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The purpose of this paper is to identify the key determinants of the information value of enterprises’ micro-blogs, drawing on the consumer’s perspective. This paper examines the effects of such information value on consumers’ purchase intention through the building of online brand equity. The paper also investigates how perceived usefulness intervenes in the relationship between micro-blog information value and consumer purchase intention.

The proposed research model is examined empirically using a survey of 315 users of the Sina micro-blog. The statistical analysis applies a method based on variance using partial least squares.

The results show that online retailers’ micro-blog posts, which are characterized by informativeness and persuasiveness as perceived by customers, positively impact online retailers’ brand equity, which in turn influences consumer purchase intention. In addition, perceived information usefulness is found to be an important contextual factor that moderates the relationship between perceived persuasiveness and online retailer brand equity.

This work adds significance to the literature by extending the research on micro-blog marketing and also provides practical recommendations for online retailers on the operation of micro-blogs.

This study aims to fabricate and manipulate ensemble spin of negative nitrogen-vacancy (NV⁻) centres optimally for future solid atomic magnetometers/gyroscope. Parameters for sample preparation most related to magnetometers/gyroscope are, in particular, the concentration and homogeneity of the NV⁻ centres, the parameters’ microwave antenna of resonance frequency and the strength of the microwave on NV⁻ centres. Besides, the abundance of other impurities such as neutral NV centres (NV⁰) and substitutional nitrogen in the lattice also plays a critical role in magnetic sensing.

The authors succeeded in fabricating the assembly of NV centres in diamond and they determined its concentration of (2-3) × 10¹⁶ cm⁻³ with irradiation followed by annealing under a high temperature condition. They explored a novel magnetic resonance approach to detect the weak magnetic fields that takes advantage of the solid-state electron ensemble spin of NV⁻ centres in diamond. In particular, the authors set up a magnetic sensor on the basis of the assembly of NV centres. They succeeded in fabricating the assembly of NV centres in diamond and determined its concentration. They also clarified the magnetic field intensity measured at different positions along the antenna with different lengths, and they found the optimal position where the signal of the magnetic field reaches the maximum.

The authors mainly reported preparation, initialization, manipulation and measurement of the ensemble spin of the NV centres in diamond using optical excitation and microwave radiation methods with variation of the external magnetic field. They determined the optimal parameters of irradiation and annealing to generate the ensemble NV centres, and a concentration of NV⁻ centres as high as 10¹⁶ cm⁻³ in diamond was obtained. In addition, they found that sensitivity of the magnetometer using this method can reach as low as 5.22 µT/Hz currently.

This research can shed light on the development of an atomic magnetometer and a gyroscope on the basis of the ensemble spin of NV centres in diamond.

High concentration spin of NV⁻ in diamond is one of the advantages compared with that of the atomic vapor cells, because it can obtain a higher concentration. When increasing the spin concentration, the spin signal is easy to detect, and macro-atomic spin magnetometer become possible. This research is the first step for solid atomic magnetometers with high spin density and high sensitivity potentially with further optimization. It has a wide range of applications from fundamental physics tests, sensor applications and navigation to detection of NMR signals.

As has been pointed out, in this research, the authors mainly worked on fabricating NV⁻ centres with high concentration (10¹⁵-10¹⁶ cm⁻³) in diamond by using optimal irradiation and annealing processes, and they quantitatively defined the NV⁻ concentration, which is important for the design of higher concentration processes in the magnetometer and gyroscope. Until now, few groups can directly define the NV⁻ concentration. Besides, the authors optimized the microwave antenna parameters experimentally and explored the dependence between the splitting of the magnetic resonance and the magnetic fields, which dictated the minimum detectable magnetic field.

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 purpose of this paper is to propose a casting process for the production of double-chamber soft fingers, which avoids the problems of air leakage and fracture caused by multistep casting. This proposed method facilitates the simultaneous casting of the inflation chamber and the jamming chamber.

An integrated molding technology based on the lost wax casting method is proposed for the manufacture of double-chamber soft fingers. The solid wax core is assembled with the mold, and then liquid silicone rubber is injected into it. After cooling and solidification, the mold is stripped off and heated in boiling water, so that the solid wax core melts and precipitates, and the integrated soft finger is obtained.

The performance and fatigue tests of the soft fingers produced by the proposed method have been carried out. The results show that the manufacturing method can significantly improve the fatigue resistance and stability of the soft fingers, while also avoiding the problems such as air leakage and cracking.

The improvement of the previous multistep casting method of soft fingers is proposed, and the integrated molding manufacturing method is proposed to avoid the problems caused by secondary bonding.

Examines the tenth 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.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence mechanism of different interface component surface textures on the ultrasonic motor (USM) output performance.

The energy transmission mechanism of the traveling-wave ultrasonic motor 60 (TRUM-60) was numerically and experimentally investigated by fabricating dimple textures with different feature types on the friction material and the stator.

Textured friction material can increase the contact range effectively, and thus, can improve the friction characteristics of the interface and the output performance of the TRUM-60. The experimental results verified the expected influence mechanism and demonstrated that the use of either a textured friction material or stator has a very different effect on USM output performance. A textured PI-based friction material improved the TRUM-60 output performance, resulting in a maximum energy conversion efficiency of 57.11%. However, a textured stator degraded the TRUM-60 output performance, resulting in a minimum energy conversion efficiency of only 44.92%.

The results of this study provide a theoretical foundation for improved USM designs with textured interfaces.

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.

The objective of this study is to investigate how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affects firms' financial management in China's manufacturing sector. In addition, the authors analyze the changes in various financial indicators before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the authors make a cross-country comparison of the COVID-19's impact on financial management between China and Romania.

The study uses the balanced panel data of 2,272 manufacturing listed companies from 2019 to 2020, and applies the t-test method and multiple regression method.

The results show that firms' financial performance in most manufacturing sub-sectors decreased during the observed period. In addition, the authors find that equity financing, proper liquidity management and an expanded firm scale can improve firms' financial performance. The authors further compare the results with the Romanian results, and find that the negative impact of debt-to-equity ratio on firms' financial performance in Romania is greater than that in China and the positive impact of financial autonomy ratio and working capital ratios is greater in China than that in Romania.

The findings can help corporate managers make the best financial management decision in response to crisis.

This study is one of the pioneers that analyze how manufacturing companies carried out their financial management during the COVID-19 crisis in the Chinese context, and provides a cross-country analysis of corporate financial management practices in China and Romania.

This paper aims to examine how and when perceived narcissistic supervision influences subordinates' work engagement and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) based on organizational justice theory.

Two-wave data were collected from 320 employees in a Chinese manufacturing company.

Subordinates' perceived interactional justice mediated the relationships between perceived narcissistic supervision and work engagement and CWB. Higher levels of subordinates' need for belonging strengthened the detrimental impacts of perceived narcissistic supervision on subordinates' outcomes.

Organizations should reduce the occurrence of narcissistic supervision, enhance subordinates' perception of interactional justice and pay more attention to subordinates' need for belonging in personnel and team arrangement.

Although research has documented the detrimental effects of perceived narcissistic supervision, little effort has been made to investigate how such effects occur and which factors might amplify such effects. This study identified the mechanism underlying the link between perceived narcissistic supervision and subordinates' outcomes and unpacked the moderating role of subordinates' need for belonging.

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