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This paper aims to explore how traditional industries revert the trend of decline in sales through rebranding by analyzing the extended case study of the fountain pen industry.

This study analyzes the marketing in case study of the fountain pen industry through two coordinates – symbolizing status and branding nostalgia. The division of analyses in these categories is supplanted by data, such as linear regression to analyze changes in product characteristics.

This study finds that the rebranding of the fountain pen in multiple fitting images – status symbol, object of nostalgia and something scarce and unique – is successful in capturing consumer demand, shaping consumer perceptions and help the mature industry locate as well as enter a niche market.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first one to explore the business development of traditional industry as a case study of fountain pens from the perspective of marketing and consumer behavior.

As the strategy of 5G new infrastructure is deployed and advanced, 5G-R becomes the primary technical system for future mobile communication of China’s railway. V2V communication is also an important application scenario of 5G communication systems on high-speed railways, so time synchronization between vehicles is critical for train control systems to be real-time and safe. How to improve the time synchronization performance in V2V communication is crucial to ensure the operational safety and efficiency of high-speed railways.

This paper proposed a time synchronization method based on model predictive control (MPC) for V2V communication. Firstly, a synchronous clock for V2V communication was modeled based on the fifth generation mobile communication-railway (5G-R) system. Secondly, an observation equation was introduced according to the phase and frequency offsets between synchronous clocks of two adjacent vehicles to construct an MPC-based space model of clock states of the adjacent vehicles. Finally, the optimal clock offset was solved through multistep prediction, rolling optimization and other control methods, and time synchronization in different V2V communication scenarios based on the 5G-R system was realized through negative feedback correction.

The results of simulation tests conducted with and without a repeater, respectively, show that the proposed method can realize time synchronization of V2V communication in both scenarios. Compared with other methods, the proposed method has faster convergence speed and higher synchronization precision regardless of whether there is a repeater or not.

This paper proposed an MPC-based time synchronization method for V2V communication under 5G-R. Through the construction of MPC controllers for clocks of adjacent vehicles, time synchronization was realized for V2V communication under 5G-R by using control means such as multistep prediction, rolling optimization, and feedback correction. In view of the problems of low synchronization precision and slow convergence speed caused by packet loss with existing synchronization methods, the observer equation was introduced to estimate the clock state of the adjacent vehicles in case of packet loss, which reduces the impact of clock error caused by packet loss in the synchronization process and improves the synchronization precision of V2V communication. The research results provide some theoretical references for V2V synchronous wireless communication under 5G-R technology.

The purpose of this paper is to present a fully conservative numerical algorithm for solving the coupled shallow water hydro-sediment-morphodynamic equations governing fluvial processes, and also to clarify the performance of a conventional algorithm, which redistributes the variable water-sediment mixture density to the source terms of the governing equations and accordingly the hyperbolic operator is rendered similar to that of the conventional shallow water equations for clear water flows.

The coupled shallow water hydro-sediment-morphodynamic equations governing fluvial processes are arranged in full conservation form, and solved by a well-balanced weighted surface depth-gradient method along with a slope-limited centred scheme. The present algorithm is verified for a spectrum of test cases, which involve complex flows with shock waves and sediment transport processes with contact discontinuities over irregular topographies. The computational results of the conventional algorithm are compared with those of the present algorithm and evaluated by available referenced data.

The fully conservative numerical algorithm performs satisfactorily over the spectrum of test cases, and the conventional algorithm is confirmed to work similarly well.

A fully conservative numerical algorithm, without redistributing the water-sediment mixture density, is proposed for solving the coupled shallow water hydro-sediment-morphodynamic equations. It is clarified that the conventional algorithm, involving redistribution of the water-sediment mixture density, performs similarly well. Both algorithms are equally applicable to problems encountered in computational river modelling.

Surface mount technology (SMT) is widely used and plays an important role in electronic equipment. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the effects of interface cracks on the fatigue life of SMT solder joint under service load and to provide some valuable reference information for improving service reliability of SMT packages.

A 3D geometric model of SMT package is established. The mechanical properties of SMT solder joint under thermal cycling load and random vibration load were solved by 3D finite element analysis. The fatigue life of SMT solder joint under different loads can be calculated by using the modified Coffin–Manson model and high-cycle fatigue model.

The results revealed that cracks at different locations and propagation directions have different effect on the fatigue life of the SMT solder joint. From the location of the cracks, Crack 1 has the most significant impact on the thermal fatigue life of the solder joint. Under the same thermal cycling conditions, its life has decreased by 46.98%, followed by Crack 2, Crack 4 and Crack 3. On the other hand, under the same random vibration load, Crack 4 has the most significant impact on the solder joint fatigue life, reducing its life by 81.39%, followed by Crack 1, Crack 3 and Crack 2. From the crack propagation direction, with the increase of crack depth, the thermal fatigue life of the SMT solder joint decreases sharply at first and then continues to decline almost linearly. The random vibration fatigue life of the solder joint decreases continuously with the increase of crack depth. From the crack depth of 0.01 mm to 0.05 mm, the random vibration fatigue life decreases by 86.75%. When the crack width increases, the thermal and random vibration fatigue life of the solder joint decreases almost linearly.

This paper investigates the effects of interface cracks on the fatigue life and provides useful information on the reliability of SMT packages.

The birth of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has instantly drawn the attention of scholars, academicians and learners. Millions of participants are learning through this freely accessible model of education. The purpose of this paper is to review the development of MOOCs, its characteristics and to explore its potential and challenges in Pakistan particularly.

The data were collected through interviews and focus group, and the respondents had completed at least one MOOC offering. This research used content and thematic analysis with the triangulation of methods and sources.

The finding of this study reflects that MOOCs are inspiring great number of learners in Pakistan despite of factors impeding the surge of e-learning. MOOCs in regional languages with better electricity and internet connectivity could be very useful for the rural areas’ people but it requires extra ordinary interest from government and academicians.

This is an exploratory qualitative study highlighting the potential and challenges of MOOCs from the perspective of faculty and students. However, it does not incorporate the views of university officials. Similar study could consider university officials and university owner as respondents. In addition, future studies could also investigate the factors inhibiting completion of MOOCs.

Despite of the sharp rise of published literature on MOOCs, there is less contribution from the developing countries. This research enables us to develop better understanding of the potential and challenges of MOOCs in the social context of Pakistan.

Since China’s “opening-up” in the late 1970s, Singapore has played a major role in enhancing China’s engagement with the world, especially in economic terms. This traditional relationship is well manifested in the third government-to-government (G–G) project under the BRI, which is known as the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI). The purpose of this paper is to address the following question: despite Singapore’s initial reluctance to agree on a third G–G project with China, why did Singapore eventually decide to join the CCI?

This paper draws on archives of over 700 Chinese language media reports and over 400 English language media reports, as well as private interactions with scholars interested in Sino-Singapore relations and with both sides’ officials in charge of the CCI project.

The paper finds that it is the goal of connecting the region, along with the need to maintain Singapore’s relevance to China and the regional economy that led to Singapore’s participation in the third G–G project. This paper also uses this case to analyse the changes that are taking place in the bilateral economic relations.

Despite wide media coverage, op-ed commentaries and respective government statements, there are a limited number of academic studies on the rationale of the third G–G project and contemporary Sino-Singapore relations in the literature. The scholarship has not addressed the rationale for Singapore’s changing attitude towards CCI and the manner in which the CCI has improved cooperation (or upgraded cooperation to a broader and regional level).