…

333

Abstract

The area of artificial neural networks, which dates back to the early twentieth century, could only offer positive contributions to technology after the back‐propagation algorithm was proposed in 1986. In this note an alternative algorithm to the gradient descent used in back‐propagation is proposed. This algorithm is based on the discrete central difference. This procedure, as opposed to the back‐propagation algorithm, offers the possibility of true parallel computation.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 30 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Abstract

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 12 no. 4/5/6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Book part
Publication date: 5 September 2014

Rachel R. Weinberger

Parking policy in the United States is dominated by zoning codes with minimum parking requirements stipulated for a variety of uses. Some cities have realized that this approach…

Abstract

Purpose

Parking policy in the United States is dominated by zoning codes with minimum parking requirements stipulated for a variety of uses. Some cities have realized that this approach has not yielded the desired policy outcomes; instead, it may be causing unintended consequences including added auto-travel, dispersed development, congestion, and air pollution that cities now wish to mitigate.

This paper identifies historic and contemporary trends in United States’ parking policy as cities gain additional insight and embrace new priorities.

Methodology/approach

Three emerging trends in the U.S. context are identified: Rethinking zoning codes that require parking with development; introducing pricing to better manage curb resources thereby cutting down curb-space competition; and looking for urban design solutions to parking access, location and on-site placement which can lead to more efficient mode use decisions.

The chapter provides an analysis of cases showing how cities are now seeking alternative approaches.

Findings

After many years of policy intervention focused on the alleviation of parking shortages by requiring additional off-street parking, cities are now seeking alternative approaches.

Practical implications

Cities can learn from each other’s experiences. New paradigms in parking policy will lead to different social outcomes: they could increase the cost of auto use (disadvantaging the poor) but decrease auto dependence (favoring the poor).

Originality/value of paper

The originality of this chapter is in the juxtaposition and analysis of trends that have, heretofore, had little exposure.

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2022

Qingxin Xie, Fujin Yi and Xu Tian

This paper aims to investigate the changes in living standard among families with different socio-economic status in China with the use of Engel's Coefficient. The authors develop…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the changes in living standard among families with different socio-economic status in China with the use of Engel's Coefficient. The authors develop a decomposition methodology to figure out the driving forces behind changes in Engel's Coefficient, and investigate how dramatic economic growth, volatile food price and rapid nutrition transition affect living standard among different families.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose a statistical method to decompose the changes in living standard measured by Engel's Coefficient into structure effect, price effect, quantity effect and income effect. Using the China Health and Nutrition Survey data between 2000 and 2011, the authors estimate these four effects by employing a decomposition method.

Findings

Results show that Engel's Coefficient in China decreased by 8.7 percentage points (hereafter “pp”) during 2000–2011, where structure effect leads to 0.2 pp increase, price effect results in 17.7 pp increase, quantity effect brings about 12.4 pp decline and income effect contributes to 14.2 pp decline. Results indicate that rising food prices are the main obstacle to improve households' living standard. Typically, poor and rural families' living standard is more vulnerable to the rise in food prices, and they benefit less from income growth.

Originality/value

This study proposes a decomposition method to investigate the determinants of change in Engel's Coefficient, which provides a deeper understanding of how economic growth, food price change and nutrition transition affect people's living standard in different socio-economic groups in developing countries. This study also provides valuable insights on how to achieve common prosperity from the perspective of consumption upgrading.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 15 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

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Article
Publication date: 6 December 2017

Mimi Engel, Marisa Cannata and F. Chris Curran

Over the past decade, policy researchers and advocates have called for the decentralization of teacher hiring decisions from district offices to school principals. The purpose of…

Abstract

Purpose

Over the past decade, policy researchers and advocates have called for the decentralization of teacher hiring decisions from district offices to school principals. The purpose of this paper is to document the trends across two and a half decades in principals’ reported influence over teacher hiring decisions in the USA and explore how and whether principal influence varies systematically across contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

Regression analysis with secondary data using seven waves of nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey.

Findings

Principals report increased influence over the 25 years that the data span. While principals of urban schools were much more likely to report having less influence over teacher hiring compared to their non-urban counterparts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, their reported influence increased more than that of other principals.

Research limitations/implications

Empowering principals as primary decision-makers assumes that they have the best information on which to make hiring decisions. At the same time, other research suggests that local teacher labor market dynamics contribute to the inequitable sorting of teachers across schools. This study raises questions regarding the implications of the increased influence of principals in teacher hiring on equity of access to quality teachers across schools.

Originality/value

This is the first study to explore whether and how principal influence in teacher hiring decisions has changed over time.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 56 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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