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1 – 10 of 244Jing An, Suicheng Li and Xiao Ping Wu
Project managers bear the responsibility of selecting and developing resource scheduling methods that align with project requirements and organizational circumstances. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Project managers bear the responsibility of selecting and developing resource scheduling methods that align with project requirements and organizational circumstances. This study focuses on resource-constrained project scheduling in multi-project environments. The research simplifies the problem by adopting a single-project perspective using gain coefficients.
Design/methodology/approach
It employs uncertainty theory and multi-objective programming to construct a model. The optimal solution is identified using Matlab, while LINGO determines satisfactory alternatives. By combining these methods and considering actual construction project situations, a compromise solution closely approximating the optimal one is derived.
Findings
The study provides fresh insights into modeling and resolving resource-constrained project scheduling issues, supported by real-world examples that effectively illustrate its practical significance.
Originality/value
The research highlights three main contributions: effective resource utilization, project prioritization and conflict management, and addressing uncertainty. It offers decision support for project managers to balance resource allocation, resolve conflicts, and adapt to changing project demands.
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Xingwen Wu, Zhenxian Zhang, Wubin Cai, Ningrui Yang, Xuesong Jin, Ping Wang, Zefeng Wen, Maoru Chi, Shuling Liang and Yunhua Huang
This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.
Abstract
Purpose
This review aims to give a critical view of the wheel/rail high frequency vibration-induced vibration fatigue in railway bogie.
Design/methodology/approach
Vibration fatigue of railway bogie arising from the wheel/rail high frequency vibration has become the main concern of railway operators. Previous reviews usually focused on the formation mechanism of wheel/rail high frequency vibration. This paper thus gives a critical review of the vibration fatigue of railway bogie owing to the short-pitch irregularities-induced high frequency vibration, including a brief introduction of short-pitch irregularities, associated high frequency vibration in railway bogie, typical vibration fatigue failure cases of railway bogie and methodologies used for the assessment of vibration fatigue and research gaps.
Findings
The results showed that the resulting excitation frequencies of short-pitch irregularity vary substantially due to different track types and formation mechanisms. The axle box-mounted components are much more vulnerable to vibration fatigue compared with other components. The wheel polygonal wear and rail corrugation-induced high frequency vibration is the main driving force of fatigue failure, and the fatigue crack usually initiates from the defect of the weld seam. Vibration spectrum for attachments of railway bogie defined in the standard underestimates the vibration level arising from the short-pitch irregularities. The current investigations on vibration fatigue mainly focus on the methods to improve the accuracy of fatigue damage assessment, and a systematical design method for vibration fatigue remains a huge gap to improve the survival probability when the rail vehicle is subjected to vibration fatigue.
Originality/value
The research can facilitate the development of a new methodology to improve the fatigue life of railway vehicles when subjected to wheel/rail high frequency vibration.
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Ge Zhang, Liang Ma, Xin Zhang, Xiao Yan Ding and Yi Ping Yang
An increasing number of users join and become immersed in WeChat official accounts, but many users quit using these services as well. Nevertheless, most of the previous studies…
Abstract
Purpose
An increasing number of users join and become immersed in WeChat official accounts, but many users quit using these services as well. Nevertheless, most of the previous studies mainly focussed on the usage behavior. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap by examining factors affecting users’ unfollow intentions for WeChat subscriptions in a Chinese context.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling is used in our study. A field survey with 260 WeChat users is conducted to test the research model and hypotheses.
Findings
The results show the following interesting key findings: first, the effect of actual cost on users’ unfollow intentions is larger than the effect of opportunity cost; second, users’ unfollow intentions will decrease with the increase of users’ perceptions of information usefulness; third, the results of the control variables showed that only landing frequency has a negative effect on users’ unfollow intentions; and fourth, users’ demographic differences are also examined in regard to how they may affect users’ unfollow intentions.
Originality/value
First, this paper studies factors influencing users’ unfollow intentions for WeChat subscriptions from a social exchange theory perspective; the authors considered both extraneous factors and users’ internal perception factors potentially affecting users’ unfollow intentions, which has rarely been researched. Furthermore, the authors examined significant differences among users’ demographic characteristics in affecting users’ unfollow intentions. The results of the study provide a more comprehensive understanding of the influencing factors of users’ unfollow intentions.
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Abstract
Purpose
Virtual clothing presentation has a visual 3D effort and allows consumers to interact. Currently, most scholars make virtual clothing presentations as a whole or focus on one element to study its impact on consumers’ purchase intentions. This study disassembles the components of virtual clothing presentation in Taobao and explores how each component (virtual clothing, virtual model, presentation space, presentation technology and system quality) affects consumers’ purchase intention, which can provide clothing companies recommendations for developing it and help improve consumers’ online shopping experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This study created the parts of a virtual clothing presentation and took advantage of Taobao’s 3D interactive module to simulate a shopping scenario. Participants experienced a 3D interactive virtual clothing presentation in which they could change clothing colors, show actual clothing sizes, try different model poses, switch presentation backgrounds and unfold clothing structure through interactive buttons. Then they were randomly assigned to view two kinds of images and videos of experiment clothing (real images and videos vs virtual ones), respectively. Hypotheses were tested using SEM and applying SmartPLS 4.
Findings
The results demonstrated that five components of virtual clothing presentation have different degrees of influence on consumers’ purchase intention through different consumer perceptions (perceived usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment). It is necessary to consider the design of the virtual clothing presentation in those five dimensions for different needs. In addition, it is feasible to replace images and animated videos of real clothing with virtual ones in Taobao.
Originality/value
Different types of virtual clothing presentations can lead to various results in terms of diverse impacts. This study disassembles and researches each component of a virtual clothing presentation. Overall, this study could provide guidance and suggestions for clothing companies to develop and design or invest in virtual clothing presentations.
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This chapter critically evaluates whether football can attain recognition as a national sport in China. Article No. 11, released by the Chinese government in 2015, aimed to…
Abstract
This chapter critically evaluates whether football can attain recognition as a national sport in China. Article No. 11, released by the Chinese government in 2015, aimed to develop a new national strategy centralised on the sport of football to foster consumption and enhance national soft power. Consequently, this also means encouraging Chinese football fans to support the national football team. Comparing the significance of local football clubs and the national football team to Chinese football fans is deemed meaningless and unable to generate useful information to comprehend Chinese people's attitudes towards local and national communities. Through literature comparisons with established Chinese national sports such as Chinese martial arts, badminton and table tennis, the discussion reveals that football currently falls short of meeting the general criteria of invention and popularity to be considered a Chinese national sport. In the specific Chinese context, it also proves that football fails to meet the criterion of politics, hindering its identification as a national sport. Consequently, the chapter rebuts the assumption and advocates for the validity of comparing how fans assess their fandom for local and national football teams.
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Ao Zhang, Jian Zhang, Mingjun Zhang, Junyi Liu and Ping Peng
This paper aims to investigate the effect and mechanism of O atom single doping, Ce and O atoms co-doping on the interfacial microscopic behavior of brazed Ni-Cr/diamond.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the effect and mechanism of O atom single doping, Ce and O atoms co-doping on the interfacial microscopic behavior of brazed Ni-Cr/diamond.
Design/methodology/approach
Using first-principles calculations, the embedding energy, work of separation, interfacial energy and electronic structures of Ni-Cr-O/diamond and Ni-Cr-O-Ce/diamond interface models were calculated. Then, the effect of Ce and O co-doping was experimentally verified through brazed diamond with CeO2-added Ni-Cr filler alloy.
Findings
The results show that O single-doping reduces the interfacial bonding strength between Ni-Cr filler alloy and diamond but enhances its interfacial stability to some extent. However, the Ce and O co-doping simultaneously enhances the interfacial bonding strength and stability between Ni-Cr filler alloy and diamond. The in-situ formed Ce-O oxide at interface impedes the direct contact between diamond and Ni-Cr filler alloy, which weakens the catalytic effect of Ni element on diamond graphitization. It is experimentally found that the fine rod-shaped Cr3C2 and Cr7C3 carbides are generated on diamond surface brazed with CeO2-added Ni-Cr filler alloy. After grinding, the brazed diamond grits, brazed with CeO2-added Ni-Cr filler alloy, present few fracture and the percentage of intact diamond reaches 67.8%. Compared to pure Ni-Cr filler alloy, the brazed diamond with CeO2-added Ni-Cr filler alloy exhibit the better wear resistance and the slighter thermal damage.
Originality/value
Using first-principles calculations, the effect of Ce and O atoms co-doping on the brazed diamond with Ni-Cr filler alloy is investigated, and the calculation results are verified experimentally. Through the first-principles calculations, the interface behavior and reaction mechanism between diamond and filler alloy can be well disclosed, and the composition of filler alloy can be optimized, which will be beneficial for synergistically realizing the enhanced interface bonding and reduced thermal damage of brazed diamond.
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Wenqing Kan, Ying Huang, Xiao Zeng, Xiaohui Guo and Ping Liu
The purpose of this paper is to present a dual-mode proximity sensor composed of inductive and capacitive sensing modes, which can help the robot distinguish different objects and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a dual-mode proximity sensor composed of inductive and capacitive sensing modes, which can help the robot distinguish different objects and obtain distance information at the same time. A systematic study of sensor response to various objects and the function of cooperation sensing is needed. Furthermore, the application in the field of robotic area needs to be discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
Numerical modeling of each sensing modes and simulations based on finite element analysis method has been carried out to verify the designed dual-mode sensor. A number of objects composed of different materials are used to research the cooperation perception and proximity sensing functions. In addition, the proposed sensor is used on the palm of a mechanical hand as application experiment.
Findings
The characteristics of the sensor are summarized as follows: the sensing range of inductive mode is 0-5.6 mm for detecting a copper block and the perceive range of capacitive mode is 0-5.1 mm for detecting a plastic block. The collaborative perceive tests validated that the non-ferromagnetism metals can be distinguished by inductive mode. Correspondingly, ferromagnetism metals and dielectric objects are differentiated by capacitive mode. Application experiments results reveal that both plastic bottle and steel bottle could be detected and differentiated. The experimental results are in agreement with those of simulations.
Originality value
This paper provides a study of dual-mode proximity sensor in terms of design, experiments and application.
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Pingping Hou, Zheng Qian, Meng Xin Hu, Ji Qi Liu, Jun Zhang, Wei Zhao, Xiao Li, Yong Wang, HongYan Huang and Qian Ping Ran
The purpose of this study is to explore the interfacial adhesion between superhydrophobic coatings FC-X (X = 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%) and the concrete substrate, along with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the interfacial adhesion between superhydrophobic coatings FC-X (X = 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%) and the concrete substrate, along with the impact of FC-X on the water repellency characteristics of the concrete substrate.
Design/methodology/approach
One synthetic step was adopted to prepare novel F-SiO2 NP hybrid fluororesin coating. The impact of varying mass fractions of F-SiO2 NPs on the superhydrophobicity of FC-X was analyzed and subsequently confirmed through water contact angle (WCA) measurements. Superhydrophobic coatings were simply applied to the concrete substrate using a one-step spraying method. The interfacial adhesion between FC-X and the concrete substrate was analyzed using tape pasting tests and abrasion resistance measurements. The influence of FC-X on the water repellency of the concrete substrate was investigated through measurements of water absorption, impermeability and electric flux.
Findings
FC-4% exhibits excellent superhydrophobicity, with a WCA of 157.5° and a sliding angle of 2.3°. Compared to control sample, FC-X exhibits better properties, including chemical durability, wear resistance, adhesion strength, abrasion resistance, water resistance and impermeability.
Practical implications
This study offers a thorough investigation into the practical implications of enhancing the durability and water repellency of concrete substrates by using superhydrophobic coatings, particularly FC-4%, which demonstrates exceptional superhydrophobicity alongside remarkable chemical durability, wear resistance, adhesion strength, abrasion resistance, water resistance and impermeability.
Originality/value
Through the examination of the interfacial adhesion between FC-X and the concrete substrate, along with an assessment of FC-X’s impact on the water repellency of the concrete, this paper provides valuable insights into the practical application of superhydrophobic coatings in enhancing the durability and performance of concrete materials.
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Ping Li, Siew Fan Wong, Shan Wang and Younghoon Chang
This study aims to study the mechanisms and conditions of users' intention to continue to use online health platforms from an information technology (IT) affordance perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to study the mechanisms and conditions of users' intention to continue to use online health platforms from an information technology (IT) affordance perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
b This research proposes that a critical affordance effect on an online health platform, users' intention to continue the use of the platform, is affected by five platform affordances via two actualized affordances (i.e. perceived benefits (PBs) and online engagement (OE)). Perceived health threat moderates the effect generated by affordance actualization. A dataset involving 409 users from the “Ping An Health” platform was collected through an online survey and analyzed to validate the research hypotheses.
Findings
The data analysis results confirm that the proposed online health platform affordances affect users' PBs and OE, which influence users' intentions to continue using the platform. Perceived threats (perceived vulnerability (PVU) and perceived severity (PSE)) moderate the relationship between PBs and continuance intention (CI) and between OE and CI.
Practical implications
The research provides important recommendations for online health platform designers to develop IT affordances that can support users' needs for healthcare services.
Originality/value
Limited studies investigated why users continue participating in online diagnosis and treatment. This study provides a new perspective to expand the affordance framework by combining technology features and user health behavior. The study also emphasizes the importance of perceived threats in IT use.
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