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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 22 September 2023

Nengsheng Bao, Yuchen Fan, Chaoping Li and Alessandro Simeone

Lubricating oil leakage is a common issue in thermal power plant operation sites, requiring prompt equipment maintenance. The real-time detection of leakage occurrences could…

Abstract

Purpose

Lubricating oil leakage is a common issue in thermal power plant operation sites, requiring prompt equipment maintenance. The real-time detection of leakage occurrences could avoid disruptive consequences caused by the lack of timely maintenance. Currently, inspection operations are mostly carried out manually, resulting in time-consuming processes prone to health and safety hazards. To overcome such issues, this paper proposes a machine vision-based inspection system aimed at automating the oil leakage detection for improving the maintenance procedures.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach aims at developing a novel modular-structured automatic inspection system. The image acquisition module collects digital images along a predefined inspection path using a dual-light (i.e. ultraviolet and blue light) illumination system, deploying the fluorescence of the lubricating oil while suppressing unwanted background noise. The image processing module is designed to detect the oil leakage within the digital images minimizing detection errors. A case study is reported to validate the industrial suitability of the proposed inspection system.

Findings

On-site experimental results demonstrate the capabilities to complete the automatic inspection procedures of the tested industrial equipment by achieving an oil leakage detection accuracy up to 99.13%.

Practical implications

The proposed inspection system can be adopted in industrial context to detect lubricant leakage ensuring the equipment and the operators safety.

Originality/value

The proposed inspection system adopts a computer vision approach, which deploys the combination of two separate sources of light, to boost the detection capabilities, enabling the application for a variety of particularly hard-to-inspect industrial contexts.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Ethan Pancer, Matthew Philp and Theodore J. Noseworthy

Recent research has demonstrated that people are more likely to engage with fatty food content online. One way health advocates might facilitate engagement with healthier…

4982

Abstract

Purpose

Recent research has demonstrated that people are more likely to engage with fatty food content online. One way health advocates might facilitate engagement with healthier, calorie-light foods is to alter how people process food media. This research paper aims to investigate the moderating role of viewer mindset on consumer responses to digital food media.

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments were conducted by manipulating the caloric density of food media content and/or one’s mindset before viewing.

Findings

Results show that the relationship between nutrition and engagement is moderated by consumer mindset, where activating a more calculative mindset before exposure can elevate social media engagement for calorie-light food media content.

Research limitations/implications

These findings contribute to the domain of obesogenic digital environments and the role of nutrition in consuming food media. By examining how mindsets interact with affective evaluations, this work demonstrates that a default mindset based on instinct can be shifted and thus alter subsequent behavioral intentions.

Practical implications

This work provides insight into what can boost the visibility and engagement of healthy food content on social media. Marketers can help promote healthier food media by cueing consumers to think more deliberately before exposure.

Originality/value

This research builds on recent work by demonstrating how to boost engagement with healthy foods on social media by cueing a more thoughtful mindset.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 56 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 October 2021

Zhihui Li and Hongbo Sun

With the development of the modern economy, vehicles are no longer a luxury for people, which greatly facilitate people’s daily life, but at the same time bring traffic…

Abstract

Purpose

With the development of the modern economy, vehicles are no longer a luxury for people, which greatly facilitate people’s daily life, but at the same time bring traffic congestion. How to relieve traffic congestion and improve its capacity is a hot research area. This paper aims to propose a new simulation framework for crowd transportations to ease traffic congestion.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper establishes related simulation models such as vehicles, traffic lights and advisers. Then the paper describes their relationships, gives their interaction mechanism and solidifies the above into a software implementation framework.

Findings

This paper proposes a simulation framework for crowd transportations.

Originality/value

In this framework, traffic lights are used as a control method to control the road network and road conditions are used as an Affecter to influence individual behavior. The vehicle passing rate is defined by the correlation between endowment and the start time of the traffic lights. In this framework, members are related, dynamically adjusted according to road conditions and dynamically optimized member decisions. The optimal path is dynamic and real-time adjustments are made for each step forward. It is different from the traditional optimal path in which there is only one fixed one and it is different from the macroscopic optimal path that does not exist.

Details

International Journal of Crowd Science, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-7294

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 November 2017

Marco Bevolo

The purpose of this paper is to report the grounded theory empirical validation on key categories within a design-led methodology to envision urban futures. The paper focuses on…

1408

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the grounded theory empirical validation on key categories within a design-led methodology to envision urban futures. The paper focuses on the editorial products and the design concepts that constitute the heart of the approach. An original elaboration of trend clusters is presented as an exemplification of the outcome of this trend research approach. Although the approach was not created from the viewpoint of tourism and leisure, bibliographic notes on place-making complement it for this journal.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents empirical findings extracted by the means of the grounded theory, with the purpose to empirically validate two key categories (product and process) of a urban futures methodology. The methodology is an application of High Design, the process in use at Royal Philips BV for two decades. This methodology is contextualized within the constructivist episteme, as defined by the editors of this journal in a separate publication. Bibliographic references to place-making complete the paper.

Findings

The following findings are provided: empirical validation of the city.people.light communication platform (qualitative research); empirical validation of the city.people.light workshop practice (qualitative research); and bibliographic descriptions of the design process governing city.people.light and newly developed urban futures trend clusters, at European level, as an exemplification of the program/approach outcome.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is structured according to a multi-layered editorial focus. Empirical findings were generated at primary research level in a 2013-2015 grounded theory projected by the author. Furthermore, the author directed the research processes and products that are the object of empirical validation. Newly defined elaborations and a discussion thereof is offered, taking into account contemporary place-making issues.

Practical implications

The original design-based methodology is a structured practice in urban futures from applied sciences and corporate innovation viewpoint. In this paper, its key categories are empirically validated through the grounded theory. Additionally, outcome from the original foresight programs is presented and a bibliographic review is provided from the viewpoint of place-making.

Social implications

The co-creative methodology herein empirically validated is socio-cultural centered, with a strong drive to coutnerbalance the positivist and engineering corporate mindset through a humanistic concern for people. The framework in terms of place-making takes into account postmodern evolutions of the field.

Originality/value

The paper benefits from a unique mix of: epistemic note on tourism, leisure, and the future; original urban futures scenarios and design concepts from a world class corporate innovation program; and the actual empirical core of the grounded theory validation as performed in a dedicated research project. These three separate streams are mutually related.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 July 2021

Ahlam Ammar Sharif and Andrew Karvonen

Architectural theorists have a long tradition of acknowledging the centrality of building users to architectural production. This article contributes to the discourse on…

Abstract

Purpose

Architectural theorists have a long tradition of acknowledging the centrality of building users to architectural production. This article contributes to the discourse on architecture, actor–network theory (ANT), and users by proposing a typology of user translations ranging from supporting to tinkering to adjusting to resisting.

Design/methodology/approach

The research utilises an ANT-inspired ethnography of sustainable lighting scripts at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST). It comprises semi-structured interviews with MIST designers and students, and site visits and participant observation to understand how the users interpret the scripts and how they interact and change them on a daily basis.

Findings

There is a shared understanding that users do not simply receive architectural designs but interpret and change them to suit their preferences. The findings reveal the multiple ways that users interpret and respond to the assumptions of designers and in the process, recast the relations between themselves and their material surroundings.

Originality/value

The research contributes to acknowledging the centrality of users to architectural design processes and the interpretation of design scripts, addressing the limitation in current literature in demonstrating the diversity of ways that users react to such scripts. The research suggests that user actions have significant implications on long-term building performance. It accordingly points to the need for devising multiple means of user involvement in the design process and allowing greater flexibility in design scripts to improve the alignment with user preferences.

Details

Open House International, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 August 2022

Caspar Krampe

To advance marketing research and practice, this study aims to examine the application of the innovative, mobile-applicable neuroimaging method – mobile functional near-infrared…

1350

Abstract

Purpose

To advance marketing research and practice, this study aims to examine the application of the innovative, mobile-applicable neuroimaging method – mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (mfNIRS) – in the field of marketing research, providing comprehensive guidelines and practical recommendations.

Design/methodology/approach

A general review and investigation of when and how to use mfNIRS in business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing settings is used to illustrate the utility of mfNIRS.

Findings

The research findings help prospective marketing and consumer neuroscience researchers to structure mfNIRS experiments, perform the analysis and interpret the obtained mfNIRS data.

Research implications

The application of mfNIRS offers opportunities for marketing research that allow the exploration of neural processes and associated behaviour of customers in naturalistic settings.

Practical implications

The application of mfNIRS as a neuroimaging method enables the investigation of unconscious neural processes that control customer behaviour and can act as process variables for companies.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies to provide comprehensive guidelines and applied practical recommendations concerning when and how to apply mfNIRS in marketing research.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 56 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 October 2019

Saleh Zaid Al-Otaibi

This study aims to analyze the impact of Arab Revolution on the Arabian Gulf security by applying on Yemeni Revolution. This can be achieved by analyzing the threat of Arab Spring…

2975

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the impact of Arab Revolution on the Arabian Gulf security by applying on Yemeni Revolution. This can be achieved by analyzing the threat of Arab Spring Revolutions to the national security of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries after the breakout of demonstrations and protests in some of the member states. In addition to its analysis of threat of the Regional Security of the Gulf as a result of Yemeni Revolution and Civil War and Iranian intervention to support Houthis within light of regional anarchy and security competition according to the Neorealism and how the GCC Countries face such threats.

Design/methodology/approach

The study depended on the historical methodology to track the developments of some events related to the Gulf Security and crisis in Yemen. Moreover, it used the analytical approach to analyze the impact of Arab Revolutions and Yemeni Civil War on the Arab Gulf Security. In addition, it depended on the realistic approach to explain the security state at the national and regional level of the Arab Gulf countries within light of regional anarchy, security competition and Iranian support to Houthis “Non-State Actors” (Kenneth Waltz), as well as the offensive realism (John Mearsheimer).

Findings

The Arab Revolutions had an effect on the national security of GCC countries according to the Neorealism due to the breakout of demonstrations and protests in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Sultanate of Oman which reached to the degree of threatening the existence of the state as in Bahrain. The Gulf Regional Security is influenced by Revolution and Civil War in Yemen as a result of that Iranian support to Houthis within light of security competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia, leading to the threat of the Arabian Gulf Security as Yemen is the southern gate to the GCC Countries and having joint borders with Saudi Arabia and Sultanate of Oman. Moreover, the GCC countries dealt with that threat individually, such as, performing internal reforms, or collectively through using military force, such as Bahrain and Yemen (Offensive Realism).

Originality/value

This study is an introduction to explain the Arab Spring Revolutions, conflict in Yemen and its threat to the Arab Gulf Security according to the Neorealism based on that the GCC countries sought to keep its existence and sovereignty in confrontation to the demonstrations and internal protests and to keep the regional security in confrontation to the threats of neighboring countries such as the Civil War in Yemen and the Iranian Support to Houthis in light of the regional anarchy.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 30 September 2019

Laura D. Vallejo-Melgarejo, Ronald G. Reifenberger, Brittany A. Newell, Carlos A. Narváez-Tovar and José M. Garcia-Bravo

An Autodesk Ember three-dimensional (3D) printer was used to print optical components from Clear PR48 photocurable resin. The cured PR48 was characterized by the per cent of light…

3597

Abstract

Purpose

An Autodesk Ember three-dimensional (3D) printer was used to print optical components from Clear PR48 photocurable resin. The cured PR48 was characterized by the per cent of light transmitted and the index of refraction, which was measured with a prism spectrometer. Lenses and diffraction gratings were also printed and characterized. The focal length of the printed lenses agreed with predictions based on the thin lens equation. The periodicity and effective slit width of the printed gratings were determined from both optical micrographs and fits to the Fraunhofer diffraction equation. This study aims to demonstrate the advantages offered by a layer-by-layer DLP printing process for the manufacture of optical components for use in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Design/methodology/approach

A 3D printer was used to print both lenses and diffraction gratings from Standard Clear PR48 photocurable resin. The manufacturing process of the lenses and the diffraction gratings differ mainly in the printing angle with respect to the printer x-y-axes. The transmission diffraction gratings studied here were manufactured with nominal periodicities of 10, 25 and 50 µm. The aim of this study was to optically determine the effective values for the distance between slits, d, and the effective width of the slits, w, and to compare these values with the printed layer thickness.

Findings

The normalized diffraction patterns measured in this experiment for the printed gratings with layer thickness of 10, 25 and 50 µm are shown by the solid dots in Figures 8(a)-(c). Also shown as a red solid line are the fits to the experimental diffraction data. The effective values of d and w obtained from fitting the data are compared to the nominal layer thickness of the printed gratings. The effective distance between slits required to fit the diffraction patterns are well approximated by the printed layer thickness to within 14, 4 and 16 per cent for gratings with a nominal 10, 25 and 50 µm layer thickness, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

Chromatic aberration is present in all polymer lenses, and the authors have not attempted to characterize it in this study. These materials could be used for achromatic lenses if paired with a crown-type material in an achromatic doublet configuration, because this would correct the chromatic aberration issues. It is worthwhile to compare the per cent transmission in cured PR48 resin (approximately 80 per cent) to the percent transmission found in common optical materials like BK7 (approximately 92 per cent) over the visible region. The authors attribute the lower transmission in PR48 to a combination of surface scattering and increased absorption. At the present time, the authors do not know what fraction of the lower transmission is related to the surface quality resulting from sample polishing.

Practical implications

There are inherent limitations to the 3D manufacturing process that affect the performance of lenses. Approximations to a curved surface in the design software, the printing resolution of the Autodesk Ember printer and the anisotropy due to printing in layers are believed to be the main issues. The performance of the lenses is also affected by internal imperfections in the printed material, in particular the presence of bubbles and the inclusion of debris like dust or fibers suspended in air. In addition, the absorption of wavelengths in the blue/ultraviolet produces an undesirable yellowing in any printed part.

Originality/value

One of the most interesting results from this study was the manufacture of diffraction gratings using 3D printing. An analysis of the diffraction pattern produced by these printed gratings yielded estimates for the slit periodicity and effective slit width. These gratings are unique because the effective slit width fills the entire volume of the printed part. This aspect makes it possible to integrate two or more optical devices in a single printed part. For example, a lens combined with a diffraction grating now becomes possible.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 25 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 December 2021

Xian Zhang

Karl Marx's social capital reproduction theory is his significant contribution to economics. The purpose of this paper is to review the contributions of the exploration of Chinese…

Abstract

Purpose

Karl Marx's social capital reproduction theory is his significant contribution to economics. The purpose of this paper is to review the contributions of the exploration of Chinese economists (especially Professor Liu Guoguang) in the concretization of Marx’s social capital reproduction theory combined with socialist construction since 1949.

Design/methodology/approach

During this process, Professor Liu Guoguang, a famous Chinese Marxist economist, has made an outstanding contribution by creating a Marxist social capital reproduction model with Chinese characteristics and a distinctive Marxist economic growth model. Professor Liu's exploration is still of crucial practical significance to building a socialist market economy today.

Findings

The process and achievements in the sinicization exploration of Marx's social capital reproduction theory were reviewed. With the reform and opening up, fundamental changes have occurred in China's economic system – the centralized planned economic system has been transformed into a socialist market economic system.

Originality/value

The planned management of the national economy is replaced by a macro-regulation system characterized by gross control gradually, and the concepts of agriculture, light industry, and heavy industry, and their intercorrelation are no longer applied in theory and policy. However, the sinicization exploration of Marx's social capital reproduction theory in the older generation of Marxist economists represented by Liu is not only of historical significance but also of important practical significance.

Details

China Political Economy, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-1652

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 November 2022

Bo Liu, Jingwen Hou, Xiaoping Ma, Mengtong Shi, Sibo Lu and Ruoxuan Wang

Due to the conflicts between left turn traffic and opposite straight-going traffic in urban traffic network, some of the traffic lanes cannot be used to discharge vehicles during…

Abstract

Purpose

Due to the conflicts between left turn traffic and opposite straight-going traffic in urban traffic network, some of the traffic lanes cannot be used to discharge vehicles during its green phases and the intersection capacity can be greatly reduced. This study/paper aims to reduce the effect of conflicts and increase its capacity through the reasonable pre-signal phase time with the exchangeable lanes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper took into consideration various influence factors to intersection capacity and formulated the capacity optimization model based on 0-1 mixed-integer programming model. This model is efficiently solved by standard branch-and-bound algorithms.

Findings

The authors took an intersection as an example and solved the optimal signal timing and entrance lane capacity via this model. Then, simulations were carried out to verify the effect of the exchangeable lanes strategy of this intersection through the simulation software VISSIM and take the traffic volume and delay as outputs, which indicated that this model has better performance.

Originality/value

The front-end control strategy can not only exploit the full potential of the intersection but also significantly improve the operational efficiency of the intersection. It plays a positive role in improving urban intersection congestion.

Details

Smart and Resilient Transportation, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2632-0487

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 5000