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The purpose of this paper is to present the main experimental results obtained on the first prototype of an innovative induction heating system. MAGNHEAT was a LIFE project, funded by EU Commission, proposed to demonstrate the possibility of industrial application of a new technology for the induction heating of aluminum billets before extrusion. This technology uses permanent magnet heaters (PMHs), which constitute a high efficiency solution for the heating of high conductive metals.

The paper briefly describes the main steps of the project: the design of the PMH, the realization and installation of the demonstrator on an extrusion production line of Pandolfo Alluminio SpA and, mostly, the performance of the system.

The main results achieved during the preliminary tests on an industrial line have been summarized by evaluating some key performance indicators, as reported in the paper.

The new technology allows a significant reduction of the energy consumption and guarantees the same performance of a classical induction heater.

Low electrical resistivity metal billets can be heated by the currents induced by the rotation of the billet itself inside a transverse DC magnetic field produced by a superconductive coil. The main drawback of this approach is related to cost of installation that requires an adequate refrigerating system. The purpose of this paper is to propose a more convenient solution, which allows the same high efficiency to be achieved at lower cost. In this solution, the billet is kept still and a series of permanent magnets, positioned in the inner part of a ferromagnetic frame, is rotated.

Some results of the new induction system are shown. These results are obtained applying for the electromagnetic solution both an FE commercial code and an analytical method. The analytical code is developed because several parameters of the system need to be optimized.

The performance of the solution presented is comparable with those of the system with superconductive coils. The results of the two methods applied are in good agreement; thus the analytical code is validated.

A new solution for the induction heating of aluminum billets is presented. The analytical code developed requires a very short computational time, also because it gives directly the steady‐state condition of the system and, for this reason, it can be conveniently applied to an automatic design process.

Advergames have attracted the attention of scholars and practitioners as a new way of increasing customer engagement and advertising effectiveness. Gamified ads provide an exciting and persuasive environment for customers rather than non-gamified advertisements. Despite the growing spending on advergames projects, the understanding of customer attitude regarding advergames has received less attention and there are not enough studies about advergames. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to design a novel TAM-based model of determinants of customer attitudes toward advergames to enhance customer engagement and purchase intention.

To obtain this end, the mixed method was applied. In the first step, the main determinants of customer attitude towards advergames were identified by a literature review as well as semi-structured interviews. In the second step, the proposed technology acceptance model (TAM)-based model was validated by survey method through players of advergames. A total of 15 interviews were conducted in the qualitative phase and 102 completed questionnaires were analyzed in the survey method.

The results of the qualitative approach indicate that the main determinants of attitude towards advertisements can be classified into three categories, which are added to TAM as external variables. The results of the survey approach reveal that advertising content and game-related factors have a significant positive effect on perceived ease of use (PEOU). The advertising content and player-related factors also significantly affect perceived usefulness (PU). PU and PEOU also positively and significantly affect customer attitude. The findings show that the new TAM-based model can be considered as a robust model for explaining customer attitude toward advergame acceptance.

The research findings can assist digital marketers to have a big picture of customer attitudes regarding advergames and implement these innovative digital-enabled advertising strategies successfully. The findings further suggest considering marketing/advertising aspects and game-related aspects as well as individual factors to design advergames.

Advergames have become one of the priorities for digital marketers to enhance brand awareness and customer engagement, yet there is no study identifying determinants of attitude by considering multi-aspects of advergames. The most important theoretical contribution of the current study is to design a new extended TAM-based model which integrates behavioral variables (PEOU and PU) with factors related to the advergames context.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a hybrid driving system that couples a motor and flywheel energy storage (FES) for a megawatt-scale superconducting direct current (DC) induction heater. Previous studies have proven that a superconducting DC induction heater has great advantages in relation to its energy efficiency and heating quality. In this heater, a motor rotates an aluminium billet in a DC magnetic field and the induced eddy current causes it to be heated. When the aluminium billet begins to rotate, a high peak load torque appears at a low rotation speed. Therefore, driving the billet economically has been a great challenge when designing the driving system, which is the focus of this paper.

A hybrid driving system based on FES is designed to provide extra torque when the peak load torque occurs at a low rotation speed, which allows the successful start-up of the aluminium billet and the operation of the motor at its rated capacity. The mechanical structure of this hybrid driving system is introduced. A simulation model was constructed using Matlab/Simulink and the dynamic start-up process is analysed. The influence of the flywheel’s inertia and required minimum engagement speed are investigated.

The results of this paper show that the hybrid driving system that couples FES and a motor can successfully be used to start the aluminium billet rotating. The flywheel’s inertia and engagement speed are the most important parameters. The inertia of the flywheel decreases with an increase in its engagement speed.

The cost of the driving system is significantly reduced, which is very important in relation to the commercial potential of this apparatus.

A novel start-up strategy for driving the aluminium billet of a superconducting DC induction heater at low speed is proposed based on FES.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and improve the temperature uniformity of aluminium billets heated by superconducting DC induction heaters.

A 3D electromagnetic model coupled with a heat transfer model is developed to calculate the heating process of the billets which are rotated in uniform transverse DC magnetic field. A laboratory-scale DC induction heater prototype has been built to validate the model. The results from simulation and measurement have a good agreement. The model is used to investigate the factors affecting the temperature uniformity of aluminium billets.

The results from simulation show that lower rotation speeds always mean better temperature uniformity along the radial direction, due to the increase in power penetration. However, the situation is very different for the temperature distribution along the axial direction. When the rotation speed is low, the temperature at the ends is lower than other parts. The situation reverses as the rotation speeds increase. This phenomenon is referred to as the “ending effect” in this paper.

Because of the ending effect, a lower rotation speed does not always result in better overall temperature uniformity, especially for billets of smaller sizes.

There is an optimal rotation speed that yields the best overall temperature uniformity. Lower rotation speeds are not always preferred. The results and numerical model developed are very useful in the design of a superconducting DC induction heater.

The temperature uniformity of aluminium billets heated by DC induction heaters is investigated and optimized.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the in vitro influence of 200 kV/m electrostatic fields (ESF) on the microviscosity, viscosity and polarity of rat erythrocyte membranes for revealing the possible changes in lipid-protein interactions due to the field influence.

The investigation of the parameters of erythrocyte membranes and their ghosts, particularly, their microviscosity, the amount and immersion degree of membrane proteins in lipid bilayer, polarity in depth of membrane and its viscosity carried out by the spectrofluorimetric method using the hydrophobic fluorescent probe pyrene.

The carried out investigations shown that the in vitro influence of ESF changes membrane microviscosity, the quantity of membrane peripheral proteins and their immersion degree in the lipid bilayer, if the ghosts have prepared from erythrocytes previously exposed in the field. The analysis of the same parameters for previously prepared erythrocyte ghosts exposed to the 200 kV/m ESF during an hour did not reveal any changes.

Data obtained and their comparison with the results of the previous works allow authors to conclude that the in vitro influence of ESF leads to the changes in the lipid-protein interactions in erythrocyte membranes.

Using a mobile phone is increasingly becoming recognized as very dangerous while driving. With a smartphone, users feel connected and have access to information. The inability to access smartphone has become a phobia, causing anxiety and fear. The present study’s aims are as follows: first, quantify the association between nomophobia and road safety among motorists; second, determine a cut-off value for nomophobia that would identify poor road safety so that interventions can be designed accordingly.

Participants were surveyed online for nomophobia symptoms and a recent history of traffic contraventions. Nomophobia was measured using the nomophobia questionnaire (NMP-Q).

A total of 1731 participants responded to the survey; the mean age was 33 ± 12, and 43% were male. Overall, 483 (28%) [26–30%] participants received a recent traffic contravention. Participants with severe nomophobia showed a statistically significant increased risk for poor road safety odds ratios and a corresponding 95% CI of 4.64 [3.35-6.38] and 4.54 [3.28-6.29] in crude and adjusted models, respectively. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC)-based analyses revealed that NMP-Q scores of = 90 would be effective for identifying at risk drivers with sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 61%, 75% and 72%, respectively.

Nomophobia symptoms are quite common among adults. Severe nomophobia is associated with poor road safety among motorists. Developing screening and intervention programs aimed at reducing nomophobia may improve road safety among motorists.

This paper aims to determine the antecedents that affect higher education students' entrepreneurial intention and awareness in two developing economies (Turkey and Poland) and one transition economy (Kosovo).

This study uses a quantitative research approach based on a sample of 342 questionnaires. Using SPSS 23, AMOS and Process Hayes, this study tests research hypotheses using explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis and mediation analysis.

The findings show that personal attitudes (PA), perceived behavioural control (PBC) and need for achievement (NFA) variables affect students' entrepreneurial intentions and alertness (EIA) in Turkey, Poland, and Kosovo. PA and PBC mediate the impact of NFA on EIA. In addition, analyses show that the country variable does not have a moderator effect on EIA, PA, NFA and PBC variables. The findings reveal that students' perceptions of EIA differ by country.

The sample comes from a university in three countries; therefore, these results cannot be generalised to the entire population. In addition, the study was carried out with a cross-sectional study urging the need for a longitudinal analysis of the data, which may provide better results.

Results can benefit policymakers and higher education administrators for resource planning, organising educational curricula and strategic policy plans for building the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The originality of this article is that it presents a model to reveal the effect of PA, PBC and NFA variables on EIA in three different countries.