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The main purpose of this study was to propose theoretical calculation models to evaluate the theoretical bending strengths of welded wide-flange section steel beams with local buckling at elevated temperatures.

Steady-state tests using various test parameters, including width-thickness ratios (Class 2–4) and specimen temperatures (ambient temperature, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800°C), were performed on 18 steel beam specimens using roller supports to examine the maximum bending moment and bending strength after local buckling. A detailed calculation model (DCM) based on the equilibrium of the axial force in the cross-section and a simple calculation model (SCM) for a practical fire-resistant design were proposed. The validity of the calculation models was verified using the bending test results.

The strain concentration at the local buckling cross-section was mitigated in the elevated-temperature region, resulting in a small bending moment degradation after local buckling. The theoretical bending strengths after local buckling, evaluated from the calculation models, were in good agreement with the test results at elevated temperatures.

The effect of local buckling on the bending behaviour after the maximum bending strength in high-temperature regions was quantified. Two types of calculation models were proposed to evaluate the theoretical bending strength after local buckling.

Combined free and forced laminar air convective heat transfer from a vertical composite plate with isolated discontinuous surface heating elements has been studied numerically and experimentally. The problem has been simplified by neglecting heat conduction in unheated elements of the plate to accomplish a better understanding of the complicated combined/complicated convection problem. In this study, it is most important in explaining the heat transfer behaviour to clarify the interactions between buoyancy and inertia forces in the convective field and also the coupling effects of unheated elements upon the combined flow fields. Therefore, the temperature distributions of the wall surface and local Nusselt number, obtained by numerical calculations and experiments, have been discussed based on the various parameters associated with the present convection problem, i.e., Grashof number Gr_L, Reynolds number Re_L, geometry factor D/L and stage number N. Heat transfer characteristics Nu_t/Re^1/2_L of this combined and coupled convection of air are presented as a function of a generalized coupling dimensionless number Gr_L/Re²_L, and stage number N for certain values of the geometry factor of D/L.

Over the past ten years about 200 computer‐controlled automatic sorting machines have been installed in Japan. The system described in this article, in use in a retail distribution centre, incorporates automatic ultrasonic volume measurement for calculation of freight charges, voice input, laser scanning and other sensing aids. Part of the system was described in this magazine in January 1981 — this article brings the story up to date.

One of Japan's largest distribution centres has introduced an automatic sorting system using voice input. The workforce has been halved.

A two‐dimensional numerical study was carried out to investigate laminar forced‐convection heat transfer characteristics of air flow in a two parallel plate channel with offset plates and heated by a radiation heat flux. The SIMPLE method was used for the numerical prediction of the flow and thermal fields. The flow field temperature boundary conditions were obtained by applying the energy balance equation to boundary elements. The ray tracing technique was used to obtain the net absorbed radiation fractions in the boundary elements. The numerical results were validated with measured temperature values and experimentally calculated values of local Nusselt number (Nu_x), and a reasonable agreement was shown. Then the numerical simulation was used to study effects of design parameters on the convective heat transfer coefficient. It was found that in Re numbers from 650 to 2,550, the optimum spacing of offset plates relative to the nearest channel wall was around one third of the channel height. Also, the optimum offset plates’ numbers can be calculated based on one offset plate length being equal to one and a half times the channel hydraulic diameter. A correlation of average Nusselt number between the flowing air and the offset plates was obtained as follows; —Nu = 1.81 Re ^0.352Pr^1/3(D_h/l)^1/2.

Combined forced and free laminar convective heat transfer on a vertical plate with a backward‐facing step has been studied numerically and experimentally, considering the effects of the interaction between the buoyancy and inertia forces which play a significant role in this phenomenon with the step‐geometry factor of d/L. The convective heat transfer behavior in connection with the reattachment and recirculation flows appearing in the step region has been investigated based on the numerical calculations and Mach‐Zehnder interferometer measurement under the wide range of the thermal condition. The behaviors of local Nusselt number Nu_L, velocity and temperature boundary layers and streamline fields in the recirculating region have been discussed for the various parameters of Grashof number Gr_L, Reynolds number Re_L and the geometry factor d/L. The characteristic behavior of this convection heat transfer, including the vortex flow mode in the recirculating region and the unstable fluctuating mode near the reattaching point appearing at the specific condition, has been clarified numerically and experimentally by introducing the generalized coupling parameter Gr_L/Re_L² and geometry factor d/L.

To explore and examine cultural differences in the consumer attitudes toward social media.

Internet survey.

The influence of culture toward the consumer attitudes in social media may be less salient compared with other consumer behaviors.

This study is exploratory in nature.

To encourage managers to revisit the issue of globalization versus localization, particularly in the domain of social media.

This study is one of the first attempts in exploring cultural differences in the consumer behavior of social media.

The origins of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have been widely attributed to the work of scholars, and business managers as well, in North America and Western Europe. Inevitably, however, as the economic interaction of individual firms and entire nations has grown over the past several decades — call it globalization — so too has the concept and the practice of CSR spread throughout the world. It is certainly time to explore how CSR is being incorporated into the practice of business management in other regions and other countries. Therefore, in this chapter we will focus on Asia: specifically on Japan, South Korea, India, and China. It is interesting for academicians to understand how CSR is being absorbed and adapted into the business cultures of these four countries. Perhaps of even greater importance, it is vital that business managers know what to expect about the interaction between business and society as well as the government as their commercial activities grow in this burgeoning part of the world.

For each of these four countries, we will provide an overview of the extent to which CSR has become a part of the academic community and also how it is being practiced and incorporated in everyday management affairs. We will see that there are very significant differences among these countries which lead to the natural question: why? To answer this question, we will use an eight-part analytical framework developed specifically for this purpose. We will look at the history, the dominant religious beliefs, the relevant social customs, the geography, the political structures, the level of economic development, civil society institutions, and the “safety net” of each country. As a result of this analysis, we believe, academicians can learn how CSR is absorbed and spread into commercial affairs, and managers can profit from learning more about what to expect when doing business in this increasingly important region.