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The purpose of this paper is to present the durability analysis in predicting the reliability life cycle for an automobile crankshaft under random stress load using the stochastic process. Due to the limitations associated with the actual loading history obtained from the experimental analysis or due to the sensitivity of the strain gauge, the fatigue reliability life cycle assessment has lower accuracy and efficiency for fatigue life prediction.

The proposed Markov process embeds the actual maximum and minimum stresses by a continuous updating process for stress load history data. This is to reduce the large credible intervals and missing loading points used for fatigue life prediction. With the reduction and missing loading intervals, the accuracy of fatigue life prediction for the crankshaft was validated using the statistical correlation properties.

It was observed that fatigue reliability corresponded well by reporting the accuracy of 95–98 per cent with a mean squared error of 1.5–3 per cent for durability and mean cycle to failure. Hence, the proposed fatigue reliability assessment provides an accurate, efficient, fast and cost-effective durability analysis in contrast to costly and lengthy experimental techniques.

An important implication of this study is durability-based life cycle assessment by developing the reliability and hazard rate index under random stress loading using the stochastic technique in modeling for improving the sensitivity of the strain gauge.

The durability analysis is one of the fundamental attributes for the safe operation of any component, especially in the automotive industry. Focusing on safety, structural health monitoring aims at the quantification of the probability of failure under mixed mode loading. In practice, diverse types of protective barriers are placed as safeguards from the hazard posed by the system operation.

Durability analysis has the ability to deal with the longevity and dependability of parts, products and systems in any industry. More poignantly, it is about controlling risk whereby engineering incorporates a wide variety of analytical techniques designed to help engineers understand the failure modes and patterns of these parts, products and systems. This would enable the automotive industry to improve design and increase the life cycle with the durability assessment field focussing on product reliability and sustainability assurance.

The accuracy of the simulated fatigue life was statistically correlated with a 95 per cent boundary condition towards the actual fatigue through the validation process using finite element analysis. Furthermore, the embedded Markov process has high accuracy in generating synthetic load history for the fatigue life cycle assessment. More importantly, the fatigue reliability life cycle assessment can be performed with high accuracy and efficiency in assessing the integrity of the component regarding structural integrity.

Part 1: Rival Theories Compared Economics is, in the Robbinsian definition, the science of choice. Economic models of choice are metaphors, encapsulating in abstract figures (lexical or mathematical), the elements of a unique relationship between ends and means. In the view of Austrian economists, this relationship is essentially fictional: It is constructed by the chooser in the moment of choice and embodies his momentary valuation of a particular course of action, seemingly feasible, seemingly the one thing necessary for the enjoyment of some imagined rewards, and seeming to require the surrender of resources deemed in that moment to be at the chooser's disposal. Choice is a subjective affair. It is also, in a sense which may be unique and proper to each actor, an affair fraught with novelty, originality, and the inescapable drive to realise the best of what is apparently possible. Choosers maximise differently and in their own way.

This short article takes the play and passion of children’s literacy as its focal point. Rather than orienting reading and writing around what should be taught or how children should respond and understand written text, in this short reflective essay we aim to explore the play and passion inherent in children’s literacy practices. We do not aim to precisely conceptualise or delineate the nature of play or passion but, instead, to trace the path of these ideas through seminal research studies within the field of New Literacy Studies as well as drawing on the authors’ fieldwork.

This paper begins with an exploration of foundational research in the field of new literacy studies, drawing attention to the abundant presence of children’s play and passion. Then, it visits two moments of play and passion from the authors’ fieldwork that suggest ways of thinking anew about children’s literacy practices beyond responding to text. The first, by Kenneth Pettersen, considers childhood collecting across home/pre-school settings in Norway; the second, by Stefan Kucharczyk, looks at children’s curatorship in Minecraft at an afterschool videogame club in the UK. This paper concludes with a proposed reimagining of literacy education, outlining implications for researchers, policymakers and practitioners.

These observed moments of collecting and gaming are analysed in the context of children’s play and passion. In both cases, we highlight how observing children following their passions and interests can challenge how we, as adult researchers, view their play and how we think about literacy. Rather than being in opposition to one another, our analysis of children’s collecting and worldbuilding account for the felt experience in children’s literacy practices.

Moving inside of two separate research studies, we give a bird’s eye view of what can be gained by observing and drawing out play and passion while children respond and make meaning through varied texts and objects in two different contexts. The article therefore is an invitation to think otherwise about reading and writing by embracing play and passion as children’s pathway into rich literacy moments.

This paper uses newly compiled data from two surveys of female home workers undertaken by the Women’s Industrial Council in London in 1897 and 1907 to investigate various issues related to their work and wages. The reports detail the occupations, average weekly earnings and hours, marital status, and household size, composition, and total income of approximately 850 female home workers, offering a unique, and as yet unused, opportunity to explore the labor market characteristics of the lowest-paid workers in the early twentieth century. Analysis of the data reveals that the female home workers who were surveyed were drawn overwhelmingly from poor households. Home workers were older than female factory workers, most were married or widowed, and the majority of married workers reported that their husbands were out of work, sick, disabled, or in casual or irregular work. Weekly wages and hours of work varied considerably by industry, but averaged about 7–9s. and 40–45 hours per week, with many workers reporting the desire for more work. The relationship between hours of work (daily and weekly) and hourly wages was negative, and the wives and daughters of men who were out of the labor force due to unemployment or illness tended to work longer hours at lower wages, as did women who lived in households where some health issue was present. These findings lend support to contemporary perceptions that women driven into the labor force by immediate household need were forced to take the lowest-paid work, whether because they lacked skill and experience or bargaining power in the labor market.

There has been a financial revolution lead by technology firms over the past decade. Many large established technology giants, from Google, Apple to Amazon in the US are entering the financial service industry. Smaller start-ups, in particular robotic advisors, a.k.a. Robo-Advisors, have been taking market shares from traditional asset management firms. In China, firms like Tencent and Alibaba have created a whole new field of online finance. At the center of our study is a critical examination of the key components of the financial innovation over the past 10 years. Mobile banking was the beginning, followed by trading, investment, and insurance business. We study innovation through several cases. Due to the size and number o firms in Financial technology (FinTech) space, the US and China are the focus of the chapter. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are included for discussion in this chapter. We emphasize a market approach in our study, albeit, incorporating the historical and cultural perspectives in our analysis. Our goal is to develop a thorough understanding of the art and science of financial innovation, from both bottom-up market indicators and a top-down holistic view. We want to demonstrate that the technological changes are just the beginning of a new world of financial services. Unprecedented changes are still yet to come and it is crucially important to be prepared and even embrace the changes. A special discussion was devoted to the phenomenon of FinTech boom in Asia. Lastly, many new technologies are being developed to combat fraudulent activities in the FinTech space.

There has been a financial revolution lead by technology firms over the past decade. Many large established technology giants, from Google, Apple to Amazon in the US are entering the financial service industry. Smaller start-ups, in particular, robotic advisors, a.k.a. robo-advisors have been taking market shares from traditional asset management firms. In China, firms like Tencent and Alibaba have created a whole new field of online finance. The center of our study is a critical examination of the essential components of the financial innovation over the past 10 years. Mobile banking was the beginning, followed by trading, investment, and insurance business. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are included for discussion in this chapter. Our goal is to develop a thorough understanding of the art and science of financial innovation, from both bottom-up market indicators and a top-down holistic view. Then, we apply to the situation in Russia. We want to demonstrate that the technological changes are likely to have a significant impact on Russia’s sustainable finance and banking development.

Specific examples or brief case-histories in different fields or disciplines illustrate the inventive process from conception to realization.

The authors examine predictions made in 2007 by “China experts” about what the Chinese business environment would look like in 2017. Their predictions were accurate in respect of around two-thirds of the issues they were asked to consider. The authors focus on the one-third of issues about which they were wide of the mark and examine the likely reasons.

The newly named Anthropocene is a time of increasing conception, research, design, development, evaluation and exploitation of new artifacts and services. Objectivity: careful problem-analysis assures the authors’ understanding of innovating pathways.

Trial-and-error methods may be disorderly, log-type research records are not kept, accidents not considered relevant.

Examples cited are transdisciplinary, often requiring inputs from other economic or cultural sectors. These complexities should be of incalculable value to innovators with single-field backgrounds.

The purpose of this paper is to consider various managerial approaches hitherto adopted to address “workplace romance” and to determine a realistic and constructive approach to explain and manage this least known organisational phenomenon.

Consideration of the “taboo” nature of the subject and related ethical issues led to the development of three case studies, based on the qualitative data collected for analysis. The evaluation of the above cases led to the emergence of the third approach, namely, “considerate” which reflects the merits of strategic management of human resource management in the context of business strategy of the organisations.

It is concluded that the “considerate” is the most appropriate approach to manage workplace romance because it is perceived by employees as fair and well‐justified. It accounts for potential risks and rewards, thus recognising the need for a realistic policy which takes into account the organisation, its environment and its strategic business objective.

Whilst reliability of the present study is based on the analysis of multiple real‐life case studies, future studies ought to adopt “realism” as a means to bridge perception and business context in which these acts are considered.

The adoption of the proposed “considerate” approach may help HR practitioners to develop a strategy for managing workplace romance that is the most suitable for their organisation and its business strategy.

This first‐time study explores managing workplace romance in the context of strategic HR. Moreover, the developed conceptual framework enables practitioners to manage romance at work.

The aim is to present temperature fatigue model constants for lead‐free tin‐silver‐copper solder derived from test data and demonstrate the validity of the model using published experimental results.

Temperature cycle fatigue life data were collected from a controlled set of tests using ceramic leadless chip carriers. Using a regression algorithm, temperature cycle fatigue model constants were derived from fatigue life data. The model was then applied to a variety of package formats including ball grid arrays, quad flatpack and thin small outline packages to determine the validity of the model and constants.

The temperature cycle fatigue life experimental data were found to be in good agreement with the model with the derived model constants for various package types. Using this model, engineers can determine acceleration factors between test and field temperature cycle conditions.

The technology has been used to ensure inner layer designs with nominal dimensions after the lamination stage. Further, development work should be undertaken to collate measured data from other parts of the PCB manufacturing process and model the material movement around all registration critical processes.

The paper details a temperature cycle fatigue life model and constants that allow engineers to predict field life expectancy and determine the acceleration factor between temperature cycle testing and field use conditions.