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Reading represents a basic way by which humans understand the world and acquire knowledge; it is also central to learning and communicating. However, with the rapid development of mobile reading, an individual's cognition of objective facts may be affected by the reading environment and text genre, resulting in limited memorization and understanding of the reading material. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the influence of the reading environment and text genre on individuals' cognitive activities from the perspective of motivational activation level using evidence from electroencephalography (EEG) signals.

The study employed a mixed design experiment with two reading environments (quiet and distracting) between subjects, two text genres (entertaining and scientific) within subjects and two reading tasks (memory recall and comprehension) within subjects. There were 50 participants in the experiment, and the data obtained from 44 participants while they read the materials and completed the reading tasks were analyzed.

The results showed that readers are more positively motivated to read in a quiet reading environment than in a distracting reading environment when facing the memory recall tasks of entertaining genre passages and comprehension tasks of scientific genre passages. Entertaining genres are more likely to arouse readers' reading interest but hinder the memory recall of the content details. While scientific genres are not easy to understand, they are helpful for working memory.

This study not only applies a new technology to mobile reading research in the field of library science and addresses the limitations of self-report data, but also provides suggestions for the further improvement of mobile reading service providers. Additionally, the results may provide useful information for learners with different learning demands.

This study reduces carbon emission in logistics distribution to realize the low-carbon site optimization for a cold chain logistics distribution center problem.

This study involves cooling, commodity damage and carbon emissions and establishes the site selection model of low-carbon cold chain logistics distribution center aiming at minimizing total cost, and grey wolf optimization algorithm is used to improve the artificial fish swarm algorithm to solve a cold chain logistics distribution center problem.

The optimization results and stability of the improved algorithm are significantly improved and compared with other intelligent algorithms. The result is confirmed to use the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region site selection. This study reduces composite cost of cold chain logistics and reduces damage to environment to provide a new idea for developing cold chain logistics.

This study contributes to propose an optimization model of low-carbon cold chain logistics site by considering various factors affecting cold chain products and converting carbon emissions into costs. Prior studies are lacking to take carbon emissions into account in the logistics process. The main trend of current economic development is low-carbon and the logistics distribution is an energy consumption and high carbon emissions.

This study aims to analyse the basic status of application of social networking sites (SNSs) in Chinese university libraries and explore the relationship between microblog and the output of scientific research achievements in universities. This study suggests methods for improving the efficiency of SNS use in university libraries and promotes scientific research achievements and social services in universities.

Online survey and statistical analysis were conducted to collect the number and types of SNSs used by 112 libraries in Chinese universities under the “211 project”. This study used microblog as an example and analysed the distribution of SNS use in different types of university libraries. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the factors related to microblogs, such as number of followings, followers, posts and published articles.

SNSs changed the information utilization behaviour of users. Survey results show that an increasing number of university libraries are using SNSs. These sites are mainly microblogs and WeChat. The proportion of the number of SNSs applied by comprehensive universities and science and technology universities was higher than that of other types of universities. Results of multiple regression analysis using microblogs showed that the number of followers has a significantly positive effect on the number of published articles of the university.

This study has three main limitations. First, data collection is incomplete, which easily causes the error of analysis results. Second, the overall status of SNS use in libraries is lacking in accurate understanding, which indicates limitations in terms of the analysis and conclusion. Finally, the research scope was narrow and only studied the situation of libraries using microblogs. Future research should focus on the data collection and sorting, make comparative studies of different periods of data, conduct cultural studies on the user usage perspective and conduct research on the application of different social network platforms in libraries.

The use of SNSs has brought new challenges and opportunities to university libraries because of rapid development of the internet and the scale of expansion microblogs. Moreover, microblogs have become an important platform of university libraries for self-promotion and marketing. This study proposes methods and measures for promoting the SNS popularity of university libraries, enhancing their content and increasing the role of SNSs in their interaction.

Statistical analysis was conducted to analyse the status of SNS use in university libraries and the data of SNS use in different types of universities. Effective measures were offered to address the issues found in the study. The results confirmed that the number of followers has a significantly positive effect on the number of published articles of the university, which could improve the enthusiasm of university libraries in using SNS, enhance the efficiency of information service and strengthen the use awareness of the teachers and students.

The information behavior of National Science and Technology Library (NSTL) electronic resources users in China has not been researched extensively. This paper aims to help producers and providers collect information on user behavior and develop more electronic resources.

The study investigates NSTL users' behavior from seven “211 projects” universities in Wuhan, a city in central China. The questionnaire includes questions about respondents' basic information (i.e. educational level, discipline, etc.) and their information service requirements. Correlations among users' educational level, academic discipline, retrieval method, and literature use, among other variables, were analyzed.

The results show that most NSTL users are graduate students and young staff members. The number of users who use advanced retrieval and choose the criterion “literature's citation” to judge the literature's value increases slightly with the improvement of the educational level. There is higher demand for literature written in English in the disciplines of natural science, medicine, and engineering, and a certain proportion of demand for materials written in Japanese in the disciplines of medicine and engineering.

The findings suggest that electronic resource producers should offer more foreign literature and that providers should improve the quality of services.

The paper provides suggestions for further improvement of the NSTL to fulfil the information needs and requirements of users.

The purpose of this paper is to report on users' information behaviour in China, a topic which has not been researched extensively. The aim is to help producers and providers collect and develop more electronic resources.

The study investigates users' information behaviour at seven “211 Project” universities in Wuhan, a city in central China. These universities all have access to the resources of the National Science and Technology Library (NSTL). The questionnaire includes questions about respondents' basic identifying information (educational level, job, etc.) and their information service requirements. Correlations among users' education level, users' jobs, users' retrieval methods, literature use, etc. were analysed.

The results show that most NSTL users are graduate students and young staff members. and the number of male users surpasses female ones slightly. The purpose of the utilisation of electronic resources for customers is scientific research, teaching and the need for self‐development. During a year, the demand of users is the highest in March and the lowest in August. The users' knowledge service types include learning the progress of science and technology, citation retrieval and analysis, statistical analysis, intelligent retrieval and knowledge aggregation.

The findings suggest that electronic resource producers should offer more foreign literature and providers should improve the quality of services.

The paper provides suggestions for the further improvement of NSTL to fulfill the information needs and requirements of users.

This paper aims to investigate the use of mobile reading among Chinese college students and to provide a statistical analysis of correlation between the users' educational level and their mobile reading behavior. The result can be used as a reference for the differentiated marketing of the mobile reading service provider.

The paper is based on an online questionnaire oriented to Chinese college students, including undergraduate and graduate students. The questionnaire includes questions related to the profiles and mobile reading behaviors of the respondents. The survey lasted from 15 April to 15 June 2010 and 479 responses were received.

Mobile reading is in its early stages of development and has huge market potential in China. The pay‐reading service only makes up a small, slowly growing share. Well educated users are more inclined to pay for academic papers while other users prefer online literature. In general, mobile reading services have yet to become more and more popular by improving user segmentation, expanding the scope of service and conducting precise price marketing in China.

This study can help mobile reading service providers to gather information on user behavior and launch better mobile reading services.

The paper is one of the first to investigate the market of mobile reading in China. The paper provides suggestions for further improvement of the mobile reading service and help service providers better understand users' demands. Also it may provide some useful information for further research in mobile reading.

The purpose of this paper is to examine information cascades in the context of users’ e-book reading behavior and differentiate it from alternative factors that lead to herd behavior, such as network externalities and word-of-mouth effects.

This paper constructed panel data using information concerning 226 e-books in 30 consecutive days from Sina.com’s reading channel (Book.Sina.com.cn) from October 2, 2013, to October 31, 2013 of the same year in China. A multinomial logit market-share model was employed.

E-books’ ranking has a significant impact on their market share, as predicted by informational cascades theory. Higher ranking e-books’ clicks will see a greater increase as a result of an increase in clicks ranking. Due to the information cascades effect, review volume had no impact on the market share of popular e-books. Total votes had a powerful impact on the market share of e-books, showing that once information cascade occurred, it could be enhanced by the increase in total votes. The total clicks of e-books had a significant impact on their market share, suggesting that online reading behavior would be influenced by network externalities.

As important information, the ranking or popularity of e-books should be carefully considered by online reading web sites, publishers, and authors. It is not enough for the authors and publishers of e-books to simply pay attention to the content. They should design their marketing strategies to allow network externalities and informational cascades to work for them, not against them. Online reading web sites should also focus on eliminating certain behavior, such as “brush clicks” and “brush votes,” in order to prevent an undesirable information cascade due to false information.

To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to examine information cascades in the context of users’ e-book reading behavior. Moreover, this study can help other researchers by utilizing a large sample of daily data from one of the earliest online reading platforms in China.

Propose a more comprehensive explanation on the determinants and fluctuations of China’s exchange rate policy in the past decade (2005–2015).

Case study on China’s exchange rate policies in three respective stages since 2005 and then a comparative study on these three stages.

Put forward a two-pronged explanation on the determinants and fluctuations of China’s exchange rate policy in the past decade and arrive at three specific conclusions. First, external pressure is only one factor among many influencing the formation of China’s national interests (Guojia Liyi in Chinese) and the decision-making process on exchange rate policy. Second, national interest is the fundamental driving force and substratum for making China’s exchange rate policy. Third, in the short term, the specific exchange rate policies in different periods were not always in accordance to the national interests (or Guojia Liyi), due to the influences of some factors on the decision-making environment.

The comprehensive view is conducive to better explaining the formation and fluctuations of China’s exchange rate policy and consequently contributes to understanding and even predicting future policies.

The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution of Chinese industrial relations after the market reform of 1978, while basing its arguments and conclusion on analysis of the interactions of key actors in the labour arena in China. The significant phenomena in the evolution of industrial relations are the coming of transnational capital and the emergence of self‐organising protests by migrant workers.

The paper uses a case study approach.

The Labour Contract Law and the local political economy experience strong effects from TNCs and other business players. Meanwhile, globalisation has introduced the civil society movement to China, which has given rise to an increasing number of NGOs working for labour rights. Tight financial and technical connections between grassroots NGOs and international donor organisations make it possible for bottom‐up labour activities to counteract the unilateral influence of the state and market over the Chinese workforce. Since the ACFTU, the official trade union umbrella, has many institutional constraints to undertake a thorough transition towards labour in the near future, workers' representation is diversified.

One implication for further theoretical studies is that tripartism cannot fully disclose the reality of Chinese labour, and that labour representation derives from both unions and self‐organisation of workers, such as NGOs, which opens more room for the entrenchment of the grassroots labour movement to sustain the balance of power among the state, ACFTU, firms, international market forces and individual workers in the long term.

Business intelligence (BI) has been applied in various domains to take better decisions and it provides different level of information to its stakeholders according to the information needs. The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review on recent works in BI. The two principal aims in this survey are to identify areas lacking in recent research, thereby offering potential opportunities for investigation.

To simplify the study on BI literature, it is segregated into seven categories according to the usage. Each category of work is analyzed using parameters such as purpose, domain, problem identified, solution applied, benefit and outcome.

The BI contribution in various domains, ongoing research in BI, the convergence of BI domains, problems and solutions, results of congregated domains, core problems and key solutions. It also outlines BI and its components composition, widely applied BI solutions such as algorithm-based, architecture-based and model-based solutions. Finally, it discusses BI implementation issues and outlines the security and privacy policies adopted in BI environment.

In this survey BI has been discussed in theoretical perspective whereas practical contribution has been given less attention.

A comprehensive survey on BI which identifies areas lacking in recent research and providing potential opportunities for investigation.