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This paper aims to provide a flexible polyurethane (PU) film with visible light trapping ability, photothermal conversion and energy storage performance by covalently bonded a visible light absorbing dye into the polymer through copolymerization.

For this target solution copolymerization of diphenyl-methane-diisocyanate (MDI), poly(1,4-butylene adipate) (PBA2000), polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different molecular weight, self-made dye, 1,4-butanediol (BuOH) was carried out in a flame-dried flask under an inert nitrogen (N₂) atmosphere. First, an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer of dried PEG, MDI and PBA2000 was prepared in dimethylformamide and stirred for 1 h at 35°C. Then, self-made dye and 1, 4-butanediol (BuOH) were added and heated at 85°C for 3 h to get photothermal conversion polyurethane (PTPU) solution. Allowed the solution to dry at room temperature for seven days and then at 65°C for 12 h to get PTPU films.

The flexible PU films with photothermal conversion and energy storage performances were successfully synthesized and the functional films presented both excellent energy storage and mechanical property when the molecular weight of PEG was in the range of 6,000∼10,000.

The materials that were used in this research paper had a reasonably low cost. Also, the procedures for the synthesis of dye and polymers were extremely easy because there was no need for high pressure or temperature and no dangerous solvents were used.

The photothermal conversion property and mechanical performance of the synthesized flexible PU films were characterized. The results have proved that these films were soft and elastic, and have certain photothermal conversion and energy storage ability, thus can be used in the surface finishing of special fabric and leather.

Visible light trapping photothermal conversion PU flexible film with energy storage capability was prepared for the first time.

With the analysis of the causes of corruption, this study aims to investigate specific anti-corruption measures that can be implemented to reform the political system and the social climate of China.

This study examines 97 severe corruption cases of high-ranking officials in China, which occurred between 2012 and 2015. As this insinuates that both institutional and social corruption are major problems in China, the analysis delves into multiple facts of corruption, including different types, four primary underlying causes, and suggestions regarding the implementation of three significant governmental shifts that focus on investigation, prevention tactics and legal regulations.

China’s corruption is not only individual-based but also it has developed into institutional corruption and social corruption. Besides human nature and instinct, the causes of corruption can be organised into four categories, namely, social customs, social transitions, institutional designs and institutional operations. For the removed high-ranking officials, the formation of interest chains was an important underlying cause behind their corruption.

This study makes a significant contribution to the literature because this study provides a well-rounded approach to a complex issue by highlighting the significance of democracy and the rule of law as ways to regulate human behaviour to combat future corruption.

The purpose of this paper is to advance a digital technology that is intended to bring about innovations on the existing textile patterns.

The pattern is deemed as a relation function between colors and positions which can be learnt by the artificial neural network (ANN). The outputs of the ANN are used for the reconstruction of the pattern and the innovation is performed by interceptors in the input/output layer. The ANN is carried out with one input layer, one output layer and several hidden layers, and the capacity of the architecture is adjusted by the scale of hidden layers to accommodate different function relations of the patterns. The training is conducted repeatedly on a sample set extracted from the pixels of the pattern image to minimize the error, and the chromatic outputs of the architecture are replaced to their origins so as to rebuild the pattern. Then, the interceptors are installed into the input and output layers to modulate the positions and the colors, and consequently the innovations are achieved on the geometric formation and color distribution of the pattern.

It has turned out that the precision of reconstruction is concerned with network scale, training epochs and color mode of the sample set. Four primary innovative effects including stripes, twisters, sandification and overprints have been qualified in terms of interceptors.

This study introduces ANN into textile pattern generation and provides a novel way to perform digital innovation of textile patterns.

Since the first automated container terminal (ACT) was introduced at Europe Container Terminals Delta Terminal in Port Rotterdam back in the year 1992, a lot of research had been done to improve the management of ACT. However, up until recently, the number of literature available still appeared scarce. Hence, this paper aims to review the collection of literature about ACT to generate an exhaustive summary to answer the formulated review question in this study.

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses to narrow down the search parameters of literature retrieved so that only relevant articles were only selected. The systematic literature reviews were applied to analyse the content of the articles retrieved to determine its journal ranking, research findings and timeline of publications.

The adoption of ACT technology by container terminal operators could increase the terminal efficiency in productivity, cost reduction and environmental sustainability. Owing to global environmental awareness, the research trend of container terminal field and container terminal operator in the terminal design is much more environmentally friendly oriented.

The limited numbers of experts in the management of ACT are causing challenges in data collections.

The analysis of the global ACT trend could help academicians and industrial investors to review the revolution timeline of maritime technology in port and shipping that is happening rapidly.

The analysis of timeline and collective literature leads to the propose of the conceptual framework to determine the relationship between increased productivity, cost reduction and environmentally sustainable.

The development of mega container ships and operational pressures puts forward higher requirements on the operational ability of the container terminal. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to propose an effective method for quay crane (QC) scheduling of multiple hatches vessel considering double-cycling strategy to improve the operation efficiency and reduce the risk of delay.

A mixed integer programming model, which covers the main operational constraints in a container terminal, is formulated to solve the quay crane scheduling problem (QCSP) with a novel objective.

A case study is presented and a number of numerical experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed model. Meanwhile, management insights are proposed. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can efficiently solve QCSP in a container terminal, and an interesting finding is that reducing the stack layers on the vessel can improve the operation efficiency of QC.

A new mathematical model is proposed for QC scheduling at the operational level, which considers the constraints of double-cycling strategy, multiple hatches and hatch covers. The proposed model also provides methods to research the QC double-cycling problem considering the balance between energy cost and operation efficiency.