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Upper-limb joint kinematics are highly complex and the kinematics of rehabilitation exoskeletons fail to reproduce them, resulting in hyperstaticity and human–machine incompatibility. The purpose of this paper is to design and develop a compatible exoskeleton robot (Co-Exos II) to address these problems.

The configuration synthesis of Co-Exos II is completed using advanced mechanism theory. A compatible configuration is selected and four passive joints are introduced into the connecting interfaces based on optimal configuration principles. A Co-Exos II prototype with nine degrees of freedom (DOFs) is developed and still owns a compact structure and volume. A new approach is presented to compensate the vertical glenohumeral (GH) movements. Co-Exos II and the upper arm are simplified as a guide-bar mechanism at the elevating plane. The theoretical displacements of passive joints are calculated by the kinematic model of the shoulder loop. The compatible experiments are completed to measure the kinematics of passive joints.

The compatible configuration of the passive joints can effectively reduce the gravity influences of the exoskeleton device and the upper extremities. The passive joints exhibit excellent compensation effect for the GH joint movements by comparing the theoretical and measured results. Passive joints can compensate for most GH movements, especially vertical movements.

Co-Exos II possesses good human–machine compatibility and wearable comfort for the affected upper limbs. The proposed compensation method is convenient to therapists and stroke patients during the rehabilitation trainings.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate educational functions of the World Heritage Site by examining the case of cultural tourism in a Japanese Buddhist temple.

Japan accepted the World Heritage Convention in 1992. “Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara” were decided to be listed on the World Cultural Heritage in 1998. It was composed of buildings, monuments and related cultural landscape, including five Buddhist temples and one Shinto shrine. Among them, the Gango-ji, focused in this paper, is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Japan.

It has been keeping many cultural properties related to the folk religious practice and providing many activities for the local community. The material culture of folk-belief is now preserved in a building in the temple yard. And there is an exhibition room. The main hall and the exhibition room are the important facilities for social education, where the visitors can watch and touch the real materials. According to the staffs of the temple, the tourists had better stay in the main hall after 1 h study at the exhibition room.

Heritage is a process of the contemporary people engaging in the usage of past as resources. The buildings as the tangible heritage used by the present community are combined with the actions as the intangible heritage of the people who preserve the heritage. The temporal tourists are also permitted to enjoy the process as participants. They can learn many things through their experiences at the heritage site.

To examine the nature of Chinese business negotiating style in Sino‐Western business negotiations in business‐to‐business markets involving large industrial projects from a social cultural point of view.

A conceptual approach developed from personal interviews.

This study reveals that the Chinese negotiator does not possess an absolute negotiating style but rather embraces a mixture of different roles together: “Maoist bureaucrat in learning”, “Confucian gentleman”, and “Sun Tzu‐like strategist”. The Chinese negotiating strategy is essentially a combination of cooperation and competition (termed as the “coop‐comp” negotiation strategy in this study). Trust is the ultimate indicator of Chinese negotiating propensities and role choices.

The focus of this study is on Chinese negotiating style shown in large B2B negotiations with Chinese SOEs.

Differing from most other studies on Chinese negotiating style which tend to depict the Chinese negotiator as either sincere or deceptive, this study points out that there exists an intrinsic paradox in Chinese negotiating style which reflects the Yin Yang thinking. The Chinese negotiator has a cultural capacity to negotiate both sincerely and deceptively and he/she changes coping strategies according to situation and context, all depending on the level of trust between negotiating partners.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a solution to investigate the deception effects of the radar equipped with decoys.

Since the attacking process of the anti‐radiation missile (ARM) is very complicated, numerical simulations are used here to analyze the effects of the operating parameters and the layout parameters of the radar and the decoys on the survival probabilities.

The survival probabilities of all the radar and the decoys can be over 99.5 percent when three decoys distribute near the radar in an appropriate way and the decoy level is set to some appropriate values.

The movement model of the ARM is simple and should be improved further.

The numerical results may be applied directly in practice and the dynamic simulation algorithms may be as a reference of the radar‐decoy technique in the future works.

Some coordinate systems are built. Based on it, the models of the radar and decoys against an ARM are introduced, including the fields radiated by the radar and the decoys, the guidance signal and the movement of the ARM. Numerical simulations have been performed here. Some conclusions have been given.

The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the speed and magnitude of exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) to consumer prices in Ghana.

The Johansen Maximum Likelihood approach is employed in the estimation of different models of symmetric and asymmetric ERPT. Specifically asymmetric ERPT models with respect to the direction and size of exchange rate changes are estimated.

Results reveal that even though a depreciation in the nominal effective exchange rate will lead to an increase of consumer prices in the long-run, it is not statistically significant. Evidence also suggests a significant asymmetry with respect to direction and size of exchange rate changes. This indicates that the right ERPT model is an asymmetric model. Specifically ERPT is found to be incomplete but relatively higher in periods of depreciation than in periods of appreciation; that is 53 percent against 3 percent. ERPT is also higher during episodes of large changes (about 51 percent).

It would have been interesting to analyze the impact on consumer prices through changes in import prices. That approach was not adopted due to lack of consistent data on import prices in Ghana.

It is imperative that the monetary authorities critically monitor exchange rate movements in order to be able to take swift policy action so as to counteract any inflationary pressures from the external sector. In particular, much attention should be paid to events and arrangements that could result in large depreciation of the exchange rate.

While previous studies have assumed a symmetric ERPT model for Ghana, this paper is unique in that it investigates the most appropriate model for examining ERPT in Ghana whether symmetric or an asymmetric.

With the advent of the information age, this paper aims to apply risk analysis theories to study the risk prevention mechanism of information disclosure, thus supporting the green electricity supply.

This paper conducts a comprehensive evaluation and analysis of the impact of power market transactions, power market operations and effective government supervision, so as to figure out the core risk content of power market information disclosure. Moreover, AHP-entropy method is adopted to weigh different indicators of information disclosure risks for the participants in the electricity market.

The potential reasons for information disclosure risk in the electricity market include insufficient information disclosure, high cost of obtaining information, inaccurate information disclosure, untimely information disclosure and unfairness of information disclosure.

Some suggestions and implications on risk prevention mechanism of information disclosure in the electricity market are provided, so as to ensure the green electricity supply and promote the electricity market reform in China.

Many studies have shown that rehabilitation robots are crucial for lower limb dysfunction, but application of many robotics have yet to be seen to actual use in China. This study aimed to improve a lower limb rehabilitation robot by details improving and practical design.

Structures and control system of a lower limb rehabilitation robot are improved in detail, including joint calculations, comfort analysis and feedback logic creation, and prototype experiments on healthy individuals and patients are conducted in a hospital.

All participating subjects did not experience any problems. The experiment shows detail improving is reasonable, and feasibility of the robot was confirmed, which has potential for overcoming difficulties and problems in practical application.

Therapeutic effects need to be evaluated in the future. Also, more details should be improved continuously based on the actual demand.

The improved robot could assist the lower limb during standing or walking, which has significance for practical application and patients in China.

This paper aims to apply the novel numerical model to analyze the effect of pillar material on the response of compound quartz crystal resonator (QCR) with an array of pillars. The performance of the proposed device compared to conventional QCR method was also investigated.

A finite element method model was developed to analyze the behavior of QCR coupled with an array of pillars. The model was composed of an elastic pillar, a solution and a perfectly matched layer. The validation of the model was performed through a comparison between its predictions and previous experimental measurements. Notably, a good agreement was observed between the predicted results and the experimental data.

The effect of pillar Young’s modulus on the coupled QCR and pillars with a diameter of 20 µm, a center-to-center spacing of 40 µm and a density of 2,500 kg/m³ was investigated. The results indicate that multiple vibration modes can be obtained based on Young’s modulus. Notably, in the case of the QCR–pillar in air, the second vibration mode occurred at a critical Young’s modulus of 0.2 MPa, whereas the first mode was observed at 3.75 Mpa. The vibration phase analysis revealed phase-veering behavior at the critical Young’s modulus, which resulted in a sudden jump-and-drop frequency shift. In addition, the results show that the critical Young’s modulus is dependent on the surrounding environment of the pillar. For instance, the critical Young’s modulus for the first mode of the pillar is approximately 3.75 Mpa in air, whereas it increases to 6.5 Mpa in water.

It was concluded that the performance of coupled QCR–pillar devices significantly depends on the pillar material. Therefore, choosing pillar material at critical Young’s modulus can lead to the maximum frequency shift of coupled QCR–pillar devices. The model developed in this work helps the researchers design pillars to achieve maximum frequency shift in their measurements using coupled QCR–pillar.

This review provides an overview of recent advances in electrochemical sensors for analyte detection in saliva, highlighting their potential applications in diagnostics and health care. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the current state of the field, identify challenges and limitations and discuss future prospects for the development of saliva-based electrochemical sensors.

The paper reviews relevant literature and research articles to examine the latest developments in electrochemical sensing technologies for saliva analysis. It explores the use of various electrode materials, including carbon nanomaterial, metal nanoparticles and conducting polymers, as well as the integration of microfluidics, lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices and wearable/implantable technologies. The design and fabrication methodologies used in these sensors are discussed, along with sample preparation techniques and biorecognition elements for enhancing sensor performance.

Electrochemical sensors for salivary analyte detection have demonstrated excellent potential for noninvasive, rapid and cost-effective diagnostics. Recent advancements have resulted in improved sensor selectivity, stability, sensitivity and compatibility with complex saliva samples. Integration with microfluidics and LOC technologies has shown promise in enhancing sensor efficiency and accuracy. In addition, wearable and implantable sensors enable continuous, real-time monitoring of salivary analytes, opening new avenues for personalized health care and disease management.

This review presents an up-to-date overview of electrochemical sensors for analyte detection in saliva, offering insights into their design, fabrication and performance. It highlights the originality and value of integrating electrochemical sensing with microfluidics, wearable/implantable technologies and point-of-care testing platforms. The review also identifies challenges and limitations, such as interference from other saliva components and the need for improved stability and reproducibility. Future prospects include the development of novel microfluidic devices, advanced materials and user-friendly diagnostic devices to unlock the full potential of saliva-based electrochemical sensing in clinical practice.

Supply chain agility (SCA) is the primary strategy for reducing impacts and quick recovery when supply chains experience a disruption risk, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study will investigate how SCA can be achieved through supply chain information sharing (SCIS) under the different dependence relationships (DR) with suppliers or customers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue.

Based on information process and resource dependency theories, this study constructs and empirically tests a proposed model of the relationships amongst the three dimensions of SCIS and the two areas of SCA and the contingency effects of two types of DR on those relationships. Using a dataset collected from 400 manufacturers in China, the authors tested this theoretical model using multi-group and structural path analysis.

The results of the structural path and multi-group analyses show that (1) all dimensions of SCIS are positively correlated with both areas of SCA and (2) dependence on the supplier and dependence on the customer have completely different impacts on the relationship between SCIS and SCA.

This study can improve the understanding of the multidimensional concepts of SCIS and SCA and relationships between them under two different DR conditions in the Chinese manufacturing setting. It contributes to IS and the SCA literature and provides theoretically driven and empirical explanations for the diverse dynamics between the dependence on the supplier and customer.