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The paper focuses on the issue of manual rebar-binding tasks in the construction industry, which are marked by high labor intensity, high costs and inefficient operations. The rebar-binding robots that are currently available are not fully mature. Most of them can only bind one or two nodes in one position, which leads to significant time wastage in movement. Based on a new type of rebar-binding robot, this paper aims to propose a new movement and binding control that reduces manpower and enhances efficiency.

The robot is combined with photoelectric sensors, travel switches and other sensors. It is supposed to move accurately and run in a limited area on the rebar mesh through logical judgment, speed control and position control. Machine vision is used by the robot to locate the rebar nodes and then adjusts the binding-gun position to ensure that multiple rebar nodes are bound sequentially.

By moving on the rebar mesh with accuracy, the robot meets the positioning accuracy requirements of the binding module, with experimental testing accuracy within 5 mm. Furthermore, its ability to bind four rebar nodes in one place results in a high efficiency and a binding effect that meets building standards.

The innovative design of the robot can adapt itself to the rebar mesh, move accurately to the target position and bind four nodes at that position, which reduces the number of movements on the mesh. Repetitive and heavy rebar-binding tasks can be efficiently completed by the robot, which saves human resources, reduces worker labor intensity and reduces construction overhead. It provides a more feasible and practical solution for using robots to bind rebar nodes.

The poor corrosion resistance of the ferrite-pearlite steel limits its application in marine engineering because of the enhanced galvanic effect caused by continuously accumulated cementite. Cr as one principal alloying element is commonly used to improve the corrosion resistance of steels. This paper aims to study the effect of Cr on corrosion behaviors of ferrite-pearlite steels in an acidic environment.

The tested steels were immersed in a simulated solution of 10 Wt.% NaCl with pH 0.85 for 72 h to evaluate the corrosion rate. After the immersion test, the corrosion morphologies and products were tested by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and X-ray diffraction. Meanwhile, an electrochemical workstation was used to study the electrochemical behaviors of samples.

At the initial corrosion stage, the corrosion rate increased in the sequence of Cr₀, Cr_0.5 and Cr₁ steels, which was because of the competitive effect between the area ratio and the driving force caused by alloyed Cr. However, Cr₁ steel exhibited the best corrosion resistance after a 72-h immersion test. This was because the alloyed Cr promoted the formation of protective Fe₂O₃ and FeCr₂O₄, which suppressed the preferential dissolution of ferrite and, thus, reduced the accumulation rate of carbides, resulting in the weakened galvanic corrosion.

This paper reports the role that Cr plays in the galvanic corrosion of ferrite-pearlite steels, which is important for the engineering application of ferrite-pearlite steels in marine environment.

This chapter estimates how minimum parking requirements increase the cost of constructing housing, office buildings, and shopping centers. It also explains proposed legislation to limit how much parking cities can require in transit-rich districts.

I assembled data on the cost of constructing office buildings, shopping centers, and parking spaces in eight American cities, and data on the minimum parking requirements in these cities. I then combined the parking construction costs with the number of required parking spaces for each land use to estimate how the minimum parking requirements increase development costs for office buildings and shopping centers.

Minimum parking requirements increase the cost of constructing a shopping center by up to 67 percent if the parking is in an aboveground structure and by up to 93 percent if the parking is underground.

In suburban Seattle, parking requirements force developers to spend between $10,000 and $14,000 per dwelling to provide unused parking spaces.

On a typical construction site in Los Angeles, parking requirements reduce the number of units in an apartment building by 13 percent.

To mitigate the high costs imposed by minimum parking requirements, California is considering legislation to set an upper limit on how much parking cities can require in transit-rich districts: no more than one space per dwelling unit or two spaces per 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) of commercial space. This legislation would limit parking requirements, but it would not limit the parking supply because developers can always provide more than the required number of spaces if they think demand justifies the added cost.

This chapter measures how minimum parking requirements increase the cost of housing, office buildings, and shopping centers in order to subsidize parking. Urban historians often say that cars have changed the city, but urban planning has also changed the city to favor cars.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of the information sharing of the dynamic demand on green technology innovation and profits in supply chain from a long-term perspective.

The authors consider a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer. The retailer has access to the information of dynamic demand of the green product, whereas the manufacturer invests in green technology innovation. Differential game theory is adopted to establish three models under three different scenarios, namely (1) decentralized decision without information sharing of dynamic demand (Model N-D), (2) decentralized decision with information sharing of dynamic demand (Model S-D) and (3) centralized decision with information sharing of dynamic demand (Model S-C).

The optimal equilibrium results show that information sharing of dynamic demand can improve the green technology innovation level and increase the green technology stocks only in centralized supply chain. In the long term, the information sharing of dynamic demand can make the retailer more profitable. If the influence of green technology innovation on green technology stocks is great enough or the cost coefficient of green technology innovation is small enough, the manufacturer and decentralized supply chain can benefit from information sharing. In centralized supply chain, the value of demand information sharing is greater than that of decentralized supply chain.

The authors used game theory to investigate demand information sharing and the green technology innovation in a supply chain. Specially, the demand information is dynamic, which is a variable that changes over time. Moreover, our research is based on a long-term perspective. Thus, differential game is adopted in this paper.

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.

This paper aims to study the influence of thermal effect on the performance for a high-speed conical hybrid bearing including stability and minimum oil film thickness.

A thermal hydrodynamic (THD) model and dynamic model of single mass rigid rotor system were established by taking conical hybrid bearing with shallow and deep pockets as the research object, dynamic coefficient and stability parameters of bearing-rotor system were obtained by using finite element method (FEM) and finite difference method (FDM) to solve computational models of Reynolds equation, energy equation and viscosity-temperature equation. Minimum oil film thickness was obtained based on bearing force balance. Dynamic coefficient was compared with previous findings.

After considering thermal effect, the dimensionless critical mass decreases, a significant decrease in the instability speed, and the stability of the system decreases greatly; the minimum oil film thickness decreases because of thermal effect.

The thermal effect is combined with dynamic characteristics to analyze stability of the rotor system for a conical hybrid bearing. Influence of thermal effect on minimum oil film thickness is studied.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-12-2019-0542/

The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of lubricant temperature-viscosity on the performance for a hydrodynamic journal floating ring bearing (FRB), including ring-journal speed ratio and stability.

The finite difference method was used to solve computational models of Reynolds equation, energy equation and temperature–viscosity equation. Dynamic coefficients were obtained based on the floating ring balance. The dynamic model of journal and floating ring was established to deduce the stability criterion of single mass symmetrical rigid FRB rotor system by the Routh–Hurwitz method. The outlet temperature and ring-journal speed ratio under different journal speeds were compared to experimental data.

The temperature–viscosity effect reduces the ring-journal speed ratio and stability of rotor system. According to theoretical and experimental results, the outlet temperature rises and ring-journal ratio drops when the journal speed rises.

The temperature–viscosity effect is combined with dynamic characteristics to analyze the stability of the rotor system and lubrication mechanism for an FRB. Influence of temperature–viscosity on the ring-journal ratio and multi-stable regions of system are studied.

This paper aims to automatically obtain the implant parameter from the CBCT images to improve the outcome of implant planning.

This paper proposes automatic simulated dental implant positioning on CBCT images, which can significantly improve the efficiency of implant planning. The authors introduce the fusion point calculation method for the missing tooth's long axis and root axis based on the dental arch line used to obtain the optimal fusion position. In addition, the authors proposed a semi-interactive visualization method of implant parameters that be automatically simulated by the authors' method. If the plan does not meet the doctor's requirements, the final implant plan can be fine-tuned to achieve the optimal effect.

A series of experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper greatly improves the feasibility and accuracy of the implant planning scheme, and the visualization method of planting parameters improves the planning efficiency and the friendliness of system use.

The proposed method can be applied to dental implant planning software to improve the communication efficiency between doctors, patients and technicians.

This study aims to analyze the influence of farmers’ degree of participation in collective action on their adoption decisions and waiting time regarding soil and water conservation (SWC) measures.

The Probit model and Generalized Propensity Score Match method are used to assess the effect of the degree of participation in collective action on farmers’ adoption decisions and waiting time for implementing SWC measures.

The findings reveal that farmers’ engagement in collective action positively influences the decision-making process regarding terrace construction, water-saving irrigation and afforestation measures. However, it does not significantly impact the decision-making process for plastic film and ridge-furrow tillage practices. Notably, collective action has the strongest influence on farmers’ adoption decisions regarding water-saving irrigation technology, with a relatively smaller influence on the adoption of afforestation and terrace measures. Moreover, the results suggest that participating in collective action effectively reduces the waiting time for terrace construction and expedites the adoption of afforestation and water-saving irrigation technology. Specifically, collective action has a significantly negative effect on the waiting time for terrace construction, followed by water-saving irrigation technology and afforestation measures.

The results of this study underscore the significance of fostering mutual assistance and cooperation mechanisms among farmers, as they can pave the way for raising funds and labor, cultivating elite farmers, attracting skilled labor to rural areas, enhancing the adoption rate and expediting the implementation of terraces, water-saving irrigation technology and afforestation measures.

Drawing on an evaluation of farmers’ degree of participation in collective action, this paper investigates the effect of participation on their SWC adoption decisions and waiting times, thereby offering theoretical and practical insights into soil erosion control in the Loess Plateau.

The purpose of this study is to test the hypotheses proposed by Konadu et al. (2023) for the first time and provide empirical insight on the subject. Corruption concerns affect all economies, but those attempting to avoid foreign grants are especially vulnerable. Stakeholders in these economies have pushed for more honest public sector (PS) workers and better oversight of public funds in an effort to build a more trustworthy and efficient government to improve PS performance. Just as the mechanisms through which employee integrity (EI) influences work performance (WP) have not been proven empirically, neither has the effect of EI on WP in African economies. Also, how purposeful leadership (PL) interacts with EI to boost WP is yet to be empirically examined in the integrity literature.

This paper surveyed and analysed the responses of 875 workers across the three most corrupt large PS organisations in Ghana using Smart PLS 4. Perceived organisational support and contract fulfilment functioned as control factors influencing job satisfaction (JS, a mediator). Psychological need satisfaction and perceived procedural justice serve as control factors for organisational identification (OI, an additional mediator). Education, tenure, job position, sex and age were used as control variables in WP. Product indicator and variance accounted for (VAF) methods were used to estimate the impacts of moderation and mediation, respectively. A 5% level of significance was determined.

As hypothesised, this study found that EI and WP had a significantly positive connection (ß = 0.119, p = 0.026), and both JS (VAF = 25.16%) and OI (VAF = 39.59%) partially mediated this connection. Moreover, PL positively moderated the EI–JS (ß = 0.155, p = 0.000) and EI–OI (ß = 0.095, p = 0.000) connections.

This paper affords empirical insight on the EI–WP relationship, how this relationship is mediated and how the EI–JS and EI–OI relationships are amplified. In this context, it sheds light on new ways in which EI and WP in the PS are improved. In addition, this paper provides a roadmap for forthcoming academics to test the hypotheses in diverse PS contexts globally to triangulate the results.

Leadership in PS organisations must maintain a “values-grounded approach” to all parts of human resource (HR) practices, including hiring, performance reviews, leadership enhancement programmes, training and promotions, if they are to attract, develop and retain employees who stand for the sector’s ethics and beliefs.

This research gives African nations proof that enhancing EI in the PS is important, and it lays out the many ways in which EI transforms into WP. It also draws attention to the challenges that purposeful leaders may help alleviate and the opportunities that they may present.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the hypotheses put forward in the conceptual research by Konadu et al. (2023) are tested empirically for the first time in this study. It also adds to the empirical literature that already exists on EI, JS, OI, WP and PL in the PS. This contributes to the disciplines of integrity, performance and leadership by enhancing theoretical frameworks and expanding upon existing knowledge.