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Anti-epidemic Emergency Projects (AEEPs) have unique characteristics such as a short construction period, high-quality requirements, complex construction environment, many construction participants and many uncertain affecting factors. The purpose of this paper was to propose the establishment method for the Construction Community (CC) of AEEPs (CC-AEEPs) by analyzing the management features of AEEPs, to establish the method of the Social Network Analysis (SNA) for CC-AEEPs, and to apply this method and the framework to Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital for their verification.

According to the CC theory, this paper explored the member composition and the establishment method for CC-AEEPs. The optimal management factors of CC-AEEPs were proposed by combining the management features of AEEPs and the SNA method for CC-AEEPs was further established. Finally, the applicability of the method was verified through a case study, and some countermeasures for the CC-AEEP social networks were proposed.

The establishment of CC-AEEPs is an important guarantee to complete AEEPs with top speed and high quality. Ten types of CC-AEEP members all played different but irreplaceable roles in cooperative construction, among which the Government, the Contractor, and the Supervisor had outstanding performances. The SNA method could effectively analyze the complexity and cooperative relationship among the members in four aspects. The case study of Huoshenshan Hospital validated the important role of CC-AEEP and its social network in the AEEP research providing beneficial enlightenment for the cooperative optimization path of the AEEP construction participants.

The new establishment method for CC-AEEPs was proposed from the perspective of “cooperation among human, society, and engineering” according to the theories of the engineering sociology and the CC. In this paper, the SNA method was applied to the research on the AEEP construction for the first time and the SNA method for CC-AEEPs was purposed. The optimal management factors of CC-AEEPs and the expansion path of the CC-AEEP social networks were proposed according to the whole-process tracking of AEEPs in Wuhan.

Epoxy resin (EP) is a kind of thermosetting resin, and its application is usually limited by poor toughness. In this case, a type of new flexible chain blocking hyperbranched polyester (HBP) was designed and synthesized. The purpose of this study is to enhance the toughness and dielectric properties of EP.

P-toluene sulfonic acid was used as the catalyst, with dimethy propionic acid as the branch unit and pentaerythritol as the core in the experiment. Then, n-hexanoic acid and n-caprylic acid were, respectively, put to gain HBP with a n-hexanoic acid and n-caprylic acid capped structure. The microstructure, mechanical properties, insulation properties and dielectric properties of the composite were characterized for the purpose of finding the appropriate proportion of HBP.

HBP enhanced the toughness of epoxy-cured products by interpenetrating polymer network structure between the flexible chain of HBP and the EP molecular chain. Meanwhile, HBP reduced the ε and tgδ of the epoxy anhydride-cured product by reducing the number of polar groups per unit volume of the EP through free volumes.

Yet EP is a kind of thermosetting resin, which is widely used in coating, aerospace, electronics, polymer composites and military fields, but it is usually limited by poor toughness. In a word, it is an urgent priority to develop new EP with better toughness and mechanical properties.

At present, HBP has been applied as a new kind of toughening strategy and as a modifier for EP. According to the toughening mechanism of HBP modified EP, the free volume of HBP creates a space for the EP molecule to move around when loaded. Moreover, the free volume could cause the dielectric constant of EP to diminish by reducing the content of polarizable groups. Meanwhile, the addition of HBP with flexible chains grafted to the EP could develop an interpenetrating network structure, thus further enhancing the toughness of EP

The study aims to examine the effects of guanxi and harmonious leadership on acquisition performance and the role of sociocultural integration as a mediating mechanism impacting the above links, with a focus on Chinese cross-border acquisitions in The Netherlands.

Data were collected through survey questionnaire with 91 respondents who work in Dutch-acquired companies. Regression analysis was used for exploring the relationship.

The study finds that both guanxi and harmonious leadership are positive to acquisition performance, and sociocultural integration represents a significant mediating mechanism by which guanxi and harmonious leadership can result in improved acquisition performance.

This study contributes to culture research by emphasizing the clarification of specific Chinese cultural values and cultural practices in cross-border acquisitions and examining the role of guanxi and harmonious leadership in acquisition performance. Meanwhile, this study helps to unveil Chinese cross-border acquisitions in The Netherlands by examining the mediating force – sociocultural integration.

The role of inventors' creativity is crucial for technological innovation within enterprises. The mobility of inventors among different enterprises is a primary source for companies to acquire external knowledge. The mechanism of “learning-by-hiring” is widely recognized by companies. Therefore, it is important to determine how to allocate network resources to enhance the creativity of inventors when companies hire mobile inventors.

The study suggests an analytical framework that analyzes alterations in tie strength and structural holes resulting from the network embeddedness of mobile inventors as well as the effect of the interaction between these two variables on changes in inventor’s creativity after the mobility. In addition, this paper examines the moderating impact of cognitive richness of mobile inventors and cognitive distance between mobile inventors and new employers on the correlation between network embeddedness and creativity.

This study found that: (1) The increase of tie strength has a significant boost in creativity. (2) Increasing structural holes can significantly improve the creativity of mobile inventors. (3) When both the tie strength and the structural holes increase, the creativity of the mobile inventors significantly increases. (4) It is important to note that when there is a greater cognitive distance, stronger tie strength promotes the creativity of mobile inventors. Additionally, cognitive richness plays a significant role in moderating the relationship between changes in structural holes and the creativity of mobile inventors.

These findings provide theoretical guidance for firms to effectively manage mobile inventors and optimize collaborative networks within organizations.

Examines the fifteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

This study aims to investigate the influence of inventors’ abilities to acquire external knowledge, provide broad and professional knowledge and patenting output (i.e. different types of inventors) on the formation of structural holes.

The authors collected 59,798 patents applied for and granted in the USA by 33 of the largest firms worldwide in the pharmaceutical industry between 1975 and 2014. A random-effects tobit model was used to test the hypotheses.

The inventors’ ability to acquire external knowledge contributes to the formation of structural holes. While inventors’ ability to provide broad knowledge positively affects the formation of structural holes, their ability to provide professional knowledge works otherwise. In addition, key inventors and industrious inventors are more likely to form structural holes than talents.

The results identify individual factors that affect the formation of structural holes and improve the understanding of structural hole theory. This study is unique in that most scholars have studied the consequences of structural hole formation rather than their antecedents. Studies on the origin of structural holes neglect the effect of inventors’ knowledge abilities and patenting output. By addressing this gap, this study contributes to a more comprehensive theoretical understanding of structural holes. The results can guide managers in managing structural holes in accordance with inventors’ knowledge abilities and patenting outputs, which optimize the allocation of network resources.

A mesoscopic phase field (PF) model is proposed to simulate the meso-failure process of lightweight concrete.

The PF damage model is applied to the meso-failure process of lightweight concrete through the ABAQUS subroutine user-defined element (UEL). And the improved staggered iteration scheme with a one-pass procedure is used to alternately solve the coupling equations.

These examples clearly show that the crack initiation of the lightweight concrete specimens mainly occurs in the ceramsite aggregates with weak strength, especially in the larger aggregates. The crack propagation paths of the specimens with the same volume fraction of light aggregates are completely different, but the crack propagation paths all pass through the ceramsite aggregates near the cracks. The results also showed that with the increase in the volume fractions of the aggregates, the slope and the peak loads of the force-deflection (F-d) curves gradually decrease, the load-bearing capacity of the lightweight concrete specimens decreases, and crack branching and coalescence are less likely during crack propagation.

The mesostructures with a mortar matrix, aggregates and an interfacial transition zone (ITZ) are generated by an automatic generation and placement program, thus incorporating the typical three-phase characteristics of lightweight concrete into the PF model.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the evaporative resistance and thermal insulation of clothing measured by thermal manikin “Walter” using uniform and non-uniform skin.

The non-uniform skin with different perspiration rates was made by laminating a silicone layer on the inner side of a uniform skin. The thermal manikin was then covered with prepared non-uniform skin as well as uniform one. Four types of clothing ensembles were tested.

The relative intensity of perspiration rate was realized in different part of “Walter” skin, which was close to the perspiration rate of human being. There was a strong correlation between uniform skin and non-uniform skin. The thermal insulation and evaporative resistance of clothing measured on the non-uniform skin were higher than the ones determined on the uniform skin. However, their moisture permeability index showed the reversed tendency.

The implication of the research is to investigate the differences between uniform skin and non-uniform skin for manikin “Walter.” This is possibly useful in correcting and predicting more accurate thermal insulation and evaporative resistance of clothing measured by “Walter” with a uniform skin in future.

It was more accurate using non-uniform skin in evaluating thermal and wet comfort comparing to uniform skin.

The study aims to pioneer an innovative approach for the evaluation of government portal websites (GPWs) by introducing an eye-tracking-based method. The research meticulously pinpoints and analyses the distinct usability issues and challenges that users encounter while navigating and interacting with GPWs.

This study devises an eye-tracking-based GPW usability evaluation approach, which focuses on the major functions (i.e. government information disclosure, government services and interactive responses) of GPWs. An Entropy Weighted Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (EW-TOPSIS) method is employed to process eye-tracking indicator results for deriving GPW usability results.

The proposed approach is demonstrated to assess the usability of 12 GPWs in pilot smart cities in China, and it is found that most GPWs have lower-than-average usability. GPWs with low usability require more cognitive load that exhibit increased fixation and saccade. The comparisons among the GPW usability results from (1) the eye-tracking experiment, (2) questionnaire surveys and (3) the ready-made performance evaluation report validate the effectiveness of eye-tracking-based GPW usability evaluation.

The work contributes to shifting the GPW usability evaluation approach from a subjective judgment paradigm to an objective paradigm, as well as provides implications for enhancing GPW usability, including improving search function, reducing website complexity and prioritizing user needs.

This paper aims to identify important factors in green public procurement (GPP) implementation and then to clarify how these factors affect GPP implementation.

The authors applied the Delphi method first and then conducted a focused and constrained multiple case study at 18 government procurement centers across China.

The authors identified four clusters of factors for successful GPP implementation: more clear, consistent and operational policy goals; a nation-wide green procurement campaign to enhance social capital and cultural resources; promoting staff’s ethics, professionalism, capacity and knowledge; and establishing checks and balances among organizations involved in the whole purchasing process.

GPP can significantly improve environmental protection and sustainable development.

Based on key insights from systems theory and agency theory, the authors emphasize that GPP implementation must take down its own functional silos and adopt a process approach across organizational tiers to synchronize human resource based and inter-organizational capabilities into a unified whole through information sharing, communications and collaboration.