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This is a book about writing your dissertation or scholarly project. It is intentionally small because the last thing a doctoral student needs is another doorstop-sized book to buy, read, and lug around. This is a step-by-step guide to help you write your dissertation or scholarly project. It will not help you design or conduct research or quality improvement initiatives, but it will help you plan, document, organize, and write your dissertation or scholarly project. This book takes you step by step through writing your dissertation or scholarly project, with chapters that correspond exactly with the chapters of a dissertation or scholarly project. There's no fluff here-no attempt to make the book look bigger to attract attention. All this book intends to do is to help you successfully write your dissertation or scholarly project, and does so in a succinct and logical way, with only the occasional interruption for important tips gleaned the hard way.

Intelligent cognitive assistant (ICA) technology is used in various domains to emulate human behavior expressed through synchronous communication, especially written conversation. Due to their ability to use individually tailored natural language, they present a powerful vessel to support attitude and behavior change. Behavior change support systems are emerging as a crucial tool in digital mental health services, and ICAs exceed in effective support, especially for stress, anxiety and depression (SAD), where ICAs guide people’s thought processes and actions by analyzing their affective and cognitive phenomena. Currently, there is no comprehensive review of such ICAs from a technical standpoint, and existing work is conducted exclusively from a psychological or medical perspective. This technical state-of-the-art review tried to discern and systematize current technological approaches and trends as well as detail the highly interdisciplinary landscape of intersections between ICAs, attitude and behavior change, and mental health, focusing on text-based ICAs for SAD. Ten papers with systems, fitting our criteria, were selected. The systems varied significantly in their approaches, with the most successful opting for comprehensive user models, classification-based assessment, personalized intervention, and dialogue tree conversational models.

The number and variety of eHealth services for adults and older adults who use hearing aids (HAs) are growing rapidly. This area holds promise to increase cost-efficiency, enable better access to care, and improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. Despite the increasing interest in this field, an up-to-date picture of recent research in the area of eHealth for adults with HAs is lacking. In this state-of-the-art review we assessed the literature from the past decade about eHealth use in the HA adult patient journey. Systematic searches were conducted in CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. A total of 34 peer-reviewed empirical records were identified from the searches and from the reference lists of searched records. Records were characterized based on: eHealth platform (i.e.: offline , Internet - based , or mobile-based ), service [i.e.: education and information , screening and assessment , hearing rehabilitation , or general (tele - audiology) ], and phase of the patient journey (i.e.: pre - fitting , fitting , or post - fitting ). The review highlighted a growing interest in the field, as revealed by an increasing trend over the search period, from 2 records in 2009–2010 up to 17 records in 2015–2016. Internet - based platforms were the most frequently used (present in more than half of the included records), with a stable trend in the period. About one-third of the records introduced services over offline platforms, whereas mobile - based platforms were used only in 6 out of 34 records, suggesting that the clinical uptake of mobile services is still limited compared to more mature offline and Internet - based platforms. Most of the eHealth services observed were related to the areas of education and information (42.5%) and hearing rehabilitation (40.4%), whereas 10.7% were related to screening and assessment, and 6.4% to general tele-audiology services. Many services covered different phases of the patient journey, especially the fitting and post - fitting phases. Overall, this review showed that the field of eHealth in the context of HA rehabilitation in adults has grown in the recent past. Research is still needed to increase the uptake and efficacy of eHealth in clinical practice, especially in terms of technology developments, technical and clinical validation, and optimization of strategies for service delivery.

Cultural, economical, political, and social developments, added to population increases, favored the consolidation of cities. However, rapid city growth in the last decades has contrasted with the slowness in which states and municipalities responded to the new reality. In this sense, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a leading multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) method, can be applied in the solution of common demands among municipalities, evaluating alternative plans for urban mobility. Since AHP has been applied to these specific decision problems, our research question is: How has AHP been applied to solve decision problems regarding urban mobility? The objective of this work is to identify the state of the art of AHP applications to urban mobility. To answer the research question, this paper presents a literature review (LR). State of the art review (SAR) is an LR approach expected to deliver results with medium comprehensiveness and results closer to exhaustive. With the support of graphical software, three clusters were identified, in the keywords network: AHP, Innovation & Public Management, and Urban Mobility. In the AHP cluster, research is driven by methodological subjects; on Innovation & Public Management, there is an open discussion on local versus national coordination; and the urban mobility cluster has hybrid or non-AHP applications of MCDM.

Soil–structure interaction (SSI), which characterizes the dynamic interaction between a structure and its surrounding soil, is of great significance to the seismic assessment of structures. Past research endeavors have undertaken analytical, numerical, and experimental studies to gain a thorough understanding of the influences of SSI on the seismic responses of a wide array of structures, including but not limited to nuclear power plants, frame structures, bridges, and spatial structures. Thereinto, large-span spatial structures generally have much more complex configurations, and the influences of SSI may be more pronounced. To this end, this paper aims to provide a state-of-the-art review of the SSI in the seismic assessment of large-span spatial structures. It begins with the modelling of soil medium, followed by the research progress of SSI in terms of numerical simulations and experiments. Subsequently, the focus shifts towards high-lighting advancements in understanding the seismic responses of large-span spatial structures considering SSI. Finally, some discussions are made on the unresolved problems and the possible topics for future studies.

Interest in instructional leadership has grown dramatically in Asia since 2010. This systematic state-of-the-art review analyzed the evolution of analytical models, research methods, and findings in Asian studies of instructional leadership that employed the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). The authors applied content analysis to 349 Asian instructional leadership studies sourced from multiple digital databases. The publication of Asia-based studies of instructional leadership increased from 47 before 2011 to 257 in the subsequent 15 years. Our analysis of 302 quantitative and mixed methods studies found that Asian scholars have primarily employed univariate and direct effects models in their instructional leadership studies, a limitation for knowledge advancement. At the same time, the use of advanced multivariate analytical models increased from 2.1% of the literature before 2011 to 23.3% in the subsequent period. Analysis of 20 “state-of-the-art studies” found a consistent pattern of significant mediated and direct effects of instructional leadership on teacher attitudes and practices. Moreover, several well-designed studies found that a school’s cultural context moderated the effects of instructional leadership on teaching and learning. Findings from the state-of-the-art review highlight the relationship between analytical models, variable selection, and research methods in studies that advance knowledge.

In the existing building stock, typically characterised by a high degree of irregularity, the effects of earthquakes are strongly dependent on the epicentre–structure direction and the angle of incidence of the seismic motion. However, the scientific community has not yet reached a unanimous consensus on the evaluation of the effects of seismic incidence angles. Therefore, this paper conducts an extensive investigation of the international literature on current methods to consider seismic directionality, systematically reviewing more than 80 publications on this topic. Following a brief overview of the problem and an analysis of the initial developments of the multidirectionality concept of seismic input, a state-of-the-art review is presented based on the considered analysis methods, specifically response spectrum analysis, nonlinear static analysis, and nonlinear response history analysis. Moreover, the adoption of multidirectional seismic input in popular codes and standards is presented and discussed. This study provides the first comprehensive synthesis of research on the seismic incidence angles across diverse building typologies, offering crucial insights for future code revisions and highlighting significant gaps in current analytical methods and standards, thereby setting a new direction for subsequent empirical investigations. Specifically, the extensive state-of-the-art review revealed that, until now, the evaluation of the angle of incidence was primarily conducted on existing reinforced concrete buildings with a limited number of storeys, analysed with nonlinear response history analysis. This underscores the need for future research to extensively investigate the impact of the angle of incidence on other types of construction typologies.

Tobacco worker’s lung (TWL) is a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) affecting workers exposed to tobacco leaves and molds in the humidified environment of the tobacco production industry. Limited epidemiological data point to a prevalence of TWL that is not negligible and probably underestimated. As in other types of HP, an acute vs. chronic presentation depends on the pattern of the exposure. Therefore, the clinical presentation can vary from an acute influenza-like syndrome, mostly self-limiting with the removal of the exposure, to an insidious onset of cough, exertional dyspnea, fatigue and weight loss in chronic presentations, where fibrotic changes may be observed. The main treatment strategy is the removal of the exposure to tobacco dust and molds, while the main aim of corticosteroid therapy is to reduce morbidity and prevent complications, namely the development of pulmonary fibrosis and permanent lung dysfunction. Despite the fact that TWL is quite well described, preventive measures are not usually adopted in the tobacco production industry. We present here a state of the art review of this neglected, preventable, but still prevalent and occupational-related subtype of HP.

The lung acinus is the most distal portion of the airway responsible for the gas exchange. The normal acini are not visible on conventional computed tomography (CT), but the advent of micro-CT improved the understanding of the microarchitecture of healthy acini. The comprehension of the acinar architecture is pivotal for the understanding of CT findings of diseases that involve the acini. Centriacinar emphysema, for example, presents as round areas of low attenuation due to the destruction of the most central acini with compensatory enlargement of proximal acini due to alveolar wall destruction. In pulmonary fibrosis, intralobular septal fibrosis manifests as acinar wall thickening with an overlap of acinar collapse and compensatory dilation of surrounding acini constituting the cystic disease typical of the usual interstitial pneumonia pattern. This is a state-of-the-art review to describe the acinar structure from the micro-CT perspective and display how the comprehension of the acinar structure can aid in the interpretation of its microarchitecture disruption on conventional CT.

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to survey existing information security culture research to scrutinise the kind of knowledge that has been developed and the way in which this knowledge has been brought about. Design/methodology/approach – Results are based on a literature review of information security culture research published between 2000 and 2013 (December). Findings – This paper can conclude that existing research has focused on a broad set of research topics, but with limited depth. It is striking that the effects of different information security cultures have not been part of that focus. Moreover, existing research has used a small repertoire of research methods, a repertoire that is more limited than in information systems research in general. Furthermore, an extensive part of the research is descriptive, philosophical or theoretical – lacking a structured use of empirical data – which means that it is quite immature. Research limitations/implications – Findings call for future research that: addresses the effects of different information security cultures; addresses the identified research topics with greater depth; focuses more on generating theories or testing theories to increase the maturity of this subfield of information security research; and uses a broader set of research methods. It would be particularly interesting to see future studies that use intervening or ethnographic approaches because, to date, these have been completely lacking in existing research. Practical implications – Findings show that existing research is, to a large extent, descriptive, philosophical or theoretical. Hence, it is difficult for practitioners to adopt these research results, such as frameworks for cultivating or assessment tools, which have not been empirically validated. Originality/value – Few state-of-the-art reviews have sought to assess the maturity of existing research on information security culture. Findings on types of research methods used in information security culture research extend beyond the existing knowledge base, which allows for a critical discussion about existing research in this sub-discipline of information security.