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The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of FinTech companies in SCF. The application of digital technology in supply chain activities has facilitated the evolution of supply chain finance (SCF) to a new level. However, how financial technology (FinTech) companies promote this evolution has not been thoroughly examined.

This research used the multiple-case study approach and social network analysis method to explore how FinTech companies influence SCF networks.

The results reveal that FinTech companies play the crucial role of a signaling intermediary by facilitating interactions among relevant parties, accelerating the flow of information and reducing information asymmetry arising from data smog. Moreover, FinTech companies make SCF information networks more equitable and promote the performance of SCF.

This study deepens the conversation at the nexus of signal theory and SCF and provides managerial implications for alleviating information asymmetry between borrowers and lenders to solve the difficulty and high-cost problems of obtaining financing of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The assessment of fuel tank flammability exposure time for transport aircraft is one of the indispensable links in the airworthiness certification process. According to published literature, many factors can affect the flammability exposure time, while systematic analysis and calculations addressing these factors are in shortage.

Based on the requirements for airworthiness certification of domestic large aircraft, the fuel tank flammability exposure time of transport aircraft is calculated with the Monte Carlo evaluation model specified by Federal Aviation Administration. Meanwhile, the influence of each input parameter on the flammability exposure time is obtained by taking user input parameters in the model as independent variables and freezing other factors at the same time. The significance degree of the influence of each factor is discussed by the orthogonal test method. Subsequently, the interaction between the input parameters is studied by response surface method, and a multiple linear regression method is used to establish the functional relationship between the flammability exposure time and the influence parameters.

Research studies show that among the many factors that affect the flammability exposure time, the cruising Mach number, the equilibrium temperature difference and the maximum range are more significant and much attention should be paid to in the airworthiness certification; although there are interactions among various factors, they have different influence on the flammability exposure time, among which the interactions between maximum range and equilibrium temperature difference are the most significant compared with others; established by applying multiple linear regression equation and based on the test data of response surface method, the functional relationship between flammability exposure time and influence parameters is of sufficient reliability and can be used for preliminary prediction of fuel tank flammability exposure time for transport aircraft.

The research achievements of this paper can provide much useful reference for the certification of domestic large aircraft.

Physical contact and traditional sensitive structure Physical contact and traditional pressure-sensitive structures typically do not operate well in harsh environments. This paper proposes a high-temperature pressure measurement system for wireless passive pressure sensors on the basis of inductively coupled LC resonant circuits.

This paper begins with a general introduction to the high-temperature pressure measurement system, which consists of a reader antenna inductively coupled to the sensor circuit, a readout unit and a heat insulation unit. The design and fabrication of the proposed measurement system are then described in detail.

A wireless passive pressure sensor without an air channel is fabricated using high-temperature co-fired ceramics (HTCC) technology and its signal is measured by the designed measurement system. The designed heat insulation unit keeps the reader antenna in a safe environment of 159.5°C when the passive sensor is located in a 900°C high-temperature zone continuously for 0.5 h. The proposed system can effectively detect the sensor’s resonance frequency variation in a high bandwidth from 1 to 100 MHz with a frequency resolution of 0.006 MHz, tested from room temperature to 500°C for 30 min.

Expensive and bulky equipment (impedance analyzers or network analyzers) restrict the use of the readout method outside the laboratory environment. This paper shows that a novel readout circuit can replace the laboratory equipment to demodulate the measured pressure by extracting the various sensors’ resonant frequency. The proposed measurement system realizes automatic and continuous pressure monitoring in a high-temperature environment with a coupled distance of 2.5 cm. The research finding is meaningful for the measurement of passive pressure sensors under a wide temperature range.

The paper aims to study the wear and breakage characteristics of coated carbide cutting tools through micro-milling slot experiments on superalloy Inconel 718.

During the micro-milling process, the wear and breakage appearance on the rake face and flank face of the cutting tools, as well as the failure mechanism, have been studied. Furthermore, the wear and breakage characteristics of the micro-cutting tools have been compared with the traditional milling on Inconel 718.

The main failure forms of the micro tool when micro-milling Inconel 718 were tool tip breakage and coating shed on the rake and flank faces of the cutting tool and micro-crack blade. The main causes of tool wear were synthetic action of adhesive abrasion, diffusion wear and oxidation wear, while the causes of abrasive wear were not obvious.

The changing trend in tool wear during the micro-milling process and the main reasons of the tool wear are studied. The findings will facilitate slowing down the tool wear and prolonging the tool life during micro-milling Inconel718.

The results of this paper can help slow down the tool wear and realize high efficiency, high precision and economical processing of small workpiece or structure of the nickel-based superalloy.

This paper aims to explore the leaf-surface wax as green lubricant additive and compare the tribological properties between coastal and inland leaf-surface waxes of the same species plant.

The leaf-surface waxes were extracted from the leaves of Robinia pseudoacacia cv. Idaho and Populus nigra in coastal and inland areas, and then the compositions of the four kinds of leaf-surface waxes were characterized using a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The tribological properties of these leaf-surface waxes as lubricant additives in the base oil of synthetic ester (SE) were investigated by an MFT-R4000 reciprocating friction and wear tester. As well as the surface morphologies and chemical compositions of the wear scars were characterized by a scanning electron microscope and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, respectively.

The results indicate that all the leaf-surface waxes as additives can effectively improve the friction reduction and anti-wear performances of SE for steel–aluminum friction pairs. Therein, coastal leaf-surface waxes have better tribological performances than inland leaf-surface waxes, which are attributed to that the leaf-surface waxes extracted from coastal plants can form a better protective film on the worn surface throughout the friction process.

This paper investigated a new kind of environmentally friendly lubricant additive and compared the tribological properties of the leaf-surface wax extracted from coastal and inland plants. The associated conclusions can provide a reference to explore the tribological performances of leaf-surface wax as green lubricant additive.

The way to measure the value of an enterprise’s R&D investments remains elusive for theoretical and empirical study on innovation economics. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This paper expands the asset-value model pioneered by Griliches (1981) and applies it for the first time to the Chinese stock market to calculate the value of R&D investment instilled by Chinese manufacturing listed companies (CMLCs) from 2003 to 2014.

The authors find that: the assets-value model can better explain the enterprise value composition of CMLCs; with equal input, the value of R&D is higher than that of tangible assets, and lower than that of organizational assets; compared with the developed countries, the R&D value of CMLCs is lower; and the R&D value of CMLCs saw a downward trend from 2007 to 2014.

Furthermore, by rationally estimating the value of organizational assets and non-tradable shares, and innovatively introducing semi-annual momentum indicators from the perspective of behavioral finance to control the influence of investor sentiment on enterprise value, this paper tries to develop the asset-value model and provides a feasible solution to the problem of measuring the value of Chinese enterprises’ R&D investment.

This study aims to present the experimental results for neural network (NN) based harmonic elimination technique for single-phase inverters.

Switching angles applied to power switches are determined using the NN technique based on the harmonics to be suppressed. Thus, besides controlling the output voltage, NN controller provides elimination of predetermined harmonics from output signal of single-phase inverter. Simulation and experimental results for the elimination of 15 and 20 low-order harmonics are presented. The switching angle values calculated by a NN , fuzzy logic and Newton–Raphson are compared for elimination of first 10 harmonics.

This paper provides the harmonic spectra showing that first 15 and 20 harmonics are suppressed from output signal. The NN is proved to give closest results to angle values calculated by Newton–Raphson’s numerical solution method.

The value of this paper is to verify the simulation results with the experimental result for the elimination of 15 and 20 low-order harmonics. Both the simulation and the experimental results demonstrate the success of the NN based selected harmonic elimination.

As independent travel has become increasingly popular in recent years, factors influencing users’ attitudes and behaviors should be explored. Besides, the rise of video platforms like YouTube, Bilibili and TikTok has led to the flourishing of user generated content (UGC), among which travel vlogs have become convenient and essential references for tourists before and while they travel on their own.

This research used quantitative analysis through a survey designed for young people, as most vlog viewers are in those age groups, to explore the attitudes and perceptions of vlog preference, attitudes and cognizance of travel vlogs among different gender, guided by the decision-making theory and preference theory with 455 participants.

Survey results showed that both genders have common choices regarding travel vlog preference, attitudes, sharing and cognizance. Yet, gender differences appear in some cognition of travel vlogs and specific preferences, such as information searching habits, trusty travel and information sources.

Existing studies focus on the influence of platforms on users, but scant studies focus on user perceptions of vlogs as a new information carrier for young people in East Asia, especially regarding gender differences, which is crucial in media-based marketing. This research provides practical suggestions to marketers and vloggers to attract and engage different genders of young people and theoretical implications on decision and preference theories.

This paper aims to compare the Greek and Chinese rhetorical traditions and explore their influences on today’s business and marketing communication across relevant cultures. In particular, it uses the Aristotelian persuasive orientations as reference points to introduce the Chinese rhetoric, and interpret cultural differences in persuasion from a historical and sociocultural perspective. It has been found that Greek and Chinese rhetoric and persuasion were developed to meet the needs of the social and cultural environments and this rule still applies to today’s business communication. The logical approach has been emphasised in the English rhetorical tradition while both qing (emotional approach) and li (logical approach) are the focus of persuasion in the Chinese tradition. This difference is also the root of cultural differences in modern business communication. Findings from both English and Chinese texts and data are examined to substantiate our focal argument.