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– This paper aims to review the literature on mobile information services. It considers only peer-reviewed papers published in English between 2004 and 2014.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the literature on mobile information services. It considers only peer-reviewed papers published in English between 2004 and 2014.
Design/methodology/approach
The method of systematic review was adopted to collect and analyse the relevant literature. The searches were conducted during the last week of July 2014 on different databases, and in total, 76 papers were considered after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Findings
Seven themes emerged: “introducing mobile libraries”, “reporting on current trends”, “exploring users’ perceptions of libraries’ mobile services”, “presenting libraries’ mobile services”, “presenting mobile technology use in libraries”, “reporting case studies” and “reporting on evaluation of libraries’ mobile services”. It is evident that research on mobile libraries is very recent and focuses mainly on raising the Library and Information Science profession’s awareness of providing mobile information services.
Research limitations
This literature review focused only on peer-reviewed papers published between 2004 and 2014 in English.
Originality/value
This paper summarises and critically presents the relevant literature on libraries offering mobile information services. It informs libraries and librarians’ understanding of recent developments in mobile technology for the successful provision of information services.
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Zhengtuo Wang, Yuetong Xu, Guanhua Xu, Jianzhong Fu, Jiongyan Yu and Tianyi Gu
In this work, the authors aim to provide a set of convenient methods for generating training data, and then develop a deep learning method based on point clouds to estimate the…
Abstract
Purpose
In this work, the authors aim to provide a set of convenient methods for generating training data, and then develop a deep learning method based on point clouds to estimate the pose of target for robot grasping.
Design/methodology/approach
This work presents a deep learning method PointSimGrasp on point clouds for robot grasping. In PointSimGrasp, a point cloud emulator is introduced to generate training data and a pose estimation algorithm, which, based on deep learning, is designed. After trained with the emulation data set, the pose estimation algorithm could estimate the pose of target.
Findings
In experiment part, an experimental platform is built, which contains a six-axis industrial robot, a binocular structured-light sensor and a base platform with adjustable inclination. A data set that contains three subsets is set up on the experimental platform. After trained with the emulation data set, the PointSimGrasp is tested on the experimental data set, and an average translation error of about 2–3 mm and an average rotation error of about 2–5 degrees are obtained.
Originality/value
The contributions are as follows: first, a deep learning method on point clouds is proposed to estimate 6D pose of target; second, a convenient training method for pose estimation algorithm is presented and a point cloud emulator is introduced to generate training data; finally, an experimental platform is built, and the PointSimGrasp is tested on the platform.
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Yanzhong Wang, Wentao Niu, Yanyan Chen, Guanhua Song and Wen Tang
This paper aims to provide an analytic technique for determining the convection heat transfer and temperature of oil jet lubricated spur gears.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an analytic technique for determining the convection heat transfer and temperature of oil jet lubricated spur gears.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiphase flow model is developed to calculate the convection heat transfer coefficients on different gear faces during different contact conditions. The frictional heat is calculated and a method to distribute between the two gears is developed. A finite element model is established to calculate the temperatures in both meshing and cooling processes.
Findings
The convection heat transfer coefficients on different surfaces are obtained successfully. Area-related formulae are developed to calculate the heat distribution coefficients. The gear temperature reaches a maximum at the beginning of meshing, then reduces and gets minimum at pitch point, after that it increases again. The gear temperature descends rapidly to steady temperature during the short time of jet cooling process. The tendency of computational results coincides well with the experimental results.
Originality/value
The research presented here could be used in the design phase of the jet lubricated spur gears. The precise temperature is obtained to assess the thermal capacity of gears, from which the gear parameters and oil supply conditions could be adjusted and designed.
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Keywords
Yanzhong Wang, Wentao Niu, Song Wei and Guanhua Song
This paper aims to improve the cooling performance of the impinging jet to the machining and power transmissions, and provides more parameters to the design of the cooling system…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to improve the cooling performance of the impinging jet to the machining and power transmissions, and provides more parameters to the design of the cooling system.
Design/methodology/approach
A multiphase flow model with heat transfer terms is established to calculate the convective heat transfer coefficient. The computational fluid dynamics method is used to simulate the jet flow. The convective heat transfer coefficients with different spray parameters are calculated and their variations are obtained. Temperatures are tested to reflect the cooling performance (convective heat transfer coefficients) with different spray parameters.
Findings
The results show that the higher convective heat transfer coefficient can be obtained with the same flow rate by decreasing nozzle diameter while increasing either the number of nozzles or the oil supply pressure. The spray distance was found to have little influence on convective heat transfer; however, the more the spray is directed parallel to the surface, the higher the convective heat transfer coefficient. The computational results coincide well with the experimental results.
Originality/value
The research presented here leads to a design reference guideline that could be used in machining and power transmissions to reduce the temperature, thus improving their quality and efficiency, and preventing failure at high speeds and/or under heavy loads.
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The purpose of this paper is to delineate the evolution of agricultural science and technology (S&T) in China in the last three decades as it has been one of the major factors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to delineate the evolution of agricultural science and technology (S&T) in China in the last three decades as it has been one of the major factors, besides others, in ensuring comfortable levels of global food security. In doing so, it focuses on policy and progress, which have provided the right ambience for Chinese agricultural science and technology to evolve into an effective instrument of development.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs institutional approach to government, scientists and farmers, who have been contributing to the growth of Chinese agricultural technology in two distinct ways. While the government has been playing a critical role in evolving a comprehensive agricultural S&T policy, scientists and farmers have been contributing to the progress of agricultural growth through research and application of various agricultural technologies.
Findings
Agricultural S&T in China has increasingly been growing into a potent force in facilitating comfortable levels of food security but with serious implications on the environment. Of the three players who have been instrumental in this process, the Chinese Government and the scientists are well prepared for WTO and globalization vis‐à‐vis agricultural technology, but the farmers are not well positioned.
Originality/value
Agricultural S&T development in China is critically important not only for Chinese food security but also for the larger global food and human security, as the two are inextricably connected. While most studies focus on various dimensions of agricultural technology, this study focuses on government, scientists and involved farmers, whose role is central to this process, and who are forced to rethink and reposition themselves in the development and use of agricultural S&T in China.
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Jing Wang, Yinghan Wang, Yichuan Peng and Jian John Lu
The operation safety of the high-speed railway has been widely concerned. Due to the joint influence of the environment, equipment, personnel and other factors, accidents are…
Abstract
Purpose
The operation safety of the high-speed railway has been widely concerned. Due to the joint influence of the environment, equipment, personnel and other factors, accidents are inevitable in the operation process. However, few studies focused on identifying contributing factors affecting the severity of high-speed railway accidents because of the difficulty in obtaining field data. This study aims to investigate the impact factors affecting the severity of the general high-speed railway.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 14 potential factors were examined from 475 data. The severity level is categorized into four levels by delay time and the number of subsequent trains that are affected by the accident. The partial proportional odds model was constructed to relax the constraint of the parallel line assumption.
Findings
The results show that 10 factors are found to significantly affect accident severity. Moreover, the factors including automation train protection (ATP) system fault, platform screen door and train door fault, traction converter fault and railway clearance intrusion by objects have an effect on reducing the severity level. On the contrary, the accidents caused by objects hanging on the catenary, pantograph fault, passenger misconducting or sudden illness, personnel intrusion of railway clearance, driving on heavy rain or snow and train collision against objects tend to be more severe.
Originality/value
The research results are very useful for mitigating the consequences of high-speed rail accidents.
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Hariram Venkatesan, Godwin John J. and Seralathan Sivamani
Vast areas have been studied toward combustion and emission analysis in vegetable oil methyl esters and quite a few in algal oil biodiesel. To analyze the better alternate source…
Abstract
Purpose
Vast areas have been studied toward combustion and emission analysis in vegetable oil methyl esters and quite a few in algal oil biodiesel. To analyze the better alternate source for diesel engine, this study aims to investigate the combustion behavior and emission characteristics between cottonseed biodiesel and algal oil biodiesel on comparison with mineral diesel in a compression ignition engine.
Design/methodology/approach
The fuel properties like density, kinematic viscosity, calorific value and Cetane number have met the biodiesel standards for both algal and cottonseed biodiesel. At rated power, engine was operated on all three test fuels, where combustion analysis describing in-cylinder pressure, peak pressure, rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release and emission characteristics including hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and smoke for both biodiesel comparing mineral diesel.
Findings
Algal and cottonseed biodiesel showed up to 2-3°CA delayed start of combustion comparing mineral diesel curve. The in-cylinder pressure of algal biodiesel was found to be 68 bar, whereas cottonseed biodiesel exhibited 65 bar at full load condition. Similarly, the rate of pressure rise and rate of heat release of algal biodiesel depicted 7.9 and 10.7 per cent rise than cottonseed biodiesel, respectively. As the load increased, ignition delay showed decreasing trend, while combustion duration showed an increasing trend. HC, CO and smoke emissions were seen to be lower than mineral diesel with noticeable increase in NOx emission.
Originality/value
In this present investigation, biodiesel from Stoechospermum Marginatum, a marine marco algae, was used to fuel the compression ignition engine. Its combustion behavior and emission characteristics are compared with cottonseed biodiesel, a vegetable oil-based biodiesel having similar physio-chemical characteristics to understand the suitability of algal biodiesel in compression ignition engine. This study involves the assessment of straight biodiesel from macro algae and cottonseed oil on standard operating conditions.
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Zhang Jie, Su Xinning and Deng Sanhong
This paper is written as an attempt to employ the Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) in the evaluation of Chinese humanities and social science research.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is written as an attempt to employ the Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) in the evaluation of Chinese humanities and social science research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses statistics in the CSSCI (2000‐2004) to analyze the academic impact of researchers, papers and works, institutions and regions on Chinese humanities and social science research.
Findings
The authors identify 100 highly cited people, 50 highly cited papers, 50 highly cited works, 20 highly productive institutions and 20 highly cited institutions. Also provided is some regional information about Chinese humanities and social science research.
Originality/value
It is hoped that the CSSCI, as well as the analysis and evaluation based on it, will give researchers a better understanding of Chinese humanities and social science research.
Rina Datt, Pranil Prasad, Connie Vitale and Krishan Prasad
The market for the assurance of carbon emissions disclosures is showing intensive growth. However, due to the largely voluntary nature of carbon reporting and assurance, there are…
Abstract
Purpose
The market for the assurance of carbon emissions disclosures is showing intensive growth. However, due to the largely voluntary nature of carbon reporting and assurance, there are currently no clear standards or guidelines and little is known about it. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reporting and assurance practices for carbon emissions disclosures.
Design/methodology/approach
This study provides evidence on this market, with a sample that includes 13,419 firm-year observations across 58 countries between 2010 and 2017 from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) database.
Findings
The results show that the demand for carbon emissions reporting comes mainly from North America, the UK and Japan. Recently, markets such as South Africa have also shown increased demand for carbon reporting. The data also shows that more firms are seeking assurance for their carbon emissions reports. Legitimacy, stakeholder and institutional theories are used to explain the findings of this study.
Research limitations/implications
The results have important implications for firms that produce carbon emissions disclosures, assurance service providers, legislators, regulators and the users of the reports and there should be more specific disclosure guidelines for level and scope of reporting.
Originality/value
Amongst the firms that do provide assurance on their carbon emissions reports, a majority do so using specialist assurance providers, with only limited assurance being provided. The results further show that a myriad of assurance frameworks is being used to assure the carbon emissions disclosures.
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Shengliang Deng and Xiaotong Jin
Until now, traditional western consumption theories have not been able to adequately explain the consumption behavior of Chinese residents in the economic transitional period…
Abstract
Purpose
Until now, traditional western consumption theories have not been able to adequately explain the consumption behavior of Chinese residents in the economic transitional period. Based on annual data from 1986 to 2004, the purpose of this paper is to examine the excess sensitivity of consumption through a variable parameter model.
Design/methodology/approach
A regression model was used to analyse annual consumption data from 1986 to 2004 in China.
Findings
The analysis demonstrates excess sensitivity characteristic in Chinese residents' consumption in the economic transitional period.
Research limitations/implications
The paper concludes that in order to make the demand stimulation policy in China more effective, it is necessary to take a series of measures to correct the excess sensitivity of consumption, so as to establish a healthy cycle of national economy. The paper has only explained excess sensitivity of Chinese residents' consumption from the point of view of economics. While consumption is an economic problem as well as a social problem, those factors beyond economics should not be excluded from the analysis.
Originality/value
This paper differs from former studies in that previous scholars failed to take into consideration the special economic characteristics in China's transitional economy. The variable parameter model this paper employed takes full consideration of such unique factors as economic expectations and systems changes during the transitional period so as to better explain Chinese people's consumption behavior and provide a new perspective to make government policies stimulate domestic demand more effectively.
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