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The objective of this paper is to study the efficacy of the ASPECTSS Design Index's concepts as drivers of design intervention for educational environments for students on the autism spectrum. Based on the seven principles of acoustics, spatial sequencing, escape spaces, compartmentalization, transitions, sensory zoning and safety, ASPECTSS formed the basis for a preliminary post-occupancy evaluation (POE) and survey of an existing school environment.

Concepts drawn from the review of other strategies for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) friendly design were integrated with the seven ASPECTSS principles to create a design framework and consequent design retro-fit for a Pre-K-12th grade public school for students on the autism spectrum. The following design interventions were proposed: colour-coding based navigation; acoustical treatments in key circulation spaces; introduction of transition alcoves; classroom reorganisation using compartmentalization principles and the introduction of escape spaces for de-escalation. Specifically, a classroom template of modules of ASPECTSS-compliant layouts was provided to all staff. The efficacy and impact of these interventions were assessed using a whole campus online staff survey with further probing using classroom observations and subsequent interviews.

The results show alignment between the implementation of the ASPECTSS informed design interventions and responses to nine of the Likert scale items were all significantly lower than the middle response, indicating a high degree of satisfaction from survey respondents. These questions and responses related to the colour scheme facilitating ease of navigation for visitors of the school, the acoustics of the building successfully mitigating sound magnification and subsequently student distractibility, the organisation of the classrooms enhancing learning and the de-escalation zones allowing improved management of disruptive behaviours in the classroom.

This study focuses primarily on the Autism ASPECTSS Design Index as a framework for assessing classroom efficacy. Other tools and frameworks may produce different insights. A single school site was studied. Validation of these findings in other school environments is necessary before generalising these strategies at scale. The use of qualitative tools, primarily teacher and staff surveys, provides one lens into the efficacy of these design strategies. Further research using measurable biometric indicators such as heart-rate and stress levels measured through wearable technology could provide a first step towards the triangulation of these findings.

These findings could help provide more standardised best practices for designing learning environments for autism, potentially providing supportive strategies with real impact on learning quality, skill development and knowledge acquisition in school environments. This could potentially have economic implications by supporting more efficient progress for autistic students through their school curriculum.

Similar to economic impact, if validated and generalised, these findings could help with sense of accomplishment, general mental health improvement, alleviation of family stress and potential reduction of stigma in the autism community.

There is a slowly emerging field of design guidance for autism schools, but very little empirical evidence on the measurable efficacy of these strategies. This research provides one type of such evidence, as measured by the perceived impact from the point of view of staff and teachers at the school.

Healthcare environments are highly complex and full of variation and inefficiency. However, variation and inefficiency can be measured and improved, providing better quality care at a lower cost. This study aims to report the application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in a haematology laboratory in a university hospital in Egypt.

The authors used case study research. Applying the define, measure, analyse, improve and control phases of the DMAIC methodology together with lean tools, the problem was identified, the process mapped, the causes analysed and improvements implemented.

Results show that LSS can be successfully implemented in challenging public sector healthcare settings. Management commitment, generating and implementing ideas from frontline staff, using a variety of quality tools and previous LSS training were all key to success. This is evidence that the LSS methodology is adaptable to any process, people or place.

There are no publications on LSS implementation in health care in Egypt. This study demonstrates the successful use of LSS in a university hospital (public sector) in a developing country, sharing insight into the facilitators and barriers in a real context with others in the healthcare field.

The purpose of this paper is to provide library professionals with insights into students’ fake news judgment and the importance of teaching media and information literacy, not as an option but as a core educational requirement.

Qualtrics was used to collect the study data. Students completed a set of tasks designed in the form of a survey that entailed verifying whether news, stories, images and news sources were real, fake, dubious or trustworthy. Statistical tests were used to asses whether their responses depended on criteria, such as faculty and gender.

No significant relationship exists between the students’ responses and variables, such as gender, student category, fact-checking and source of information. The findings reveal that students’ ability to identify the authoritativeness of information is dependent on the faculty in which they are enrolled.

This paper reports the first known attempt in Lebanon to measure students’ ability in distinguishing fake from real news. The results of this paper can be used by library professionals, particularly in Lebanon, to convey the importance of teaching and embedding media and information literacy into their curriculum.

The subject of the article is the concept of augmented intelligence, which constitutes a further stage in the development of research on artificial intelligence. This is a new phenomenon that has rarely been considered in the subject literature so far, which may be interesting for the fields of social sciences and humanities. The aim is to describe the features of this technology and determine the practical and ethical problems associated with its implementation in libraries.

The method of literature review was used. Systematic searches according to specific questions were carried out using the Scopus and Web of Science scientific databases, as well as Google Scholar and the LISTA abstract database.

The results established that the issue of augmented intelligence has barely been discussed in the field of librarianship. Although this technology may be interesting as a new area of librarian research and as a new framework for designing innovative services, deep ethical consideration is necessary before this technology is introduced in libraries.

The article deals with some of the newest technologies available, and this topic is generally very rarely discussed in scientific publications in either the social sciences or humanities. Therefore, due to the limited availability of materials, the findings presented in the article are primarily of a conceptual nature. The aim is to present this topic from the perspective of librarianship and to create a starting point for further discussion on the ethical aspects of introducing new technologies in libraries.

The results can be widely used in practice as a framework for the implementation of augmented intelligence in libraries.

The article can help to facilitate the debate on the role of implementing new technologies in libraries.

The problem of augmented intelligence is very rarely addressed in the subject literature in the field of library and information science.

Nurses need to display organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) for taking care of patients; uninterrupted care to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in a stressful situation may result in emotional exhaustion and it hinders nurses' exercise of OCB. One perceives support when positive exchanges with team leaders and members (LMX) and team and members (TMX) take place for the benefit of self and the unit and lead to a feeling of commitment to the work team; the exchange facilitates the discharge of OCB. The study aims to explore the mediation effect of team commitments on the relationship between these factors with OCB of nurses in handling COVID patients.

The cross-sectional exercise attempts to find the impact of emotional exhaustion, LMX and TMX on the OCB of the nurses and mediating effects of team commitments on OCB; correlation analysis and multiple regressions are in use for examining the relationships. The use of Sobel test and bootstrapping exercise confirm the mediation and consistency of mediation results on a larger sample.

The paper finds that LMX, TMX and team commitments significantly relate to OCB; emotional exhaustion negatively impacts OCB and team commitments fully mediate the relationship between emotional exhaustion and OCB and partially mediate the relation between LMX and TMX with OCB.

Tests demonstrate that team commitments can neutralize the effects of emotional exhaustion resulting from handling COVID-19 patients on OCB of the nurses and is an addition to organizational behavior literature. The study also presents a model that shows how positive LMX, TMX and resultant team commitments support generating OCB and offset the impact of emotional exhaustion. Theoretical and managerial implications, limitations and scope for further research discussed in the paper.

Building on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to investigate employee empowerment’s moderation effect on the relationship of situational (job satisfaction, affective commitment) and dispositional (positive affectivity, emotional intelligence) variables toward the emotional exhaustion of service employees amidst the pandemic.

In total, 288 service employees from various sectors in Indonesia participate as the study’s respondents. This study applies a two-stage structural equation modeling approach to test the hypotheses.

The results show that employee empowerment moderates situational and dispositional variables differently. While employee empowerment significantly influences situational variables, a different situation is found on dispositional variables, that employee empowerment does not significantly influence these variables. This study’s findings portray the COR theory in practice and clarify the importance of employee empowerment for employees with particular attributions.

The present study bears four limitations: the cross-sectional design; no exploration of dispositional and situational variables’ antecedents; the findings are limited to the service workers; and lastly, this study only takes Indonesian samples.

From a practical perspective, this study reveals which type of service employees are responsive to empowerment policy and which are prone to experience emotional exhaustion, particularly during a crisis.

By understanding what factors determine employee empowerment’s effectiveness, managers could maximize the impacts of their empowerment policies. Subsequently, it will create better service deliveries which might benefit the broader societal scope.

This study contributes to both theoretical and practical understanding. Theoretically, this study adds and promotes using a categorical lens to examine the pattern of interactions between organizations and employees.