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1 – 10 of 51Winco K.C. Yung, J.S. Liu and H.C. Man
Diameter and depth of craters and removing efficiency of the material of RCCR (resin coated copper) used in PCB by a single pulse energy of 355nm YAG laser with a variety of pulse…
Abstract
Diameter and depth of craters and removing efficiency of the material of RCCR (resin coated copper) used in PCB by a single pulse energy of 355nm YAG laser with a variety of pulse energy, pulse width and defocus have been studied in the paper. It is shown that the ablation rates per pulse are much higher when compared with those at 248nm. The crater diameter increases monotonically with the pulse energy. However, when the pulse energy is very high and the power density is higher than 4.0 × 109W/cm2, the crater depth and removing efficiency decrease with the increase of pulse energy. The pulse width has an important influence on the crater diameter and volume when the pulse width changes from 24ns to 38ns, whereas the influence on the crater depth is little. The influences of defocus on ablation results depend on the power density of laser beam. A certain defocus can make both crater diameter and removing efficiency increase for a relatively high power density. Meanwhile, the thermal effect in the process of 355nm laser ablation of RCCR cannot be neglected.
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It is now common for finance textbooks to discuss the concepts of the CAPM, diversification benefit, and systematic risk, as measured by beta. The purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
It is now common for finance textbooks to discuss the concepts of the CAPM, diversification benefit, and systematic risk, as measured by beta. The purpose of this paper is to clarify aspects of these concepts and make the textbooks readers aware of them. In particular, this paper seeks to: (1) clarify the notion that “diversification reduces risk,” (2) provide geometric expositions and algebraic expressions of portfolio benefits in the context of both total risk and market risk, and (3) improve the interpretation of beta.
Tatjana Thimm and Ralf Seepold
The purpose of this paper is to find out tourism movement patterns via the tracking of tourists with the help of positioning systems like GPS in the rural area of the Lake…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find out tourism movement patterns via the tracking of tourists with the help of positioning systems like GPS in the rural area of the Lake Constance destination in Germany. In doing so past, present and future of tourist tracking is illustrated.
Design/methodology/approach
The tracking is realized via common smartphones extended by an app, with dedicated sensors like position loggers and a survey. The three different approaches are applied in order to compare and cross-check results (triangulation of data and methods).
Findings
Movement patterns turned out to be diverse and individualistic within the rural destination of Lake Constance and following an ants trail in sub-destinations like the city of Constance. Repeat visitors and first-time visitors alike always visit the bigger cities and main day-trip destinations of the Lake. A possible prediction tool enables new avenues of governing tourism movement patterns.
Research limitations/implications
The tracking techniques can be developed further into the direction of “quantified self” using gamification in order to make the tracking app even more attractive.
Practical implications
An algorithm-based prediction tool would offer new perspectives to the management of tourism movements.
Social implications
Further research is needed to overcome the feeling of invasiveness of the app to allow tracking with that approach.
Originality/value
This study is original and innovative because of the first-time use of a smartphone app in tourist tracking, the application on a rural destination and the conceptual description of a prediction tool.
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This study focuses on how the creation of a new market identity, defined here by the social categories that specify what to expect of products and organizations, helps legitimize…
Abstract
This study focuses on how the creation of a new market identity, defined here by the social categories that specify what to expect of products and organizations, helps legitimize normatively illegitimate products and thereby facilitate the formation of markets for these products. A product is given a legitimate market identity by recombining existing product and status categories in a way that is both isomorphic with and differentiated from these preexisting categories. I argue that the creation of a new market identity helped create a market for feature films that combined legitimate comedy and illegitimate pornography following the legalization of pornography in Denmark in 1969. Topological analyses of the cultural content of all the film posters used to promote Danish films between 1970 and 1978, and regression analyses of the status of the actors appearing in these films document the importance of market identity in legitimizing illegitimacy.
Maria Andersson, Bodil Wilde-Larsson and Mona Persenius
The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare nurses’ and healthcare assistants’ oral care quality perceptions, including perceived reality (PR) and subjective importance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare nurses’ and healthcare assistants’ oral care quality perceptions, including perceived reality (PR) and subjective importance (SI), to identify improvement areas in intensive care and short-term care, and to explore potential nursing satisfaction predictors regarding oral care.
Design/methodology/approach
Swedish staff, 154 within intensive care and 278 within short-term care responded to a modified quality of care from a patient perspective questionnaire. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used.
Findings
Staff scored oral care quality both high and low in relation to PR and SI. Improvement areas were identified, despite high satisfaction values regarding oral care. Setting, SI and PR explained 51.5 percent of the variance in staff satisfaction regarding oral care quality.
Practical implications
Quality improvements could guide oral care development.
Originality/value
This study describes oral care by comparing nurse perceptions of how important they perceive different oral care aspects and to what extent these oral care aspects are performed.
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Gertrude Mwalabu, Annie Msosa, Ingrid Tjoflåt, Kristin Hjorthaug Urstad, Bodil Bø, Christina Furskog Risa, Masauko Msiska and Patrick Mapulanga
The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical readiness of simulation-based education (SBE) in preparing nursing and midwifery students for clinical practice in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical readiness of simulation-based education (SBE) in preparing nursing and midwifery students for clinical practice in sub-Saharan Africa. This study has synthesised the findings from existing research studies and provides an overview of the current state of SBE in nursing and midwifery programs in the region.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative meta-synthesis of previous studies was conducted using the following steps: developing a review question, developing and a search strategy, extracting and meta-synthesis of the themes from the literature and meta-synthesis of themes. Five databases were searched for from existing English literature (PubMed, Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Professional Literature [CINAHL], PsycINFO, EMBASE and ScienceDirect Medline, CINAHL and Science Direct), including grey literature on the subject. Eight qualitative studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa between 2014 and 2022 were included. Hawker et al.'s framework was used to assess quality.
Findings
The following themes emerged from the literature. Theme 1: Improved skills and competencies through realism and repetition. Theme 2: Improved skills and competencies through realism and repetition. Theme 3: Improved learning through debriefing and reflection. Theme 4: Constraints of simulation as a pedagogical teaching strategy.
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative meta-synthesis intended to cover articles from 2012 to 2022. Between 2012 and 2013, the authors could not identify purely qualitative studies from sub-Saharan Africa. The studies identified were either mixed methods or purely quantitative. This constitutes a study limitation.
Practical implications
Findings emphasise educator training in SBE. Comprehensive multidisciplinary training, complemented by expertise and planned debriefing sessions, serves as a catalyst for fostering reflective learning. Well-equipped simulation infrastructure is essential in preparing students for their professional competencies for optimal patient outcomes. Additional research is imperative to improve the implementation of SBE in sub-Saharan Africa.
Originality/value
The originality and value of SBE in nursing and midwifery programs in sub-Saharan Africa lie in its contextual relevance, adaptation to resource constraints, innovative teaching methodologies, provision of a safe learning environment, promotion of interprofessional collaboration and potential for research and evidence generation. These factors contribute to advancing nursing and midwifery education and improving healthcare outcomes in the region. This study fills this gap in the literature.
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Emma Hagqvist, Stig Vinberg, Bodil J. Landstad and Mikael Nordenmark
The purpose of this paper is to explore the gaps between experienced working conditions (WCs) and the perceived importance of these conditions in relation to subjective health in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the gaps between experienced working conditions (WCs) and the perceived importance of these conditions in relation to subjective health in Swedish public sector workplaces.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 379 employees answered questions concerning WCs and health. Nine WC areas were created to measure the gap between the experienced WCs and the perceived importance of each condition. These WC areas were: physical work environment, social relationships, communication, leadership, job control, recognition, self-development, workplace culture and work/life satisfaction. Subjective health was measured using mental ill health, well-being and general health.
Findings
The results indicated relatively large gaps in all nine WC areas. Leadership, physical work environment and work/life satisfaction in particular seemed to be problematic areas with relatively large gaps, meaning that employees have negative experiences of these areas while perceiving these areas as very important. Additionally, all WC areas were significantly related to subjective health, especially regarding mental ill health and well-being; the larger the gaps, the worse the subjective health. The WC areas of work/life satisfaction, self-development, social relationships, communication and recognition had the highest relationships and model fits. This indicates that it is most problematic from an employee’s point of view if there are large gaps within these WC areas.
Originality/value
This study improves the understanding of workplace health by exploring the gap between experienced WCs and the perceived importance of these conditions.
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Åsa Tjulin, Bodil Landstad, Stig Vinberg, Andrea Eriksson and Emma Hagqvist
The increasingly demanding psychosocial working conditions in Swedish public sector workplaces call for implementation of workplace health promotion (WHP) interventions. There is…
Abstract
Purpose
The increasingly demanding psychosocial working conditions in Swedish public sector workplaces call for implementation of workplace health promotion (WHP) interventions. There is a need to increase first-line public sector managers’ capacities for health-promoting leadership. The purpose of this paper is to investigate first-line managers’ experiences of participating in an intervention aimed at strengthening health-promoting leadership. More precisely, the aim is to study what obstacles and prerequisites the intervention have for their learning processes to become health-promoting managers.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study in Northern Sweden at workplaces in the county council and municipalities was conducted. The data were gathered through individual interviews with 18 participating first-line managers. Inductive-content analysis was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The results identify time for reflection and collegial discussions about leadership as prerequisites for learning about health-promoting leadership. Managers experienced the intervention as a confirmation of the leadership behaviours already gained. However, the health-promoting leadership intervention was seen as a contradiction, since organisational prerequisites to implement WHP measures were perceived to be lacking. The managers were not involved in the planning of the intervention and questioned why the organisation did not involve them more when the educational activities were created.
Originality/value
When the organisation understands how and when its managers learn, what they need and want to learn about WHP, and what they already know, tailored participatory interventions can be facilitated that consider the unique prerequisites for the particular organisation.
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Marie Vestergaard Mikkelsen and Bodil Stilling Blichfeldt
Holidays are often conceptualized as an opportunity for individuals to escape everyday life responsibilities, roles and relations. However, families bring with them domestic…
Abstract
Purpose
Holidays are often conceptualized as an opportunity for individuals to escape everyday life responsibilities, roles and relations. However, families bring with them domestic, everyday life responsibilities, bonds and relationships while holidaying. So far, research on family holidays has emphasized the nuclear family, largely assuming that holidays include a husband-wife-child(ren) constellation. However, family holidays come in many different forms, and this paper aims to focus on the under-researched issue of grandparents and grandchildren vacationing together.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on 81 qualitative in situ interviews with grandparents, who vacation together with their grandchildren at Danish caravan sites, this paper explores how grandparents and grandchildren “do” family during joint holidays. Although attempts were made to give voice to children, the paper predominantly uses data from interviews with grandparents.
Findings
Although grandparent–grandchildren holidays resemble nuclear family holidays in a number of ways, significant differences are also identified. Key differences are that these holidays enable grandparents and grandchildren to interact both more intensively and in ways they cannot do (as easily) at home; are a means for grandparents to help and support their children; allow for grandparents and grandchildren to be both together and apart; and are critical to how contemporary families enact and “do” family across generations.
Originality/value
The paper deepens knowledge on the under-explored topic of extended family consumption in tourism and points to grandparent–grandchild holidays as an important element of how grandparents “do” family.
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Bodil Stilling Blichfeldt, Aurimas Pumputis and Kiya Ebba
Travelers are both surrounded by and perform places, thus making places ambiguous sites that “come alive” when travelers use them and engage in various performances. A place many…
Abstract
Purpose
Travelers are both surrounded by and perform places, thus making places ambiguous sites that “come alive” when travelers use them and engage in various performances. A place many travelers pass through is the airport. Airports are places where travelers’ performances are restricted in many ways and waiting is a key element of the airport experience. This paper contributes with knowledge on what airport terminals “are”, not as designs or material objects but as places enacted by travelers. In doing so, the paper aims to emphasize on both how travelers “see” airports and how they use them.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses different qualitative methods and notions of time and waiting. Sources of data are small-scale netnography, focus group interviews, observations done at airports and qualitative interviews.
Findings
The study shows that airport terminals are heterogeneously enacted environments that are heavily inscribed with the mundane act of waiting and travelers use a series of different strategies to “use”, “spend” and “kill” time. Furthermore, whereas more affluent travelers spend waiting time using airports’ commercial offerings (shopping, restaurants, bars, etc.), less affluent travelers do not have the same options.
Research limitations/implications
The research points to airport terminals as not only “places of movement and mobility” but also “places of waiting” inscribed with boredom and travelers actively fight boredom by spending, using and killing time in a variety of ways. Furthermore, the study points to significant differences between affluent travelers and other travelers and differences between people travelling alone and in groups. Therefore, a call is made for research focusing on less affluent travelers, people traveling in groups and on waiting and waiting time.
Practical implications
The study suggests that airports are more than consumerscapes and places of movement, hereby questioning the current focus on commercial revenues.
Social implications
The study points to airport space as space “inhabited” not only by travelers willingly taking on the roles as consumers but also by travelers that kill, spend and use waiting time in other ways, hereby questioning the idea that airports are places for the “elite”.
Originality/value
Travelers associate airports with boredom and inscribe them with waiting. However, travelers “fight” boredom and waiting with performances and acts designed to use, spend, pass and “kill” time. Hereby, travelers not only accept but also construct the seemingly mundane act of waiting as restricted, negotiated and confined, but nevertheless meaningful performances.
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