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In autonomous driving, the inherent sparsity of point clouds often limits the performance of object detection, while existing multimodal architectures struggle to meet the real-time requirements for 3D object detection. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to significantly enhance the detection performance of objects, especially the recognition capability for small-sized objects and to address the issue of slow inference speed. This will improve the safety of autonomous driving systems and provide feasibility for devices with limited computing power to achieve autonomous driving.

BRTPillar first adopts an element-based method to fuse image and point cloud features. Secondly, a local-global feature interaction method based on an efficient additive attention mechanism was designed to extract multi-scale contextual information. Finally, an enhanced multi-scale feature fusion method was proposed by introducing adaptive spatial and channel interaction attention mechanisms, thereby improving the learning of fine-grained features.

Extensive experiments were conducted on the KITTI dataset. The results showed that compared with the benchmark model, the accuracy of cars, pedestrians and cyclists on the 3D object box improved by 3.05, 9.01 and 22.65%, respectively; the accuracy in the bird’s-eye view has increased by 2.98, 10.77 and 21.14%, respectively. Meanwhile, the running speed of BRTPillar can reach 40.27 Hz, meeting the real-time detection needs of autonomous driving.

This paper proposes a boosting multimodal real-time 3D object detection method called BRTPillar, which achieves accurate location in many scenarios, especially for complex scenes with many small objects, while also achieving real-time inference speed.

This paper aims to develop an innovative 3D printer based on material extrusion to expand applied material field and shorten the production cycle. The developed 3D printer can fabricate products directly using various powders, including polymers and fillers. In addition, the influence of extrusion on the orientation of thermal conductive filler is also investigated.

To ensure the plasticizing effect and the mixing ability, the printing head is a conical twin-screw extruder, which have a smaller volume. PA12 and h-BN powders were selected for printing as matrix and filler, respectively. The properties of printing products were characterized.

The results show that the new printer can fabricate products directly using polymer powders because of the mixing ability of the twin-screw. The h-BN filler orient in the PA12 matrix and form thermal conduction paths due to the extrusion process, which make the printed samples have an anisotropic thermal conductivity.

The innovative 3D printer provides a method of printing products directly using powders, which can expand material field and shorten the production cycle. For composites, the extrusion process can make fillers orient in the matrix to fabricate products with anisotropic characteristics.

This study aims to explore the impact mechanism of social support on individual health knowledge creation among users in online patient communities, guide and promote the creation of health knowledge and provide insights into managing online patient communities.

A theoretical model was constructed by integrating social impact and social support theories. Data were collected through questionnaires, and 750 valid responses were analysed using a structural equation model.

This study found the following. (1) Social support influences individual health knowledge creation through the mediating effects of creative self-efficacy and positive emotions. (2) The general rule of the strength of the influencing factors on individual health knowledge creation is that creative self-efficacy > positive emotions. (3) The general pattern of the mediating effect of attitude factors between social support and health knowledge creation is that creative self-efficacy > positive emotions. (4) The key path for social support to influence individual health knowledge creation is “social support → creative self-efficacy → health knowledge creation”. (5) The dimensions of social support in online patient communities can be divided into information, emotional, respect and network support. Individual health knowledge creation can be divided into health knowledge externalisation, combination, socialisation and internalisation.

This study expands the application scope of social influence theory and opens up the “black box” of the impact of social support on individual health knowledge creation behaviour. Simultaneously, the dimensions of social support, individual health knowledge creation and the mediating role between social support and health knowledge creation are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to explore the interfacial adhesion between superhydrophobic coatings FC-X (X = 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%) and the concrete substrate, along with the impact of FC-X on the water repellency characteristics of the concrete substrate.

One synthetic step was adopted to prepare novel F-SiO₂ NP hybrid fluororesin coating. The impact of varying mass fractions of F-SiO₂ NPs on the superhydrophobicity of FC-X was analyzed and subsequently confirmed through water contact angle (WCA) measurements. Superhydrophobic coatings were simply applied to the concrete substrate using a one-step spraying method. The interfacial adhesion between FC-X and the concrete substrate was analyzed using tape pasting tests and abrasion resistance measurements. The influence of FC-X on the water repellency of the concrete substrate was investigated through measurements of water absorption, impermeability and electric flux.

FC-4% exhibits excellent superhydrophobicity, with a WCA of 157.5° and a sliding angle of 2.3°. Compared to control sample, FC-X exhibits better properties, including chemical durability, wear resistance, adhesion strength, abrasion resistance, water resistance and impermeability.

This study offers a thorough investigation into the practical implications of enhancing the durability and water repellency of concrete substrates by using superhydrophobic coatings, particularly FC-4%, which demonstrates exceptional superhydrophobicity alongside remarkable chemical durability, wear resistance, adhesion strength, abrasion resistance, water resistance and impermeability.

Through the examination of the interfacial adhesion between FC-X and the concrete substrate, along with an assessment of FC-X’s impact on the water repellency of the concrete, this paper provides valuable insights into the practical application of superhydrophobic coatings in enhancing the durability and performance of concrete materials.

This study examines how tourism contributes to employment.

Using various econometric techniques for panel data, the study estimates the contribution of tourism to employment in a sample of 148 economies from 2002 to 2017. The analysis is also carried out for three sub-samples according to income levels.

This study has three significant contributions: Firstly, it shows that investment and consumption in the tourism sector have positive benefits for employment. Furthermore, the improvement of institutional quality boosts these positive gains. Secondly, there is a U-inverted relationship between the income level and total contributions of tourism to employment. The development of the tourism industry would therefore follow the pattern suggested by the Kuznets curve hypothesis. Thirdly, the positive effects of tourism investment and consumption in tourism are evidenced in all three sub-samples. In contrast, the effects of institutions seem to be weaker in higher-income economies (implying that there is a larger space for low-income economies to use institutional reform to boost the development and contribution of tourism in their economies). Finally, institutional quality appears to enhance the contribution of tourism to employment.

The study highlights the importance of the tourism industry in enhancing employment.

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing service employee work and personal well-being affecting their intention to leave the organization. This research explored the effects of service climate, resilience and workplace well-being (WWB) on service employee perceptions of subjective well-being and turnover intention. PERMA framework of individual flourishing and well-being (Seligman, 2011) was used to measure employee WWB and reflected their positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment.

Service employees (n = 250) completed an online self-administered survey. partial least squares structural equation (PLS-SEM) modeling and multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) were utilized to test how gender differences influenced personal and organizational factors, and their impacts on PERMA dimensions and outcomes.

Results revealed a significant effect of service climate and resilience on PERMA. Only service employee work-meaning positively influenced SWB and negatively turnover intention. Examining each dimension of employee engagement showed similar impacts of service climate and resilience for both men and women, while absorption increased turnover intention for men.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to test the PERMA framework as service employee WWB. The study advances the employee well-being line of research by exploring the impacts of service climate and resilience on PERMA dimensions. The PERMA framework was extended to examine three sub-dimensions of employee engagement as unique PERMA dimensions. This study advances the limited knowledge of how work and personal factors affect service employees’ work and subjective well-being from a gender perspective.

This study addresses tourists' post-consumption perspectives on the impact of online destination experiences and animosity on travel decisions. Developing a framework based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory, we examine the previously unexplored relationship between post-negative events, online destination brand experience (ODBE), tourists' animosity and destination boycott intentions within the domestic tourism context.

Data from 355 actively engaged domestic travelers in Pakistan who follow destination social media pages (i.e. Instagram and Facebook) was analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that post-negative events ODBE significantly stimulate tourists' animosity, which in turn drives destination boycott intentions. The ODBE indirectly affects boycott intentions through animosity, acting as a partial mediator. The analysis highlights the significance of the users' prior experience levels (novice vs experienced). Multigroup analysis shows that novice visitors are more sensitive to negative online experiences, resulting in stronger animosity than experienced visitors. Animosity significantly drives boycott intentions, particularly among experienced visitors.

This study’s novelty lies in its comprehensive examination of post-negative events, focusing on how the ODBE influences tourists' negative emotions and boycott intentions. These findings offer valuable insights for tourism researchers and destination marketers, underscoring the importance of optimizing post-service failure ODBE strategies for brand repair, online reputation management, digital marketing innovation and customized service recovery to mitigate the impact of negative events.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between digital transformation, international competition and productivity progress by examining the dual margins of export, thereby identifying the digital development pathway for key industrial chains within the context of regional medical and health cooperation.

By constructing models incorporating both the extensive margin and intensive margin, this paper delves into the reasons underlying changes in product trade value and variety within international market competition. Utilizing export data for medical products from China to Belt and Road Initiative partner countries spanning from 2007 to 2020, an industry–destination–time panel benchmark model is established to assess the impact of digital transformation on product expansion and international competition.

The findings reveal the following insights. First, digital transformation positively impacts the intensive margin of medical products, whereas it does not exert a positive influence on the extensive margin. Second, the impact mechanism test indicates that digital transformation fosters the intensive export margin by enhancing the technical efficiency of exports but exhibits an inverted U-shaped effect on technological progress. Third, digital transformation demonstrates a notable non-linear characteristic, with a substantial increase in the lifting effect once a certain threshold is surpassed.

While previous research has extensively explored the effects of digital transformation on export trade, this study uniquely integrates the concepts of the intensive and extensive margins of export, thereby enriching the research insights derived from existing literature. It focuses on the nonlinear effects and threshold dynamics of digital transformation, particularly in relation to total factor productivity. Additionally, the paper makes a contribution to the understanding of the Health Silk Road by incorporating the health index.

This paper aims to develop an optimal maintenance and spare parts policy for an urban micro wind power system, focusing on two urban micro wind farms (UMWF). The reliability and efficiency of these systems are sought to be enhanced by considering the relationship between urban wind parameters and wind turbine degradation.

A proportional hazards (PH) model is utilized to describe how urban wind conditions impact turbine degradation. The maintenance strategy includes preventive maintenance (PM), corrective maintenance (CM) and opportunistic maintenance (OM). A multi-objective optimization algorithm is developed to optimize the joint policy of OM plans and spare parts resource allocation.

The proposed maintenance and spare parts policy effectively balances the trade-offs between PM, CM and OM strategies. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the policy improves the reliability of UMWF, reducing downtime and maintenance costs while ensuring the availability of spare parts when needed. The results show a significant enhancement in system performance compared to traditional maintenance approaches.

A novel maintenance policy and spare parts management approach for urban micro wind power systems is proposed. A multi-objective optimization algorithm is developed to optimize the OM schedule and maintenance spare parts resource management strategy for wind farms in urban wind environments.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the laser cladding process on the microstructure, hardness and corrosion resistance properties of high-entropy alloys (HEA).

Laser cladding technology was used, using AlCoCrFeNiCu HEA powder as the cladding material. HEA coatings were prepared on the surface of 45 steel using a coaxial powder feeding method. The microstructure, phase composition, hardness and corrosion resistance properties of the HEA cladding layer were analyzed using optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffractometer, digital microhardness tester and electrochemical workstation.

Laser power affects the coating surface; lower power reveals more visible unmelted powder particles. Higher power results in increased melt width and height, a brighter, smoother surface. Phase structure remains consistent, but the coating hardness is significantly higher than the substrate. The hardness of the melted zone in the substrate peaks at approximately 890.5 HV. The cladding zone hardness is about 60 HV higher than the substrate zone. Electrochemical corrosion parameters of the cladding show that, compared to the substrate, Ecor shifts positively by 113 mV, Icor decreases by one order of magnitude and Rp increases by one order of magnitude. These results indicate that the cladding has superior corrosion resistance to the substrate. The bonding strength between the coating and the substrate is greater than 93.6 MPa.

First, based on preliminary pilot experiments, nine sets of single-factor experiments were designed. Through these experiments, a specimen with relatively favorable cross-sectional morphology was observed. This specimen was then subjected to coating research, revealing that its microstructure and properties had significantly improved compared to the substrate. This enhancement holds remarkable significance for prolonging the service life of components.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2024-0413/