Search results

Cold-formed steel has been used extensively as secondary elements such as purlins and girts in building frames. Purlin is critical to the structure of the roof because it supports the weight of the roof deck and aids to make the entire roof structure more rigid. Furthermore, cold-formed steel purlin is a replacement for wood purlin because steel purlins are light weight and more economical. Hence, the purpose of this study to investigate the effect of opening due to torsion behaviour.

This analysis used cold-formed steel hat purlin with and without openings (WOs) under different opening shape, location and spacing by using finite element LUSAS software.

The finite element results showed that purlin with openings had higher angle of rotation than section WO, with a percentage difference of not more than 6%. When the opening was located at mid-span, the angle of rotation reduced. Angle of rotation increased when the opening spacing increased. Number of openings also affected the torsional behaviour of the purlin. Five opening shapes, which were circle, diamond, C-hexagon, square and elongated circle, were studied. Among all the shapes, purlin with diamond opening was more resistance to torsion.

The use of cold-formed steel section with web openings (rectangular or circular) is a practical solution when it is required to pass service ducts through the structural member. However, the presence of opening gives minor effect on the structural behaviour of cold-formed steel hat purlin.

Reports a study of 1,304 Chinese brand names of ten types of products in China. These brand names are content analyzed following a linguistic approach which the authors developed from their earlier studies. The ten types of brand names are presented in three broad categories representing the three different developing stages of the consumer product industry in China: brands of traditional products (illustrated by matches and spirits), brands of traditional products with current development (illustrated by bicycles, shoes, and toothpastes), and brands of new and modern products (illustrated by cosmetics, soft drinks, washing machines, refrigerators and TV sets). The conclusion drawn from the analysis is that one of the variables in determining how linguistic principles are being applied to Chinese brand naming is the respective stages of development of such products in the context of the Chinese market economy.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the historical background of genealogical records and analyze the value of Chinese genealogical research through the study of names and genealogical resources.

The paper examines the historical evolution and value of Chinese genealogical records, with the focus on researching the Islamic Chinese names used by the people living in Guilin. The highlight of this paper includes the analysis and evolution of the Islamic Chinese names commonly adopted by the local people in Guilin. It concludes with the recommendations on emphasizing and making the best use of genealogical records to enhance the research value of Chinese overseas studies.

The paper covers the history of Islam and describes how the religion was introduced into China, as well as Muslims' ethnicity and identity. It also places focus on the importance of building a research collection in Asian history and Chinese genealogy.

This research study has a strong subject focus on Chinese genealogy, Asian history, and Islamic Chinese surnames. It is a narrow field that few researchers have delved into.

The results of this study will assist students, researchers, and the general public in tracing the origin of their surnames and developing their interest in the social and historical value of Chinese local history and genealogies.

The study of Chinese surnames is, by itself, a particular field for researching the social and political implications of contemporary Chinese society during the time the family members lived.

Very little research has been done in the area of Chinese local history and genealogy. The paper would be of value to researchers such as historians, sociologists, ethnologists and archaeologists, as well as students and anyone interested in researching a surname origin, its history and evolution.

To examine the relationships among website design features, consumer experience responses and patronage intention toward online mass customization (OMC) apparel websites.

A total of 312 useable online surveys were obtained from Mainland China consumers. Multi-item scales were adopted to measure eight constructs: visual design; information quality; entertainment, aesthetic, educational, escapist experiences; flow; and patronage intention. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to determine factor structures and to test the hypothesized relationships among website design features, 4Es (entertainment, aesthetic, educational and escapist experiences), flow and consequent purchase intention toward OMC apparel websites.

All hypotheses, but one, were supported. OMC website visual design; information quality; and entertainment, aesthetic and educational experiences had a positive effect on consumer patronage intention.

Limitations include using a sample of consumers from major cities in China; results cannot be generalized to all Chinese consumers. Websites were not actively navigated. Additionally, the present study examined only two dimensions of OMC website quality, visual design and information quality; more tangible and specific features could be considered in future research.

The findings provide website designers and marketers with insights into experiences that may lead to an increase in patronage intention toward OMC websites.

The study provides evidence that flow helps explain the impact of experiential value (i.e. 4Es) from website design features on patronage intention.

Purpose – This chapter analyzes how various gender discourses transmitted through mass media such as television form discourse competition and conflict today as China is confronting cultural globalization. In that context, a wave of consumerism and nostalgia for cultural tradition become two of the key factors that shield patriarchy and resist feminism.

Method – Quantitative and qualitative responses of Chinese university students to video productions from South Korea and the United States are studied, compared, and contrasted by using survey and focus group discussion methods.

Findings – Women and men students show preference for different types of televised and film entertainment. Both respond to the gender discourses depicted, seeing in them models for behavior and fashion. The independence and sexual freedom reflected in TV series from the United States is seen by many as less applicable to the Chinese context than the idealized traditionalism of the Korean series.

Social implications – Global culture provides alternative and competing gender discourses, which can lead to social change or to nostalgia for an idealized tradition in the face of change. To the extent that both women and men adopt the male gaze, patriarchal culture is strengthened, not challenged in the process.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how transformational leadership may relate to corporate entrepreneurship by adopting a multilevel approach. The authors also theorized and tested the top-down and bottom-up intermediate process linking transformational leadership and corporate entrepreneurship.

Multisource data across different timeframes were collected from 129 managers and 244 employees from 55 units of 27 firms.

The results showed that transformational leadership and corporate entrepreneurship were positively related at the unit level. Furthermore, unit-level collective efficacy mediated the relationship between unit-level transformational leadership and unit-level corporate entrepreneurship. The authors also found that the firm-level empowerment climate moderated the indirect effect of unit-level collective efficacy on the relationship between unit transformational leadership and unit-level corporate entrepreneurship.

First, the goal of this study is to extend the single focus of transformational leadership on corporate entrepreneurship (e.g. Ling et al., 2008) and develop a more thoughtful approach on determining how transformational leaders influence corporate entrepreneurship across levels. This study responds to calls for research to look at the impact of unit-level transformational leaders, such as middle managers, across levels (Ren and Guo, 2011) and creates a multilevel framework in which transformational leaders at the unit level influence the appearance of corporate entrepreneurship at the unit level.

Faced with the challenges of rural population decline, combined with the widespread expansion of homesteads in rural areas, local Chinese governments hope to strictly control and minimize rural housing land. Accurately decomposing the process of rural housing expansion and revealing its driving factors will be helpful for land-use regulation by the government.

In this study, an unusually rich dataset of rural housing registration from Pudong New Area in Shanghai is employed. The study aimed to decompose the fragmented accumulation process and its expansion determinants on rural housing assets. The dataset covers all samples of rural households and housing plots at 72 surveyed villages in six towns.

Housing offers profitable capital and earning assets to villagers at the urban fringe, so they have a powerful incentive to build and expand more. The results of this analysis showed that the expansion of rural housing is largely due to the haphazard construction of auxiliary rooms by villagers, especially on plots of arable land that are adjacent to their houses that have been stealthily converted into auxiliary rooms and sheds. Low costs and weak penalties have led to an increase in rent-seeking expansions to rural houses. Houses with the smaller initial areas, families with more laborers and household heads, and the proximity of villages to downtown with convenient living services were the main driving factors for expanding houses. A concerted effort is needed to control the disorganized and unlicensed expansion of housing. This effort should include formulating areas for free use by villagers, high taxes on overused areas, serious penalties for unlicensed housing expansion and effective land-use planning.

An understanding of the expansion status and control measures related to rural houses in Shanghai provides an important reference that can help to guide the formulation of rural housing policies, and the sustainable development of cities worldwide. Of course, this study cannot generalize about housing distribution and expansion status worldwide based on the study area in China, because China's land tenure policies are unique. But land registry data exists that makes research like this feasible. There is a need to carefully examine the detailed housing distribution in each country before it can be decided on how best to address the disorderly increase in rural housing stock, and promote the reduction of rural residential expansion.

First, the process of rural housing expansion by using an unique dataset which covers ten thousands of samples is revealed. Second, the results have policy implications for reducing the amount of idle and inefficiently rural homestead. The focus is on rural housing growth and its driving factors in Shanghai, and the villagers' motivations for housing expansion are explored.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate how the advice-giving affects innovative capability by involving knowledge exchange and combination as a mediator and contextual ambidexterity as an important contingency.

Based on a survey of 96 Chinese teams, a set of hypotheses was tested using regression analyzes.

The findings showed that contextual ambidexterity moderates the indirect effect of advice-giving on innovative capability through knowledge exchange and combination. When contextual ambidexterity is high, workers engage in more knowledge exchange and combination for the team at intermediate levels of advice-giving, the indirect effect of advice-giving at low levels and at high levels exist. When contextual ambidexterity is low, there is no indirect effect of advice-giving at any level.

Managers should be aware of the inverted U-shaped relationship between advice-giving and innovative capability and strengthen the construction of contextual ambidexterity.

This paper makes up for the theoretical gap between advice-giving and innovative capability. Furthermore, it provides a theoretical reference for practitioners to improve their innovative capability.

As a sociotechnical system, the metaverse has sparked heated discussion. However, concerns abound that the concept is “old wine in a new bottle” used for capital hype. The mixed definitions of the metaverse and unclear relationships between its technical features and user behaviors have greatly impeded its design and application. Therefore, the authors aim to sort out the metaverse definition and properties, analyze its technical features in various contexts and unveil the mechanisms leading to user behaviors.

The authors conduct a literature review on the definition, technical features and user behaviors of/in the metaverse.

First, the authors identify two main categories of the metaverse definition and find a mixed conceptualization. Second, the authors present technologies and technical features in the diverse contexts of the metaverse. Third, the authors summarize the effect of technical features on user behaviors from a sociotechnical perspective.

The authors analyze the definition, technical features, user behaviors of the metaverse and their theoretical foundations. Based on these findings, the authors propose a theoretical framework unveiling how social and technical elements affect user behaviors in the metaverse. In conclusion, the study offers a research agenda for future studies.

The main objectives of this paper are to develop a novel perturbation method (PM) to solve the complex-orthogonal eigenvalue problem and further propose an exact complex mode superposition method (CMSM) for the non-proportionally rate-independent damped systems.

A novel PM is developed to solve the eigenvalue problem. The PM reduced the N-order generalized complex eigenvalue problem into a set of n algebraic equations by the perturbation theory. The convergence and accuracy of the PM are demonstrated by several numerical examples. Further, an exact CMSM is presented. The influences of the imaginary part response of the modal coordinate and the off-diagonal elements of the damping matrix as well as the modal truncation on the solution by CMSM are discussed to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed CMSM.

The eigenvalues obtained by PM would converge to the exact ones with the increase of the modal numbers. For seismic response, the influence of the imaginary part solutions of the modal coordinate would increase with the increase of the coupling factor. The contribution of higher modes to acceleration response is greater than that to the displacement. The cumulative mode contribution coefficient of acceleration is developed to estimate the numbers of the complex modes for the acceleration seismic response by the CMSM.

1. An eigenvalue perturbation method for a rate-independent damped system is proposed. 2. PM is carried out by the real mode and accomplishes the reduction of the matrix. 3. CMSM is established for rate-independent damped systems. 4. CMSM considers the effect of imaginary part solutions of the modal coordinate. 5. Modal truncation index is developed to estimate the complex mode number for CMSM.