Search results

The purpose of this study is to improve the mechanical properties of PBAT. Polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) has excellent biodegradability, which has been widely used in various fields, such as biomedical supplies, plastic packaging materials, industrial composting and daily sanitary consumables. However, the application of PBAT is limited by its high production costs and poor mechanical property. In this study, the glass fiber (GF)/PBAT composites were prepared, and the effect of GF and the modifiers on the structure, mechanical properties and shape memory properties of the composites were investigated.

In this work, GF, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) and chain extender ADR 4370 were selected as reinforcement, GF and chain extender, respectively. The GF/PBAT, KH550-modified GF/PBAT and ADR-modified GF/PBAT composites were prepared by melt blending, extrusion granulation and hot pressing.

The study showed that the fracture strength and elongation at break of PBAT decreased with the increasing of GF, and the decline is controlled after addition of KH550 and ADR 3470. When the GF content was low (such as 5 wt% and 10 wt%), KH550 significantly improved the mechanical properties of the composites. When the GF content was high (such as 20 wt% and 25 wt%), the mechanical properties of the composites were obviously improved by addition of ADR 3470. In addition, the shape memory fixity ratios (R_f) and shape memory recovery ratios (R_r) of the composites increased and decreased with increase of GF content, the prestrain and tensile temperature, respectively. Furthermore, the Rf of the KH550 modified GF/PBAT composites were the lowest, the Rr were the highest than that of the ADR modified GF/PBAT composites and the untreated GF/PBAT composites.

GF/PBAT composites exhibited good mechanical properties and low production costs. The research can help promote the widespread use of PBAT and alleviate the situation of serious plastic pollution.

A novel biodegradable GF/PBAT composite was developed by chain extender ADR 4370, incorporating environmentally friendly GF with excellent mechanical properties into PBAT.

Although an important facet of modernist architecture in which function plays a prominent role, building flexibility is not entirely a new concept. Its relevance transcends generations, allowing space and structure to evolve through time. This paper investigates the relationship among main building structures, infill elements, and space by studying examples in ancient Chinese architecture. It reveals the role of building owners, users, and craftsmen from a survey of historical documentation. In studying these examples, it is concluded that craftsmen in ancient China were involved not only during the construction phase but throughout the period of use as well. Thus, in select cases, the relationship between craftsmen and owners or users had been preserved for generations. Finally, this paper suggests potential strategies for the building industry and technology in the move towards sustainable development.

This article aims to develop an accurate and efficient meshfree Galerkin method based on the strain smoothing technique for linear elastic continuous and fracture problems.

This paper proposed a generalized linear smoothed meshfree method (LSMM), in which the compatible strain is reconstructed by the linear smoothed strains. Based on the idea of the weighted residual method and employing three linearly independent weight functions, the linear smoothed strains can be created easily in a smoothing domain. Using various types of basic functions, LSMM can solve the linear elastic continuous and fracture problems in a unified way.

On the one hand, the LSMM inherits the properties of high efficiency and stability from the stabilized conforming nodal integration (SCNI). On the other hand, the LSMM is more accurate than the SCNI, because it can produce continuous strains instead of the piece-wise strains obtained by SCNI. Those excellent performances ensure that the LSMM has the capability to precisely track the crack propagation problems. Several numerical examples are investigated to verify the accurate, convergence rate and robustness of the present LSMM.

This study provides an accurate and efficient meshfree method for simulating crack growth.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend of individuals willingly opting for employment positions that do not fully use their education, skills and abilities, a phenomenon known as voluntary overqualification. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence and the formation mechanism of this emerging phenomenon. Drawing upon social cognition theory, this study explores the relationship between work values and voluntary overqualification while also examining the mediating role of the future work self and the moderating role of perceived marketability.

This study used a longitudinal approach, collecting data through questionnaires administered at multiple time points. The sample consisted of 607 employees from various departments of five Chinese companies. Regression analysis using the PROCESS macro in SPSS was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results indicate a positive relationship between employees’ work values and voluntary overqualification. Furthermore, this relationship is mediated by the future work self. Additionally, perceived marketability plays a moderating intermediary role in the whole model.

This study contributes to the overqualification literature by introducing a novel type of overqualification and unveiling the mechanism by which work values influence voluntary overqualification. The findings provide insights for understanding and managing employees who are voluntarily overqualified.

Aiming at the lack of explanatory power of traditional industrial organization theory in cross-border competition, by introducing the idea of ecological niche, the authors aim to explore the competitive situation of platform-based enterprises when they operate in multiple fields.

With the help of ecological niche theory, construct the niche width and niche overlap index of typical enterprises in the platform economy, and find out the advantages and the intensity of competition through comparative analysis.

In an environment of cross-border competition, large enterprises have significant competitive advantages, and the fierce competition is concentrated among medium-sized enterprises.

The conclusions of this paper not only provide new insights for explaining the phenomenon of cross-border competition in the platform economy, but also provide theoretical reference for the anti-trust enforcement practice in the platform economy.

While earlier acquisition research often focused on either the acquirer or the target side of analysis, recent work has increasingly emphasized the need to understand the dyadic interrelationship between the target and the acquirer. This review aims at synthesizing research progress in the area of target–acquirer interrelationships and understanding what questions remain unanswered. The author organizes this review into three dimensions of target–acquirer interrelationship: (a) their relative attributes (what both parties are relative to each other), (b) their connections (what both parties have with each other), and (c) their interactions (what both parties do to each other). Based on the review, the author then identifies critical research gaps and opportunities for developing a more comprehensive understanding of the interrelationship between the target and the acquirer in acquisitions.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the different roles of intra- and inter-organizational information and communication technology (ICT) in improving supply chain performance. It proposes different mechanisms to explain how intra- and inter-organizational ICT interact with supply chain integration, and contribute to supply chain performance. The main research question is: What are the distinctive roles of inter-organizational ICT and intra-organizational ICT in improving supply chain performance?

The paper builds on original survey data of 320 Chinese manufacturing firms gathered in China.

The paper shows that inter-organizational ICT has a positive direct relationship with supply chain performance and this relationship is mediated by supply chain integration. Intra-organizational ICT has no direct relationship with supply chain performance. However, intra-organizational ICT moderates the effect of the supply chain integration on supply chain performance.

The paper argues that more research into the specific roles and interaction of ICT with business processes is needed in order to better understand its role in improving supply chain performance.

For managers the findings show that inter- and intra-organizational ICT play a different role in the improvement of supply chain performance: the first leading to more supply chain integration, which in turn improves performance, while the second needs additional investment in integrative practices to help improve supply chain performance.

This paper adds to the debate on the role of ICT in improving supply chain performance and shows that a detailed investigation into underlying mechanisms, and the interaction of ICT with other business processes is valuable.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether an in-service life teacher training program can improve boarding students’ health, behavior, and academic performance.

The authors conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial to measure the effect of life teacher training on student health, behavior, and academic performance among 839 boarding students in ten central primary boarding schools in Shaanxi. And the authors also tried to identify why or why not life teacher training works. Both descriptive and multivariate analysis are used in this paper.

The authors find significant improvements in health and behavior. Specifically, compared to boarding students in control schools, 15 percent fewer students in treatment schools reported feeling cold while sleeping at night. The results also showed that student tardiness and misbehaviors after class declined significantly by 18 and 78 percent, respectively. However, the in-service life teacher training program had no measurable impact on boarding students’ BMI-for-age Z-score, number of misbehaviors in class, and academic performance. The analysis suggests that improved communication between life teachers and students might be one mechanism behind these results.

This is the first empirical work which explored how to improve the welfare of boarding students via their life teachers. Because of the sudden increase in boarding students in rural China, it is almost certain that school personnel lack experience in managing boarding students. As such, one promising approach to improving student outcomes might be in-service training for life teachers.

By incorporating the defect feature information, an ML-based linkage between defects and fatigue life unaffected by the time scale is developed, the primary focus is to quantitatively assess and elucidate the impact of different defect features on fatigue life.

A machine learning (ML) framework is proposed to predict the fatigue life of LPBF-built Hastelloy X utilizing microstructural defects identified through nondestructive detection prior to fatigue testing. The proposed method combines nondestructive micro-computerized tomography (micro-CT) technique to comprehensively analyze the size, location, morphology and distribution of the defects.

In the test set, SVM-based fatigue life prediction exhibits the highest accuracy. Regarding the defect information, the defect size significantly affects fatigue life, and the diameter of the circumscribed sphere of the largest defect has a critical effect on fatigue life.

This comprehensive approach provides valuable insights into the fatigue mechanism of structural materials in defective states, offering a novel perspective for better understanding the influence of defects on fatigue performance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate intellectual capital (IC) discussions held between investors using Web 2.0 tools. More precisely, this paper investigates the determinants of IC disclosures (ICDs) on internet stock message boards (IMBs).

Four hypotheses were developed and tested through content analysis of 60,996 messages posted on two main IMBs, Yahoo!Finance and TheLion.com, followed by descriptive statistics and logistic regression testing.

The findings show that Web 2.0 is bringing new opportunities to disclose IC. Traditional theories, such as agency, stakeholder, signalling, and legitimacy theory, cannot be applied to the Web 2.0 context. Therefore, a new approach that focusses more on the personal motivations for disclosing IC is called for. At a glance, the results show that IC is disclosed on IMBs, and several elements influence both the quantity and quality of those disclosures. Sometimes “trolls” disturb the dialogue and discourage participation by other investors. Conversely, online influencers facilitate ICD. To filter messages, the time of posting, the length of the messages, and the sentiment the messages contain should be considered along with the author of the message.

This paper contributes to the existing literature by investigating the IC disclosed on IMBs. The findings provide insights about how ICDs are developed using Web 2.0 tools.