Search results

In facing the upcoming surge of ‘surface mount technology’, many manufacturers of printed circuit boards have taken steps to convert some portions of their boards to this new process. However, as the availability of surface mount components is still limited, many have taken to mixing the lead‐inserted standard dual‐in‐line packages (DIPs) with the surface mounted devices (SMDs). Furthermore, to take advantage of using both sides of the board, surface‐mounted components are generally adhered to the bottom side of the board while the top side is reserved for the conventional lead‐inserted packages. If processed through a wave solder machine, the semiconductor components are now subjected to extra thermal stresses (now that the components are totally immersed into the molten solder). A discussion of the effect of wave soldering on the reliability of plastic semiconductor packages follows. This is intended to highlight the limitations which should be understood in the use of wave soldering of surface mounted components.

This study aims to explore the risk and protective factors of abuse on older adults by family caregivers, with a special focus on the protective role of caregiver resilience in elder abuse.

This cross-sectional survey was conducted on a purposive sample of 600 family caregivers of community-dwelling older adults in Hong Kong (mean age = 71.04 and female = 67.2%). Caregivers reported in a guided interview about elder abuse behaviours, caregiver burden, care recipients’ agitated behaviours, caregiver resilience, self-efficacy, social support and basic demographic characteristics. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictors of different forms of elder abuse.

Caregiver resilience was predictive of lower levels of verbal abuse, physical abuse, injury and financial exploitation but not potentially harmful behaviour (PHB). Social support was independent with all forms of elder abuse, while self-efficacy predicted greater physical abuse after the adjustment of confounding variables. Caregiver burden and agitated behaviours by care recipients remained as significant risk factors in the final models when protective factors were considered.

This study extends current knowledge on the protecting role of resilience in elder abuse in family caregiving. Mixed findings revealed on social support and self-efficacy also highlight the complexity of the prediction of caregiver abuse. Further research should address this area.

The findings of this study warrant the inclusion of caregiver resilience as a key component in developing interventions to prevent elder abuse. Addressing caregiver burden and agitated behaviours have the potential in preventing elder abuse.

The findings raise awareness of the importance of supporting caregivers in the community to prevent elder abuse.

Research concerning the protective factors of elder abuse is in a preliminary stage. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first which successfully demonstrates the protective role of resilience in caregiver abuse on older adults. The findings shed invaluable light on the design of effective interventions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of new nurses in Singapore of their experiences of role transition and to examine the implications for managers in terms of employee training, development and retention.

This qualitative study was conducted using a constructivist grounded theory approach. In total 26 novice nurses and five preceptors (n=31) from five different hospitals participated in the study. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and reflective journal entries and analysed using the constant comparative method.

The findings revealed that novice nurses remained emotionally and physically challenged when experiencing role transition. Two major constructs appear to play an important part in the transition process; learning how to Fit in and aligning personal with professional and organisational identities. The findings highlight factors that facilitate or impede Fitting in and aligning these identities.

Although the concept of Fitting in and its relation to the attrition of novice nurses has been explored in global studies, that relationship has not yet been theorised as the dynamic alignment of multiple identities. Also, whilst most research around Fitting in, identity and retention has been conducted in western countries, little is known about these issues and their interrelationship in the context of Singapore. The study should inform decision making by healthcare organisations, nurse managers and nursing training institutions with respect to improving the transition experience of novice nurses.

This study aims to examine the relationship between objective and subjective aspects of financial well-being, the role of family financial support and depression symptoms of Chinese older adults.

This study used two waves (2015 and 2018) of the Harmonized China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Two financial ratios: the expenditure-to-income ratio and the financial assets ratio, were used to measure the objective aspect of financial well-being. Perceived money management difficulty was employed to measure the subjective aspect of financial well-being. Depression symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) score. Three analytical models, including an ordinary least squares (OLS) model, an OLS model controlling for lagged depression and a random effects model using panel data, were used to examine the relationships between the objective and subject aspects of financial well-being and depression.

The results from the three models showed consistent relationships: the expenditure-to-income ratio was a positive contributor, while the financial assets ratio was a negative contributor to depression of older adults in China. The robustness check using binary-coded financial ratio thresholds showed that reaching the suggested thresholds was negatively associated with depression. Perceived money management difficulty contributed positively to depression. The robustness check using the fixed effects model showed no significance of the two ratios, while perceived money management difficulty was positively associated with depression. The insignificance might be due to data limitation (limited waves or rare changes across waves).

The findings indicate that both objective and subjective financial well-being matters in relation to depression symptoms and, therefore, to the overall mental health of the Chinese elderly. Developments in public policies are needed to promote accessible financial services, assistance programs, mental health services and facilities for the older population in China.

This study is based on job demands-resources model and the conservation of resources theory explores the roleof psychological capital (PsyCap), as a personal resource, and organizational justice (distributive and procedural), as a contextual resource, in enhancing health through work engagement. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

A sample of 193 Romanian social workers (87.60 percent women) from the national network was used to test two structural models.

Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that work engagement partially mediates the relationship between PsyCap and health, and work engagement totally mediates the relationship between organizational justice and health.

The results emphasize the role of resources, PsyCap and organizational justice, in protecting the social workers’ health.

These findings support the necessity of combined evidence-based programs to develop social worker’s PsyCap and to maintain the optimum level of perceived organizational justice. These intervention programs can, in turn, enhance the work engagement and protect the health of employees in the workplace.

This study indicates a novel conceptual model that has two simultaneous predictors of work engagement and health. It provides insights into how contextual resources (organizational justice) potentiate the effect of personal resources (PsyCap) in enhancing health.

This study aims to explore how status differences relate to strained working relationships with co-workers and clients. Two statuses, gender and occupation, are examined using data from veterinarians and animal health technologists (AHTs). Competing perspectives regarding exposure to stressful relationships and access and effectiveness of work-related resources are considered.

An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design is used that combines quantitative survey data with open-ended qualitative data. The survey data are used to examine how interpersonal strain and access to work-related resources vary by status. The qualitative data are used to illustrate how strain is experienced by these workers and aids in interpreting the quantitative findings.

Status is linked to interpersonal client strain and access to resources. Challenging work is widely available to all three groups, but is more beneficial in reducing higher status veterinarians’ client strain. Autonomy is a scarce resource for the lowest status group (female AHTs), yet appears effective in reducing co-worker strain for everyone. Unexpectedly, work overload and market concerns appear to aggravate work-related strain and greater numbers of the lowest status group exacerbates interpersonal tensions with clients.

This paper contributes by examining stressful interactions experienced by two occupations who work side-by-side in the same employment settings, but who vary significantly by gender representation and occupational status. The authors argue that in addition to gender and occupational status, the organizational health of employing clinics and the feminization of veterinary practice may offer insights into how status differences are related to interpersonal conflict experienced in these work places.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of fear of crime in older Chinese. Attempt was made to test a theoretical model which integrated the vulnerability model, “broken windows” theory, victimization theory and risk interpretation model.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 453 older adults from a representative sample recruited from Kunming using stratified sampling methods.

More than half of the participants (n=258, 57.0 percent) reported fear of one or more types of depicted common crime. By comparison, a smaller percentage (n=57, 12.6 percent) reported fear of domestic violence (FDV). Correlational analysis indicated different correlates for fear of common crime (FCC) and FDV. Female gender, a younger age, poor financial and health statuses, perception of greater social instability and neighborhood disorder, direct and/or indirect victimization and perception of a higher risk of victimization were significantly associated with higher levels of FCC. Limited social networks, perception of greater neighborhood disorder, direct and/or indirect victimization and perception of a higher risk of victimization were salient correlates of FDV. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that the integrated model explained 37 and 43 percent of the variance in FCC and FDV, respectively.

This study found diverse patterns in terms of the prevalence and risk factors for FCC and FDV. The findings have important implications for policy, practice and research.

Goal 16 of the SDGs concerns ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’. Specifically, Goal 16 states ‘Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels’. Among the targets of this goal (Target 16.5) is to ‘Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms’. Undoubtedly, the recognition and inclusion of corruption and bribery among other relevant governance aspects is laudable and necessary. This chapter examines and analyses the relationship between corruption and sustainable development, assesses regional performance through the indicators for achieving Target 16.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals and proposes other indicators and policy frameworks for improved performance toward substantially reducing corruption and bribery in all their forms.

Third-party arrangements where a university offers its degrees in collaboration with another institution are not a new phenomenon, particularly when the third-party arrangements occur in the form of a cross-border education (or widely known as transnational education). Drawing on a critical review of the literature available on quality assurance of domestic third-party arrangements and through the use of interviews with the sessional teaching staff, the paper offers theoretical as well as practical views on the domestic third-party arrangement and seeks to inform key stakeholders in the academic management of such collaboration.

The study was undertaken with 40 sessional academics who are involved in teaching postgraduate courses at several third-party education providers and universities with metropolitan campuses in Australia. Focus group interviews were conducted with 8–10 participants in each group. The qualitative study included seven open-ended questions. Each focus group interview was between 45–60 minutes.

The study found 11 universities in Australia offering courses in third-party arrangement with a focus on international students. Online third-party arrangement is also gaining momentum. The study found the following areas that require attention: induction and professional development, quality assurance arrangements, maintenance of standards, adequacy of resources and infrastructure and risk related to academic quality.

Limited study has been conducted on third-party arrangements where a university, usually located far from the city vicinity, works in a collaborative mode with another institution, primarily a private institution, to offer degrees at metropolitan city areas in the same country. Further research is needed with a large number of participants.

The study is undertaken for the first time in Australia. No research has been undertaken on the growth and quality assurance of a third-party arrangement in Australia and other developed countries. The study involves the engagement of the sessional academic staff.