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The aim of the present paper is to investigate the mechanical performance of multi-layer films. With the wide application of optic and electronic thin-films, membrane materials and membrane technology have become one of the most active fields of research in contemporary materials science (Dumont et al., 1997). Multi-layer films have evolved as candidates for these applications because of their unique properties. TiN and Ti/TiN multi-layer films were fabricated using the DC magnetron sputtering method. A nano-indentation tester and electronic film distribution tester were utilized to evaluate the mechanical properties and residual stress of the films. The existence of interface effects on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the films were analyzed.

In this study, the Ti/TiN multi-layer films were fabricated using the DC magnetron sputtering method. The films were deposited on polished 45# steels. Ti was used as the sputtering target. Ar and N₂ were applied as working and reactive gases, respectively. Surface morphology was measured using transmission electron microscopy. The composition was analyzed using D8 X-ray diffraction. Nano-indentation tests were performed using Nanoindenter G200 with a Berkovich indenter. A BGS 6341 electronic film stress distribution tester was used to measure the distribution of stress in the films.

The film surface was very smooth and the structure was very dense. The elastic modulus and micro-hardness of Ti/TiN multi-layer films were smaller, compared to those of the TiN film. Furthermore, both of these parameters initially decreased and later increased, with a decrease in the modulation period. The residual stress in the film was compressive. The corrosion resistance properties of TiN films were the best in NaCl solution, less so in alkaline solution and worst in acid solution. For the Ti/TiN multi-layer films tested in an acid medium, the corrosion resistance performance was better when the modulation period was decreased to micron grade under exposure conditions at ambient temperature.

In the present paper, the Ti/TiN multi-layer films were fabricated using PVD with different variations, and the influence on the performance of Ti/TiN multi-layer films due to each single layer period of TiN was studied. The findings should provide useful guidelines for the preparation of high quality Ti/TiN multi-layer thin films.

Collaborative research and development have remained a pertinent mechanism for conducting technological innovations. With the lens of knowledge-based view (KBV), this study aims to examine the role of changes in knowledge couplings and network cohesion to elevate innovation performance.

Data analysis has been performed on 53,459 patents through regression analysis with random effects. These independent and joint patents are extracted from Derwent Innovation Database.

Findings explicate that change in external existing or existing and new knowledge couplings have inverted U-shaped effects on a firm’s innovation performance. Changes in internal existing or existing and new knowledge couplings have direct positive effects on firm’s innovation performance. The moderation effect of network cohesion flattens the inverted U-shaped effect of external new and existing knowledge coupling, whereas it has no significant effect on external existing knowledge coupling. Network cohesion further elevates the effects of internal knowledge couplings – existing or existing and new.

This study theoretically contributes to KBV and innovation management literature by highlighting the scope of changes in internal and external knowledge couplings and subsequent output. Network cohesion flattens the curviness of changes in external new and existing knowledge couplings, which is a contribution to strategic management literature.

Organizations need to carefully manage changes in knowledge couplings and ensure their benefits (obtain new knowledge domain or new combination) outweigh liabilities (damages to organizational routines or increase in collaboration costs). Managers must consider four kinds of knowledge coupling changes along with developing network cohesion as an R&D strategy.

This study is one of its types to flatten the curve through network cohesion. This study divided the changes in knowledge coupling into four types and two dimensions; external existing and new and existing knowledge couplings and internal existing and new and existing knowledge couplings.

Visual stimulation affects the taste of food and beverages. This study aimed to understand how latte art affects coffee consumption by collecting participants' brainwave data and their taste responses.

Seventy subjects participated in a two-stage experiment. Electroencephalography (EEG) was employed to measure brainwave activity. With an interval of one week, each stage involved coffee consumption with and without latte art. The responses to the taste of the coffee were also collected for analysis.

Significant differences were found in the participants' alpha and beta brainwave bands. When drinking coffee with latte art, the participants' alpha bands were significantly lower, whereas the beta bands were higher. These findings were supported by Bayesian statistics. A significant increase was found in the participants' taste of sweetness and acidity with latte art, and Bayesian statistics confirmed the results for sweetness although the evidence on the increase in acidity was anecdotal. No difference was found in the taste of bitterness.

This study highlights the effect of latte art on coffee consumption. The authors analysed the empirical evidence from this two-stage experimental study in the form of the participants' brainwave data and their responses to taste. This study's original contribution is that it explored the crossmodal effects of latte art on consumers' taste of coffee from a neuroscientific perspective. The results of this study can provide empirical evidence on how to effectively use latte art in practical business environments.

This paper aims to investigate whether the managers’ emphasis on audit in the management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) section of the 10-K filing, as part of the firm’s “tone at the top,” is linked to audit quality.

Adopting a computational linguistics approach, the authors measure the manager’s audit emphasis as the frequency of audit-related words in the MD&A. The authors then assess the relationship between audit emphasis and audit quality with ordinary least squares and probit regression models.

This study finds that the manager’s audit emphasis, proxied by the count of audit-related words, is positively associated with audit fees, audit delay, the appointment and retention of Big 4 and industry-specialist auditors, and the probability of switching to Big 4 auditors, while negatively linked to abnormal accruals and the possibility of financial misstatements.

The audit emphasis measure suffers from limitations. The computer program determining audit emphasis may misinterpret words in the MD&A. Researchers need to consider procedures to minimize misinterpretations.

Frequency of audit words in the MD&A reflects the firm’s aspiration for audit quality. Auditors, regulators and investors could ascertain such aspiration from past and current MD&As.

This study associates the manager’s emphasis on audit, measured with computational linguistics from the MD&A, with realized audit quality.