Search results

The susceptible-infectious-susceptible (SIS) infectious disease models without spatial heterogeneity have limited applications, and the numerical simulation without considering models’ global existence and uniqueness of classical solutions might converge to an impractical solution. This paper aims to develop a robust and reliable numerical approach to the SIS epidemic model with spatial heterogeneity, which characterizes the horizontal and vertical transmission of the disease.

This study used stability analysis methods from nonlinear dynamics to evaluate the stability of SIS epidemic models. Additionally, the authors applied numerical solution methods from diffusion equations and heat conduction equations in fluid mechanics to infectious disease transmission models with spatial heterogeneity, which can guarantee a robustly stable and highly reliable numerical process. The findings revealed that this interdisciplinary approach not only provides a more comprehensive understanding of the propagation patterns of infectious diseases across various spatial environments but also offers new application directions in the fields of fluid mechanics and heat flow. The results of this study are highly significant for developing effective control strategies against infectious diseases while offering new ideas and methods for related fields of research.

Through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, the distribution of infected persons in heterogeneous environments is closely related to the location parameters. The finding is suitable for clinical use.

The theoretical analysis of the stability theorem and the threshold dynamics guarantee robust stability and fast convergence of the numerical solution. It opens up a new window for a robust and reliable numerical study.

What remains uncertain with corporate universities is the contribution they provide to their organizations, particularly when considered from the perspective of managers. Managers are important stakeholders, as they may participate in carrying out the mission and policies that govern the corporate university and participate in the programs offered. Organizations would benefit from knowing more about the perceptions of managers. The purpose of this paper is to study managers’ perceptions of the accountability of two corporate university programs in China and its relationship with the managers’ overall involvement in corporate university programs and their commitment to the organization.

The study was conducted in two state-owned organizations in China, a country in which many organizations have adopted corporate universities. A mixed-method approach was used to carry out the study.

The results showed that there was a moderate relationship between the managers’ perceptions of the accountability of corporate university programs, based on two management development programs and managers’ involvement in corporate university programs and their commitment to the organization. The results also showed a low relationship between managers’ involvement in their corporate university programs and commitment to the organization.

The findings provide implications for managing corporate universities in China and enhancing the accountability of these initiatives. The study serves as a basis for future studies involving corporate universities and on the accountability of and involvement in training.

The performance of the building envelope of a large-scale public building significantly influences the energy consumption of such a building. This study aims to determine the best strategy for the envelope by examining the engineering design of the building in Nanchang University. The building shape coefficient, sun-shading strategies, window–wall ratio, roof, and walls were studied through a method involving multilayer feed-forward neural network model simulations. Results show that the optimum shape coefficient value is 0.32. The combination of interior and exterior blinds and electrochromic glass is the ideal option to reduce the increase in the energy consumption of the architecture caused by solar radiation. Maintaining the window–wall ratio at 0.4 is ideal. A green roof exerts a minimal effect on building energy consumption decrease (only 0.4%). Applying the strategy of vertical greening to the external wall can reduce cooling energy consumption by as much as 5.4%. Adopting the best envelope strategy combination can further decrease energy consumption by 20.8%. This strategy is also applicable to the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River in China, which flow through Nanchang and have a climate similar to that of the said area. Future research should be directed toward applying artificial neural networks to quantitatively evaluate the effects of a design strategy and produce the best design strategy combination.

Under the new policy framework, the China Government will substantially increase education resources investment. As a result, financial under‐provision of schools will not be the main problem in the near future. However, school efficiency will emerge as the new factor in attracting the attention of the government and the public in China, which is also one of the important fields of Education Economics research.

The authors use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate a sample of 58 primary schools in six districts in Beijing, hoping to find the solutions to school efficiency improvement as a result of under‐adequate investment.

In the years to come, the central government of China will continue to enhance transferring payment from the exchequer. The education input will be assured accordingly. However, if schools run under low efficiency, the education resources will not be well used and sustainability of elementary education will not be assured.

In light of the research purpose and the limited data, there has been no in‐depth discussion of the impact of, for example, families' social status, district development disparity, social cultural influence and history context. Obviously, considering more factors which may affect school efficiency will help to find the best solution for the public education sector of government.

The epoxy resins need to be added with flame retardant to ensure safety in practical applications. There were a lot of highly toxic substances in the flame retardant used in the past, which caused greater harm to human body and the environment. Therefore, this study aims to propose a research on the synthesis of new phosphorous-containing flame retardant and the properties of flame retardant epoxy resins.

The flame retardant intermediate DOPO was synthesized using o-phenylphenol as the substrate. The intermediate was mixed with D4Vi under certain conditions to synthesize a new phosphorous-containing flame retardant. The flame retardant was added to the epoxy resins to prepare the flame retardant epoxy resins.

The experimental results show that the synthetic new phosphorous-containing flame retardant is far less harmful than the flame retardant used in the past and has extremely low toxicity, which is suitable for use in practical projects.

The new phosphorus-containing flame retardant synthesized by forms a more uniform and dense carbon layer in the combustion process, which well protects the underlying materials, thus improving the flame retardancy of epoxy resin materials. The harm of the new phosphorus-containing flame retardant is far less than that of ordinary flame retardant. The flame retardant used in the past has very low toxicity and is suitable for practical engineering.