Search results

A new aramid base material for use in laminates to be applied to advanced surface mount technology was developed. A new fibre based on PPDETA (Poly‐p‐phenylene/3,4'‐diphenylether terephthalamide) was found to have negative thermal and hygroscopic expansion coefficients, low ionic impurities and high affinity to epoxy and polyimide resins. The fibre was processed into fabrics and papers to be used as a base material for printed circuit boards for advanced surface mount technology. Impregnation with a new epoxy resin with high purity and high temperature resistance implemented the development of a new laminate with minimal electromigration and high dimensional stability. Thus, a new laminate was developed to be used for LCCC, PGA, COB, TAB, Flip‐Chips and other advanced surface mount technologies. Reliability of the laminate to electromigration between surface conductors, between plated‐through barrels, and between opposed conductors was found to be one of the highest available today. These types of behaviour were related to the high purity and high temperature resistance of both the reinforcement material and the resin. The short life of through‐hole plating in thermal shock was improved by the application of a new plating technology. Application to multilayer boards and laminates with a low dielectric constant is also being investigated.

This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.

This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.

This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.

This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.

A 30-item Sport Interest Inventory (SII) was developed and validated for measuring ten unique motives related to consumer interest at an international sporting event. Spectators (N=1,321) attending five different US venues during the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup were administered the SII. Analysis revealed that sport and team interest, excitement, supporting women's opportunity in sport, aesthetics and vicarious achievement explained 35 per cent of the variance in spectators' interest in the event. Results provide sport marketers with consumer-based marketing strategies, particularly for women's sport.

Developing macro queries in software systems is a complex task for many users. Geographical information systems (GIS) are large software systems that require much effort to develop expertise in. A functional programming design approach has a number of distinct strengths that can be represented in a graphical query language interface to aid users in macro query development. A visual functional query language (VFQL) for Geographical Information Systems is presented and its strengths and weaknesses discussed. The system is based on a visual functional programming design approach. This offers a consistent, non‐procedural, strongly typed environment where users can develop their own higher order functions. The approach integrates functional programming, visual programming and knowledge and rules. VFQL’s effectiveness is evaluated compared with a text based command language for GIS macro query development. The results of an experiment indicate that users could develop solutions to simpler tasks more quickly and with fewer errors than a comparative text based command language. On more complex tasks there was no significant difference. From this we deduce that VFQL demonstrates certain design features to help the development of macros or small programs for users but that the complexity of the problem in difficult tasks is likely to be the most important determinant of the error rate and time to complete the task.

Urinary incontinence is one of the most important health problems for people over 65 years of age. It is defined as involuntary and uncontrolled loss of urine. This paper aims to present a contemporary view on the effects of physiotherapeutic procedures in combating urinary incontinence. Physiotherapeutic procedures were compared: pelvic floor muscle exercises, physical therapy and biofeedback (BF) to demonstrate their effectiveness in managing urinary incontinence in the elderly.

The databases Pubmed and GoogleScholar have been searched for articles on the impact of interventions – physiotherapeutic procedures on the effectiveness of the treatment of urinary incontinence in the elderly.

Pelvic floor muscle exercises are effective in the treatment of urinary incontinence, strengthen muscle strength and improve patients' quality of life. A long-lasting, systematic and individual training program with a physiotherapist is the most effective. BF helps to intensify the therapeutic effect of exercise but also allows you to achieve good results as an independent treatment method. Positive effects are also noticeable in physical therapy, electrostimulation and magnetotherapy are very effective. Physiotherapeutic procedures have a positive effect in the treatment of urinary incontinence in the elderly. However, further research is needed to clarify the most effective methods.

This paper offers many ways to deal with urinary incontinence in the elderly using physiotherapeutic procedures, thus helping to improve the quality of life of those affected by urinary incontinence.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges to the transfer of technologies which are caused by the internationalization of companies and the need to outsource production in a globalized business environment. Aside from typical methods of transfer by means of documents or equipment, technology is mainly brought forward by human resources, which in a transboundary context implies the interaction between cultures. However, a connection between culture and technology has, for a long time, been underestimated by practitioners and researchers and a fortiori necessitates the development of competences to facilitate collaboration in a more and more multicultural working environment.

Data were retrieved from a semi‐structured questionnaire used in ten in‐depth interviews and exploited by discourse analysis. The survey questionnaire was the main instrument to support data collection in the interviews with at least one respective executive involved in cross‐border technology transfer in the Japanese sample companies.

Contradicting the assumptions in Western literature, this study reveals that not only countries correlating on collectivism and masculinity but also more feminine countries can be considered as successful technology transfer partners. It is also substantiated that cultural closeness between countries does not imperatively result in frictionless technology transfer when analyzed from a cultural point of view.

Survey results from a small‐sized exploratory study on Japanese companies and their experience in technology transfer processes within Asia provide information that will help managers to better understand the challenges in cross‐cultural transfer situations and to create a more effective transfer framework.

This paper focuses on the combination of technology transfer processes and the need for cross‐cultural competence and hence fulfils an identified need to link technology transfer to culture.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a cross-platform recommendation system that recommends the most suitable public Instagram accounts to Facebook users.

We collect data from both Facebook and Instagram and then propose a similarity matching mechanism for recommending the most appropriate Instagram accounts to Facebook users. By removing the data disparity between the two heterogeneous platforms and integrating them, the system is able to make more accurate recommendations.

The results show that the method proposed in this paper can recommend suitable public Instagram accounts to Facebook users with very high accuracy.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to propose a recommender system to recommend Instagram public accounts to Facebook users. Second, our proposed method can integrate heterogeneous data from two different platforms to generate collaborative recommendations. Furthermore, our cross-platform system reveals an innovative concept of how multiple platforms can promote their respective platforms in a unified, cooperative and collaborative manner.

Most previous thermal-mechanical modeling of cold-formed steel (CFS) walls did not consider the failure of screwed connections under fire conditions because of the limited data of such connections at elevated temperatures.

In this study, 285 steady-state tests are conducted on CFS screwed connections with single-layer gypsum plasterboard (GPB) and Bolivian magnesium board (BMB) sheathing at ambient and elevated temperatures. The failure of these connections is described as the breaking of the loaded sheathing edge.

For the BMB sheathing screwed connections, hydrochloric acid gas is generated and released above 300°C, and the shear strength becomes much less than that of the GPB sheathing screwed connection above 370°C. Hence, BMB may not be suitable for use as the face-layer sheathing of CFS walls but is still recommended to replace GPB as the base-layer sheathing. The major influencing parameters on the shear strength of screwed connections are identified as the type of sheathing material and the loaded sheathing edge distance.

Based on the previous and present test results, a unified expression for the residual shear strength of screwed connections with GPB and BMB is proposed at ambient and elevated temperatures with acceptable accuracy. It can be used as the basic input parameter of the numerical simulation of the CFS structures under fire conditions.

This chapter is a qualitative exploration of consumer experiences into rural tourism initiatives in Japan. Rural tourism initiatives have been on the rise in Japan in recent times due to the need to rejuvenate the local economies, arts and cultural heritage. These initiatives aim to mobilise tourist attention to the countryside and create a bridge between urban tourists and rural tourism. Using theories of cultural encounters and cultural consumption, the research investigates rural tourism initiatives in two regions – Tateyama and Hirakawa. The narrative data provide insights into the motivations of the respondents to be part of the initiative and their experiences. It indicates how the process of cultural consumption leads to cultural appreciation. The study also serves as an example of how rural tourism can be implemented by other countries where rural economic mobilisation and empowerment is critical.

The circular economy grows in popularity in sustainability-oriented environments. Remanufacturing contributes to circularity though it faces challenges regarding reverse supply chains (SCs). Literature focusses on closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs) for reverse flows of products. However, alternative SCs and different market actors provide used components (cores) for remanufacturing through “open-loops”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of independent actors on core supply and how especially middlemen implement supplier relationship management to address supply shortages in automotive remanufacturing.

The study follows a qualitative research approach to compare remanufacturing SCs in Europe and North America. The analysis aims to identify managerial leverage to reduce supply shortages.

Reduction of information asymmetries and transaction costs is crucial for “open-loop supply chains” to compete with more integrated CLSCs. The study identifies an e-procurement solution that addresses these issues and helps to increase the supply through “open-loops”. Furthermore, regulation may hinder or facilitate supply.

It needs to be further investigated to what extent e-procurement and supplier relationship management can reduce shortages. Middlemen who can collaborate with the research would provide further research opportunities.

If supplier relationship management adapts to the requirements of remanufacturing, it can increase the supply potential through “open-loop” SCs. The e-procurement solution could serve SCs beyond automotive remanufacturing. Policy makers need to revise legislation hindering these SCs.

The study provides novel findings regarding independent actors, their supplier relationship management and their potential to reduce shortages in independent SCs for remanufacturing.