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This paper aims to study the influence of cylindrical texture parameters on the lubrication performance of static and dynamic pressure thrust bearings (hereinafter referred to as thrust bearings) and to optimize their lubrication performance using multiobjective optimization.

The influence of texture parameters on the lubrication performance of thrust bearings was studied based on the modified Reynolds equation. The objective functions are predicted through the BP neural network, and the texture parameters were optimized using the improved multiobjective ant lion algorithm (MOALA).

Compared with smooth surface, the introduction of texture can improve the lubrication properties. Under the optimization of the improved algorithm, when the texture diameter, depth, spacing and number are approximately 0.2 mm, 0.5 mm, 5 mm and 34, respectively, the loading capacity is increased by around 27.7% and the temperature is reduced by around 1.55°C.

This paper studies the effect of texture parameters on the lubrication properties of thrust bearings based on the modified Reynolds equation and performs multiobjective optimization through an improved MOALA.

Restrictions imposed on freedom of movement and interaction with others due to the COVID-19 pandemic have had the effect of causing many people, especially students, to become addicted to social media. This study aims to investigate the effect of social media addiction on the academic performance of Sri Lankan government university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A convenience sampling technique was used to conduct a quantitative cross-sectional survey. The survey involved 570 respondents from nine state universities in Sri Lanka. The raw data from the completed questionnaires were coded and processed using SPSS for descriptive and inferential statistical analysis.

The findings of this study indicated that the overall time spent on social networking increased dramatically during COVID-19. Based on the results, this study found that there was no association between the time spent on social media and the academic performance of students before COVID-19 came on the scene. However, a significant association was found between the time spent on social media and students’ performance during the pandemic. The authors concluded that overblown social media use, leading to addiction, significantly negatively affects academic performance.

This study helps to understand the impact of social media use on the academic performance of students during COVID-19. Restrictions imposed by COVID-19 have changed the typical lifestyle of the students. Therefore, social media usage should be reassessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the study will comprise these new insights, and they may well show how to adapt social media to contribute to academic work in meaningful ways.

Gas transmission pipelines are at constant risk of gas leakage or fire due to various atmospheric environments, corrosion on pipe metal surfaces and other external factors. This study aims to reduce the human and financial risks associated with gas transmission by regularly monitoring pipeline performance, controlling situations and preventing disasters.

Facility managers can monitor the status of gas transmission lines in real-time by integrating sensor information into a building information modeling (BIM) 3D model. Using the Monitoring Panel plugin, coded in C# programming language and operated through Navisworks software, the model provides up-to-date information on pipeline safety and performance.

By collecting project information on the BIM and installing critical sensors, this approach allows facility manager to observe the real-time safety status of gas pipelines. If any risks of gas leakage or accidents are identified by the sensors, the BIM model quickly shows the location of the incident, enabling facility managers to make the best decisions to reduce financial and life risks. This intelligent gas transmission pipeline approach changes traditional risk management and inspection methods, minimizing the risk of explosion and gas leakage in the environment.

This research distinguishes itself from related work by integrating sensor data into a BIM model for real-time monitoring and providing facility managers with up-to-date safety information. By leveraging intelligent gas transmission pipelines, the system enables quick identification and location of potential hazards, reducing financial and human risks associated with gas transmission.

Using perspectives from the technology affordance and social capital theories, this study aims to unpack the process through which platform-enabled co-development unfolds in supply chain contexts. Specifically, it explores how innovation outcomes can be fostered through platform affordances and supply chain relationship (SCR) capital.

The paper integrates literature on digital platforms, SCRs and co-development to produce an integrative framework, developing propositions on the relationships among digital platforms, SCR capital and innovation outcomes.

The authors identify affordances for distinctive strategic use of platforms: value co-creation, relationship building and strategic learning. The authors discuss ways in which each affordance contributes to the advances in SCR capital, thus altogether enabling focal firms to orchestrate and integrate internal and external resources to attain incremental and radical innovation.

Based on the proposed research framework, further empirical studies can use quantitative data to measure the relationship between affordances and SCR capital and use longitudinal case studies to explore how affordances and SCR capital evolve to provide more fine-grained and contextualised information in different research settings.

This paper sheds light on how the relation between the adoption of digital platforms and SCR capital shapes digitally enabled service co-development. The authors provide an alternative explanation of resource integration in platform-mediated supply chain contexts and enrich the related literature on how digital platforms can maximise value from introducing ambidextrous innovation by leveraging internal and external resources.

This paper aims to present the vertical integration state-of-the-art and propose an expansion of the operations and supply chain management (OSCM) field by identifying gaps and bottlenecks.

This paper uses a systematic literature review based on a sample of 173 OSCM field articles, collected from Scopus and Web of Science databases.

There are no single factors, such as future costs, structures or skills development, in the decision to vertically integrate operations. It is necessary to combine the vision of production costs with the perspective of governance and transaction costs. In addition, it is essential to consider the competency perspective and its impact on capability building.

Few studies have attempted to understand how vertical integration is used in terms of OSCM research themes and theories. Vertical integration can help companies face challenges and serve as a potential solution for achieving better prices, demand control and quality management.

The significant role of vertical integration mechanisms in supply chains is crucial for managers evaluating a firm's reconfiguration with more vertical operations. Policymakers interested in supporting the smoothness of vertical integration decisions in regulatory agencies play a key role as contingencies.

In times of global challenges, vertical integration is a strategy known to be more effective for firms to obtain a competitive advantage, making them more resilient.

This paper addresses gaps in the vertical integration theme and provides insights for future research development.

With the development of science and technology, more creators are trying to use new crafts to represent the cultural trends of the social media era, which makes cultural heritage innovative and new genres emerge. This compels the academic community to examine craft from a new perspective. It is very helpful to understand the hidden representational structure of craft more deeply and improve the craft innovation system of cultural and creative products that we deconstruct the craft based on Complex Network and discover its intrinsic connections.

The research crawled and cleaned the craft information of the top 20% products on the Forbidden City’s cultural and creative products online and then performed Complex Network modeling, constructed three craft representation networks among function, material and technique, quantified and analyzed the inner connections and network structure of the craft elements, and then analyzed the cultural inheritance and innovation embedded in the craft representation networks.

The three dichotomous craft representation networks constructed by combining function, material and technique: (1) the network density is low and none of them has small-world characteristics, indicating that the innovative heritage of the craft elements in the Forbidden City’s cultural and creative products is at the stage of continuous exploration and development, and multiple coupling innovation is still insufficient; (2) all have scale-free characteristics and there is still a certain degree of community structure within each network, indicating that the coupling innovation of craft elements of the Forbidden City’s cultural and creative products is seriously uneven, with some specific “grammatical combinations” and an Island Effect in the network structure; (3) the craft elements with high network centrality emphasize the characteristics of decorative culture and design for the masses, as well as the pursuit of production efficiency and economic benefits, which represent the aesthetic purport of contemporary Chinese society and the ideological trend of production and life.

The Forbidden City’s cultural and creative products should continue to develop and enrich the multi-coupling innovation of craft elements, clarify and continue their own brand unique craft genes, and make full use of the network important nodes role.

Despite carbon reduction commitments, many constraints hinder the delivery of low-carbon buildings (LCBs) in high-rise high-density cities. The collaborative commitment of relevant stakeholders is vital to effectively address and mitigate these constraints. Hence, this study aims to comprehensively explore the required stakeholder collaboration attributes to address and mitigate the “common” constraints of delivering LCBs by focussing on several high-rise high-density cities.

A list of 21 “significant and common” constraints was identified through a systematic literature review followed by a questionnaire survey covering five economies (Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Qatar and the UAE). Nineteen influential stakeholders/stakeholder categories were identified through the literature, and their ability to influence the 21 constraints was mapped and identified through a two-round Delphi survey of 15 experienced professionals. The Delphi survey findings were analysed through social network analysis (SNA) methods to assess the stakeholder engagement and collaboration attributes.

The SNA results revealed the ability of stakeholders to influence the constraints, required collaborative stakeholder networks to address the constraints, significance of stakeholders according to the SNA centrality measures, core and periphery stakeholders and individual co-affiliation networks of core stakeholders.

While achieving the planned primary target of exploring stakeholder collaboration and their significance through SNA, this study also presents a useful sequential methodological approach for future researchers to conduct similar studies in different contexts. The findings also provide a foundation for accelerating the delivery of LCBs by strengthening stakeholder collaboration.

This study aims to explore sustainable development and business success (BS) through decision-making (DM) in Pakistan’s circular economy.

This is a co-relational study in which the researchers used cross-sectional data collected from the managers of Pakistan’s manufacturing industries. Accordingly, the authors based this study’s findings on 373 valid samples.

This study’s structural equation modeling results reveal that DM has a positive and significant effect on sustainable development, which comprises competitiveness, business performance enhancement, flexibility, customer satisfaction and technology development. Moreover, DM positively and significantly affects BS.

This study’s findings support sustainable development, strengthen the socioeconomic conditions and bring about the industries’ well-being through DM. In addition, these findings demonstrate the need for the circular economy to tackle industrial challenges and simultaneously open up economic and environmental growth opportunities for society.

This study offers the original contribution from a circular economy perspective; there needs to be more empirical evidence among managers of manufacturing industries. Besides, this study provides DM’s role in achieving sustainable development in the presence of BS, which has disappeared in an integrated way, particularly in a circular context.

This study aims to develop a novel theoretical model for predicting the users’ intention to use virtual tools designed for construction risk evaluation. Risk evaluation is a vital objective for construction managers. This paper intends to examine critical factors such as potential benefits, motivation, performance expectancy and rich sources of information that may affect users’ intention to use virtual technology.

A pile training module (PTM) was developed in a virtual environment to analyze the proposed virtual reality-technology acceptance model (VR-TAM) factors. Further, a questionnaire survey was conducted with the participation of 102 construction professionals in China to validate the proposed VR-TAM model and PTM tool. The retrieved data was computed to test the proposed model by using partial least squares structural equation modeling and the significance of the PTM tool in a virtual environment.

The results of this study reveal that high-significance paths represent five relationships between crucial factors affecting users’ intention to use a selected virtual reality (VR) module. Five of seven hypothesis paths were significant with acceptable t-values. By quantitative measurement of high-significance paths, this research has found that each factor under VR-TAM has received significant loadings, with many above the 0.7 threshold mark and others around 0.6. The top factors include “motivation” and “benefits” and have multiplier effects on “intention to use” as the source factors.

The finding of this study presents crucial factors for VR adoption, and the proposed VR-TAM model contributes to the body of knowledge toward managing construction risk using pre-optimization and understanding in a virtual environment. This study supports Chinese construction company managers in effectively using VR technology in their construction projects for risk assessment and management.

This study offered the development of a novel VR-TAM integrated with risk assessment techniques for piling processes. Further, the developed model was analyzed by using a survey of Chinese construction professionals to collect perceptions about the modified theoretical model of VR-TAM.

This paper aims to assess whether incubation affects the technical efficiency of innovative firms after entering the market. The study of efficiency allows firms to understand how well resources have been used in production processes. The research intends to contribute to the literature on the performance of incubated firms.

This study estimates the relative efficiency of innovative firms adopting a DEA-based two-stage semi-parametric method. Incubation, firm age and initial capital are used for explaining the relative performance of previously incubated firms compared to non-incubated ones over a six-year period of activity. This research focuses on Italian innovative firms using a large sample of companies.

Results show that incubators have a positive and significant effect on efficiency for firms that have been in the market for more than two years. Efficiency also improves with age and with the level of initial capital of the firm.

This analysis is limited to the quantitative dimension of inputs as reported in the balance sheets, without qualitative considerations.

Findings enhance firms' understanding of the role of incubators as neutral places to develop a business culture of efficiency. From an empirical standpoint, this study provides useful insights to start-uppers who intend to attend incubation programs. Overall, incubators matter to the extent that they enable new firms, net of those that fail to survive in the first two years of activity, to improve their efficiency in the use of inputs. This research also suggests incubators consider the start-ups’ potential of being efficient.

Findings provide tips to policymakers when they are called upon to propose funding programs to support prominent firms entering the business scalability.

This study contributes to the literature on the relative performance of post-incubated firms, highlighting the efficiency frontier analysis. This methodological approach is relatively new in this field. It allows researchers to study the innovative firms' performance in relative terms, that is with respect to the input level. It integrates the performance-based with efficiency frontier analysis. Also, this study reinforces the idea that incubators prepare start-ups to develop capacities and managerial skills, which will be useful in post-incubation life to improve their cost competitiveness.