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Article
Publication date: 13 February 2023

Hani M. Alqahtany and Wadee Ahmed Ghanem Al-Gehlani

The author’s interest in vernacular architecture, over the years, has attracted the author’s attention to three distinctive and similar forms of architecture in faraway regions of…

Abstract

Purpose

The author’s interest in vernacular architecture, over the years, has attracted the author’s attention to three distinctive and similar forms of architecture in faraway regions of the globe. These are; Asir region of Saudi Arabia, The Caucasus including the republic of Georgia, Chechenia, and North Ossetia, and Sichuan region in China. Stone towers dominate the landscape of these remote regions. The similarity of these towers in these far away regions is quite remarkable.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper will introduce these towers in their geographic, social and natural context. Although several studies have been done on these regions, it is the aim of this paper to introduce their architecture in a comparative approach to explore how these remotes corners of the globe with different historical, ethnic and cultural backgrounds developed similar architectural forms in total isolation from each other.

Findings

Architecture is a physical production of different and diverse factors. Geographically, isolated regions with similar natural and social factors, mountainous landscape, tribally-based, agrarian societies, produces similar architectural forms.

Originality/value

This paper is a clear testimony to the human nature and how people think, react and build, under similar conditions. Architecture becomes a manifestation of human oneness, unity, believes and behaviour.

Details

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-1266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2024

Shengnan Zeng, Richard Bailey, Shuo Peng and Xiaohui Chen

This paper aims to explore how the term “mental health literacy” (MHL) is defined and understand the implications for public mental health and educational interventions.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how the term “mental health literacy” (MHL) is defined and understand the implications for public mental health and educational interventions.

Design/methodology/approach

An extensive search was conducted by searching PubMed, ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science. Keywords such as “mental health literacy” and “definition” were used. The publication year ranges from 1997 to 2023.

Findings

In total, 17 papers met the inclusion criteria. Three distinct themes characterise the definitions of MHL: cognitive understanding; affective empowerment; and behavioural change. In the mental health educational context, inspiration, transformation and practice can be viewed as three stages for curriculum development.

Research limitations/implications

Despite conducting a systematic literature review, there remains the possibility that certain relevant studies may not have been identified. Specifically, the selection criteria prioritise papers that explicitly addressed MHL.

Practical implications

Traditional educational approaches prioritise knowledge dissemination and attitude change; integrating MHL into mental health well-being curriculum advocates for action-oriented intervention to address mental health challenges.

Social implications

Understanding different definitions and concepts in a field can be valuable for consolidating shared understandings, highlighting tensions and contradictions, and enhancing communication among researchers. Ironically, perhaps, the process also highlights the provisional nature of these definitions.

Originality/value

The exploration of MHL with three themes of definitions sheds light on the understanding of this concept. Three core themes in MHL definitions guide future curriculum development. This study underscores the importance of prioritise action-oriented intervention in mental health education, emphasising the need to move beyond knowledge dissemination towards transformative practices that promote holistic mental well-being.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 July 2024

Olga Dziubaniuk, Maria Ivanova-Gongne, Jenni Kaipainen and Monica Nyholm

The transition to a circular economy (CE) is a known concern in the context of the textile industry, in which business actors attempt to facilitate circular activities such as…

Abstract

Purpose

The transition to a circular economy (CE) is a known concern in the context of the textile industry, in which business actors attempt to facilitate circular activities such as textile recycling. However, a lack of established business relationships and networks creates uncertainty for textile circulation. In such business environments, managerial decisions regarding CE may depend not only on normative behaviour but also on heuristics that guide their choices. Since business relationships for textile circularity require interactions between business actors, this study explores how managerial heuristics are shaped in the CE transition within the textile industry and their impact on actors’ interactions within business relationships and networks.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirically, this qualitative study is based on interviews with managers representing companies and organisations engaged in business relationships and networks aimed at a CE transition in the textile industry, as well as on publicly available secondary data.

Findings

The findings indicate that managerial decisions promoting circularity can be influenced by, besides normative information assessment, factors predominant in (1) the business and regulatory environment, (2) managers’ experience and knowledge obtained during interactions within business networks and (3) the internal strategic approaches of business organisations. This study identifies adaptation, experience, interaction and strategy heuristics that may be utilised by managers in making decisions in the context of uncertainty, such as the industrial transition to a CE.

Originality/value

This study expands the knowledge of heuristics applied to managerial decision making in interacting business firms and institutional organisations aiming to facilitate textile recycling and proposes a heuristics toolbox. The study provides an insight into business actors’ interactions, as well as various factors inside and outside the organisations shaping the managerial decisions. By doing this, the study adds to the literature, highlighting the importance of contextualisation and the interrelation between the individual and business environment levels in business-to-business management.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2024

Holt Zaugg

The purpose of this article is to describe how assessments informed changes to library spaces to improve students' experiences.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to describe how assessments informed changes to library spaces to improve students' experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The article describes three changes to the library to improve students' experience within the library. For each change, describe the reason for the change, assessments prior to the change to inform decision-making and follow-up assessments to determine value.

Findings

In each instance, the assessment prior to the changes informed decisions that expedited the changes. The results were spaces that improved library spaces to improve students' library experiences and better meet their needs.

Originality/value

The purpose of the article is to describe the importance and use of assessment to assist with changes to library spaces and inform the value of those changes.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 September 2024

Kristen L. Becker

Aggressive weeding in academic libraries is becoming more commonplace as colleges seek to create student-centered environments and space is at a premium. For one community college…

Abstract

Purpose

Aggressive weeding in academic libraries is becoming more commonplace as colleges seek to create student-centered environments and space is at a premium. For one community college in the Southwest United States, several factors required the library to proactively weed its collection within three years. At the same time, the library sought to maintain the circulation of its physical books.

Design/methodology/approach

Updating the library’s collection development policy to include robust selection and weeding criteria allowed the library to embark on a revitalization project to remove thousands of outdated or unused items, resulting in a net loss of nearly 32,000 books.

Findings

The loss of more than half of the general collection had an unforeseen consequence – a 70% increase in circulation statistics during the three-year deselection project. The case study's results highlight the need for continual maintenance of academic library collections.

Originality/value

The case study is original and not published elsewhere.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 July 2024

Sushil Khadka, Prakash Subedi, Buddhike Sri Harsha Indrasena, Dayaram Lamsal and Jill Aylott

Emergency medicine can save lives and in 2018 the World Health Assembly passed resolution 72.16 ensuring the role of emergency care in all health systems. With a continued global…

Abstract

Purpose

Emergency medicine can save lives and in 2018 the World Health Assembly passed resolution 72.16 ensuring the role of emergency care in all health systems. With a continued global shortage of emergency physicians, with many low-medium-income countries (LMIC) still to develop emergency medicine as a speciality, the role of emergency nurses is critical to deliver the WHO Emergency Care System Framework (WHO, 2018). Emergency medicine doctors play a critical role in collaborating with nurses, in emergency medicine where nurses are often the first clinicians are often the first clinicians to interact with patients in emergency care settings, making up the majority of health-care professionals in LMIC (Mamalelala, 2024). Yet emergency nursing has yet to become established in Nepal, where nurses are often recruited to emergency departments, without having received any training in emergency or critical care treatment and management. The purpose of this paper is to outline a collaborative leadership approach to co-design an airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure (ABCDE) structured approach to an emergency nursing training module designed for nurses to feel empowered in the emergency department and to report on its findings.

Design/methodology/approach

This study draws upon mixed methodology research, enrolling 30 nurses (n = 30) from an emergency department in a tertiary hospital in Nepal through three stages of the project: Stage 1: training module co-design, collaborative leadership exploring the rationale for a training module and core features of design based on the ABCDE of emergency medicine; Stage 2: quantitative data were collected to assess baseline pre- and post-intervention knowledge and follow-up knowledge assessment at 30 and 45 days; Stage 3: qualitative data were collected with 24/30 (80%) nurses to evaluate the impact and application of the nurses ABCDE learning 7 months post-training. The qualitative survey was undertaken using online Google Forms.

Findings

Nurses were fully engaged in the co-design and collaboration of the development of an ABCDE training module which was delivered over 3 h. Full engagement was secured from all nurses in the department, and there were statistically significant advances in ABCDE emergency knowledge from the baseline, however, this knowledge began to decrease at 30 and 45 days. A follow-up qualitative survey was distributed to nurses seven months after training with an 80% return rate, which reported a range of examples of how nurses were continuing to apply their learning in practice.

Originality/value

This training module for emergency nurses was designed collaboratively from the “bottom up” in a tertiary hospital in Nepal, recognising the need to develop emergency nursing in the emergency department. The data revealed promising findings, while knowledge decreased from the post-training questionnaire, qualitative evidence revealed significant changes in practice, with the greatest reported change in the management of the airway. While this training module has made a difference in the quality of care provided, there is a need for a country-wide strategy in this area otherwise it is likely that such an initiative will only be developed by hospitals at a local level (Lecky, 2014). Education and training initiatives for nurses that focus on an evidence-based approach to clinical practice can bridge the workforce gap in the short term, however, the Government of Nepal must decide on establishing a recognised post-graduate sub-specialty in emergency nursing, the duration of training, who should be trained and what curriculum should be followed (Lecky, 2014).

Details

Leadership in Health Services, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1879

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2023

Santosh Kharat, Shubhada Nagarkar and Bhausaheb Panage

The purpose of this study is to systematically examine the existing literature published on the circulation methods used in academic libraries and to discuss a proposed model for…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to systematically examine the existing literature published on the circulation methods used in academic libraries and to discuss a proposed model for the self-check-in and check-out methods using quick response (QR) codes.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review (SLR) provided a complete overview of circulation systems used in academic libraries for the last more than 140 years. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) method for SLR was used. Several databases such as ProQuest, Emerald, Library and Information Science Abstracts, EBSCO and Google Scholar were searched. Out of 277 papers retrieved in the search, 43 most relevant papers were taken up for the SLR. These were classified into four themes based on the systems of circulation used, namely, manual (5), mechanized (13), automated (5) and networked system (20). Based on the findings of the SLR, a model of circulation system in which QR code technology has been used.

Findings

The result of SLR identified 33 systems used in above mentioned four groups. Among this, a large number 48.48% of mechanized systems were found. Each system has limitations either because of devices used or of technology. The present study proposes a QR code-based model at the circulation desk, for which a prototype of Android app has been designed. This would help to initiate the new “self-services” facility to users at the circulation desk.

Practical implications

The proposed model, after its successful implementation, can be adopted by academic libraries. Guidelines and a graphical representation of this study can be used by any researcher for further experimentation.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first kind of study in which a QR code-based Android app model has been proposed for library circulation records.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2024

Nirmal K. Manna, Abhinav Saha, Nirmalendu Biswas and Koushik Ghosh

This paper aims to investigate the thermal performance of equivalent square and circular thermal systems and compare the heat transport and irreversibility of magnetohydrodynamic…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the thermal performance of equivalent square and circular thermal systems and compare the heat transport and irreversibility of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) nanofluid flow within these systems.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses a constraint-based approach to analyze the impact of geometric shapes on heat transfer and irreversibility. Two equivalent systems, a square cavity and a circular cavity, are examined, considering identical heating/cooling lengths and fluid flow volume. The analysis includes parameters such as magnetic field strength, nanoparticle concentration and accompanying irreversibility.

Findings

This study reveals that circular geometry outperforms square geometry in terms of heat flow, fluid flow and heat transfer. The equivalent circular thermal system is more efficient, with heat transfer enhancements of approximately 17.7%. The corresponding irreversibility production rate is also higher, which is up to 17.6%. The total irreversibility production increases with Ra and decreases with a rise in Ha. However, the effect of magnetic field orientation (γ) on total EG is minor.

Research limitations/implications

Further research can explore additional geometric shapes, orientations and boundary conditions to expand the understanding of thermal performance in different configurations. Experimental validation can also complement the numerical analysis presented in this study.

Originality/value

This research introduces a constraint-based approach for evaluating heat transport and irreversibility in MHD nanofluid flow within square and circular thermal systems. The comparison of equivalent geometries and the consideration of constraint-based analysis contribute to the originality and value of this work. The findings provide insights for designing optimal thermal systems and advancing MHD nanofluid flow control mechanisms, offering potential for improved efficiency in various applications.

Graphical Abstract

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2024

Pam Gladis and Māra Wiggins

Academic libraries are having to reconsider personnel, collections, space, and budget. This paper provides examples of how rightsizing opportunities in those areas can be…

Abstract

Purpose

Academic libraries are having to reconsider personnel, collections, space, and budget. This paper provides examples of how rightsizing opportunities in those areas can be approached in a positive way.

Design/methodology/approach

Librarians at a small, rural, public university library approached rightsizing as an opportunity to shape the library in positive ways. This paper provides a reflection on those efforts in personnel, collections, space, and budget that have taken place over the past decade at this university, and highlights how the library’s role as the driver of these changes helped foster a positive culture.

Findings

This paper explains the ways the library is viewed both internally and externally as a more student-focused service and location. Examples in this paper may provide ideas for other libraries to utilize in their rightsizing efforts.

Originality/value

Historically, this library encountered forced cuts due to lower than anticipated enrollments and reduced funding from the state. This contributed to low morale and understandably defensive attitudes; however, these did not serve the library well. Post 2013, the library transitioned to a self-initiated approach to making changes. Some of these changes came about due to stagnation in budgets while others can be attributed to changes in staff due to retirements and new hires. Through this shift to proactive rightsizing, our library team has recognized we are adaptable and nimble. This has benefitted morale and helped the library grow a positive reputation on campus.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2024

Maryam Saeidi, Mahsa Delshad Siyahkali, Hossein Moradinasab and Gholamhossein Naseri

This study aims to explore how users’ movement is influenced by different hospital ward layouts, by using space syntax theory. This study also compared four circulation patterns…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how users’ movement is influenced by different hospital ward layouts, by using space syntax theory. This study also compared four circulation patterns to find the best one for the study goal.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used both qualitative and quantitative methods to study how users’ wayfinding in hospitals depends on various indicators and factors. The study used Depth Map software to do case studies and then analyzed the indicators from theoretical foundations and used the Pearson Test to check the correlation between indicators. This study also looked at Iran’s Ministry of Health standards for ward layouts. Finally, the results obtained from the research data were compared to achieve a suitable model based on the research objectives.

Findings

The linear-patterned plan was the best for easy wayfinding and accessibility among four patterns. The optimal hospital circulation patterns can improve wayfinding and reduce wayfinding problems and user movement.

Originality/value

By pioneering space syntax in hospital research, this study unveils the novel interaction between path architecture and user movement. It gives new insights into current trends, helping architects, administrators and policymakers improve health-care design, efficiency and patient experience.

Details

Facilities , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

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