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Nowadays, the construction of lifelong education system has become the common trend of educational development in many countries. In China, credit accumulation and transfer as one of the effective measures to promote the lifelong education system was proposed in the National Medium and Long-term Educational Reform and Development Plan (2010 – 2020). It certainly poses a new opportunity and challenge to open universities in China, most of which are in transition from TV and radio universities and expected to play more important roles in the construction of lifelong education system in China. The paper presents the initial research and practice of Shanghai Academic Credit Transfer and Accumulation Bank for Lifelong Education (SHCB), which is led by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and operated by Shanghai Open University as one of the initiatives of open universities in China since 2010. Focusing on continuing education for Shanghai citizens and cooperating with other universities and related institutions, SHCB has been established with the organisational structure, accreditation criteria for credits, credit accumulation and transfer system, learners' learning portfolios, technology service platform, and the detailed operating mode. By now, accreditation criteria of learner's credits of 166 courses and 139 non-degree certificates, and recognition of 541 non-degree certificates and 1549 leisure courses have been completed. SHCB has been open to the public from 24 July, 2002 to promote the exchange and transfer among the academic education, even between academic education and non-academic education, and ultimately promote the construction of the lifelong education system in Shanghai.

As foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in economic globalization. This paper examines the structural features of the global FDI network based on FDI flows data and changes in the position of countries within the network.

In order to study the structural characteristics of the global FDI network and the status and changes of countries in the global FDI network, the authors build the investment network and apply the QAP (Quadratic Assignment Procedure) analysis to examine the evolutionary characteristics of the network and its influencing factors.

The global FDI network becomes more interconnected and has a clear “core-periphery” structure. The network connections and volumes have increased dramatically and most countries spread their assets across multiple countries, while only a handful of countries have concentrated investments. The topological structure of the global FDI network has changed noticeably, although this process has been slow and stable and countries in the core position have remained largely intact. The authors find that trade relations between countries, geographic distance and differences in economic size, income levels and institutional environments all have a significant impact on the global FDI network.

Although we find some valuable results, some aspects need further investigation. For example, how a country uses the investment network to boost its economy and how the different industries in the investment network change over time. It is important to get the industry-level details to understand the impact of the global investment network from a government's perspective.

FDI affects the distribution of international capital and contributes to the development of the global economy. Therefore, it is important to study the characteristics of the global FDI network and its development patterns. With more understanding about the network as well as its evolutionary pattern, the government can possibly carry out some policies to promote direct investments as well as economic development.

All countries should actively engage in international direct investments and strengthen their economic ties. At the same time, they can put more emphasis on inward or outward FDI based on their own level of economic development to better establish the circulation channel for domestic and international capital.

This paper examines foreign direct investments through the lens of a global network. In contrast to traditional bilateral studies, this paper focuses on the network structure and evolution, reflecting the dynamics of the entire direct investment system as well as the changing positions of participating countries.

The authors designed those experiments to test the sensitivity of graphene when it is exposed to NO₂ gas, to find a way to decrease the recovery time of graphene and to find the difference effect between monolayer and bilayer graphene in the experiments.

The authors transferred graphene from film on Cu foil to NO₂ sensor sample and measured the resistances of on monolayer and bilayer graphene when they were exposed to NO₂ gas under different concentration; then, the authors obtained the results.

The results show that monolayer graphene exhibits a linear response when the NO₂ concentration is below 20 ppm. But the monolayer graphene will not be so sensitive to NO₂ gas when the concentration continues to reduce. The desorption time of monolayer graphene is longer when compared with bilayer graphene. It shows faster recovery time and higher response of bilayer graphene under low NO₂ concentration. And the limit detectable NO₂ concentration of bilayer graphene is 50 ppb. Desorption time of bilayer graphene is shortened to below 20 s under UV light.

The authors found a reliable way to decrease the recovery time of graphene when it is exposed NO₂ gas and got the concrete data.

In many cases, the external pipelines of aero-engine are subjected to random excitation. The purpose of this paper is to reduce the vibration response of the pipeline system effectively by adjusting the hoop layout.

In this paper, a spatial pipeline supported by multi-hoops is taken as the object, the methods of solution of the vibration response of the pipeline system by using pseudo excitation and hoop layouts optimization with amplitude reduction of vibration response as the goal are presented. First, the finite element model of the spatial pipeline system is presented. Then, an optimization model spatial pipeline is established. Finally, a case study is carried out to prove the rationality of the random vibration response analysis of the pipeline system. Furthermore, the proposed optimization model and genetic algorithm are applied to optimize the hoop layout.

The results show that the maximum response variance after optimization is reduced by 32.8%, which proves the rationality of the developed hoop layout optimization method.

The pseudo excitation method is used to solve the vibration response of aero-engine pipeline system, and the optimization of the hoop layout for aero-engine spatial pipelines under random excitation to reduce random vibration response is studied systematically.

The aim of this study is to find the governance mechanism that matches the EPC project governance model as well as the performance criteria for measuring the quality governance of EPC projects so as to improve the level of quality of EPC project delivery.

An in-depth questionnaire survey of 199 EPC engineering practitioners and quality control units was conducted and the survey data was analysed using SPSS 24.0 software.

The results show that administrative governance, industry governance and internal project governance have direct effects on the quality governance performance of EPC projects. Administrative governance has a positive impact on the quality governance performance of EPC projects through industry governance and project internal governance.

This study enriches the research on engineering quality governance in the context of EPC projects, discusses how to improve the performance of EPC engineering quality governance and will provide certain reference and information for other EPC projects to establish an adapted engineering quality governance mechanism.

This paper exploratively proposes EPC administrative governance mode, industry governance mode and internal project governance mode and analyzes the logical relationship between them and EPC project quality governance performance and constructs a theoretical model influencing the improvement of EPC project quality governance performance.

Graphene is a two-dimensional material. Its use has many advantages in gas sensing, but its long desorption process is problematic. The aim of this paper is to design a graphene-based gas sensor, study the response to NO₂ gas concentrations and find ways to accelerate the desorption process.

In one group, the sensor was placed in air to measure its initial resistance. Then, it was exposed to the NO₂ gas at a certain concentration. Finally, the sensor was exposed to light immediately after NO₂ gas exposure was ended. In another group, the sensor was heated using a heating plate at a stable temperature, before taking the measurements. Then the adsorption and desorption experiments were carried on.

Illumination and heating at a suitable temperature can expedite desorption of NO₂ molecules on graphene.

In the paper, two main methods are introduced to accelerate the desorption process when the NO₂ gas is absorbed on graphene. Through a series of experiments and analysis, the authors found that the recovery time could be reduced observably and the recovery performance of the graphene-based NO₂ sensor could be improved effectively.

This paper aims to estimate the international competitiveness of China’s biomass energy products during 2007-2016 in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In this paper, the authors used the constant market share model and the revealed comparative advantage index to analyze the evolution trend of China’s biomass products’ international competitiveness during the past decade from 2007 to 2016 based on the market structure of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The results show that: China’s major biomass energy products have no comparative advantages in the world market, nevertheless, their international competitiveness is on the rise; China’s biomass energy products have been agglomerated to the regional markets where the market demand growth is fast in the Belt and Road countries; and the unreasonable structure is an important factor influencing the international competitiveness of China’s biomass exports.

The authors analyzed the international competitiveness of China’s biomass energy products based on the “Belt and Road Initiative” with all the trading items, in an effort to propose policy implications for enhancing the comparative advantages of China’s biomass products in the international market especially in the Belt and Road regions.

Liquid-assisted laser surface texturing technology was used to create composite microtextures on triangular guide rail surfaces to enhance their tribological properties.

Numerical simulations were used to investigate the impact of various microtextures on fluid dynamic lubrication. Reciprocating friction and wear tests, followed by mechanistic analysis, examined the combined tribological effects of microtextured surfaces and lubricants.

The numerical simulation outcomes reveal a significant augmentation in the influence of fluid dynamic pressure due to composite microtextures, consequently amplifying the load-bearing capacity of the oil film. The average friction coefficient of composite microtextured samples was approximately 0.136 in reciprocating pin-on-disk friction tests, representing approximately 17% decrease compared to polished samples. Triangular guide rails with composite microtextures demonstrated the lowest average coefficient under conditions of high-speed and heavy-loading in the reciprocating friction and wear tests. Additionally, the presence of composite microtextures was found to promote the formation of adsorbed and friction films during friction, potentially contributing to the enhancement of tribological properties.

Triangular guide rails face high friction and wear, limiting their stability in demanding applications like machine tool guideways. This paper proposes a novel approach for steel triangular guide rails, involving composite microtexturing, numerical fluid simulations, liquid-assisted laser surface texturing and friction-wear testing. By implementing composite microtextures, the method aims to reduce friction coefficients and extend guideway service life, thereby saving energy and reducing maintenance costs. Enhancing the antifriction and antiwear properties of machine tool guideways is crucial for improving performance and longevity.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-05-2024-0183/

Digital technology plays a vital role in empowering omnichannel integration. Research on digital technology has recently attracted attention and rapidly developed. However, a comprehensive assessment of the research status and potential gaps is yet to be conducted. Thus, this study investigated the current research status of digital technology-empowered omnichannel integration, and future research directions are proposed.

A three-stage bibliometric analysis was conducted on 764 articles published from 2000 to 2023, cited in the Web of Science database. Furthermore, performance and thematic analyses were performed.

The most productive contributors and influential articles in this field were identified, and four themes of focus were discovered: service quality, o2o commerce, omnichannel retailing, and digital transformation.

To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to enable researchers to understand the vast body of published scholarship on digital technology-empowered omnichannel integration.

In the dynamic landscape of the digital economy, companies are increasingly adopting omnichannel integration strategies to enhance customer experiences. However, the interplay between this strategy and digitalisation in fostering brand trust remains uncharted. Drawing on the social exchange and psychological reactance theories, this study ventures into unexplored territory by examining the impact of omnichannel integration and digital value on brand trust building. It also delves into the boundary roles of customers’ psychological perceptions, both positive (customer empowerment) and negative (privacy concerns and perceived deception), in this process.

This study conducted an online survey of 595 omnichannel users in China and validated the model using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

This study’s results have significant implications for businesses. They show that customer perception of omnichannel integration and perceived digital value are critical drivers of omnichannel brand trust, with customer empowerment playing a mediating role. Notably, the study also reveals that customers’ negative psychological perceptions can have different moderating effects, highlighting the need for businesses to address these concerns in their omnichannel strategies.

This study breaks new ground in marketing research by highlighting the benefits of omnichannel integration and incorporating digital perspectives. It demonstrates the positive impact of blending customer perception of omnichannel integration and perceived digital value on brand trust formation. Furthermore, it explores the boundary roles of customers’ psychological perceptions in this process, offering a unique and comprehensive perspective.