The utility of drones for studying polar bear behaviour in the Canadian Arctic: opportunities and recommendations

Climate-induced sea-ice loss represents the greatest threat to polar bears (Ursus maritimus), and utilizing drones to characterize behavioural responses to sea-ice loss is valuable to forecasting polar bear persistence. In this manuscript, we review previously published literature and draw on our own experience of using multirotor aerial drones to study polar bear behaviour in the Canadian Arctic. Specifically, we suggest that drones can minimize human-bear conflicts by allowing users to observe bears from a safe vantage point; produce high-quality behavioural data that can be reviewed as many times as needed and shared with multiple stakeholders; and foster knowledge generation through co-production with northern communities. We posit that in some instances drones may be considered as an alternative tool for studying polar bear foraging behaviour, interspecific interactions, human-bear interactions, human safety and conflict mitigation, and den-site location at individual-level, small spatial scales. Finally, we discuss flying techniques to ensure ethical operation around polar bears, regulatory requirements to consider, and recommend that future research focus on understanding polar bears’ behavioural and physiological responses to drones and the efficacy of drones as a deterrent tool for safety purposes.

Semantic City Planning Systems (SCPS): A Literature Review

This review focuses on recent research literature on the use of Semantic Web Technologies (SWT) in city planning. The review foregrounds representational, evaluative, projective, and synthetical meta-practices as constituent practices of city planning. We structure our review around these four meta-practices that we consider fundamental to those processes. We find that significant research exists in all four metapractices. Linking across domains by combining various methods of semantic knowledge generation, processing, and management is necessary to bridge gaps between these meta-practices and will enable future Semantic City Planning Systems.

African experiences and alternativity in International Relations theorizing about security

Deconstructing International Relations (IR) episteme acknowledges its generation of power imbalances in security knowledge that relegate African experiences to the margins of global politics. Central to this process of relegation is a pervasive ‘methodological whiteness’, which, while eliding coloniality and racism, projects white experience as a universal perspective. Accompanying this Eurocentric bias has been the intrusive projection of the Weberian state as the most effective site for security governance and conflict prevention on a continent with states that are characterized by a hybridity of political orders, which deviate substantially from the ideal-type state that they seek to mimic. Not only has this resulted in disastrous policies in many parts of Africa, but critical questions arise as to the relevance of conventional IR and security studies as neutral sites for dispassionate knowledge production and policy-making on African security, thereby necessitating alternative perspectives. This article reflects on the ways in which IR and security studies have been responsible, in part, for the production of a racialized mode of security knowledge generation that obfuscates the security policies and experiences of people in African locales. It draws on insights from post-colonial discourses and the episteme of alternativity to explore how the study of events and processes in Africa in a theoretically conscious manner could advance IR scholarship as a whole. It contends that incorporating African experiences as they manifest through hybrid security orders can broaden the empirical base for IR theorizing about security since they offer another perspective outside the conventional western assumptions and experiences.

Factors that Influence the Public Sector Universities Performance in Pakistan

Purpose: The perceived performance of the public sector universities mainly depends upon on academia particularly the faculty members’ potential contribution, quality of teaching and knowledge generation. HRM practices are designed in such a way to accelerate performance of employees, for attaining organizational aims and objectives with organizational justice. Whereas the workforce of any organization is deemed as dynamic asset to contribute for institutional performance. Therefore, career success of the faculty members has been taken as mediating variable in the study. Design/Methodology/Approach: For crafting the research study, faculty members were chosen from Pakistan’s public-sector universities. Whereas, to establish the conceptual framework, the researchers have applied the Dynamic Capabilities Theory (DCT) as the underpinning theory for this construct. For sampling purposes, proportionate stratified sampling has been designed; random sampling was utilized to select the respondents within each stratum. The questionnaire was distributed among individuals personally. Afterword, data were cleaned for missing values, outliers, aberrant values and tested for normality, reliability, and validity. Findings: Hypotheses were tested by applying partial least squares - structural equation modelling (SEM) technique through statistical software SMART PLS licenced version 3. The construct in the context of Pakistan in amongst the preliminary studies. Implications/Originality/Value: The findings will be helpful for higher education commission of Pakistan for designing strategies.

The Degree Academic and Administrative Leaders Practice Knowledge Management at Al Al-Bayt University in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

The study aims to know the degree of academic and administrative leadership practice knowledge management at Al Al-Bayt University in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the effect of variables (gender, educational qualification, years of experience, stage, and job title) on that. The study sample consists of (375) faculty and administrative members. To achieve the goals of the study, a tool was built to measure the degree of knowledge management practice, which consists of (37) items distributed into four areas, namely (knowledge organization, knowledge generation, knowledge sharing, and application of knowledge). Validity and reliability were verified, and the descriptive survey method was used. The results of the study show that the degree of academic and administrative leaders’ practice of knowledge management at Al Al-Bayt University in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, from the viewpoint of their colleagues, came with a medium degree in all fields. The results also show that there were statistically significant differences between the averages of the responses of the study sample individuals due to the gender variable, and the differences are in favor of males in all fields. The results also show that there are statistically significant differences attributable to the variable of the academic qualification in the fields of sharing and applying knowledge, and the differences are in favor of the qualification of (Bachelor). The presence of statistically significant differences attributable to the variable of years of experience in the areas of knowledge sharing and application; the absence of statistically significant differences is attributable to the job title in all fields. In light of the results, the study presents a set of recommendations, the most important of which are training academic and administrative leaders on the application of knowledge management; training academic staff on teaching and evaluation methods that help to raise the levels of performance in the educational learning process.

Reflective Practice in Anesthesia Clinical Teaching

BackgroundReflective practice is an essential aspect of knowledge generation for professional practice. By reflecting on action, professionals learn to improve their practices. Through processes of reflection, practitioners participate in a dialogue between theory and practice. Even though reflective practice is an important approach for learning from experience, its place remains unclear in anesthesia clinical education as well as anesthesia practice in a broad sense.AimThe aim of this paper was to examine the affordances of reflective practice in anesthesia clinical education.MethodsTwo cases, illustrating critical incidents in the anesthesia clinical teaching environment, were examined to consider how incorporating reflective practice into clinical education can advance knowledge generation in the field.FindingsThe two cases studies show how reflective practice can contribute to experiential learning, particularly through reflection on critical incidents.ConclusionReflective practice can help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practice in anesthesia education and practice.Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2021;4(3):406-411

ISO 9001 and the public service: an investigation of the effect of the QMS on the quality of public service organizations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence exerted by a quality management system (QMS) under ISO 9001: 2015 on the quality of public services organizations in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, for which a sample of 461 public servants from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico was obtained. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed through the statistical software Amos v.21. For the analysis of the data, software SPSS v.21 was used. Regarding the goodness and adjustment indices of the SEM (χ2 = 720.09, df = 320, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926 and RMSEA = 0.05) which, therefore, proved to be acceptable. Findings According to the results obtained through the SEM model, the QMS under ISO 9001: 2015 is positively and significantly influenced tangible aspects (β1 = 0.79, p < 0.01), reliability (β2 = 0.90, p < 0.01), related to response quality (β3 = 0.93, p < 0.01), guarantees (β4 = 0.91, p < 0.01) and empathy (β5 = 0.88, p < 0.01) of the quality related to public services in Mexico. The study’s key contribution is that it discovered that implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard has an impact on the quality of public services, with the most influential quality of response. Similarly, the assurance and dependability of service quality turned out to be important in providing public service quality. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the QMS was only evaluated as a variable that intervenes in the process of obtaining quality in public service under the ISO 9001 standard in its 2015 version. In this regard, the results’ trustworthiness is limited to the extent that the findings may be generalized in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico’s public service. As a result, the scientific community is left primarily focused on service quality to promote new future research. Practical implications The ISO 9001: 2015 standard’s QMS is one of the tools for success in both the commercial and government sectors. However, there are practical limitations, which focus on the time during which managers exercise their vision in the public sector: first, the dynamics that managers play in public policy; second, the length of time they have served in public office; and third, the interest of directors of public institutions to improve the quality of service provided by the government. Other practical consequences concern organizational culture and identity, public servant commitment, senior management or secretaries of government, as well as work and training. Originality/value The findings of this paper are important and valuable because they foster knowledge generation in the public sector through the ISO 9000 quality area. A model that permits the adoption and implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard in public organizations that seek to provide quality in their services offered to the user is also presented to the literature. Similarly, the paper is important because there is currently insufficient research focusing on the variables examined in the context of public service in Mexico.

Uncertainty-aware Visual Analytics - Scope, Oppertunities and Challenges

In many applications, Visual Analytics(VA) has developed into a standard tool to ease data access and knowledge generation. Unfortunately, many data sources, used in the VA process, are affected by uncertainty. In addition, the VA cycle itself can introduce uncertainty to the knowledge generation process. The classic VA cycle does not provide a mechanism to handle these sources of uncertainty. In this manuscript, we aim to provide an extended VA cycle that is capable of handling uncertainty by quantification, propagation, and visualization. Different data types and application scenarios that can be handled by such a cycle, examples, and a list of open challenges in the area of uncertainty-aware VA are provided.

Problematizing transitions in relation to correctional centres for people living with HIV: Unpacking the taken for granted.

Transitions into and out of correctional facilities for people living with HIV are a pivotal point in the HIV treatment cascade where adherence metrics are significantly affected. In this paper I use Alvesson and Sandberg’s problematization method of literature analysis to critique and understand the taken-for-granted assumptions underpinning how knowledge is generated within the intersecting fields of HIV, transitions, and corrections. Utilizing problematization, two assumptions underpinning knowledge generation are identified: the linearity of the HIV care continuum model and the tendency to create and perpetuate spatially segregating metaphors of transitions inside versus outside correctional facilities for people living with HIV. These assumptions are discussed in the context of how they shape dominant ways of thinking and practicing in the field. An alternative way to understand transitions for people living with HIV is proposed along with recommendations to guide the HIV care practices of nurses and other healthcare providers.