Search results
1 – 10 of 15Yifan Guo, Yanling Guo, Jian Li, Yangwei Wang, Deyu Meng, Haoyu Zhang and Jiaming Dai
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an essential technology in the field of additive manufacturing. However, SLS technology is limited by the traditional point-laser sintering…
Abstract
Purpose
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an essential technology in the field of additive manufacturing. However, SLS technology is limited by the traditional point-laser sintering method and has reached the bottleneck of efficiency improvement. This study aims to develop an image-shaped laser sintering (ISLS) system based on a digital micromirror device (DMD) to address this problem. The ISLS system uses an image-shaped laser light source with a size of 16 mm × 25.6 mm instead of the traditional SLS point-laser light source.
Design/methodology/approach
The ISLS system achieves large-area image-shaped sintering of polymer powder materials by moving the laser light source continuously in the x-direction and updating the sintering pattern synchronously, as well as by overlapping the splicing of adjacent sintering areas in the y-direction. A low-cost composite powder suitable for the ISLS system was prepared using polyether sulfone (PES), pinewood and carbon black (CB) powders as raw materials. Large-sized samples were fabricated using composite powder, and the microstructure, dimensional accuracy, geometric deviation, density, mechanical properties and feasible feature sizes were evaluated.
Findings
The experimental results demonstrate that the ISLS system is feasible and can print large-sized parts with good dimensional accuracy, acceptable geometric deviations, specific small-scale features and certain density and mechanical properties.
Originality/value
This study has achieved the transition from traditional point sintering mode to image-shaped surface sintering mode. It has provided a new approach to enhance the system performance of traditional SLS.
Details
Keywords
Aisha Naz Ansari and Muhammad Mujtaba Asad
The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate the role of School Leaders (SLs) in building Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in schools, as well as to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this exploratory case study was to investigate the role of School Leaders (SLs) in building Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in schools, as well as to expand a literature-driven PLC model within the Pakistani context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved the purposive selection of two schools affiliated with a university. The sample comprised one school leader, one academic coordinator and five teachers from each school, altogether 14 participants. The participants shared similar demographic characteristics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data, which were analysed thematically.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that both schools have created PLCs to some extent and that school goals and culture were contributing factors in building these communities. Additionally, the SLs played a key role in promoting PLCs by encouraging teacher collaboration. The study concludes that SLs have the potential to strategize their actions to foster positive professional relations among teachers and ensure their well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to the literature on professional communities in Pakistan by validating a literature-driven PLC model. The model emphasizes collaboration among teachers, which can be facilitated by SLs. As such, the study implicates SLs in prioritizing the professional development of teachers to enhance student learning and achieve school success.
Originality/value
This study is unique in expanding a literature-driven PLC model within the Pakistani context, with a focus on teacher collaboration as facilitated by SLs. The model has the potential for replication in other contexts and can serve as a useful tool for future research.
Details
Keywords
Le Thanh Tung and Le Nguyen Hoang
Emerging economies have been highlighted as an important growth source of the global economy. However, this group of countries has not received enough academic attention yet…
Abstract
Purpose
Emerging economies have been highlighted as an important growth source of the global economy. However, this group of countries has not received enough academic attention yet. Therefore, this study aims to identify the impact of research and development (R&D) expenditure on economic growth in emerging economies.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework of the production function is applied to quantitatively analyse the impact of R&D expenditure on economic growth with a sample of 29 emerging economies in the period between 1996 and 2019.
Findings
The panel cointegration test confirms the existence of long-run cointegration relationships between economic growth and independent variables in these emerging economies. Besides, the estimated results show that the national R&D expenditure has positive effects on economic growth from both direct and interaction dimensions. This evidence has filled the empirical research gap in the R&D-growth nexus in the case of emerging economies. Finally, while gross capital and education have positive impacts on growth, corruption has a harmful effect on economic growth in these countries.
Practical implications
The results highlight that policymakers should enhance R&D expenditure and R&D activities as the key national development strategy. The investment in R&D not only helps emerging economies avoid the middle-income trap but also pushes these countries to successfully join the group of developed countries.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first to examine the impact of R&D expenditure on economic growth with a homogeneous sample of emerging economies. The results are obviously helpful for policymakers to use R&D as the key development strategy for supporting economic growth in emerging economies in the future.
Details
Keywords
Nursing students encounter a combination of academic rigor, clinical demands and emotional hurdles. Juggling coursework, practical training and patient interaction can be…
Abstract
Purpose
Nursing students encounter a combination of academic rigor, clinical demands and emotional hurdles. Juggling coursework, practical training and patient interaction can be stressful, and exposure to such situations may impact their psychological well-being. This study aims to highlight the top strengths among nursing students and identify the strengths associated with well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
Convenience sampling was used to select a sample of 150 nursing students studying in first, second and third year from colleges of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Students were administered the Values In Action character strengths inventory, the satisfaction with life scale and scale of positive and negative experience. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation.
Findings
Results show that among nursing students, kindness emerged as the foremost strength with the highest mean, followed by honesty, creativity, spirituality and teamwork, and the strengths of curiosity, gratitude, perseverance, self-regulation, social intelligence, and zest were positively associated with life satisfaction and positive emotions and negatively related to negative emotions.
Research limitations/implications
The small sample size was a limitation; however, this study has been conducted at different locations to improve generalizability.
Practical implications
This study has profound implications for nursing students, both in their personal development and their future roles as health-care professionals, as fostering these attributes can contribute to the students’ growth, well-being and effectiveness as compassionate and competent caregivers. Working on strengths is associated with well-being; therefore, using strengths identified by this study will have a beneficial effect on the students’ well-being.
Social implications
Curiosity and social intelligence, for instance, can help nurses better understand patient needs and emotions, developing strengths like perseverance and self-regulation can equip nursing students with tools to cope effectively with the challenges inherent in health-care settings. Traits such as gratitude and social intelligence can enhance communication and empathy which are vital skills for establishing rapport with patients and their families. Emphasizing teamwork as a strength aligns with the collaborative nature of health care. By embodying values like kindness and spirituality, nursing students can create a more compassionate and meaningful experience for patients, as well as themselves.
Originality/value
The research paper identifies and emphasizes the five character strengths that are most commonly observed in a sample of Indian nursing students. In addition, this study delves deeper into these identified strengths to understand how they relate to the overall well-being of nursing students within this specific population. The existing literature has not explored it exhaustively.
Details
Keywords
Sergio de la Rosa, Pedro F. Mayuet, Cátia S. Silva, Álvaro M. Sampaio and Lucía Rodríguez-Parada
This papers aims to study lattice structures in terms of geometric variables, manufacturing variables and material-based variants and their correlation with compressive behaviour…
Abstract
Purpose
This papers aims to study lattice structures in terms of geometric variables, manufacturing variables and material-based variants and their correlation with compressive behaviour for their application in a methodology for the design and development of personalized elastic therapeutic products.
Design/methodology/approach
Lattice samples were designed and manufactured using extrusion-based additive manufacturing technologies. Mechanical tests were carried out on lattice samples for elasticity characterization purposes. The relationships between sample stiffness and key geometric and manufacturing variables were subsequently used in the case study on the design of a pressure cushion model for validation purposes. Differentiated areas were established according to patient’s pressure map to subsequently make a correlation between the patient’s pressure needs and lattice samples stiffness.
Findings
A substantial and wide variation in lattice compressive behaviour was found depending on the key study variables. The proposed methodology made it possible to efficiently identify and adjust the pressure of the different areas of the product to adapt them to the elastic needs of the patient. In this sense, the characterization lattice samples turned out to provide an effective and flexible response to the pressure requirements.
Originality/value
This study provides a generalized foundation of lattice structural design and adjustable stiffness in application of pressure cushions, which can be equally applied to other designs with similar purposes. The relevance and contribution of this work lie in the proposed methodology for the design of personalized therapeutic products based on the use of individual lattice structures that function as independent customizable cells.
Details
Keywords
Osman M. Karatepe, Hamed Rezapouraghdam, Raheleh Hassannia, Taegoo Terry Kim and Constanța Enea
This paper investigates the interrelationships of destination social responsibility (DSR), emotional attachment, self-congruity, experiential satisfaction and environmentally…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the interrelationships of destination social responsibility (DSR), emotional attachment, self-congruity, experiential satisfaction and environmentally responsible behavior (ERB).
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 294 visitors to the Guangzhou Zoo in China, this study tested the aforementioned relationships via structural equation modeling.
Findings
Emotional attachment mediates the effect of DSR on experiential satisfaction, while emotional attachment and experiential satisfaction mediate the effect of DSR on ERB sequentially. Moreover, self-congruity moderates the relationship between DSR and emotional attachment.
Practical implications
The management of zoos should use DSR communication strategies more proactively to make visitors become well-aware of their economic, philanthropic, environmental and social activities in the host community. This will result in many positive consequences, including visitors’ ERBs.
Originality/value
The study adds to the DSR literature by introducing multiple mediation mechanisms and paths that lead to visitors’ ERBs.
目的
我们的论文调查了目的地社会责任 (DSR) 情感依恋、自我一致性、体验满意度和对环境负责的行为 (ERB) 之间的相互关系。
设计/方法/方法
我们的研究以中国广州动物园的 294 名游客为样本, 通过结构方程模型测试了上述关系。
发现
情感依恋介导 DSR 对体验满意度的影响, 而情感依恋和体验满意度依次介导 DSR 对 ERB 的影响。 此外, 自我一致性调节 DSR 与情感依恋之间的关系。
实际意义
动物园的管理层应该更积极地使用 DSR 沟通策略, 让游客充分了解他们在东道社区的经济、慈善、环境和社会活动。 这将带来许多积极的后果, 包括访客的 ERB。
独创性/价值
该研究通过引入多种调解机制和导致访客 ERB 的路径增加了 DSR 文献。
Propósito
nuestro artículo investiga las interrelaciones de la responsabilidad social del destino (DSR), el apego emocional, la autocongruencia, la satisfacción experiencial y el comportamiento ambientalmente responsable (ERB).
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
utilizando una muestra de 294 visitantes del zoológico de Guangzhou en China, nuestro estudio probó las relaciones antes mencionadas a través del modelo de ecuaciones estructurales.
Hallazgos
el apego emocional media el efecto de DSR en la satisfacción experiencial, mientras que el apego emocional y la satisfacción experiencial median el efecto de DSR en ERB secuencialmente. Además, la autocongruencia modera la relación entre DSR y apego emocional.
Implicaciones prácticas
la administración de los zoológicos debe utilizar estrategias de comunicación de DSR de manera más proactiva para que los visitantes estén bien informados sobre sus actividades económicas, filantrópicas, ambientales y sociales en la comunidad anfitriona. Esto tendrá muchas consecuencias positivas, incluidos los ERB de los visitantes.
Originalidad/valor
el estudio se suma a la literatura de DSR al presentar múltiples mecanismos de mediación y caminos que conducen a los ERB de los visitantes.
Details
Keywords
In the COVID-19 era, sign language (SL) translation has gained attention in online learning, which evaluates the physical gestures of each student and bridges the communication…
Abstract
Purpose
In the COVID-19 era, sign language (SL) translation has gained attention in online learning, which evaluates the physical gestures of each student and bridges the communication gap between dysphonia and hearing people. The purpose of this paper is to devote the alignment between SL sequence and nature language sequence with high translation performance.
Design/methodology/approach
SL can be characterized as joint/bone location information in two-dimensional space over time, forming skeleton sequences. To encode joint, bone and their motion information, we propose a multistream hierarchy network (MHN) along with a vocab prediction network (VPN) and a joint network (JN) with the recurrent neural network transducer. The JN is used to concatenate the sequences encoded by the MHN and VPN and learn their sequence alignments.
Findings
We verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach and provide experimental results on three large-scale datasets, which show that translation accuracy is 94.96, 54.52, and 92.88 per cent, and the inference time is 18 and 1.7 times faster than listen-attend-spell network (LAS) and visual hierarchy to lexical sequence network (H2SNet) , respectively.
Originality/value
In this paper, we propose a novel framework that can fuse multimodal input (i.e. joint, bone and their motion stream) and align input streams with nature language. Moreover, the provided framework is improved by the different properties of MHN, VPN and JN. Experimental results on the three datasets demonstrate that our approaches outperform the state-of-the-art methods in terms of translation accuracy and speed.
Details
Keywords
Vidyut Raghu Viswanath, Shivashankar Hiremath and Dundesh S. Chiniwar
The purpose of this study, most recent advancements in threedimensional (3D) printing have focused on the fabrication of components. It is typical to use different print settings…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study, most recent advancements in threedimensional (3D) printing have focused on the fabrication of components. It is typical to use different print settings, such as raster angle, infill and orientation to improve the 3D component qualities while fabricating the sample using a 3D printer. However, the influence of these factors on the characteristics of the 3D parts has not been well explored. Owing to the effect of the different print parameters in fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology, it is necessary to evaluate the strength of the parts manufactured using 3D printing technology.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the effect of three print parameters − raster angle, build orientation and infill − on the tensile characteristics of 3D-printed components made of three distinct materials − acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), polycarbonate ABS (PC-ABS) and ULTEM-9085 − was investigated. A variety of test items were created using a commercially accessible 3D printer in various configurations, including raster angle (0°, 45°), (0°, 90°), (45°, −45°), (45°, 90°), infill density (solid, sparse, sparse double dense) and orientation (flat, on-edge).
Findings
The outcome shows that variations in tensile strength and force are brought on by the effects of various printing conditions. In all possible combinations of the print settings, ULTEM 9085 material has a higher tensile strength than ASA and PC-ABS materials. ULTEM 9085 material’s on-edge orientation, sparse infill, and raster angle of (0°, −45°) resulted in the greatest overall tensile strength of 73.72 MPa. The highest load-bearing strength of ULTEM material was attained with the same procedure, measuring at 2,932 N. The tensile strength of the materials is higher in the on-edge orientation than in the flat orientation. The tensile strength of all three materials is highest for solid infill with a flat orientation and a raster angle of (45°, −45°). All three materials show higher tensile strength with a raster angle of (45°, −45°) compared to other angles. The sparse double-dense material promotes stronger tensile properties than sparse infill. Thus, the strength of additive components is influenced by the combination of selected print parameters. As a result, these factors interact with one another to produce a high-quality product.
Originality/value
The outcomes of this study can serve as a reference point for researchers, manufacturers and users of 3D-printed polymer material (PC-ABS, ASA, ULTEM 9085) components seeking to optimize FDM printing parameters for tensile strength and/or identify materials suitable for intended tensile characteristics.
Details
Keywords
Martin Novák, Berenika Hausnerova, Vladimir Pata and Daniel Sanetrnik
This study aims to enhance merging of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques with powder injection molding (PIM). In this way, the prototypes could be 3D-printed and mass…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to enhance merging of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques with powder injection molding (PIM). In this way, the prototypes could be 3D-printed and mass production implemented using PIM. Thus, the surface properties and mechanical performance of parts produced using powder/polymer binder feedstocks [material extrusion (MEX) and PIM] were investigated and compared with powder manufacturing based on direct metal laser sintering (DMLS).
Design/methodology/approach
PIM parts were manufactured from 17-4PH stainless steel PIM-quality powder and powder intended for powder bed fusion compounded with a recently developed environmentally benign binder. Rheological data obtained at the relevant temperatures were used to set up the process parameters of injection molding. The tensile and yield strengths as well as the strain at break were determined for PIM sintered parts and compared to those produced using MEX and DMLS. Surface properties were evaluated through a 3D scanner and analyzed with advanced statistical tools.
Findings
Advanced statistical analyses of the surface properties showed the proximity between the surfaces created via PIM and MEX. The tensile and yield strengths, as well as the strain at break, suggested that DMLS provides sintered samples with the highest strength and ductility; however, PIM parts made from environmentally benign feedstock may successfully compete with this manufacturing route.
Originality/value
This study addresses the issues connected to the merging of two environmentally efficient processing routes. The literature survey included has shown that there is so far no study comparing AM and PIM techniques systematically on the fixed part shape and dimensions using advanced statistical tools to derive the proximity of the investigated processing routes.
Details
Keywords
Flaviana Calignano, Alessandro Bove, Vincenza Mercurio and Giovanni Marchiandi
Polymer laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/P) is an additive manufacturing technology that is sustainable due to the possibility of recycling the powder multiple times and allowing…
Abstract
Purpose
Polymer laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/P) is an additive manufacturing technology that is sustainable due to the possibility of recycling the powder multiple times and allowing the fabrication of gears without the aid of support structures and subsequent assembly. However, there are constraints in the process that negatively affect its adoption compared to other additive technologies such as material extrusion to produce gears. This study aims to demonstrate that it is possible to overcome the problems due to the physics of the process to produce accurate mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
Technological aspects such as orientation, wheel-shaft thicknesses and degree of powder recycling were examined. Furthermore, the evolving tooth profile was considered as a design parameter to provide a manufacturability map of gear-based mechanisms.
Findings
Results show that there are some differences in the functioning of the gear depending on the type of powder used, 100% virgin or 50% virgin and 50% recycled for five cycles. The application of a groove on a gear produced with 100% virgin powder allows the mechanism to be easily unlocked regardless of the orientation and wheel-shaft thicknesses. The application of a specific evolutionary profile independent of the diameter of the reference circle on vertically oriented gears guarantees rotation continuity while preserving the functionality of the assembled mechanism.
Originality/value
In the literature, there are various studies on material aging and reuse in the PBF-LB/P process, mainly focused on the powder deterioration mechanism, powder fluidity, microstructure and mechanical properties of the parts and process parameters. This study, instead, was focused on the functioning of gears, which represent one of the applications in which this technology can have great success, by analyzing the two main effects that can compromise it: recycled powder and vertical orientation during construction.
Details