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Simulating collective behavior in the movement of immigrants by using a spatial prisoner’s dilemma with move option
Get PDFThe movement of immigrants is simulated by using a spatial Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) with move option. We explore the effect of collective behavior in an evolutionary migrating dynamics. Simulation results show that immigrants adopting collective strategy perform better and thus gain higher survival rate than those not. This research suggests that the clustering of immigrants promotes cooperation
Building BROOK: A multi-modal and facial video database for Human-Vehicle Interaction research
Get PDFWith the growing popularity of Autonomous Vehicles, more opportunities have bloomed in the context of Human-Vehicle Interactions. However, the lack of comprehensive and concrete database support for such specific use case limits relevant studies in the whole design spaces. In this paper, we present our work-in-progress BROOK, a public multi-modal database with facial video records, which could be used to characterise drivers' affective states and driving styles. We first explain how we over-engineer such database in details, and what we have gained through a ten-month study. Then we showcase a Neural Network-based predictor, leveraging BROOK, which supports multi-modal prediction (including physiological data of heart rate and skin conductance and driving status data of speed) through facial videos. Finally we discuss related issues when building such a database and our future directions in the context of BROOK. We believe BROOK is an essential building block for future Human-Vehicle Interaction Research. More details and updates about the project BROOK is online at https: //unnc-idl-ucc.github.io/BROOK/
Polymer materials for high‐performance triboelectric nanogenerators
Get PDFAs an emerging branch of energy conversion technologies, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) pioneers a brand‐new path to effectively harness varieties of mechanical energies for the purpose of powering and/or sensing. Since its invention in 2012, the TENG has experienced a booming and revolutionary development in every respect, ranging from materials synthesis and modification, architecture design to performance optimization, power management, and application exploration. In comparison to the organic solar cell and organic light‐emitting diodes, TENG is a unique technique that opens the venue of using polymer materials (PMs) for harvesting mechanical energy. So far, by virtue of superior charge transfer and capturing capabilities during friction, various kinds of PMs have been developed and used as triboelectric materials in order to achieve high‐performance TENGs. Here, this work focuses on the utilization and development of PMs for the TENGs technology and first gives a summary of main PMs that are frequently adopted in currently reported energy‐harvesting TENGs. Second, several kinds of PMs used lately in a few novel TENGs for special or specific energy‐harvesting circumstances are introduced and highlighted. Finally, the perspectives on and challenges in developing high‐performance PMs toward TENGs technology are conceived and expected to be instructive to future research
Effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management: a perspective article
Get PDFPurpose – This article discusses the effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management practices and outlines a three-pronged research agenda to stimulate knowledge development in the hotel sector.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on an overview of the relevant literature on hotel marketing and management as well as the hotel guest behavior. The authors also investigated hospitality service trends to propose a research agenda.
Findings – This paper presents a research agenda from three dimensions – artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, hygiene and cleanliness, and health and healthcare. First, different types of AI (mechanical, thinking, and feeling) might open up distinct research streams at the intersection of health crises and hotel management, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this paper recommends that researchers move beyond typical perspectives on the antecedents and outcomes of hotel hygiene and cleanliness to delve into guests’ perceptions of the cleanliness of specific hotel surfaces. Furthermore, a more in-depth analysis is warranted about the evolving relationship between hotels and the healthcare sector.
Practical implications – The recommended research areas are intended to advance the knowledge base to help hotels recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The suggested research streams are expected to provide actionable insights to promote the development and sustainability of the hotel sector.
Originality/value – This article appears to be a frontier study, critically examining possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotel marketing and management practices and how hoteliers may respond to such challenges to recover after this pandemic
Supply chain collaboration and eco‐innovations: an institutional perspective from China
Get PDFThis study explores the impact of supply chain collaboration on eco-innovations in the context of 220 Chinese manufacturing supplier firms involved in global supply chain networks. It investigates how supplier and customer collaborations help firms to enhance product eco-innovations, and/or process eco-innovations, and how the institutional context (i.e., regulatory, market, and community pressures) influences these relationships. The structural equation modeling approach is used to analyze the data captured from medium and large manufacturing enterprises in three major sectors: automotive, electronics, and textiles. The results show that community pressure has a positive effect on supplier collaboration, which further leads to enhanced process eco-innovation. On the other hand, the findings indicate that while market pressure enhances customer collaboration, this does not reinforce product eco-innovation. Contrary to our expectation, regulatory pressures do not impact supplier or customer collaboration for innovation. Overall, different institutional factors indicate divergent effects on supply chain collaboration and product/process eco-innovation. The importance of normative pressures, such as those applied through the local community and interest groups, for eco-innovations in production processes is further discussed as a typical feature of the institutional environment of Chinese supplier firms. © 2020 ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Lt
Migrant care workers at the intersection of rural belonging in small English communities
Get PDFShortage of staff in the private care sector brought migrant participants of this study to rural communities in northwest England. The care workers, fourteen highly skilled first-generation migrants, described experiences of feeling unsettled, despite residing in these communities for an average of nine years. Social divisions, such as their race, ethnicity, and gender, intersected in rural England to create an overwhelming, at times, feeling of being othered. We use intersectionality as a framework to examine the advantageous and disadvantageous positionings of migrant workers, alongside their strategies of resistance and adaptation, filling in the gaps that acculturation theory glosses over
New light on plant ash glass found in Africa: evidence for Indian Ocean Silk Road trade using major, minor, trace element and lead isotope analysis of glass from the 15th—16th century AD from Malindi and Mambrui, Kenya
Get PDFSeventeen glass vessels and twenty glass beads recovered from the excavations at the ancient city of Malindi and the archaeological site of Mambrui in Kenya, east Africa were analysed using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The results show that all of the glass samples are soda-lime-silica glass. They belong to the high alumina -plant ash glass type, characterised by high alumina and relatively low calcium contents, widely distributed in eastern (10th- 16th centuries AD) and southern Africa (13th - 15th centuries AD), Central Asia (9th- 14th centuries AD) and southeast Asia (12th- 13th centuries AD), made with plant ashes and sands. This is an understudied glass type for which previous research has indicated there were three types. When compared with published research on such glasses using Zr, Ti, Ba, Cr, La, Li, Cs, Na2O, MgO and CaO we have identified at least four different compositional groups of v-Na-Al glass: Types A, B, C and D. By comparing the results with contemporary v-Na-Al glass vessels and beads from Central Asia, Africa, and southeast Asia we show that most of the Malindi and Mambrui glass share similar characteristics to the compositions of Mapungubwe Oblate and some of the Madagascar glass beads from southern Africa. They belong to Type A v-Na-Al glass which is characterised by an elevated level of Ti and Ba and a relatively high ratios of Cr/La, relatively low Zr concentrations and low ratios of Zr/ Ti. Differences in Zr, Li, MgO and Na2O concentrations in Type A glass indicates that there are subgroups which might derive from different glass workshop(s) specialising in Type A v- Na-Al glass production. Comparison with the chemical compositions of glass from Ghazni, Afghanistan and Termez, Uzbekistan, and by using lead isotope analysis, we suggest v-Na- Al glass was manufactured in Central Asia and possibly worked into vessels and beads there. Copyright: © 2020 Siu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Understanding China’s fintech sector: development, impacts and risks
Get PDFFinancial technology (fintech) is rapidly transforming the economy as well as the financial landscape in China. This paper attempts to shed light on its contributing factors, current state, economic impacts and potential risks. We identify three key drivers for China’s fintech development, namely shortage of supply in formal financial market, strong government support for promoting financial inclusion through digital technology, and more ‘tolerant’ regulatory environment. The greatest value of the Chinese fintech sector is promotion of financial inclusion, enabling a vast number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and low-income households to access to financial services. Existing studies unveil some strong evidences of fintech development improving efficiency, increasing employment and supporting entrepreneurship. In the meantime, there are also serious challenges facing this sector, such as regulatory uncertainties, illegal transactions, data abuse, etc. We conclude the paper by presenting some key takeaways, including several lessons for financial regulation
A race for a better understanding of COVID-19 vaccine non-adopters
Get PDFIn this paper, we aim to underscore the need for a more nuanced understanding of vaccine non-adopters. As the availability of vaccines does not translate into their de facto adoption—a phenomenon that may be more pronounced amid “Operation Warp Speed”—it is important for public health professionals to thoroughly understand their “customers” (i.e., end users of COVID-19 vaccines) to ensure satisfactory vaccination rates and to safeguard society at large
Role of media coverage in mitigating COVID-19 transmission: evidence from China
Get PDFThis paper evaluates the impact of media coverage in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in China during the early phase of the pandemic. We construct provincial-level data on media coverage and link with COVID-19 indicators and population mobility data, among other control variables. We estimate how media coverage mitigates the temporal and spatial spread of COVID-19. Seemingly unrelated regressions are used to examine the simultaneous impact of media coverage on the number of new cases and close contacts. The results show that the effect of media coverage on COVID-19 transmission in China has an inverse-U curvature and was mediated by within- and across-province population mobility. Based on our simulation results, media coverage in China is associated with a potential reduction of 394,000 COVID-19 cases and 1.4 million close contacts during January 19 and February 29. Our results also support the important role of contact tracing in mitigating the transmission of COVID-19
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