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A constant dance: a study of values-based leadership in Multi-Academy Trusts
Get PDFThis research explores how leaders in five Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) are working to develop their organisations in ways which enhance their ability to deliver a ‘whole education’ for both staff and students. The five case study trusts - Anglian, LiFE, Meridian, Pioneer and White Woods - are all members of the Whole Education MAT leadership network. We interviewed 40 staff in total, including CEOs, leaders from trust central teams, headteachers, and staff working in schools. The research investigated four ‘knotty’ areas for trust organisational development - sensemaking and leadership, structural integration, knowledge mobilisation and boundary spanning, and navigating agency, autonomy and prescription. The findings show that there is not one best way to lead a MAT. Rather, we conclude that trusts must strive to be reliably adaptive. This requires a focus on: shared values, sensemaking, co-construction as a core and continuing process and developing epistemic communities characterised by shared theories, language and tools as a basis for collaboration between staff and schools
Dairy farmers’ intention to use calf management technologies in four European countries: A QCA and PLS-SEM approach
Get PDFWhilst livestock management technologies may help to improve productivity, economic performance, and animal welfare on farms, there has been low uptake of technologies across farming systems and countries. This study aimed to understand dairy farmers’ intention to use calf management technologies by combining partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). We evaluated the hypotheses that dairy farmers will intend to use calf technologies if they have sufficient competencies, sufficient materials, and positive meanings (e.g., attitudes or emotions) towards calf technologies, and they will not intend to use technologies if one of these elements is missing.An online survey was completed by 269 dairy farmers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and the UK. A PLS-SEM was developed, where the outcome was the number of calf management technologies that the respondent intended to use, and the latent constructs included meanings, materials, and competencies. QCA was then run separately for the datasets from each country. Intention to use technologies was the outcome, whereas positive meanings, sufficient materials, and sufficient competencies for technology use were conditions in the QCA.Evaluation of the PLS-SEM showed that reliability and validity of the latent constructs was appropriate for analysis. Assessment of the structural model indicated that having positive meanings regarding technologies significantly increased the number of calf technologies the farmer intended to use (β = 0.388, CI = 0.291 – 0.486). The QCA solutions show that the conditions for the intention to use, or not use, calf technologies differed between Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and the UK, but the presence (or absence) of positive meanings was consistently important. The solutions for Norway and Belgium aligned with our hypotheses, but the solutions for the Netherlands and UK did not. Some of the solutions exhibited features of causal complexity such as equifinality, conjunctural causation, and asymmetric causation, which would not be able to be easily identified using traditional regression analyses.This study highlights the causal complexity of technology use on farms as a social phenomenon. Furthermore, the study shows the usefulness of QCA for evaluating theoretical hypotheses regarding farmers’ behaviour. We suggest that researchers could use this method to investigate other practices on farms that may have causal complexity
Examining the Feasibility and Acceptability of Identifying Signs of Social Anxiety, in University Students Aged 18–25, While Watching 360° Immersive Films
Get PDFTimely, accurate assessment and treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD) in young people is crucial. There is potential for the adoption of tailored virtual reality interventions for a complementary diagnostic tool using heart rate monitoring as a response indicator. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of this concept by exposing healthy individuals, aged 18–25, to developed 360° immersive films while collecting heart rate sensor data. Two immersive scenarios were designed with a participatory advisory youth group. A clinical consultant nurse mapped scenario events against validated routine assessment subscales in child and adolescent services. The films were shown to seven participants through a VR headset while monitoring heart rate. They provided qualitative feedback on their quality, acceptability and usability. The study indicated that this approach has the potential to enhance assessments in child and adolescent mental health services. The study has several limitations which are discussed with recommendations for consideration if this concept is taken further. The intervention could act as a potential portable, user-friendly complementary diagnostic tool for clinicians in practice. However, further research is needed to examine its validity
Overcoming expectations: Electrophysiological effects of inhibitory control demands in a non-linguistic task on subsequent semantic relatedness judgements
Get PDFThis event-related potentials study focussed on whether extensive practice of inhibitory control in a conflict task affects semantic processing/decisions in a subsequent language task. Participants took part in two 40-min sessions of the Simon task with either low or high inhibitory demands, each followed by a relatedness judgement task with strongly related, weakly related, and unrelated word pairs. The N400 in the relatedness judgement task was unaffected by inhibitory control demands of the preceding Simon task. However, the late frontal positivity for weakly related pairs was enhanced relative to the other two conditions only after the low inhibitory demands Simon task, indicating a difference in the inhibition of the expected strongly related words between the two sessions. This suggests that the mechanisms underlying semantic facilitation for weakly related pairs operate at the decision stage and these can be modulated by inhibitory control demands in a preceding non-linguistic conflict task
Achieving food supply chain sustainability through digital sharing platforms: prospects in China
Get PDFPurposeCharacterised by simultaneous food waste and shortages, our current food system is far from sustainable. Industry 4.0 has responded with technology-enabled innovations, including digital food-sharing platforms aimed at facilitating the efficient redistribution of surplus food. However, potential users often express reluctance to adopt such platforms, prompting this study to explore the underlying reasons for their hesitations.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted in China, the world’s largest platform economy, where food-sharing platforms are notably absent. Using a vignette-based qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 potential users. The data were analysed through thematic analysis to uncover insights into adoption intentions.FindingsThe findings highlight the relevance of factors identified in existing technology acceptance theories, such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, facilitating conditions and price value, in shaping adoption intentions. Additionally, content-specific and context-specific factors – such as trust in other users and the platform, concerns about “losing face” (mianzi) and safety concerns during the pandemic – emerged as critical influences on users' decisions to engage with these platforms.Originality/valueThis study contributes to scholarly discussions on enhancing the effectiveness of new technological innovations for food supply chain sustainability. The theoretical contributions expand the technology acceptance literature by incorporating factors related to platform service content and operating context
Performance improvement of an automotive thermoelectric generator by introducing a novel split fin structure
Get PDFIn this research, a novel split fin structure is proposed to enhance the performance of automotive thermoelectric generators (ATEGs). The traditional plate fin is segmented into two identical secondary fins from the middle, improving the thermal contact area of fins and the overall performance of ATEGs. To explore the optimal fin geometry, parametric studies are conducted on the split angle (α) and vent height coefficient (e) through numerical simulations. The results demonstrate a significant enhancement in the output performance of the ATEG using split fins compared to using plate fins. Increasing the split angle and reducing the vent height coefficient can enhance the output power, conversion efficiency, and temperature uniformity of the ATEG. At an exhaust mass flow rate of 20 g/s and an exhaust temperature of 550 K, the ATEG with α = 25.04 o and e = 0.8 of split fins exhibits improvements in output power, output voltage, conversion efficiency, and voltage uniformity by 23.71%, 11.28%, 11.29%, and 2.23%, respectively, compared to the ATEG with traditional plate fins. This study provides a solid theoretical foundation and practical guidance for designing novel fins to enhance ATEG performance
Determinants of journal impact factors in ‘Nutrition and Dietetics’
Get PDFBackground and aim: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyse determinants of the 2023 impact factors (IFs) of journals within the field of ‘Nutrition and Dietetics’. Methods: The Clarivate™ Journal Citation Reports™ website (https://jcr.clarivate.com/jcr/home) was searched on 9 January 2025 for journals with a 2023 IF (published in June 2024) ≥ 6.0 in the field of ‘Nutrition and Dietetics’. Analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism software. Results: There were there were 84,040 citations in 2023 to 10,719 works published in 2021 and 2022 in the 12 journals with an IF ≥ 6.0. Median numbers of citations per output were lower than mean citations in all journals. This difference ranged from 0.55 to 3.97. Most outputs (47.5%–79.1 %) had 1–10 citations. The 1538 open access outputs were cited less frequently [mean (95 % CI) 6.98 (6.55–7.40)] than the 9181 subscription outputs [7.99 (7.81–8.16), P < 0.0001]. The 2063 reviews were cited more frequently [8.94 (8.45–9.43)] than the 8656 original articles [7.58 (7.42–7.74), P < 0.0001]. When the highest cited outputs from each journal were excluded, the fall in IFs ranged from 0 to 2.4. The was also the case when the two highest cited outputs were excluded (fall ranged from 0 to 2.7). Conclusion: This comprehensive analysis of journal IFs has shown that although review articles increase IFs of journals, open access outputs do not. IFs can be distorted by 1 or 2 highly cited outputs and may not reflect the impact of the majority of outputs
Practical paths towards quantifying and mitigating agricultural methane emissions
Get PDFThis review summarizes the rapid advances in direct practical methods to quantify and reduce agricultural methane emissions worldwide. Major tasks are location, identification, quantification and distinction between different specific sources (often multiple emitters such as manure pools, animal housing, biodigesters and landfills are co-located). Emission reduction, facilitated by developing methodologies for locating hot spots, is the least-cost choice for action, especially from manure stores, biodigesters and from controlling biomass burning. Agricultural methane can also be used to generate electricity or, in appropriate circumstances, can be destroyed by oxidation. It may be possible to cut North American, East Asian and European emissions sharply and rapidly. In Africa and South Asia, emissions from crop waste and food waste in landfills, also a source of air pollution, can be sharply and quickly reduced. Globally, cutting total annual agricultural and waste emissions by a third would demand reductions of very approximately 75 Tg yr-1. Apportioned by source type, notional cuts might be 30-40 Tg yr-1 from livestock and manure, 5-10 Tg yr-1 from rice cultivation and 20 Tg yr-1 or more from specifically agricultural waste
Randomized signature methods in optimal portfolio selection
No full textWe present convincing empirical results on the application of Randomized Signature Methods for non-linear, non-parametric drift estimation for a multi-variate financial market. Even though drift estimation is notoriously inaccurate due to small signal to noise ratio, one can still try to learn optimal non-linear maps from past data to conditional expectations of future returns for the purposes of portfolio optimization. Randomized Signatures, in contrast to classical signatures, allow for high dimensional markets and provide features on the same scale. We do not contribute to the theory of Randomized Signatures here, but rather present our empirical findings on portfolio selection in real world settings including real market data and transaction costs
Towards environmentally just supply chains: From harm reduction to transformative
Get PDFPurposeIn response to the worsening environmental crisis, there have been multiple calls for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) scholars and practitioners to adopt a “business-not-as-usual” approach based on justice, fairness, equity and sustainability. We add to this literature by proposing environmental justice (EJ) as a key concept for the theory and practice of SSCM.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual article builds SSCM theory on EJ and contributes to supply chain justice research and practice by introducing the concept of the “environmentally just supply chain” and presenting pathways for operationalizing it in practice.FindingsThree pathways are proposed to leverage transformative SSCM to create environmentally just supply chains: human rights due diligence, resilience thinking and coproduction of environmentally just supply chains.Practical implicationsThe three pathways can be used by actors within a supply chain to create environmentally just supply chains.Originality/valueThis article extends transformative, non-instrumental perspectives on environmental sustainability within SSCM scholarship to provide insights into how supply chains can be transformed through EJ. Not only does the article show the relevance of EJ for SSCM theory and practice, but it elaborates pathways for moving from harm reduction to transformative sustainability actions
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