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1 – 10 of 19
Article
Publication date: 1 January 2024

Xingxing Li, Shixi You, Zengchang Fan, Guangjun Li and Li Fu

This review provides an overview of recent advances in electrochemical sensors for analyte detection in saliva, highlighting their potential applications in diagnostics and health…

Abstract

Purpose

This review provides an overview of recent advances in electrochemical sensors for analyte detection in saliva, highlighting their potential applications in diagnostics and health care. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the current state of the field, identify challenges and limitations and discuss future prospects for the development of saliva-based electrochemical sensors.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews relevant literature and research articles to examine the latest developments in electrochemical sensing technologies for saliva analysis. It explores the use of various electrode materials, including carbon nanomaterial, metal nanoparticles and conducting polymers, as well as the integration of microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices and wearable/implantable technologies. The design and fabrication methodologies used in these sensors are discussed, along with sample preparation techniques and biorecognition elements for enhancing sensor performance.

Findings

Electrochemical sensors for salivary analyte detection have demonstrated excellent potential for noninvasive, rapid and cost-effective diagnostics. Recent advancements have resulted in improved sensor selectivity, stability, sensitivity and compatibility with complex saliva samples. Integration with microfluidics and LOC technologies has shown promise in enhancing sensor efficiency and accuracy. In addition, wearable and implantable sensors enable continuous, real-time monitoring of salivary analytes, opening new avenues for personalized health care and disease management.

Originality/value

This review presents an up-to-date overview of electrochemical sensors for analyte detection in saliva, offering insights into their design, fabrication and performance. It highlights the originality and value of integrating electrochemical sensing with microfluidics, wearable/implantable technologies and point-of-care testing platforms. The review also identifies challenges and limitations, such as interference from other saliva components and the need for improved stability and reproducibility. Future prospects include the development of novel microfluidic devices, advanced materials and user-friendly diagnostic devices to unlock the full potential of saliva-based electrochemical sensing in clinical practice.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. 44 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 19 December 2022

Rebecca Maughan

The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretically informed analysis of the evolution of environmental management accounting (EMA) and social and environmental reporting…

5011

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretically informed analysis of the evolution of environmental management accounting (EMA) and social and environmental reporting (SER), and the accompanying development of a sustainability programme, in a large family-owned, unlisted corporation.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal case study based on semi-structured interviews and documentary data was conducted. The main periods of fieldwork were carried out in 2007 and between 2010 and 2012. Sustainability reports were collected until 2019 when SER appeared to cease. The case analysis draws on the concepts of organisational identity (OI) and internal legitimacy (IL) to examine the decision-making and actions of a range of key organisational actors as they engage with EMA and SER.

Findings

The study demonstrates that a gap between an organisation’s identity claims (“who we are”) and its enacted identity (“what we do”) can enable the adoption of constitutive, performative and representational EMA and SER. It illuminates the nature of the role of key actors and organisational dynamics, in the form of OI and IL, in adapting these practices. It also demonstrates that, in giving meaning to the concept of sustainability, organisational actors can draw on their organisation’s identity and construct the comprehensibility of an organisational sustainability programme.

Research limitations/implications

More empirical work is needed to examine the applicability of OI and IL to other settings. It would also be beneficial to examine the potential for OI work to allow organisations to change and reinvent themselves in response to the evermore pressing environmental crisis and the role, if any, of EMA in this process.

Originality/value

The study enriches our understanding of why and how EMA and SER evolve by demonstrating that paying attention to OI and IL can provide further insight into the decision-making and actions of organisational members as they recognise, evaluate, support and cease these practices.

Book part
Publication date: 1 December 2023

Margie Foster, Hossein Arvand, Hugh T. Graham and Denise Bedford

In this chapter, the authors make the case that preserving and curating knowledge for the future involves more than changing methods and tactics or extending our current…

Abstract

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, the authors make the case that preserving and curating knowledge for the future involves more than changing methods and tactics or extending our current applications and technology to support knowledge capital. It means changing the way we think about the future. It means envisioning multiple futures where various elements may be known or unknown – a four-future quadrant. First, the authors explain what it means to think strategically in multiple known and unknown futures. Next, the chapter presents ideas for strategic thinking about future knowledge preservation and curation. Finally, the authors consider using the four futures to develop a flexible and relevant knowledge preservation and curation strategy.

Details

Knowledge Preservation and Curation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-930-7

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Nibu Babu Thomas, Lekshmi P. Kumar, Jiya James and Nibu A. George

Nanosensors have a wide range of applications because of their high sensitivity, selectivity and specificity. In the past decade, extensive and pervasive research related to…

Abstract

Purpose

Nanosensors have a wide range of applications because of their high sensitivity, selectivity and specificity. In the past decade, extensive and pervasive research related to nanosensors has led to significant progress in diverse fields, such as biomedicine, environmental monitoring and industrial process control. This led to better and more efficient detection and monitoring of physical and chemical properties at better resolution, opening new horizons in the development of novel technologies and applications for improved human health, environment protection, enhanced industrial processes, etc.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors discuss the application of citation network analysis in the field of nanosensor research and development. Cluster analysis was carried out using papers published in the field of nanomaterial-based sensor research, and an in-depth analysis was carried out to identify significant clusters. The purpose of this study is to provide researchers to identify a pathway to the emerging areas in the field of nanosensor research. The authors have illustrated the knowledge base, knowledge domain and knowledge progression of nanosensor research using the citation analysis based on 3,636 Science Citation Index papers published during the period 2011 to 2021.

Findings

Among these papers, the bibliographic study identified 809 significant research publications, 11 clusters, 556 research sector keywords, 1,296 main authors, 139 referenced authors, 63 nations, 206 organizations and 42 journals. The authors have identified single quantum dot (QD)-based nanosensor for biological applications, carbon dot-based nanosensors, self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator-based nanosensor and genetically encoded nanosensor as the significant research hotspots that came to the fore in recent years. The future trend in nanosensor research might focus on the development of efficient and cost-effective designs for the detection of numerous environmental pollutants and biological molecules using mesostructured materials and QDs. It is also possible to optimize the detection methods using theoretical models, and generalized gradient approximation has great scope in sensor development.

Research limitations/implications

The future trend in nanosensor research might focus on the development of efficient and cost-effective designs for the detection of numerous environmental pollutants and biological molecules using mesostructured materials and QDs. It is also possible to optimize the detection methods using theoretical models, and generalized gradient approximation has great scope in sensor development.

Originality/value

This is a novel bibliometric analysis in the area of “nanomaterial based sensor,” which is carried out in CiteSpace software.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2024

Dave Lyddon and Xuebing Cao

This study investigates the origins and elaboration of the managerial “unitary” frame of reference associated with Alan Fox, focusing on unionised firms: the industrial relations…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the origins and elaboration of the managerial “unitary” frame of reference associated with Alan Fox, focusing on unionised firms: the industrial relations context, intellectual roots, elaboration, adaptation by other writers, and international applicability.

Design/methodology/approach

Tracing the above requirements through contemporaneous sources.

Findings

Fox’s designation of the unitary frame needs to be understood in its 1960s’ context, particularly the promotion of “productivity bargaining”, and its furthering through management training and education. Fox’s specific contribution is identified. Subsequent UK writers have underplayed the importance of the legal dimension of managerial authority, especially relevant in the US context, while other extra-economic factors bolster the managerial unitary frame in authoritarian societies such as China.

Originality/value

The use of Fox's neglected 1960s’ writings; tracking how Fox developed the unitary frame concept and how it was funnelled into the narrow parameters of non-unionism by subsequent writers; identifying its applicability beyond the UK (with the USA as a historical example and China as a contemporary one).

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2023

Emery Petchauer, Tia Harvey and Rolando Ybarra

This paper aims to explore sonic play in close proximity to a music, literacy and songwriting for social change community-based initiative. The authors leverage ideas about time…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore sonic play in close proximity to a music, literacy and songwriting for social change community-based initiative. The authors leverage ideas about time, space and narrative under the concept of sonic flux to understand youth’s sonic and aural play on digital beatmaking technologies. In doing so, the authors break from a fixation on the written and spoken word and address sound, aurality and Blacktronika creative technologies that are often present but muted in literacies and songwriting scholarship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ team consisted of three community-based teaching artists who situated this inquiry around their own practice with youth. The authors conducted this inquiry through a qualitative, participatory and community-engaged research approach. As such, the authors codeveloped and carried out research questions and sense-making protocols that balance the power of interpretation and epistemologies among us.

Findings

The findings address how the joy, laughter and play of one young musician, Malik, moved across different conceptions of time while learning to make beats in proximity to peers writing lyrics for songs. Specifically, the authors unpack how Malik’s play with mobile sound-making technologies moved across linear and nonlinear time that characterize sonic space and sound art, not music and lyric writing. In doing so, the loops and durations of his sonic play were sometimes unbound by narrative structures that often code literacy and songwriting initiatives.

Originality/value

The authors’ inquiry speaks into literacy and songwriting initiatives that privilege spoken, written and performed word over sound. The authors ask what kind of participating structures, collaborations, ontologies and youth epistemologies open up if we think of youth in these spaces not only as performers but as programmers tinkering with time in the machine. In addition, the authors ask what literacy and songwriting spaces might look like when the duration, loops and drones of sonic space and not music are the structuring codes over narratives and linearity.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 September 2022

Xin Janet Ge, Vince Mangioni, Song Shi and Shanaka Herath

This paper aims to develop a house price forecasting model to investigate the impact of neighbourhood effect on property value.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a house price forecasting model to investigate the impact of neighbourhood effect on property value.

Design/methodology/approach

Multi-level modelling (MLM) method is used to develop the house price forecasting models. The neighbourhood effects, that is, socio-economic conditions that exist in various locations, are included in this study. Data from the local government area in Greater Sydney, Australia, has been collected to test the developed model.

Findings

Results show that the multi-level models can account for the neighbourhood effects and provide accurate forecasting results.

Research limitations/implications

It is believed that the impacts on specific households may be different because of the price differences in various geographic areas. The “neighbourhood” is an important consideration in housing purchase decisions.

Practical implications

While increasing housing supply provisions to match the housing demand, governments may consider improving the quality of neighbourhood conditions such as transportation, surrounding environment and public space security.

Originality/value

The demand and supply of housing in different locations have not behaved uniformly over time, that is, they demonstrate spatial heterogeneity. The use of MLM extends the standard hedonic model to incorporate physical characteristics and socio-economic variables to estimate dwelling prices.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 June 2023

Amanda Reid, Evan Ringel and Shanetta M. Pendleton

The purpose of this study is to situate information and communications technology (ICT) “transparency reports” within the theoretical framework of corporate social responsibility…

2608

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to situate information and communications technology (ICT) “transparency reports” within the theoretical framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. The self-denominated transparency report serves a dual purpose of highlighting an ICT company’s socially responsible behavior while also holding government agencies accountable for surveillance and requests for user data. Drawing on legitimacy theory, neo-institutional theory and stakeholder theory, this exploratory study examines how ICT companies are implementing industry-specific voluntary disclosures as a form of CSR.

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis of ICT voluntary nonfinancial reporting (N = 88) was used to identify motivating principles, the company positioning to stakeholders, the relevant publics and intended audience of these disclosures and the communication strategy used to engage primary stakeholders.

Findings

Key findings suggest that most ICT companies used transparency reporting to engage consumers/users as their primary stakeholders and most used a stakeholder information strategy. A majority of ICT companies signaled value-driven motives in their transparency reports while also positioning the company to stakeholders as a protector of user data and advocate for consumer rights.

Originality/value

This study enriches the literature on CSR communication strategies and reporting practices by extending it to an underdeveloped topic of study: novel voluntary disclosures as CSR activities of prominent ICT companies (i.e. “Big Tech”). These polyphonic reports reflect varied motives, varied positioning and varied stakeholders. For market-leading companies, transparency reporting can serve to legitimize existing market power. And for midsize and emerging companies, transparency reporting can be used to signal adherence to industry norms – set by market-leading companies.

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Youwei Li and Jian Qu

The purpose of this research is to achieve multi-task autonomous driving by adjusting the network architecture of the model. Meanwhile, after achieving multi-task autonomous…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to achieve multi-task autonomous driving by adjusting the network architecture of the model. Meanwhile, after achieving multi-task autonomous driving, the authors found that the trained neural network model performs poorly in untrained scenarios. Therefore, the authors proposed to improve the transfer efficiency of the model for new scenarios through transfer learning.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the authors achieved multi-task autonomous driving by training a model combining convolutional neural network and different structured long short-term memory (LSTM) layers. Second, the authors achieved fast transfer of neural network models in new scenarios by cross-model transfer learning. Finally, the authors combined data collection and data labeling to improve the efficiency of deep learning. Furthermore, the authors verified that the model has good robustness through light and shadow test.

Findings

This research achieved road tracking, real-time acceleration–deceleration, obstacle avoidance and left/right sign recognition. The model proposed by the authors (UniBiCLSTM) outperforms the existing models tested with model cars in terms of autonomous driving performance. Furthermore, the CMTL-UniBiCL-RL model trained by the authors through cross-model transfer learning improves the efficiency of model adaptation to new scenarios. Meanwhile, this research proposed an automatic data annotation method, which can save 1/4 of the time for deep learning.

Originality/value

This research provided novel solutions in the achievement of multi-task autonomous driving and neural network model scenario for transfer learning. The experiment was achieved on a single camera with an embedded chip and a scale model car, which is expected to simplify the hardware for autonomous driving.

Details

Data Technologies and Applications, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 December 2022

Yokesh V., Gulam Nabi Alsath and Malathi Kanagasabai

The design, fabrication and experimental validation of defected microstrip structure (DMS) are proposed to address the problem of near-end crosstalk (NEXT) and far-end crosstalk…

Abstract

Purpose

The design, fabrication and experimental validation of defected microstrip structure (DMS) are proposed to address the problem of near-end crosstalk (NEXT) and far-end crosstalk (FEXT) between the microstrip transmission lines in a printed circuit board.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed DMS evolved with the combination of spur line (L-shaped DMS) and U-shaped DMS topologies. This technique reduces the strength of electromagnetic coupling and suppresses crosstalk by optimizing the capacitive and inductive coupling ratio between the linked microstrip lines. The practical inductance value is much more significant in DMS than in defected ground structures (DGS), but the capacitance value remains the same.

Findings

A DMS unit is etched on the aggressor microstrip line instead of the DGS circuit. Because there is no leakage via the ground plane and the circuit size is far smaller than with DGS, the enclosure issue is disregarded. DMS structures have a larger effective inductance and are resistant to electromagnetic interference. A tightly coupled transmission line structure with minimal separation between the coupled microstrip line is designed using DMS. Further research must be conducted to improve the NEXT, FEXT and spacing between the transmission lines.

Originality/value

Simulation and actual measurement results show that the proposed DMS structure can effectively suppress crosstalk by analysing the S-parameters, namely, S_12, S_13 and S_14, with measured values of 1.48 dB, 20.65 dB and 21.099 dB, respectively. The data rate is measured to be 1.34 Gbps as per the eye diagram characterization. The results show that the NEXT and FEXT are reduced by approximately 20 dB in the frequency range of 1–11 GHz for mixed signals. The substantial measured results in the vector network analyser coincide with the computer simulation technology microwave studio suite simulation results.

Details

Microelectronics International, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-5362

Keywords

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