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Purpose — The paper reports on a research project exploring new approaches for analysing travel demand induced by changes in generalised costs of travel and activity participation. The description of the survey approach, which to our knowledge is novel in its application, reports descriptive analyses of the respondents' reactions to the changes implied in the household interviews.

Methodology — A sample of respondents were administered a 5 day travel diary, from which 1 day was selected for further analysis. Travel times for trips conducted that day were changed using predefined heuristics based on the household characteristics to attain significant changes in the generalised costs of the reported trips. Respondents were then presented with these hypothetical scenarios in face-to-face interviews. All household members were asked to state how the implied changes would have affected their activity scheduling on the specified day, i.e. to adapt their reported schedule to the new conditions.

Findings — The postulated induced travel effect could be observed, in that the modifications to the generalised costs of travel affect the respondents' travel patterns in general, and the number and durations of conducted out-of-home activities in particular. However, the predominant reaction to changing travel times is the adaptation of departure time, which does not directly interfere with trip generation. Indicators of the effects have been shown, and are quite weak as far as activity generation effects are concerned. The activities most likely to be re-planned are leisure activities and sojourns at the home location, as is consistent with expectations.

This study aims to explore the collaborative potential of Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic Claude AI as an assistive technology in education and library services. The research delves into technical architectures and various use cases for both tools, proposing integration strategies within educational and library environments. The paper also addresses challenges such as algorithmic bias, hallucination and data rights.

The study used a literature review approach combined with the proposal of integration strategies across education and library settings.

The collaborative framework between Copilot and Claude AI offers a comprehensive solution for transforming education and library services. The study identifies the seamless combination of real-time internet access, information retrieval and advanced comprehension features as key findings. In addition, challenges such as algorithmic bias and data rights are addressed, emphasizing the need for responsible AI governance, transparency and continuous improvement.

Contribute to the field by exploring the unique collaborative framework of Copilot and Claude AI in a specific context, emphasizing responsible AI governance and addressing existing gaps.

The world of the Action Film is a complex one. Whilst explosions may go off around the hero or heroine, skyscrapers crash into rubble, cars smash into one another, or the villain lives to fight on in another sequel, one thing is certain: the action film, loved and loathed in equal measures, remains a staple genre in cinema.

Sylvester Stallone's first appearance as John Rambo in First Blood was in 1982. It seems only logical, then, that this first edited collection in a three-volume publication is dedicated to the first 20 years in which action cinema began in earnest and grew to what it is today. By focusing on the 1980s to 2000, it becomes apparent that the action film is not simply gung-ho heroics played out to an expectant audience. Rather, it is a complex one, and one that demands further investigation.

This cutting-edge collection focuses on such areas of study include new, exciting and bold work on gender linked to vehicles, an LGBTQ+ case study of the Angel trilogy, star studies of Keanu Reeves and Arnold Schwarzenegger, sword and sorcery films, buddy-buddy cop movies, international examinations of action in both the films of Wong Kar-Wei and Colombian national cinema, and much more. Each chapter is housed within an academic framework and in-depth analysis is throughout.

This is the first volume in Emerald Publishing's bold examination of gender in action cinema. The following volumes will look at post-2000 work, focusing on Stars, Warriors, Bombshells and Atomic Blondes, and Transformations in action cinema. Much work has been written on action cinema, but in this collection you will time travel back to two decades in which one of the most spectacular genres erupted onto cinema screens. Whilst the action movie may still have its detractors, this book has been written for you to explore the complexities of gender portrayals in this genre. Above all else, it has been written for you to enjoy.

The purpose of this research is to study the impact of perceived adoption of Lean principles on operational performance in Lebanese pharmaceutical industries.

A quantitative method was implemented using a questionnaire that targeted 253 respondents working in eight good manufacturing practices (GMP) certified Lebanese pharmaceutical companies. Reliability analysis was performed using SPSS, and the research hypotheses were tested using regression analysis.

The results demonstrated that Lean principles positively and directly affected operational performance. It also positively affected operational performance factors of quality, cost and time. However, the analysis of each of Lean principles impact on operational performance cost was analyzed perfection, value, and value stream mapping (VSM) significantly increased operational performance. In addition, pull only positively augmented the cost reduction, whereas flow did not show any effects on any of operational performance’s factors.

In addition to enhancing operational performance, the positive effect of the perceived adoption of Lean principles on performance is also explained by managers’ efforts in studying the flow of actions in their processes to reduce wastes. To face uncertainty, training and building a workforce that is able to implement Lean principles, equipping this workforce with needed artifacts, and promoting a high-performance culture are crucial for the successful implementation of Lean principles.

Lean approach has become a major pathway of improvement especially in pharmaceutical companies. Few studies analyzed the impact of each of the Lean principles on the operational performance in companies that operate in era of uncertainty. Furthermore, the perceived adoption of Lean principles is under investigated in the Middle East in general and in Lebanon in particular.

Four reputed leaders for the coming years in the field of special education for individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) each with a slightly different perspective on the field were asked to respond independently to a prompt asking what does special education mean for students with EBD and what is being done and how do we maintain tradition? The contributors' responses to the prompt are presented and then summarized across the essays. A remarkable consistency emerges across the independent essays. In addition to the tradition of providing a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment, the contributors identify needs to support teachers serving this population. Needs in teacher training and the expertise required to meet the needs of individuals with EBD are outlined as well as potential contributions of technology to carry out specific tasks. We conclude with a call for increased advocacy for use of the knowledge that we currently possess and that which will soon be discovered to support students with EBD as well as their teachers. We also note that the contributors' names are listed alphabetically to acknowledge the equality of each person to the final product.

The rapid rise of large language models (LLMs) has propelled them to the forefront of applications in natural language processing (NLP). This paper aims to present a comprehensive examination of the research landscape in LLMs, providing an overview of the prevailing themes and topics within this dynamic domain.

Drawing from an extensive corpus of 198 records published between 1996 to 2023 from the relevant academic database encompassing journal articles, books, book chapters, conference papers and selected working papers, this study delves deep into the multifaceted world of LLM research. In this study, the authors employed the BERTopic algorithm, a recent advancement in topic modeling, to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the data after it had been meticulously cleaned and preprocessed. BERTopic leverages the power of transformer-based language models like bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) to generate more meaningful and coherent topics. This approach facilitates the identification of hidden patterns within the data, enabling authors to uncover valuable insights that might otherwise have remained obscure. The analysis revealed four distinct clusters of topics in LLM research: “language and NLP”, “education and teaching”, “clinical and medical applications” and “speech and recognition techniques”. Each cluster embodies a unique aspect of LLM application and showcases the breadth of possibilities that LLM technology has to offer. In addition to presenting the research findings, this paper identifies key challenges and opportunities in the realm of LLMs. It underscores the necessity for further investigation in specific areas, including the paramount importance of addressing potential biases, transparency and explainability, data privacy and security, and responsible deployment of LLM technology.

The analysis revealed four distinct clusters of topics in LLM research: “language and NLP”, “education and teaching”, “clinical and medical applications” and “speech and recognition techniques”. Each cluster embodies a unique aspect of LLM application and showcases the breadth of possibilities that LLM technology has to offer. In addition to presenting the research findings, this paper identifies key challenges and opportunities in the realm of LLMs. It underscores the necessity for further investigation in specific areas, including the paramount importance of addressing potential biases, transparency and explainability, data privacy and security, and responsible deployment of LLM technology.

This classification offers practical guidance for researchers, developers, educators, and policymakers to focus efforts and resources. The study underscores the importance of addressing challenges in LLMs, including potential biases, transparency, data privacy, and responsible deployment. Policymakers can utilize this information to shape regulations, while developers can tailor technology development based on the diverse applications identified. The findings also emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and highlight ethical considerations, providing a roadmap for navigating the complex landscape of LLM research and applications.

This study stands out as the first to examine the evolution of LLMs across such a long time frame and across such diversified disciplines. It provides a unique perspective on the key areas of LLM research, highlighting the breadth and depth of LLM’s evolution.