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The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively examine the influence of formal and informal institutional differences on enterprise investment margin, mode and result.

This paper is based on 2,440 micro samples of large-scale outbound investment from 609 Chinese enterprises from the years 2005 to 2016.

The study has found that formal institutional differences have little impact on investment scale, but significantly affect investment diversification. In order to avoid the management risks brought by formal institutional differences, enterprises tend to a full ownership structure. However, the choice between greenfield investment and cross-border mergers and acquisitions is not affected by formal institutional differences. In contrast, the impact of informal institutional differences is more extensive. Both formal and informal institutional differences significantly increase the probability of investment failure. Further research found that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) bridges the formal institutional differences.

The study concludes that developing the BRI, especially cultural exchanges with countries alongside the Belt and Road, will help enterprises to “go global” faster and better.

This study aims to examine information (stock return, volatility and extreme risk) spillovers and interconnectedness within dual-banking systems.

Using multilayer information spillover networks, this paper conduct a deep analysis of contagion dynamics among 24 Islamic and 46 conventional banks from 2006 to 2022.

The findings show the network’s rapid response to financial shocks. Through cross-sector analysis, this paper identify information spillovers between and within Islamic and conventional banking systems. Furthermore, this research illustrates distinct roles played by Islamic and conventional banks within the multilayer network structure, contingent upon the nature of the financial shock.

Understanding the differential roles of Islamic and conventional banks in information transmission can aid policymakers and financial institutions in devising more effective risk management strategies, thereby enhancing financial stability within dual-banking systems.

This study contributes to the literature by emphasizing the necessity of examining contagion mechanisms beyond traditional single-layer network structures, shedding light on the shadow dynamics of information transmission in dual-banking systems.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the most comprehensive and substantial international cooperation platform, creating a new market influenced by economic and political factors. In this paper, the authors aim to examine whether and how the BRI impacts the Chinese enterprises' corporate environmental responsibility (CER).

Based on China's listed firms' database from 2011 to 2018, the authors use the PSM-DID method, an econometrics method combined with propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences (DID), to conduct causal inference between the BRI and Chinese enterprises' CER and conduct a series of robustness analyses. Moreover, the authors explore the mechanisms underlying the main effect from both market and non-market perspectives.

The results suggest that the BRI significantly increases Chinese enterprises' CER. Further analyses show that market competition and government support are two possible mechanisms through which the BRI has an effect on the enterprises' CER.

The research study supplements existing work on the environmental effects of the BRI at a microlevel and adds to the literature on the drivers of CER. The findings offer valuable insights into governments and scholars by demonstrating that CER is a crucial tool for Chinese enterprises to gain a competitive advantage in the increasingly competitive markets along the BRI.

Reliable conceptual cost estimation of large-scale construction projects is critical for successful project planning and execution. For addressing the limited data availability in conceptual cost estimation, this study proposes an enhanced ANN-based cost estimating model that incorporates artificial neural networks, ensemble modeling and a factor analysis approach.

In the ANN-based conceptual cost estimating model, the ensemble modeling component enhances training, and thus, improves its predictive accuracy and stability when project data quantity is low; and the factor analysis component finds the optimal input for an estimating model, rendering explanations of project data more descriptive.

On the basis of the results of experiments, it can be concluded that ensemble modeling and FAMD (Factor Analysis of Mixed Data) are both conjointly capable of improving the accuracy of conceptual cost estimates. The ANN model version combining bootstrap aggregation and FAMD improved estimation accuracy and reliability despite these very low project sample sizes.

The generalizability of the findings is hard to justify since it is difficult to collect cost data of construction projects comprehensively. But this difficulty means that our proposed approaches and findings can provide more accurate and stable conceptual cost forecasting in the early stages of project development.

From the perspective of this research, previous uses of past-project data can be deemed to have underutilized that information, and this study has highlighted that — even when limited in quantity — past-project data can and should be utilized effectively in the generation of conceptual cost estimates.

This paper aims to first analyze the reasons of a brick-wooden building tilts in Yunnan province in China. Then, a jacking method which combines the stress release methods and the excavation of stress release trench were put forward.

This method uses the anchor static pile to guarantee the safety of the building in the process of rectifying.

The practice showed that the inclination rate of the building was stable in the process of jacking, which proved the efficiency of the proposed method.

It has a great value for similar rectification projects, and for the protection of cultural heritage and ancient buildings have a positive effect.

The majority of Hong Kong filmmakers have pursued co-production with China filmmakers for having the Mainland market at the expense of local styles and sensitivities. To many critics, the two-part series of Ip Man and Ip Man II provide a paradigmatic case of film co-production that sell the tricks of Chinese kung fu, regurgitating the overblown Chinese nationalism against Japanese and kwai-lo. The purpose of this study is to rectify such observation of the Ip Man series.

The authors read the series deconstructively as a postcolonial text in which Hong Kong identity is inscribed in the negotiated space in between different versions of Chinese nationalism.

The analysis points to the varying subversive features in the series from which Hong Kong’s colonial experiences are tacitly displayed, endorsed and rewritten into the Chinese nationalistic discourse whose dominance is questioned, if not debased.

This paper advances new research insights into the postcolonial reinvention of kung fu film and, by implication, the Hong Kong cinema in general.

This paper aims to offer a convenient method to develop an oven recipe for a specific soldering profile in a reflow process. The method is devised to quickly achieve proper profile shape and heating factor Q_η, a measure of success for high reliability of the solder joints reflowed.

An in‐depth analysis of the heating mechanism and some experiments of the reflow soldering process are performed to research on how to realize a specific shape reflow profile were conducted.

Heating mechanism analysis and experiments demonstrate that the combinatorial parameters based method is feasible to do thermal profiling.

The mapping function among a particular configured PCBA, an oven used, a target reflow profile and an optimal range of the heating factor should be further established for fast and reliable production of reflow soldering.

Provides a methodology for designing an oven recipe for reflow soldering production.

An oven recipe can be quickly attained with the approach established in this paper, facilitating the formation of solder joints with high reliability during the reflow soldering process.

It is not an easy and simple task to manufacture a complete denture with high quality. Traditionally, it often needs a medical expert with experience and hand‐on skill, due to the manual way of denture manufacturing. The purpose of this paper is to implement the multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot system that can fully automate the denture manufacturing process.

A novel complete denture manufacturing mechanism is designed, which is based on the multi‐manipulator and dental arch generator. The visual tooth‐arrangement and robot control software is developed in VC++6.0. Preliminary experiments on tooth‐arrangement have been conducted using the proposed multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot prototype system.

The multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot prototype system can automatically design and manufacture a set of complete denture that fit a patient by visual tooth‐arrangement and robot control software according to the patient's jaw arch parameters.

The implication of research is that it is feasible that the manufacture strategy of complete denture fulfilled by multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot. The limitation of research is that it is difficult to realize coordinate control.

The traditional manual method which makes complete denture by medical personal experience will be changed after the multi‐manipulator tooth‐arrangement robot system is manufactured, and adjustment to each tooth position and orientation will be realized by this system.

The purpose of this paper is to implement a glass-curtain-wall cleaning robot driven by a double flexible rope, so as to replace manual cleaning. The glass-curtain-wall, because of its excellent daylighting performance, damp-proofing characteristics, heat insulation properties and aesthetics, is widely used in modern city buildings. For glass-curtain-wall buildings, regular cleaning of the glass-curtain-wall is necessary to ensure that the surface of the building appears clean and tidy, which in turn contributes toward preserving the overall aesthetic appearance of the city. Currently, the primary method of cleaning glass curtain walls is manual cleaning by workers on a suspended platform.

The mechanical structure of the proposed glass-curtain-wall cleaning robot driven by a double flexible rope is inspired by the way a spider moves by pulling its silk draglines in the air. For self-locking protection and increased rope friction, the robot’s moving section includes a worm reducer and multislot master–slave roller. The cleaning section comprises a water tank, control valve, shower nozzle and brush. The wall adsorbing section is realized by a double rotor. The workspace of the robot is analyzed. Flexible rope winding and unreeling control of the cleaning robot is deduced. The force of the cleaning robot when the double rotor is working is analyzed and calculated. The prototype of the glass-curtain-wall cleaning robot model driven by a double flexible rope is established, and experiments wherein the robot moves along a preset track, as well as cleaning experiments, are performed.

The prototype of the glass-curtain-wall cleaning robot model driven by a double flexible rope can move along the preset track, satisfy the design functions and clean effectively. The experimental results verify the validity and practicality of the robot.

The implication of this research is that a glass-curtain-wall cleaning robot model driven by a double flexible rope fulfills the movement strategy and drive-type requirements for cleaning glass curtain walls. The limitation of this research is that it is difficult to implement rapid cleaning.

The traditional method of manual cleaning by workers on a suspended platform will be changed after the glass-curtain-wall cleaning robot is manufactured, and the advent of this cleaning robot for the low- and mid-rise buildings will reduce the cost of cleaning buildings, improve the working environment and enhance production efficiency.

Urban water bodies play an important role in reducing summertime urban heat island (UHI) effects. Previous studies focused mainly on the impact of water bodies of large areas, and there is no analysis of the efficacy and scale effect of how small and medium-sized water bodies reduce the UHI effects. Hence, these studies could not provide theoretical support for the scientific planning and design of urban water bodies. This study aims to confirm, within different scale ranges, the efficacy of a water body in reducing the summertime UHI effects. We propose a scale sensitivity method to investigate the temporal and spatial relationship between urban water bodies and UHI. Based on the scale theory and geostatistical analysis method in landscape ecology, this study used the platforms of 3S, MATLAB, and SPSS to analyze the distance-decay law of water bodies in reducing summertime UHI effects, as well as the scale response at different water surface ratios. The results show that the influence of water surfaces on UHIs gradually decreases with increasing distance, and the temperature rises by 0.78 °C for every 100 m away from the water body. During daytime, there is a scaled sensitivity of how much water surfaces reduce the summertime UHI effects. The most sensitive radius from the water was found at the core water surface ratio of 200 m. A reduction of UHI intensity by 2.3 °C was observed for every 10% increase of the average core water surface ratio. This study provides a theoretical reference to the control of heat islands for the planning and design of urban water bodies.