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Placemaking plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality of life in cities, necessitating a holistic approach and the incorporation of smart strategies. This study addresses the gap in existing research by exploring the integration of systems thinking and systems integration in smart placemaking within cities to make the placemaking more resilient, connected, and smart. The city is viewed as a system of interconnected and integrated smart places, where attractions, communication hubs, public spaces, and infrastructures seamlessly connect. The outcomes of smart placemaking include economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, health and well-being, safety and security, cultural preservation, innovation, and resilience. The research develops a framework that highlights the interconnectedness and interdependencies between systems thinking, systems integration, and smart placemaking. The framework provides guidance for city planners, urban designers, and policymakers in implementing effective strategies for creating vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable public spaces within the broader context of a smart and interconnected city.

This paper aims to enhance the machining accuracy of hybrid robots by treating the moving platform as the first joint of a serial robot for direct position measurement and integrating external grating sensors with motor encoders for real-time error compensation.

Initially, a spherical coordinate system is established using one linear and two circular grating sensors. This system enables direct acquisition of the moving platform’s position in the hybrid robot. Subsequently, during the coarse interpolation stage, the motor command for the next interpolation point is dynamically updated using error data from external grating sensors and motor encoders. Finally, fuzzy proportional integral derivative (PID) control is applied to maintain robot stability post-compensation.

Experiments were conducted on the TriMule-600 hybrid robot. The results indicate that the following errors of the five grating sensors are reduced by 94%, 93%, 80%, 75% and 88% respectively, after compensation. Using the fourth drive joint as an example, it was verified that fuzzy adaptive PID control performs better than traditional PID control.

The proposed online error compensation strategy significantly enhances the positional accuracy of the robot end, thereby improving the actual processing quality of the workpiece.

This method presents a technique for achieving online error compensation in hybrid robots, which promotes the advancement of the manufacturing industry.

This paper proposes a cost-effective and practical method for online error compensation in hybrid robots using grating sensors, which contributes to the advancement of hybrid robot technology.

Developed countries control pandemics using smart decisions and processes based on medical standards and modern technologies. Studies on risk-reduction and humantechnology interaction are scarce. This study developed a model to examine the relationship between citizens, pandemic-related technology and official safety practices.

This study investigated the mediating role of new health regulations and moderating role of safety incentives due to COVID-19 case reduction in pandemic severity control. This study included 407 operations managers, nursing staff conducting pandemic testing and reporting, doctors and security personnel in China. An artificial neural network (ANN) was used to check nonlinear regressions and model predictability.

The results demonstrated the impact of the introduction of new technology protocols on the implementation of new health regulations and aided pandemic severity control. The safety incentive of case reductions moderated the relationship between new health regulations and pandemic severity control. New health regulations mediated the relationship between the introduction of new technology protocols and pandemic severity control.

Further research should be conducted on pandemic severity in diversely populated cities, particularly those that require safety measures and controls. Future studies should focus on cloud computing for nurses, busy campuses and communal living spaces.

Authorities should involve citizens in pandemic-related technical advances to reduce local viral transmission and infection. New health regulations improved people's interactions with new technological protocols and understanding of pandemic severity. Pandemic management authorities should work with medical and security employees.

This study is the first to demonstrate that a safety framework with technology-oriented techniques could reduce future pandemics using managerial initiatives.

In modern China, sports and nationalism always have close connection, and nationalism is the important reason for the promotion of Chinese sports. However, the relationship between Chinese sports and nationalism in globalised China could be much more examined by academics, as well as its influencing factors. This chapter selects the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as the context and representative three Chinese sports heroes in the period of globalisation to study. The findings show that in some extent, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and three Chinese sports heroes represent the national image of China in the globalised world, also bearing the burden of washing away historical humiliation and pursuing national glory. Furthermore, it is manifested that China have a complex nationalism in the process of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. Under the influence of mass media, market economy and sports professionalisation, nationalism still exists in Chinese sports, but people gradually start to reflect on the ‘Juguo Tizhi’, the traditional Chinese sports system and the concept of ‘winning glory for the nation’. The relationship between Chinese nationalism and sports shows the important implications of rapid Chinese sports development.

Sustainable development is inseparable from rational and responsible use of resources and promotion of green entrepreneurship. The contemporary green development agenda encompasses climate, economic, technical, social, cultural, and political dimensions. International efforts to greening the global development are conducted by the major economies, including China as the world’s largest consumer of energy and the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. China is aware of its environmental problems, as well as of its part of the overall responsibility for the accomplishment of the sustainable development goals. By means of the decarbonization efforts, the latter are integrated both into the national development agenda (the concept of ecological civilization) and China’s international initiatives (the greening narrative within the Belt and Road Initiative). Over the past decade, China has made a breakthrough on the way to promoting green entrepreneurship and greening of its development (better quality of air and water, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and organic farming). On the other hand, emissions remain high, agricultural land loses productivity, and freshwater resources degrade due to climate change. In conventional industries (oil, coal mining, and electric and thermal energy), decarbonization faces an array of impediments. In this chapter, the authors summarize fundamental provisions of China’s approach to building an ecological civilization and measures to reduce emissions and achieve the carbon neutrality status within the nearest decades. The analysis of obstacles to the decarbonization of the economy and possible prospects for the development of green entrepreneurship summarizes China’s practices for possible use in other countries.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) to analyze the mechanical properties, failure behavior and slope stability of soil rock mixtures (SRM), in which the rocks within the SRM model have shape randomness, size randomness and spatial distribution randomness.

Based on the modeling method of heterogeneous rocks, the SRM numerical model can be built and by adjusting the boundary between soil and rock, an SRM numerical model with any rock content can be obtained. The reliability and robustness of the new modeling method can be verified by uniaxial compression simulation. In addition, this paper investigates the effects of rock topology, rock content, slope height and slope inclination on the stability of SRM slopes.

Investigations of the influences of rock content, slope height and slope inclination of SRM slopes showed that the slope height had little effect on the failure mode. The influences of rock content and slope inclination on the slope failure mode were significant. With increasing rock content and slope dip angle, SRM slopes gradually transitioned from a single shear failure mode to a multi-shear fracture failure mode, and shear fractures showed irregular and bifurcated characteristics in which the cut-off values of rock content and slope inclination were 20% and 80°, respectively.

This paper proposed a new modeling method for SRMs based on FDEM, with rocks having random shapes, sizes and spatial distributions.

The purpose of this study is to explore the factors influencing viewers’ engagement intention in travel live streaming (TLS) from a perceived value perspective.

This study used a mixed-methods approach. In Study 1, 48 semistructured interviews were analyzed based on grounded theory and perceived value theory, and a research framework was established to investigate the impact of viewers’ engagement intentions in TLS. In Study 2, partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to empirically validate survey data from 255 TLS viewers.

Through an analysis of the interview content, it was found that the expertise and interaction of the live streamer in TLS as well as the immersion, aesthetics and novelty of the live streaming scene are key influencing factors that affect the engagement of TLS viewers. This finding was confirmed through empirical research.

This research provides practical suggestions for live streamers, TLS platforms and local government to increase viewer engagement. Specifically, it provides methods and directions for the individual improvement of live streamers, further promotes the development and construction of the platform and underscores the importance of government initiatives in policy support and regulatory framework development.

This study focuses on the less-researched field of TLS. Using a mixed-methods approach combining interviews and PLS-SEM, this study explores the key factors that affect the engagement of TLS viewers based on the characteristics of live streamers and live streaming scenes.

This study aims to explore how subsidiary capabilities collectively configure for performance. Additionally, it seeks to examine whether these configurations of capabilities can provide equifinal solutions through developing a comprehensive research framework that focuses on subsidiaries in China.

With a data set collected through a questionnaire from 172 Korean multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China, this study used a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to detect the capability conditions and configurations. These configurations represent combinations of various subsidiary capabilities linked to high performance.

This study identified several complex pathways with distinct configurations for high subsidiary performance. The findings demonstrate the importance of configurations over individual conditions. Thus, the results highlight that the effectiveness of diverse capabilities, which are widely believed to singularly contribute to the high performance of MNE subsidiaries, depends on how each combines with other capabilities. Overall, the findings provide a richer and fine-grained understanding of the role and relative importance of various forms of MNE subsidiary capabilities and how the joint effect of these subsidiaries contributes to high performance.

This study suggests that MNE managers should comprehensively understand how subsidiary capabilities are configured to produce subsidiary performance outcomes. This specifically illustrates the importance of understanding the mutually conflicting yet collectively exhaustive results of multi-selective solutions and aims to align with China’s industrial and regional heterogeneity.

By examining the role of MNE subsidiary capability configurations, which may collectively influence the subsidiary’s performance, this study contributes to the literature. It elucidates how MNE subsidiaries may achieve superior performance by developing and possessing various capabilities tailored to the local context.

Previous studies on consumer financial fraud (CFF) have primarily focused on micro-level relationships. This study seeks to provide a holistic macro-level perspective of CFF patterns in the USA. We explore whether CFFs follow a geographical pattern in the USA and evaluate whether and how the patterns and strength of spatial interrelations between states have changed over time, particularly pre-, during and post-COVID-19 Pandemic.

This research investigates the spatial patterns inherent in four CFF variables – total reported frauds, percentage of frauds reporting a loss, total losses and median loss – across the contiguous USA from 2018 to 2022. An in-depth examination was conducted at the state level by applying Moran's I method on the consumer sentinel network data, a database administered by the Federal Trade Commission.

The findings provide robust and statistically significant spatial autocorrelation of four CFF variables across the contiguous USA that are persistent from 2018 to 2022, consistent across all discerned patterns. Moreover, upon aggregating average values over the entire study period, total losses emerge as the dimension displaying the most pronounced positive clustering. Finally, the strength of spatial autocorrelation patterns has increased post-COVID-19 Pandemic for total reported frauds, percentage of frauds reporting a loss and total losses, and it has reduced for the median loss.

The sustained spatial autocorrelation in total losses underscores an elevated interconnectedness in economic and social dynamics among neighboring states. This implies that states in close proximity are predisposed to exhibit analogous levels of total and median losses. This reveals a discernible pattern in the distribution of total losses across contiguous US states, even though the values of total reported frauds and total losses variables were adjusted based on the state population.

The findings furnish valuable insights for policymakers, consumer protection agencies, federal and local government agencies and law enforcement agencies, offering a nuanced understanding and targeted interventions to address the spatial dimensions of CFF effectively. The increase in the strength of the spatial dependencies following COVID-19 shows the increased importance of considering spatial dependencies when designing policies and activities to combat CFF activities. The sustained spatial autocorrelation in total losses underscores an elevated interconnectedness in economic and social dynamics among neighboring states. States in close proximity are predisposed to exhibit analogous levels of total and median losses. This finding reveals a discernible pattern in the distribution of total losses across contiguous US states. To account for state size, the total number of reported frauds and total monetary losses variables were adjusted based on the state's population.

The study provides empirical evidence for spatial autocorrelation for CFF patterns across the states within the contiguous USA. The work shows that adopting a spatial approach to studying CFF offers a promising area for future research.

This paper aims to contribute to the performance improvement and the broader application of hot-dip galvanized coating.

First, the ability to provide barrier protection, galvanic protection, and corrosion product protection provided by hot-dip galvanized coating is introduced. Then, according to the varying Fe content, the growth process of each sublayer within the hot-dip galvanized coating, as well as their respective microstructures and physical properties, is presented. Finally, the electrochemical corrosion behaviors of the different sublayers are analyzed.

The hot-dip galvanized coating is composed of η-Zn sublayer, ζ-FeZn13 sublayer, δ-FeZn10 sublayer, and Γ-Fe3Zn10 sublayer. Among these sublayers, with the increase in Fe content, the corrosion potential moves in a noble direction.

There is a lack of research on the corrosion behavior of each sublayer of hot-dip galvanized coating in different electrolytes.

It provides theoretical guidance for the microstructure control and performance improvement of hot-dip galvanized coatings.

The formation mechanism, coating properties, and corrosion behavior of different sublayers in hot-dip galvanized coating are expounded, which offers novel insights and directions for future research.