bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Macau and Brazil: from the World Trade Organization to a major gaming city
Authors: Spooner Paul B
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review the present status and relationship of Macau to Brazil and to a provide the historical context for that relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper takes the approach of interviews, an extensive review of Portuguese and English language periodicals of Macau, Brazil, USA extending back to 1950s, and a review of the key secondary literature.

Findings

– Efforts to promote a relationship between Macau and Brazil since 1961 have been laudable, but have not resulted in either a meaningful economic relationship or systematic cultural links.

Practical implications

– Trade-wise Hong Kong is much better positioned to interface with Brazil than Macau. Brazil established strategic trade and diplomatic relations with China 25 years prior to Macau’s return to China in 1999 and without any intermediation by the city.

Social implications

– A strategic plan is needed to develop Macau’s links to Brazil based upon that country’s vast array of cultural strengths, which include sports, music, dance, religion, language, education, cuisine, environment resources, technology and the presence of a significant Macanese Diaspora.

Originality/value

– There is a shortage of analysis on the status of the relationship of Brazil to China, Macau and the Lusophone world.
Sustainable development and social policy: a case of indigenous villages in Hong Kong
Authors: Ma Kwok Wai
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the issues relating to sustainable development (SD) in the context of indigenous village development in Hong Kong.

Design/methodology/approach

– A case study approach is used in this research. In addition to literature review, qualitative data, primarily collected through personal interviews with various stakeholders were the main source of input.

Findings

– The Small House Policy (SHP) case illustrates an unsustainable policy. It underscores the interrelatedness among the relevant systems – social/cultural, economic, political and environmental – in the context of SD. In the short term, the government can at least expedite the construction of sewage facilities for the villages. Furthermore, the government can consider elevating the penalty and tightening policing/patrolling in village environs to discourage the illegal sale of “ding” rights and small houses. In the longer term, the government needs to put the rural area in order. Identifying means to zone planning would be a possible direction on this front.

Originality/value

– Through examining the case of SHP relating to the indigenous villages in Hong Kong, the complexity of SD is thoroughly revealed.
How to maintain peaceful Sino-US relations
Authors: Wang Weiwei
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– In light of China’s rapid development and the USA’s “Pivot to Asia” policy, both China and the USA need to view each other objectively and cooperate with each other in order to keep their relations peaceful. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– A literature review has been undertaken to prove that power transition theory is not sufficient for the adequate analysis of Sino-US relations.

Findings

– Considering its empirical and theoretical defects, power transition theory, which it has been generally considered can be used to explain China’s future development and the future course of Sino-US relations, cannot be used to explain and forecast Sino-US relations scientifically.

Originality/value

– Power transition theory cannot be used to explain and forecast Sino-US relations scientifically, considering its empirical and theoretical defects.
Improving relationships in project teams in Malaysia
Authors: Ling Florence Y.Y. , Khoo Wei Wey
Published: June 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate relational practices that can improve construction project outcomes in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on the literature review, a questionnaire was designed containing 14 relational practices that were identified and grouped under five relational norms. Using a survey questionnaire, data were collected from clients, consultants and contractors in Malaysia’s construction industry. In-depth interviews were conducted to validate the statistical findings.

Findings

– When contracts are adjustable to address uncertainties, the projects concerned have better cost and quality outcomes. A better schedule outcome is correlated with coordinating and monitoring plans jointly. Open communication and sharing trustworthy project information have been found to produce better client-consultant and consultant-contractor relationships at the end of a project. When parties maintain a social relationship outside of a project, relationships between clients, contractors and consultants also improve significantly.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings are not easily generalisable due to the relatively small sample size, low response rate and the data being collected from only three regions in Malaysia.

Practical implications

– Clients need to take the lead in adopting relational practices, as these may give rise to warmer relationships and better project outcomes. Showing too much commitment and flexibility may harm the project schedule because of the frequent changes.

Originality/value

– This study found that the theory of relational contracting norms applies to Malaysia’s construction industry. The parties do not rely strictly on contract conditions but embrace role integrity, preserve relations and harmony to avoid relational conflict, and achieve their goals through proper means.
In pursuit of original thinking: a selection of CMS papers
Authors: Foo Check Teck
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper in the editorial review of manuscripts to highlight the emergent aspects of original thinking that provide new perspectives on issues central to management.

Design/methodology/approach

A synoptic perspective of a very broad range of topics covered in research by scholars is provided: education, corporate value, quality, corporate social responsibility, risk behavior, managing reputation, expatriation, growth and creativity. In this particular review, the editor emphasizes those facets of the paper that shed original, new light on management. Also, the areas where research provides a theoretical basis for consulting or managerial practice are highlighted to illustrate how research can be of practical relevance.

Findings

Some of the insights gained clearly indicate the importance of research. For example, tighter or more rigorous governmental regulations on food quality are unlikely to contribute to the enhancement of firms’ capability in improving food quality. The government needs to do much more than only regulate. Then, there is empirical reaffirmation that guan-xi with government matters: better the relationships, the higher corporate value but only if the firm is in private hands, not for state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Then, the Chinese local firms’ nexus with foreign, and international corporations influences their corporate social performance. Even more fascinating, a bank’s risk behavior is dependent on the structural composition of the board of directors. Indeed, research shows that a gender mix in fact lowers the propensity toward taking a high risk. Then, through reflecting upon their deep researches, the authors derive a theoretic framework for coping with reputation loss following a financial restatement. Here, authors showed SOEs to suffer much more in the event of restatement than the privately owned enterprises. Then, in a piece of innovative research of expatriation, authors relate a spectrum of the Chinese cultural values to performance. In a cross-country (civilization) study, the research motivation is: Whether SMEs in China, India and Pakistan are confronting the same environmental challenges? As expected, the answer would be yes in some aspects and no in others. This a significant finding, as the Chinese are raised on a milieu of suppressing one’s emotions: emotional expressiveness can contribute to creativity!

Originality/value

In this paper, the editor highlights some aspects on the original thinking of the authors within this issue of Chinese Management Studies. Also, the editor highlights on how research contained herein is contributing to managerial (consulting) practice.
Constraints to growth: a cross country analysis of Chinese, Indian and Pakistani SMEs
Authors: Bilal Ahmad Raza , Khan Aaisha Arbab , Akoorie Michèle Eunice Marie
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the barriers that are linked to the institutional, external and social environmental factors in the emerging economies of South-East Asia (SEA). Through a comparative analysis of China, India and Pakistan, this study attempts to understand the constraints that might inhibit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in this region from becoming more successful.

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes an empirical research framework to identify the constraints to determinants of SMEs’ growth (the CDSG model) in an important geographic and industrial cluster of SEA countries including China, India and Pakistan. Six propositions are tested, using data from 1,443 SMEs obtained from Enterprise Survey Data Repository database from the World Bank. Ordinary least-squares estimation is applied for statistical analyses and testing of the research propositions.

Findings

The results show the differential effects of the proposed CDSG model in China, India and Pakistan. Access to external finance is found to be irrelevant to the growth of SMEs in China, while it has a positive influence in India and Pakistan. Furthermore, in terms of the innovation process, partial mediation is traced. Using the tax rate factor, negative mediation is found between CDSG variables and SMEs’ growth. Both mediators play different roles in firm growth activities, while the level of significance of some variables is found to be more relevant to a specific region rather than to all.

Practical implications

The prudent management of the proposed CDSG variables could revolutionize the constraints facing SME growth, making them into success factors. This could invigorate the growth of SMEs’ in SEA countries. The paper concludes with practical implications for policymakers and investors.

Originality/value

This SMEs’ theoretical framework is the first to use innovation and tax rate mediators to highlight the determinants of business growth in three SEA regional economies (China, India and Pakistan).
The Chinese banks’ directors and their risk-taking behavior
Authors: Chan Sok-Gee , Koh Eric H.Y. , Karim Mohd Zaini Abd
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the directors’ socioeconomic backgrounds on the risk-taking behavior of the listed commercial banks in China.

Design/methodology/approach

The generalized least square method and Arellano and Bover’s (1995) generalized method of moment were used to study the relationship between the directors’ socioeconomic backgrounds and bank risk-taking behavior. The sample studied consists of 16 listed commercial banks in China from 2003 to 2011.

Findings

It was found that smaller board sizes and higher percentage of independent directors contribute to lower risk-taking. The results also indicate that banks are better off with boards that have gender diversity, government affiliation and higher average age because they enhance problem-solving and market insights facilitate adherence to government or regulatory policies and help reduce the banks’ risks.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies may consider including non-public-listed banks, pre-2003 data and analyses of the agencies to which the government-affiliated directors are or were attached.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that corporate governance reform initiatives with closely monitored implementation and phased liberalization contributed toward the banking industry’s resilience. Implications for management include that boards of directors with better quality, sufficient independence, gender diversity, government affiliation and maturity will help reduce risks.

Social implications

This study may facilitate the decision-making for the bank management and policymakers on the selection of best directors in the Chinese banking sector. The Chinese banking system serves as a plausible role model for consideration, given that four of its banks have now leapfrogged to be among the top ten largest banking institutions after the global financial crisis.

Originality/value

The study covers a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds of the board of directors which are crucial in influencing the behavior of the board in banking operations.
Managing reputation loss in China: in-depth analyses of financial restatements
Authors: Wu Peng , Gao Lei , Chen Zhibin , Li Xiao
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate, in China stock market, whether the reputation loss of a firm caused by financial restatements will lead to significant economic consequences such as financial distress and how a firm should respond to such a crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses Chinese A-share listed firms from 2004 to 2013 as research samples to test research hypotheses using regression analyses.

Findings

This paper finds a significant relationship between restatements and financial distress, and such a relationship will be affected by both the type and the magnitude of restatements. More importantly, we find joint effects of restatements and state ownership on financial distress, which provides a unique contribution to the extant literature in restatement, financial distress and crisis management using Chinese stock markets data. It shows that ownership structure, affecting the firm reputation and crisis responses strategies, plays a significant role in consequences of restatements, and it is more important for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to undertake an appropriate crisis response strategy to reduce the negative impact of restatements.

Practical implications

The results suggest that the damage to a firm’s reputation caused by restatements is affected by restatement type and state ownership. To reduce the negative consequences and avoid financial distress, firms should consider both the restatement type and their firm characteristics when deciding different actions to respond to restatements. In particular, SOEs should act in a more timely manner and take reputation-rebuilding actions such as taking the responsibility and making apologies and taking prompt remedial actions after restatements to regain the public trust and avoid more serious economic consequences. The Chinese government should strengthen their supervisions of SOEs and put more effort to help SOEs reduce administrative procedures, and to improve the efficiency of the implementation of recovery plans after restatements to reinstate firm credibility.

Originality/value

First, this paper is among the first to link financial restatement, including the type and magnitude of restatements, with financial distress, and the authors find a significant relationship between restatement type and financial distress in China stock markets. Second, this paper is the first to examine whether there is a joint effect of state ownership and restatements on financial distress. Third, this study examines how the magnitude and pervasiveness of restatements influence financial distress and find that both result in an increase of financial distress. Finally, this paper is among the first to connect crisis management and accounting literature to explain how a reputation loss caused by financial restatement may damage a firm’s value and subsequent performance, and based on which to suggest crisis-responses strategies.
mSimps: decision-making in scaling up a small business
Authors: Tsamenyi Mathew , Antwi-Gyamfi Nana Yaa
Published: June 2016

Subject area

Entrepreneurship.

Study level/applicability

This case is suitable for graduate-level programmes in business management, as well as for executive education programmes.

Case overview

Mabel Simpson, the sole proprietor of the award-winning mSimps fashion accessories house in Ghana, must choose from among three options for scaling up her business: an offer from a private investor for GHS 100,000 in exchange for 51 per cent stake in mSimps; or 30 per cent stake for half the amount; an offer from a fashion industry expert for GHS 10,000 in exchange for 30 per cent ownership; or a restructuring of her business model and value chain to enable her release cash to grow her business organically.

Expected learning outcomes

Students should be able to: understand the interplay of choice and trade-offs in business management and apply theory-driven frameworks in making optimal choices and analytically assess instances of tension between the art (e.g. passion, emotional stakes, psychological and other influences on business management philosophies) and science (e.g. the need for business skills, use of effective models and the quest for production efficiency) of business management.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship
Decoding audience interpretations of awareness campaign messages
Authors: Reid Rayne , Van Niekerk Johan
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This research aims to determine whether the educational influence of the cybersecurity awareness campaign on the audience (their knowledge, behaviour and potential cybersecurity culture) matches the campaign’s educational objectives. The research focuses on the knowledge component of this metric by examining the awareness campaign audience’s interpretative role in processing the campaign content, through the lens of active audience theory (AAT).

Design/methodology/approach

Using reflective practices, this research examines a single longitudinal case study of a cybersecurity awareness and education campaign which aims to raise awareness amongst school learners. Artefacts from a single sample are examined.

Findings

Reflexive practices using theories such as active audience can assist in identifying deviations between the message a campaign intends to communicate and the message that the campaign audience receives.

Research limitations/implications

Using this research approach, measurements could only be obtained for campaign messages depicted in artefacts. Future interventions should be designed to facilitate a more rigorous analysis of the audiences’ interpretation of all campaign messages using ATT.

Originality/value

This paper applied principles of ATT to examine the audience’s interpretative role in processing an awareness campaign’s content based on artifacts they created after exposure to the campaign. Conducting such analyses as part of a reflective process between cyber awareness/education campaign cycles provides a way to identify areas or topics within the campaign that require corrective action.
An empirical test of the perceived relationship between risk and the constituents severity and probability
Authors: Sommestad Teodor , Karlzén Henrik , Nilsson Peter , Hallberg Jonas
Published: June 2016

Purpose

In methods and manuals, the product of an information security incident’s probability and severity is seen as a risk to manage. The purpose of the test described in this paper is to investigate if information security risk is perceived in this way, if decision-making style influences the perceived relationship between the three variables and if the level of information security expertise influences the relationship between the three variables.

Design/methodology/approach

Ten respondents assessed 105 potential information security incidents. Ratings of the associated risks were obtained independently from ratings of the probability and severity of the incidents. Decision-making style was measured using a scale inspired from the Cognitive Style Index; information security expertise was self-reported. Regression analysis was used to test the relationship between variables.

Findings

The ten respondents did not assess risk as the product of probability and severity, regardless of experience, expertise and decision-making style. The mean variance explained in risk ratings using an additive term is 54.0 or 38.4 per cent, depending on how risk is measured. When a multiplicative term was added, the mean variance only increased by 1.5 or 2.4 per cent. For most of the respondents, the contribution of the multiplicative term is statistically insignificant.

Practical Implications

The inability or unwillingness to see risk as a product of probability and severity suggests that procedural support (e.g. risk matrices) has a role to play in the risk assessment processes.

Originality/value

This study is the first to test if information security risk is assessed as an interaction between probability and severity using suitable scales and a within-subject design.
The dialectics of authoring expansive learning: tracing the long tail of a Change Laboratory
Authors: Sannino Annalisa , Engeström Yrjö , Lahikainen Johanna
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The paper aims to examine organizational authoring understood as a longitudinal, material and dialectical process of transformation efforts. The following questions are asked: To which extent can a Change Laboratory intervention help practitioners author their own learning? Are the authored outcomes of a Change Laboratory intervention futile if a workplace subsequently undergoes large-scale organizational transformations? Does the expansive learning authored in a Change Laboratory intervention survive large-scale organizational transformations, and if so, why does it survive and how?

Design/methodology/approach

The paper develops a conceptual argument based on cultural–historical activity theory. The conceptual argument is grounded in the examination of a case of eight years of change efforts in a university library, including a Change Laboratory (CL) intervention. Follow-up interview data are used to discuss and illuminate our argument in relation to the three research questions.

Findings

The idea of knotworking constructed in the CL process became a “germ cell” that generates novel solutions in the library activity. A large-scale transformation from the local organization model developed in the CL process to the organization model of the entire university library was not experienced as a loss. The dialectical tension between the local and global models became a source of movement driven by the emerging expansive object. Practitioners are modeling their own collective future competences, expanding them both in socio-spatial scope and interactive depth.

Originality/value

The article offers an expanded view of authorship, calling attention to material changes and practical change actions. The dialectical tensions identified serve as heuristic guidelines for future studies and interventions.
Work transformation following the implementation of an ERP system
Authors: Ripamonti Silvio Carlo , Galuppo Laura
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to introduce the Human Resources (HR) module of the SAP suite in the Italian branch of a leading multinational pharmaceutical company. This study can be re-conducted within the interpretive tradition of information technology studies focusing on the attempt to understand and describe how software users in the HR department interpreted the enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology, how they changed their work practices and the changes that occurred in organizational discourses and meanings alongside the process.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study/intervention took start with the impulse of the Italian HR department manager, who was struck by the way that the ERP system technology implementation was affecting work life of the employees in the department. This research/intervention used interviews, focus groups and internal documents as sources of data. The authors conducted and analyzed 20 narrative interviews and 3 focus groups with middle managers, and they analyzed about 120 pages of internal memos.

Findings

The implementation of ERP systems is almost invariably accompanied by great expectations of increased process rationalization, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and upper managers’ discourses make large use of what Engeström et al., 2010 have called process efficiency rhetoric. But the ERP technology, most likely, will neither revolutionize management nor will it become a “complete calculation machine” that runs an entire work organization (Quattrone and Hopper, 2005, p. 731).

Originality/value

The implementation of the ERP system has caused conflicts and disturbances, aggravating contradictions that already existed between activity systems and introducing new types of contradictions. Pre-existent contradictions become clearer; there is a stronger interconnection between activity systems. The individual agents could experiment an expansion in their activities if only they will initiate a movement of expansive learning and if they are not prevented from doing so by coercive control. The natural expansion of the subjects’ scope of activity and horizons of possibilities could be sustained by the ERP technology if it is not used as a tool for domination and if the upper management does not try and separate what cannot in actuality be separated: The actors’ capabilities of improvised learning, which makes the institution of a new mode of the activity possible, and their capacity to assume collective control of the meaning and direction of the transformation of the activity. ERPs are technologies that can naturally bring transformations in the activity system and networks where they are introduced, but in some cases, they can easily and in a non reflective manner be intended as tools for oppression by the upper management.
What can(not) a flat and local structuration ontology do for management accounting research?
Authors: Englund Hans , Gerdin Jonas
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a commentary on “Structuration theory: reflections on its further potential for management accounting research”, a paper by Coad et al.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents, discusses and challenges the critique that Coad et al. direct towards the notion of a flat and local structuration ontology in management accounting research.

Findings

This paper offers a number of reflections upon Coad et al.’s key arguments against a flat and local structuration ontology in extant accounting research. Based on the authors’ understanding of such an ontology, they also elaborate on what they believe a flat and local structuration ontology “can do” and “cannot do” for accounting research. Overall, the authors agree with Coad et al. that there is indeed an ontological divide between their different views on a flat and local ontology; a divide largely related to whether researchers have an essentialist view on social phenomena. However, the authors believe that Coad et al. exaggerate how this ontological divide has affected, and may affect, future empirical management accounting research.

Originality/value

This paper expands the current understanding of a flat and local structuration ontology in management accounting research.
Prosumption perspectives on additive manufacturing: reconfiguration of consumer products with 3D printing
Authors: Yoo Byounghyun , Ko Heedong , Chun Sungkuk
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the changing backdrop of the consumer market in relation to three-dimensional (3D) printing, especially in the context of Web infrastructure that connects consumers and producers with unprecedented diversity and scale and Web 2.0 user-created content in the material domain.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a conceptual architecture and software platform that facilitates do-it-yourself reconfiguration of existing products incorporating 3D printing, mobile 3D sensor, augmented reality (AR) and Web technologies.

Findings

This work shows that prosumer reconfiguration of consumer products is the major paradigm in the era of democratized production. The results suggest that this approach may be used in the consumer market to meet consumer preferences for adopting innovations without redundant consumption.

Research limitations/implications

Verification of the proposed conceptual approach is limited to the use of household consumer products. A critical mass of participants and product information are both necessary to achieve a sustainable ecosystem from the proposed platform. Intellectual property issues rely on the fair use of end-user production in this paper.

Social implications

The proposed approach allows users to swap out consumer product parts or upgrade individual modules as innovations emerge, extending the lifecycles of consumer products and potentially reducing consumer waste.

Originality/value

There is a lack of work on facilitating the proliferation of practical 3D printing through prosumption in relation to existing consumer products. This paper’s scientific contribution involves how 3D printing affords social manufacturing and consumer-oriented presumption in conjunction with mobile 3D sensor, AR, and Web technologies.
3D printing of generative art using the assembly and deformation of direction-specified parts
Authors: Kanada Yaususi
Published: June 2016

Purpose

A methodology for designing and printing three-dimensional (3D) objects with specified printing-direction using fused deposition modeling (FDM), which was proposed by a previous paper, enables the expression of natural directions, such as hair, fabric or other directed textures, in modeled objects. This paper aims to enhance this methodology for creating various shapes of generative visual objects with several specialized attributes.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed enhancement consists of two new methods and a new technique. The first is a method for “deformation”. It enables deforming simple 3D models to create varieties of shapes much more easily in generative design processes. The second is the spiral/helical printing method. The print direction (filament direction) of each part of a printed object is made consistent by this method, and it also enables seamless printing results and enables low-angle overhang. The third, i.e. the light-reflection control technique, controls the properties of filament while printing with transparent polylactic acid. It enables the printed objects to reflect light brilliantly.

Findings

The proposed methods and technique were implemented in a Python library and evaluated by printing various shapes, and it is confirmed that they work well, and objects with attractive attributes, such as the brilliance, can be created.

Research limitations/implications

The methods and technique proposed in this paper are not well-suited to industrial prototyping or manufacturing that require strength or intensity.

Practical implications

The techniques proposed in this paper are suited for generatively producing various a small number of products with artistic or visual properties.

Originality/value

This paper proposes a completely different methodology for 3D printing than the conventional computer-aided design (CAD)-based methodology and enables products that cannot be created by conventional methods.
State of the art automated chasing and repoussé through utilization of magnetic hammering
Authors: Riahi Mohammad , Sedighi Mohammad , Rahmanian Hassan
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The paper aims to design a process to mechanize traditional chasing and repoussé which is the art of creating an artistic pattern on a sheet metal by making high and low points through utilization of hammer and chisel. In scientific literature, it is a kind of incremental sheet metal forming.

Design/methodology/approach

In the designed process, a magnetic actuator is used as a hammer which converts electric energy into kinetic reciprocal impact energy, and hammering sequence is completely controlled via the designed software. The sheet is bound not to move easily. Then, a hammering mechanism is connected to the numerical control machine. As the magnetic hammer is moved gradually along the defined path, the sheet is chased gradually by controlling the consecutive impacts. Different methods of test sheet entanglement are also discussed to reduce noise and undesired deformations of sheet, and indents are also clarified.

Findings

The designed mechanism enables the user to form desired art patterns faster with more precision via the automated process. The hammering sequence is controlled via computer successfully. The designed magnetic actuator could be commercialized easily. Experiments show that the pitch under sheet is the best. Typical art patterns are chased successfully.

Originality/value

In incremental sheet metal punching, there was no control on hammering sequence before. In this process, the designed magnetic hammer is quite controllable. Also, it is easily attached to the computerized numerical control (CNC) and is suitable for commercial use. Furthermore, the stuff under sheet was not taken into consideration before.
Study on the selective laser sintering of a low-isotacticity polypropylene powder
Authors: Zhu Wei , Yan Chunze , Shi Yunsong , Wen Shifeng , Han Changjun , Cai Chao , Liu Jie , Shi Yusheng
Published: June 2016

Purpose

Semi-crystalline polymers such as polyamide-12 can be used for selective laser sintering (SLS) to make near-fully dense plastic parts. At present, however, the types of semi-crystalline polymers suitable for SLS are critically limited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the processibility of a new kind of semi-crystalline polypropylene (PP) with low isotacticity for SLS process.

Design/methodology/approach

The SLS processibility of the PP powder, including particle size and shape, sintering window, degree of crystallinity and degradation temperature, was evaluated. Effects of the applied laser energy density on the surface micromorphology, density, tensile strength and thermal properties of SLS-built PP specimens were studied.

Findings

The results show that the PP powder has a nearly spherical shape, smooth surfaces, an appropriate average particle size of 63.6 μm, a broad sintering window of 21 oC and low crystalline degree of 30.4 per cent comparable to that of polyamide-12, a high degradation temperature of 381.8°C and low part bed temperature of 105°C, indicating a very good SLS processibility. The density and the tensile strength first increase with increasing laser energy density until they reach the maximum values of 0.831 g/cm3 and 19.9 MPa, respectively, at the laser energy density of 0.0458 J/mm2, and then decrease when the applied laser energy density continue to increase owing to the degradation of PP powders. The complex PP components have been manufactured by SLS using the optimum parameters, which are strong enough to be directly used as functional parts.

Originality/value

This paper provides a new knowledge for this field that low-isotacticity PPs exhibit good SLS processibility, therefore increasing material types and broadening the application of SLS technology.
Study of the complementary usages of selective laser sintering during the high volume production of plastic parts
Authors: Brajlih Tomaz , Paulic Matej , Irgolic Tomaz , Kadivnik Ziga , Balic Joze , Drstvensek Igor
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to present a comparison between selective laser sintering and injection moulding technology for the production of small batches of plastic products.

Design/methodology/approach

The comparison is based on analysing the time–cost efficiencies of each manufacturing process regarding the size of the series for the selected product sample. Both technologies are described and the times and costs of those individual processes needed to create a final product are assessed when using each of the manufacturing processes.

Findings

The study shows that the time-cost efficiency of the selected laser sintering technology increases according to the complexity of the product and decreases with increasing series size and product volume.

Research limitations/implications

The study and absolute values of the presented results are limited to a selected plastic product, but the series size-focused efficiency analysis could be expanded to general cases.

Originality/value

The presented analysis could be used as a general guideline for a decision-making process regarding the more efficient manufacturing method. In addition, the results show the viability of using selective laser sintering during the early stages of production when fast product availability is required, regardless of the series size. Also, some complementary effects of using both technologies in the serial production of the same part are discussed.
Investigation of forged-like microstructure produced by a hybrid manufacturing process
Authors: Francis Romy , Newkirk Joseph , Liou Frank
Published: June 2016

Purpose

This paper aims to summarize the microstructure characterization of parts that were produced using a hybrid manufacturing process consisting of laser metal deposition (LMD) and friction stir processing (FSP). This research was conducted to investigate the evolution of the microstructure following FSP and LMD and to study the possibility of producing or repairing parts with a forged-like microstructure using this hybrid technique.

Design/methodology/approach

The microstructure of the nugget regions obtained in the substrate weld, stir over deposit and deposit over stir experiments was investigated.

Findings

Highly refined grain size in the order of 1-2 μm was observed where FSP was performed over laser-deposited Ti–6Al–4V. Large equiaxed grains were observed in the experiment where subsequent deposition was carried over the stir. A decreasing grain size was also observed in the dilution zone (DZ) inside the nugget from the stir surface to the bottom of the DZ.

Practical implications

A highly refined microstructure formed from FSP is able to increase the fatigue life by delaying the fatigue crack initiation. Peters et al. (1980) reported that reducing the grain size from 12-15 μm to 1-2 μm in an equiaxed Ti–6Al–4V alloy corresponded with about 25 per cent increase in fatigue strengths at 10,000,000 cycles.

Originality/value

This proposed technical approach is a novel and effective method to produce forged-like parts using a metal additive manufacturing process.
Template-guided visual try-in evaluation for nasal prosthesis modeling
Authors: Sun Jin
Published: June 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a visual try-in evaluation framework for the template-guided modelling of a nasal prosthesis.

Design/methodology/approach

For patients with nasal defects, there is no self-information that can be used for the fabrication of the nasal prosthesis. Based on model retrieval from a database, the template-guided model construction method can ensure successful building of the nasal prosthesis. The deviation measurement between the two mid-planes of pre-operative and visual post-operative patient’s face allowed a virtual try-in approach in the symmetry evaluation of the prosthetic rehabilitation. The test of fit between the prosthesis model and the surrounding tissue data also provided an evaluation of whether the nasal prosthesis fit the patient’s appearance well before operation.

Findings

A case study confirmed that this visual try-in evaluation framework has potential to design the desired nasal prosthesis for daily clinical practice.

Practical implications

This technique facilitates modelling of nasal prostheses while helping to predict the effect before the prosthesis is manufactured.

Originality/value

This visual try-in evaluation framework has great potential for use in clinical applications because of its advantages on the aesthetic evaluation of the prosthetic rehabilitation.
Labelling additively manufactured parts by microstructural gradation – advanced copy-proof design
Authors: Niendorf Thomas , Brenne Florian , Schaper Mirko , Riemer Andre , Leuders Stefan , Reimche Wilfried , Schwarze Dieter , Maier Hans J.
Published: June 2016

Purpose

As additive manufacturing techniques, such as selective laser melting, allow for straightforward production of parts on basis of simple computer-aided design files only, unauthorized replication can be facilitated. Thus, identification and tracking of individual parts are increasingly vital in light of globalized competition. This paper aims to overcome the susceptibility of additive manufacturing techniques for product piracy by establishing a method for introducing and reading out product identification markers not visible by naked-eye inspection.

Design/methodology/approach

Lasers of different nominal power were used for altering the solidification mechanisms during processing in distinct areas of the samples. The resulting local microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties, respectively, were determined by scanning electron microscopy and hardness measurements. The applicability of an advanced eddy current technique for reading out local differences in electro-magnetic properties was examined.

Findings

The findings show that distinct microstructural features are obtained in dependence of the locally applied laser power. These features manifest themselves not only in terms of grain morphology, texture and hardness but also induce changes in the local electro-magnetic properties. The inscribed pattern can be non-destructively visualized by using an advanced eddy current technique.

Originality/value

Conventional copy protection basically consists in supplementary labelling or surface modification. In the present study, a new method is proposed for additively manufactured parts, overcoming the drawbacks of the former methods through process-induced microstructure manipulation. Slight alterations in the electro-magnetic material properties can be detected by advanced eddy current method allowing for identification of arbitrary and inimitable component information in additively manufactured parts.
The dominant detritus‐feeding invertebrate in Arctic peat soils derives its essential amino acids from gut symbionts
Authors: Larsen Thomas , Ventura Marc , Maraldo Kristine , Triadó‐Margarit Xavier , Casamayor Emilio O. , Wang Yiming V. , Andersen Nils , O'Brien Diane M.
Published: June 2016

Supplementation of nutrients by symbionts enables consumers to thrive on resources that might otherwise be insufficient to meet nutritional demands. Such nutritional subsidies by intracellular symbionts have been well studied; however, supplementation of de novo synthesized nutrients to hosts by extracellular gut symbionts is poorly documented, especially for generalists with relatively undifferentiated intestinal tracts.

Although gut symbionts facilitate degradation of resources that would otherwise remain inaccessible to the host, such digestive actions alone cannot make up for dietary insufficiencies of macronutrients such as essential amino acids (EAA). Documenting whether gut symbionts also function as partners for symbioticEAAsupplementation is important because the question of how some detritivores are able to subsist on nutritionally insufficient diets has remained unresolved.

To answer this poorly understood nutritional aspect of symbiont–host interactions, we studied the enchytraeid worm, a bulk soil feeder that thrives in Arctic peatlands. In a combined field and laboratory study, we employed stable isotope fingerprinting of amino acids to identify the biosynthetic origins of amino acids to bacteria, fungi and plants in enchytraeids.

Enchytraeids collected from Arctic peatlands derived more than 80% of theirEAAfrom bacteria. In a controlled feeding study with the enchytraeidEnchytraeus crypticus,EAAderived almost exclusively from gut bacteria when the worms fed on higher fibre diets, whereas most of the enchytraeids’EAAderived from dietary sources when fed on lower fibre diets. Our gene sequencing results of gut microbiota showed that the worms harbour several taxa in their gut lumen absent from their diets and substrates. Almost all gut taxa are candidates forEAAsupplementation because almost all belong to clades capable of biosynthesizingEAA.

Our study provides the first evidence of extensive symbiotic supplementation ofEAAby microbial gut symbionts and demonstrates that symbiotic bacteria in the gut lumen appear to function as partners both for symbioticEAAsupplementation and for digestion of insoluble plant fibres.
Influence of the sunflower oil content, cooking temperature and cooking time on the physical and sensory properties of spreadable cheese analogues based on UF white‐brined cheese
Authors: Shabani Jahanbakhsh , Sarfarazi Messiah , Mirzaei Habibollah , Jafari Seid Mahdi
Published: June 2016

In this study, a cheese analogue was produced based on UF white‐brined cheese by replacing the dairy fat with sunflower oil and cooking at different temperatures and times. Hardness, adhesiveness, meltability and oiling‐off were used to evaluate the suitability of the final product. Partial replacement of dairy cream with sunflower oil led to an increase in the adhesiveness, oiling‐off and spreadability while decreasing the hardness of the cheese. Optimum operating conditions were found to be 85 °C for the cooking temperature, 14.12 min for the cooking time and 27.14% w/w for the sunflower oil content.
Viability of encapsulated Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA‐5) in UF cheese and its survival under in vitro simulated gastrointestinal conditions
Authors: Nejati Roghayeh , Gheisari Hamid Reza , Hosseinzadeh Saeid , Behbod Mehdi
Published: June 2016

In this study, the survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA‐5) was monitored during storage for 60 days at (4 ± 1) °C and also under an in vitro gastrointestinal (GI) model. A significant increase in the number of LA‐5 was found subsequent to 30 days of storage but numbers were reduced following 60 days. While the survival of micro‐encapsulated Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA‐5) was enhanced during the storage and in vitro gastrointestinal simulation, the addition of inulin did not improve the viability of this micro‐organism. During the storage time, survival of L. acidophilus (LA‐5) remained up to 6 log (cfu/g) in the UF white cheese.