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1 – 10 of 212Peng Wu, Heng Su, Hao Dong, Tengfei Liu, Min Li and Zhihao Chen
Robotic arms play a crucial role in various industrial operations, such as sorting, assembly, handling and spraying. However, traditional robotic arm control algorithms often…
Abstract
Purpose
Robotic arms play a crucial role in various industrial operations, such as sorting, assembly, handling and spraying. However, traditional robotic arm control algorithms often struggle to adapt when faced with the challenge of dynamic obstacles. This paper aims to propose a dynamic obstacle avoidance method based on reinforcement learning to address real-time processing of dynamic obstacles.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper introduces an innovative method that introduces a feature extraction network that integrates gating mechanisms on the basis of traditional reinforcement learning algorithms. Additionally, an adaptive dynamic reward mechanism is designed to optimize the obstacle avoidance strategy.
Findings
Validation through the CoppeliaSim simulation environment and on-site testing has demonstrated the method's capability to effectively evade randomly moving obstacles, with a significant improvement in the convergence speed compared to traditional algorithms.
Originality/value
The proposed dynamic obstacle avoidance method based on Reinforcement Learning not only accomplishes the task of dynamic obstacle avoidance efficiently but also offers a distinct advantage in terms of convergence speed. This approach provides a novel solution to the obstacle avoidance methods for robotic arms.
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Purpose and methodology – Focusing on the policy contexts of gender education in Taiwan, this chapter uses data from interviews with elite policymakers and policy documents to…
Abstract
Purpose and methodology – Focusing on the policy contexts of gender education in Taiwan, this chapter uses data from interviews with elite policymakers and policy documents to examine how feminist activists sought to legitimatize gender equity in education in the wake of the comprehensive social and educational reforms of the 1990s and early years of this decade.
Findings – The embedding of gender in education did not follow a smooth path in terms of policy formulation. Feminist activists drove the process of reform by retaining control over the naming of the legislation, and its wording, thus preserving the language and imperatives of gender equity.
Social implications – In this chapter, I examine the formation of the Gender Equity Education Law, detailing the struggles, contentions, and negotiations that underlay the eventual approval of gender reform in education.
Originality/value of chapter – The chapter contributes significantly by identifying the necessity to recognize the nature of the state and its relations with society in order to research gender in education in Taiwan.
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Xiangwen Kong, Liufang Su, Heng Wang and Huanguang Qiu
To achieve the dual goals of decarbonization and food security, this paper examines China's carbon footprint reduction in 2050 based on current mitigation strategies.
Abstract
Purpose
To achieve the dual goals of decarbonization and food security, this paper examines China's carbon footprint reduction in 2050 based on current mitigation strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering publications as featured evidence, this study develops an investigation of agricultural decarbonization in China. First, the authors summarize the mitigation strategies for agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the existing literature. Second, the authors demonstrate the domestic food production target in 2050 and the projection target's projected life-cycle-based GHG emissions at the commodity level. Lastly, the authors forecast China's emission removal in the agri-food sector in 2050 concerning current mitigation strategies and commodity productions. The authors highlight the extent to which each mitigation strategy contributes to decarbonization in China.
Findings
Practices promoting sustainable development in the agri-food sector significantly contribute to GHG emission removal. The authors find mitigation strategies inhibiting future GHG emissions in the agri-food sector comprise improving nitrogen use efficiency in fertilizers, changing food consumption structure, manure management, cover crops, food waste reduction, dietary change of livestock and covered manure. A 10% improvement in nitrogen use efficiency contributes to 5.03% of GHG emission removal in the agri-food sector by 2050. Reducing food waste and food processing from 30% to 20% would inhibit 1.59% of the total GHG emissions in the agri-food sector.
Originality/value
This study contributes to policy discussions by accounting for agricultural direct and indirect emission components and assessing the dynamic changes in those related components. This study also extends existing research by forecasting to which extent the decarbonization effects implemented by current mitigation strategies can be achieved while meeting 2050 food security in China.
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Tze-Yin Lim, Choi-Meng Leong, Lucas Tee-Kiat Lim, Bibiana Chiu-Yiong Lim, Rodney Thiam-Hock Lim and Kiat-Sing Heng
This study aims to investigate the factors affecting the intention to visit community-based homestays among young adults in a developing country during the pandemic by…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the factors affecting the intention to visit community-based homestays among young adults in a developing country during the pandemic by incorporating the mediation effect of perceived values and moderation effects of safety and health concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from young adults were gathered via a self-administered questionnaire, and 268 sets of surveys were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling.
Findings
The perceived value of community-based homestays among young adults is positively affected by relaxation, learning and entertainment. Perceived value also mediates the relationship between each of the three said motivational push factors and the intention to visit a community-based homestay. The relationship between perceived value and intention to visit community-based homestays among young adults is unaffected by safety and health concerns.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis reveals that relaxation, learning and entertainment are key drivers of intentions to visit rural community-based homestays and that perceived value mediates links between them.
Practical implications
This study benefits the tourism authorities and marketers by enabling them to promote community-based homestays in the country among the young adult market.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by using the motivation theory and model of goal-oriented behaviour to investigate the moderating effects of health and safety concerns on young adults visiting intention. Young adults’ perceived value was also examined to study its mediating effects on visiting intention.
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Heng Liu, Wei Su and Fu‐tang Zhang
This paper aims to provide detailed information on the dynamic model and closed‐loop control theory for a resonant accelerometer based on electrostatic stiffness, which is…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide detailed information on the dynamic model and closed‐loop control theory for a resonant accelerometer based on electrostatic stiffness, which is important for the design of this type of resonant accelerometer.
Design/methodology/approach
After analysing the principles of the resonant accelerometer based on electrostatic stiffness, a dynamic model was built. According to the requirements of the closed‐loop control, the control equations based on phase‐locked technology were also built for the system. With the help of the averaging method, the system behaviour was analysed, and the equilibrium for the vibration amplitude was achieved.
Findings
The theoretical analysis and simulation show that integral gain is critical to system stability. When it is larger than the critical point, the system stable time is shorter, but the frequency‐tracking process fluctuates; if it is smaller than the critical point, the system stable time is longer, and the frequency‐tracking process stabilizes a resonant accelerometer was fabricated with a bulk‐silicon‐dissolved process. With the above conclusions, the accelerometer was driven and tested with a sensitivity of 47 Hz/g for a single vibration beam.
Originality/value
The dynamic model and the control theory for the resonant accelerometer based on electrostatic stiffness were presented in this paper. The simulation and experiment results agree well with the theoretical analysis.
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Edem M. Azila-Gbettor, Christopher Mensah and Martin K. Abiemo
The study aims to examine the moderating influence of perceived co-worker support in the nexus between compulsory citizenship behaviour, job involvement and social loafing amongst…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to examine the moderating influence of perceived co-worker support in the nexus between compulsory citizenship behaviour, job involvement and social loafing amongst university interns.
Design/methodology/approach
Four hundred and sixty-two) respondents took part in the study by completing a self-reported questionnaire distributed via online WhatsApp platform. The respondents were selected using multistage sampling technique. The data were processed and analysed using IBM SPSS version 24 and PLS-SEM, respectively.
Findings
Results reveal interns’ experience of compulsory citizenship behaviour positively influences their social loafing and negatively influences their job involvement. Furthermore, the support received from co-workers’ reduces the negative influence of compulsory citizenship behaviour on interns’ (1) social loafing and (2) job involvement.
Research limitations
The study’s main limitations have been identified as the type of organisation in which the internship was completed and the number of years of internship experience. Future research may seek to address this problem by obtaining data from a cohort that is categorised based on the nature of the organisation and duration of the internship.
Practical implications
Perceived co-worker support has been found to reduce the negative effects of interns’ compulsory citizenship behaviour on their job outcomes. It is recommended that organisations establish a supportive work environment to assist interns. This can be achieved through various means, such as engaging in team-building activities and assigning mentors, among other strategies.
Originality/value
One of the first to have examined a model linking compulsory citizenship behaviour, job involvement, social loafing and perceived co-worker support amongst interns in a higher education environment.
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Heng Tang and Shoaib Ali
This research intends to analyze the innovation ecosystem factors that play a vital role in firm performance. As a result, large-scale empirical studies on the innovation…
Abstract
Purpose
This research intends to analyze the innovation ecosystem factors that play a vital role in firm performance. As a result, large-scale empirical studies on the innovation ecosystem are rare, and fewer efforts have been made to determine if and how different factors affect the ecosystem models of firms. There has yet to be a substantial empirical study on the innovation ecosystem.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were acquired from Pakistani IT companies. The results show that factors of the innovation ecosystem significantly contribute to business performance. The essential assumption is that resource endowment, organizational culture, knowledge and competence, and technology capability are allied to the innovation ecosystem.
Findings
The findings are crucial from a managerial view because firms must focus on changing their innovation ecosystem factors model to achieve greater performance. Radical changes in the firms will only be worthwhile if they value their resource endowments. To attain superior firm performance via influential factors of the innovation ecosystem, IT administrators need to build organizational cultural capacities to adapt to changes brought on by digitization quickly and effectively. However, this must be supplemented by improving organizational knowledge, competencies and technological capabilities to enable organizations to modify their ecosystems.
Originality/value
Eventually, firms can better respond to changes in their settings if they combine these variables by implementing an effective innovation ecosystem model, which leads to greater sector and superior financial performance.
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Hsueh Ling Wu, Tser Yieth Chen and Bo Heng Chen
This paper aims to use utilitarian benefits, hedonic benefits and corporate social responsibility to influence the consumer’s sense of brand identity and brand trust in social…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to use utilitarian benefits, hedonic benefits and corporate social responsibility to influence the consumer’s sense of brand identity and brand trust in social enterprise products and, thus, favourably affect repurchase intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This study dispatched 430 questionnaires in Taiwan. The top six social enterprises in the organic food industry in Taiwan that accounted for 84.0% of total green organic stores and they were selected for field investigation. This study used structural equation modelling.
Findings
The main path indicates that corporate social responsibility has a largely positive effect going through brand identity and brand trust, and then affecting the decision to repurchase. Therefore, the image of` corporate social responsibility was the greatest driving force. The secondary path indicated that utilitarian benefits positively affected brand identity and brand trust, which, in turn, positively affected repurchase intention. Therefore, utilitarian benefits were the secondary driving force of repurchasing social enterprise products.
Practical implications
This study indicates that social enterprises need to carry out effective corporate social responsibility to create a sense of strong brand trust in consumers’ minds. Empirical results can benefit social marketers for their product launches and promotions. Social enterprises can realize consumer differentiation preferences. With the effective grasp the information of consumer perception, the social marketers can turn passive into active and catch the marketing opportunities by the brand identity and trust to the content of the marketing programs design.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study is to propose an identity-repurchase intention (IRI) model, based on consumer information processing lens and self-congruency theory, to investigate the social enterprise perspective.
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Yu-Xiang Wang, Chia-Hung Hung, Hans Pommerenke, Sung-Heng Wu and Tsai-Yun Liu
This paper aims to present the fabrication of 6061 aluminum alloy (AA6061) using a promising laser additive manufacturing process, called the laser-foil-printing (LFP) process…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the fabrication of 6061 aluminum alloy (AA6061) using a promising laser additive manufacturing process, called the laser-foil-printing (LFP) process. The process window of AA6061 in LFP was established to optimize process parameters for the fabrication of high strength, dense and crack-free parts even though AA6061 is challenging for laser additive manufacturing processes due to hot-cracking issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The multilayers AA6061 parts were fabricated by LFP to characterize for cracks and porosity. Mechanical properties of the LFP-fabricated AA6061 parts were tested using Vicker’s microhardness and tensile testes. The electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) technique was used to reveal the grain structure and preferred orientation of AA6061 parts.
Findings
The crack-free AA6061 parts with a high relative density of 99.8% were successfully fabricated using the optimal process parameters in LFP. The LFP-fabricated parts exhibited exceptional tensile strength and comparable ductility compared to AA6061 samples fabricated by conventional laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processes. The EBSD result shows the formation of cracks was correlated with the cooling rate of the melt pool as cracks tended to develop within finer grain structures, which were formed in a shorter solidification time and higher cooling rate.
Originality/value
This study presents the pioneering achievement of fabricating crack-free AA6061 parts using LFP without the necessity of preheating the substrate or mixing nanoparticles into the melt pool during the laser melting. The study includes a comprehensive examination of both the mechanical properties and grain structures, with comparisons made to parts produced through the traditional LPBF method.
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Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, Poh Ling Chong, Tze San Ong, Boon Heng Teh and Tze Chin Ong
The aim of this paper is to characterise the association between business network and the balanced scorecard used by Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a method for…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to characterise the association between business network and the balanced scorecard used by Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as a method for assessing firm efficiency. The business network takes into account both the dimensions of stability and efficiency. The business network can help SMEs, with fewer resources to remain competitive. By having a secure business network, the performance of SMEs in Malaysia can be further improved. A business network can facilitate swift coordination amongst distant geographies to create new competitive advantages by accessing market segments, resources as well as building strategic business alliances.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 404 sets of data collected by using stratified random sampling and structured questionnaire as an instrument. The list of SMEs collected from the Malaysia Foreign Trade Growth Corporate Directory (MATRADE) directories. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised to analyse the data.
Findings
The findings show that the business network plays a role in the balanced scorecard (BSC) outcomes of Malaysian SMEs.
Originality/value
This article provides the owners and managers with an awareness to rapidly achieve the company's efficiency. Finally, the new article often has some consequences for decision-makers and regulators.
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