Birmingham City University Open Access Repository
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New business model proposal in the digital age: sustainability-focused servitization
No full textPurpose
With the pressure of global markets and demanding customers, most production companies are moving from pure production to the integration of products and services. This new formation is known as servitization and can give companies a strong competitive advantage. The recent studies in the literature propose that servitization has a positive impact on sustainability by improved energy consumption. However, they also underscored the need for better implementation of sustainability and the barriers avoiding sustainable servitization behavior. This research aims to investigate sustainability-oriented servitization barriers, which have not taken any attention by previous research, and their relationships for successful implementations.
Design/methodology/approach
We extracted fifteen servitization barriers from the literature and a focus group study. Then we presented their relationship with sustainable dimensions such as human, business, economic and market, and environment. Using the selected experts’ assessments, we implemented Fuzzy-TISM to analyze the causal relationship among the barriers. We also implemented Fuzzy-MICMAC analysis to categorize the barriers.
Findings
The findings presented that lack of understanding of customer, cultural problems, high market risk, financial constraints, lack of environmental awareness, and lack of environmental regulations are independent variables and play a very critical role in the success of sustainable-servitization implementations. Finally, we proposed several managerial insights and a structured hierarchical model that can be used as a guide by practitioners to develop a better strategy for their implementations.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, a detailed examination of the barriers and challenges in the triple bottom line approach is already missing at the desired level. From this point of view, this study is the first research that determines barriers of servitization based on the triple-bottom-line model with a sustainability perspective
The Effects of Time‐Restricted Feeding on Handgrip Strength, Vigilance, and Perceived Anxiety and Depression in Older Adults: A Comparative Study Between Active and Sedentary Populations
No full textBackground and Aims
Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF), a form of time‐restricted feeding, influences various physiological and psychological functions. However, its effects on older adults remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the impact of RIF on physical and mental health parameters, comparing active and sedentary older individuals. Specifically, we assessed handgrip strength (HGS), vigilance performance, anxiety, and depression levels to determine whether regular physical activity mitigates potential adverse effects of RIF.
Methods
Fifty‐eight older adults (mean age 62.93 ± 3.99 years; 50% female) participated in this study. They were classified into an active group ( n = 26) and sedentary group ( n = 32) based on self‐reported physical activity levels. Assessments were conducted before and during RIF and included HGS measurement using a handheld dynamometer, a digital psychomotor vigilance test, and validated questionnaires (General Anxiety Disorder‐7, Geriatric Depression Scale, and Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly).
Results
During RIF, both groups showed significant improvements in vigilance, anxiety, and depression scores, with more pronounced benefits in the active group. However, sedentary participants experienced a decline in HGS, whereas active individuals maintained stable muscle strength.
Conclusion
Regular physical activity during RIF appears to enhance vigilance and mental health while preventing muscle strength decline in older adults. These findings highlight the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle during RIF to support both physical and mental health in aging populations
Beyond Behavior: Understanding ADHD Burnout and the Need for Belonging in UAE Schools
No full textAttention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in the UAE and poses specific difficulties in school settings. There is a wide gap in researching internationally, and within the UAE specifically, ADHD burnout, defined as emotional fatigue and mental overwhelm, is an emerging concept. Despite growing awareness, ADHD burnout is under-researched and poorly addressed in education systems. This qualitative study explores parents' views on ADHD burnout and its connection to the children's sense of belonging in schools in the UAE. Informed by Social Identity Theory and Cognitive Load Theory, the study aims to understand how these theories, when combined, impact the students' experiences. Eight parents took part in four online focus groups, and discussions were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. Four key themes were identified: (1) Assailable humans—feelings of overwhelm and the struggle to fit in; (2) Behavior as communication—manifestations of social isolation; (3) The surrounding ecology—supportive relationships versus lack of understanding; and (4) Collective assistance—challenges in maintaining pace with peers. The findings emphasize the need to address ADHD burnout and school belonging, highlighting the need of met staff training and policy initiatives aimed at fostering neuro-affirming practices in inclusive schools
A Novel Steel Lazy Wave Riser Configuration for Ultra-Deepwater
No full textA steel lazy wave riser (SLWR) configuration combines buoyancy modules with a traditional steel catenary riser (SCR). The buoyancy section at the riser separates the floater's motion and acts as a damper toward the critical area in the touchdown point, improving the strength and fatigue performance. In ultra-deepwater environments, the substantial payload of risers due to extreme riser length imposes considerable tension and stress, challenging the limits of traditional configurations such as SLWR and SCR. The effective tension, maximum stress, and minimum bend radius at ultra-deep depths of these conventional risers would exceed the allowable limits, leading to potential structural failure. To address these limitations, this study proposes a novel riser configuration, the shaped steel lazy wave riser (SSLWR), specifically for ultra-deepwater conditions. By introducing an additional buoy section, SSLWR effectively reduces the effective tension while ensuring allowable stress distribution across the riser length, enhancing structural reliability and operational feasibility over traditional risers. OrcaFlex, a fully 3D non-linear finite element software widely used in maritime structure analysis, was used to simulate the effective tension, maximum stress, and minimum bend radius of the SCR, SLWR, and SSLWR configurations at 3000 m depth. The SSLWR shows a maximum effective tension that is less than half of that observed in the SCR, and it remains consistently lower than SCR and SLWR, suggesting that SSLWR holds promise as a robust alternative for ultra-deepwater applications. This study offers new insights into how modifying riser shape and buoy placement can effectively balance tension reduction with stress distribution, providing an alternative to traditional riser designs. The SSLWR's specific responses to buoy placements and varying currents expand an understanding of riser performance under varying conditions, guiding future advancements in offshore riser engineering
Evacuation behaviours of children and adolescents during fire drills in school settings
No full textEvacuation theories in fire safety engineering often fail to properly address the needs and behaviours of vulnerable populations like children in schools, focusing mainly on adults. This paper intends to provide an overview of recent studies on evacuation behaviours of school children and adolescents (ages 4 to 17) during quasi-announced fire drills involving over 400 participants. The studies captured evacuation movements across stairs, corridors, and exit doorways by mounting go pro cameras. Key parameters, such as movement speed, flow rates, and population density, were analysed using the captured videos. The findings unveiled a meaningful difference in evacuation behaviour between children and adolescent populations. Children often moved in clusters, waiting for friends, while adolescents demonstrated behaviours closer to adults. These social interactions and physical behaviours led to variations in flow rates and speeds, which were also age and gender dependent. Younger children achieved higher flow rates up to 2 persons/s/m, compared to adolescents, who were recorded as 1.5 persons/s/m. Average stair speeds were 0.84 m/s for children and 0.73 m/s for adolescents, with female adolescents generally moving slower than males. These studies underlined the importance of integrating these unique evacuation behaviours into current egress design methodologies and consider the distinct physical limitation of school populations when developing evacuation strategies
Which Flowers to Choose? Robert Graves and the Dilemmas of Anthologising
No full textThis essay investigates examples of how Robert Graves’s poetry has been popularly anthologised, within a broader examination of the history and idea of the poetry anthology. It draws out key issues involved in the anthology as a form, considers the role that anthologies play both in the ongoing reception of a poet’s work and the cultural life of poetry at large, and proposes principles on which the practice of anthologising may be freshly conceived and developed
Selective Visual Attention in ADHD: A Narrative Review
No full textPurpose of Review
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairing levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that adversely impact functioning across social, academic/occupational and home settings. While the name of the disorder implies obvious difficulties in attention, research has struggled to consistently identify a precise neurocognitive marker. This article aims to characterize the functioning of selective visual attention in ADHD by reviewing previous studies that compare individuals with ADHD and healthy controls at the behavioral and neural levels using single-frame visual search tasks.
Recent Findings
Past research indicates both bottom-up (stimulus-driven) and top-down (goal-driven) attention across both time and space are likely affected in ADHD. However, more research is needed to illuminate the specific mechanisms involved.
Summary
Ultimately, this narrative review aims to highlight the importance of studying selective visual attention in ADHD to explain the heterogeneous symptoms and impairments of this complex disorder, as well as to build a stronger bridge between the high-level behaviors of ADHD and their underlying neurobiological mechanisms
Enhancing public cloud resilience: an analytical review of detection and mitigation strategies against economic denial of sustainability attacks
No full textCloud computing (CC) delivers computing resources as utilities, akin to services like electricity or water. However, security concerns—particularly Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) and its economically targeted variant, Economic Denial of Sustainability (EDoS)—pose significant threats to its adoption. EDoS attacks exploit the pay-per-use and auto-scaling features of CC platforms to incur financial damage by triggering unnecessary resource consumption. While existing studies have proposed various countermeasures, comprehensive, comparative analysis remains limited. This review systematically examines 69 key articles addressing EDoS-specific or joint DDoS–EDoS threats. Beyond merely cataloguing these methods, this review provides a novel analytical synthesis by categorizing defense strategies into detection, prevention, mitigation, and hybrid models, and critically evaluating them against factors such as scalability, computational overhead, and false-positive rates. Importantly, this study introduces a service-model-aware framework, distinguishing which solutions are most effective for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) versus Software as a Service (SaaS) environments. By mapping techniques to operational contexts, the review reveals methodological gaps, highlights practical deployment challenges, and proposes priorities for future research and cloud-specific security design. Articles Highlights: • Provides a systematic review of EDoS attacks in cloud computing to understand current issues and limitations. • Classifies EDoS defences into four strategic categories to guide future research on key gaps. • Suggests future EDoS research focusing on AI, blockchain, and economic impacts to enhance defence effectiveness
Toward Feminist Ways of Sensing the Menstruating Body
No full textBodily fluids associated with the menstruating body are often disregarded in the design of menstrual-tracking technologies despite their potential to provide valuable knowledge about the menstrual cycle. We prototyped a finger-worn sensor that measures vaginal fluid conductivity, which fluctuates throughout the cycle, and brought it into conversation with people through two speculative workshops (18 people), four fabrication workshops (17 people), and a deployment study where participants brought the sensor into their daily lives (7 people). We unpack that taking a material and sensory approach to intimate tracking nurtures a feminist way of sensing while creating tensions around how we want to know our bodies—tensions around how, where, and when to touch the body, hygiene, data storage, interpretation practices, and labor. With epistemological commitments to feminist materialist and posthuman theory, we invite designers to embrace these tensions
Dis/ableist Criminology: Beyond Ableism Through a Zemiological Framework
No full textCriminology has largely neglected the social harms experienced by disabled people, both within and beyond the criminal justice system. The discipline frequently pathologises disability, framing disabled people as either victims or offenders while failing to engage with broader structural inequalities. Zemiology, the study of harm beyond legal definitions of crime, offers a valuable framework for examining systemic harms affecting marginalised groups, however, this has yet to be fully applied to disability. To address this gap, we apply a zemiological framework to the harms experienced by disabled people. We introduce dis/ableist criminology, a framework that integrates zemiology with disability studies to highlight disablist practices, ableist cultures, and the embodied experiences of alienation and marginalisation, offering a more comprehensive understanding of disability, crime, and victimisation