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In this study, AlCoCrFeNi–Cu (Cu-based) and AlCoCrFeNi–Ti (Ti-based) high entropy alloys (HEAs) were fabricated using a direct blown powder technique via laser additive manufacturing on an A301 steel baseplate for aerospace applications. The purpose of this research is to investigate the electrical resistivity and oxidation behavior of the as-built copper (Cu)- and titanium (Ti)-based alloys and to understand the alloying effect, the HEAs core effects and the influence of laser parameters on the physical properties of the alloys.

The as-received AlCoCrFeNiCu and AlCoCrFeNiTi powders were used to fabricate HEA clads on an A301 steel baseplate preheated at 400°C using a 3 kW Rofin Sinar dY044 continuous-wave laser-deposition system fitted with a KUKA robotic arm. The deposits were sectioned using an electric cutting machine and prepared by standard metallographic methods to investigate the electrical and oxidation properties of the alloys.

The results showed that the laser power had the most influence on the physical properties of the alloys. The Ti-based alloy had better resistivity than the Cu-based alloy, whereas the Cu-based alloy had better oxidation residence than the Ti-based alloy which attributed to the compositional alloying effect (Cu, aluminum and nickel) and the orderliness of the lattice, which is significantly associated with the electron transportation; consequently, the more distorted the lattice, the easier the transportation of electrons and the better the properties of the HEAs.

It is evident from the studies that the composition of HEAs and the laser processing parameters are two significant factors that influence the physical properties of laser deposited HEAs for aerospace applications.

Unconventional machining processes, particularly ultrasonic vibration cutting (UVC), can overcome such technical bottlenecks. However, the precise mechanism through which UVC affects the in-service functional performance of advanced aerospace materials remains obscure. This limits their industrial application and requires a deeper understanding.

The surface integrity and in-service functional performance of advanced aerospace materials are important guarantees for safety and stability in the aerospace industry. For advanced aerospace materials, which are difficult-to-machine, conventional machining processes cannot meet the requirements of high in-service functional performance owing to rapid tool wear, low processing efficiency and high cutting forces and temperatures in the cutting area during machining.

To address this literature gap, this study is focused on the quantitative evaluation of the in-service functional performance (fatigue performance, wear resistance and corrosion resistance) of advanced aerospace materials. First, the characteristics and usage background of advanced aerospace materials are elaborated in detail. Second, the improved effect of UVC on in-service functional performance is summarized. We have also explored the unique advantages of UVC during the processing of advanced aerospace materials. Finally, in response to some of the limitations of UVC, future development directions are proposed, including improvements in ultrasound systems, upgrades in ultrasound processing objects and theoretical breakthroughs in in-service functional performance.

This study provides insights into the optimization of machining processes to improve the in-service functional performance of advanced aviation materials, particularly the use of UVC and its unique process advantages.

Intangible capital (IC) is an important factor for economic growth and firm performance. The role IC has played has become even more crucial in recent decades, possibly influencing debt capacity and default risk assessment. This paper studies how entrepreneurial and employee-based IC affects financial leverage.

Employer–employee unbalanced panel data provided by Statistics Finland that refer to Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are used. Intangibles are measured with an expenditure-based method. Employee-based IC and entrepreneurial knowledge are used to explain debt financing in SMEs.

The findings imply that IC-intensive firms have less debt capacity due to weak pledgeability and asymmetric information between borrower and lender. Entrepreneurs with managerial or financial knowledge increase the firm's debt capacity compared to other entrepreneurs, especially in knowledge-intensive services (KIS). One explanation is that the entrepreneurs are more competent in negotiating with lenders as the entrepreneurs possess better financial skills. Entrepreneurs with technical knowledge decrease the firm's debt capacity in all industries.

While some earlier research focused on the IC–financial leverage relationship, hardly any study has looked at entrepreneurial IC. This paper provides new insights by including entrepreneurial IC alongside employee-based IC.

Negative disclosure tone in 10-K annual reports has economic consequences, yet relatively little is known about how it is generated. Boards of directors play an important governance role with respect to mandatory disclosures and personally sign off on Form 10-K, leading us to expect directors to influence financial reporting narratives. This study investigates whether the negative tone of firms' narrative annual report disclosures is associated with the human and social capital of its board of directors.

Multivariate regression analyses of negative disclosure tone (Loughran and McDonald, 2011) on board members' average age, gender, education, financial expertise and turnover is performed. A host of supplemental tests to corroborate our primary analysis, including using Sarbanes-Oxley's financial expert mandate as an exogenous shock to board composition, impact threshold for a confounding variable, placebo analysis, portfolio tests of more and less negative disclosing firms and portfolio tests of “loud” versus “quiet” boards are conducted.

Evidence that directors' gender, education, financial expertise and board turnover are associated with more negative disclosure tone, while directors' age is associated with less negative disclosure tone is found. The study also looked within the board to differentiate whether these findings are driven by characteristics of inside directors or outside directors serving on the audit committee, or both, as these are the specific groups of directors we would expect to play a role in disclosure. It was found that negative disclosure tone is associated with a lower bid-ask spread, so this study interpreted more negative tone as containing more descriptive information.

This study helps decode the “black box” of annual report disclosure tone, which Loughran and McDonald (2011) show has important economic implications. The results help inform stakeholders such as policymakers, executives and capital market participants as to how board member traits are associated with disclosure. The findings are particularly important as this study bears witness to the increasing prominence of gender/diversity mandates (e.g. Israel, Norway, California) and financial expertise mandates (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley).

The aims and pedagogies in the field of science education are evolving because of global sustainability crises. School science is increasingly concerned with responsible agency and value-based transformation. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to argue that perspectives and methods from the field of futures studies are needed to meet the new transformative aims of science education for sustainable development.

This paper analyses some contemporary challenges in science education and gives reasons for introducing a futures perspective into science classrooms. The suggestion is illustrated by reviewing some results, published elsewhere, on future-oriented activities trialled within the European Union project “I SEE” and students’ experiences on them.

Recent research has shown that future-oriented science learning activities, involving systems thinking, scenario development and backcasting, can let students broaden their futures perceptions, imagine alternatives and navigate uncertainty. Practising futures thinking in the context of contemporary science offers synergies through shared perspectives on uncertainty, probabilities and creative thinking.

This paper highlights the relevance of the futures field for science education. Future-oriented activities appear as promising tools in science education for fostering sustainability, agency and change. Yet, further work is needed to integrate futures aspects into science curricula. To that end, the paper calls for collaboration between the fields of futures studies and science education.

The purpose of the study is to compare features of career development and fandom in frequent festival attendance in the context of Finnish music festivals.

The study uses a mixed methods research approach and employs two theoretical frameworks: theories of career development and fandom.

In frequent festival attendance, both festival career development and festival fandom are most clearly present in motivation development and social dimensions.

Strategically, frequent festivalgoers should be considered as crucial stakeholders, who might mobilize the co-creation of a sense of community or festival brand.

Music-related fandom has been previously investigated in relation to artists and specific musical genres, but not so much in relation to music festivals in general. Career studies, on the other hand, concentrate heavily on sports events. There is a scarcity of research scrutinizing both career development and fandom in the festival context within the same study, and festival attendance as part of music tourism is an under-researched area.

Schools have a significant role in ensuring children's wellbeing as children spend a lot of time at school. Students need to have an active role in their learning and an opportunity to participate in issues concerning wellbeing and studying. This research examines students' wellbeing in an innovative learning environment. The classroom is built with professionals, teachers and students (aged 9). The authors call it Learning Ground.

Students' wellbeing was measured with smart device application for a six-week period. Students answered the questionnaire with a Likert scale of five (very poor – excellent) responses. Two weeks during the six weeks research period, students were able to use digital study aids, EEG-biosensor headsets, to observe the effectiveness of their learning, defined by NeurSky app. The EEG-biosensors enabled students to use a tool to recognise their own learning factors during the lessons. The effectiveness was available to students via tablets all the time.

The students at the Learning Ground are satisfied with wellbeing and the environment support for students' wellbeing experience is notable. They have “good vibes” before and after the school day. When wearing EEG-headsets “study aids”, which enabled them to observe their learning via tablets at lessons, the wellbeing experience in the mornings even increased.

Schools need to be visionaries concerning 21st century learning and children's wellbeing. Building flexible learning environments and bringing innovative technologies into schools to provide active support for students will enable 21st century learning. Wellbeing of children should become first when developing the future schools.

This study investigates how the consumption of sugar products and non-alcoholic beverages has changed across birth cohorts. In addition, this study examines how the socio-economic gaps in the consumption of said products have evolved across birth cohorts.

The research data are drawn from the Finnish household expenditure surveys covering the period 1985–2016 (n = 44,286). An age-period-cohort methodology is utilised through the age-period-cohort-trended lag model. The model assumes that the linear long-term component of change is caused by generations replacing one-another, and that the age effect is similar across cohorts.

Sugar products and non-alcoholic beverages occupied a larger portion of more recent birth cohorts' food baskets. Cohort differences were larger in beverage consumption. Lower income was associated with a higher food expenditure share of sugar products in several cohorts. A higher education level was linked to a higher food expenditure share of sugar products in more cohorts than a lower education level. In cohorts born before the 1950s, non-alcoholic beverages occupied a larger portion of the food baskets of the high socio-economic status groups. This gap reversed over time, leading to larger food expenditure shares of non-alcoholic beverages in low socio-economic status groups.

This study assessed how the consumption of sugar products and non-alcoholic beverages has changed across birth cohorts. In addition, this study assessed how socio-economic differences in the consumption of said products have changed. The results highlight that sugar products and non-alcoholic beverages occupy larger portions of more recent birth cohorts’ food baskets. The results also highlight a reversal of socioeconomic differences in non-alcoholic beverage consumption.

Robotic process automation (RPA) has recently emerged as a technology focusing on the automation of repetitive, frequent, voluminous and rule-based tasks. Despite a few practical examples that document successful RPA deployments in organizations, evidence of its economic benefits has been mostly anecdotal. The purpose of this paper is to present a step-by-step method to RPA investment appraisal and a business case demonstrating how the steps can be applied to practice.

The methodology relies on design science research (DSR). The step-by-step method is a design artefact that builds on the mapping of processes and modelling of the associated costs. Due to the longitudinal nature of capital investments, modelling uses discounted cashflow and present value methods. Empirical grounding characteristic to DSR is achieved by field testing the artefact.

The step-by-step method is comprised of a preparatory step, three modelling steps and a concluding step. The modelling consists of compounding the interest rate, discounting the investment costs and establishing measures for comparison. These steps were applied to seven business processes to be automated by the case company, Estate Blend. The decision to deploy RPA was found to be trivial, not only based on the initial case data, but also based on multiple sensitivity analyses that showed how resistant RPA investments are to changing circumstances.

By following the provided step-by-step method, executives and managers can quantify the costs and benefits of RPA. The developed method enables any organization to directly compare investment alternatives against each other and against the probable status quo where many tasks in organizations are still carried out manually with little to no automation.

The paper addresses a growing new domain in the field of business process management by capitalizing on DSR and modelling-based approaches to RPA investment appraisal.

This paper explores and identifies customer-value-related sacrifices that consumers attach to interactive health/life insurance. This paper aims to increase understanding of why individual consumers are not willing to embrace behaviour-tracking-based insurance applications.

The authors analysed data from a qualitative survey of Finnish insurance consumers who were not keen on adopting interactive insurance products.

Developed through thematic analysis, the framework presented in this paper illustrates consumers’ value sacrifices on four dimensions: economic, functional, emotional and symbolic value.

The framework and insights emerging in the study hold several implications related to increased understanding of consumers’ perceptions of insurance and to developing interactive insurance services. In addition, this work provides a promising foundation and avenues for further considerations related to digital ethics in insurance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first piece applying a value sacrifice perspective in studying consumers’ unwillingness to adopt interactive insurance products.