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Using virtual professional learning communities to foster sustainable learning and close the awarding gap in higher education amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textIn the current study, a combination of synchronous and asynchronous online strategies has been used to support undergraduate students at a University in the UK, as VPLC embraces individual students' needs for learning development and professional growth through peer support building community among the student population. The intent of this research study was to unravel students' perceptions of the benefits and the challenges that VPLC may have amid the pandemic. An exploratory anonymous survey design was employed to explore their impact. Students were also asked to provide anonymous feedback at regular intervals during the implementation using Mentimeter. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to examine the data. Findings suggest that VPLCs can be used as a means to support students through collaboration, peer mentoring/coaching, networking, and sharing of resources
BrandTrend: understanding the trending games and gaming influencers for better gaming peripheral promotion
No full textThe worldwide gaming peripheral market is expanding significantly due to the increasing popularity of online games, and it is predicted that this would increase demand for gaming peripherals. Brand recognition is just the start of the process because many sectors are vying to stand out and wrest mindshare away from rivals. In this paper, we presented a tool named BrandTrend, which enables automated insight discovery for game trending, gaming influencers, and gaming product promotion. The data used in this tool is gathered from social media platforms to analyse gaming contents to match gaming content creators with gaming peripheral brands to promote their brand products via social media. Utilizing data analysis and incorporating evidence from data to build predictions and develop strategies can unambiguously address the issue of distinguish oneself from other rivals and get recognition
State of the nation: class, Labour politics and the contemporary relevance of Our Friends in the North (1996)
Get PDFIn January 1996 the BBC began broadcasting Our Friends in the North, a ‘state of the nation’ drama (Eaton 2005), over nine episodes. The series followed four working-class friends from Tyneside, and explored how their lives unfolded during the social and political upheavals of the 1960s through to the 1990s. The ‘monumental’ series was described at the time as ‘one of the major television programmes of this or any other year’. A recent (September 2022) rescreening of the series has re-emphasized the relevance of the themes it explores, and a one-off radio play updated the story to follow the children of the original characters in the 2020s. The series has been situated in the canons of British social realism and quality drama, and explores issues of class and social power, in particular depicting struggles around poor housing, police corruption, political scandals, and how these intersect with the lives of ordinary people. The main characters are shown variously rejecting, accommodating to or being crushed by, the political changes of the period, from Wilsonian Labourism, via Thatcherite neo-liberalism to the emergence of ‘new labour’. This article juxtaposes examples of the series’ themes with contemporary news items (around housing, political corruption, an out-of-control Metropolitan police service and a timid, subservient, managerial Labour Party). It argues that these recent, unresolved developments in the United Kingdom suggest the continued salience of Our Friends in the North as an important commentary on social and political issues
Green logistics driven circular practices adoption in the industry 4.0 era: a moderating effect of institutional pressure and supply chain flexibility
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to understand how green logistics affects Circular Economy (CE) adoption in the era of Industry 4.0 (I4.0). By taking many green initiatives, the logistics sector is showing its serious concern towards environmental issues. Stakeholders look forward to implementing sustainable logistics and circular practices to deal with these critical issues such as waste generation, resource scarcity, use of renewable resources, climate change etc. This study examines the relationships between green logistics practices, I4.0 technologies, and CE adoption The study also examines the moderating effect of institutional pressure and supply chain flexibility on the aforementioned relationships. A total of 162 responses were collected and a Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method was employed to analyse the data; this method has high predictive power. The results from the study are: a) firms can enhance CE adoption driven by I4.0 technologies with green logistics practices as a mediator b) the moderating effect of supply chain flexibility is found to be significant whereas the moderating effect of institutional pressure is found to be insignificant. This study provides several managerial and theoretical implications
Between people power and state power: the ambivalence of populism in international relations
Get PDFOnce considered exclusively a phenomenon of domestic politics, populism today attracts a strong interest from scholars of international relations and foreign policy. This chapter provides an overview of this literature and explores new avenues of research. It argues that the debate over the impact of populism on international relations has been influenced too much and for too long by the importation in IR and FPA of mainstream approaches on populism from comparative politics, and by an overtly West-centric perspective. The chapter develops in contrast a strategic-discursive conceptualization of populism that paints a more critical picture of populism’s promises of popular emancipation and its relationship with state power and the international order. The chapter demonstrates its argument with a cross-regional comparative probe, placing Asian populism in a global context
Contesting international economic governance: the ‘people’ and trade in the Trump and Brexit rhetoric
Get PDFThe chapter examines comparatively two populist trade discourses during a period of upheaval in Anglo-Saxon democracies starting in 2016: the election and presidency of Donald Trump in the US and the contestation of Brexit following the EU referendum in Great Britain. Both have been described as populist, yet they represent opposite positions on trade. Contrary to the protectionist Trump, Brexiteers largely support free trade. The analysis demonstrates how the distinctiveness of populism is its articulation of preferences as binary opposition between people and official power. If populism is understood in this way as a discourse of international relations, the actual trade policy preferences of populists – whether they support or oppose free trade – are less important than how they are articulated as opposition to the elites and institutions of the international order
Book review : Jerry John Rawlings: leadership and legacy: a pan-African perspective
Get PDFFlight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings was one of Africa’s most controversial and polarising leaders. He began his political career in the late 1970s as a fiery revolutionary and ended it more than three decades later as a popularly elected president, winning two terms in office via a liberal democratic political system. This is a book review about Rawlings called 'Jerry John Rawlings: Leadership and Legacy: A Pan-African Perspective', edited by Felix Kumah-Abiwu and Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
European sovereignty between autonomy and dependence: a guide for EU policy
Get PDFIs the idea of ‘European sovereignty’ still relevant? It was originally developed as an EU response to the rise of populism within its territory and the disruption of transatlantic relations brought about by the Trump presidency. But today its relevance appears uncertain in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the growing assertiveness of China. This brief argues that European sovereignty (and related concepts such as strategic autonomy) is still an important and necessary guide for EU policy, but only if it is dissociated from some of the excessive and overambitious definitions given to the concept when it was first developed
Remote determination of critical speed and critical power in recreational runners
Get PDFThis study aimed to compare estimations of critical speed (CS) and work completed above CS (D'), and their analogies for running power (critical power [CP] and W'), derived from raw data obtained from habitual training (HAB) and intentional maximal efforts in the form of time trials (TTs) and 3-minute all-out tests (3MTs) in recreational runners. The test-retest reliability of the 3MT was further analyzed. Twenty-three recreational runners (4 female) used a foot pod to record speed, altitude, and power output for 8 consecutive weeks. CS and D', and CP and W', were calculated from the best 3-, 7-, and 12-minute segments recorded in the first 6 weeks of their HAB and in random order in weeks 7 and 8 from 3 TTs (3, 7, and 12 min) and three 3MTs (to assess test-retest reliability). There was no difference between estimations of CS or CP derived from HAB, TT, and 3MT (3.44 [0.63], 3.42 [0.53], and 3.76 [0.57] m · s-1 and 281 [41], 290 [45], and 305 [54] W, respectively), and strong agreement between HAB and TT for CS (r = .669) and CP (r = .916). Limited agreement existed between estimates of D'/W'. Moderate reliability of D'/W' was demonstrated between the first and second 3MTs, whereas excellent reliability was demonstrated for CS/CP. These data suggest that estimations of CS/CP can be derived remotely, from either HAB, TT, or 3MT, although the lower agreement between D'/W' warrants caution when using these measures interchangeably
Metamaterial based sensor using fractal Hilbert structure for liquid characterization
Get PDFIn this work, a simple and efficient approach is presented to design a metamaterial based sensitive sensor for liquid characterization. The proposed sensor based on the Hilbert structure has a compacted size of 40\times 60\times 1.6 \mathrm{mm}^{3}. The Hilbert curve is used to enhance the sensitivity of the sensor by increasing the interaction area with the sample tested. The simulation studies are carried out by using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio. The resonant frequency of the proposed sensor is about 0.46 GHz. The resonant frequency has shifted approximately 30 MHz after the receptacle is printed on the sensor surface. The proposed sensor has successfully detected different samples of liquids. The variations of the resonant frequency, scattering parameters, bandwidth and quality factor of different samples are discussed