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Wireless sensor networks (WSN), as a solution for buried water pipe monitoring, face a new set of challenges compared to traditional application for above-ground infrastructure monitoring. One of the main challenges for underground WSN deployment is the limited range (less than 3 m) at which reliable wireless underground communication can be achieved using radio signal propagation through the soil. To overcome this challenge, the purpose of this paper is to investigate a new approach for wireless underground communication using acoustic signal propagation along a buried water pipe.

An acoustic communication system was developed based on the requirements of low cost (tens of pounds at most), low power supply capacity (in the order of 1 W-h) and miniature (centimetre scale) size for a wireless communication node. The developed system was further tested along a buried steel pipe in poorly graded SAND and a buried medium density polyethylene (MDPE) pipe in well graded SAND.

With predicted acoustic attenuation of 1.3 dB/m and 2.1 dB/m along the buried steel and MDPE pipes, respectively, reliable acoustic communication is possible up to 17 m for the buried steel pipe and 11 m for the buried MDPE pipe.

Although an important first step, more research is needed to validate the acoustic communication system along a wider water distribution pipe network.

This paper shows the possibility of achieving reliable wireless underground communication along a buried water pipe (especially non-metallic material ones) using low-frequency acoustic propagation along the pipe wall.

Within North American institutions of higher education, the sociopolitical construct of whiteness comprises an often implicit set of lessons that are reflected not only in policy and curricula but also in the teaching practices of faculty. Such lessons perpetuate white centricity and supremacy, at enormous costs to those who have been negatively racialized. Therefore, it is critical for white faculty to engage meaningfully with ongoing processes of self-reflection, self-education, and skill development so that they can contribute positively to the interrogation and disruption of whiteness in higher education. This chapter discusses seven processual considerations for white educators who seek to interrogate and disrupt the problem of whiteness in teaching and learning.

Achieving continuous innovation performance still poses a major challenge to established companies as it requires high flexibility and adaptability in usually efficiently structured organisations. One way to tackle this challenge lies in establishing effective behaviours to successfully establish and apply innovation leadership mechanisms in an organisation. The emerging agile leadership style could provide such effective behaviours, as it addresses the demand for flexibility and adaptability on the organisational level. Despite these clear parallels research on the link between agile leadership and innovation leadership, and their possible combined contribution to drive continuous innovation performance is still in its infancy. Accordingly, the present study examines the behaviours of agile leaders to promote continuous innovation in established companies. It applies a discovery-driven research process of agile leaders to derive and categorise their behaviours. The subsequent comparison of the identified agile leadership behaviours with innovation leadership mechanisms from existing literature leads to eight specific, combined agile leadership principles within the three categories empowerment, performance enhancement, and support for continuous innovation. Eventually, this basis allows the conceptualisation of a first exploratory framework with the identified behaviours as possible enablers, and innovation leadership mechanisms as possible mediators for the continuous innovation performance, subject to test. These findings enhance existing theory by clarifying a possible link between agile leadership and continuous innovation. That way, practitioners can profit from concrete principles for agile leaders to inspire and enable continuous innovation in individuals and teams.

The purpose of this essay is to explore the opportunities and challenges that early-career researchers (ECRs) face when they seek to contribute to academic knowledge production through research activities “other than” those directly focused on making progress with their own, to-be-published, research papers in a context associated with the “publish or perish” (PoP) mentality.

Drawing broadly on the notion of technologies of humility (Jasanoff, 2003), this reflective essay develops upon the experiences of the authors in organizing and participating in a series of nine workshops undertaken between June 2013 and April 2021, as well as the arduous process of writing this paper itself. Retrospective accounts, workshop materials, email exchanges and surveys of workshop participants provide the key data sources for the analysis presented in the paper.

The paper shows how the organization of the workshops is intertwined with the building of a small community of ECRs and exploration of how to address the perceived limitations of a “gap-spotting” approach to developing research ideas and questions. The analysis foregrounds how the workshops provide a seemingly valuable research experience that is not without contradictions. Workshop participation reveals tensions between engagement in activities “other than” working on papers for publication and institutionalized pressures to produce publication outputs, between the (weak) perceived status of ECRs in the field and the aspiration to make a scholarly contribution, and between the desire to develop a personally satisfying intellectual journey and the pressure to respond to requirements that allow access to a wider community of scholars.

Our analysis contributes to debates about the ways in which seemingly valuable outputs are produced in academia despite a pervasive “publish or perish” mentality. The analysis also shows how reflexive writing can help to better understand the opportunities and challenges of pursuing activities that might be considered “unproductive” because they are not directly related to to-be-published papers.

Japan has made some progress in recognizing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) rights, such as passing laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in some cities. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of legal protection and social acceptance. Understanding citizens' attitudes toward homosexuality can help inform policies and interventions that promote LGBTQ rights and reduce discrimination. This study explores factors that influence citizens' attitudes toward homosexuality in Japan.

The research was conducted through a web-based questionnaire with 1,806 participants, where they were asked about their views on same-sex partnership recognition, homosexual rights and traditional Japanese family systems. The collected data were statistically analyzed to determine the factors that affect individuals' opinions regarding homosexuality.

The study determined that in Japan, traditional views are inversely related to same-sex partnership registration. Conversely, local government support for LGBTQ+ rights is directly associated with societal acceptance. Additionally, closer contact with the LGBTQ+ community promotes acceptance.

The study provides insights into the factors that shape societal attitudes toward homosexuality in Japan and highlights the importance of policies promoting diversity and inclusivity. By identifying these determinants, this study could help policymakers and advocates create effective strategies for promoting acceptance and equality for the LGBTQ+ community in Japan.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that focuses on understanding the factors that influence the attitudes of Japanese citizens toward homosexuality.

The COVID-19 global pandemic reframed the argument for the importance of learning management systems (LMS) in unprecedented ways. Meanwhile, LMS users were forced to use these technologies despite the heightened anxiety compounded by the pandemic, very little technical preparation and the postpandemic learning environment that cannot depend on these pandemic-imposed regulations and adoptions. This study aims to examine the impacts of behavioral control and anxiety emotions on adoption decisions.

This quantitative research uses structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.

Results showed that perceived behavioral control is very important in boosting ease of use perceptions while computer anxiety exhibited a negative impact on perceived ease of use.

This research used cross-sectional data from a medium-sized university. Results must, therefore, be interpreted with this understanding in mind. Nonetheless, this research demonstrates the critical roles of control and emotions in technology adoption decisions among students in an online learning environment.

This research highlights the importance of behavioral control and anxiety emotions in technology adoption decisions. It reveals that to drive adoption, students’ control perceptions must be increased while simultaneously keeping anxiety emotions at bay. This understanding is key to communicating buy-in of LMS to students.

This paper analyzes the value creation process in terms of the relationships between institutions, technology, integration of resources and contextual value. The study was conducted within an online learning setting in higher education, and utilized service-dominant logic as a basis for analysis.

A total of 349 responses were collected through an online survey. After removing data from respondents who did not meet the criteria and outliers, 280 responses were analyzed. Furthermore, six hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques.

The results confirm that institutions are proven to influence technology and resource integration. The technology significantly affects resource integration and value-in-context. Likewise, resource integration determines value-in-context remarkably. On the other hand, this study found no evidence of the impact of institutions on value-in-context.

The study has been conducted in the Jabodetabek area, with a sample size of only 280. An extensive survey, including a larger sample size, may reveal a broader glimpse of the value co-creation process of students in higher education institutions. Only three antecedents of contextual value have been explored, namely institutions, technology and resource integration. More strengthening and detailed findings could be derived if the antecedents of the contextual value addressed could be added. In the sampling, the researchers have used non-probability sampling for collecting data due to various constraints. The use of the probabilistic sampling method might have given some new insights to the study and made the sample more representative. The convenient sampling method employed in this study may limit the generalization of this study's findings. Therefore, the findings of the hypothesis test only apply to the selected sample data. Another limitation of the study is that the survey respondents represented an urban Indonesian perspective. So, replication of this study in different areas (e.g. west, east and central Indonesia) would help to generalize the findings. In this study, there is no evidence that institutions have a direct impact on contextual value. The authors suggest reexamining the relationship between institutions and contextual value in future studies.

In particular, the authors have succeeded in designing a new empirical model in higher education based on the perspective of service-dominant logic (S-D logic). This finding further strengthens the existence of the perspective of S-D logic as a new general theory of the market.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of titanium oxide (TiO₂) filler on the abrasive wear properties of bamboo fiber reinforced epoxy composites (BFRCs) using a Taguchi approach. The study aims to enhance the abrasive wear resistance of these composites by introducing TiO₂ filler as a potential reinforcement, thus contributing to the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly materials.

This study focuses on the fabrication of epoxy/bamboo composites infused with TiO₂ particles within the Wt.% range of 0–8 Wt.% using hand layup techniques. The resulting composites were subjected to wear testing according to ASTM G99-05 standards. Statistical analysis of the wear results was carried out using the Taguchi design of experiments (DOE). Additionally, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the influential control factors impacting the specific wear rate (SWR) and coefficient of friction (COF).

The study illuminates how integrating TiO₂ filler enhances abrasive wear in epoxy/bamboo composites. Statistical analysis of SWR highlights abrasive grit size (grit) as the most influential factor, followed by normal load, Wt.% of TiO₂ and sliding distance. Analysis of the COF identifies normal load as the primary influential factor, followed by grit, Wt.% of TiO₂ and sliding distance. The Taguchi predictive model closely aligns with experimental results, validating its reliability. The morphological study revealed significant differences between the unfilled and TiO₂-filled composites. The inclusion of TiO₂ improved wear resistance, as evidenced by reduced surface damage and wear debris.

This research paper aims to integrate TiO₂ filler and bamboo fibers to create an innovative hybrid composite material. TiO₂ micro and nanoparticles show promise as filler materials, contributing to improved tribological properties of epoxy composites. The utilization of Taguchi’s DOE and ANOVA for statistical analysis provides valuable guidance for academic researchers and practitioners in optimizing control variables, especially in the context of natural fiber reinforced composites.

The goal was emancipatory, to characterise and dislodge oppressive management practices, to allow for the possibility of seeking an alternative organisational construction free of postcolonial/subaltern subordination and discrimination in a local, well-documented narrative.

The study was informed by a postcolonial/subaltern perspective and drew on the employment experience of an Aboriginal woman, Canada’s first Indigenous Dean of a law school. The researcher employed a combination of case study and critical discourse analysis with the aim of advancing rich analyses of the complex workings of power and privilege in sustaining Western, postcolonial relations.

The study made several conclusions: first, that the institution, a medium-sized Canadian university, carefully controlled the Indigenous subaltern to remake her to be palatable to Western sensibilities. Second, the effect of this control was to assimilate her, to subordinate her Indigeneity and to civilise in a manner analogous to the purpose of Indian residential schools. Third, that rather than management’s action being rational and neutral, focused on goal attainment, efficiency and effectiveness, it was an implicit moral judgement based on her race and an opportunity to exploit her value as a means for the university’s growth and status.

Through a postcolonial/subaltern perspective, this study demonstrated how management practices reproduced barriers to the participation of an Indigenous woman and the First Nations community that an organisation was intended to serve. The study demonstrated how a Western perspective – that of a university’s administration, faculty and staff – was privileged, or taken for granted, and the Indigenous perspective subordinated, as the university remained committed to the dispossession of Indigenous knowledge and values.