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In this qualitative case study we explored the experiences of low- achieving students responding to an educational blog. Our intention was to leverage the unique affordances of blogs to teach United States history concepts primarily by providing access to digital primary sources and facilitating on-line participation. Overall, our findings point to the positive potential of blogs to enhance instruction with low-achieving students. We found the integration of the educational blog provided an effective instructional format to differentiate content instruction and deliver “equity pedagogy.” In this study student participation increased, students engaged in historical work (although tentative), and the resources activated their prior knowledge. Rather than withholding Web 2.0 technologies from low-achieving students we encourage teachers to use them to meet the unique learning needs of all of their students. With thoughtful scaffolding, it appears teachers might be able to leverage the unique features of blog-based activities to improve student experiences.

The purpose of in this study is to examine how scholarship on women’s entrepreneurship/gender and entrepreneurship has contributed to understandings of the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity. The authors review studies from the past four decades (1975-2018) to assess the extent to which research has examined the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity in two key institutions – the family and the labour market – that remain pervasively and persistently gendered.

The authors blend a systematic quantitative analysis of scholarly publications with qualitative analysis, identifying key themes and contributions. The corpus of material comprises over 1,300 scholarly publications, including both empirical and theoretical contributions.

This analysis shows that attention to the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity in gendered social institutions is a clear legacy of women’s entrepreneurship research. The systematic quantitative review found that over one-third (36.6 per cent) of scholarly publications examines questions of family and/or labour market embeddedness in some way. The qualitative analysis identifies a rich array of themes over the past four decades and a growing global reach of scholarship in recent years.

This paper contributes to knowledge about the embeddedness of entrepreneurial activity. It offers a comprehensive review of how entrepreneurship is shaped by the embedding of such activity in two predominant (and gendered) social institutions – families and labour markets. It will be of use to scholars seeking an overview of this topic and considering new research questions to pursue.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility, and effectiveness, of using Headsprout Early Reading (HER), an online computer program, to teach basic reading skills to adult offenders with mild intellectual disabilities (IDs) in a secure hospital.

A single subject pre-post-test design replicated across two participants was used. Two standardized literacy tests were completed at baseline, half way through the intervention, and at the end of the intervention period. A measure of reading self-concept was also completed. An additional component to this research design was the inclusion of two “treatment as usual” (TAU) control participants who did not complete the program.

Results are positive in terms of the feasibility of running the program, improved reading skills, and self-concept scores for both “intervention” participants compared to the “TAU” participants.

HER was originally developed for typically developing children, and has been found to be effective for children with IDs and developmental disabilities. This is the first study to evaluate this program with an adult population.

Under restriction of an isotropic elastic response of deformed lattice, develops a covariant theory of finite elastoplasticity in principal axes of a pair of deformation tensors. In material description, the tensor pair consists of the plastic deformation tensor and the total deformation Cauchy‐Green tensor. Applies the proposed theory to elastoplastic membrane shells, whose references and current configurations can be arbitrary space‐curved surfaces. Pressure‐insensitive von Mises yield criterion with isotropic hardening and a quadratic form of the strain energy function given in terms of elastic principal stretches are considered as a model problem. Through an explicit enforcement of the plane stress condition we arrive at a reduced two‐dimensional problem representation, which is set in the membrane tangent plane. Numerical implementation of the presented theory relies crucially on the operator split methodology to simplify the state update computation. Presents a set of numerical examples in order to illustrate the performance of the presented methodology and indicate possible applications in the area of sheet metal forming.

This article sets the scene for the contributions in this special edition of Community Safety Journal. It examines the political contexts of community safety initiatives, compares transatlantic and European traditions and discusses convergent and divergent themes.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the reaction to earnings announcements in a small stock market.

The paper uses the traditional event study method to examine the information content of annual earnings announcements in the small Danish stock market from 1999‐2004.

The paper finds abnormal volatility in the days surrounding the announcements, indicating that they contain relevant information for the stock market. The abnormal volatility persists several days after the announcement, suggesting that the information environment of this small stock market works to decrease the speed of adjustment. In addition to this sign of inefficiency, the paper finds significant positive abnormal returns accompanying the announcements. These results are robust across various methodologies. Surprisingly, the paper finds a positive correlation between the information content and predisclosure information. This contradicts previous studies, and it is interpreted as evidence of a low level of pre‐announcement information. Confirming the results of similar studies, the paper finds that unexpected earnings are best proxied using a model based on consensus analyst forecasts.

This paper contributes to the existing literature by analyzing the information content of earnings announcements in a small stock market with accounting standards that are congruent with the International Accounting Standards.

Rigid robotic hands are generally fast, precise and capable of exerting large forces, whereas soft robotic hands are compliant, safe and adaptive to complex environments. It is valuable and challenging to develop soft-rigid robotic hands that have both types of capabilities. The paper aims to address the challenge through developing a paradigm to achieve the behaviors of soft and rigid robotic hands adaptively.

The design principle of a two-joint finger is proposed. A kinematic model and a stiffness enhancement method are proposed and discussed. The manufacturing process for the soft-rigid finger is presented. Experiments are carried out to validate the accuracy of the kinematic model and evaluate the performance of the flexible body of the finger. Finally, a robotic hand composed of two soft-rigid fingers is fabricated to demonstrate its grasping capacities.

The kinematic model can capture the desired distal deflection and comprehensive shape accurately. The stiffness enhancement method guarantees stable grasp of the robotic hand, without sacrificing its flexibility and adaptability. The robotic hand is lightweight and practical. It can exhibit different grasping capacities.

It can be applied in the field of industrial grasping, where the objects are varied in materials and geometry. The hand’s inherent characteristic removes the need to detect and react to slight variations in surface geometry and makes the control strategies simple.

This work proposes a novel robotic hand. It possesses three distinct characteristics, i.e. high compliance, exhibiting discrete or continuous kinematics adaptively, lightweight and practical structures.

This work addresses the computational aspects of a model for elastoplastic damage at finite strains. The model is a modification of a previously established model for large strain elastoplasticity described by Perić et al. which is here extended to include isotropic damage and kinematic hardening. Within the computational scheme, the constitutive equations are numerically integrated by an algorithm based on operator split methodology (elastic predictor—plastic corrector). The Newton—Raphson method is used to solve the discretized evolution equations in the plastic corrector stage. A numerical assessment of accuracy and stability of the integration algorithm is carried out based on iso‐error maps. To improve the stability of the local N—R scheme, the standard elastic predictor is replaced by improvedinitial estimates ensuring convergence for large increments. Several possibilities are explored and their effect on the stability of the N—R scheme is investigated. The finite element method is used in the approximation of the incremental equilibrium problem and the resulting equations are solved by the standard Newton—Raphson procedure. Two numerical examples are presented. The results are compared with those obtained by the original elastoplastic model.

The authors discuss trends in crime prevention and community safety particular to Australia. They report on research examining the role local government community safety officers (CSOs) play in the formation and implementation of crime prevention strategies in their home state of Victoria. The paper is based upon interview data conducted with CSOs and will assess key challenges and problems encountered in the management and implementation of strategies at the local level. Issues assessed include the role of community safety practitioners as ‘change managers’. Broader lessons relating to training, capacity building and strengthening the role of local government are drawn from the research that are of relevance to community safety policy in the UK and abroad.

Current English health policy is focused on strengthening the ‘demand-side’ of the health care system. Recent reforms are designed to significantly enhance the capability and status of the organisations responsible for commissioning health care services and, in so doing, to address some of the perceived problems of a historically provider/supplierled health system. In this context, commissioning organisations are being encouraged to draw on concepts and processes derived from commercial procurement and supply chain management (SCM) as they develop their expertise. While the application of such principles in the health sector is not new, existing work in the UK has not often considered the role of health care purchasers in the management of health service supply-chains. This paper describes the status of commissioning in the NHS, briefly reviews the procurement and SCM literature and begins to explore the links between them. It lays the foundations for further work which will test the extent to which lessons can be extracted in principle from the procurement literature and applied in practice by health care commissioners.