Benjian Wu, Linyi Niu, Ruiqi Tan and Haibo Zhu
This study explores whether targeted microcredit can effectively alleviate households’ multidimensional relative poverty (MdRP) in rural China in the new era following the poverty…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores whether targeted microcredit can effectively alleviate households’ multidimensional relative poverty (MdRP) in rural China in the new era following the poverty elimination campaign and discusses it from a gendered perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies a fixed-effects model, propensity score matching (PSM) and two-stage instrumental variable method to two-period panel data collected from 611 households in rural western China in 2018 and 2021 to explore the effects, mechanisms and heterogenous performance of targeted microcredit on households’ MdRP in the new era.
Findings
(i) Targeted microcredit can alleviate MdRP among rural households in the new era, mainly by reducing income and opportunity inequality. (ii) Targeted microcredit can promote women’s empowerment, mainly by enhancing their social participation, thereby helping alleviate households’ MdRP. The effect of the targeted microcredit on MdRP is more significant in medium-educated women households and non-left-behind women households. (iii) The MdRP alleviation effect is stronger in villages with a high degree of digitalization.
Research limitations/implications
Learn from the experience of targeted microcredit. Accurately identify poor groups and integrate loan design into financial health and women empowerment. Particularly, pay attention to less-educated and left-behind women households and strengthen coordination between targeted microcredit and digital village strategies.
Originality/value
This study clarifies the effect of targeted microcredit on women’s empowerment and households’ MdRP alleviation in the new era. It also explores its various effects on households with different female characteristics and regional digitalization levels, providing ideas for optimizing microcredit.
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Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study proposes a strategy based on vehicle kinematics, dynamics and fusion estimation. The estimation signal of vehicle driving state is crucial for vehicle driving safety and stability control, and the issue of fault-tolerant reconstruction estimation of vehicle driving state under the failure of yaw rate or lateral acceleration sensors is a significant research topic.
Design/methodology/approach
A strategy based on vehicle kinematics, dynamics and fusion estimation is proposed. To address the issue of inaccurate calculation of tire forces because of sensor failure, a method combining adaptive sliding mode observer, genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed to accurately calculate tire forces, and the Square Root Cubature Kalman Filter algorithm is used to reconstruct the estimation of vehicle driving state under sensor failure. To improve the accuracy of fault-tolerant reconstruction estimation of vehicle driving state, an error-weighted multi-method fusion estimation strategy for vehicle driving state is proposed. A fast terminal sliding mode control algorithm is proposed to control the stability of the fault-tolerant reconstruction estimation signal of vehicle driving state.
Findings
Simulation results show that the proposed fault-tolerant reconstruction estimation algorithm for vehicle driving state can accurately estimate the actual driving state of the vehicle and stably participate in the vehicle stability control system, achieving fault-tolerant reconstruction estimation and control of vehicle driving state under sensor failure.
Originality/value
The problem of vehicle motion state estimation under yaw velocity sensor fault or lateral acceleration sensor fault is solved, and fault tolerance control under sensor state is realized.
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Razib Chandra Chanda, Ali Vafaei-Zadeh, Haniruzila Hanifah, Davoud Nikbin and Ruiqi Chang
With the pandemic reshaping healthcare delivery, telemedicine has emerged as a vital solution for overcoming access barriers, particularly in resource-constrained settings. Hence…
Abstract
Purpose
With the pandemic reshaping healthcare delivery, telemedicine has emerged as a vital solution for overcoming access barriers, particularly in resource-constrained settings. Hence, this study explores the key drivers behind the sustained use of telemedicine services in low-income countries during the post-pandemic period.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a quantitative research approach and purposive sampling technique, 273 valid responses were gathered from participants in Bangladesh. A comparative analysis utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) were conducted to ensure greater accuracy.
Findings
The PLS-SEM analysis revealed that expectation confirmation and perceived ease of use positively influence satisfaction. Similarly, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use directly impact Attitude toward telemedicine services. However, perceived usefulness and perceived security were not significantly associated with satisfaction and attitude toward telemedicine services, respectively. The findings highlight that user satisfaction drives continuance use intention for telemedicine services, but only when it also cultivates a positive attitude toward telemedicine services. While the PLS-SEM findings indicate that perceived usefulness has no significant relationship with satisfaction and perceived security is not significantly associated with attitude toward telemedicine services, the fsQCA results offer a different perspective. fsQCA reveals that perceived usefulness retains a significant association with satisfaction and that perceived security, regardless of whether its effect is high or low, is equally effective in contributing to the intention for continuous telemedicine use. These findings underscore fsQCA’s ability to provide deeper insights into the complex causal relationships among the antecedents.
Practical implications
The findings provide valuable insights for hospitals, doctors and telemedicine providers on retaining existing users. Additionally, governments can leverage this information to address healthcare disparities between urban and rural areas. The study also identifies strategies to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of healthcare services.
Originality/value
This study advances telemedicine research by employing the extended technology continuance theory (ETCT) alongside a hybrid analytical approach that integrates PLS-SEM and fsQCA. It highlights that telemedicine organizations can boost patient confidence and encourage continued use by enhancing satisfaction and cultivating a positive user attitude. The innovative use of ETCT and the combined methodologies provide a comprehensive analysis, offering actionable strategies to retain telemedicine users in low-income countries during the post-pandemic period.
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The textile sector is one of the sectors where competition is intense and requires the production of high-value-added products. This study aims to conduct patent analysis to find…
Abstract
Purpose
The textile sector is one of the sectors where competition is intense and requires the production of high-value-added products. This study aims to conduct patent analysis to find the technology status, recent trends, applications and technological evaluations of protective textile technologies in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
More than 36,840 patent documents related to protective textile technologies are available for researchers, patent examiners and patent researchers. Patent analysis is conducted to report the technology status, recent trends and applications of protective textile technologies. This analysis provides insights into the possible future directions of protective textile technologies in practice. Additionally, association rule mining (ARM) is performed to find the hidden patterns among protective textile technologies.
Findings
The development of protective textile technologies is revealed by the technology evaluation in this study. In addition, the sub-technology classes affecting protective textile technologies are examined using the cooperative patent classification (CPC) codes of the patent documents. Technology status and recent trends of protective textile technologies are provided in detail. The results of this study show that (1) protective textile technologies are constantly being developed, (2) the working areas of medical protective textiles are increasing, (3) there are frequent studies on fabric structures for saving lives within the framework of human needs and (4) there are four technology classes, namely A41D, Y10T, B32B and A62B impacting the other technology classes related to textile technologies such as D10B, Y10T, F41H, A62D, D04H, Y10S and D10B.
Originality/value
To have a competitive advantage in the marketplace, evaluation of textile technologies is critical in developing “functionalized” and “technologized” textile products. In particular, evaluating technologies in developing protective textile products is extremely important to meet customer demands and present competitive products in the market. Examining these patents for technology developers, decision-makers and policymakers is an urgent and necessary job. However, studies examining the development of protective textile technologies with patent analysis are very limited in the literature. To fill this gap, technology status, recent trends and applications of protective textile technologies are reported based on patent analysis and ARM in this study.