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The purpose of this paper is to present the direct kinematic analysis of a heavy‐payload forging manipulator. In the grasping stage, the manipulator is equivalent to a 3‐DOF under‐actuated mechanism. In order to deal with the direct position kinematics of the under‐actuated mechanism, the analysis is performed in two steps.

The paper analyzes the direct position kinematics of the 3‐DOF under‐actuated mechanism as follows: first, the authors add a virtual constraint on the mechanism, convert it to a 2‐DOF fully actuated mechanism and calculate the direct kinematics of the constrained mechanism. Then, the constraint is applied to many different positions and the corresponding direct kinematics of the constrained mechanism are calculated, respectively. Finally, the mechanism with lower gravitational potential energy than any other constrained mechanism is chosen, and its direct position is what is needed for the 3‐DOF underactuated mechanism.

The paper provides a solution for the direct kinematic analysis of a heavy‐payload forging manipulator in the grasping stage. Furthermore, the simulation and experiment results confirm the effectiveness of the solution.

The paper proposes a methodology to deal with the direct position kinematics of the 3‐DOF under‐actuated mechanism in two steps.

Global issues on the environment, such as climate change, air pollution and carbon monoxide emission, are the primary concerns in any part of the world. The purpose of this paper is to construct a conceptual framework for the travel behavior performance of a commuter, and it is expected to mitigate air pollution from vehicle emission and to promote smart mobility on the road.

From the extensive literature review, the conceptual framework for the travel behavior performance of a commuter has been developed and is supported by the theory of interpersonal behavior (TIB), whose functions are attitude, social factor, affect and habit. In the present paper, attitude is conceptualized by four predictors, namely confidence in driving, green environment, social responsibility and deviation in driving. The social factor is characterized by subjective norms, social status and digitalization. Affect factor is conceptualized by accidents and damages, road infrastructure, and weather conditions. The mental block in following the ancestor’s way of owning a personal vehicle is the predictor for the habit.

One of the major contributors to environmental damages is road traffic. Notably, vehicle emissions are on the rise every year due to the increase of reliance on vehicles, and there is no alternative to this issue. Although Malaysia has a well-organized infrastructure with effective digitalized technology on the road for the transport system, there is severe traffic congestion in Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, because of a lack of travel plan behavior during peak hours. If the road commuters give the predictors constructed in the proposed conceptual framework the highest importance, then there will be much relief to traffic congestion on the road.

Since the present study focuses on the conceptualization of an urban travel behavior model (UTBM), and also highlights the synchronization of the proposed framework with the management theory, the results are expected after the primary survey based on the cross-sectional study will be conducted.

The identification of the suitable predictors for the UTBM toward the travel behavior performance of a commuter is the real novelty of the present study. Also, the cause and effect relationships of different predictors in terms of path directions of the proposed research framework are the highlights of the study. Further, the predictors in the proposed framework and the TIB have been synchronized with operational definitions, which are the original contributions of the present study, which will enhance the sustainable environmental development for the society as a whole.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the nexus between environmental taxes and other environmental management systems (EMSs) and to propose an alternative framework for implementing environmental protection tax (EPT) in China.

The study uses a multimethod approach encompassing document analysis and comparative analysis. The archival data covers laws, reports, regulations, guidelines and standards related to the EPT and EMS sub-systems in China.

The study identifies several institutional features of environmental taxes that have not been fully explored in past tax research. In addition, the study reveals that information-sharing mechanisms are key to addressing the risks and uncertainties associated with the implementation of an environmental tax and that the mechanisms are grounded in the nexus among EPT and two EMS sub-systems.

The findings of this study have implications for the understanding of China’s environmental tax system, the Environmental Impact Assessment system and the pollutants discharge permit (PDP) system. The construction of an alternative framework provides insights for approaches to environmental taxation. A limitation of this study is that the application of the framework might be undermined by the inaccurate manual sampling, as some pollutants may be non-replicable.

The findings of this study are relevant to policymakers who are designing, improving or abandoning environmental taxes for alternate solutions to environmental issues.

The insights gained from this study may be of assistance to lower the risks and uncertainties associated with the implementation of an environmental tax.

The study contributes to approaches to environmental taxes by constructing an alternative framework that connects an environmental tax system with two EMSs. The framework lays the groundwork for some promising research opportunities. Additionally, the study extends the tax accounting literature (Hanlon and Heitzman, 2010) by connecting accounting and environmental knowledge and developing a transdisciplinary approach. The study also contributes to the emerging body of literature that addresses the challenges in implementing environmental taxes in China.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an interpreting schema and semantic description framework for a collection of images of Xilankapu, a traditional Chinese form of embroidered fabric and brocade artwork.

First, the authors interpret the artwork of Xilankapu through Gillian Rose’s “four site” theory by presenting how the brocades were made, how the patterns of Xilankapu are classified and the geometrical abstraction of visual images. To further describe the images of this type of brocade, this paper presents semantic descriptions that include objective–non-objective relations and a multi-layered semantic framework. Furthermore, the authors developed corresponding methods for scanning, storage and indexing images for retrieval.

As exploratory research on describing, preserving and indexing images of Xilankapu in the context of the preservation of cultural heritage, the authors collected 1,000+ images of traditional Xilankapu, classifying and storing some of the images in a database. They developed an index schema that combines concept- and content-based approaches according to the proposed semantic description framework. They found that the framework can describe, store and preserve semantic and non-semantic information of the same image. They relate the findings of this paper to future research directions for the digital preservation of traditional cultural heritages.

The framework has been designed especially for brocade, and it needs to be extended to other types of cultural image.

The semantic description framework can describe connotative semantic information on Xilankapu. It can also assist the later information retrieval work in organizing implicit information about culturally related visual materials.

This study aims to acquire a better understanding on the characteristics and risks of heavy metals (HMs) in PM_2.5 from an industrial city – Handan, China.

PM_2.5 samples were collected on the basis of daytime and nighttime at the state controlling air sampling site in Handan city. Ten metal elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Rb, Sr, Cd and Ba) in PM_2.5 were determined with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The pollution levels of metals were characterized by enrichment factors, and the sources of metals were identified with principle component analysis and cluster analysis. The ecological and health risks of metals were assessed using ecological and health risk indexes.

Results showed that the highest and lowest PM_2.5 concentration appeared in winter and summer, respectively. The concentration of PM_2.5 at night was higher than in the daytime in winter, yet it is the opposite in other seasons. The total mass concentration of detected metals was the highest in winter, and the total mass concentration in the daytime was higher than at night in all four seasons. The elements V, Rb, Sr and Ba exhibited a deficient contamination level; Cr, Ni and Cu exhibited a moderate contamination level; while Fe and Cd were at an extreme contamination level. The metals in PM_2.5 originated from a mixture source of fossil fuel combustion and manufacture and use of metallic substances (34.04%), natural source (26.01%) and construction and traffic-related road dust (17.58%). Results from the ecological risk model showed that the ecological risk of metals was very high, especially risks related to Cd. Health risk model presented that both the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk coefficients of metals were above the tolerance level of the human body.

The significance of the study is to further know the pollution characteristics of PM_2.5 and related HMs in Handan city, and to provide references for ensuring local resident health and ecological environment.

The purpose of this paper is to show how the external issue of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) affects enterprises’ corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This study investigates the relationship between EPU and CSR based on the Chinese capital market from 2010 to 2018. Following the most recent studies focused on economic policy uncertainty, this paper uses the news-based method proposed by Baker et al. (2016) to measure EPU and explore the effect of EPU on CSR, as well as the mediating role of state ownership in such a relationship.

Empirical results show that increasing EPU will restrain enterprises’ social responsibility behaviour and the inhibitory effect is more obvious for state-owned enterprises. Further analyses reveal that the inhibitory effect of EPU on CSR is stronger for enterprises that face severe financial constraints and is significant for various components of CSR, and trade policy uncertainty could also curb enterprises’ social responsibility behaviour.

As a stable economic environment is important for enterprises’ CSR engagement, the present study’s conclusions can help policymakers better understand the implications of policy stability for enterprises’ financial and non-financial decisions and especially their CSR decisions.

With the increasing attention paid to the CSR of enterprises, this study provides evidence that enterprises should develop appropriate CSR strategies according to the economic policy environment and enhance their capacity to withstand the risks generated by EPU.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to analyse the relationship between EPU and CSR. The results contribute to a better understanding of what issues influence enterprises’ CSR engagement, highlighting the importance of a stable economic policy environment and of enterprises’ ability to withstand risks.

This paper aims to review the research on accounting professionalisation in China to develop insights into how the research is developing, offer a critique of the research to date and outline future research directions and opportunities.

This paper adopts a methodological approach of systematic literature review, as suggested by Tranfield et al. (2003) and Denyer and Tranfield (2009), to identify, select and analyse the extant literature on the Chinese public accounting profession. In total, 68 academic works were included in the review process.

This paper finds that the extant literature has produced fruitful insights into the processes and underlying motivation of accounting professionalisation in China, demonstrating that the Chinese experience has differed, to a large extent, from the hitherto mainly Anglo-American-dominated understandings of accounting professionalisation. However, due to the lack of common theoretical vernacular and an agreed upon focus, the extant literature illustrates a fragmented and contradictory picture, making attempts to accumulate prior knowledge in the field increasingly difficult.

This paper focusses only on research published in English. Consequently, the scope of review has been limited as some works published in languages other than English may be excluded.

This paper provides one of the pioneering exercises to systematically review the research on accounting professionalisation in China. It explores significant issues arising from the analysis and provides several suggestions for furthering the research effort in this field.

Known as the major capital providers in Belt and Road countries and the largest carbon emitter in the world, what role China's outward direct investment (ODI) plays in carbon neutralization has become a matter of concern. This study aims to measure the impact of China's ODI on the carbon emissions of Belt and Road countries.

Based on an econometric model and an inter-regional input–output model, a new model measuring the carbon emission effects of ODI is developed.

The empirical results show that (1) in general, China's ODI generates an emission-reduction effect in Belt and Road countries; (2) The relationship between the emission-reduction effect and income level of host countries shows an approximate inverted U-shaped trend; and (3) China's ODI generates stronger emission-reduction effects on capital-intensive industries.

This study quantitatively measures the scale of carbon emission-increase and reduction effect, which is relatively lacking in previous studies. This study explores the heterogeneity from the perspectives of regions, countries and industries. The authors have compiled an inter-regional input–output table for the Belt and Road countries for 2014 to provide a broad basis for the study of related issues.

Noise abatement is one of the key techniques for Partial Discharge (PD) on-line measurement and monitoring. However, how to enhance the efficiency of PD signal noise suppression is a challenging work. Hence, this study aims to improve the efficiency of PD signal noise abatement.

In this approach, the time–frequency characteristics of PD signal had been obtained based on fast kurtogram and S-transform time–frequency spectrum, and these characteristics were used to optimize the parameters for the signal matching over-complete dictionary. Subsequently, a self-adaptive selection of matching atoms was realized when using Matching Pursuit (MP) to analyze PD signals, which leading to seldom noise signal element was represented in sparse decomposition.

The de-noising of PD signals was achieved efficiently. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method has good adaptability and significant noise abatement effect compared with Empirical Mode Decomposition, Wavelet Threshold and global signal sparse decomposition of MP.

A self-adaptive noise abatement method was proposed to improve the efficiency of PD signal noise suppression based on the signal sparse representation and its MP algorithm, which is significant to on-line PD measurement.

The authors provide a comprehensive empirical examination on the impact of earnings quality on stock price crash risk in China.

The authors acknowledge and distinguish two-dimensional proxies for earnings quality – accounting-based (earnings management degree) and market-based (earnings transparency) known in accounting and finance literature.

The authors find that both generally indicate that better earnings quality is associated with less crashes. However, extremely high earnings transparency interacted with insider trading profit can also actually exacerbate stock price crashes.

This study is the first to highlight the pertinence of accounting-based measures to proxy for earnings quality in a fast-growing emerging market environment such as China.