Search results

The current study identifies successes and limitations of sustaining Dale se Real (DsR) as a school-based educational intervention program related to drugs and violence for 7th and 8th grade students in Nicaragua, Central America. As evidence-based interventions are transported and imported across national borders, issues surrounding their adaptation and sustainability become important targets for investigation.

Interviews were conducted with nine key informants (e.g. school directors, implementers) from seven institutions, four of which sustained DsR and three of which did not. This study explores DsR's fit with the institutions' missions and routines, program adaptability, broader community support and sustainability planning.

Findings demonstrate two emerging views of sustainability within the Nicaraguan schools: a deficit approach and an empowerment approach. These two approaches imply different motivational structures for institutions and also led to the practical finding that developers and trainers need to provide structured or formal ways of empowering schools to continue implementing a program after staff no longer routinely contact them.

This study contributes a particular case on what facilitates and impedes sustainability of school-based interventions that can inform future intervention research in Latin American countries.

The complexity of customer relationships has been recognized in the relationship marketing literature. Yet, the understanding of how this complexity impacts on the formation and development of different relationship forms is limited. Focusing on the development of customer‐service provider relationships in a financial services context, this paper aims to critically examine the nature and formation of business‐to‐consumer service relationships.

Qualitative methods were employed, with in‐depth interviews undertaken with a sample of UK bank customers.

The complexity of customer relationships was documented by approaching relationships as multidimensional, dynamic and contextual. A relationship typology based on four key relationship components (trust, commitment, buyer‐seller bonds, and relationship benefits) is proposed. This typology suggests that for a relationship to exist it does not necessarily have to encompass an emotional dimension. Moreover, the paper demonstrates the importance of the fit between customers' relational expectations and their experiences with service providers in developing long‐term committed relationships.

The study was limited to the UK context. The extension of this study to other sectors or financial institutions operating in different regulatory and technological environments needs to be tested.

It is crucial that relationships are viewed as multidimensional, taking into account various relationship components. Since different relationship components influence relationships differently, organisations need to develop different relationship marketing strategies for each consumer segment according to consumers' relational expectations.

Building on preceding research, this paper broadens understanding of the complexity of customer‐firm relationships by presenting insight into the affective element of relationships and highlighting the role of the fit between customers' relational expectations and their experiences in relationship development.

This paper provides an overview of the range and development of health informatics, with examples from the literature world wide covering the types of information involved, the areas of application, the impact of evidence based medicine and other professional issues, integrated information systems, and the needs of the public, patients and their carers. While medical informatics certainly comprises a major part of health informatics it is not the main focus of this paper. Medical informatics is the older term and involves the use of information technology and computing specifically for medical science research, and the diagnosis and treatment of disease involving, for example, X‐rays, imaging, resonance, and magnetic scanning techniques. Rather, the scope of this review is the literature relating to the wider concept of the management of information through the interdisciplinary application of information science and technology for the benefit of patients, scientists, managers, staff, and carers involved in the whole range of healthcare activity.

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize anticorrosion pigments ZnFe₂O₄ from diverse raw materials of various shapes and size of primary particles.

Anticorrosion pigments were synthesized through a high‐temperature process during a solid phase. Zinc ferrites were prepared from hematite (α‐Fe₂O₃), goethite (α‐FeO.OH), magnetite (Fe₃O₄), and specularite (Fe₂O₃) entering into reaction with zinc oxide at temperatures ranging from 600 up to 1,100°C. The nature of the initial raw material, primarily the shape of its particles, affects the shape of the particles of the synthesized zinc ferrite. The formulated zinc ferrites had a rod‐shape, lamellar, and/or isometric shape. The shape of the particles of synthesized zinc ferrites was studied with regard to its effects on the mechanical and corrosion resistance of organic coatings. The obtained pigments were characterized by means of X‐ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The synthesized anticorrosion pigments were used to prepare epoxy coatings and water‐borne styrene‐acrylate coatings that were subjected to post‐application tests for physical‐mechanical properties and anticorrosion properties.

The shape of the particles was identified in the synthesized pigments. X‐ray diffraction analysis revealed the degree of precipitation and lattice parameters. All of the synthesized pigments had good anticorrosion efficiency in an epoxy and in styrene‐acrylate coatings. Compared with a commercially used anticorrosion pigment, their protective power in coatings was demonstrably stronger.

The synthesized pigments can be used conveniently in coatings protecting metal bases against corrosion.

The synthesis of zinc ferrites with different particle shapes for applications in anticorrosion coatings provides a new way of protecting metals against corrosion. Of benefit is the fact that the synthesized pigments do not contain any environmentally harmful substances.

Higher education institutions possess a plethora of knowledge at the institutional, departmental and individual levels. Therefore, knowledge management plays a vital role in assisting partnerships to synergise knowledge and strengthen market competitiveness when working collaboratively. The purpose of this study is to identify and critically discuss the role of knowledge management concepts that support development of UK higher education partnerships. This knowledge management research was undertaken with the purpose of exploring components of behavioural constructs in assisting the development of successful partnerships between higher education institutions.

This research embraces a qualitative methodology and makes use of an expert panel method to gather field data and assess the relevance, robustness and applicability of a conceptual model developed in the context of higher education partnerships. Guided by two research questions, the researchers elicited knowledge from eight experts, academics and practitioners, who had initiated and led partnership development between UK higher education institutions. The experts were invited and selected to attend the panel using the criteria of “Years of Experience in the Higher Education sector”, “Job Positions and Experiences” and the “Partnership Scope and Impact”.

Depicting in a tree analogy, the conceptual model indicates that effective knowledge management will require higher education executives, managers and practitioners to centre on nurturing “tree roots” presented as behavioural knowledge management constructs and include institutional culture, trust, absorptive capacities and communication channels. The research findings elaborate on previous research and provide a categorisation of partnership outcomes between higher education institutions, explaining that partnership outcomes can be of an “Academic”, “Marketing and Finance” or “Managerial” nature. Importantly, practical use of the model could be implemented using audit methods or benchmarking methods, whereby the categorised elements of the model are used as a criterion of assessment for audit teams.

The conclusion extracted experiential insights to provide guidance as to how higher education executives, managers and practitioners can make use of knowledge management behavioural constructs and activities to assist collaborative undertakings in the higher education sector. This paper provided a new, modified, knowledge management higher education partnership tree, thus giving researchers and academic practitioners a holistic viewpoint of important partnership knowledge management factors.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied within a health‐promoting schools approach.

The study used an explanatory case study approach of five secondary schools participating in a health‐promoting school programme, “The Logan Healthy Schools Project” in Logan, South‐East Queensland, Australia to investigate how school‐community partnerships support the sustainability of school health initiatives. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 16 deputy principals, school staff members, and community‐based partners, along with observations and a documentary analysis of Logan Healthy School Project activities. A thematic analysis was conducted on the data.

The factors that characterise effective school‐community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives include: a focus on building relationships between school and community partners, complementary capacities of school personnel and service providers, commonality of intent and shared goals between both parties, and competence of practice, primarily of the community service provider. These four factors were consistent at the school operational level and strategic programme co‐ordination level of the Logan Healthy Schools Project, yet varied in importance across the initiation, growth, and maturity of the school‐community partnerships.

The study adds to the limited body of knowledge that surrounds effective school‐community partnerships and how the features of these partnerships contribute to the sustainability of school health initiatives. The study highlights the importance of initiating, growing, and maintaining school‐community partnerships and provides insight into the factors that should be considered when planning and developing school health promotion initiatives.

There are many methods by which the state of dispersion of pigments may be studied, either in the liquid paint or in the dried film. They range from essentially practical methods useful for production control to sophisticated laboratory techniques capable of providing quantitative data on the number, size, and type of particles present in a dispersion.

The purpose of this paper is to synthesise X₂TiO₄ spinel‐type anticorrosion pigments and YTiO₃, perovskite‐type anticorrosion pigments, where X = Zn, Mg, Ca, Sr; Y = Ca for metal protective paints.

Anticorrosion pigments were synthesised from oxides or carbonates at high temperature. The following pigments were synthesised: TiO₂ · ZnO, 2TiO₂ · ZnO, TiO₂ · 2ZnO, TiO₂ · MgO, TiO₂ · CaO, TiO₂ · ZnO · MgO, and TiO₂ · ZnO · SrO. The pigments obtained were characterised by means of X‐ray diffraction analysis, measurement of particle sizes and scanning electron microscopy. The anticorrosion pigments synthesised were used to produce epoxy coatings with PVC = 10 per cent for each synthesised pigment. The coatings were tested for physical‐mechanical properties and in corrosion atmospheres. The corrosion test results were compared with those of alumino zinc phosphomolybdate.

A spinel or perovskite structure was found in the pigments synthesised. High anticorrosion efficiency was identified in all the synthesised pigments, the highest efficiency being demonstrated in the TiO₂ · ZnO pigment of spinel structure and in the TiO₂ · CaO pigment of perovskite structure.

The pigments synthesised can be conveniently used to protect metal bases from corrosion.

The use of pigments synthesised in anticorrosion coatings for metal protection presents a new approach. Its benefits are the use and the method of synthesising the anticorrosion pigments that do not contain heavy metals and that are acceptable for the environment.

This paper considers how the quality of wound care delivered to people experiencing mental ill health can be improved at the system level in line with the global focus on improving population health. The purpose of this paper is to identify how the quality of wound care delivered to mental health care service users can be improved at a population level through system thinking informed by boundary theory.

This paper is a critical analysis of practice underpinned by systems thinking and boundary theory.

Tissue viability care and mental health care have different professional cultures and identities that are manifest in the way that they are organised and deliver care. If improvements in wound care-related outcomes at a population level are to be achieved, then it is important that the wound care needs of people experiencing mental ill health are addressed. Systems thinking and boundary theory provide a useful conceptual framework for informing quality improvement for people experiencing mental ill health at a population level. Integrated care plans are a useful mechanism for delivering comprehensive care that brings about wound healing and recovery from mental ill health.

Integrated wound and mental health care plans transcend the professional boundaries that exist between tissue viability and mental health care services. Improvements in the quality and safety of care delivered to people with wounds who also utilise mental health services can be achieved through the use of integrated care plans. Health care policy and organisation need to meet the wound-related needs of people using mental health services.

There has been a focus on improving many aspects of wound care in line with the global focus on grand convergence in population health, but there has been very little emphasis on improving the wound-related outcomes of people that use mental health services. Systems thinking and boundary theory provide a useful framework for understanding how wound care for people experiencing mental ill health can be improved at a population level. Integrated care plans are a useful way of ensuring that safe high-quality wound care is consistently delivered to people experiencing mental ill health.

A mixed metal oxide-based spinel ceramic pigment has been successfully synthesized incorporating inorganic, high-temperature stable furnace cement as an inbuilt binder. Step by step synthesis was done for the spinel and cement mix formulations.

The pigment mix was synthesized by a solid-solid method where the inorganic binder was incorporated in the mix. The results suggested that CoCuMn-based spinel ceramic pigment with cement mix could be obtained at an annealing temperature of 1,100ºC for 1 h and the size, morphology and crystallinity of spinel mix were greatly influenced by the calcination temperature.

The pigment mix synthesized was applied as a coating to different substrates such as aluminum, glass and Mild steel. The results revealed that spectral selectivity of TSSS paint coatings based on the CoMnCu spinel ceramic mix was much better than that of solvent-based coatings for high-temperature applications. The presence of cement as an inorganic binder makes the functioning and application of paint easy as it becomes that of a waterborne type.

Ease of application, stability at high temperatures, best absorptivity at the solar selective spectrum and excellent adhesion properties for the selected surface are the key features of the designed pigment system. The applied pigment mix was studied as a coating to get the results for solar selective system.