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As foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in economic globalization. This paper examines the structural features of the global FDI network based on FDI flows data and changes in the position of countries within the network.

In order to study the structural characteristics of the global FDI network and the status and changes of countries in the global FDI network, the authors build the investment network and apply the QAP (Quadratic Assignment Procedure) analysis to examine the evolutionary characteristics of the network and its influencing factors.

The global FDI network becomes more interconnected and has a clear “core-periphery” structure. The network connections and volumes have increased dramatically and most countries spread their assets across multiple countries, while only a handful of countries have concentrated investments. The topological structure of the global FDI network has changed noticeably, although this process has been slow and stable and countries in the core position have remained largely intact. The authors find that trade relations between countries, geographic distance and differences in economic size, income levels and institutional environments all have a significant impact on the global FDI network.

Although we find some valuable results, some aspects need further investigation. For example, how a country uses the investment network to boost its economy and how the different industries in the investment network change over time. It is important to get the industry-level details to understand the impact of the global investment network from a government's perspective.

FDI affects the distribution of international capital and contributes to the development of the global economy. Therefore, it is important to study the characteristics of the global FDI network and its development patterns. With more understanding about the network as well as its evolutionary pattern, the government can possibly carry out some policies to promote direct investments as well as economic development.

All countries should actively engage in international direct investments and strengthen their economic ties. At the same time, they can put more emphasis on inward or outward FDI based on their own level of economic development to better establish the circulation channel for domestic and international capital.

This paper examines foreign direct investments through the lens of a global network. In contrast to traditional bilateral studies, this paper focuses on the network structure and evolution, reflecting the dynamics of the entire direct investment system as well as the changing positions of participating countries.

Through empirical analysis of Sino-US solar photovoltaic (PV) trade, this paper aims to evaluate the complementarity of Sino-US solar PV trade by adopting trade combination degree (TCD) index, export similarity index (SI) and trade complementarity index (TCI). It also explores the role of trade disputes over Sino-US solar PV trade between China and the USA and important factors affecting the complementarity of the trade.

Based on the comparative advantage theory, this paper selects the TCD, export SI and TCI to evaluate the complementarity of Sino-US solar PV trade comprehensively. Among them, TCD and SI can directly reflect the degree of cooperation and competition of Sino-US solar PV trade. Finally, the authors further analyze the decisive factors affecting the complementarity of Sino-US PV trade by entropy weight method and multiple linear regression analysis on the influencing factors of TCI.

The solar PV trade between China and the USA still has a close relationship, and there is solar PV trade cooperation and competition between the two countries. The factors affecting the complementarity of Sino-US solar PV trade are mainly exchange rate levels rather than trade disputes between China and the USA. The solar PV trade policies of China and the USA will have a great negative impact on the global supply chain of solar PV products. The major solar PV products in China and the USA have a clear division in the global supply chain and still have a strong trade complementarity.

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the Sino-US solar PV trade rather than a policy discussion. This research has important practical significance for the healthy and sustainable development of solar PV trade for both countries. It can also provide references to the current trade disputes between China and the USA in a broader sense.

Scientists' perceptions of societal needs and priorities will shape the innovation trajectories of synthetic biology (SB). In turn, these will be shaped by the funding and regulatory environments in which their research is conducted. This study intends to investigate scientists' perspectives on co-innovation with the public regarding implementation of pathways associated with SB including its agrifood applications.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Chinese and EU scientists (N = 9 and 13, respectively). Six prominent themes emerged from the data based on thematic analysis method.

Both Chinese and EU scientists regarded SB as being high-benefit, low-risk and ethically acceptable, and predicted its rejection by the general public and attributed this to the public's knowledge deficit and irrationality. They endorsed the deficit model of science communication, independent of greater emphasis on responsible research and innovation (RRI) in EU research projects. The findings raised concerns that public fears might intensify once they have learned about scientists' biased risk perceptions of SB; this calls for better involvement of broader stakeholders.

As the sample size is relatively small, the generalisation of research findings needs to be cautious. However, the authors believe the findings have provided some insights that support increasingly RRI associated with SB.

This study has presented scientists' misunderstandings of societal responses to SB and science communication. It has also provided information to understand how SB-related issues and agenda can be better shaped in future.

Digital technology plays a vital role in empowering omnichannel integration. Research on digital technology has recently attracted attention and rapidly developed. However, a comprehensive assessment of the research status and potential gaps is yet to be conducted. Thus, this study investigated the current research status of digital technology-empowered omnichannel integration, and future research directions are proposed.

A three-stage bibliometric analysis was conducted on 764 articles published from 2000 to 2023, cited in the Web of Science database. Furthermore, performance and thematic analyses were performed.

The most productive contributors and influential articles in this field were identified, and four themes of focus were discovered: service quality, o2o commerce, omnichannel retailing, and digital transformation.

To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to enable researchers to understand the vast body of published scholarship on digital technology-empowered omnichannel integration.

Graphene is a two-dimensional material. Its use has many advantages in gas sensing, but its long desorption process is problematic. The aim of this paper is to design a graphene-based gas sensor, study the response to NO₂ gas concentrations and find ways to accelerate the desorption process.

In one group, the sensor was placed in air to measure its initial resistance. Then, it was exposed to the NO₂ gas at a certain concentration. Finally, the sensor was exposed to light immediately after NO₂ gas exposure was ended. In another group, the sensor was heated using a heating plate at a stable temperature, before taking the measurements. Then the adsorption and desorption experiments were carried on.

Illumination and heating at a suitable temperature can expedite desorption of NO₂ molecules on graphene.

In the paper, two main methods are introduced to accelerate the desorption process when the NO₂ gas is absorbed on graphene. Through a series of experiments and analysis, the authors found that the recovery time could be reduced observably and the recovery performance of the graphene-based NO₂ sensor could be improved effectively.

To improve the problems as the heavy burden of sewage treatment and environmental pollution caused by the traditional sodium hydrosulfite reduction dyeing of indigo, this study aims to carry out the direct electrochemical reduction dyeing for indigo with the eco-friendly Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system under normal temperature and pressure conditions.

The electrochemical behavior of Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system was investigated by cyclic voltammetry. And, the dyeing performance of the Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system was developed by optimizing the concentration of copper sulfate in the anode electrolyte, applied voltage and reduction time via single-factor and orthogonal integrated analysis.

The dyeing performance of the Cu(II)/sodium borohydride reduction system is superior to that of the traditional reduction dyeing with sodium hydrosulfite. In the case of the optimized condition, the soaping fastness and dry/wet rubbing fastness of the dyed fabric in the two reduction dyeing processes were basically comparable, the K/S value of electrocatalytic reduction of indigo by Cu(II)/NaBH4 is 11.81, which is higher than that obtained by traditional sodium hydrosulfite reduction dyeing of indigo.

The innovative electrocatalytic reduction system applied herein uses sodium borohydride as the hydrogen source combined with Cu(II) complex as the catalyst, which can serve as a medium for electron transfer and active the dye molecule to make it easier to be reduced. The electrochemical dyeing strategy presented here provides a new idea to improve the reduction dyeing performance of indigo by sodium borohydride.

The edge is a typical aero-structural compliant part, whose length-width ratio is about 60:1 and height-thickness ratio is about 30:1. Distortion of the edge is mainly caused by the bulk stresses which come from the manufacturing process of the plates. This paper aims to investigate the effect of clamping sequence on the bulk stress distribution in the edge.

The paper conducts the numerical and experimental investigations to predict the bulk stress distribution in the edge under different clamping sequences. A finite element model of the plate with residual stress after quenching and stretching is constructed. The edge is milled from the plate numerically and is ready for clamping. The contact model between the clamper and the edge is constructed to simulate the clamping process. Then the edge is virtually clamped in different clamping sequences, and different deformations and bulk stresses are obtained. An experimental edge milled from the plate and a designed clamping platform are used to precisely control clamping force to verify the effect of clamping sequence on the bulk stress distribution in the edge. The experimental edge’s distortions, relative displacements between the edge and the clamper and clamping forces validate the proposed numerical model.

The primary cause of bulk stress redistribution is the friction between the rigid clamper and the compliant edge. The edge exhibits different deformation under different clamping sequences because of its compliant characteristics.

The proposed numerical model of the edge could predict the bulk stress distribution in the edge under different clamping sequence. The developed clamping platform could be used to conduct clamping experiments, including experiments with different clamping forces, sequences and different clamping positions. It will help to systematically improve the compliant assembling efficiency in civil aircraft industry.

The purpose of this paper is to predict or even control the food safety risks during the distribution of perishable foods. Considering the food safety risks, the distribution route of perishable foods is reasonably arranged to further improve the efficiency of cold chain distribution and reduce distribution costs.

This paper uses the microbial growth model to identify a food safety risk coefficient to describe the characteristics of food safety risks that increase over time. On this basis, with the goal of minimizing distribution costs, the authors establish a vehicle routing problem with a food safety Risk coefficient and a Time Window (VRPRTW) for perishable foods. Then, the Weight-Parameter Whale Optimization Algorithm (WPWOA) which introduces inertia weight and dynamic parameter into the native whale optimization algorithm is designed for solving this model. Moreover, benchmark functions and numerical simulation are used to test the performance of the WPWOA.

Based on numerical simulation, the authors obtained the distribution path of perishable foods under the restriction of food safety risks. Moreover, the WPWOA can significantly outperform other algorithms on most of the benchmark functions, and it is faster and more robust than the native WOA and avoids premature convergence.

This study indicates that the established model and the algorithm are effective to control the risk of perishable food in distribution process. Besides, it extends the existing literature and can provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for the vehicle routing problem of perishable foods.

In order to solve the current imbalance of academic resources within the discipline, this article builds a three-dimensional talent evaluation model based on the topic–author–citation based on the z index and proposes the ZAS index to evaluate scholars on different research topics within the discipline.

Based on the sample data of the CSSCI journals in the discipline of physical education in the past five years, the keywords were classified into 13 categories of research topics including female sports. The ZAS index of scholars on topic of female sports and so on was calculated, and quantitative indexes such as h index p index and z index were calculated. Comparative analysis of the evaluation effect was performed.

It is found that compared with the h index and p index, the z index achieves a better balance between the quantity, quality and citation distribution of scholars' results and effectively recognizes that the citation quality is higher and the number of citations of each paper is more balanced. In addition, compared to the z index, this article is based on a ZAS index model with an improved three-dimensional topic–author–citation relationship in research fields such as female sports.

It can identify some outstanding scholars who are engaged in small-scale or emerging topic research such as female sports and are excellent in different research areas. Talents create an objective and fair evaluation environment. At the same time, the ranking ability of ZAS indicators in the evaluation of talents is the strongest, and it is expected to be used in practical evaluations.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the main decisions for designing distribution centers (DCs) and the contextual characteristics of the distribution networks.

Experts were surveyed and responses analyzed quantitatively through multivariate data techniques. This study considered four contextual characteristics that were deemed as influential for DC design: types of routes in the distribution network, quantity of DCs, distribution network levels and company size.

This paper evidenced which decisions are affected by each contextual characteristic encompassed in this study. This paper identified that the characteristic types of route in the distribution network must be carefully considered, as it had the greatest amount of associations with the decisions for designing a DC.

Despite its importance, most studies on design of DCs disregard the effect of the context in which DCs are inserted. This research provides arguments to support decision-making process of DCs design, increasing assertiveness of their planning. This work fulfills a literature gap by empirically examining the effect of contextual variables on the decisions related to DC design. Regarding practice, this paper addressed a fundamental issue for managers looking to design a DC, as it evidenced how contextual characteristics impact the decision-making.