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Article
Publication date: 15 May 2023

Gözde Konuk Ege, Özge Akay and Hüseyin Yüce

This study aims to investigate the ammonia-sensing performance of polyaniline/polyethylene oxide (PANI/PEO) and polyaniline/polyethylene oxide/zinc oxide (PANI/PEO-ZnO) composite…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the ammonia-sensing performance of polyaniline/polyethylene oxide (PANI/PEO) and polyaniline/polyethylene oxide/zinc oxide (PANI/PEO-ZnO) composite nanofibers at room temperature.

Design/methodology/approach

Gas sensor structures were fabricated using microfabrication techniques. First, onto the SiO2 wafer, gold electrodes were fabricated via thermal evaporation. PANI/PEO nanofibers were produced by the electrospinning method, and the ZnO layer was deposited by using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on the electrospun nanofibers as a sensing layer. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction were performed to characterize the analysis of nanofibers. After all, gas sensing analysis of PANI/PEO and PANI/PEO/ZnO nanofibers was conducted using an experimental setup at room temperature conditions. Furthermore, the impact of humidity (17%–90% RH) on the sensor resistance was actively investigated.

Findings

FTIR analysis confirms the presence of functional groups of PANI, PEO and ZnO in nanofiber structure. SEM micrographs demonstrate beads-free, thinner and smooth nanofibers with ZnO contribution to electrospun PANI/PEO nanofibers. Moreover, according to the gas sensing results, the PANI/PEO nanofibers exhibit 115 s and 457 s response time and recovery time, respectively. However, the PANI/PEO/ZnO nanofibers exhibit 245 s and 153 s response time and recovery time, respectively. PANI/PEO/MOx composite nanofibers ensure stability to the NH3 gas owing to the high surface/volume ratio and decrease in the humidity dependence of gas sensors, making gas sensors more stable to the environment.

Originality/value

In this study, ZnO was deposited via RF magnetron sputtering techniques on PANI/PEO nanofibers as a different approach instead of in situ polymerization to investigate and enhance the sensor response and recovery time of the PANI/PEO/ZnO and PANI/PEO composite nanofibers to ammonia. These results indicated that ZnO can enhance the sensing properties of conductive polymer-based resistive sensors.

Details

Microelectronics International, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-5362

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 July 2023

Shinta Rahma Diana and Farida Farida

Technology acceptance is a measure of that technology’s usefulness. Oil palm is one of the biggest contributors to Indonesia’s revenues, thus fueling its economy. Using remote…

Abstract

Purpose

Technology acceptance is a measure of that technology’s usefulness. Oil palm is one of the biggest contributors to Indonesia’s revenues, thus fueling its economy. Using remote sensing would allow a plantation to monitor and forecast its production and the amount of fertilizer used. This review aims to provide a policy recommendation in the form of a strategy to improve the added value of Indonesia’s oil palm and support the government in increasing oil palm production. This recommendation needs to be formulated by determining the users’ acceptance of remote sensing technology (state-owned plantations, private plantation companies and smallholder plantations).

Design/methodology/approach

This review’s methodology used sentiment analysis through text mining (bag of words model). The study’s primary data were from focus group discussions (FGDs), questionnaires, observations on participants, audio-visual documentation and focused discussions based on group category. The results of interviews and FGDs were transcribed into text and analyzed to 1) find words that can represent the content of the document; 2) classify and determine the frequency (word cloud); and finally 3) analyze the sentiment.

Findings

The result showed that private plantation companies and state-owned plantations had extremely high positive sentiments toward using remote sensing in their oil palm plantations, whereas smallholders had a 60% resistance. However, there is still a possibility for this technology’s adoption by smallholders, provided it is free and easily applied.

Research limitations/implications

Basically, technology is applied to make work easier. However, not everyone is tech-savvy, especially the older generations. One dimension of technology acceptance is user/customer retention. New technology would not be immediately accepted, but there would be user perceptions about its uses and ease. At first, people might be reluctant to accept a new technology due to the perception that it is useless and difficult. Technology acceptance is the gauge of how useful technology is in making work easier compared to conventional ways.

Practical implications

Therefore, technology acceptance needs to be improved among smallholders by intensively socializing the policies, and through dissemination and dedication by academics and the government.

Social implications

The social implications of using technology are reducing the workforce, but the company will be more profitable and efficient.

Originality/value

Remote sensing is one of the topics that people have not taken up in a large way, especially sentiment analysis. Acceptance of technology that utilizes remote sensing for plantations is very useful and efficient. In the end, company profits can be allocated more toward empowering the community and the environment.

Details

Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1985-9899

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 February 2023

Kang Min, Fenglei Ni and Hong Liu

The purpose of the paper is to propose an efficient and accurate force/torque (F/T) sensing method for the robotic wrist-mounted six-dimensional F/T sensor based on an excitation…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to propose an efficient and accurate force/torque (F/T) sensing method for the robotic wrist-mounted six-dimensional F/T sensor based on an excitation trajectory.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents an efficient and accurate F/T sensing method based on an excitation trajectory. First, the dynamic identification model is established by comprehensively considering inertial forces/torques, sensor zero-drift values, robot base inclination errors and forces/torques caused by load gravity. Therefore, the sensing accuracy is improved. Then, the excitation trajectory with optimized poses is used for robot following and data acquisition. The data acquisition is not limited by poses and its time can be significantly shortened. Finally, the least squares method is used to identify parameters and sense contact forces/torques.

Findings

Experiments have been carried out on the self-developed robot manipulator. The results strongly demonstrate that the proposed approach is more efficient and accurate than the existing widely-adopted method. Furthermore, the data acquisition time can be shortened from more than 60 s to 3 s/20 s. Thus, the proposed approach is effective and suitable for fast-paced industrial applications.

Originality/value

The main contributions of this paper are as follows: the dynamic identification model is established by comprehensively considering inertial forces/torques, sensor zero-drift values, robot base inclination errors and forces/torques caused by load gravity; and the excitation trajectory with optimized poses is used for robot following and data acquisition.

Details

Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 January 2022

Sandeep Kumar Reddy Thota, C. Mala and Geetha Krishnan

A wireless body area network (WBAN) is a collection of sensing devices attached to a person’s body that is typically used during health care to track their physical state. This…

Abstract

Purpose

A wireless body area network (WBAN) is a collection of sensing devices attached to a person’s body that is typically used during health care to track their physical state. This paper aims to study the security challenges and various attacks that occurred while transferring a person’s sensitive medical diagnosis information in WBAN.

Design/methodology/approach

This technology has significantly gained prominence in the medical field. These wearable sensors are transferring information to doctors, and there are numerous possibilities for an intruder to pose as a doctor and obtain information about the patient’s vital information. As a result, mutual authentication and session key negotiations are critical security challenges for wearable sensing devices in WBAN. This work proposes an improved mutual authentication and key agreement protocol for wearable sensing devices in WBAN. The existing related schemes require more computational and storage requirements, but the proposed method provides a flexible solution with less complexity.

Findings

As sensor devices are resource-constrained, proposed approach only makes use of cryptographic hash-functions and bit-wise XOR operations, hence it is lightweight and flexible. The protocol’s security is validated using the AVISPA tool, and it will withstand various security attacks. The proposed protocol’s simulation and performance analysis are compared to current relevant schemes and show that it produces efficient outcomes.

Originality/value

This technology has significantly gained prominence in the medical sector. These sensing devises transmit information to doctors, and there are possibilities for an intruder to pose as a doctor and obtain information about the patient’s vital information. Hence, this paper proposes a lightweight and flexible protocol for mutual authentication and key agreement for wearable sensing devices in WBAN only makes use of cryptographic hash-functions and bit-wise XOR operations. The proposed protocol is simulated using AVISPA tool and its performance is better compared to the existing methods. This paper proposes a novel improved mutual authentication and key-agreement protocol for wearable sensing devices in WBAN.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 29 April 2024

Dada Zhang and Chun-Hsing Ho

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vehicle-based sensor effect and pavement temperature on road condition assessment, as well as to compute a threshold value for the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vehicle-based sensor effect and pavement temperature on road condition assessment, as well as to compute a threshold value for the classification of pavement conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

Four sensors were placed on the vehicle’s control arms and one inside the vehicle to collect vibration acceleration data for analysis. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were performed to diagnose the effect of the vehicle-based sensors’ placement in the field. To classify road conditions and identify pavement distress (point of interest), the probability distribution was applied based on the magnitude values of vibration data.

Findings

Results from ANOVA indicate that pavement sensing patterns from the sensors placed on the front control arms were statistically significant, and there is no difference between the sensors placed on the same side of the vehicle (e.g., left or right side). A reference threshold (i.e., 1.7 g) was computed from the distribution fitting method to classify road conditions and identify the road distress based on the magnitude values that combine all acceleration along three axes. In addition, the pavement temperature was found to be highly correlated with the sensing patterns, which is noteworthy for future projects.

Originality/value

The paper investigates the effect of pavement sensors’ placement in assessing road conditions, emphasizing the implications for future road condition assessment projects. A threshold value for classifying road conditions was proposed and applied in class assignments (I-17 highway projects).

Details

Built Environment Project and Asset Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-124X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Byung-Gak Son, Samuel Roscoe and ManMohan S. Sodhi

This study aims to answer the question: What dynamic capabilities do diverse humanitarian organizations have?

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to answer the question: What dynamic capabilities do diverse humanitarian organizations have?

Design/methodology/approach

We examine this question through the lens of dynamic capabilities with sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capacities. The research team interviewed 15 individuals from 12 humanitarian organizations that had (a) different geographic scopes (global versus local) and (b) different missions (emergency response versus long-term development aid). We also gathered data from secondary sources, including standard operating procedures, company websites, and news databases (Factiva, Reuters and Bloomberg).

Findings

The findings identify the operational and dynamic capabilities of global and local humanitarian organizations while distinguishing between their mission to provide long-term development aid or emergency relief. (1) The global organizations, with their beneficiary responsiveness, reconfigured their sensing and seizing capacities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by pivoting quickly to local procurement or regional supply chains. The long-term development organizations pivoted to multi-year supplier agreements with fixed pricing to counter price uncertainty and accessed social capital with government bodies. In contrast, emergency response organizations developed end-to-end supply chain visibility to sense changes in supply and demand. (2) Local humanitarian organizations developed the capacity to sense demand and supply changes to reconfigure based on their experiential learning working with the local community. The long-term-development local organizations used un-owned and scalable relief infrastructure to seize opportunities to rebuild affected areas. In contrast, emergency response organizations developed their capacity to seize opportunities to provide aid stemming from their decentralized decision-making, a lack of structured procedures, and the authority for increased expenditure.

Originality/value

We propose a theoretical framework to identify humanitarian organizations' operational and dynamic capabilities, distinguishing between global and local organizations and their emergency response and long-term aid missions.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2020

Suneetha Ch, Srinivasa Rao S and K.S. Ramesh

Electronic devices aid communication during new communication phases and the scope of cognitive radio networks has changed communication paradigms through efficient use of…

Abstract

Purpose

Electronic devices aid communication during new communication phases and the scope of cognitive radio networks has changed communication paradigms through efficient use of spectrums. The communication prototype of cognitive radio networks defines user roles as primary user and secondary user in the context of the spectrum allocation and use. The users who have licensed authority of the spectrum are denoted as primary users, while other eligible users who access the corresponding spectrum are secondary users.

Design/methodology/approach

The multiple factors of transmission service quality can have a negative influence due to improper scheduling of spectrum bands between primary users and secondary users. There are considerable contributions in contemporary literature concerning spectrum band scheduling under spectrum sensing. However, the majority of the scheduling models are intended to manage a limited number of transmission service quality factors. Moreover, these service quality factors are functional and derived algorithmically from the current corresponding spectrum. However, there is evidence of credible performance deficiency regarding contemporary spectrum sensing methods

Findings

This article intends to portray a fuzzy guided integrated factors-based spectrum band sharing within the spectrum used by secondary users. This study attempts to explain the significance of this proposal compared to other contemporary models.

Originality/value

This article intends to portray a fuzzy guided integrated factors-based spectrum band sharing within the spectrum used by secondary users. This study attempts to explain the significance of this proposal compared to other contemporary models.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-6427

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 March 2023

Katja Hutter, Ferry-Michael Brendgens, Sebastian Peter Gauster and Kurt Matzler

This paper aims to examine the key challenges experienced and lessons learned when organizations undergo large-scale agile transformations and seeks to answer the question of how…

4214

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the key challenges experienced and lessons learned when organizations undergo large-scale agile transformations and seeks to answer the question of how incumbent firms achieve agility at scale.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on a case study of a multinational corporation seeking to scale up agility, the authors combined 36 semistructured interviews with secondary data from the organization to analyze its transformation since the early planning period.

Findings

The results show how incumbent firms develop and successfully integrate agility-enhancing capabilities to sense, seize and transform in times of digital transformation and rapid change. The findings highlight how agility can be established initially at the divisional level, namely with a key accelerator in the form of a center of competence, and later prepared to be scaled up across the organization. Moreover, the authors abstract and organize the findings according to the dynamic capabilities framework and offer propositions of how companies can achieve organizational agility by scaling up agility from a divisional to an organizational level.

Practical implications

Along with in-depth insights into agile transformations, this article provides practitioners with guidance for developing agility-enhancing capabilities within incumbent organizations and creating, scaling and managing agility across them.

Originality/value

Examining the case of a multinational corporation's exceptional, pioneering effort to scale agility, this article addresses the strategic importance of agility and explains how organizational agility can serve incumbent firms in industries characterized by uncertainty and intense competition.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2024

Amine Belhadi, Sachin Kamble, Nachiappan Subramanian, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Mani Venkatesh

The agricultural supply chain is susceptible to disruptive geopolitical events. Therefore, agri-food firms must devise robust resilience strategies to hasten recovery and mitigate…

Abstract

Purpose

The agricultural supply chain is susceptible to disruptive geopolitical events. Therefore, agri-food firms must devise robust resilience strategies to hasten recovery and mitigate global food security effects. Hence, the central aim of this paper is to investigate how supply chains could leverage digital technologies to design resilience strategies to manage uncertainty stemming from the external environment disrupted by a geopolitical event. The context of the study is the African agri-food supply chain during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employ strategic contingency and dynamic capabilities theory arguments to explore the scenario and conditions under which African agri-food firms could leverage digital technologies to formulate contingency strategies and devise mitigation countermeasures. Then, the authors used a multi-case-study analysis of 14 African firms of different sizes and tiers within three main agri-food sectors (i.e. livestock farming, food-crop and fisheries-aquaculture) to explore, interpret and present data and their findings.

Findings

Downstream firms (wholesalers and retailers) of the African agri-food supply chain are found to extensively use digital seizing and transforming capabilities to formulate worst-case assumptions amid geopolitical disruption, followed by proactive mitigation actions. These capabilities are mainly supported by advanced technologies such as blockchain and additive manufacturing. On the other hand, smaller upstream partners (SMEs, cooperatives and smallholders) are found to leverage less advanced technologies, such as mobile apps and cloud-based data analytics, to develop sensing capabilities necessary to formulate a “wait-and-see” strategy, allowing them to reduce perceptions of heightened supply chain uncertainty and take mainly reactive mitigation strategies. Finally, the authors integrate their findings into a conceptual framework that advances the research agenda on managing supply chain uncertainty in vulnerable areas.

Originality/value

This study is the first that sought to understand the contextual conditions (supply chain characteristics and firm characteristics) under which companies in the African agri-food supply chain could leverage digital technologies to manage uncertainty. The study advances contingency and dynamic capability theories by providing a new way of interacting in one specific context. In practice, this study assists managers in developing suitable strategies to manage uncertainty during geopolitical disruptions.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2023

Seyedeh Khadijeh Taghizadeh, Syed Abidur Rahman, Davoud Nikbin, Malgorzata Radomska and Shaghayegh Maleki Far

This study aims to investigate how dynamic capabilities, i.e. sensing, learning, integrating and coordinating trigger sustainable innovation performance. It also examines the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how dynamic capabilities, i.e. sensing, learning, integrating and coordinating trigger sustainable innovation performance. It also examines the direct and moderating role of environmental turbulence towards the sustainable innovation performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 169 SMEs in Oman and analysed through structural equation modelling using SmartPLS software.

Findings

Findings of this study reveal that the sustainable innovation performance of SMEs is greatly influenced by the synergy of learning, integrating and coordinating capabilities. Notably, among these capabilities, coordinating capability emerges as the most important capability for SMEs with a primary emphasis on fostering both human and organizational well-being. However, this research reveals that building dynamic capabilities alone might not be sufficient to address social, ecological and economic sustainability criteria, and SMEs may need to extend their view beyond internal processes and integrate various environmental contingencies into their approaches while focusing on sustainable innovation performance.

Practical implications

This research is useful for business managers while allocating resources in their business efficiently and effectively to achieve sustainable innovation performance. It also highlights that SMEs need to integrate various environmental contingencies into their approaches while focusing on sustainable innovation performance.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to contribute to SME scholarship by mainly investigating the effect of specific four types of dynamic capabilities on sustainable innovation performance in a turbulent environment. This study is likely to contribute to the SMEs addressing sustainability innovation performance and develop capabilities to be sustainable in a turbulent environment.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

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