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While the peer effects of technology adoption are well established, few studies have considered the variation in peer effects resulting from the mutual proximity between leaders and followers and the heterogeneity of farmers' learning technology. This study addresses the gap in the literature by analyzing the peer effects of technology adoption among Chinese farmers.

Drawing on a government-led soil testing and formulated fertilization program, this study uses survey data of farmers from three Chinese provinces to examine the peer effects of technology adoption. This study uses a probit model to examine how mutual proximity influences peer effects and their heterogeneity. Accordingly, farmers were divided into two groups, namely small- and large-scale farmers, and then into leaders or followers depending on whether they were selected by the government as model farmers.

Both small- and large-scale farmers are more likely to use formula fertilizer if their peers do so. However, a large-scale farmer is more likely to adopt formula fertilizer if the average adoption behavior of other large-scale model (leader) farmers is higher, while a small-scale farmer is more likely to adopt formula fertilizer if other small-scale non-model (follower) farmers have higher average adoption behavior. Moreover, the peer effect was weakened by geographic distance among small-scale farmers and by economic distance among large-scale farmers.

This study elucidates the means of optimizing social learning and technology adoption among farmers.

This paper aims to explore polyaniline (PANI) as a lubricant additive to improve the anti-corrosion and tribological properties of ionic liquids (ILs) for actual applications.

ILs were synthesized by dissolving lithium salts in synthetic oil and were used as a base oil to prepare ILs-based greases. PANI was used as an additive. The tribological properties were investigated in detail and the anti-corrosion ability was also assessed via salt spray test. After friction test, the worn surfaces were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze the lubrication mechanisms.

PANI not only reduces the corrosion but also improves the friction reduction and anti-wear abilities of the ILs-based greases. The analysis indicates that the protective films generated on the worn surfaces were responsible for the preferable anti-corrosion and tribological properties.

This paper provides an effective approach to improve the anti-corrosion and tribological properties of ILs for actual applications.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2019-0469/

This paper aims to introduce a new structure for coaxial magnetic gears.

The study discusses the design and electromagnetic modeling of a triple-speed coaxial magnetic gear (TSCMG) for three different levels of torques in special applications such as wind energy conversion and electrical vehicles. The proposed TSCMG consists of inner, middle and outer rotor, which has one rotor more than its conventional counterpart. The suggested TSCMG’s related equations such as transform ratio and torque are calculated, then TSCMG is simulated in a finite element environment. A comprehensive study has been done on TSCMG, and results are compared with two other magnetic gears with the same volume but two speeds.

The obtained results show that the proposed structure for TSCMGs is significantly practical and applicable in higher ranges of torques. Finally, an experimental TSCMG is prototyped to verify the results.

The achievements are excellent and confirm that TSCMG can be used as powerful equipment in a wide range of application like permanent wind turbines to generate electricity in 24 h per every single day.

The purpose of this paper is to study the use of the additive manufacturing (AM) method, electron beam melting (EBM), for manufacturing of customized hip stems. The aim is to investigate EBM's feasibility and commercial potential in comparison with conventional machining, and to map out advantages and drawbacks of using EBM in this application. One part of the study concerns the influence on the fatigue properties of the material, when using the raw surface directly from the EBM machine, in parts of the implant.

The research is based on a case study of manufacturing a batch of seven individually adapted hip stems. The stems were manufactured both with conventional machining and with EBM technology and the methods were compared according to the costs of materials, time for file preparation and manufacturing. In order to enhance bone ingrowths in the medial part of the stem, the raw surface from EBM manufacturing is used in that area and initial fatigue studies were performed, to get indications on how this surface influences the fatigue properties.

The cost reduction due to using EBM in this study was 35 per cent. Fatigue tests comparing milled test bars with raw surfaced bars indicate a reduction of the fatigue limit by using the coarse surface.

The paper presents a detailed comparison of EBM and conventional machining, not seen in earlier research. The fatigue tests of raw EBM‐surfaces are interesting since the raw surface has shown to enhance bone ingrowths and therefore is suitable to use in some medical applications.