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This paper aims to present a dynamic reliability model of scraper chains based on the fretting wear process and propose a reasonable structural optimization method.

First, the dynamic tension of the scraper chain is modeled by considering the polygon effect of the scraper conveyor. Then, the numerical wear model of the scraper chain is established based on the tangential and radial fretting wear modes. The scraper chain wear process is introduced based on the diameter wear rate. Furthermore, the time-dependent reliability of scraper chains based on the fretting wear process is addressed by the third-moment saddlepoint approximation (TMSA) method. Finally, the scraper chain is optimized based on the reliability optimization design theory.

There is a correlation between the wear and the dynamic tension of the scraper conveyor. The unit sliding distance of fretting wear is affected by the dynamic tension of the scraper conveyor. The reliability estimation of the scraper chain with incomplete probability information is achieved by using the TMSA for the method needs only the first three statistical moments of the state variable. From the perspective of the chain drive system, the reliability-based optimal design of the scraper chain can effectively extend its service life and reduce its linear density.

The innovation of the work is that the physical model of the scraper chain wear is established based on the dynamic analysis of the scraper conveyor. And based on the physical model of wear, the time-dependent reliability and optimal design of scraper chains are carried out.

There have been significant developments in the field of retailing with digitalization. One of these developments is the emergence of omnichannel retailing. Although this has affected both firms and consumers considerably, the literature is dominated by the studies dealing with omnichannel retailing from the firms’ perspectives. The studies dealing with omnichannel retailing from the consumers’ perspectives have recently begun to attract the attention of researchers. For this reason, this study conducted a literature review to examine various consumer behaviors mentioned in the studies aimed at explaining consumer behaviors in the omnichannel retailing context. The distribution of these studies according to years and journals, research methods used, theories adopted, and the related five-stage consumer decision-making stages are summarized. Additionally, this review addresses future research avenues.

Actual product-harm crises pose significant challenges to firms, but so can defaming product-harm crises, which are defined as crises caused by false or malicious rumors made by consumers or competing firms. Unlike typical product-harm crises, in defaming product-harm crises, the truth often emerges only after substantial damage has been done to the victim firm. Thus, crisis management strategies in these two cases may be different. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Using a defaming product-harm crisis that involved two competing firms, this paper examines how the firms changed their advertising strategies and how the changes affected consumers’ online search behavior regarding the two firms.

The analyses show that after the crisis, the offending firm sensitively reacted to its own and the victim firm’s advertising levels, but the victim firm did not react to the offending firm’s advertising as it had previously. The effectiveness of advertising on consumers’ online search weakened for both firms after the crisis.

The paper provides a new insight about marketing strategies and their effectiveness in the product-harm crisis literature.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the current state of research on the significance of big data in and for corporate communication and to introduce a framework which provides specific connecting points for future research. This is achieved by summarizing and reviewing the insights provided by relevant articles in the most significant scholarly journals. The paper also investigates trends in the literature.

On the basis of a systematic literature review, 53 key articles from 2010 to 2015 were further analyzed.

The literature review illustrates the potentialities of big data for corporate communication, especially with regard to the field of marketing communication. It also reveals a dramatic lack of research in the fields of public relations and internal communication with respect to big data applications.

The online databases used in this paper comprised of refereed scientific journals with the highest impact factor in the respective disciplines. Journals with a lower impact factor and books were not included in the search process for this thematic analysis.

This paper provides a conceptual framework that describes four phases of strategic big data usage in corporate communication. The results show how big data is able to highlight stakeholders’ insights so that more effective communication strategies can be created.

This paper brings together previously disparate streams of work in the fields of communication science, marketing, and information systems with respect to big data applications in corporate communication. It represents the first attempt to undertake a systematic and comprehensive interdisciplinary overview of this kind.

The purpose of this paper is to briefly summarize and review the theories and methods of complex structures’ dynamic reliability. Complex structures are usually assembled from multiple components and subjected to time-varying loads of aerodynamic, structural, thermal and other physical fields; its reliability analysis is of great significance to ensure the safe operation of large-scale equipment such as aviation and machinery.

In this paper for the single-objective dynamic reliability analysis of complex structures, the calculation can be categorized into Monte Carlo (MC), outcrossing rate, envelope functions and extreme value methods. The series-parallel and expansion methods, multi-extremum surrogate models and decomposed-coordinated surrogate models are summarized for the multiobjective dynamic reliability analysis of complex structures.

The numerical complex compound function and turbine blisk are used as examples to illustrate the performance of single-objective and multiobjective dynamic reliability analysis methods. Then the future development direction of dynamic reliability analysis of complex structures is prospected.

The paper provides a useful reference for further theoretical research and engineering application.

Production and transportation of precast components, as two continuous service stages of a precast plant, play an important role in meeting customer needs and controlling costs. However, there is still a lack of production and transportation scheduling methods that comprehensively consider delivery timeliness and transportation economy. This article aims to study the integrated scheduling optimization problem of in-plant flowshop production and off-plant transportation under the consideration of practical constraints of customer order delivery time window, and seek an optimal scheduling method that balances delivery timeliness and transportation economy.

In this study, an integrated scheduling optimization model of flowshop production and transportation for precast components with delivery time windows is established, which describes the relationship between production and transportation and handles transportation constraints under the premise of balancing delivery timeliness and transportation economy. Then a genetic algorithm is designed to solve this model. It realizes the integrated scheduling of production and transportation through double-layer chromosome coding. A program is designed to realize the solution process. Finally, the validity of the model is proved by the calculation of actual enterprise data.

The optimized scheduling scheme can not only meet the on-time delivery, but also improve the truck loading rate and reduce the total cost, composed of early cost in plant, delivery penalty cost and transportation cost. In the model validation, the optimal scheduling scheme uses one less truck than the traditional EDD scheme (saving 20% of the transportation cost), and the total cost can be saved by 17.22%.

This study clarifies the relationship between the production and transportation of precast components and establishes the integrated scheduling optimization model and its solution algorithm. Different from previous studies, the proposed optimization model can balance the timeliness and economy of production and transportation for precast components.

The maintenance of the air–water interface is crucial for the drag reduction on hydrophobic surfaces. But the air bubbles become unstable and even washed away under high speed flow, causing the failure of surface hydrophobicity. Thereby, this paper aims to understand the relations between bubble behaviors and surface properties, flow conditions and to discover new methods to maintain the air–water interface.

Bubble properties on hydrophobic surfaces were characterized using single-component multiphase lattice Boltzmann simulation. Three equations of state (EOSs), including the Peng–Robinson, Carnahan–Starling and modified Kaplun–Meshalkin EOSs, were incorporated to achieve high density ratios.

Both the static and dynamic properties of bubbles on hydrophobic surfaces were investigated and analyzed under different flow conditions, solid–liquid interactions and surface topology.

By revealing the properties of bubbles on hydrophobic surfaces, the effects of flow conditions and surface properties were characterized. The maintenance method of air–water interface can be proposed according to the bubble properties in the study.

The purpose of this paper is to econometrically examine whether indigenous enterprises can upgrade under open economy by using micro-firm data.

In order to make clear the impact of outward development on the indigenous manufacturing export enterprises' productivity from micro level and to propose policy recommendation, the research group selected indigenous manufacturing export enterprises in Kunshan China as research objects and made a large-scale survey. Based on micro-firm data from survey, the paper carries out empirical analysis.

After controlling some other variables including innovation activity, human capital and enterprises scale, empirical result shows that export activity, establishing connections with FDI enterprises, industry clusters formed under open economy all have significant and positive effect on upgrading of indigenous enterprises.

This paper is the first to use micro-firm data obtained from survey to examine factors affecting indigenous enterprises' upgrading capability of China.

Shanghai is currently faced with a rapid increase in the ageing population and demand for elderly homes. Continuing care retirement community (CCRC) has been emerging as a high-end alternative to offer specialised accommodation to the elderly in major cities. Since the first development in 2008, the industry is now still at the infancy stage. This study aims to examine the investment barriers hindering the supply and demand of CCRCs with an aim to recommend practical and senior housing policy measures to facilitate CCRC developments.

Multiple-case study method was used to confirm whether the literature findings on investment barriers apply to the context of Shanghai. Four representative CCRC development cases in Shanghai were examined, in which qualitative data were collected from interviews with experienced CCRC development managers and quantitative data from a questionnaire survey of the CCRC residents.

Operation management experience, financial risks and government support policy were found to be the main supply barriers. Chinese traditional family-oriented culture and affordability were not the main demand barriers of CCRCs in Shanghai. Poor quality of services and living environment were identified as the main barriers suppressing the demand for CCRC.

Although common trends and views can be drawn from the representative cases in Shanghai to provide valid results, further research should be conducted on other major cities in China so that the results can be widely applied.

Successful CCRC investment strategy should focus on partnering with experienced professional eldercare management companies, provisions of high-quality medical professionals and trained care personnel and delivery of flexible care service, along with intensive capital flows for land, construction and operating costs.

Additional senior housing policy support should be established to promote the CCRC supply to address the ageing needs, particularly granting lands for CCRC developments at Tiers 1 and 2 major cities where the land cost is high.

This research’s practical and policy measures can be applied to enable and promote CCRC developments in Shanghai, thus benefitting both housing investors and the government. The findings also form a baseline for CCRC developments in other major cities.

This chapter presents a summary of the literature on the influence of the Internet and other digital innovations on markets, consumers, and firms. The review leads to a list of topics in need of research in the general areas of big data, online and mobile advertising, consumer search, online privacy, online reviews, social networks, platforms for online transactions, and the impact of the Internet on retail markets, including multi-channel and omni-channel retailing. We discuss the big data approaches that have been applied to problems of targeting and positioning and suggest areas for further development of these approaches. We also discuss the emerging area of mobile advertising, which can further enhance targeting. On the consumer side, the evidence indicates that the Internet has greatly lowered the costs of search and access to retailers. Much of the consumer data are transmitted to sellers, and much of the online advertising is transmitted to consumers, through platforms, such as Google. We conclude that better models of competition among these platform firms are needed and that they need to be examined for anti-trust violations. While online retailing has grown rapidly, it still has a relatively small share of retail sales. Since sellers can combine the advantages of online and offline channels, it has been common for sellers to branch into multi-channel retailing. Given the increased availability of detailed consumer data, omni-channel selling, which emphasizes strategies for the various touchpoints that lead to a transaction, is an area for further development.