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With the advance of the Silk Road Initiative proposed by China, it has been a focus of China government to develop strategic emerging industries. The development of strategic emerging industries needs the support of competitive intelligence on many aspects such as strategical planning, policy making, industrial structure adjustment, and technology innovation. However, so far there are few studies toward the competitive intelligence systems for strategic emerging industries. In this article, we focus on a number of issues related to the competitive intelligence for strategic emerging industries in China. First, we conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis on the situations of strategic emerging industries in China, based on which the necessity of building a competitive intelligence (CI) service system for strategic emerging industries is discussed. Next, the authors present a framework of a CI service system for strategic emerging industries in China. The principles, components, working process, and product forms are deeply described. The CI service system proposed in this article consists of a cooperation network platform, three layered organizations, and three systems, which integrates organizations, information, people, network, and service platforms into an ecosystem to offer competitive intelligence supports for government, industry, and enterprises. Finally, the authors discuss a case study of the proposed CI service system for the new energy automobile industry.

In as much as it is contested, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is also unexplored, underdiscussed, and, as a result, misunderstood. Frequently viewed through the lens of international relations and global economy, the diverse dimensions of collaboration, including business and research-industry clusters, that BRI enhances, tend to be excluded from the analysis. In a similar manner, the role of the Arab Peninsula in the grand strategy underpinning BRI and its implementation is rarely discussed. BRI is a forward-oriented initiative, an attempt to reap benefits of developments and circumstances that are only nascent. This bears two potent implications. First, as China attempts to influence the context in which it operates, it is subject to change itself; the Chinese business sector evolution attests to that. Second, some of China’s not so obvious partners of today, including those in the Arab Peninsula, are about to turn into key interlocutors of tomorrow. BRI taps into opportunities thus created. This chapter elaborates on these issues and, against this backdrop, outlines how the remaining chapters included in this volume add to this discussion.

This paper examines the problem of lack of historical data and inadequate consideration of factors influencing demand in the forecasting of demand for fast fashion clothing and proposes an improved Bass model for the forecasting of such a demand and the demand for new clothing products.

From the perspective of how to solve the lack of data and improve the precision of the clothing demand forecast, this paper studies the measurement of clothing similarity and the addition of demand impact factors. Using the fuzzy clustering–rough set method, the degree of resemblance of clothing is determined, which provides a basis for the scientific utilisation of historical data of similar clothing to forecast the demand for new clothing. Besides, combining the influence of consumer preferences and seasonality on demand forecasting, an improved Bass model for a fast fashion clothing demand forecast is proposed. Finally, with a forecasting example of demand for clothing, this study also tests the validity of the method.

The objective measurement method of clothing similarity in this paper solves the problem of the difficult forecasting of demand for fast fashion clothing due to a lack of sales data at the preliminary stage of the clothing launch. The improved Bass model combines, comprehensively, consumer preferences and seasonality and enhances the forecast precision of demand for fast fashion clothing.

The paper puts forward a scientific, quantitative method for the forecasting of new clothing products using historical sales data of similar clothing, thus solving the problem of lack of sales data of the fashion.

During the industrial design process, a product is usually modified and analyzed repeatedly until reaching the final design. Modifying the model and regenerating a mesh for every update during this process is very time consuming. To improve efficiency, it is necessary to circumvent the computer-aided design modeling stage when possible and directly modify the meshes to save valuable time. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for mesh modifications.

In contrast to existing studies, which focus on one or a class of modifications, this paper comprehensively studies mesh union, mesh gluing, mesh cutting and mesh partitioning. To improve the efficiency of the method, the paper presents a fast and effective surface mesh remeshing algorithm based on a ball-packing method and controls the remeshing regions with a size field.

Examples and results show that the proposed mesh modification method is efficient and effective. The proposed method can be also applied to meshes with different material properties, which is very different with previous work that is only suitable for the meshes with same material property.

This paper proposes an efficient and comprehensive tetrahedral mesh modification method, through which engineers can directly modify meshes instead of models and save time.

The advent of the new retail era witnessed the consumers’ demand shift from on the traditional product quality to on the full supply chain service quality, and product service and service manufacturing is gradually taking shape. The purpose of this paper is to propose whether there is a “quality bridge” in the dynamic evolution process of retail service supply chain (RSSC) and discuss the system role, steady-state characteristics and dynamic evolution mechanism of service quality in this dynamic evolution process.

This paper proposes the dissipation system structure of the RSSC under the steady-state quality constraint, constructs a Markov chain model (MCM) for the evolution of the service quality of RSSC, and tests the objective existence of the steady-state distribution of the service quality by taking Chinese HJ retail enterprises as samples.

The research value of this study is summarized as follows. The research finds that the evolution of service quality of RSSC is a dynamic and non-linear growth process, which has significant characteristics of complex adaptability and steady-state convergence. The study finds that the quality evolution process of the RSSC is a steady-state convergence process, and there is a steady-state distribution of quality in its co-evolution, in which different process input levels have a significant positive impact on the stable level of quality state. The study finds that the steady state of quality plays a crucial role in the collaborative evolution of the RSSC, that is, when the service quality reaches a certain steady state distribution, the operating efficiency and profit level of the whole chain will show an “explosive” growth trend.

Quality bridge, an original concept in this paper, represents the role of quality steady-state in the operation of RSSC. Based on Markov chain and system simulation tools, this paper verifies the existence of steady-state service quality and its positive effect on the co-evolution and sustainable development of RSSC. When the service quality reaches a certain steady distribution, the operating efficiency and income level of the whole chain will show n trend of explosive growth.

The purpose of this paper is to study corrosion behavior and corrosion mechanism of carbon steel in natural freshwaters with humic acid (HA).

The weight‐loss method, electrochemical measurements and surface analysis technique were used to study the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in freshwaters with HA.

General corrosion occurred when carbon steel was exposed to test solutions (fresh lake water with and without HA). The presence of HA in test solution can accelerated the corrosion rate of carbon steel.

There have been few reports on the effect of HA on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel. In this study, it is clearly shown that the presence of HA in fresh lake water can accelerate the corrosion rate of carbon steel. This research not only can offer theoretical guidelines for the prevention of pipelines and facilities from corroding, but also can provide a reference for suitable material selection and the further protection of carbon steel in hydraulic engineering.

The purpose of this paper is to properly calibrate the laser tracking system (LTS) prior to using it for metrology and improving the measuring accuracy of LTS.

A kinematics model that describes not only the motion but also geometric variations of LTS is developed. Effects of tracking mirror mechanism dimension errors on measured coordinates and target reflector alignment errors on sensor reading are investigated.

Through error analysis of the proposed model, it is claimed that gimbals axis misalignments and tracking mirror center offset are the key contributors to measure errors of LTS. Intensive simulation studies are conducted to check the validity of the theoretical results and various practical issues are also explored in the simulations. The simulation results demonstrate that under realistic conditions the 10‐parameter model is the minimal and complete model.

This model, together with its error model which is also presented in this paper, can be used for design, calibration, and control of LTS.

This paper develops a kinematics model that describes not only the motion but also geometric variations of LTS, and demonstrates that gimbals axis misalignments and tracking mirror center offset is the key contributor to measuring errors of LTS.

In the new retail era, the supply chain synergy produced by quality integration has become the new direction of service supply chain research. The purpose of this paper is to study how to promote the sustainable development of the retail service supply chain (RSSC) by comparing and analyzing the optimal quality behavior, optimal returns, and the combination of conditions and strategies of the participating members of the RSSC.

From the perspective of quality function development and service quality concern, this paper considers RSSC as a two-level supply chain structure composed of functional service provider and retail service integrator. In this paper, a dynamic optimization model of quality input-cooperation-coordination of RSSC is proposed under two quality cooperation modes of decentralization and integration. This paper adopts the differential game method to compare and analyze the optimal quality behavior, optimal income, forming conditions and strategic combination of the participating members of the RSSC in different situations.

(1) Compared with quality dispersion, quality integration has more significant Pareto improvement effect on quality behavior and optimal revenue of RSSC. (2) In the case of quality integration, the optimal revenue obtained by the service sharing model is generally better than that obtained by the retail alliance collaboration model. (3) Benefit distribution ratio and quality cost allocation determine the optimal quality behavior of participating members of the RSSC, and also become the key factors for participating members to choose the collaborative mode in the case of quality integration.

Based on the quality function development of RSSC, this paper introduces the concept of steady service quality, and discusses the relationship between the quality cooperation stability and the mode selection of RSSC. This provides a theoretical basis for how to build a RSSC with efficient operation and stable quality.

The paper aims to undertake coal–water suspension combustion, in air and in fluidised bed conditions. Fluidised bed conditions are the best to efficiently and ecologically use fuel. Combustion technologies using coal–water fuels create a number of new possibilities for organising combustion processes so that they fulfil contemporary requirements. The aim of the process was to show how the specificity of combustion of coal–water suspensions in the fluidised bed changes the kinetics of the process, compared to combustion in the air stream. Changes of the surface and the centre temperature and mass of the coal suspension during combustion, and evolution of fuels during process are presented in the paper.

Experimental character of the research required the research stand preparation, as well as working out of the measurements methodology (Kijo-Kleczkowska, 2010). The research stand (Figure 1a) was made of ceramic blocks in which the quartz pipes were put. The heating element of the stand comprised three heating coils of 2.0 kW. Each heater was placed in small quartz tubes. These tubes were built into the quartz tube which was thermally insulated by fibre material Al₂O₃ and which was covered with steel sheet. Combustion chamber constituted the quartz pipe, which was additionally insulated thermally, to keep the necessary temperature of the entering gas and to reduce the heat loss. The compressed air was transported to the quartz tube through the electro-valve, the control valve and the rotameter. This study stand allowed for the comparison of the combustion process of coal–water suspensions, in air and in fluidised bed conditions. To study in the fluidised bed, quartz sand was used. Depending on the velocity of air inflowing from the bottom of the bed, different bed characteristics were obtained – from bubble – to circulating-beds. The fumes were removed outside by means of a fan fume cupboard. To regulate the temperature inside the combustion chamber, the Lumel microprocessor thermoregulator was applied. The regulator controlled the work of tri-phase Lumel power controller supplying the main heating elements (gas heater) allowing to measure the actual temperature with accuracy of measurements to 20°C. The temperature measurements in the combustion chamber were carried out by means of the thermocouple NiCr-NiAl. To establish the centre and surface temperature and mass of the fuel, a special instrument stalk was constructed (Figure 1b). It had two thermocouples PtRh10-Pt, placed in two thin quartz tubes connected to the scale. One of the thermocouples was located inside the fuel, while the other served as a basket which was to support the fuel. It also touched the surface of the fuel. The thermocouples were connected to the computer to record the experimental results. The essential stage of the preliminary work was to make out a suspension, which was a mixture of fuel dust (hard coal dust or dried coal-sludge dust) and water. To produce the suspension it was necessary to prepare fuel dust after grinding and sifting it, and then adding water, to obtain a suspension moisture of 20, 35 or 50 per cent. The hard coal was applied in the research. The analysis of fuel dust (in air-dry state) is shown in Table I. The testing of the porosity of fuel was made with mercury porosimetry, carried out in the Pascal 440 apparatus, applying pressure from 0.1 to 200 MPa. This method involves the injection of mercury into the pores of the fuel, using high pressures (Kijo-Kleczkowska, 2010).

1. Under experimental conditions, during combustion in the fluidised bed, intensive heating of the suspension is observed in the initial stage of the process, followed by the removal of heat from the suspension by the contacting quartz material, leading to lowering of the average fuel temperature and extension of the combustion time, compared to the process carried out in air. 2. Measurements using mercury porosimetry enable the identification of the change of suspension porosity. 3. Devolatilisation and combustion of volatiles lead to an increase in the pores’ size in the fuel and their coalescence. 4. Combustion of fuel leads to the development of cracks in the suspension, and its structure changes under the influence of temperature. Cracks are caused by the formation of thermal stresses inside the fuel. 5. Under experimental conditions, suspension combustion in the fluidised bed causes an increase in volume participation of pores, with larger sizes of pores (3,500-5,000 nm), compared to combustion in the air.

The paper undertakes the evolution of suspension fuel, made of a hard coal and a coal-sludge, during combustion in air and in the fluidised bed.