Qinghua Huang, Yingchen Wang, Hao Luo and Jianyi Li
This paper aims to develop a new robotic ultrasound system for spine imaging with more anthropomorphic scanning manipulation in comparison with previously reported techniques.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a new robotic ultrasound system for spine imaging with more anthropomorphic scanning manipulation in comparison with previously reported techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
The system evaluates the imaging quality of ultrasound (US) B-scans by detecting vertebral landmarks and groups the images with relatively low quality into several sub-optimal types. By imitating the scanning skills of sonographers, the authors defined a set of adjustment strategies for certain sub-optimal types. In this way, the robot can recollect the US images with high quality by adaptively adjusting the pose of the probe like a sonographer.
Findings
The results from phantom experiments and in vivo experiments showed that the proposed method could improve the quality of B-scans during the scanning. The 3 D US volume reconstruction has also verified the feasibility of the proposed method.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates how to adapt a robotic spinal ultrasound scanning using a preliminary anthropomorphic approach.
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Keywords
Qinghua Xia, Qing Zhu, Manqing Tan and Yi Xie
Innovation ambidexterity is crucial for fostering growth and gaining a competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Previous research indicates that achieving a…
Abstract
Purpose
Innovation ambidexterity is crucial for fostering growth and gaining a competitive advantage in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Previous research indicates that achieving a balance between exploration and exploitation is a multifaceted phenomenon occurring across various levels. This paper aims to examine the influence of individual, organizational and institutional factors on the ambidextrous innovation of Chinese niche leaders using a configurational perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses secondary data collected from 69 Chinese niche leaders in the new equipment manufacturing industry. The authors use fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to investigate how owner openness, age, digitization, the formal institutional environment and the informal institutional environment jointly influence innovation ambidexterity.
Findings
By using fuzzy set analysis, this study categorizes combinations of interdependent factors that promote innovation ambidexterity. In particular, the authors pinpoint three configurations that foster high innovation ambidexterity and two configurations that lack such high levels of innovation ambidexterity. The analysis results suggest that innovation paradoxes in SMEs are linked to a nested system comprising leadership, organizational factors and the institutional environment.
Originality/value
This study elucidates the mechanism of innovation ambidexterity through a configurational perspective. This research proposes and validates a framework that enables SMEs to develop ambidextrous innovation capabilities, thereby integrating organizational ambidexterity theory and shedding light on the intricately complex nature of innovation ambidexterity.
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Ming-Hui Liu, Jianbin Xiong, Chun-Lin Li, Weijun Sun, Qinghua Zhang and Yuyu Zhang
The diagnosis and prediction methods used for estimating the health conditions of the bearing are of great significance in modern petrochemical industries. This paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The diagnosis and prediction methods used for estimating the health conditions of the bearing are of great significance in modern petrochemical industries. This paper aims to discuss the accuracy and stability of improved empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm in bearing fault diagnosis.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts the improved adaptive complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (ICEEMD) to process the nonlinear and nonstationary signals. Two data sets including a multistage centrifugal fan data set from the laboratory and a motor bearing data set from the Case Western Reserve University are used to perform experiments. Furthermore, the proposed fault diagnosis method, combined with intelligent methods, is evaluated by using two data sets. The proposed method achieved accuracies of 99.62% and 99.17%. Through the experiment of two data, it can be seen that the proposed algorithm has excellent performance in the accuracy and stability of diagnosis.
Findings
According to the review papers, as one of the effective decomposition methods to deal with nonlinear nonstationary signals, the method based on EMD has been widely used in bearing fault diagnosis. However, EMD is often used to figure out the nonlinear nonstationarity of fault data, but the traditional EMD is prone to modal confusion, and the white noise in signal reconstruction is difficult to eliminate.
Research limitations/implications
In this paper only the top three optimal intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) are selected, but IMFs with less correlation cannot completely deny their value. Considering the actual working conditions of petrochemical units, the feasibility of this method in compound fault diagnosis needs to be studied.
Originality/value
Different from traditional methods, ICEEMD not only does not need human intervention and setting but also improves the extraction efficiency of feature information. Then, it is combined with a data-driven approach to complete the data preprocessing, and further carries out the fault identification and classification with the optimized convolutional neural network.
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Linghe Huang, Qinghua Zhu, Jia Tina Du and Baozhen Lee
Wiki is a new form of information production and organization, which has become one of the most important knowledge resources. In recent years, with the increase of users in…
Abstract
Purpose
Wiki is a new form of information production and organization, which has become one of the most important knowledge resources. In recent years, with the increase of users in wikis, “free rider problem” has been serious. In order to motivate editors to contribute more to a wiki system, it is important to fully understand their contribution behavior. The purpose of this paper is to explore the law of dynamic contribution behavior of editors in wikis.
Design/methodology/approach
After developing a dynamic model of contribution behavior, the authors employed both the metrological and clustering methods to process the time series data. The experimental data were collected from Baidu Baike, a renowned Chinese wiki system similar to Wikipedia.
Findings
There are four categories of editors: “testers,” “dropouts,” “delayers” and “stickers.” Testers, who contribute the least content and stop contributing rapidly after editing a few articles. After editing a large amount of content, dropouts stop contributing completely. Delayers are the editors who do not stop contributing during the observation time, but they may stop contributing in the near future. Stickers, who keep contributing and edit the most content, are the core editors. In addition, there are significant time-of-day and holiday effects on the number of editors’ contributions.
Originality/value
By using the method of time series analysis, some new characteristics of editors and editor types were found. Compared with the former studies, this research also had a larger sample. Therefore, the results are more scientific and representative and can help managers to better optimize the wiki systems and formulate incentive strategies for editors.
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Jingjing Gao, Qingen Gai, Binbin Liu and Qinghua Shi
China is the world's largest consumer of pesticides. To increase the use efficiency and achieve more sustainable and environmentally friendly use of pesticides in China, it is…
Abstract
Purpose
China is the world's largest consumer of pesticides. To increase the use efficiency and achieve more sustainable and environmentally friendly use of pesticides in China, it is crucial to understand why Chinese farmers use such a large amount of pesticides.
Design/methodology/approach
The relationship between farm size and pesticide use was investigated by using national household-level panel data from 1995 to 2016.
Finding
Farms that are small and fragmented lead to the use of large amounts of pesticides in China. For a given crop type, three factors contribute to a negative relationship between farm size and pesticide use: the spillover effect from the use of pesticides by other farmers in the same village, the level of mechanization and the management ability of farmers. The first two factors play important roles in the cultivation of grain crops, while the last factor is the main reason why farmers with larger plots of land use fewer pesticides in the cultivation of vegetables. In addition, the effect of agricultural machinery services on reducing the use of pesticides is currently limited, and the service system in China is still insufficient, which has been pointed out that it is also due to the prevalence of small and fragmented farms.
Originality/value
The authors investigate and compare the farm size–pesticide use relationship in both grain and cash crop production. Moreover, the authors systematically explore and explain how farm size is related to a reduction in pesticide use in the cultivation of grain crops and cash crops. These results can help to better understand the role of land scale in pesticide use, lay a foundation for the formulation of policies to reduce pesticide use and provide valuable knowledge about pesticide use for other developing countries around the world.
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Guanjun Bao, Kun Li, Sheng Xu, Pengcheng Huang, Luan Wu and Qinghua Yang
This paper aims to avoid the precise modeling and controlling problems of rigid structures of hand recovery device, by proposing a hand rehabilitator based on flexible pneumatic…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to avoid the precise modeling and controlling problems of rigid structures of hand recovery device, by proposing a hand rehabilitator based on flexible pneumatic actuator with its safety and adaptability.
Design/methodology/approach
The hand rehabilitator is designed based on a flexible pneumatic bending joint. The recovery training program for an injured finger is developed via forearm sEMG (surface electromyogram) sampling, analysis, classification and motion consciousness identification. Four typical movement models of the index finger and middle finger were defined and the corresponding sEMG signals were sampled. After simulation and comparative analysis, autoregressive (AR) model back propagation (BP) network was selected for sEMG analysis and hand recovery planning because of its best recognition performance. A verification test was designed and the results showed that the soft hand rehabilitator and recovery conception are feasible.
Findings
AR model BP network can identify the index finger and middle finger movement intention via an sEMG analysis. The developed flexible pneumatic hand rehabilitator is safe and suitable for finger recovering therapy.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the limitation of experimental samples, the prototype rehabilitator of this work may lack generalizability for other situations. Therefore, for further study and application, systematic structure revising, experiments, data and training are necessary to improve the performance.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for the development and application of a new style, safe and dexterous hand rehabilitator.
Originality/value
The paper tries a new approach to design a safe, flexible and easily controlled hand rehabilitator.
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Shijie Song, Yuxiang Chris Zhao, Xinlin Yao, Zhichao Ba and Qinghua Zhu
Hedonic social applications have been increasingly popular among health information consumers. However, it remains unclear what motivates consumers to adopt health information in…
Abstract
Purpose
Hedonic social applications have been increasingly popular among health information consumers. However, it remains unclear what motivates consumers to adopt health information in hedonic applications when they have alternative choices of more formal health information sources. Building on the self-determination theory and the affordances lens, this study aims to investigate how different affordances on hedonic social applications affect consumers' basic psychological needs and further influence their intention to adopt health information on such applications.
Design/methodology/approach
As TikTok demonstrated great potential in disseminating health information, we developed a model that we analyze using the PLS-SEM technique with data collected from a valid research sample of 384 respondents with health information seeking or encountering experience in TikTok.
Findings
The results suggested that health information adoption in hedonic social applications is significantly predicted by the satisfaction of consumers' basic psychological needs, namely autonomy, relatedness and competence. Moreover, the satisfaction of basic psychological needs is positively affected by affordances provided by the hedonic social applications. The hedonic affordances positively influence autonomy satisfaction, while the connective affordances positively affect relatedness satisfaction, and the utilitarian affordances positively support competence satisfaction.
Originality/value
The study indicates that hedonic social applications such as TikTok could be an important channel for consumers to access and adopt health information. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a theoretical model that explains consumers' health information adoption and yields practical implications for designers and service providers of hedonic social applications.
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Lan Luo, Limao Zhang and Qinghua He
The purpose of this study is to develop a novel hybrid approach that incorporates the structural equation model (SEM) and fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to investigate the impacts of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop a novel hybrid approach that incorporates the structural equation model (SEM) and fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to investigate the impacts of the variation in project complexity on project success.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts SEM to identify and validate a correlation between project complexity variables and PS. Standardized causal coefficients estimated in SEM are used to construct an FCM model to illustrate the effect of complexity on PS with linkage direction and weights. Predictive and diagnostic analyses are performed to dynamically model the variation in project complexity on the evolution of PS.
Findings
Results indicate that (1) the hybrid SEM–FCM approach is capable of modeling the dynamic interactions between project complexity and PS; (2) information, goal and environmental complexities are negatively correlated with PS, and technological, task and organizational complexities are positively correlated with PS and (3) the recommendations of complexity management for construction projects are put forward under the guideline of success monitoring.
Originality/value
This research contributes to (1) the state of knowledge by proposing a hybrid methodology that can model the dynamic interactions between project complexity and PS and (2) the state of practice by providing a new perspective of PS evaluation to enhance the probability of success in complex construction projects.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how China's rural public pension affects farmers' formal borrowing, which has always been rationed.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how China's rural public pension affects farmers' formal borrowing, which has always been rationed.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a difference-in-difference (DID) estimation to evaluate the effect of the implementation of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) at the end of 2009 on farmers' formal borrowing.
Findings
The results show that the NRPS significantly reduces farmers' formal borrowing from rural credit cooperatives (RCCs). The effect is significant among the elderly, eastern China and high-income groups.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by identifying another potential reason for rural formal credit shortage. Policymakers and rural formal financial institutions should consider the demand side problem of lending.
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Keywords
Aisong Qin, Qin Hu, Qinghua Zhang, Yunrong Lv and Guoxi Sun
Rotating machineries are widely used in manufacturing, petroleum, chemical, aircraft, and other industries. To accurately identify the operating conditions of such rotating…
Abstract
Purpose
Rotating machineries are widely used in manufacturing, petroleum, chemical, aircraft, and other industries. To accurately identify the operating conditions of such rotating machineries, this paper aims to propose a fault diagnosis method based on sensitive dimensionless parameters and particle swarm optimization (PSO)–support vector machine (SVM) for reducing the unexpected downtime and economic losses.
Design/methodology/approach
A relatively new hybrid intelligent fault classification approach is proposed by integrating multiple dimensionless parameters, the Fisher criterion and PSO–SVM. In terms of data pre-processing, a method based on wavelet packet decomposition (WPD), empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and dimensionless parameters is proposed for the extraction of the vibration signal features. The Fisher criterion is applied to reduce the redundant dimensionless parameters and search for the sensitive dimensionless parameters. Then, PSO is adapted to optimize the penalty parameter and kernel parameter for SVM. Finally, the sensitive dimensionless parameters are classified with the optimized model.
Findings
As two different time–frequency analysis methods, a method based on a combination of WPD and EMD used to extract multiple dimensionless parameters is presented. More vital diagnosis information can be obtained from the vibration signals than by only using a single time–frequency analysis method. Besides, a fault classification approach combining the sensitive dimensionless parameters and PSO-SVM classifier is proposed. The comparative experiment results show that the proposed method has a high classification accuracy and efficiency.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, very few efforts have been performed for fault classification using multiple dimensionless parameters. In this paper, eighty dimensionless parameters have been studied intensively, which provides a new strategy in fault diagnosis field.