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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 December 2023

Francis Olawale Abulude, Domenico Suriano, Samuel Dare Oluwagbayide, Akinyinka Akinnusotu, Ifeoluwa Ayodeji Abulude and Emmanuel Awogbindin

This study aimed to characterize the concentrations of indoor pollutants (such as carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as well as…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to characterize the concentrations of indoor pollutants (such as carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as well as particulate matter (PM) (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10) in Akure, Nigeria, as well as the relationship between the parameters’ concentrations.

Design/methodology/approach

The evaluation, which lasted four months, used a low-cost air sensor that was positioned two meters above the ground. All sensor procedures were correctly carried out.

Findings

CO2 (430.34 ppm), NO2 (93.31 ppb), O3 (19.94 ppb), SO2 (40.87 ppb), PM1 (29.31 µg/m3), PM2.5 (43.56 µg/m3), PM10 (50.70 µg/m3), temperature (32.4°C) and relative humidity (50.53%) were the average values obtained. The Pearson correlation depicted the relationships between the pollutants and weather factors. With the exception of April, which had significant SO2 (18%) and low PM10 (49%) contributions, NO2 and PM10 were the most common pollutants in all of the months. The mean air quality index (AQI) for NO2 indicated that the AQI was “moderate” (51–100). In contrast to SO2, whose AQI ranged from “moderate” to “very unhealthy,” O3's AQI ranged from “good” (50) to “unhealthy” (151–200). Since PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 made up the majority of PC1’s contribution, both PM2.5 and PM10 were deemed “hazardous.”

Practical implications

The practical implication of indoor air pollution is long-term health effects, including heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases such as emphysema. Indoor air pollution can also cause long-term damage to people’s nerves, brain, kidneys, liver and other organs.

Originality/value

Lack of literature in terms of indoor air quality (IAQ) in Akure, Ondo State. With this work, the information obtained will assist all stakeholders in policy formulation and implementation. Again, the low-cost sensor used is new to this part of the world.

Details

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-9899

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 September 2023

David D. Knoll A.M.

This study aims to investigate Australian civil tribunal decisions to ascertain compliance with decisional quality standards in Australian law, with a particular focus on strata…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate Australian civil tribunal decisions to ascertain compliance with decisional quality standards in Australian law, with a particular focus on strata and community title cases.

Design/methodology/approach

An orthodox doctrinal legal analysis and assessment of cases and tribunal policies was adopted. All Australian jurisdictions were surveyed, including federal, state and territory jurisdictions. The case law in each jurisdiction was screened to identify whether the principles applicable to decisional quality were engaged and then analysed as to the extent of that engagement.

Findings

Where a party presents a substantial, clearly particularised argument relying upon established facts, tribunals are obliged to address those facts and the arguments by way of an active intellectual process. However, appellate decisions disclose a degree of deference not often accorded to judicial officers, and there is a need for a more disciplined approach to ascertain whether any errors have been made by a tribunal lie on the critical path to the decision. As strata and community title disputes become more complex, the importance of decisional quality standards can only increase.

Research limitations/implications

Up to date as of 1 March 2023.

Practical implications

The present position would appear to be that where a party presents a substantial, clearly particularised argument relying upon established facts, a tribunal must address its mind to those facts and the arguments by way of an active intellectual process. The requirement is limited to circumstances prescribed by a statute and factual and legal issues which are necessary to be determined in order for the tribunal to be satisfied as to circumstances prescribed by a statute. However, where the errors are not gross and plainly obvious, appeals from defective tribunal decisions are unlikely to succeed. There is a degree of deference not often accorded to judicial officers. That deference is unfortunate when tribunals are allocated jurisdiction over what quite often are significant property disputes.

Social implications

The impact on community living of uncorrected poor quality tribunal decisions can be immense, depending on the degree of error. For example, water ingress into people’s homes might remain unremedied for many years, as, for example, occurred in the Marinko case.

Originality/value

The research and analysis is entirely original. A search of journals and textbooks did not identify any prior analysis, at least in the Australian context, relating to decisional quality standards of tribunals.

Details

Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9407

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 September 2023

Shang Gao, Toong-Khuan Chan and Phil Hendy

Infrastructure projects are complex, task-based endeavours; the reliability of project schedules is often low, as delays occur. As a result, the infrastructure sector is…

Abstract

Purpose

Infrastructure projects are complex, task-based endeavours; the reliability of project schedules is often low, as delays occur. As a result, the infrastructure sector is constantly searching for innovative practices that might improve project performance. This study aims to pursue one research question: what are the benefits and challenges to last planner system (LPS) implementation in Australia’s infrastructure industry? It addresses this question through an examination of two rail infrastructure projects in Victoria, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

The state of Victoria in Australia provides an excellent context for this study. The study was set in one of the programme alliances which was contracted to carry out five level-crossing removal projects. This study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, including surveys, interviews and site visits. The authors collected 43 valid survey responses. Additionally, 19 participants from the alliance programme’s two projects (Projects A and B) took part in the interviews. Extensive empirical evidence has been triangulated to achieve the research goals.

Findings

The findings show through the questionnaire survey that the greatest benefits that digital LPS brings are primarily associated with process improvement and social benefits. The interview results acknowledged that the roll-out of digital LPS had a positive impact on schedules, cost, occupational health and safety (OHS) and quality performance. The research also noted a few challenges in the introduction of digital LPS. Overall, the finding presents strong evidence that the introduction of digital LPS has been a clear success in the case company.

Originality/value

This is the first piece of research to fill this major gap in the LPS literature by exploring the issue of digital LPS adoption in Australia’s infrastructure sector. This study has thus laid the foundation for future work on LPS research in the Australian context. The authors are optimistic that this exploratory work will generate interest across other alliances, and perhaps extend into Australia’s construction sector.

Details

Construction Innovation , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-4175

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 December 2023

Inge Hill, Sara R. S. T. A. Elias, Stephen Dobson and Paul Jones

This chapter examines emerging theoretical approaches and thematic aspects of creative and cultural entrepreneurship and the significant societal and economic contributions of…

Abstract

This chapter examines emerging theoretical approaches and thematic aspects of creative and cultural entrepreneurship and the significant societal and economic contributions of creative firms. It reviews the concepts and definitions essential to examining creative industry entrepreneurship. The authors then provide framing for this exceptional collection of chapters in Volume 1 (of 2) and discuss existing research approaches from surveys and small-scale qualitative studies. Then, the chapter’s overview showcases the range of international research included in three sections: conceptual reflections on creative and cultural entrepreneurship, resilience and adaptation of creative and cultural enterprises, and insights into creative subsectors. Finally, the chapter proposes a research agenda for developing the field further, addressing methodological gaps (longitudinal studies and cluster research), emerging thematics (rural creative industries and creative placemaking) and sector studies (game and film industries).

Abstract

Details

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

Book part
Publication date: 9 August 2023

Rachel Seoighe

In this chapter, I reflect on the place of hope in activist criminology. Offering reflections from my own activist scholarship, this chapter draws out the ways in which hope…

Abstract

In this chapter, I reflect on the place of hope in activist criminology. Offering reflections from my own activist scholarship, this chapter draws out the ways in which hope structures and sustains our work across temporal frames and distinct modes of academic practice. This chapter develops a hopeful analysis of lineage, memory and resistance, reflecting on my participatory research with the Tamil community in London, and reflects on the revival of utopian thought in criminological scholarship. Hopeful imaginaries of an abolitionist future inform my scholar-activism with Reclaim Holloway – an abolitionist collective formed to influence the redevelopment of the Holloway prison site. I describe this future-oriented work before considering hope as a practice in the present, focusing on ‘pedagogies of hope’ as activist criminology in the classroom.

Details

The Emerald International Handbook of Activist Criminology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-199-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 September 2023

Janandani Nanayakkara, Alison O. Booth, Anthony Worsley and Claire Margerison

This study aims to gain an understanding from parents and teachers about the types of food provision practices and venues, and the food-related policies and rules in primary…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to gain an understanding from parents and teachers about the types of food provision practices and venues, and the food-related policies and rules in primary schools in Australia; and investigate any differences in the presence of policies and rules based on the school location and school type.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected via two online surveys from August 2019 to March 2020. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse quantitative responses. Respondents' written responses to food-related policies were categorised into groups.

Findings

The two most common food provision services were canteen and lunch order services (mentioned by 72 and 55% of respondents, respectively). Of the 425 respondents whose schools had a canteen (parents and teachers together), 62% reported their school implements a healthy school canteen policy. Significantly more parents compared to teachers, and more respondents from government schools compared to non-government schools stated that their school had implemented such a policy. Approximately half of the respondents (47%) stated their school had implemented other food-related policies and/or rules. These policies or rules belonged to four categories: avoiding certain foods, avoiding food sharing, avoiding food packages and promoting healthy eating.

Originality/value

This study shows the disparities exist in implementing food-related policies among primary schools in Australia. Nutrition promoters and policy planners should consider these results and find the best mechanisms to minimise the gaps in policy implementation.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2023

Victoria Helen Rustad Bjerke

The purpose of this study is to identify contextual antecedents for team learning in professional service firms.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify contextual antecedents for team learning in professional service firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modelling was applied to establish reliability and validity and to measure the size of relationships. Evidence was drawn from an empirical sample of 210 consultants in the Nordic professional service industry.

Findings

The findings of this study reveal and strongly support that two important contextual antecedent factors that facilitate for team learning in professional service firms are market orientation and leader support for collaborative learning practices. The effect of leader support on team learning is also mediated by a market orientation.

Originality/value

There is a paucity of knowledge on contextual factors that contribute to team learning. This study provides insight of theoretical and practical value.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 August 2023

Thalia Anthony and Vicki Chartrand

Over the past decade, criminology in Australia, Canada and other settler colonies has increasingly engaged with activist challenges to the penal system. These anti-carceral…

Abstract

Over the past decade, criminology in Australia, Canada and other settler colonies has increasingly engaged with activist challenges to the penal system. These anti-carceral engagements have been levelled at its laws, institutions and agents. Following a long history of criminology explicating and buttressing penal institutions, the criminological gaze slowly transitioned in the 1970s to a more critical lens, shifting focus from the people who are criminalised to the harms of the apparatus that criminalises. However, the focus remained steadfastly on institutions and dominant players – until much more recently. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the strength of activist organisations and grassroots movements in affecting change and shaping debates in relation to the penal system. This chapter will explore the role of activism in informing criminological scholarship during the pandemic period and how criminologists, in turn, have increasingly recognised the need to build alliances and collaborations with grassroots activists and engage in their own activism. The chapter focuses primarily on Australian and Canadian criminology and its growing imbrication with the prison abolition movement, especially in the shadow of ongoing colonial violence. It considers how activist scholars, including ourselves, attempt to build movements for structural change in the criminal system and beyond.

Details

The Emerald International Handbook of Activist Criminology
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-199-0

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 December 2022

John Langdale

This study aims to examine the role of Australian casinos in facilitating money laundering and Chinese capital flight.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the role of Australian casinos in facilitating money laundering and Chinese capital flight.

Design/methodology/approach

The reports and transcripts of evidence from government inquiries into money laundering in Australian casinos are integrated with analyses of Asian transnational crime.

Findings

Money laundering in Australian casinos is linked to transnational crime and Chinese capital flight. A central finding is that junket operators play a key role in facilitating money laundering. The casinos are particularly exposed to criminal influences in the Chinese very important person gambling market, since they have used junket operators and underground banks, many of whom are closely linked to major Chinese criminal groups from Hong Kong and Macau.

Research limitations/implications

Very little information is available on money laundering in Australian casinos and this research has relied on the government inquiries that have been conducted over the past two years on the subject.

Practical implications

The author’s focus on money laundering in Australian casinos in the context of Asia-Pacific transnational crime is important for Federal and state government regulators grappling with the rapidly changing money laundering issues. The government inquiries recognised that the money laundering was related to transnational crime, but did not have the time and resources to explore the topic. The paper provides state government casino regulators and financial crime regulators with a broader international perspective to anticipate future money laundering and crime pressures facing Australia’s casinos.

Social implications

Money laundering in Australian casinos has had devastating social implications on the community. My research helps to focus attention on the problems of transnational crime and money laundering.

Originality/value

Little research has examined the linkages between casinos and transnational crime. This study has found that Australian casinos were used to launder the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking and to facilitate Chinese capital flight. While casinos have been forced by damming government inquiries to tighten anti-money laundering controls, it is likely that there will be pressure to relax these controls in the future because of competitive pressure from other casinos in the Asia-Pacific region.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 26 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

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