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1 – 10 of 18Wangyu Liu, Dong Sun, Aimin Tang and Mingke Li
Hydrogel is an excellent material for the fabrication of porous scaffold by mask-prototyping method. Different from the common commercial resin, hydrogel is hydrophilic and…
Abstract
Purpose
Hydrogel is an excellent material for the fabrication of porous scaffold by mask-prototyping method. Different from the common commercial resin, hydrogel is hydrophilic and hyperelastic, so that it cannot bear the conventional post-curing process to improve its mechanical properties. The purpose of this paper is to put forward a method to improve the curing bonding strength at the weak juncture of the porous hydrogel scaffold.
Design/methodology/approach
The working curve of the resin was obtained through the single layer cure experiment, and the energy accumulation model has been set up by MATLAB. Aimed at the specificity of material, a new method of partial curing on different kind of structure has been proposed. Under the same condition, only the tn2 needs to be changed to fabricate different test specimens with different accumulated energy between two layers. The tensile test is carried out with the authors’ preferred equipment.
Findings
The analysis reveals that accumulated energy can be changed by adjusting the key parameters, and the tensile test shows that when the accumulated energy is bigger, the ultimate tensile strength is higher.
Research limitations/implications
Subject to the equipment accuracy and specificity of material, some errors coming from the experiment and test might exist, but the authors believe they will not change their findings and conclusions in this paper.
Practical implications
The research provides a method which is different from the common methods but friendlier to improve the bonding strength of the hydrogel scaffold.
Social implications
This work can help to adjust the mechanical property of the scaffold used in tissue engineering.
Originality/value
This method can improve the bonding strength at weak juncture and give a direction for the design of porous scaffold.
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Aimin Tang, Qinwen Wang, Shan Zhao and Wangyu Liu
Nanocellulose is characterised by favourable biocompatibility, degradability, nanostructure effect, high modulus and high tensile strength and has been widely applied in various…
Abstract
Purpose
Nanocellulose is characterised by favourable biocompatibility, degradability, nanostructure effect, high modulus and high tensile strength and has been widely applied in various fields. The current research in the field of new nanocellulose materials mainly focuses on the hydrogel, aerogel and the tissue engineering scaffold. All of these are three-dimensional (3D) porous materials, but conventional manufacturing technology fails to realise precise control. Therefore, the method of preparing structural materials using 3D printing and adopting the nanocellulose as the 3D printing material has been proposed. Then, how to realise 3D printing of nanocellulose is the problem that should be solved.
Design/methodology/approach
By adding the photosensitive component polyethyleneglycol diacrylate (PEGDA) in the aqueous dispersion system of nanocellulose, the nanocellulose was endowed with photosensitivity. Then, nanocellulose/PEGDA hydrogels were prepared by the additive manufacturing of nanocellulose through light curing.
Findings
The results showed that the nanocellulose/PEGDA hydrogels had a uniform shape and a controllable structure. The nanocellulose supported the scaffold structure in the hydrogels. Prepared with 1.8 per cent nanocellulose through 40 s of light curing, the nanocellulose/PEGDA hydrogels had a maximum compression modulus of 0.91 MPa. The equilibrium swelling ratio of the nanocellulose/PEGDA hydrogel prepared with 1.8 per cent nanocellulose was 13.56, which increased by 44 per cent compared with that of the PEGDA hydrogel without nanocellulose.
Originality/value
The paper proposed a method for rapidly prototyping the nanocellulose with expected properties, which provided a theoretical basis and technological reference for the 3D additive manufacturing of nanocellulose 3D structure materials with a controlled accurate architecture.
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Aimin Yan, Biyun Jiang and Zhimei Zang
Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate whether, how and when salespeople’s substantive attribution of the organization’s corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate whether, how and when salespeople’s substantive attribution of the organization’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects value-based selling (VBS). The authors argue that salespeople’s substantive CSR attribution increase value-based selling through two mechanisms (i.e. by lowering emotional exhaustion and increasing empathy), and treatment by customers can increase or decrease the strength of these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
B2B salespeople working in various industries in China were recruited through snowball sampling to participate in the study. There were 462 volunteers (57.58% women; aged 30–55; tenure ranging from six months to 15 years) who provided valid self-report questionnaires.
Findings
Hierarchical multiple regression supported the association between salespeople’s substantive CSR attribution and VBS. The results showed that salespeople’s emotional state (i.e. emotional exhaustion and empathy) mediated the association between substantive CSR attribution and VBS. As expected, salespeople’s experiences of customer incivility weakened the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion; contrary to expectations, customer-initiated interpersonal justice weakened the mediation effect of empathy.
Originality/value
This study makes a unique contribution to the existing marketing literature by first investigating the role of salespeople’s attribution of CSR motives in facilitating their VBS, which answers the call to identify factors that predict VBS. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors are the first to test salespeople’s emotions as a mechanism of the link between their CSR attributions and selling behaviors.
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Mingfei Li, Shanshan Huang, Aimin Deng, Billy Bai and Shoujiang Zhou
Drawing on self-determination theory and insights from the literature on service-dominant (S-D) logic and value co-creation, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of an S-D…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on self-determination theory and insights from the literature on service-dominant (S-D) logic and value co-creation, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of an S-D orientation on positive customer outcomes (i.e. customer participation behaviors, customer citizenship behaviors and quality of life) and the underlying mechanisms of these effects.
Design/methodology/approach
Custom travel service (CTS) was chosen as the research setting. In total, 303 valid questionnaires were gathered from tourists in China. The partial least squares structural equation modeling approach was used for model estimation.
Findings
Tourism firms’ S-D orientation positively influences customer participation behaviors via customer psychological need satisfaction (i.e. perceived autonomy, competence and relatedness), customer citizenship behaviors via perceived relatedness and customer quality of life via perceived autonomy and perceived competence.
Research limitations/implications
Although the impact of S-D orientation is studied in the CTS context, this study illustrates how firms embracing S-D logic can facilitate value co-creation and customer quality of life, presenting a more precise picture for academics and practitioners.
Originality/value
This paper is the first attempt to empirically examine the relationships among S-D orientation, customer value cocreation and quality of life. The relevance of customer psychological need satisfaction is acknowledged in this study.
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Abstract
Purpose
Traditional gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and GTAW-based wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) are notably different. These differences are crucial to the process stability and surface quality in GTAW WAAM. This paper addresses special characteristics and the process control method of GTAW WAAM. The purpose of this paper is to improve the process stability with sensor information fusion in omnidirectional GTAW WAAM process.
Design/methodology/approach
A wire feed strategy is proposed to achieve an omnidirectional GTAW WAAM process. Thus, a model of welding voltage with welding current and arc length is established. An automatic control system fit to the entire GTAW WAAM process is established using both welding voltage and welding current. The effect of several types of commonly used controllers is examined. To assess the validity of this system, an arc length step experiment, various wire feed speed experiments and a square sample experiment were performed.
Findings
The research findings show that the resented wire feed strategy and arc length control system can effectively guarantee the stability of the GTAW WAAM process.
Originality/value
This paper tries to make a foundation work to achieve omnidirectional welding and process stability of GTAW WAAM through wire feed geometry analysis and sensor information fusion control model. The proposed wire feed strategy is implementable and practical, and a novel sensor fusion control method has been developed in the study for varying current GTAW WAAM process.
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Zhihong Gao and Susan O’Sullivan-Gavin
Given the unique cultural-political context of China, this paper aims to investigate two research questions: What has been the development trajectory of policy-making on consumer…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the unique cultural-political context of China, this paper aims to investigate two research questions: What has been the development trajectory of policy-making on consumer privacy protection in China, and what factors have shaped its development over the years?
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a historical approach and examines the development of Chinese consumer privacy policy during four periods: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010-present.
Findings
Chinese policy-making on consumer privacy protection has made steady advancement in the past few decades due to factors such as technological development, elite advocacy and emulation of other markets; however, the effects of these factors are conditioned by local forces.
Originality/value
To date, most studies of consumer privacy issues have focused on Western countries, especially the European Union and the USA. A better understanding of how consumer privacy policy has developed in China provides important lessons on the promotion of consumer privacy protection in other developing countries.
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Juan David Reyes-Gómez, Pilar López and Josep Rialp
The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity and utility of two theoretical approaches to understanding the relationship between strategic orientations, innovation and firm…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity and utility of two theoretical approaches to understanding the relationship between strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance and to examine the role of innovation in the relationship while avoiding circular arguments. The universalistic approach suggests that strategic orientations have independent and parallel effects on firms’ performance, and that innovation does not influence this relationship. The holistic approach proposes that strategic orientations in a complementary and interrelated view have both direct and indirect effects on firms’ performance through innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
A meta-analytic path analysis applying two-stage structural equation modeling (TSSEM) was conducted on data from 132 primary studies and 33,063 observations.
Findings
The holistic approach was demonstrated to be superior due to its more explanatory power in linking more complex relationships through simultaneous direct and indirect effects and its capacity for including the interrelatedness and complementarity of strategic orientations. It was found that innovation has a full mediating role in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance, and a partial mediating role in the relationship between market orientation (MO) and learning orientation (LO) and firm performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study used observed variables instead of latent variables for meta-analytic path analysis, which may reduce some sources of endogeneity. However, causal inference is not possible due to the nature of meta-analysis. The scope of the final sample was limited by some studies not reporting the estimates of correlations between constructs.
Practical implications
Managers can improve an organization's chances of success in the marketplace by adopting a holistic view of strategic orientations focusing on customer satisfaction, learning from the external environment and pursuing new market opportunities. Furthermore, an organization can gain a competitive advantage through innovation by creating products and services that are different from what is currently available in the market. To be successful, an organization must not only create innovative products and services but also market them effectively to consumers.
Originality/value
This study is the first to meta-analytically assess the explanatory value of two theorized models linking strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance. It also clarifies the role of innovation in the relationship between strategic orientations and firm performance.
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Huan Liu, Rui Wang, Junyao Wang, Xingyu Chen, Yunpeng Li, Bowen Cui, Tianhong Lang and Weihua Zhu
Flexible pressure sensor arrays have promising applications in analog haptics, reconfiguration of sensory functions, artificial intelligence, wearable devices and human-computer…
Abstract
Purpose
Flexible pressure sensor arrays have promising applications in analog haptics, reconfiguration of sensory functions, artificial intelligence, wearable devices and human-computer interaction. The force disturbance generated by the connecting material between the sensor array units will reduce the detection accuracy of the unit. The purpose of this paper is to propose a flexible pressure sensor with interference immunity capability. A C-type bridge flexible piezoelectric structure is used to improve the pressure perturbation. The interference immunity capability of the sensor has been improved.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, a C-type pressure sensor array structure by rapid injection moulding is manufactured through the positive piezoelectric effect of a piezoelectric material. The feasibility of C-type interference immunity structure in a flexible sensor array is verified by further analysis and experiment. A flexible pressure sensor array with C-type interference immunity structure has been proposed.
Findings
In this paper, we present the results of the perturbation experiment results of the C-type pressure sensor array, showing that the perturbation error is less than 8%. The test of the flexible sensor array show that the sensor can identify the curved angle of up to 120 °, and the output sensitivity of the sensor in the horizontal state reaches 0.12 V/N, and the sensor can withstand the pressure of 80 N. The flexible sensor can work stably in the stretch rate range of 0–8.6% and the stretch length range of 0–6 mm.
Originality/value
In this paper, C-type pressure sensor array structure is fabricated by rapid injection moulding for the first time. The research in this paper can effectively reduce the disturbance of input pressure on the sensor’s internal array and improve the output accuracy. The sensor can intuitively reflect the number of fingers sliding on the sensor by the order in which the maximum voltage appears. Due to the strong interference immunity capability and flexibility of the flexible sensor array mechanism, it has a broad application prospect in the practical fields of haptic simulation, perceptual function reconstruction, artificial intelligence, wearable devices and human–computer interaction.
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The purpose of the study is to identify critical value-creating elements of luxury services expressed in ratings and reviews posted on third-party sites and examine cross-cultural…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study is to identify critical value-creating elements of luxury services expressed in ratings and reviews posted on third-party sites and examine cross-cultural differences. To this end, the research analyzed online ratings and reviews of luxury hotels posted on TripAdvisor from customers of four European regions (East, North, South and West).
Design/methodology/approach
Eight hundred thirty-eight online user-generated ratings and reviews of luxury hotels were analyzed quantitatively using MANOVA and qualitatively using text analysis.
Findings
The study findings support (a) that product and physical evidence are the most critical experiential elements of luxury hotels' offerings and (b) cultural differences among tourists from various regions of Europe in their hotel ratings and reviews. Specifically, Eastern and Northern Europeans are more generous in their review ratings than western and southern Europeans. Moreover, eastern Europeans value the hotel's physical evidence/environment whereas western Europeans prioritize the core product (room and food) followed by the physical environment/servicescape. Southern Europeans and Northern Europeans value most the personnel, followed by the physical environment and the core product, respectively.
Practical implications
Cultural differences provide several implications with regard to luxury services segmentation, social media management, service marketing mix development and hotel promotion.
Originality/value
The value of this study originates from studying post–purchase customer behavior in luxury services from a cross-cultural perspective. Moreover, identifying critical aspects of value-creating customer experience in a luxury context adds to the available literature.
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