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The purpose of this paper is to prepare new modified polypropylene (PP) with phenolic microspheres (PFMs). Furthermore, the crystallinity and mechanical properties of PP modified by fillers (silicon dioxide [SiO₂] and light calcium carbonate [CaCO₃], respectively) have also been investigated and compared.

For effective toughening, three different fillers were added into the PP matrix. PP composites were prepared through melt blending with double-screw extruder and injection moulding machine.

It was found that with the addition of 3 Wt.% PFM, the impact strength was maximum in all PP composites and increased by 1.4 times compared to pure PP. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and polarised optical microscopy (POM) analysis confirmed that 3 Wt.% PFM, 3 Wt.% SiO₂ and 2 Wt.% CaCO₃ were optimal to add in PP and PFM to give the best compatibility with PP.

PFM particles not only are tougher and less brittle and can offer other advantages such as enhanced machinability, but also are important organic materials and have a good compatibility with polymer for reinforcing polymer properties.

The method developed provided a simple and practical solution to improving the toughness of PP.

There will be thermoplastic plastics with higher toughness in domestic, packaging and automotive applications, particularly at lower temperatures.

The PP modified by tiny amounts of fillers in this work had high toughness, which can be applied as an efficient material widely used in domestic, packaging and automotive applications.

The purpose of this paper is to find a new method to reinforce high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with polyacrylonitrile fibers (PAN). Furthermore, the crystallinity, viscoelasticity and thermal properties of HDPE composites have also been investigated and compared.

For effective reinforcing, samples with different content fillers were prepared. HDPE composites were prepared by melt blending with double-screw extruder prior to cutting into particles and the samples for testing were made using an injection molding machine.

With the addition of 9 Wt.% PAN fibers, it was found that the tensile strength and flexural modulus got the maximum value in all HDPE composites and increased by 1.2 times than pure HDPE. The shore hardness, storage modulus and vicat softening point of the composites improved continuously with the increase in the proportion of the fibers. The thermal stability and processability of composites did not change rapidly with the addition of PAN fibers. The degree of crystallinity increased with the addition of PAN fibers. In general, the composites achieve the best comprehensive mechanical properties with the fiber content of 9 Wt.%.

The fibers improve the strength of the polyethylene and enhance its ability to resist deformation.

The modified HDPE by PAN fibers in this study have high tensile strength and resistance to deformation and can be used as an efficient material in engineering, packaging and automotive applications.

The purpose of this paper is to prepare a spherical modifier-modified activated carbon fiber of high specific capacitance intended for electrode materials of supercapacitor.

In this study, phenolic-based microspheres are taken as modifiers to prepare PAN-based fiber composites by electrospinning, pre-oxidation and carbonization. Pearl-chain structures appear in RFC/ACF composites, and pure polyacrylonitrile fibers show a dense network. The shape and cross-linking degree are large. After the addition of the phenolic-based microspheres, the composite material exhibits a layered pearlite chain structure with a large porosity, and the RFC/ACF composite material is derived because of the existence of a large number of bead chain structures in the composite material. The density increases, the volume declines and the mass after being assembled into a supercapacitor as a positive electrode material decreases. The specific surface area of RFC/ACF composites is increased as compared to pure fibers. The increase in specific surface area could facilitate the diffusion of electrolyte ions in the material. Owing to the large number of bead chains, plenty of pore channels are provided for the diffusion of electrolyte ions, which is conducive to enhancing the electrochemical performance of the composite and improving the RFC/ACF composite and the specific capacitance of the material. The methods of electrochemical testing on symmetric supercapacitors (as positive electrodes) are three-electrode cyclic voltammetry, alternating current impedance and cycle stability.

The specific capacitance value of the composite material was found to be 389.2 F/g, and the specific capacitance of the electrode operating at a higher current density of 20 mA/cm2 was 11.87 F/g (the amount of the microsphere modifier added was 0.3 g). Using this material as a positive electrode to assemble into asymmetrical supercapacitor, after 2,000 cycles, the specific capacitance retention rate was 87.46 per cent, indicating excellent cycle stability performance. This result can be attributed to the fact that the modifier embedded in the fiber changes the porosity between the fibers, while improving the utilization of the carbon fibers and making it easier for electrolyte ions to enter the interior of the composites, thereby increasing the capacitance of the composites.

The modified PAN-based activated carbon fibers in the study had high specific surface area and significantly high specific capacitance, which makes it applicable as an efficient and environment-friendly absorbent, as well as an advanced electrode material for supercapacitor.

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the subsidies established by Measure 123 of the Rural Development Policy on the productivity of a sample of agri-food and forestry companies in the region of Asturias over the period 2006-2009.

The authors estimate a stochastic frontier function which allows subsidies to be considered as affecting both the level of technical efficiency and technical progress.

The results show that while subsidies have a positive effect on the technical progress of companies in the agri-food industry, for the forestry industry, the effect materializes as an improvement in technical efficiency. Additionally, other factors affecting either, technical progress and technical efficiency were identified.

This study adopts a model that allows the separate identification of the effect of subsidies on the level of efficiency, on the one hand, and on the technical progress, on the other.

The purpose of this study is to propose a theoretical model of how content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors influence consumer engagement in brand social networking sites (SNSs) pages and further how consumer engagement behavior influences the customer–organization relationship.

This study used an online and offline questionnaire to conduct empirical research and collected and analyzed data of 430 samples by using the structural equation modeling approach.

The result showed that all three factors, i.e. content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors, had positive influence on consumer engagement. Further, the result also showed a positive influence of consumer engagement on the customer–organization relationship. Another important thing the study found was that social media users mostly engage in consuming the content and contributing.

This study has considered one popular SNS: Facebook. As the usage purpose and features of different SNSs vary, the future research should be directed by taking other popular SNSs, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, to gain a broader insight of consumer engagement on other brand SNS pages. Further, the present study has stressed on the exploring the quality of customer–organization relationship as the major outcome of consumer engagement on brand SNS pages. Therefore, the future study should be directed toward measuring the relationship between consumer engagement and other important outcomes, such as brand advocacy behaviors, positive word-of-mouth behaviors and brand loyalty.

This paper suggests strategies for consumer engagement through SNSs, especially Facebook advertisements. First, the study has identified content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors which will help the managers to set strategies for engaging new and prospective consumers on brand SNS pages. Second, it also describes how the online activities of consumers on brand SNS pages strengthen the relationship between customer and organizations. This conception will definitely help marketing managers to develop quality relationship with their existing and new customers.

The novelty of this study is that it attempts to explore the combined effect of content-related factors, social factors and perceptual factors on consumer engagement and also explores the nature and specific types of engagement behavior on brand SNS pages.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the recovery mechanism of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) shape memory fabrics.

Tests were designed to study the effects of force, temperature and their combinations on the fabrics' crease recoveries. In the test a cantilever device and an ironing force which simulated people ironing their clothes were used, respectively.

Temperature was found to have little effect on the recovery of both the warp and filling of the fabrics. Crease recoveries did not improve significantly when the temperature was increased to above the polymer's glass transition. However, forces, applied in primarily compressive and tensile modes to simulate ironing and hand stroking actions, were found to be very effective in the fabrics' crease recoveries. Recoveries were 81‐87 per cent even when the applied force was very small, at 5 N/cm². When forces were applied at elevated temperatures, just below and above the polymer's glass transition, there were no significant improvements in crease recoveries. Therefore, force was the main factor in PTT shape memory fabrics' recovery mechanism for the fabrics to return to their initial shapes.

The results suggest that PTT shape memory fabric has excellent shape recoverability and easy care property and it has large application potentiality.

The purposes of two experiments were to examine how brands may create a broad brand impression and benefit brand extensions by crafting logo frames.

Two experimental studies were conducted. Study 1 examines how removing and breaking logo frames expands perceived brand breadth. Study 2 considers the implication of this logo frame effect and indicates the impact of logo frames on brand extension scenarios.

Removing and breaking logo frames could expand perceived brand breadth and, in turn, benefits the brand extensions, especially for promotion-focused consumers. However, prevention-focused people held favorable brand extension attitudes when the brand logo constructs a complete frame due to its perceived trustworthiness.

As an initial exploration, this study conceptualizes and manipulates logo frames as full framed, partial framed and open logo. Future research studies could include further design features in the examination.

If a brand seeks to be broad, removing or breaking its logo frame is an alternative. However, consequential negative impressions on brand extension attitudes among prevention-focused customers should be considered.

This study is the first investigation into the impacts of logo frame patterns on consumers’ perception of brand breadth and the consequent extension attitudes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the economic performance of Norwegian crop farms using a stochastic frontier analysis.

The analysis was based on a translog cost function and unbalanced farm-level panel data for 1991–2013 from 455 Norwegian farms specialized in crop production in eastern and central regions of Norway.

The results of the analysis show that the mean efficiency was about 78–81 percent. Farm management practices and socioeconomic factors were shown to significantly affect the economic performance of Norwegian crop farms.

Farmers are getting different types of support from the government and the study does not account for the different effects of different kinds of subsidy on cost efficiency. Different subsidies might have different effects on farm performance. To get more informative and useful results, it would be necessary to repeat the analysis with less aggregated data on subsidy payments.

One implication for farmers (and their advisers) is that many of them are less efficient than the estimated benchmark (best performing farms). Thus, those lagging behind the best performing farms need to look at the way they are operating and to seek out ways to save costs or increase crop production. Perhaps there are things for lagging farmers to learn from their more productive farming neighbors. For instance, those farmers not practicing crop rotation might be well advised to try that practice.

For both taxpayers and consumers, one implication is that the contributions they pay that go to subsidize farmers appear to bring some benefits in terms of more efficient production that, in turn, increase the supply of some foods so possibly making food prices more affordable.

Unlike previous performance studies in the literature, the authors estimated farm-level economic performance accounting for the contribution of both an important farm management practice and selected socioeconomic factors. Good farm management practices, captured through crop rotation, land tenure, government support and off-farm activities were found to have made a positive and statistically significant contribution to reducing the cost of production on crop-producing farms in the Central and Eastern regions of Norway.

This study aims to explore how to overcome and address the loss of exploratory innovation, thereby achieving greater success in exploratory innovation. This phenomenon of loss occurs when enterprises decrease their investment in and engagement with exploratory innovation, ultimately leading to an insufficient amount of such innovation efforts. Drawing on dynamic capabilities, this study investigates the relationship between organizational foresight and exploratory innovation and examines the moderating role of breakthrough orientation/financial orientation.

This study used survey data collected from 296 Chinese high-tech companies in multiple industries and sectors.

The evidence produced by this study reveals that three elements of organizational foresight (i.e. environmental scanning capabilities, strategic selection capabilities and integrating capabilities) positively influence exploratory innovation. Furthermore, this positive effect is strengthened in the context of a high-breakthrough orientation. Moreover, the relationships among environmental scanning capabilities, strategic selection capabilities and exploratory innovation become weaker as an enterprise’s financial orientation increases, whereas a strong financial orientation does not affect the relationship between integrating capabilities and exploratory innovation.

Ambidexterity is key to successful enterprise innovation. Compared with exploitative innovation, it is by no means easy to engage in exploratory innovation, which is especially important in high-tech companies. While the loss of exploratory innovation has been observed, few empirical studies have explored ways to promote exploratory innovation more effectively. A key research implication of this study pertains to the role of organizational foresight in the improvement of exploratory innovation in the context of high-tech companies.

This paper contributes to the broader literature on exploratory innovation and organizational foresight and provides practical guidance for high-tech companies regarding ways of avoiding the loss of exploratory innovation and becoming more successful at exploratory innovation.