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1 – 10 of 45S. Madhu and M. Balasubramanian
The purpose of this study is for solving many issues in production that includes processing of complex-shaped profile, machining of high-strength materials, good surface…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is for solving many issues in production that includes processing of complex-shaped profile, machining of high-strength materials, good surface finish with high-level precision and minimization of waste. Among the various advanced machining processes, abrasive jet machining (AJM) is one of the non-traditional machining techniques used for various applications such as polishing, deburring and hole making. Hence, an overview of the investigations done on carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GRFP) composites becomes important.
Design/methodology/approach
Discussion on various approaches to AJM, the effect of process parameters on the glass fiber and carbon fiber polymeric composites are presented. Kerf characteristics, surface roughness and various nozzle design were also discussed.
Findings
It was observed that abrasive jet pressure, stand-off distance, traverse rate, abrasive size, nozzle diameter, angle of attack are the significant process parameters which affect the machining time, material removal rate, top kerf, bottom kerf and kerf angle. When the particle size is maximum, the increased kinetic energy of the particle improves the penetration depth on the CFRP surface. As the abrasive jet pressure is increased, the cutting process is enabled without severe jet deflection which in turn minimizes the waviness pattern, resulting in a decrease of the surface roughness.
Research limitations/implications
The review is limited to glass fiber and carbon fiber polymeric composites.
Practical implications
In many applications, the use of composite has gained wide acceptance. Hence, machining of the composite need for the study also has gained wide acceptance.
Social implications
The usage of composites reduces the usage of very costly materials of high density. The cost of the material also comes down.
Originality/value
This paper is a comprehensive review of machining composite with abrasive jet. The paper covers in detail about machining of only GFRP and CFRP composites with various nozzle designs, unlike many studies which has focused widely on general AJM of various materials.
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S. Rajendra Prasad, K. Ravindranath K. Ravindranath and M.L.S. Devakumar M.L.S. Devakumar
The choice of best machining parameters is an extremely basic factor in handling of any machined parts. The purpose of this paper is to exhibit a multi-objective…
Abstract
Purpose
The choice of best machining parameters is an extremely basic factor in handling of any machined parts. The purpose of this paper is to exhibit a multi-objective optimization technique; in view of weighted aggregate sum product assessment (WASPAS) technique toward upgrade the machining parameters in modified air abrasive jet machining (MAAJM) process: injecting pressure, stand-off distance (SOD), and abrasive mesh size measure with 100 rpm rotatable worktable on Nickel 233 alloy material. Three conflicting destinations, material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (SR) and taper angles (Ta), respectively, are considered at the same time. The proposed procedure uses WASPAS, which is the examination of parametric optimization of the abrasive jet machining (AJM) process. The results was used any scopes of reactions in MAAJM process is the ideal setting of parameters are resolved through investigations represented. There is wide utilization of Nickel 233 in aviation enterprises; machining information on producing a hole utilizing MAAJM for the first time is given in this work, which will be helpful different industries.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper exhibits a multi-objective optimization technique; in view of WASPAS technique toward upgrade the machining parameters in MAAJM process: injecting pressure, SOD, and abrasive mesh size measure with 100 rpm rotatable worktable on Nickel 233 alloy material.
Findings
As an outcome of using the tool in any ranges of responses in the AJM process, the optimal setting of parameters is determined through experiments illustrated. The machining data of generating a hole using AJM are studied for the first time in this work, which will be useful for aerospace industries, where Nickel 233 is used broadly.
Originality/value
A new material in unconventional machining process and also a multi-objective optimization technique are adopted.
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This essay aims at retracing the intellectual and biographical events of the economist Gino Arias (1879–1940), examining more in detail the two seasons at the opposite…
Abstract
This essay aims at retracing the intellectual and biographical events of the economist Gino Arias (1879–1940), examining more in detail the two seasons at the opposite ends of his life: the early one that saw him considerably committed to the Zionist cause and the one that, thirty years later, would force him to confront the racial laws of the Fascist regime.
Despite the seeming tragic continuity of these two phases, Arias’s case is a real historiographical paradox since, over the long span between the opposite ends of his biography, not only did he distance himself from the Zionist movement, but he also gradually laid the foundations for his upcoming and immediate dedication to Fascism; indeed, within the Fascist regime he would stand out as an authoritative and influential theorist of corporatism, the institutional solution Mussolini tried to exploit to organize the national economic life.
After carefully examining Arias’s early contributions to the Zionist cause (that include the establishment of the Florentine Zionist Group and that led him toward strongly nationalistic stances), this essay sums up Arias’s intellectual biography during the next years and then, thanks to unprecedented documents from the Italian Ministry of Interior, closely looks into his fate after his conversion to Catholicism in 1932 and up against the racial laws of 1938, as well as into his attempts to escape persecution. A few final observations will then try to highlight the dramatic exemplarity of his case.
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Mark E. Parry and Janet Fitzgerald
Executives at this Internet-based company evaluate the results of a pricing survey to decide what changes to make, if any, to the annual fee charged for the company’s junk…
Abstract
Executives at this Internet-based company evaluate the results of a pricing survey to decide what changes to make, if any, to the annual fee charged for the company’s junk mail elimination services. Founded in 1996, Adios Junk Mail provides comprehensive elimination of unwanted direct-marketing solicitations. Clients select what types of direct marketing they want stopped. Once a month, the company generates a list of customers and their elimination preferences. It then mails the list to direct-mail companies, telemarketers, and database companies, requesting that the customers’ names be suppressed.
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Vasiliki Aitsidou, Anastasios Michailidis, Maria Partalidou and Olga Iakovidou
The purpose of this paper is to estimate respondents’ socio-ecological consciousness (SEC) (knowledge, perceptions, behaviour, habits and feelings) concerning household…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to estimate respondents’ socio-ecological consciousness (SEC) (knowledge, perceptions, behaviour, habits and feelings) concerning household food waste (HFW) and to identify factors that influence attitude concerning HFW.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a questionnaire survey addressing to 279 residents in Western Macedonia, Greece. A principal component analysis was primarily applied to provide a manageable set of variables relevant to SEC. These variables were analyzed according to their positive/negative influence in SEC through descriptive statistics. Independent samples t-test analysis was employed to examine factors that influence HFW.
Findings
Results show that SEC is formed by three main activities: knowledge, perception and attitude. The survey reveals an inconsistency between existing knowledge and problematic perceptions, while the attitude includes neither harmful nor harmless HFW-related activities. A significant finding is that respondents’ age affects food rejection in different consumption stages in a household.
Research limitations/implications
Reliance on self-reported data for HFW that concerns a Greek case study does not allow a generalization of results.
Practical implications
The authors suggest a campaign plan for local bodies. The aim is to enhance respondents’ perceptual abilities and attitude concerning HFW. In order to raise awareness of students and individuals/households, related campaigns could be implemented by educational institutions and other policymakers.
Originality/value
The survey provides information for HFW, a topic not widely examined in Greece, and it is analyzed for the first time on the basis of SEC theory.
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Ahmad Firdaus Shamsul Baharin, Mariyam Jameelah Ghazali and Juyana A Wahab
– The purpose of this paper is to make people aware of the increase usage of laser system in surface texturing process.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to make people aware of the increase usage of laser system in surface texturing process.
Design/methodology/approach
As it is a brief review paper, no particular method was used.
Findings
It has been found that most of the surface texturing methods used mas laser beam machining using Nd:YAG laser. It shows that the realization of the textured surface helps to reduce friction and wear which can increase the life span of a material.
Research limitations/implications
Most of the texturing is done on the substrates directly, and few research were conducted on coated surface of the material, which coating is also known as an excellent method to improve tribological properties.
Originality/value
The paper shows details on the recent development of surface texturing and its contribution to friction and wear reduction.
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Iman Harymawan and John Nowland
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the earnings quality of politically connected firms is affected by changes in political stability and government…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how the earnings quality of politically connected firms is affected by changes in political stability and government effectiveness in a developing country.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a sample of 2,073 firm-year observations from 349 firms listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange from 2003 to 2012 to examine how political stability and government effectiveness affect the earnings quality of politically connected firms, relative to non-politically connected firms. A two-stage model is used to address self-selection issues in the choice of firms to establish political connections.
Findings
This study finds that increased government effectiveness reduces the benefits of political connections, requiring politically connected firms to be more responsive to market pressures and resulting in higher earnings quality. However, increased political stability enhances the certainty of benefits from political connections, reducing the need for politically connected firms to respond to market pressures and resulting in lower earnings quality.
Research limitations/implications
For policymakers, these results indicate that different dimensions of political and economic development can affect the incentives of firms with political connections in different ways.
Originality/value
This study finds that the earnings quality of politically connected firms increases as government effectiveness improves, but it decreases as the political environment becomes more stable.
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While literature discussed value cocreation, most still has its focus from customer perspective, this study fills up this gap by focusing on supplier perspective. Second…
Abstract
Purpose
While literature discussed value cocreation, most still has its focus from customer perspective, this study fills up this gap by focusing on supplier perspective. Second, prior works discussed the outcomes of cocreation; however, the process mechanisms are still under-explored, this study thus aims to explore these process mechanisms that drive value co-creation in the agro-food industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Case study is used as the method; specifically, six in-depth interviews on an agro-food company and its suppliers (i.e. farmers) are conducted, and data are analyzed using the grounded theory approach.
Findings
(1). Agro-food company and its rice suppliers invest different resource types and resource density, and the agro-food company is a main actor, i.e. resource investor and integrator; (2). While motivations of the agro-food company and farmers are different, they are mutually fit in the sustainability value; (3). Both parties share similar process mechanisms, i.e. co-production, senses of identification and trust, mutual interaction and information sharing and (4). Both parties thus have similar consequences, i.e. sustainability, codevelopment.
Originality/value
This study (1) proposes an innovative model of what and how values are cocreated, particularly in the agro-food industry; (2). uses three theories, i.e. input–process–output (I–P–O) model (McGrath and Kelly, 1986), service-dominant logic (SD-L) (Vargo and Lusch, 2004), cocreation design framework (Frow et al., 2015), to understand this phenomenon and thus demonstrates and enriches these three theories, particularly applied in the agro-food contexts; (3).offfers practical suggestions to agro-food firms and social enterprises, particularly those having food safety and environment issues.
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Adegoke Oke, Gerard Burke and Andrew Myers
The objective of this study is to explore the types of innovation that are predominant in UK SMEs, whether they are predominantly radical or incremental, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to explore the types of innovation that are predominant in UK SMEs, whether they are predominantly radical or incremental, and to investigate the impact of these innovations on performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A web‐based survey instrument was used to administer survey questionnaires to a sample of UK SMEs in manufacturing, engineering, electronics, information technology and telecommunications industries. The response rate was 13.8 percent. Relevant statistical analytical techniques including regression for analysis was then used.
Findings
It is found that the SMEs tend to focus more on incremental than radical innovations and that this focus is related to growth in sales turnover.
Practical implications
It is not such a bad idea for SMEs, particularly those operating in high technological industries, to focus on incremental innovations as these are actually related positively to sales turnover growth.
Originality/value
An investigation of the types of innovation that SMEs pursue is pioneering in the field as previous studies of this type have been based on large firms. The contention that the raison d'etre of SMEs is to develop radical innovations is not supported empirically, at least for the sample of SMEs. In addition, it is found that the age of an SME is not related to its focus on either incremental or radical innovation. These are the contributions of this paper.
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Stefan Gebhardt and Richard von Georgi
A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music…
Abstract
A psychiatric population (n=123) was examined on how music preferences had changed after the onset of a mental disorder. Most patients did not change their previous music preference; this group of patients considered music helpful for their mental state, showed more attractivity and enforcement as personality traits and used music more for emotion modulation. Patients who experienced a preference shift reported that music had impaired them during the time of illness; these patients showed less ego-strength, less confidence and less enforcement and used music less for arousal modulation. A third subgroup stopped listening to music completely after the onset of the mental disorder; these patients attribute less importance to music and also reported that music had impaired their mental state. They showed more ego-strength and used music less for emotion modulation. The results suggest that the use of music in everyday life can be helpful as an emotion modulation strategy. However, some patients might need instructions on how to use music in a functional way and not a dysfunctional one. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists as well as music therapists should be aware of emotion modulation strategies, subjective valence of music and personality traits of their patients. Due to the ubiquity of music, psychoeducative instructions on how to use music in everyday life plays an increasing role in the treatment of mental illness.
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