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The purpose of this paper is to present findings of a study investigating the reading of, and engagement with minority ethnic fiction in UK public libraries, with a particular focus on Black British fiction and Asian fiction in English.

A quantitative study of the reading behaviour of a large population of public library users (n=1,047) from the East Midlands region. A survey was distributed at issue points in 16 libraries in nine participating local authorities, to investigate respondents' reading choices, and factors that may affect these choices.

Findings have emerged regarding the readers and non‐readers of Black British and Asian fiction in English. Social identity theory and reader response theory, whilst initially appearing contradictory, are helpful in understanding patterns of reading behaviour.

The paper provides a valuable starting point for future research in materials portraying, and originating from, minority ethnic communities.

The paper identifies areas in which public libraries, publishing houses and minority ethnic community groups can improve the provision and promotion of minority ethnic fiction.

It is hoped that longer‐term effects will be to increase the involvement of members of all communities in the selection and promotion of culturally appropriate materials.

The paper addresses a gap in previous research and practice, whereby the provision of multicultural resources was always considered only in linguistic, rather than in broader cultural terms, the latter felt to be more appropriate to contemporary society.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically and critically review the literature related to process design and modeling of fused deposition modeling (FDM) and similar extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) or rapid prototyping processes.

A systematic review of the literature focusing on process design and mathematical process modeling was carried out.

FDM and similar processes are among the most widely used rapid prototyping processes with growing application in finished part manufacturing. Key elements of the typical processes, including the material feed mechanism, liquefier and print nozzle; the build surface and environment; and approaches to part finishing are described. Approaches to estimating the motor torque and power required to achieve a desired filament feed rate are presented. Models of required heat flux, shear on the melt and pressure drop in the liquefier are reviewed. On leaving the print nozzle, die swelling and bead cooling are considered. Approaches to modeling the spread of a deposited road of material and the bonding of polymer roads to one another are also reviewed.

To date, no other systematic review of process design and modeling research related to melt extrusion AM has been published. Understanding and improving process models will be key to improving system process controls, as well as enabling the development of advanced engineering material feedstocks for FDM processes.

The usage of additive manufacturing (AM) technology in industries has reached up to 50 per cent as prototype or end-product. However, for AM products to be directly used as final products, AM product should be produced through advanced quality control process, which has a capability to be able to prove and reach their desire repeatability, reproducibility, reliability and preciseness. Therefore, there is a need to review quality-related research in terms of AM technology and guide AM industry in the future direction of AM development.

This paper overviews research progress regarding the QC in AM technology. The focus of the study is on manufacturing quality issues and needs that are to be developed and optimized, and further suggests ideas and directions toward the quality improvement for future AM technology. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 starts by conducting a comprehensive review of the literature studies on progress of quality control, issues and challenges regarding quality improvement in seven different AM techniques. Next, Section 3 provides classification of the research findings, and lastly, Section 4 discusses the challenges and future trends.

This paper presents a review on quality control in seven different techniques in AM technology and provides detailed discussions in each quality process stage. Most of the AM techniques have a trend using in-situ sensors and cameras to acquire process data for real-time monitoring and quality analysis. Procedures such as extrusion-based processes (EBP) have further advanced in data analytics and predictive algorithms-based research regarding mechanical properties and optimal printing parameters. Moreover, compared to others, the material jetting progresses technique has advanced in a system integrated with closed-feedback loop, machine vision and image processing to minimize quality issues during printing process.

This paper is limited to reviewing of only seven techniques of AM technology, which includes photopolymer vat processes, material jetting processes, binder jetting processes, extrusion-based processes, powder bed fusion processes, directed energy deposition processes and sheet lamination processes. This paper would impact on the improvement of quality control in AM industries such as industrial, automotive, medical, aerospace and military production.

Additive manufacturing technology, in terms of quality control has yet to be reviewed.

This paper aims to present a study on a commercial conductive polylactic acid (PLA) filament and its potential application in a three-dimensional (3D) printed smart cap embedding a resistive temperature sensor made of this material. The final aim of this study is to add a fundamental block to the electrical characterization of printed conductive polymers, which are promising to mimic the electrical performance of metals and semiconductors. The studied PLA filament demonstrates not only to be suitable for a simple 3D printed concept but also to show peculiar characteristics that can be exploited to fabricate freeform low-cost temperature sensors.

The first part is focused on the conductive properties of the PLA filament and its temperature dependency. After obtaining a resistance temperature characteristic of this material, the same was used to fabricate a part of a 3D printed smart cap.

An approach to the characterization of the 3D printed conductive polymer has been presented. The major results are related to the definition of resistance vs temperature characteristic of the material. This model was then exploited to design a temperature sensor embedded in a 3D printed smart cap.

This study demonstrates that commercial conductive PLA filaments can be suitable materials for 3D printed low-cost temperature sensors or constitutive parts of a 3D printed smart object.

The paper clearly demonstrates that a new generation of 3D printed smart objects can already be obtained using low-cost commercial materials.

This paper aims to develop a numerical model of bead spreading architecture of a viscous polymer in fused filament fabrication (FFF) process with different nozzle geometry. This paper also focuses on the manufacturing feasibility of the nozzles and 3D printing of the molten beads using the developed nozzles.

The flow of a highly viscous polymer from a nozzle, the melt expansion in free space and the deposition of the melt on a moving platform are captured using the FLUENT volume of fluid (VOF) method based computational fluid dynamics code. The free surface motion of the material is captured in VOF, which is governed by the hydrodynamics of the two-phase flow. The phases involved in the numerical model are liquid polymer and air. A laminar, non-Newtonian and non-isothermal flow is assumed. Under such assumptions, the spreading characteristic of the polymer is simulated with different nozzle-exit geometries. The governing equations are solved on a regular stationary grid following a transient algorithm, where the boundary between the polymer and the air is tracked by piecewise linear interface construction (PLIC) to reconstruct the free surface. The prototype nozzles were also manufactured, and the deposition of the molten beads on a flatbed was performed using a commercial 3D printer. The deposited bead cross-sections were examined through optical microscopic examination, and the cross-sectional profiles were compared with those obtained in the numerical simulations.

The numerical model successfully predicted the spreading characteristics and the cross-sectional shape of the extruded bead. The cross-sectional shape of the bead varied from elliptical (with circular nozzle) to trapezoidal (with square and star nozzles) where the top and bottom surfaces are significantly flattened (which is desirable to reduce the void spaces in the cross-section). The numerical model yielded a good approximation of the bead cross-section, capturing most of the geometric features of the bead with a reasonable qualitative agreement compared to the experiment. The quantitative comparison of the cross-sectional profiles against experimental observation also indicated a favorable agreement. The significant improvement observed in the bead cross-section with the square and star nozzles is the flattening of the surfaces.

The developed numerical algorithm attempts to address the fundamental challenge of voids and bonding in the FFF process. It presents a new approach to increase the inter-bead bonding and reduce the inter-bead voids in 3D printing of polymers by modifying the bead cross-sectional shape through the modification of nozzle exit-geometry. The change in bead cross-sectional shape from elliptical (circular) to trapezoidal (square and star) cross-section is supposed to increase the contact surface area and inter-bead bonding while in contact with adjacent beads.

Most rapid prototyping (RP) relies on energy fields to handle materials, among which electricity has been much more utilized, resulting in distinctive responsiveness of non-linear, overshoot, variable inertia, etc. The purpose of this paper is to eliminate the drawbacks of array nozzle clogging, stringing, melt sagging, particularly in multi-material RP, by focusing on the electrothermal response so as to adaptively distribute thermal more accurate, rapid and balanced.

This paper presents an electrothermal response optimization method of nozzle structure for multi-material RP based on fuzzy adaptive control (FAC). The structural, physical and control model are successively logically built. The fractional order electrothermal model is identified by Riemann Liouville fractional differential equation, using the bisection method to approximate the physical model via least square method to minimize residual sum of squares. The FAC is thereafter implemented by defining fuzzy proportion integration differentiation control rules and fuzzy membership functions for fuzzy inference and defuzzification.

The transient thermodynamic and structural statics, as well as flow field analysis, are conducted. The response time, mean temperature difference and thermal deformation can be found using thermal-solid coupling finite element analysis. In physical experimental research, temperature change, together with material extrusion loading, were measured. Both numerical and physical studies have revealed findings that the electrothermal responsiveness varies with the three-dimensional structure, materials and energy sources, which can be optimized by FAC.

The proposed FAC provides an optimization method for extrusion-based multi-material RP between the balance of thermal response and energy efficiency through fulfilling potential of the hardware configuration. The originality may be widely adopted alongside increasing requirements on high quality and high efficiency RP.

This study aims to explain the value co-creation and co-destruction practices of older adults in an online community (OC).

Adopting practice theory and service-dominant logic as a theoretical perspective, this paper examined an OC of older adults by conducting an inductive thematic analysis of the interactions of the participants in the community.

The analysis revealed older adults engage with three value co-creation plus one value co-destruction practices in the OC including, communal coping practices, happiness creation practices, social capital generation practices and disparaging practices for older adults.

Illustrated in a conceptual model, this study extends previous work evidencing OCs serve as a platform for value co-creation and value co-destruction activities in the context of older adults. Further, it suggests OCs facilitate resilience of older adults through value co-creation practices. Recognition of value co-destruction in OCs is critical as it is detrimental to the resilience of older adults. This study provides the needed foundation to advance knowledge on the use of OCs by older adults and suggests future research directions.

Identifying co-creation and co-destruction practices of older adults in OCs enables service providers (e.g. caregivers) to engage better in online value co-creation practices. Further, the findings of this study address one of the main priorities of service science to investigate the impact of value co-creation on well-being.

Despite the significant engagement of older adults in OCs, there is a lack of enough knowledge in the literature regarding value co-creation and co-destruction practices of older adults in OCs. This study addressed this gap by explaining how older adults co-create and co-destruct value in online spaces.

This study aims to investigate the role of the components of intellectual capital (IC) on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Sultanate of Oman. The interrelationships of these components are also examined.

The study used quantitative research methods. Data were collected using structured questionnaires from a sample of 347 respondents from SMEs operating in Oman. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the hypotheses using partial least square technique.

The analysis results demonstrate that structural capital, relational capital and spiritual capital have significant relationships with entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Meanwhile, human capital has no relationship with either entrepreneurial opportunity recognition or spiritual capital. Intriguingly, significant interrelationships are observed among IC's components.

This study offers useful managerial implications for the related parties: firms, public institutions and other stakeholders. The findings could be a guideline for SME managers/owners to recognize the right entrepreneurial opportunity.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal the relationships between the tripartite model of IC and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. This study is also the first to test the interrelationship of spiritual capital on other intellectual components.

This paper examines the predictive role of personality traits on the entrepreneurial bricolage behaviour of female entrepreneurs in a resource-constrained setting.

Data were collected using a structured survey questionnaire from female entrepreneurs owning and operating micro-small firms. The analysis and hypotheses testing were performed adopting SEM-PLS3.0 software.

The results showed that all dimensions of the Big Five personality traits significantly influence entrepreneurial bricolage. In addition, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and intellect were found to be the most important traits in female entrepreneurs for bricolage behaviour.

The results can help provide a better understanding of the linkages between entrepreneurial traits and bricolage. Development agencies may take up this result to ensure the appropriate social inclusion by supporting female entrepreneurs.

To the authors' best knowledge, this paper is the first empirical study that has investigated the relationship between personality traits and entrepreneurial bricolage.

The study aims to test the framework that proposes the role of resources (intellectual capital) in mobilizing entrepreneurial orientation that influences the competitiveness improvement of micro-small-medium enterprises (MSMEs) under the lens of resource orchestration theory.

In this study, 347 respondents from the MSMEs participated through a structured questionnaire. For the data analysis purpose, the structural equation modeling technique was employed using SmartPLS software.

The results suggest human, structural, and relational capital are significant antecedents of entrepreneurial orientation, which leads to competitiveness improvement. The findings also indicate the mediation role of entrepreneurial orientation between intellectual capital and competitiveness improvement.

The current study presumably will supplement the promising research effort to progress the research orchestration theory and also could be a strategic guideline for the managers/owners of the MSMEs.

This study is possibly a novel attempt to divulge the association between intellectual capital (tripartite model) and competitiveness improvement of firms under the lens of resource orchestration theory.