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Rotational speed and load-carrying capacity are two mutual coupling factors which affect high precision and stable operation of a hydrostatic thrust bearing. The purpose of this paper is to study reasonable matching relationship between the rotational speed and the load-carrying capacity.

A mathematical model of relationship between the rotational speed and the load-carrying capacity of the hydrostatic bearing with double-rectangle recess is set up on the basis of the tribology theory and the lubrication theory, and the load and rotational speed characteristics of an oil film temperature field and a pressure field in the hydrostatic bearing are analyzed, reasonable matching relationship between the rotational speed and the load-carrying capacity is deduced and a verification experiment is conducted.

By increasing the rotational speed, the oil film temperature increases, the average pressure decreases and the load-carrying capacity decreases. By increasing the load-carrying capacity, the oil film temperature and the average pressure increases and the rotational speed decreases; corresponding certain reasonable matching values are available.

The load-carrying capacity can be increased and the rotational speed improved by means of reducing the friction area of the oil recess by using low-viscosity lubricating oil and adding more oil film clearance; but, the stiffness of the hydrostatic bearing decreases.

This study elicits the critical attributes, consequences and values associated with the purchasing process in the context of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC). The purpose is to provide a better understanding of the fundamental factors that determine consumer values in CBEC.

The study applies the means-end-chain theory and soft-laddering techniques to interview 60 CBEC consumers to construct an implication matrix and a hierarchical value map (HVM) of the consumer purchasing process, consisting of attribute-consequence-value (A-C-V) paths.

By analyzing the significant linkages, elements, ladders and chains in the HVM, four dominant A-C-V paths were identified: economic-driven, efficiency-driven, progress-driven and quality-driven paths.

This study included only Chinese CBEC buyers. This limitation might affect the generalizability of the conclusions as culture, purchase habits and economic development differ between China and other countries.

The results of this study provide CBEC practitioners an understanding of the consumer purchasing process and how consumer values are associated with platform characteristics. Thus, the results aid practitioners in allocating resources and developing CBEC platforms in an appropriate manner and direction.

This study sheds lights on the emerging phenomenon of CBEC. By applying the means-end-chain approach, the study provides a comprehensive HVM for interpreting the consumer online purchasing process in this novel context. By illustrating the dominant paths, this research provides deeper theoretical insights into the specific focuses of CBEC consumer purchasing.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of media attention on corporate disaster relief.

The authors used a matched sample research design, which is considered more appropriate than a random sample design for studying events that have low-occurrence rates in general. For each donor firm in the Yushu earthquake, the authors matched the firm with a non-donor firm in the same industry and with a firm size of within ±30 percent of the total assets in the year prior to the year of the occurrence of the Yushu earthquake. Then, using the Baidu engine, which is the most popular Chinese search engine, the authors captured the online media attention to the donor firms and their disaster relief.

The authors found that media attention drove corporate disaster relief.

Although the authors highlighted the role of the media as an important stakeholder in influencing corporate disaster relief, the authors did not fully explore the media’s influence. Future research should delve more deeply into the impact of the tenor of media coverage on corporate disaster relief.

This study reveals that the media, a particularly powerful stakeholder, can be a corporate disaster relief driver in China.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a simulation and experimental research concerning the effect of recess depth on the lubrication performance of a hydrostatic thrust bearing by constant rate flow.

The computational fluid dynamics and finite volume method have been used to compute the lubrication characteristics of an annular recess hydrostatic thrust bearing with different recess depths. The performances are oil recess pressure, oil recess temperature and oil film velocity. The recess depth has been optimized. A test rig is established for testing the pressure field of the structure of hydrostatic thrust bearing after recess depth optimization, and experimental results show that experimental data are basically identical with the simulation results, which demonstrates the validity of the proposed numerical simulation method.

The results demonstrate that the oil film temperature decreases and the oil film pressure first increases and then decreases with an increase in the recess depth, but oil film velocity is constant. To sum up comprehensive lubrication performance, the recess depth of 3.5 mm is its optimal value for the annular recess hydrostatic thrust bearing.

The computed results indicate that to get an improved performance from a constant flow hydrostatic thrust bearing, a proper selection of the recess depth is essential.

This paper aims to figure out the relationship between energy consumption flow from a new perspective of embodied energy inventory index (EEII) and regional economic growth.

The input-output approach has been applied to calculate embodied energy inventory (EEI) and EEII using the data of 25 economies. Meanwhile, cluster analysis and panel data modeling were applied to carry out detailed research.

The results of cluster analysis show that there is a roughly negative relationship between EEII and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, although there are some exceptions, such as Russia and Taiwan (Province of China). Panel data model results provide further evidence that there is a negative relationship between EEII and GDP per capita. Population is an important productive factor in the regional economic development. The study showed a positive relationship between EEII and population. Therefore, energy consumption flow is closely related to regional economic development.

The value of this paper is to use EEI and EEII to comprehensively clarify the energy consumption flow. The advantage of EEII is that it can reflect the energy embodied in fixed assets and infrastructure.

Video game streaming (VGS) is emerging as an extremely popular, highly interactive, inordinately subscribed and very dynamic form of digital media. Incorporated environmental elements, gratifications and user pre-existing attitudes in VGS, this paper presents the development of an extended model of uses and gratification theory (EUGT) for predicting users' behavior in novel technological context.

The proposed model was empirically tested in VGS context due to its popularity, interactivity and relevance. Data collected from 308 VGS users and structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to assess the hypotheses. Multi-model comparison technique was used to assess the explanatory power of EUGT.

The findings confirmed three significant types elements in determining VGS viewers' engagement, including gratifications (e.g. involvement), environmental cues (e.g. medium appeal) and user predispositions (e.g. pre-existing attitudes). The results revealed that emerging technologies provide potential opportunities for new motives and gratifications, and highlighted the significant of pre-existing attitudes as a mediator in the gratification-uses link.

This study is one of its kind in tackling the criticism on UGT of considering media users too rational or active. The study achieved this objective by considering environmental impacts on user behavior which is largely ignored in recent UGT studies. Also, by incorporating users pre-existing attitudes into UGT framework, this study conceptualized and empirically verified the higher explanatory power of EUGT through a novel multi-modal approach in VGS. Compared to other rival models, EUGS provides a more robust explanation of users' behavior. The findings contribute to the literature of UGT, VGS and users' engagement.

The major problem that limits the widespread use of WAAM technology is the forming quality. However, most of the current research focuses on post-process detections that are time-consuming, expensive and destructive. This paper aims to achieve the on-line detection and classification of the common defects, including hump, deposition collapse, deviation, internal pore and surface slag inclusion.

This paper proposes an in-process multi-feature data fusion nondestructive testing method based on the temperature field of the WAAM process. A thermal imager is used to collect the temperature data of the deposition layer in real-time. Efficient processing methods are proposed in this paper, such as the temperature stack algorithm, width extraction algorithm and a classification model based on a residual neural network. Some features closely related to the forming quality were extracted, containing the profile image and width curve of the deposition layer and abnormal temperature features in longitudinal and cross-sections. These features are used to achieve the detection and classification of defects.

Thermal non-destructive testing is a potentially superior technology for in-process detection in the industrial field. Based on the temperature field, extracting the most relevant features of the defect information is crucial. This paper pushes current infrared (IR) monitoring methods toward real-time detection and proposes an in-process multi-feature data fusion non-destructive testing method based on the temperature field of the WAAM process.

In this paper, the single-layer and multi-layer WAAM samples are preset with various defects, such as hump, deposition collapse, deviation, pore and slag inclusion. A multi-feature nondestructive testing methodology is proposed to realize the in-process detection and classification of the defects. A temperature stack algorithm is proposed, which improves the detection accuracy of profile change and solves the problem of uneven temperature from arc striking to arc extinguishing. The combination of residual neural network greatly improves the accuracy and efficiency of detection.

The application of smart contract can greatly reduce transaction costs and improve transaction efficiency. The existing smart contract are expensive, single application scenario and inefficient. This paper aims to propose a new smart contract model to solve these problems.

By investigating the research history, models and platforms, this paper summarizes the shortcomings of existing smart contracts. Based on the content and architecture of traditional contract, a smart contract model with wider application scope is designed.

In this paper, several models are used to describe the operation mechanism of smart contracts. To facilitate computer execution, a decomposition method is proposed, which divides smart contracts into several sub-contracts. Then, the advantages and deployment methods of smart contract are discussed. On this basis, a specific example is given to illustrate how the application of smart contract will change our life.

Smart contract is gradually applied to more fields. In this paper, the structure and operation mechanism of smart contract system in reality are given, which will be beneficial to the application of smart contract to more complex systems.

The aim of this research is to quantitatively synthesize empirical findings of the effect of discount level on consumer response to the coupon.

The authors used the meta-analysis method to synthesize coupons' discount level effects on consumer response. Meta-regression was used to examine the moderating factors that affect the relationship between discount level and consumer response.

The average effect size of the discount level is 0.331, indicating that higher discount levels lead to higher consumer responses. The effect of discount level on consumer response to the coupon is stronger when the discount is displayed in proportion format (vs amount format), when consumers are distant (vs near) to the coupon-issuing stores, and when consumers have not opted-in to receive promotional information. The discount level effect is weaker for coupons that can be redeemed online (vs offline only), for hedonic products (vs utilitarian products) and for products of real brands.

From information processing and cost–benefit trade-off perspectives, this research proposes a comprehensive research framework that synthesizes a variety of contextual factors. It identifies several contextual factors that may reconcile several inconsistent findings in the existing literature. It also addresses how the new-technology related factors affect coupon redemption under different discount levels.

This chapter aims to shed light on the role that a sustainable orientation plays in strengthening the relationships between global consumers and online brands. Despite many previous studies about the importance of sustainability considerations for national consumers’ brand commitments and purchase intentions, there is a lack of empirical studies focussing on this relationship from a global consumer perspective. A pre-study (consisting of focus group discussions) and a widely distributed international survey with responses from 74 countries show mixed results. Whereas the results from the focus groups imply that a sustainable orientation influences both global consumers’ purchase intentions and brand commitments towards online brands, the survey results imply that global consumers’ sustainable orientations do not affect purchase intentions directly, even though they influence brand commitments. An implication of these results is that an international online brand’s possibility to portray a sustainable orientation plays an important role in strengthening the relationship with global consumers, especially regarding brand commitment.