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This study aims to fabricate and manipulate ensemble spin of negative nitrogen-vacancy (NV⁻) centres optimally for future solid atomic magnetometers/gyroscope. Parameters for sample preparation most related to magnetometers/gyroscope are, in particular, the concentration and homogeneity of the NV⁻ centres, the parameters’ microwave antenna of resonance frequency and the strength of the microwave on NV⁻ centres. Besides, the abundance of other impurities such as neutral NV centres (NV⁰) and substitutional nitrogen in the lattice also plays a critical role in magnetic sensing.

The authors succeeded in fabricating the assembly of NV centres in diamond and they determined its concentration of (2-3) × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³ with irradiation followed by annealing under a high temperature condition. They explored a novel magnetic resonance approach to detect the weak magnetic fields that takes advantage of the solid-state electron ensemble spin of NV⁻ centres in diamond. In particular, the authors set up a magnetic sensor on the basis of the assembly of NV centres. They succeeded in fabricating the assembly of NV centres in diamond and determined its concentration. They also clarified the magnetic field intensity measured at different positions along the antenna with different lengths, and they found the optimal position where the signal of the magnetic field reaches the maximum.

The authors mainly reported preparation, initialization, manipulation and measurement of the ensemble spin of the NV centres in diamond using optical excitation and microwave radiation methods with variation of the external magnetic field. They determined the optimal parameters of irradiation and annealing to generate the ensemble NV centres, and a concentration of NV⁻ centres as high as 10¹⁶ cm⁻³ in diamond was obtained. In addition, they found that sensitivity of the magnetometer using this method can reach as low as 5.22 µT/Hz currently.

This research can shed light on the development of an atomic magnetometer and a gyroscope on the basis of the ensemble spin of NV centres in diamond.

High concentration spin of NV⁻ in diamond is one of the advantages compared with that of the atomic vapor cells, because it can obtain a higher concentration. When increasing the spin concentration, the spin signal is easy to detect, and macro-atomic spin magnetometer become possible. This research is the first step for solid atomic magnetometers with high spin density and high sensitivity potentially with further optimization. It has a wide range of applications from fundamental physics tests, sensor applications and navigation to detection of NMR signals.

As has been pointed out, in this research, the authors mainly worked on fabricating NV⁻ centres with high concentration (10¹⁵-10¹⁶ cm⁻³) in diamond by using optimal irradiation and annealing processes, and they quantitatively defined the NV⁻ concentration, which is important for the design of higher concentration processes in the magnetometer and gyroscope. Until now, few groups can directly define the NV⁻ concentration. Besides, the authors optimized the microwave antenna parameters experimentally and explored the dependence between the splitting of the magnetic resonance and the magnetic fields, which dictated the minimum detectable magnetic field.

The Chinese construction industry is experiencing a rapid growth these days. Due to the requirements of energy conservation, emission reduction and construction waste management, the development of prefabricated buildings (PBs) has attracted much attention in the Chinese construction industry. However, the development of PBs are still in their infancy in China, which have been negatively impacted by many obstacles. It is of great significance to clarify and analyze these obstacles for the purpose of promoting the development of PBs in China. Due to the wideness and complex features of obstacles, the existing literature exploring the research topic lacks comprehensiveness. The purpose of this paper is to systematically identify and discuss the obstacles that hinder the development of PBs in China.

This paper adopts the method of news report analysis based on the news reports retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and nine major portals in China. The Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) method of content analysis was used to rank the obstacles according to their importance.

A total of 79 obstacles to the development of PBs in China are identified, and the 79 obstacles are divided into 8 dimensions. Among the Top 20 obstacles, the government dimension accounted for the highest number of 5, the market and consumer dimension and development organization dimension were 4, Manufacturing Enterprise of Prefabricated Components (PCs) dimension, construction organization dimension and design organization dimension were 2, logistics enterprise dimension was 1, and industry association dimension was 0. Among them, the biggest obstacle is the high transportation costs.

First, data collection may not be very comprehensive. Second, this paper is only based on the obstacles in the development of PBs in China, and the universality of the management conclusions needs to be further strengthened.

The research results help the stakeholders in the Chinese PBs industry to better understand the barriers hindering the industry development in a systemic way, which will help propose appropriate strategies to address these barriers.

This paper clarifies the obstacles of China's PBs and makes an analysis, which is of great value to the development of China's PBs.

The purpose of this study is to restore the spatial distribution of overseas remittance businesses in Shantou during the 1940s. It explores various socioeconomic factors that influenced the concentration of local remittance business investment in real estate. By reconstructing the spatial distribution of remittance business activities in Shantou, this study hopes to lay a foundation for further analysis of the business strategies of Chaoshan merchants.

This research draws on information from the published Swatow Guide, archival sources and cadastral maps to identify the location of remittance enterprises and the native place and overseas networks of property owners.

This study reveals that the spatial distribution of the remittance enterprises was determined by the native place origins of local property owners, and that the inflow of overseas Chinese capital contributed to real estate development in Shantou.

Despite the limited access to Chinese official archives, this paper manages to identify several building blocks and neighbors in Shantou for spatial analysis.

This study is the first attempt to use the geographical information system (GIS) method in Chinese urban history research and hopes to establish a larger historical database of Shantou as a sample for comparison.

This investigation advances the spatial study of urban history and overseas Chinese remittances in the maritime society of South China.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how audit fees change in responding to the financial crisis of 2008. It also examines auditors’ perceived risk and how they priced the risk in the financial crisis.

Using a sample of 20,930 firm-year observations, this paper examines the change of audit fees before, during and after the financial crisis, as well as the relationship between audit fees and restatements. Furthermore, this study investigates whether this relationship between audit fees and restatements strengthened during the financial crisis.

The paper finds that audit fees increase as a result of the macro-systemic risks from the crisis. It also finds that there is a significantly positive relationship between audit fees and restatements, which is a proxy of risk factors related to poor financial reporting quality and poor audit quality. However, the results show that there is no significant change of the fees–restatements relationship in the financial crisis period.

The main limitation of this study is that no definite answer can be provided for the question that whether auditors believe that poor audit quality and audit failures are leading up to the financial crisis. The test rejects the alternative hypothesis. However, it does not necessarily prove the null hypothesis is true.

This paper contributes to the current literature by analyzing not only the impact of the financial crisis on audit fees, but also how the accounting profession views its own role in the financial crisis.

With the development of the economy, Chinese consumers increasingly seek and emphasise hedonic value over utility value when shopping. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between shopping and consumers’ subjective well-being (SWB), the mediation effect of interpersonal relationship satisfaction and the moderation effects of tradition-directedness and trust in strangers on this relationship.

This research includes two studies. Study 1 tested hypotheses regarding the effects of general shopping behaviours based on data from the 2012 Survey of the Chinese General Social Survey (n=5,210). Study 2 tested hypotheses regarding the effects of mall shopping based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2016 (n=251).

Results showed that shopping promoted SWB and interpersonal relationship satisfaction mediated this correlation. Findings also revealed that both the direct effect of mall shopping on SWB and the indirect effect through interpersonal relationship satisfaction were contingent on the level of tradition-directedness; the direct effect was significant only at a low level of tradition-directedness. Trust in strangers moderated the effect of mall shopping on interpersonal relationship satisfaction.

The economy and society in China are changing tremendously, affecting consumers’ values and behaviour. This study highlights one aspect of this change, provides a framework for the exploration of the relationship between shopping and SWB and extends a new understanding of how Chinese consumers’ behaviours and lifestyles are associated.

The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the role of entrepreneurship in promoting China's technological progress and efficiency improvement during the economic reform process of the past two decades. The paper contributes to our understanding of the drivers of economic growth in China during the economic reforms period through the study of technology development and efficiency of resource allocation.

The paper uses Malmquist productivity index and panel data cointegration covering 30 regions in China for the period 1992‐2007, to test the effect of entrepreneurship on Chinese technological progress and resource allocation efficiency.

The analysis shows that the rate of entrepreneurship in China improves the level of technological progress and efficiency of resource allocation significantly. The increased level of entrepreneurship in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong and other developed areas is positively related to the increased level of technological development and resource allocation, whereas this was not identified in areas that are less developed. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that business level has promoted the level of technological progress in these areas.

The paper provides valuable insight into the role and contribution of entrepreneurship's in China's economic growth.