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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of nanofluid over rotating disk with the exponential variable thickness Z=ce−bRR0 (c > 0, b > 0) and to analyze Brownian motion and thermophoresis of Buongiorno model on the disk embedded in nanofluid-saturated porous media.

Using the generalized von Karman transformation, the boundary layer governing equations are transformed into semi-similar forms solved by bvp4c in MATLAB.

The effects of the thickness parameter a, the shape parameter b, the Brownian motion parameter Nb and thermophoresis parameter Nt on flow, heat and mass transfer are analyzed. With the increase of thickness parameter a, the radial velocity first decreases and then increases, showing the opposite trend on the two sides of the peak value. Moreover, temperature and concentration rise as the Brownian motion parameter Nb becomes larger.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work that has been done on rotating disk with exponential variable thickness in nanofluid. The impact of the two slip effects, namely, Brownian motion and thermophoresis, on the nanofluid boundary layer flow, heat and mass transfer because of rotating disk with exponential variable thickness Z=ce−bRR0 (c > 0, b > 0) has been addressed in this study.

The purpose of this paper was to map the safety management research of construction industry by scientometric analysis, which can predict important highlights and future research directions of safety management research in the construction industry. As an important issue in the construction industry, safety management issues have been researched from different perspectives. Although previous studies make knowledge contributions to the safety management research of construction industry, there are still huge obstacles to distinguish the comprehensive knowledge map of safety management research in the construction industry.

This study applies three scientometric analysis methods, collaboration network analysis, co-occurrence network analysis and cocitation network analysis, to the safety management research of construction industry. 5,406 articles were retrieved from the core collection database of the Web of Science. CiteSpace was used for constructing a comprehensive analysis framework to analyze and visualize the safety management research of construction industry. According to integrating the analysis results, a knowledge map for the safety management research of construction industry can be constructed.

The analysis results revealed the academic communities, key research topics and knowledge body of safety management research in the construction industry. The evolution paths of safety management research in the construction industry were divided into three development stages: “construction safety management”, “multi-objective safety management” and “comprehensive safety management”. Five research directions were predicted on the future safety management research of construction industry, including (1) comprehensive assessment indicators system; (2) intelligent safety management; (3) cross-organization collaboration of safety management; (4) multilevel safety behavior perception and (5) comparative analysis of safety climate.

The findings can reveal the overall status of safety management research in the construction industry and represent a high-quality knowledge body of safety management research in the construction industry that accurately reflects the comprehensive knowledge map on the safety management research of construction industry. The findings also predict important highlights and future research directions of safety management research in the construction industry, which will help researchers in the safety management research of construction industry for future collaboration and work.

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the deleveraging impact of the anti-corruption campaign since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on private firms with political connections, relative to those without political connections.

In this paper, taking the anti-corruption campaign employed from the end of 2012 as an exogenous shock, the authors design a quasi-experiment difference-in-difference approach to examine how the loss and failure of political connections impacts private firms’ debt financing.

The authors find that the loss and failure of political connections following the anti-corruption campaign since the 18th CPC National Congress causes the yearly new debt ratios of treatment firms with political connections to decrease, relative to those of control firms without political connections. This outcome is more pronounced for provinces with more cadres excluded in the anti-corruption campaign since the 18th CPC National Congress, which rendered politically connected firms susceptible to lose connections with central or provincial cadres. To explore the mechanism, the authors find that following the anti-corruption campaign since the 18th CPC National Congress, politically connected firms limit rent-seeking activities, whereas resource acquisition is weakened. The authors also find that the impact of the anti-corruption campaign since the 18th CPC National Congress on the debt financing of politically connected firms, relative to their counterparts, is more pronounced for groups with high levels of information asymmetry and for less explicit guarantee groups. Finally, politically connected firms are more likely to be dominated by internal funds in dealing with a loss of advantages in debt financing, compared with their counterparts without political connections.

The findings in this study suggest that the loss or failure of previous political connections following Xi’s anti-corruption campaign make politically connected firms lose the advantages in debt financing through the rent-seeking, resource acquisition, information asymmetry, implicit guarantee channels, which provide new evidence for research on the impact of the anti-corruption campaign since the 18th CPC National Congress on private firms’ financing behaviors via the loss or failure of existing political connections.

The findings in the study will have some inspiration for policy makers and entrepreneur.

This study provides new evidence on the different impacts of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign on private firm’s debt financing between politically connected and unconnected firms.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the applications of metaverse-related technologies in US urban libraries, explore excellent cases of US urban libraries' practices in using metaverse-related technologies to serve patrons and try to find the factor that may affect the application of metaverse-related technologies in libraries at this stage.

To gather information about how and whether libraries use metaverse-related technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) technology, radio frequency identification (RFID), virtual reality augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) in their services. Firstly, the authors visit 150 US urban library websites that are members of the Urban Libraries Council. Secondly, the authors calculate the proportion of services provided by urban libraries that use metaverse-related technologies and introduce outstanding cases. Lastly, the authors discuss the factors that influence the application of metaverse-related technologies in urban libraries in the United States based on data published by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Metaverse-related technologies have been widely used in US urban libraries, but there are differences in the popularity of the applications of different technologies. In all, 84% of libraries use 3D technology, mainly in 3D printing services and 3D model building services; 76% of libraries use virtual and augmented reality technologies in their services, mainly concentrated in head-mounted VR device experiences, AR device experiences, virtual tours and virtual exhibitions; 62% of libraries use Internet of things (IoT) technology, mainly in self-checkout machines and book location services. However, AI technologies are less used in libraries, with 28% of libraries mentioning the applications of AI in their services, mainly focusing on intelligent search, virtual assistants and robot librarians. In addition, this study finds that library operating expenditures and population served do not affect the application of metaverse-related technologies in libraries.

This paper provides updated statistical data on the use of metaverse-related technologies in US urban libraries and aims to help library managers understand the overall applications and best practices. With this as an inspiration, they could formulate corresponding development plans to better serve their communities with metaverse-related technologies.

Today's marketing is dominated by decision-making based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. This study focuses on one semi- and unsupervised machine learning technique, generative adversarial networks (GANs). GANs are a type of deep learning architecture capable of generating new data similar to the training data that were used to train it, and thus, it is designed to learn a generative model that can produce new samples. GANs have been used in multiple marketing areas, especially in creating images and video and providing customized consumer contents. Through providing a holistic picture of GANs, including its advantage, disadvantage, ethical considerations, and its current application, the study attempts to provide business some strategical orientations, including formulating strong marketing positioning, creating consumer lifetime values, and delivering desired marketing tactics in product, promotion, pricing, and distribution channel. Through using GANs, marketers will create unique experiences for consumers, build strategic focus, and gain competitive advantages. This study is an original endeavor in discussing GANs in marketing, offering fresh insights in this research topic.

Prefabricated buildings (PBs) have proven to effectively mitigate carbon emissions in the construction industry. Existing studies have analyzed the environmental performance of PBs considering the shift in construction methods, ignoring the emissions abatement effects of the low-carbon practices adopted by participants in the prefabricated building supply chain (PBSC). Thus, it is challenging to exploit the environmental advantages of PBs. To further reveal the carbon reduction potential of PBs and assist participants in making low-carbon practice strategy decisions, this paper constructs a system dynamics (SD) model to explore the performance of PBSC in low-carbon practices.

This study adopts the SD approach to integrate the complex dynamic relationship between variables and explicitly considers the environmental and economic impacts of PBSC to explore the carbon emission reduction effects of low-carbon practices by enterprises under environmental policies from the supply chain perspective.

Results show that with the advance of prefabrication level, the carbon emissions from production and transportation processes increase, and the total carbon emissions of PBSC show an upward trend. Low-carbon practices of rational transportation route planning and carbon-reduction energy investment can effectively reduce carbon emissions with negative economic impacts on transportation enterprises. The application of sustainable materials in low-carbon practices is both economically and environmentally friendly. In addition, carbon tax does not always promote the implementation of low-carbon practices, and the improvement of enterprises' environmental awareness can further strengthen the effect of low-carbon practices.

This study dynamically assesses the carbon reduction effects of low-carbon practices in PBSC, informing the low-carbon decision-making of participants in building construction projects and guiding the government to formulate environmental policies.

This paper aims to examine whether labour unions influence labour conflicts and this mechanism is different in China compared with other countries.

This paper uses the data from the China Employer–Employee Survey that interviewed 1,208 firms and 10,087 workers in 2016 as the measurement of variables, and it uses Logit regression model to do the empirical research.

Unions cannot significantly influence labour conflicts. More active unions and unions whose leaders are appointed by the firms’ management are associated with a higher incidence of labour conflicts.

This paper finds a new mechanism that explains the relationship between unions and labour conflicts. The existing literature states that unions may increase labour conflicts via “monopoly power” and may also mitigate labour conflicts via “voice mechanisms”. This paper’s findings show that the positive correlation between unions and labour conflicts may be explained by the lack of “voice mechanism” rather than “monopoly power”. The findings imply that labour unions should represent the interest of workers to mitigate the increasing labour conflicts.

The paper aims to report on the single largest peer-to-peer lending scandal in the history of China. The authors provide details on how the case was perpetrated. The authors also provide details as to how investors were fraudulently manipulated in the scam. Finally, the authors provide updates on recent regulation in China in the peer-to-peer lending industry.

This is a theoretical paper that provides a better understanding of both Ponzi schemes and fraudulent practices in the peer-to-peer industry.

While the Ponzi scheme has been around for many years, fraud perpetrators continue to find new ways to use the scheme to manipulate and take advantage of investors. The case of Ezubao provides important insight for both regulators, academics, investors and financial advisors.

Ezubao, a start-up in an industry with little to no regulation, provides a textbook example of common fraud symptoms (or red flags). The deception was enacted through Ezubao’s bold advertising scheme and falsified appearance of success and government support. This was enough to brilliantly deceive over 900,000 susceptible investors. While Ezubao was one of the first peer-to-peer lending scandals to be uncovered, it certainly will not be the last.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insight and analysis into E-commerce in China and how it has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society. Split into four distinct sections, the book first lays out the theoretical foundations and fundamental concepts of E-Business before moving on to look at internet+ innovation models and their applications in different industries such as agriculture, finance and commerce. The book then provides a comprehensive analysis of E-business platforms and their applications in China before finishing with four comprehensive case studies of major E-business projects, providing readers with successful examples of implementing E-Business entrepreneurship projects.

Internet + and Electronic Business in China is a comprehensive resource that provides insights and analysis into how E-commerce has revolutionized and continues to revolutionize business and society in China.