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This paper aims to concentrate on recent innovations in flexible wearable sensor technology tailored for monitoring vital signals within the contexts of wearable sensors and systems developed specifically for monitoring health and fitness metrics.

In recent decades, wearable sensors for monitoring vital signals in sports and health have advanced greatly. Vital signals include electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, electromyography, inertial data, body motions, cardiac rate and bodily fluids like blood and sweating, making them a good choice for sensing devices.

This report reviewed reputable journal articles on wearable sensors for vital signal monitoring, focusing on multimode and integrated multi-dimensional capabilities like structure, accuracy and nature of the devices, which may offer a more versatile and comprehensive solution.

The paper provides essential information on the present obstacles and challenges in this domain and provide a glimpse into the future directions of wearable sensors for the detection of these crucial signals. Importantly, it is evident that the integration of modern fabricating techniques, stretchable electronic devices, the Internet of Things and the application of artificial intelligence algorithms has significantly improved the capacity to efficiently monitor and leverage these signals for human health monitoring, including disease prediction.

By building and examining an integral model, the principal objectives of this research are to systematically explore how indirect and direct network externalities lead to user loyalty toward WeChat through the mediating effect of perceived gratifications.

The data were collected through an online survey of 688 young people in Mainland China. To empirically assess the conceptual model, zero-order correlation analyses and structural equation modeling were carried out utilizing web-based data.

Path analysis results demonstrate that indirect network externalities and direct network externalities exert a significant impact on users' hedonic gratifications and utilitarian gratifications. Moreover, the study discovers the significant mediating influences of utilitarian gratifications on the association between indirect network externalities and user loyalty.

Theoretically, this article may extend the scope of diverse studies on the association between network externalities and perceived gratifications and offer fresh insights into how mobile social media could actually improve user loyalty through enhancing perceived values among younger generation. Practically, this research assists mobile social media practitioners in retaining users and gaining competitive advantages over rival applications.

Although the extraordinary growth of WeChat has successfully become the dominant media by which individuals develop interpersonal network and contact with others, the roles of perceived gratifications between network externalities and user loyalty toward WeChat have not yet been investigated in depth. These obtained outcomes not only enrich the existing literature regarding the relationship between network externalities and affective response, but also offer fresh insights to mobile social media designers, marketers and users.

This study aims to contribute to the field of computer systems for sustainability research. It proposes a framework for sustainability awareness using online social networks (OSNs) by analyzing major research streams of the current state of knowledge and different bibliometric variables, and identifies a future research agenda in the field.

The preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) methodology, content analysis and bibliometric tools were employed to identify, select, collect, synthesize, analyze and evaluate all research published on sustainability awareness using OSNs to provide complete insight into this research area.

This study proposed a framework comprising four categories for sustainability awareness using OSNs. These four categories are: the key factors to success, analysis of existing tools, proposal of new methods, approaches and theoretical frameworks, and case examples. In addition, this study synthesized the future research challenges for each category of the proposed framework.

Fostering sustainability awareness and sustainable behavior using OSNs is a growing area of research that seeks cultural change in society to achieve sustainable development. Through OSNs, people can discover and become aware of the consequences of unsustainable practices and habits in society, and learn how to develop sustainable behavior.

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR

The ballooning health misinformation on social media raises grave concerns. Drawing upon the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model and the information processing literature, this study aims to explore (1) how social media health information seeking (S) affects health misinformation sharing intention (R) through the channel of health misperceptions (O) and (2) whether the mediation process would be contingent upon different information processing predispositions.

Data were collected from a survey comprising 388 respondents from the Chinese middle-aged or above group, one of China's most susceptible populations to health misinformation. Standard multiple linear regression models and the PROCESS Macro were adopted to examine the direct effect and the moderated mediation model.

Results bolstered the S-O-R-based mechanism, in which health misperceptions mediated social media health information seeking's effect on health misinformation sharing intention. As an indicator of analytical information processing, need for cognition (NFC) failed to moderate the mediation process. Contrarily, faith in intuition (FI), an indicator reflecting intuitive information processing, served as a significant moderator. The positive association between social media health information seeking and misperceptions was stronger among respondents with low FI.

This study sheds light on health misinformation sharing research by bridging health information seeking, information internalization and information sharing. Moreover, the authors extended the S-O-R model by integrating information processing predispositions, which differs this study from previous literature and advances the extant understanding of how information processing styles work in the face of online health misinformation. The particular age group and the Chinese context further inform context-specific implications regarding online health misinformation regulation.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2023-0157.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as a fiber molding polymer is widely used in aerospace, electrical and electronic, clothing and other fields. The purpose of this study is to improve the thermal insulation performance of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites slices and fibers were prepared, and the effects of the SiO₂ aerogel on the morphology, structure, crystallization property and thermal conductivity of the SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites slices and their fibers were systematically investigated.

The mass ratio of purified terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol was selected as 1:1.5, which was premixed with Sb₂O₃ and the corresponding mass of SiO₂ aerogel, and SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites were prepared by direct esterification and in-situ polymerization. The SiO₂ aerogel/PET composite fibers were prepared by melt-spinning method.

The results showed that the SiO₂ aerogel was uniformly dispersed in the PET matrix. The thermal insulation coefficient of PET was significantly reduced by the addition of SiO₂ aerogel, and the thermal conductivity of the 1.0 Wt.% SiO₂ aerogel/PET composites was reduced by 75.74 mW/(m · K) compared to the pure PET. The thermal conductivity of the 0.8 Wt.% SiO₂ aerogel/PET composite fiber was reduced by 46.06% compared to the pure PET fiber. The crystallinity and flame-retardant coefficient of the SiO₂ aerogel/PET composite fibers showed an increasing trend with the addition of SiO₂ aerogel.

The SiO₂ aerogel/PET composite slices and their fibers have good thermal insulation properties and exhibit good potential for application in the field of thermal insulation, such as warm clothes. In today’s society where the energy crisis is becoming increasingly serious, improving the thermal insulation performance of PET to reduce energy loss will be of great significance to alleviate the energy crisis.

In this study, SiO₂ aerogel/PET composite slices and their fibers were prepared by an in situ polymerization process, which solved the problem of difficult dispersion of nanoparticles in the matrix and the thermal conductivity of PET significantly reduced.

In this study, we drew on the theories of social exchange and social learning and hypothesized that the online social capital (SC) and offline SC of social networking affect the online self-disclosure (OSD) of individuals through social self-efficacy (SSE).

After retrieving 514 valid questionnaires, we used structural equation modeling to analyze the data.

The results indicated that the users’ SSE affected their OSD, and that both online and offline bridging and bonding SC increased their SSE. However, online bonding SC directly affected their OSD, whereas online bridging SC did not considerably affect their OSD. Given these findings, we presented both theoretical and practical implications to elucidate SSE and OSD behavior from the perspective of online and offline bridging and bonding SC.

In this study, we drew on theories of social exchange and social learning to examine the effects of online and offline bridging and bonding SC on users’ SSE and OSD on SNSs. Given the importance of SC and SSE in social relationships and the effects of OSD on SNSs, our goal was to provide SNS marketers with a thorough understanding of how to facilitate SSE and OSD from the perspective of online and offline bridging and bonding SC.

The aim of this review is to present together the studies on textile-based moisture sensors developed using innovative technologies in recent years.

The integration levels of the sensors studied with the textile materials are changing. Some research teams have used a combination of printing and textile technologies to produce sensors, while a group of researchers have used traditional technologies such as weaving and embroidery. Others have taken advantage of new technologies such as electro-spinning, polymerization and other techniques. In this way, they tried to combine the good working efficiency of the sensors and the flexibility of the textile. All these approaches are presented in this article.

The presentation of the latest technologies used to develop textile sensors together will give researchers an idea about new studies that can be done on highly sensitive and efficient textile-based moisture sensor systems.

In this paper humidity sensors have been explained in terms of measuring principle as capacitive and resistive. Then, studies conducted in the last 20 years on the textile-based humidity sensors have been presented in detail. This is a comprehensive review study that presents the latest developments together in this area for researchers.

Research on the relationship between customer bargaining power and supplier performance in supplier–customer relationships has flourished in recent decades. This study aims to empirically investigate whether product market overlap (PMO) in a supply chain moderates the effect of customer bargaining power on supplier profitability.

This study uses large-scale secondary data from multiple databases. Econometric panel data techniques are used to test the hypotheses.

The results show that PMO in a supplier–customer relationship and PMO in supplier–supplier relationships both exacerbate the negative effect of the bargaining power of customers on supplier profitability.

This study contributes to the field of supply chain management. This study brings new insights into the ongoing debate surrounding the relationship between customer bargaining power and supplier profitability. The study also contributes to the literature on supply chain networks by showing the impact of indirect supply chain relationships.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of political relations on trade in strategic emerging industries (SEIs) in the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) associated countries. This investigation encompasses not only from the perspective of bilateral political relations but also the political intervention of third parties.

The study employs the temporal exponential random graphmodel to analyze the dynamic structure and influencing factor of SEIs trade network among 150 BRI-associated countries from 2015 to 2020.

The results indicate that the trade of SEIs in the BRI-associated countries exhibits a pattern of concentrated exporters and decentralized importers. Amicable bilateral political relations foster trade cooperations in SEIs, while political pressure from the United States has the opposite effect. Furthermore, compared with the influence of third parties, the BRI has created a more robust trade environment characterized by political mutual trust.

BRI-associated countries should strengthen their political communication, and endeavor to transform political consensus and shared vision into concrete collaborative projects, while mitigating geopolitical uncertainties through a sound risk evaluation system. Moreover, they should establish a more transparent and consistent consultation mechanism and leverage the BRI trade network to foster balanced and mutually beneficial partnerships that minimize rivalry and dependence on a single market.

This study goes beyond observed trade cost and incorporates the political factor into the determinants of the BRI trade, thereby expanding the theoretical boundaries of existing BRI research. Also, this study employs bilateral trade data to construct SEIs trade networks (SEITNs) along the BRI route. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic determinates of the SEITNs will provide valuable practical guidance for enhancing and expanding trade and cooperation among BRI-associated countries.

The purpose of this study is to understand the role and impact of gender on reading habits. It is an attempt to explore the probable reason why or why not gender differences take place concerning reading time, reading purpose, reading resources and digital devices among undergraduate students in the digital environment.

For this study, the researcher used a survey-based approach. To accomplish the study’s goals, a meticulously designed questionnaire has been disseminated among undergraduate students in selected colleges located in the western district of Tripura, a northeastern state in India.

The study found that female respondents have a slightly higher level of liking for reading than males. For both genders, the major purpose of reading is to enhance their knowledge unvaryingly. Furthermore, it has been observed that female respondents read electronic and print reading material more frequently compared to their male counterparts. Female respondents read fiction more frequently than males in print form. Both genders have more ease in reading print resources than digital resources. Among all digital devices, respondents are most competent at using mobile devices and prefer them for digital reading.

As part of the pilot study, investigators surveyed a limited sample population, where the participation of students was further lower because of the unavailability of students.

The gender-based level of competency with digital devices is studied as a variable among the adult population to measure its correlation with reading habits.