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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tribological performance and mechanisms of BN/calcium borate nanocomposites (BCBNs) as additives in lubricating oil.

BCBNs were prepared by heterogeneous deposition method. And the morphology and structure of samples were analysed by transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectra and X-ray powder diffraction pattern. The maximum non-seizure load (PB) of samples was tested using four-ball friction tester. The average friction coefficients and wear tracks were obtained. In addition, tribological mechanism was also investigated using optical microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope.

It was found that the nanocomposites present core-shell nanostructure with the thickness of shell around 12 nm and the diameter of particles 100-200 nm, and tribological tests indicate that the PB value of BCBNs was increased by 113 per cent, whereas the average friction coefficient was decreased by 23.6 per cent and the bloom’s wear area was also decreased by 25.2 per cent.

This paper involves investigation on tribological properties and mechanism of the BCBNs with core-shell structure.

In this study, we examine the influence of a firm’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance on analysts’ stock recommendations and earnings forecast accuracy in the Chinese context.

We take a textual analysis approach to analyst research reports issued between 2010 and 2019, and differentiate between two distinct analyst categories: “sustainability analysts,” which refer to those more inclined to incorporate ESG information into their analyses, and “other analysts.”

Our evidence indicates that sustainability analysts tend to be significantly more likely than others to provide positive stock recommendations and demonstrate enhanced accuracy in forecasting earnings for companies with superior ESG performance. Our additional analyses reveal that this finding is particularly prominent for analysts who graduated from institutions emphasizing the protection of the environment, those recognized as star analysts, those affiliated with ESG-oriented brokerages, and forecasts made by analysts in the later part of the sample period. Our findings further indicate that sustainability analysts exhibit a more pronounced negative response when confronted with a negative ESG event.

In general, the evidence from this study reveals the interplay between ESG factors and analyst behavior, offering valuable implications for both financial analysts and sustainable investment strategies.

This study aims to reduce data bias during human activity and increase the accuracy of activity recognition.

A convolutional neural network and a bidirectional long short-term memory model are used to automatically capture feature information of time series from raw sensor data and use a self-attention mechanism to learn select potential relationships of essential time points. The proposed model has been evaluated on six publicly available data sets and verified that the performance is significantly improved by combining the self-attentive mechanism with deep convolutional networks and recursive layers.

The proposed method significantly improves accuracy over the state-of-the-art method between different data sets, demonstrating the superiority of the proposed method in intelligent sensor systems.

Using deep learning frameworks, especially activity recognition using self-attention mechanisms, greatly improves recognition accuracy.

The effect of SBF artificial body fluid on microstructure and morphology characteristics of AZ91D alloy was investigated using OM, SEM and XRD. The effect of corrosion on mechanical properties also was researched.

The results show that the corrosion weight loss rate initially increased, then clearly decreased, and finally remained steady. Pits began to appear when the sample was placed in a corrosive environment for five days and pitting gradually increased with longer exposure time.

The pits, which made the grain boundaries indistinct, first appeared near the grain boundary area and then gradually increased in area.

The main mode of corrosion is pitting and the primary corrosion product, MgOH2, could be observed after five days of corrosion.

Quantitative and spatial-explicit flood risk information is of great importance for strengthening climate change adaptation and flood resilience. Shanghai is a coastal megacity at large estuary delta with rising flood risks. This study aims to quantify the overall economic-societal risks of storm flooding and their spatial patterns in Shanghai.

Based on multiple storm flood scenarios at different return periods, as well as fine-scale data sets including gridded GDP, gridded population and vector land-use, a probabilistic risk model incorporating geographic information system is used to assess the economic-societal risks of flooding and their spatial distributions.

Our results show that, from 1/200 to 1/5,000-year floods, the exposed assets will increase from USD 85.4bn to USD 657.6bn, and the direct economic losses will increase from USD 3.06bn to USD 52bn. The expected annual damage (EAD) of assets is around USD 84.36m. Hotpots of EAD are mainly distributed in the city center, the depressions along the upper Huangpu River in the southwest, the north coast of Hangzhou Bay, and the confluence of the Huangpu River and Yangtze River in the northeast. From 1/200 to 1/5,000-year floods, the exposed population will rise from 280 thousand to 2,420 thousand, and the estimated casualties will rise from 299 to 1,045. The expected annual casualties (EAC) are around 2.28. Hotspots of casualties are generally consistent with those of EAD.

In contrast to previous studies that focus on a single flood scenario or a particular type of flood exposure/risk in Shanghai, the findings contribute to an understanding of overall flood risks and their spatial patterns, which have significant implications for cost-benefit analysis of flood resilience strategies.

With the rapid development of the Chinese economy and society, the number of international schools in China has increased sharply. As a core part of school quality, the curriculum development in international schools is facing a series of challenges due to the changing requirements from both the government and the market. In order to better understand the current practices of curriculum development in these international schools in China, this study adopts Tyler’s and Gu’s curriculum theories to design a questionnaire to collect data from 104 international schools national-wide. In addition, a semi-structured interview for teachers and principals was also conducted in nine international schools in five different cities in China.

The findings show that most international schools aim at cultivating “global citizens” or “leaders and elites.” In China, most schools attach importance to foreign language teaching, and most courses are offered in English. Group work, inquiry and discussion, and project-based learning are frequently adopted in international schools. The findings also show there is a strong integration of “Chinese culture” and “global vision,” and schools generally try to balance the two aspects. Some schools rely heavily on foreign curriculum resources, and are in urgent need of capacity building in term of curriculum development based on Chinese policy, market demands and their school realities. Compared with developed countries, international schools in China endorse the new mission, mixing the requirements of modernization and globalization at the same time. Therefore, how to reconstruct a Chinese neo-modern curriculum system is the fundamental challenge for all international schools in China.

As an Internet fashion brand, HSTYLE has developed into an Internet enterprise with annual sales of 1.5 billion RMB within 10 years, establishing its position as the top industry performer in China. This case studies HSTYLES' innovation in business model and organizational management. HSTYLE's workgroups have achieved the balance of responsibilities and rights in a small team of three members at minimum, while mobilizing the enthusiasm and initiative of the line managers with the support of public service sector. At the same time, HSTYLE enriches its brand style, establishes a fashion cloud platform, and integrates individual and organizational consumers into its existing fashion design, manufacturing and sales system.

Reinforced S-shape bellows are novel metal bellows with high pressure resistance. Displacement compensation ability is a key index in the design of metal bellows. Axial-tension-compression deformation and bending deformation are two typical displacement compensation forms. Thus, analysis of axial and bending stiffness is important in structure design.

In this study, theory analytics of axial tension and compression stiffness of reinforced S-shaped bellows structure is derived, and the load-displacement relationship during axial deformation is obtained by correcting the geometric parameters of waveform during axial tension and compression deformations. On the basis of them, the relationships of bending stiffness with axial tensile and compression stiffness under the action of bending loading are constructed, and thus, the theory analytics of bending stiffness is realized for S-shaped bellows.

This theory analytics is verified by comparing the results of theory analytics with those of numerical simulation for a few typical examples. An investigation on the axial and bending non-linear mechanical behaviors of multi-layer-reinforced S-shaped bellows was also carried out by numerical simulation and experiment, and the experimental results verified the reliability of the analysis method.

It is found that non-linearity behavior occurs greatly during the first loading course of reinforced S-shaped bellows, and the structure is strain-strengthened due to plastic deformation; however, stable stiffness characteristic is exhibited during the succeeding cyclic-loading course.

Against the backdrop of the convergence and divergence debate in comparative management studies, this study aims to explore Chinese-style management and proposes the husband-housewife-patriarchy (HHP) model of management, emphasizing the uniqueness of Chinese management practices that are differentiated from Western- and Japanese-oriented paradigms while advocating a progressive and practical approach to understanding and applying these principles [1].

This study combines a “bottom-up” and “top-down” logic of analysis to reexamine the general managerial approaches, with particular attention toward human resource management as a stream within the whole management spectrum across China, the USA, Europe and Japan, reaching a typological representation of the above prototypes, which is coined as the HHP model of management. In doing so, this paper proffers a novel lens for revisiting these models and advancing management innovation in China.

Chinese-style management is characterized by an array of unique approaches diverging from Western and Japanese models. The HHP management model is presented as a new framework for reinterpreting these distinctions and encouraging management innovation within China, highlighting the potential of Chinese management practices in contributing to global management knowledge.

This paper offers novel perspectives on Chinese-style management and introduces the HHP management model, enriching the discourse on comparative management and local innovation in the managerial arena.