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The study of vascular mechanics is important. The purpose of this paper is to present an apparatus to measure the biomechanical properties of blood vessels, which can be used for tensile test and fatigue test.

This equipment consists of a mechanical test platform, a hardware circuit based on FPGA and control software. The torque generated by stepper motor is converted to axial force by ball screw, and the vascular specimen is stretched axially. The tension is measured by a load cell, and the displacement is recorded by a grating displacement sensor.

According to the results of calibration experiment and stability experiment, the linearity error of the system is 0.251, the hysteresis error is 0.047, the repeatability error is 0.185, the comprehensive error is 0.315 and the standard deviation of the output is less than 0.01 N. A test of animal vascular mechanical properties was carried out, and the results are consistent with the theory.

This apparatus is designed to measure biomechanical properties of blood vessels, and the results of experiments indicate that it is stable and reliable. This work is valuable for studying vascular disease and testing artificial blood vessels.

This paper aims to explore the impact of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on regional economic growth and innovation-driven development.

Based on the panel data of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in China from 2011 to 2018, this paper explores the impact of DIF on economic growth and innovative development.

(1) DIF has a direct positive effect on economic growth and innovative development; (2) there is significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of DIF on economic growth and innovative development. (3) DIF can indirectly affect economic growth and innovative development by increasing residents’ personal disposable income, increasing fiscal expenditure and improving educational level.

Exploring the relationship between them and digital inclusive financial development can provide a reference for national productivity construction and development.

Economic growth and innovation-driven development have been one of the main concerns of China’s policymakers. Exploring the relationship between them, digital inclusive financial development can provide a reference for national productivity construction and development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay of skill-enhancing human resources practices, customer orientation (CO) and tourism small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance indicators.

Data for 194 valid cases are gathered through face-to-face techniques in Albanian tourism SMEs. Structural equation modeling is implemented to analyze data and test the hypothesis proposed.

Overall, both skill-enhancing human resources (HR) practices (i.e. recruitment/selection and training) are not associated with SMEs performance. Results suggest that using HR selection/recruitment practices are not associated to SME’s CO. Contrary, implementing skill-enhancing HR training practices is significant for SMEs strategy to focus and address customers’ wants and needs. Finally, it was found that the CO mediates the relationship between skill-enhancing HR training practices and performance, but this was not true on the skill-enhancing HR recruitment/selection practices-performance relationship.

This study makes contributions by further informing the debate about the direct and indirect link between skill-enhancing HR practices and performance. Additionally, it examines the precise role of the skill-enhancing HR practice on SMEs’ culture and or strategy to create value for customers.