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There is not a unified modelling approach to finite element failure analysis of concrete dams. Different behaviours of a dam predicted by different fracture methods with various material constitutive models may significantly influence on the dam safety evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to present a general comparative investigation to examine whether the nonlinear responses of concrete dams obtained from different fracture modelling approaches are comparable in terms of crack propagation and failure modes.

Three fracture modelling approaches, including the extended finite element method with a cohesive law (XFEM-COH), the crack band finite element method with a plastic-damage relation (FEPD), and the Drucker-Prager (DP) elasto-plastic model, are chosen to analyse damage and cracking behaviour of concrete gravity dams under overloading conditions. The failure process and loading capacity of a dam are compared.

The numerical results indicate that the three approaches are all applicable to predict loading capacity and safety factors of gravity dams. However, both XFEM-COH and FEPD give more reasonable crack propagation and failure modes in comparison with DP. Therefore, when cracking patterns are the major concern for safety evaluation of concrete dams, it is recommended that XFEM-COH and FEPD rather than DP be used.

The comparison of cracking behaviours of concrete dams obtained from different fracture modelling approaches is conducted. The applicability of the modelling approaches for failure analysis of concrete dams is discussed, and from the results presented in this work, it is significant to consider the suitability of the selected fracture modelling approach for dam safety evaluation.

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the heat transfer phenomena in a dynamically bulging enclosure filled with Cu-water nanofluid. This study examines the convective heat transfer process induced by a bulging area considered a heat source, with the enclosure's side walls having a low temperature and top and bottom walls being treated as adiabatic. Various factors, such as the Rayleigh number (Ra), nanoparticle volume fraction, Darcy effects, Hartmann number (Ha) and effects of magnetic inclination, are analyzed for their impact on the flow behavior and temperature distribution.

The finite element method (FEM) is employed for simulating variations in flow and temperature after validating the results. Solving the non-linear partial differential equations while incorporating the modified Darcy number (10⁻³ ≤ Da ≤ 10⁻¹), Ra (10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁵) and Ha (0 ≤ Ha ≤ 100) as the dimensionless operational parameters.

This study demonstrates that in enclosures with dynamically positioned bulges filled with Cu-water nanofluid, heat transfer is significantly influenced by the bulge location and nanoparticle volume fraction, which alter flow and heat patterns. The varying impact of magnetic fields on heat transfer depends on the Rayleigh and Has.

The geometry configurations employed in this research have broad applications in various engineering disciplines, including heat exchangers, energy storage, biomedical systems and food processing.

This research provides insights into how different shapes of the heated bulging area impact the hydromagnetic convection of Cu-water nanofluid flow in a dynamically bulging-shaped porous system, encompassing curved surfaces and various multi-physical conditions.

This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the complex nature of Airbnb user experience by analyzing the pattern and sentiment of online reviews and assessing the relationships among review scores.

Big data analysis is conducted using Airbnb users’ online reviews of 16 US cities; correlation is run on review scores.

The key themes of Airbnb users’ online reviews are “clean,” “location,” “stay,” “home,” “place,” “host,” “neighborhood” and “recommend” and users have positive Airbnb experiences in general. The score of “cleanliness” significantly affects the “overall review” score.

This study is exploratory in nature; mixed methods should be used in the future to measure the relationship between user experience and extracted themes. As the context is in the USA in the current study, comparisons of review patterns across different countries and regions are necessary for later studies. Furthermore, future studies should consider Airbnb users’ demographics, personality and lodging preferences.

It is important for Airbnb hosts to maintain a clean and accessible property. Both Airbnb hosts and hoteliers should enhance the attributes that generate positive customer reviews. Each city should develop different strategies based on the performance of “cleanliness” and “overall review.”

This study supplements the existing literature in Airbnb user experience by analyzing online reviews in 16 US cities via Leximancer 4.0.

分析Airbnb网络评论：论美国16城市的用户体验

本论文旨在深入了解Airbnb用户体验的复杂属性, 通过分析网络评论以及网络评分之间的关系来找寻规律和判断用户情感偏差。

本论文采用大数据方式, 样本为美国16个城市的Airbnb用户网络评论; 本论文还对网络评分做出相关性分析。

研究结果表明, Airbnb用户网络评论的关键主题为“清洁性”、“地理位置”、“居住体验”、“家”、“地点”、“招待主人”、“邻里”、以及“推荐”和用户总体来说对Airbnb有着积极体验。“清洁度”分数对“整体评论”有显著影响。

本论文属于开拓性研究作品; 未来项目可以采用混合方法来衡量用户体验与主题的关系。本论文的研究背景是美国, 未来研究可以做不同国家和区域的评论模式对比分析。此外, 未来研究还应该考虑Airbnb用户的统计数据指标、个性、以及住宿设施偏好。

对于Airbnb住宿提供者来说, 保持设施的清洁和可使用性是非常重要的。对于Airbnb住宿主人和酒店经营者来说, 加强服务属性来提高网络好评是非常重要的。每个城市都应该基于“清洁度”和“整体评论”来开发不同的战略。

本论文补充了现有Airbnb用户体验的文献, 通过Leximancer 4.0 软件来分析美国16个城市的网络评论

Research on electric sports (eSports) has experienced significant growth in recent years as a consequence of increasing connectivity, institutionalization, and technological advances. However, the interdisciplinary nature of the eSports as a field and the burgeoning growth in eSports articles have rendered it necessary to conduct a systematic review of extant literature to take stock of the knowledge accumulated. To this end, we aim to undertake a comprehensive review of extant literature that takes stock of published research to derive opportunities for future research in the realm of eSports. In so doing, we contribute to the advancement of the field by mapping out the knowledge trajectory of eSports research and elucidating areas that have remained underexplored thus far.

To conduct systematic review of the eSports literature, we employed a framework that included six essential steps: protocol, search, appraisal, synthesis, analysis, and report. This comprehensive approach enables us to meticulously investigate the existing body of literature on eSports and identify key trends and topics addressed within the field. By conducting the multidisciplinary systematic literature review, we thoroughly assess the current state of eSports literature and subsequently outline potential research avenues that can contribute to eSports fields.

This study draws on a six-phase framework – member preparation, team formation, character selection, team coordination, team performance, and team reflection – to illustrate the roles played by different levels of analysis unit (i.e. characters, players, and teams) and three distinct yet interconnected stages (i.e. inputs, process, and outputs) within eSports games as well as the research opportunities it brings.

We conducted a rigorous systematic review of the eSports literature by using quantitative citation analysis and qualitative content analysis. Furthermore, we adopted team dynamic view of eSports to identify potential research avenues for future research that contribute to advancing our understanding of the eSports tournaments.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of variable thermal conductivity in mixed convection flow of viscoelastic nanofluid due to a stretching cylinder with heat source/sink.

The authors have computed the existence of the solution for Walter’s B and second grade fluids corresponding to Pr=0.5 and Pr=1.5. Skin-friction coefficient, local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are computed numerically for different values of emerging parameters.

A comparative study with the existing solutions in a limiting sense is made and analyzed. The authors found that the dimensionless velocity filed and momentum boundary layer thickness are increased when the values of viscoelastic parameter increase. The present non-Newtonian fluid flow reduces to the viscous flow in the absence of viscoelastic parameter. The larger values of viscoelastic parameter corresponds to the higher values of local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers.

No such analysis exists in the literature yet.

This paper aims to examine the barriers to the environmental sustainability practices of large-scale mining companies throughout a mine lifecycle, analysed in the context of the plural and competing logics and tensions in the broader institutional environment.

The paper used a qualitative methodology based on multiple cases involving multinational mining companies, regulators and other major stakeholder groups, as it offers an opportunity for analytical generalisations where the empirical results are compared to previously established theories.

The empirical results indicate that the environmental sustainability barriers are embedded within gaps in Ghana’s natural resources governance framework. The gaps arise out of contradictory interests and values, which hinder the direction and practices of large-scale mining companies.

The findings may only apply to the context of this study and is inadequate as the basis for assessing the effectiveness or otherwise of specific initiatives of large-scale mining firms in Ghana.

This study have implications on how large-scale mining companies and their stakeholders define their values and goals, and engage in a dynamic process to accommodate the multiple and competing logics by implementing effective structures at the organisational and institutional levels.

This paper contributes to the sustainability and institutional complexity perspective by showing that plural logics are often contradictory, but may also be complementary in situations of complicit commonality, hindering sustainable outcomes. The authors argue that this is one of the few studies that have examined the barriers to environmental sustainability explicated in the context of institutional complexity.

The factors that determine foreign direct investment (FDI) are important to policy-makers, investors, the banking industry and the public at large. FDI in Ghana has received increased attention in recent times because its relevance in the Ghanaian economy is too critical to gloss over. The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of FDI in Ghana between the period of 1990 and 2015.

The study employed a causal research design. The study used the Johansen’s approach to cointegration within the framework of vector autoregressive for the data analysis.

The study found a cointegrating relationship between FDI and its determinants. The study found that both the long-run and short-run results found statistically significant negative effects of inflation rate, exchange rate and interest rate on FDI in Ghana while gross domestic product, electricity production and telephone usage (TU) had a positive effect on FDI.

The study found a cointegrating relationship between FDI and its determinants. The study found that both the long-run and short-run results found statistically significant negative effects of inflation rate, exchange rate and interest rate on FDI in Ghana whiles gross domestic product, electricity production and TU had a positive effect on FDI.

This study has potential implication for boosting the economies of developing countries through its policy recommendations which if implemented can guarantee more capital inflows for the economies.

This study has given more effective ways of attracting more FDI into countries which in effect achieve higher GDP and also higher standard of living through mechanisms and in the end creating more social protection programs for the people.

Although studies have been conducted to explore the determinants of FDI, some of the core macroeconomic variables such as inflation, interest rate, telephone subscriptions, electricity production, etc., which are unstable and have longstanding effects on FDI have not been much explored to a give a clear picture of the relationships. Therefore, a study that will explore these and other macroeconomic variables to give clear picture of their relationships and suggest some of the possible ways of dealing with these variables in order to attract more FDI for the country to achieve its goal is what this paper seeks to do.

The purpose of this study is to examine the link between country-level corporate governance and foreign direct investment in African economies for the period 2009-2015.

The authors use annual panel data of 40 African economies over the period of the study and use the system generalized method of moments (GMM) to establish the relationship between country-level corporate governance and foreign direct investment.

The authors find that African economies characterized by firms with high ethical values tend to attract a great deal of foreign direct investment. In addition, they highlight that when an economy is associated with effective corporate boards, it tends to attract much foreign direct investment. Further, this study reveals that the level of minority shareholders’ interests’ protection in an economy has a significant positive relationship with foreign direct investment. Finally, they document a negative relationship between effectiveness of regulation of securities and exchanges and foreign direct investment.

It is advised that sound and implementable corporate governance structures devoid of political interferences should be put in place in African economies, if the aim of using foreign direct investment to mitigate poverty by 2015 as part of the Millennium Development Goals is to be attained.

Empiricists have devoted considerable effort to estimate the factors that influence the level of foreign direct investment into African economies without taking into consideration the corporate governance structures in these economies. However, this paper seeks to examine the relationship between country-level corporate governance structures and foreign direct investment in African economies.