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Laser absolute distance measurement has the characteristics of high precision, wide range and non-contact. In laser ranging system, tracking and aiming measurement point is the precondition of automatic measurement. To solve this problem, this paper aims to propose a novel method.

For the central point of the hollow angle coupled mirror, this paper proposes a method based on correlation filtering and ellipse fitting. For non-cooperative target points, this paper proposes an extraction method based on correlation filtering and feature matching. Finally, a visual tracking and aiming system was constructed by combining the two-axis turntable, and experiments were carried out.

The target tracking algorithm has an accuracy of 91.15% and a speed of 19.5 frames per second. The algorithm can adapt to the change of target scale and short-term occlusion. The mean error and standard deviation of the center point extraction of the hollow Angle coupling mirror are 0.20 and 0.09 mm. The mean error and standard deviation of feature points matching for non-cooperative target were 0.06 mm and 0.16 mm. The visual tracking and aiming system can track a target running at a speed of 0.7 m/s, aiming error mean is 1.74 pixels and standard deviation is 0.67 pixel.

The results show that this method can achieve fast and high precision target tracking and aiming and has great application value in laser ranging.

This study explored whether crowdsourcing work characteristics are associated with perceived work effort in competitive crowdsourcing markets. The study also investigated the important contextual variables and internal mechanisms related to perceived work effort.

A questionnaire was posted as a crowdsourcing task on China's Time Fortune website. Data from 231 valid questionnaires were analyzed using SmartPLS 3.

Crowdsourcing workers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations were significantly and positively correlated with their perceived work effort. Task autonomy and feedback were significantly and positively correlated with intrinsic motivation. Skill variety, task significance, task identity, and task clarity had no significant correlations with intrinsic motivation. However, task clarity was significantly and positively correlated with perceived work effort. Moreover, the relationship between workers' trust in task requesters and perceived work effort was fully mediated by intrinsic motivation.

This study extended the job characteristic model into the virtual competitive crowdsourcing market. The authors verified the relationship between task clarity/trust in task requesters and workers' motivation and perceived work effort.

This study aims to deepen our understanding of how chatbots’ empathy influences humans–AI relationship in frontline service encounters. The authors investigate the underlying mechanisms, including perceived anthropomorphism, perceived intelligence and psychological empowerment, while also considering variations between different stages of the customer journey (before and after purchase).

Data collection was conducted through an online survey distributed among 301 customers who had experience using AI-based service chatbot in frontline service encounters in China. The hypotheses were examined through structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis.

The findings of this study revealed the positive impacts of emotional and cognitive empathy on humans–AI relationship through perceived anthropomorphism, perceived intelligence and psychological empowerment. Furthermore, this study verified the moderating effect of the customer journey stages, such that the impacts of anthropomorphism and intelligence on humans–AI relationship displayed more strength during the pre- and post-purchase phases, respectively.

This research offers practical implications for companies: recognize and enhance empathy dimensions in AI-based service chatbot to empower human–AI relationships; boost customer empowerment in human–AI interactions; and tailor anthropomorphic features in the pre-purchase stage and improve problem-solving capability in the post-purchase stage to enrich user experiences.

This study extends relationship marketing theory and human–AI interaction frameworks by investigating the underlying mechanisms of the effect of two-dimensional empathy on human–AI relationship. This study also enriches service design theories by revealing the moderating effect of customer journey stages.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of graphene, basalt flakes and their synergy on the corrosion resistance of zinc-rich coatings. As the important heavy-duty anticorrosion coatings, zinc-rich coatings provided cathodic protection for the substrate. However, to ensure cathodic protection, a large number of zinc powder made the penetration resistance known as the weakness of zinc-rich coatings. Therefore, graphene and basalt flakes were introduced into zinc-rich coatings to coordinate its cathodic protection and shielding performance.

Three kinds of coatings were prepared; they were graphene modified zinc-rich coatings, basalt flakes modified zinc-rich coatings and graphene-basalt flakes modified zinc-rich coatings. The anticorrosion behavior of painted steel was studied by using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique in chloride solutions. The equivalent circuit methods were used for EIS analysis to obtain the electrode process structure of the coated steel system. Simultaneously, the corrosion resistance of the three coatings was evaluated by water resistance test, salt water resistance test and salt spray test.

The study found that the addition of a small amount of graphene and basalt flakes significantly improved the anticorrosion performance of coatings by enhancing their shielding ability against corrosive media and increasing the resistance of the electrochemical reaction. The modified coatings exhibited higher water resistance, salt water resistance and salt spray resistance. The graphene-basalt flakes modified zinc-rich coatings demonstrated the best anticorrosion effect. The presence of basalt scales and graphene oxide in the coatings significantly reduced the water content and slowed down the water penetration rate in the coatings, thus prolonging the coating life and improving anticorrosion effects. The modification of zinc-rich coatings with graphene and basalt flakes improved the utilization rate of zinc powder and the shielding property of coatings against corrosive media, thus strengthening the protective effect on steel structures and prolonging the service life of anticorrosion coatings.

The significance of developing graphene-basalt flakes modified zinc-rich coatings lies in their potential to offer superior performance in corrosive environments, leading to prolonged service life of metallic structures, reduced maintenance costs and a safer working environment. Furthermore, such coatings can be used in various industrial applications, including bridges, pipelines and offshore structures, among others.

In recent years, the updating speed of products has been significantly accelerated, which not only provides diversified styles for consumers to select from but also makes consumers face selection problems sometimes. In addition, a large number of online reviews for products emerge on many e-commerce websites and influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. The purpose of this study is to propose a method for product selection considering consumer’s expectations and online reviews to support consumers’ purchasing decisions.

The product attributes are divided into two categories, i.e. demand attributes and word-of-mouth (WOM) attributes. For the demand attributes, for which the consumers can give specific quantified expectations, the value function of prospect theory is used to determine the consumer’s perceived values to the alternative products according to consumers’ expectations for these attributes and products’ specifications. For the WOM attributes, for which the consumers cannot give specific quantified expectations, the sentiment analysis method is used to identify the sentiment strengths for these attributes in the online reviews, and then the consumer’s perceived values to the alternative products are determined. On this basis, the product selection methods for single consumers and group consumers are given respectively.

Finally, taking the data of JD.com (https://www.jd.com/) as an example, the practicability and rationality of the method proposed in this paper is validated.

First, a new product selection problem considering consumer’s expectations and online reviews is extracted. Second, the product attributes are considered more comprehensively and are classified into two main categories. Third, the bounded rationality of the consumers in the decision-making process is described more reasonably. Fourth, the sentiment dictionaries for each WOM attribute are constructed and the algorithm step of identifying the sentiment strengths is designed, which can help to identify the sentiment strengths in the online reviews more accurately. Fifth, the situation that a group plans to purchase the same products and the members have inconsistent expectations for the product attributes is considered.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristic and function of oxide film formed on grinding wheel in electrolytic in-process dressing (ELID) precision grinding and improve the quality of ELID grinding.

Dynamic film forming experiments were carried out with a simulation device close to the actual processing conditions. Then, the ELID grinding experiments of bearing rings were performed using grinding wheels with good film forming effect. The experiment was designed by quadratic regression general rotation combination method. The influence of grinding depth, electrolytic voltage, duty cycle and grinding wheel linear speed on grinding effect is analyzed.

A mathematical model for the formation rate of oxide film was established. The experiments show that the composition of grinding wheel and grinding fluid, as well as the electrical parameters, influence the film forming effect. Thus, the oxide film plays an important role in ELID grinding.

This study provides a reference for the design and selection of grinding wheel and grinding fluid and the setting of process parameters in ELID grinding.

The online-to-offline (O2O) business is developing rapidly and is highly popular in many countries. Nevertheless, O2O suffers from a large number of customer complaints that result in consumer loss. Focusing on the O2O context, this study integrates expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT) and justice theory to investigate consumers' dissatisfaction toward O2O websites.

A research model was proposed and tested using 329 survey responses.

Results show that the identified website disconfirmation and offline service disconfirmation could lead to consumer dissatisfaction. Importantly, the impacts of disconfirmation factors are contingent upon the justice perception of consumers. When a transaction is perceived as unfair, website disconfirmation arouses a higher level of dissatisfaction, and the negative emotions could transfer from O2O and damage the website's reputation.

This study explores the continuance intentions of customers toward O2O websites from a dissatisfaction perspective, with insights for future service studies and O2O service managers.

This paper examines the impact of corporate digital transformation on employee satisfaction. Therefore, this study extends our understanding of the economic consequences of corporate digital transformation from employees’ perspectives.

The data used to construct our main proxy of employee satisfaction are collected from Kanzhun.com, which provides reviews by rank-and-file employees on their employers. This study uses a large sample of Chinese firms and adopts various empirical methods to examine the impact of digital transformation on employee satisfaction.

We find a significant positive relationship between corporate digital transformation and employee satisfaction. Moreover, we document that the relationship between corporate digital transformation and employee satisfaction is more pronounced in firms with higher labor intensity and in state-owned enterprises (SOE).

One significant limitation is that corporate digital transformation is constructed based on word frequency analysis. This approach may be influenced by variations in corporate disclosure practices and might not accurately capture the true extent of corporate digital transformation. This limitation is not only present in our research but is also pervasive in many other studies that utilize similar methodologies. Therefore, our results should be interpreted with this caveat in mind.

Our study suggests that corporate digital transformation enhances employee satisfaction, providing direct evidence for managers and regulators to promote corporate digital transformation. Through digital transformation, companies can not only improve operational efficiency but also foster employee satisfaction. This dual benefit underscores the importance of investing in corporate digital transformation for long-term success.

Our study suggests that corporate digital transformation enhances employee satisfaction, providing direct evidence for managers and regulators to promote corporate digital transformation. Through digital transformation, companies can not only improve operational efficiency but also foster employee satisfaction. This dual benefit underscores the importance of investing in corporate digital transformation for long-term success.

Our study contributes to the literature on the economic consequences of corporate digital transformation and extends existing research on the determinants of employee satisfaction. Additionally, it provides a novel measurement of employee satisfaction for a large sample of Chinese firms.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common infectious disease in infants and children. HFMD has caused millions of cases and a large epidemic worldwide. A number of studies have shown that the incidence of HFMD is closely related to various factors such as meteorological factors, environmental air pollution factors and socio-economic factors. However, there are few studies that systematically consider the impact of various factors on the incidence of HFMD. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study used grey correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) method to systematically analyse the impact of meteorological factors, health resource factors, socio-economic factors and environmental air pollution factors on the incidence of HFMD in Shenzhen.

The incidence of HFMD in Shenzhen was affected by multiple factors. Grey correlation analysis found eight influencing factors which are as follows: volume of industrial waste gas emission; the days of air quality equal to or above grade; the volume of industrial nitrogen oxide emission; precipitation; the mean air temperature; the gross domestic product; the expenditure for medical and health care; and the gross domestic product per capita. PCA found that the gross domestic product, the volume of industrial soot emission, the relative humidity, and the days of air quality equal to or above grade have a higher load value.

This study is the one of the first studies that apply the grey correlation analysis to analyse the influencing factors of HFMD in the English literature, which to some extent fills up the blank in this field.

The purpose of this paper is to advance product appeal and website appeal as focal psychological mechanisms that can be invoked by business-to-consumer e-commerce sites to mitigate problems of information asymmetry via signaling to bolster consumers’ purchase intention under the influence of trust.

Survey approach was employed to validate the research model.

Website appeal partially mediates the positive effect of product appeal on consumers’ purchase intention. Trust in e-commerce sites not only increases purchase intention directly, but it also reinforces the positive relationship between website appeal and purchase intention while attenuating the positive relationship between product appeal and purchase intention. Service content quality, search delivery quality, and enjoyment are confirmed as positive antecedents of website appeal whereas diagnosticity and justifiability are established as positive antecedents of product appeal.

This study not only delineates product and website appeal as complementary drivers of consumer purchase on e-commerce sites, but it also derives five signals that aid in bolstering both product and website appeal. Trust is revealed to exert a moderating influence on the impact of product and website appeal on purchase intention.

Practitioners should prioritize their resource allocation to enhance qualities most pertinent to product and website appeal. E-commerce sites should offer product-oriented functionalities to facilitate product diagnosticity and reassure consumers of their purchase decisions.

This study distinguishes between product and website appeal as well as between their respective antecedents. It also uncovers how trust can alter the effects of both website and product appeal on consumers’ purchase intention.