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The paper seeks to identify ethical issues arising from body cathexis research and analyse categories for attention. To also highlight methodological considerations in generating body size data through measurement for fashion products.

This study presents instrumental activities and strategies for conducting and implementing focus groups for investigating body cathexis and related body measurements for fashion products. Five homogenous groups of 30 females aged 19‐44 years, were employed. Purposive and proportionate sampling procedures involving both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied and analysed by triangulation. Aspects of the methodology of measurement are presented in this paper but analysis of measurement data is presented in a subsequent paper. Key ethical principles by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), UK have been also evaluated in relation to the integrity of such a study.

The study found that deciding on procedures regarding collating data on psychological issues related to garment fit is an obscure process that is not clearly documented in literature. It raised significant issues relating to sensitivity to respondents' concerns when conducting an investigation into body cathexis for fashion products. A framework for ethical and methodological practice in researching body cathexis and ethical deliberation in generating body measurement data has therefore been presented.

This study presents guidelines for ethical practice and develops an ethical framework for research and professional practice.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationships between consumers' body types and characteristics such as shopping orientation, past experience with fit problems, attitudes toward internet shopping and attitudes toward 3‐D body scanning.

This study collected body data from 441 Korean females who participated in 3‐D body scanning. Using a hierarchical cluster analysis, the body scanning identified five body types. Then body types and shopping characteristics variables were analyzed.

Slim respondents showed significantly higher hedonic shopping orientation and their attitude to internet shopping was positive, since they evaluated using the internet as being “fun”. By contrast, respondents with larger body types considered the convenience of internet shopping to be the most important feature. Respondents, regardless of their body types, regarded 3‐D body scanning as an enjoyable, futuristic and interesting experience. Moreover, respondents showed a high inclination to spend more money for customization services which utilize the 3‐D scanning technique.

This study analyzed Korean females' body shapes using 3‐D scanned body measurements. This study can contribute to integrate knowledge in the body measurement sector and the consumer behavior sector.

A study of the current practices for evaluating the ex-post performance of public-private partnership (PPP) school projects in Australia via literature review and qualitative case studies has found that no consistent approach exists for evaluating operational performance. A detailed critique of international PPP audits and practices has identified existing gaps in ex-post performance evaluation. Through a process of comparative analysis and industry confirmation, a performance analysis technique aligned with international practice has been developed that can be utilised by the educational departments across Australia to evaluate the ex-post performance of PPP projects (PPPs). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper opted for qualitative archival analysis of case studies using pattern matching, explanation building, time series, and comparative analysis. The data used for document analysis included value reports, project summaries, and contract documents, as well as local and international audit guidelines.

This paper reviewed current practices, identified a range of processes, and reported the best practices. However, consideration of the approaches taken in the UK and Australia for evaluating operational performance indicates that current techniques lack consistency.

The developed ex-post performance measurement framework is limited to Australian PPP school projects and, at this stage, cannot be generalised to other social PPP projects.

The paper includes implications for the development of better performance evaluation practices and audits.

An enhanced framework for measuring operational performance will increase the accountability of taxpayers in the content of their utilisation by the government.

This paper presents an enhanced ex-post performance measurement framework for education departments across Australia.

This paper aims to perform the lattice Boltzmann simulation of conjugate natural convection heat transfer, heat flow visualization via heatlines approach and entropy generation in a partitioned medium filled with Ag-MgO (15-85%)/water.

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to predict the dynamic and thermal behaviors. Experimental correlations for dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity versus solid volume fraction are used. The study is conducted for the ranges of Rayleigh number 10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶, the partitioner thickness 0.01 ≤ δ ≤ 0.9, its position 0.15 ≤ X_s ≤ 0.85 and the hybrid nano-suspensions volume fraction 0% ≤ ϕ ≤ 2%.

The effects of varying of controlling parameters on the convective flow patterns, temperature contours, heat transfers, the heatlines and the entropy generation are presented. It has been found that the maximum rate of heat transfer enhancement occurs for low Ra numbers (10³) and is close to 13.52%. The solid thickness d and its horizontal position X_s have a substantial influence on the heat transfer rate, flow structure, heatline, total entropy generation and Bejan number. Besides, the maximum heat transfer is detected for high Ra and δ ≈ 1 and the percentage of augmentation is equal to 65.55% for ϕ = 2%. According to the horizontal position, the heat transfer remains invariant for Ra = 10³ and takes a maximum value near the active walls for Ra ≥ 10⁴. The total entropy generation increases with Ra and decreases with ϕ for Ra = 10⁶. The increase of ϕ from 0 to 2% leads to a reduction in close to 40.76%. For this value of Ra, the entropy is the maximum for δ = 0.4 and X_s = 0.35 and X_s = 0.65%. Moreover, as the Ra increases the Bejan number undergoes a decrease. The Bejan number is the maximum for Ra = 10³ independently to δ and X_s. The superior thermal performance manifests at low Ra and high value of δ independently to the positions of the conducting body.

The originality of this paper is to analyze the hybrid nano-additive effects on the two-dimensional conjugate natural convection in a partitioned medium using the LBM. The experimental correlations used for the effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity give credibility to our study. Different approaches such as heatlines and entropy generation are used.

Gives introductory remarks about chapter 1 of this group of 31 papers, from ISEF 1999 Proceedings, in the methodologies for field analysis, in the electromagnetic community. Observes that computer package implementation theory contributes to clarification. Discusses the areas covered by some of the papers ‐ such as artificial intelligence using fuzzy logic. Includes applications such as permanent magnets and looks at eddy current problems. States the finite element method is currently the most popular method used for field computation. Closes by pointing out the amalgam of topics.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review on framework agreements, an instrument for demand aggregation adopted in the UK, to recommend improvements to the price registration system (SRP), a mechanism often used with reverse online auctions in Brazil envisaged to promote more flexibility in centralized tenders, allowing public bodies to establish contracts when the need arises, based on registered prices.

A literature review was undertaken to analyze the UK framework agreement approach and the Brazilian SRP. In addition, in-depth interviews with civil servants from the Brazilian Ministry of Economy were conducted to examine the SRP.

The experience with framework agreements in the UK reveals at least four ways to improve the Brazilian SRP: i) extending the legal maximum duration of a price registration minute (ARP) ; ii) allowing the registration of additional suppliers in the ARP, instead of only the first lowest bidder; iii) conducting mini-competitions when a contracting authority decides to use the ARP to enter into a contract; and iv) including additional criteria for awarding suppliers, in line with the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) approach.

The flow of government financial resources into procurement accounted for approximately 16.5% of gross domestic product in Brazil and for an average of 12% in OECD countries in 2017 (OECD, 2019: 135). Public procurement is a strategic function for enabling an efficient public services delivery and infrastructure deployment. It is, therefore, relevant to examine instruments of demand aggregation to improve the outcomes of public procurement.

Framework agreements are currently not used in Brazil. This paper examines the UK experience with framework agreements to propose potential improvements to the Brazilian SRP, a procurement instrument vastly used in the country.

The magnetic field integral equation for electromagnetic scattering from a perfectly conducting body of revolution is solved by the method of moments. A Fourier series in ø is used. The t dependence of the expansion functions is subsectional. Pulses are used for the ø component of the unknown electric current induced on the surface S of the body of revolution. Triangles divided by the cylindrical coordinate radius are used for the t component. Here, t and ø are orthogonal coordinates on S, t being the arc length along the generating curve of S and ø the azimuthal angle.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of the politicisation of women academics body in higher education as a result of the implementation of audit culture of new public management.

The research was conducted in Indonesian universities, by conducting interviews to collect data from 20 women academics from two universities in eastern regions of Indonesia.

The impacts of audit culture on women academics’ body in this study can be understood from the constraints told by them, reflected on the creation of several types of bodies.

This paper, though, has some limitations in terms of the inclusion of only women academics, exclusion of male academics and of their limitations of addressing important constructs to elaborate the politicisation of the women body, such as culture, religion, patriarchy, and academic tribes and territories.

The results of this study are important for the policy maker of Indonesia to take into account “gender perspective” on research productivity and publication policy to effectively obtain the political objectives of the government. For higher education in Indonesia, the result of this study may give an indication of the importance to establish different and distinctive standards of work performance evaluation on research and publication for female and male academics.

The analysis of this issue is framed within the bipolar diagram of power that seeks to gain political-economic function of the body (bio-power), via a set of control mechanisms of sovereign power to regulate and manipulate the population (bio-politics), developed by Foucault (1984).

Purpose – The purpose of the chapter is to introduce interviewing as an exploratory research approach for understanding the lived experiences of individuals and groups in sports and physical cultural contexts. The author draws on her own research with snowboarders to illustrate some of the standard and unique issues related to conducting interviews as part of ethnographic fieldwork.

Design/methodology/approach – The chapter begins with a brief history of the development of qualitative interviews and their various uses in sport studies. The author then provides a description of her use of ‘postmodern-inspired’ interviews as part of a broader ethnographic study of snowboarding culture. Following this, she adopts an alternative representational approach to illustrate some of the practical, ethical, political and embodied issues for reflexive researchers working in the critical paradigm and conducting interviews in sport and physical cultural fields.

Findings – The chapter illustrates the value of a postmodern approach to interviewing that recognises the interview as more than textual, and gives greater consideration to the affective, sensuous, relational, embodied and socio-spatial dimensions of each interview event.

Research limitations/implications – The chapter examines the strengths and limitations of qualitative interviewing, with particular attention to the potential and perils of interviewing in the sports field.

Originality/value – The chapter provides a succinct introduction to the use of interviewing in sport and physical culture, and makes an innovative contribution by focusing on ethnographic interviews.

This paper deals with external audits, which are now commonly used in many industries (e.g. food, automotive and electrical). This study aims to assess whether a given organization meets the specific criteria. If the audit ends with a positive result, information about it is provided to selected interested parties, e.g. clients or contractors. Credibility is pivotal in adding value for all interested parties within the audit processes. This study seeks the factors which, in the opinion of the audited enterprises, have the most decisive impact on the credibility of external audits.

In keeping with the extant literature, research questions were developed regarding the factors influencing the credibility assessment of external audits. Data collected from 100 companies in the Polish food sector were used to construct the model and carry out statistical analyses. Linear regression analyses were also applied to determine the key factors influencing the credibility of audits.

This study is part of the research trend on the rationality of external audits and certification of quality management systems. This paper identifies nine main factors shaping the credibility of external audits. Two of them have the most decisive influence on credibility. The first one is the professional audit method (procedure). The second factor is the auditor’s knowledge of the specificity of the audited area.

This study did not consider the impact that the image/credibility of the organization represented by the auditors may have on the reliability of audits. This is one of the fundamental limitations that should be considered when analyzing the obtained results. To recognize this type of dependence, additional research should be carried out. Another limitation is that the research covers the food industry only. It would be interesting to know the situation in other types of industries.

This paper looks at the possibility of increasing the added value for audited enterprises. The proposed model can be used by managers of organizations conducting external audits and auditors to effectively use resources for process improvement, influencing the maximization of credibility of activities in the area of conformity assessment.

The originality of this study lies in adopting the perspective of audited enterprises in assessing the credibility of audits. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that adopts this approach. This paper contributes to the literature, particularly to better understand audited enterprises’ behavior (trust in audit results, satisfaction with audits, etc.).