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The purpose of this paper is to first review the implementation of automatic identification and data capture) technologies in library/information science, focusing on barcode technology, radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communication (NFC). This paper then presents S-Library, a new android-based application, to enable users to perform a wide range of information science-related transactions, such as borrowing, searching, returning and viewing transaction records.

This paper presents the design process and the database and software components. For analysis, the authors used application testing, and also usability testing, with a questionnaire distributed to 343 users.

The implementation of NFC technology means that S-Library has a number of technical advantages over other approaches. It was also shown with user acceptance testing that there was a high degree of user satisfaction with S-Library.

Although the findings combine technical assessment and usability testing and are extremely positive, further user evaluation could be performed. In addition, S-Library does not currently read existing RFID tags, which would improve the application further.

The system proposed here shows that S-Library is a feasible approach taken to improve the library transaction experience and that it can replace and improve upon older technologies.

This paper provides a first successful demonstration of a functioning and tested android and NFC-based library transaction system and shows that this approach generates a high degree of user reliability.

In the freeze-thaw zone, the pre-stressed concrete of bridge structure will be damaged by freezing-thawing, the bearing capacity of structure will decrease and the safety will be affected. The purpose of this paper is to establish the time-dependent resistance degradation model of structure in the freeze-thaw zone, and analysis the structural reliability and remaining service life in different freeze-thaw zones.

First, according to the theory of structural design, a calculation model of the resistance of pre-stressed concrete structures in f freeze-thaw zone is established. Second, the time-dependent resistance model was verified by the test beam bending failure test results done by the research group, which has been in service for 20 years in freeze-thaw zone. Third, using JC algorithm in MATLAB to calculate the index on the reliability of pre-stressed concrete structure in frozen thawed zones, forecasting the s remaining service life of structure.

First, the calculation model of the resistance of pre-stressed concrete structures in freeze-thaw zone is accurate and it has excellent applicability. Second, the structural resistance deterioration time in Wet-Warm-Frozen Zone is the earliest. Third, once the pre-stressed reinforcement rusts, the structural reliability index will reach limit value quickly. Finally, the remaining service life of structure meets the designed expectation value only in a few of freeze-thaw zones in China.

The research will provide a reference for the design on the durability of a pre-stressed concrete structure in the freeze-thaw zone. In order to verify the security of pre-stressed concrete structures in the freeze-thaw zone, engineers can use the model presented in this paper for durability checking, it has an important significance.

Multiple input multiple-output (MIMO) has emerged as one among the many noteworthy technologies in recent wireless applications because of its powerful ability to improve bandwidth efficiency and performance, i.e. through developing its unique spatial multiplexing capability and spatial diversity gain. For carrying out an enhanced communication in next-generation networks, the MIMO and orthogonal frequency division multiple systems were combined that facilitate the spatial multiplexing on resource blocks (RBs) based on time-frequency. This paper aims to propose a novel approach for maximizing the throughput of cell-edge users and cell-center users.

In this work, the specified multi-objective function is defined as the single objective function, which is solved by the introduction of a new improved algorithm as well. This optimization problem can be resolved by the fine-tuning of certain parameters such as assigned power for RB, cell-center user, cell-edge user and RB allocation. The fine-tuning of parameters is attained by a new improved Lion algorithm (LA), termed as Lion with new cub generation (LA-NCG) model. Finally, the betterment of the presented approach is validated over the existing models in terms of signal to interference plus noise ratio, throughput and so on.

On examining the outputs, the adopted LA-NCG model for 4BS was 66.67%, 66.67% and 20% superior to existing joint processing coordinated multiple point-based dual decomposition method (JC-DDM), fractional programming (FP) and LA models. In addition, the throughput of conventional JC-DDM, FP and LA models lie at a range of 10, 45 and 35, respectively, at the 100th iteration. However, the presented LA-NCG scheme accomplishes a higher throughput of 58. Similarly, the throughput of the adopted scheme observed for 8BS was 59.68%, 44.19% and 9.68% superior to existing JC-DDM, FP and LA models. Thus, the enhancement of the adopted LA-NCG model has been validated effectively from the attained outcomes.

This paper adopts the latest optimization algorithm called LA-NCG to establish a novel approach for maximizing the throughput of cell-edge users and cell-center users. This is the first that work uses LA-NCG-based optimization that assists in fine-tuning certain parameters such as assigned power for RB, cell-center user, cell-edge user and RB allocation.

Surveys multiple‐stage production planning literature to reveal that this sizeable body of research is largely inspired by single‐item production planning. Suggests several promising research opportunities, including the possible development of scheduling techniques not derived from older, single‐item procedures. Highlights the need for further comparative testing between existing “improved” techniques, as well as the wealth of work yet to be done in multiple‐stage production planning with limited resources and possible extensions to supply‐chain management.

Food scandals and reports of food withdrawals from the market could be caused by a lack of internal reporting and speaking up about non-compliances. The aim of this paper is to examine and explain the concept of just culture (JC) and to explain the essence of other subcultures, including the culture of voice (whistleblowing), which can more effectively support the reporting of food safety (FS) incidents and, above all, enhance an overall food safety culture (FSC).

Parallels are drawn between the use of the term “just culture” and of reporting of non-compliances as a decisive factor in avoiding FS incidents. The evolution of the term is developed via the literature on JC from other high-risk sectors, particularly healthcare.

The concept of JC and its meaning in the food sector was explained. Many parallels from the healthcare have been identified and explained with regard to the reporting on FS incidents. The definitions of JC in the food sector, of whistleblowing and whistleblower were proposed. Classification of FS incidents allowing for their more effective monitoring and reporting, as well as a reporting verification matrix (RVM), has been developed.

There is still little work on the necessity and the organizational conditions conducive to FS incident reporting. JC in the food sector is completely unknown and requires wide dissemination among scientists and practitioners. This paper will be of great interest to industry, academics and public health officials and can be used as a platform for discussions and activities aimed at implementing JC in the food sector.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an approach to optimize the cycles‐to‐failure of a peened component with respect to laser peening (LP) variables: pressure magnitude, mid‐span, and spot size when the component is subject to a variable amplitude loading.

To optimally design an LP process, an experimentally validated 3D finite element simulation of the LP process, a cycles‐to‐failure estimation capability incorporating residual stress, and a particle swarm optimization strategy were developed and employed to maximize the cycles‐to‐failure of a component of a titanium turbine disk.

The most critical finding of this research is that a minor difference in the residual stress profile can lead to a large difference in the cycles‐to‐failure. This finding implies that selecting the optimization objective to be the cycles‐to‐failure is a better option as compared to the residual stress profile.

The LP‐induced residual stresses are assumed static and do not change as number of load cycles increase.

The paper develops a framework that relates the LP variables and the cycles‐to‐failure of a peened component. A modified particle swarm optimization approach is developed to optimize the fatigue life of a turbine disk.

A method is presented for calculating the critical state profiles in bulk superconductors. It can be used for asymmetric samples in non‐uniform fields and for transport currents as well as magnetisation. In this technique the sample starts with no current flowing. Elements carrying Jc are then inserted at the point of maximum vector potential and the field recalculated. The process is continued until the external field is screened from the interior. As an example the force on a magnet above a cylindrical puck is calculated.

The disjunctive graph is a network representation of the job‐shop scheduling problem, while the longest path problem (LPP) is one of the most important subjects in this research field. This paper aims to study the special topological structure of the disjunctive graph, and proposes a suite of quick value‐setting algorithms for solving the LPPs commonly encountered in job‐shop scheduling.

The topological structure of the disjunctive graph is analyzed, and some properties and propositions regarding LPPs are presented. Subsequently, algorithms are proposed for solving LPPs encountered in job‐shop scheduling.

The proposed algorithms significantly improve the efficiency of the shifting‐bottleneck procedure, making it practicable to realise real‐time scheduling and hence effective operations of modern manufacturing systems.

The paper demonstrates that it is possible to develop very efficient algorithms by imposing a special topological structure on the network.

The purpose of this paper is to predict the response and perforation of fibre metal laminates (FMLs) subjected to impact by projectiles at different velocities.

A finite element (FE) model is constructed in which recently proposed dynamic constitutive models for fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) laminates and metals are used. Moreover, a recently developed dynamic cohesive element constitutive model is also used to simulate the debonding between FRP laminates and metal sheets. The FE model is first validated against the test data for glass laminate aluminum reinforced epoxy (GLARE) both under dropped object loading and ballistic impact, then used to perform a parametric study on the influence of projectile nose shape on the perforation of FMLs.

It is found that the present model predicts well the response and perforation of GLARE subjected to impact loading in terms of load-time history, load-displacement curve, residual velocity and failure pattern. It is also found that projectile nose shape has a considerable effect on the perforation of GLARE FMLs and that the ballistic limit is the highest for a flat-ended projectile whilst for a conical-nosed missile the resistance to perforation is the least.

Recently developed constitutive models for FRPs and metals, together with cohesive element model which considers strain rate effect, are used in the FE model to predict the behaviour of FMLs struck by projectiles in a wider range of impact velocities; the present model is advantageous over such existing models as Johnson-Cook (JC) + Chang-Chang and JC (+BW) + MAT162 in terms of failure pattern though they produce similar results for residual velocity.

Ceramic superconductors experience losses when carrying alternating currents. A first step in an attempt to macroscopically model the loss mechanism is to consider the ac transport current in a ribbon that has a cross‐section of width much greater than thickness. To some extent high‐temperature superconductors behave in a way similar to type II superconductors in which the loss mechanism is described by the critical state model, where the current is assumed to flow with a constant critical density Jc and is independent of the magnetic flux density B and ∂B/∂t. The dominant mechanism is the irreversible motion of fluxoids due to their interaction with the pinning sites, resulting in a form of hysteretic loss that can be represented in macroscopic terms (in a system with only one component of magnetic field) as proportional to ∫HsdBa/T over a complete cycle of period T, where Hs is the surface magnetic field strength and Ba is the space average value of flux density. However, it is found that the high‐temperature materials exhibit strong flux creep effects, and so the critical state model may not provide a sufficient description. To find an alternative formulation it is necessary to consider the flux creep E‐J characteristic of the ceramic material. If a highly nonlinear expression for the resistivity ? can be found, it may be possible to model the flux and current behaviour as a diffusion process.