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Article
Publication date: 18 January 2013

Chen Guodong, Zeyang Xia, Rongchuan Sun, Zhenhua Wang and Lining Sun

Detecting objects in images and videos is a difficult task that has challenged the field of computer vision. Most of the algorithms for object detection are sensitive to…

Abstract

Purpose

Detecting objects in images and videos is a difficult task that has challenged the field of computer vision. Most of the algorithms for object detection are sensitive to background clutter and occlusion, and cannot localize the edge of the object. An object's shape is typically the most discriminative cue for its recognition by humans. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a model‐based object detection method which uses only shape‐fragment features.

Design/methodology/approach

The object shape model is learned from a small set of training images and all object models are composed of shape fragments. The model of the object is in multi‐scales.

Findings

The major contributions of this paper are the application of learned shape fragments‐based model for object detection in complex environment and a novel two‐stage object detection framework.

Originality/value

The results presented in this paper are competitive with other state‐of‐the‐art object detection methods.

Article
Publication date: 5 January 2022

Hakan Hafizoglu, Huseyin Emrah Konokman, Latif Kesemen and Ali Kursat Atay

This paper aims to investigate the effects of fragment impacts to shaped charge warheads in terms of shaped charge jet formation geometries and penetration performances.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the effects of fragment impacts to shaped charge warheads in terms of shaped charge jet formation geometries and penetration performances.

Design/methodology/approach

In experimental process, a fragment was accelerated to a shaped charge warhead by means of a powder gun to a velocity more than 1,000 m/s, and this impact led to conical damage in the explosive of the warhead. Deformation on the warhead was visualized using X-ray technique to observe holes generated during fragment impact. Penetration test was performed against AISI 1040 steel plates with the damaged shaped charge warhead. Penetration performance of shaped charge jet, which deviated from the symmetry axis, was simulated by using SPEED software with 3-D Eulerian method to validate the numerical modelling method by comparing penetration test and simulation results of damaged warhead.

Findings

Simulation and test results showed good correlation for the warhead in terms of penetration depth and hole geometry at the impact surface of steel plates. In addition, the effects of the numbers and the geometries of fragment holes on shaped charge jet penetration performances were investigated with validated numerical methods. Simulation results showed that the increase in the number of fragment holes in the explosive of the warhead led to particulation of shaped charge jet that diminished penetration depth in the target plate. Additionally, simulation results also showed that the fragment hole geometry in the explosive after different fragment impact angles affected the amount of jet deviation from the symmetry axis as well as penetration depth in the target plate.

Practical implications

The results obtained from the current study revealed that fragment impact angle and different number of fragment impact reduced the penetration performance of shaped charge warhead by influencing the symmetry of shaped charge jet negatively.

Originality/value

The current study fulfils the need to investigate how fragment impact on the shaped charge warhead affect the formation symmetry of shaped charge jet as well as penetration performance by experimental and numerical methods. Penetration performance result of asymmetric jet is compared by experimental and numerical studies. A detailed methodology on numerically modelling of the effect of fragment impact angle and number of fragment impact on shaped charge jet performance is given in this study.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 August 2011

Jun‐Bao Li, Meng Li and Huijun Gao

Computer‐aided fragmented cultural relics repair is an effective method instead of manual repair. The purpose of this paper is to provide a 3D digital patching system for…

Abstract

Purpose

Computer‐aided fragmented cultural relics repair is an effective method instead of manual repair. The purpose of this paper is to provide a 3D digital patching system for computer‐aided cultural relics repair through using the scanned 3D data of fragmented cultural relics. It includes processes and tools that can be effectively used for fragmented cultural relics repair.

Design/methodology/approach

An automatic 3D digital patching for fragmented culture relics repair is designed. The framework includes a surface segmentation based on region dilation, feature extraction based on height‐map, pair matching and multi‐block matching.

Findings

The paper finds that the proposed 3D data patching is an efficient method for fragmented cultural relics repair.

Practical implications

Early and effective planning and implementation of computer‐aided fragmented cultural relics repair can significantly improve the reliability and availability of fragmented cultural relics repair.

Originality/value

The paper presents a uniform framework of 3D digital patching for fragmented cultural relics repair.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 31 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 August 2022

Yuxin Tang, Ang Liu, Chen Zhao, Peng Ren and Zitao Guo

Fragment impact is one of the main threats for the safety of storage tank in aircraft. This study aims to investigate the influence of inserted baffle on hydrodynamic ram (HRAM…

Abstract

Purpose

Fragment impact is one of the main threats for the safety of storage tank in aircraft. This study aims to investigate the influence of inserted baffle on hydrodynamic ram (HRAM) and damage of storage tank to optimize the protective performance of storage tank under fragment impact.

Design/methodology/approach

The characteristics of initial shock wave, cavity evolution, velocity attenuation of fragment and anti-penetration performance of baffle-inserted tanks were evaluated by experimental and numerical methods.

Findings

Results indicated that the inserted baffle in tank could significantly increase the velocity attenuation rate of fragment in water. The volume of the second cavity caused by the inserted baffle rapidly decreased with the baffle position moving backward. For the baffle-inserted tank, the deformation of the front and rear walls was substantially weakened, and the alleviating effect for front wall was more significant. Comparing with the ordinary storage tank, the inserted baffle at normalized position 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 in tank made the ballistic limit velocity of storage tank increasing by 118.3%, 20.0% and 54.0%, respectively.

Originality/value

The findings of this work illustrating the HRAM history and damage map of storage tanks after inserted baffle could provide a convenient approach to improve the anti-penetration performance of storage tanks effectively.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 95 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 December 2022

Michel Tremblay

This study aims to examine how changes in power disparity shape in-groups and upper-level management conflict are associated with intragroup relationship and task conflict…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how changes in power disparity shape in-groups and upper-level management conflict are associated with intragroup relationship and task conflict variations. It also examines how workplace conflicts relate to focal employees’ perceptions of coworker support.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 3,343 respondents for nine years, comprising measurements taken on six occasions in 47 departments and stores of a Canadian retailer. The relationships between, within and across levels were tested using multilevel structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results showed that higher levels of power concentration vested by a few members or a single person are associated wih higher levels of intragroup conflict than usual. Furthermore, higher levels of task and relationship conflicts at upper management levels are associated with higher-than-usual task and relationship conflicts between nonhierarchical employees. Additionally, a higher-than-usual intragroup task conflict level was associated with lower-than-usual coworker support, supporting the proposed multilevel dynamic model.

Research limitations/implications

An important limitation of this study is that all variables are self-reported despite using the six-wave repeated measurements, thereby increasing the possibility of inflating some observed relationships. Future research should examine the emergence of a larger spectrum of power dispersion configurations and their role on process conflict.

Practical implications

Retail managers should legitimize why a high-power concentration occurs when the equal distribution of power is not possible and find ways to minimize the trickle-down effects of conflicts at upper levels on their subordinates.

Originality/value

This study examines the effect of variability on power configurations and conflict in upper management ranks on conflict dynamic. The findings show that a high-power concentration elicits increasing conflicts, and that there is no empirical evidence that intragroup conflict is associated with positive outcomes.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2016

Mashael AL-Omar and Andrew Martin Cox

– The purpose of the paper is to explore the character of scholars’ research-related personal information collections (PICs).

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to explore the character of scholars’ research-related personal information collections (PICs).

Design/methodology/approach

The study was based on in-depth interviews and office tours of 17 scholars in Education and Health Sciences in a Kuwaiti Higher Education Institution.

Findings

Scholars’ research-related PICs were added to throughout the research life-cycle. They were huge, diverse, hybrid and fragmented. Key factors shaping the collections were the pressure to do research, time pressure in general, quality of space available, technology opportunity, lack of support from central services, the need to collect Arabic material, self-presentation and self-management. Older scholars and non-Kuwaiti nationals experienced the pressures slightly differently.

Research limitations/implications

The study was limited to scholars in two disciplines, in one institution in a developing world context. However the models produced are suggestive of factors involved in shaping of the research-related PICs of scholars in general.

Practical implications

Failures in personal information management are a cause for concern in terms of data integrity and validity of research. Interventions could include training of early career researchers for a life time of collecting.

Originality/value

This is the first study to examine the contents of scholars’ research-related PICs and to provide a model of factors shaping them.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 68 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2001

Ann Marie Fiore, Seung‐Eun Lee, Grace Kunz and J.R. Campbell

Mass customisation, defined as the mass production of individually customised goods and services, aims at providing products and services that are more suited to the needs or…

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Abstract

Mass customisation, defined as the mass production of individually customised goods and services, aims at providing products and services that are more suited to the needs or desires of today’s fragmented consumer markets. Mass customisers should identify how needs or desires of the fragmented market shape the customisation of not just the product and service, but also the mass customisation experience. Towards this end, the authors examined whether an individual’s preferred level for environmental stimulation defined as optimum stimulation level (OSL) was associated with the types of products, services and experiences desired from mass customisation of apparel. As the authors hypothesised, OSL had significant positive correlations with willingness to use co‐design services to create a unique design, trying co‐design as an exciting experience, overall commitment to using co‐design, and trying body scanning as an exciting experience. OSL did not have significant correlations with the more banal willingness to use body scanning services for better fitting products or overall commitment to using body scanning. There was also a significant positive correlation between OSL and interest in customising experiential products, but not between OSL and interest in customising utilitarian products, as hypothesised. Results support research of the influence of OSL on consumer behaviour. Implications for the industry include considering experience aspects and environmental stimulation when developing a mass customisation programme.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2007

Lisa Bornstein

This article explores why a massive effort to promote peace, democratic governance, economic recovery, and poverty-reduction in Mozambique produced social, economic and spatial…

Abstract

This article explores why a massive effort to promote peace, democratic governance, economic recovery, and poverty-reduction in Mozambique produced social, economic and spatial fragmentation in urban areas. Drawing on the experience of several Mozambican cities in the immediate post-war period, the article shows how international peace-building, economic transition, and decentralised governance had unintended consequences that fragmented and fractured urban areas. Interdictory spaces, distorted housing markets and widespread corruption are among the features of the urban landscape fostered by these post-war transitional processes. In contrast to the profound effects of wider forces on urban spatial, social and political relations, efforts to plan the cities have been strikingly ineffective. Possible causes for this failure are discussed and include the high levels of donor dependence, internal political struggles over the role of planning, the limited levels of political enfranchisement, and the conceptual basis of contemporary planning. The article concludes with discussion of the challenges to planning for urban settlements that better meet the needs of the Mozambican people.

Details

Open House International, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2018

Diana Popescu, Dan Laptoiu, Rodica Marinescu and Iozefina Botezatu

This paper aims to fill a research gap by presenting design and 3D printing guidelines and considerations which apply to the development process of patient-specific osteotomy…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to fill a research gap by presenting design and 3D printing guidelines and considerations which apply to the development process of patient-specific osteotomy guides for orthopaedic surgery.

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis of specific constraints related to patient-specific surgical guides design and 3D printing, lessons learned during the development process of osteotomy guides for orthopaedic surgery, literature review of recent studies in the field and data gathered from questioning a group of surgeons for capturing their preferences in terms of surgical guides design corresponding to precise functionality (materializing cutting trajectories, ensuring unique positioning and stable fixation during surgery), were all used to extract design recommendations.

Findings

General design rules for patient-specific osteotomy guides were inferred from examining each step of the design process applied in several case studies in relation to how these guides should be designed to fulfill medical and manufacturing (fused deposition modelling process) constraints. Literature was also investigated for finding other information than the simple reference that the surgical guide is modelled as negative of the bone. It was noticed that literature is focussed more on presenting and discussing medical issues and on assessing surgical outcomes, but hardly at all on guides’ design and design for additive manufacturing aspects. Moreover, surgeons’ opinion was investigated to collect data on different design aspects, as well as interest and willingness to use such 3D-printed surgical guides in training and surgery.

Practical implications

The study contains useful rules and recommendations for engineers involved in designing and 3D printing patient-specific osteotomy guides.

Originality/value

A synergetic approach to identify general rules and recommendations for the patient-specific surgical guides design is presented. Specific constraints are identified and analysed using three case studies of wrist, femur and foot osteotomies. Recent literature is reviewed and surgeons’ opinion is investigated.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 November 2020

Anna Zgrzywa-Ziemak and Katarzyna Walecka-Jankowska

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and business sustainability (BS) and to carry out its empirical examination.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between organizational learning (OL) and business sustainability (BS) and to carry out its empirical examination.

Design/methodology/approach

Extensive literature research was carried out. Then, an empirical study was conducted in 694 Polish and Danish companies. Two phenomena related to OL were adopted: OL processes and organizational learning capability (OLC). BS was examined through the concept of sustainable performance (SP). Research models were tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The empirical studies have shown a positive, statistically significant relationship between OL and BS. The research supports the view that the intensification of the OL processes is substantial for BS, whereas the OLC concept is less relevant to the development of BS. The effect of OL on total SP was stronger than on any SP dimension. OL supports the synergies of the results obtained by the organization for the benefit of BS.

Research limitations/implications

The model verification is based on the samples from two countries, and, therefore, the hypothesis requires further verification in different business contexts. In addition, there are different factors influencing BS, which have not been included in the research and should be analyzed in the future.

Originality/value

An in-depth, critical literature analysis shows that the theoretical foundation of the role of OL in shaping BS is fragmented and poorly empirically verified. The value of this paper is the presentation of large-scale empirical studies comparing the relationship between BS and two phenomena: OLC and the OL processes. The results obtained in the course of the research open up new research directions with respect to both the relationship between OL and BS as well as between OL and organizational performance.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

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