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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the non-linear characteristics and stability of the rolling bearing–axle coupling system under the excitation of the axle/wheel speed of railway freight cars, so as to put forward a rationale for judging the vibration law and running stability of railway freight wagon.

Considering the effects of eccentric force of the railway wagon axle, the non-linear resistance of the wagon and non-linear support forces of axle box rolling bearings, a centralized mass model of rolling bearing-axle coupling system of railway freight wagon is presented on the basis of the theory of rotor dynamics and non-linear dynamics. Then the Runge-Kutta method is adopted to solve the non-linear response of the proposed system, and numerical simulation including bifurcation diagrams, axis trajectory curves, phase plane plots, Poincaré sections and amplitude spectras are analysed when the axle rotating speed is changed. Meantime, the relation curve between Floquet multiplier and axle rotating speed, which affects the stability of coupling system, is plotted by numerical method based on the Floquet theory and method.

The simulation results of the dynamic model reveal the abundant dynamic behaviour of the coupling system when the axle rotating speed changes, including single period, quasi period, multi-period and chaotic motion, as well as the evolution law from multi-period motion to chaotic motion. And especially, the bearing–axle coupling system is in stable state with a single period motion when the axle rotating speed changes from 410 rpm to 510 rpm, in which the running speed of railway freight wagon is changed from 62 km/h to 80 km/h, the vibration displacement of the coupling system in X direction is between 1.2 mm and 1.8 mm, and the vibration displacement of the coupling system in Y direction is between 1.0 mm and 1.45 mm. Meanwhile, the influence law of axle rotating speed on the stability is obtained by comparing the bifurcation diagram and Floquet multiplier graph of the coupling system.

The numerical simulation data obtained in this study can provide a theoretical evidence for designing the running speed of railway freight wagon, utilizing or controlling the non-linear dynamic behaviours of the proposed coupling system, and ensuring the stability of railway freight wagons.

This study is aimed to explore the dynamic performance incentive model for a flexible PPP contract to handle uncertainties based on supervision during the long-time concession period, so as to ensure operation performance and benefits of the public sector while protecting the economic benefit of the private sector, thus avoiding unnecessary renegotiation.

The microeconomic and principal–agent theories and relevant studies on the basic incentive model and flexible contract are fully utilized. The procedure for developing the dynamic incentive model and the assumptions about the quantitative relationships among fundamental variables or factors are first proposed. The static incentive model without incentive parameter adjustment and then the dynamic incentive model allowing incentive parameter adjustment are successively developed. Finally, the propositions regarding the valid adjustment ranges of the incentive parameter with respect to the economic, social and hybrid benefits of the public sector and the economic benefit of the private sector are suggested.

The dynamic incentive model enables to achieve a flexible contract to handle uncertainties on the PPP project to ensure the benefits of the public sector while protecting the benefit of the private sector. The economic, social and hybrid benefits of the public sector and the economic benefit of the private sectors can be respectively realized through adjusting the reward–punishment coefficient under different adjustment ranges and different importance. The incentive model is able to ensure the benefits of the public sector while protecting the benefit of the private sector by controlling the private sector's effort level unknown to the public sector.

The dynamic incentive model helps implement a flexible PPP contract to handle uncertainties during the operation period, thus controlling the effort level of the private sector and ensuring the benefits of the public sector while protecting the economic benefit of the sector. It enables to clarify the quantitative relationships between the operation performance, the benefits of the stakeholders, the effort level of the private sector and the reward–punishment coefficient. This study contributes to the domain knowledge of the incomplete contract theory for designing a flexible PPP contract with dynamic incentive and supervision mechanism by applying the microeconomic and principal–agent theories.

The purpose of this study is to analyze comment letters on Docket 034, which proposes reforms to audit reports, to shed light on the actions of various stakeholder groups in the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)’s standard-setting process. The study identifies stakeholder groups, examines the timing of their involvement, and evaluates their arguments and lobbying efforts to influence regulatory outcomes.

This paper examines stakeholders’ behaviors in submitting comment letters during the PCAOB’s public consultation period for its rulemaking and their influence on regulatory outcomes. Stakeholder participation in the PCAOB’s rulemaking process is analyzed through a content analysis of 489 comment letters submitted to PCAOB’s Docket 034, using manual content analysis. Stakeholder groups are identified, including accounting professionals, financial statement preparers, financial statement users, regulators and academics. Argument strategies, such as economic, conceptual or a combination of both approaches, are also identified.

This paper finds that accounting professionals and preparers submit more comment letters than the other stakeholder groups. There is a significant association between stakeholder groups and their lobbying position across issues. Preparers take negative positions on all issues except independence, whereas users support all issues. There is also a significant association between stakeholder groups and their argument strategies, and the significant differences lie in preparers and accounting professionals. Preparers primarily rely on economic arguments, such as costs or time. At the same time, accounting professionals use economic and conceptual arguments (such as violating the FASB conceptual framework) to justify their positions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine lobbying in the PCAOB’s due process, including all stakeholder groups. The PCAOB’s audit standard-setting process and public consultation via the online docket system promote transparency and the effectiveness of public participation. This study analyzes the nature and impact of stakeholder participation in this due process. Understanding lobbying in an audit standard setting enables the PCAOB and stakeholder groups to work more efficiently on regulatory reforms. This assessment of lobbying efforts in the USA complements and enriches the growing body of literature on lobbying efforts and audit policy reforms across countries. Second, by extending the current literature, this study examines the complexities of lobbying through a detailed content analysis of comment letters. This approach provides insights into the properties of lobbying about stakeholder groups, the scope of lobbying, argument strategies, opinions and consultation periods.

Airports are an essential part of the airline value chains. Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are widely used at airports; the study aims to explore how the virtual integration competence and the perceived warmth of AI in airports increase customer service competencies and satisfy their passengers.

Based on the perspectives of digital competencies and hybrid intelligence, a continued usage intention model was analyzed using the partial least squares approach; this study used purposed sampling to collect data from those airports; participants who adopted the AI service in airports in Beijing, Taipei and Singapore who have the potential to use AI service usage experience more than three times and 384 completed questionnaires were analyzed.

AI innovations serve human tasks at airports and analytics applications as change drivers and can replace legacy procedures. The research findings help point out the perceived warmth of AI and the virtual integration competence of airports utilizing the intimacy of AI services.

AI innovations provide a service change to replace human tasks and intelligence and analytics applications at airports. AI services are a powerful tool for airports to serve their passengers efficiently; airports will collaborate with airlines to offer AI services to passengers.

Drawing on institutional work (Lawrence and Suddaby, 2006; Lawrence et al., 2011), this study aims to explore how the concept of value for money (VFM) is understood in terms of the private finance initiative (PFI) implementation in Malaysia.

In-depth interviews with 25 actors involved in the implementation of PFI projects at two public universities in Malaysia were conducted. The interviews focused on the ways in which participants in the projects make sense of VFM in their ongoing involvement with the projects. In addition, a review of publicly available documents was conducted to understand the ways in which the notion of VFM is reflected in the policies and procedures of the government. Data from the interviews and documents were analysed using thematic analysis.

It is found that the advocacy work of macro-level actors, as well as micro-level actors, has promoted PFI implementation to achieve VFM. However, to the micro-level actors, VFM is just a concept that carries different interpretations, depending on how PFI fits their everyday functional discourses. In addition, direct negotiation and lack of commercial appreciation are disruptive not only to the achievement of VFM but also to the public sector reform agenda of the country.

The present study contributes to the discourses on the concept of VFM that is assumed to be inherent in PFI. The findings are based on micro- and macro-level actors and cover both advocacy and disruption of VFM achievement.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the economic and technological factors that determine the quality of European telecommunications services. The paper test whether the privatisation, the efficiency and the labour factor of telecommunications operators are determinants of service quality and whether competition, technology and infrastructure investment in the telecommunications sector influence that quality.

The paper use the panel data methodology to analyse the factors that determine the quality of service of telecommunications.

The results indicate that the more efficient the company is, the more quality it will deliver. However, the paper finds no evidence that the privatisation and the restructuring of the labour force of the main telecommunications operators, or the competition, technology and investments in the sector, lead to greater quality.

In order to foster higher quality, effective market competitiveness has to be established to avoid benefitting the incumbent company and to make the development of competition possible in the long run.

Although previous literature assumes a positive relationship between the performance of privatised companies and quality, this study shows that the privatisation and liberalisation processes do not bring about quality improvements by themselves. The research finds that the efficiency of privatised companies is the primary source of quality.

The purpose of this paper is to prepare heat insulating exterior emulsion coating and to study its heat insulating property along with mechanical, chemical and weathering resistance properties with varying amount of hollow glass microspheres and cenospheres.

For heat insulating effect, various compositions were made by incorporating different proportions of hollow glass microspheres (HGM) and cenospheres (C). The mechanical, chemical, morphological and optical properties of the coating films were studied and compared.

Addition of hollow glass microspheres and cenospheres enhanced heat insulating property of the coating, hardness, tensile strength and wet scrub resistance. It was evaluated that optimum loading for both cenospheres and hollow glass microspheres was 10 wt.% and both the systems showed good mechanical, chemical resistance and weathering properties.

Addition of hollow glass microspheres and cenospheres to acrylic emulsion coating is a simple and inexpensive method.

The new heat insulating coatings with good thermal insulation properties and improved weather resistance were prepared. These coatings could find applications in demanding fields such as exterior wall coatings and roof coatings.

Public sector auditing research has changed rapidly over the past four decades. This paper aims to reveal how the field has developed and identify avenues for future research.

The authors used a structured literature review following Massaro et al. The sample comprises papers on public sector auditing published in accounting and public sector management journals between 1991 and 2020.

The present analysis highlights that academic research interest in public sector auditing has grown and become more diverse. The authors argue this may reflect a transformation of the public sector in recent decades, owing to the developing institutional logics of public sector reforms, from traditional public administration to new public management and now new public governance.

This paper offers a comprehensive review of the public sector auditing literature, discussing different perspectives over time. It also outlines the various public sector reforms introduced over the period of the study. In reviewing the existing literature, the authors highlight the themes for future research and policy settings.

This study aims to explore the integration of mandala thinking and multisensory techniques into advanced dessert design courses, investigating how these innovative pedagogical approaches enhance students’ creative and aesthetic skills. The research seeks to address the evolving needs of higher education in the face of technological and pedagogical disruptions.

The study employs a mixed-method approach, including a detailed literature review, implementation of mandala thinking and multisensory methods in the course curriculum and quantitative analysis of student outcomes. Data were collected through pre- and post-course assessments, focusing on students’ creativity and aesthetic competencies.

The integration of mandala thinking and multisensory design principles significantly improved students’ creative and aesthetic skills. The findings demonstrate that these methods effectively enhance the educational experience in culinary arts, offering a novel approach to curriculum design in higher education. The study highlights how these innovative techniques can address current pedagogical challenges and improve student engagement and performance.

Integrating mandala thinking and multisensory techniques can significantly enhance creativity and engagement in higher education, offering a practical model for modernizing pedagogical practices and addressing current educational challenges.

This research contributes to the field by applying mandala thinking and multisensory techniques to advanced dessert design, an area not extensively covered in existing literature. It provides a unique perspective on enhancing educational practices in the culinary arts, reflecting the broader trends of incorporating innovative pedagogical strategies in response to disruptive educational challenges.

The Industrial Revolution 4.0 impacted education, notably during the COVID-19 outbreak. Teachers should be familiar with the dynamic teaching and learning of classroom and virtual classes. They should provide various and exciting media. It influences the work readiness of a teacher for higher education students. Further, nowadays, interest in becoming a teacher is declining. They prefer having another profession to being a teacher. This study analyzes the determinants of work readiness as a teacher for higher education students.

This research uses a quantitative research model: a survey method with an influence analysis approach through structural equation modeling analysis to determine the influence of digital literacy, self-efficacy and perceptions of the teaching profession on readiness to become a teacher. The population in this study was the UNNES Economics Education students’ class of the year 2018, totaling 350 students with a total sample of 187. The data collection technique used in this research is a questionnaire with score criteria based on a Likert scale.

Digital literacy and teacher professional perception play an essential role in work readiness for higher education students as a teacher. Meanwhile, self-efficacy has a positive but insignificant influence on work readiness as a teacher. One of the things that make self-efficacy have a less significant impact is the need for vicarious experience indicators in shaping student self-efficacy.

Teaching is a noble profession. Research on work readiness as a teacher is still limited. Nowadays, only a few students are interested in being a teacher because they need more enthusiasm. The findings of this research can be an alternative solution to managerial staff at higher education to equip the students with digitalization technology, positive teacher perception and increase the students' self-efficacy.

The study on work readiness as a teacher for higher-education students has yet to be explored. Being a teacher is an art that needs skills and competencies because teachers educate humans that have dynamic critical thinking, ideas and behaviors. This study investigates the determinants of work readiness as a teacher for higher education students in the digitalization technology era.