Northumbria University

About: Northumbria University is a education organization based out in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Population. The organization has 5624 authors who have published 17423 publications receiving 381949 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Northumbria at Newcastle.

Organisational learning and knowledge assets – an essential partnership

Abstract: Competitive success is governed by an organisation’s ability to develop new knowledge assets that create core competences. While these exist in many forms, organisational learning is an integral feature of any learning organisation that exploits its knowledge resources to generate superior performance. This paper explores the ideas and links between organisational learning and knowledge management, making reference to a number of sectors and companies, and specifically the airline industry, arguing that the culture, structure and infrastructure of an organisation are essential elements that facilitate and nurture learning. As a consequence, core competences are built and developed within the learning organisation which, in turn, contribute to its competitive success.

In Search of Organizational Virtue in Business: Agents, Goods, Practices, Institutions and Environments

Abstract: In this paper we argue that MacIntyre’s virtues-goods-practice-institution schema (MacIntyre 1985) provides a conceptual framework within which organizational virtue in general, and virtue in business in particular, can be explored. A heuristic device involving levels of individual agency, mode of institutionalization and environment is used to discuss why some businesses protect practices, develop virtues and encourage the exercise of moral agency in their decision making, while others struggle or fail to do so. In relation to conventional shareholder-owned capitalist business, both the mode of institutionalization and the environment are shown to be largely antithetical to the development of practices. Other businesses may meet the necessary internal conditions for the sustenance of practice-like features but remain dependent upon features within their environments. To illustrate this, we use participant observation to show how one particular organization—Traidcraft plc—meets the relevant conditions.

Passive thermal control in residential buildings using phase change materials

Abstract: This paper analyzes the state of the art in R & D on integration of phase change materials into building structures for their passive thermal control. Such perspective phase change materials as paraffins, fatty acids and their blends, as well as fatty acid esters, are considered for passive thermal control of buildings. Gypsum wallboards, concretes, porous and other materials used for building structures forming are discussed. Various technologies of the PCM integration into building structures are described. The characteristics of three laboratory small models of buildings, which were subject of investigations, are presented in this paper. The results of comparative tests on fifteen full size buildings containing elements with PCMs are summarized. Experiments conducted by a number of researchers on passive solar buildings demonstrated that the application of phase change heat storage materials decreases the variation in the air temperature in the rooms; shifts the peak of energy consumption for heating and cooling of lightweight buildings by several hours and decreases energy consumption for maintaining the comfort temperature levels in buildings. Recommendations for further research activities in this field are proposed at the end of this review article.

Ever‐Increasing Pseudocapacitance in RGO–MnO–RGO Sandwich Nanostructures for Ultrahigh‐Rate Lithium Storage

Abstract: Lithium ion batteries have attained great success in commercialization owing to their high energy density. However, the relatively delaying discharge/charge severely hinders their high power applications due to intrinsically diffusion-controlled lithium storage of the electrode. This study demonstrates an ever-increasing surface redox capacitive lithium storage originating from an unique microstructure evolution during cycling in a novel RGO–MnO–RGO sandwich nanostructure. Such surface pseudocapacitance is dynamically in equilibrium with diffusion-controlled lithium storage, thereby achieving an unprecedented rate capability (331.9 mAh g−1 at 40 A g−1, 379 mAh g−1 after 4000 cycles at 15 A g−1) with outstanding cycle stability. The dynamic combination of surface and diffusion lithium storage of electrodes might open up possibilities for designing high-power lithium ion batteries.

A review of heart chamber segmentation for structural and functional analysis using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has become a key imaging modality in clinical cardiology practice due to its unique capabilities for non-invasive imaging of the cardiac chambers and great vessels. A wide range of CMR sequences have been developed to assess various aspects of cardiac structure and function, and significant advances have also been made in terms of imaging quality and acquisition times. A lot of research has been dedicated to the development of global and regional quantitative CMR indices that help the distinction between health and pathology. The goal of this review paper is to discuss the structural and functional CMR indices that have been proposed thus far for clinical assessment of the cardiac chambers. We include indices definitions, the requirements for the calculations, exemplar applications in cardiovascular diseases, and the corresponding normal ranges. Furthermore, we review the most recent state-of-the art techniques for the automatic segmentation of the cardiac boundaries, which are necessary for the calculation of the CMR indices. Finally, we provide a detailed discussion of the existing literature and of the future challenges that need to be addressed to enable a more robust and comprehensive assessment of the cardiac chambers in clinical practice.