Equipment for electric arc metallizing with pulsed discharge of the air-spraying jet

The results of a review of literature data show that electric arc metallizing systems are characterized by high consumption of compressed air. Spraying is accompanied by the high-intensity interaction of the spraying air jet with the liquid metal of the molten ends of the electrodes, leading to rapid burnout of the alloying elements. The intensity of the oxidation reaction depends on the heat resistance of the sprayed material, the dispersion of the particles, the affinity of the components for oxygen and the technological parameters of the coatings. In order to reduce the oxidation effect, it is proposed to use a pulsed air-spraying jet. To solve this problem, experiments were carried out to develop appropriate equipment for the EN-17 stationary electric arc metallizing system characterized by the pulsed discharge of the air-spraying jet in the range 0–130 Hz. The experimental results show that the spraying jet is pulsed with temporary breaks. When using circular cross sections, the pulse smoothly becomes larger. The application of the right-angled section results in the pulse shape increasing at a higher rate. The experimental results show that the oxidation effect of the air-spraying jet is reduced. It is also shown that the optimum frequency resulting in improved properties of the coating is in the range 40–80 Hz.     

When and how authoritarian leadership and leader renqing orientation influence tacit knowledge sharing intentions

In this study of tacit knowledge-sharing intentions in China, we examine the roles of authoritarian leadership and fairness with respect to the way managers make decisions and treat their subordinates. In particular, we examine the role of leader renqing orientation, i.e., the way leaders distribute favors and emotional concern to their subordinates, as a moderating factor. We draw on the research literature in the domains of knowledge management and cross-cultural Psychology to identify constructs that we then test with a survey of 309 Chinese employees. Our findings are counter-intuitive and are discussed in detail before we conclude with implications for research and practice.     

A collaborative methodology for tacit knowledge management: Application to scientific research

Tacit knowledge, which refers to the know-how, is critical to understand and reuse since it is located in the human heads. It represents the foremost element for human and team evaluation. Seeking for tacit knowledge is achieved only by communicating with the concerned persons, which makes losing it axiomatic if people leave their work without documenting their know-how. Thus, providing a collaborative environment based on a common conceptualization of the domain to formalize the experts’ knowledge and to share their outcomes is required. However, some barriers pertaining to cultural and social factors such as personality traits impede capturing the conceptual model. To cope with these issues, we have proposed a generic two-step methodology that copes with human barriers when capturing the domain experts’ tacit knowledge, their skills, and seeds terms in order to converge to a common knowledge representation. Considering the scientific research management as a use case, we followed the proposed methodology to formalize our scientific research knowledge in the context of network and communication research field. Based on the generated ontology, we have developed a semantic web platform that allows collaboratively annotating experts’ knowledge in a computer interpretable format that can be shared and reused by human and machines. Our evaluation is based on end users’ quality of experience and feedbacks.     

Optimal channel coordination in use-based product-service system contracts

Nowadays, service economy efficiencies are key to keep competitiveness and increase market advantages. The development of Product-Service Systems (PSS) can be an interesting strategy as they seek to improve the business performance of all the participants in the value chain. This paper proposes a novel reliability-based reward scheme for use-oriented PSS contracts. In a PSS instead of paying for the product, the client pays a fee for its performance. The contribution of this work to the existing literature is to provide a quantitative tool for the development of a use-oriented PSS contract based on non-repairable component reliability and risk sharing. It can be extended to other performance metrics such as availability and reliability. A well designed PSS achieves a mutual growth agreement for the client and the supplier if it aligns their interests through channel coordination. This is achieved by balancing the improvement in the expected cost and profit for the client and the supplier, respectively. The improvement is measured with respect to a baseline scenario where no PSS contract exists. The methodology is tested using a case study that analyses mining haul truck tires. The results show a significant overall improvement in the main key performance indicators and environmental impact of the value chain.     

DYNAMIC RESOURCE ALLOCATION SCHEME UNDER TRAFFIC CONDITION IN SATELLITE SYSTEMS

As the traffic distribution in China mainland is far from uniform, a new traffic model in China mainland is presented on the basis of per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and density of population. Based on this characteristic traffic model, a new Traffic Dependent Dynamic Channel Allocation and Reservation (TDDCAR) technique is proposed, the simulation model is built, and the strategies’ performance is evaluated through computer simulation. The simulation results show that, compared to the conventional Fixed Channel Allocation (FCA), TDDCAR estimates the traffic con-ditions in every spot beam and frequently adjusts the traffic according to current traffic conditions. It has achieved a significant improvement in new call blocking probability, handover blocking probability, and fair index, particularly, in heavy traffic conditions. The building of traffic model in China mainland and the analysis of the simulation results has been a key foundation for the study of resource allocation schemes in the future.     

Complexity-performance trade-off of algorithms for combined lattice reduction and QR decomposition

Over the last years, numerous equalization schemes for multiple-input/multiple-output channels have been studied in the literature. New low-complexity approaches based on lattice basis reduction are of special interest, since they achieve the optimum diversity behavior. Although the per-symbol equalization complexity of these schemes is very low, the initial calculation of the required matrices may impose an enormous burden in arithmetic complexity. In this paper, we give a tutorial overview and assess algorithms, which, given the channel matrix, result in the feedforward, feedback, and unimodular matrix required in lattice-reduction-aided decision-feedback equalization or precoding. To this end, via a unified exposition of the Lenstra–Lenstra–Lovász (LLL) algorithm, the LLL with deep insertions, and the reversed Siegel approach similarities and differences of these approaches are enlightened. A modification of the LLL swapping criterion, better matched to the equalization setting, is discussed. It is shown that using lattice-reduction-aided equalization/precoding better performance can be achieved at lower complexity compared to classical equalization or precoding approaches.     

Analysis of cooperative and competitive spectrum sharing for heterogeneous networks based on differential dynamics model

The heterogeneous networks belonging to different service providers form a coalition system for maximizing the profit, where they may either compete or cooperate with each other. In this paper, we introduce the Lokta–Volterra model, a differential dynamics model, to build the competitive and cooperative mechanisms of heterogeneous networks. It considers the natural growth rate of the network itself and competitive and cooperative effects among networks. Then, according to the ordinary differential principle, the stability of the proposed model and its equilibrium points are analyzed. And finally, system performances are evaluated by Vensim that is used for developing, analyzing, and packaging dynamic feedback models. Analysis and simulation results show that the natural growth rate of the network cannot increase its profit, but effective cooperative mechanism among heterogeneous networks can increase the profit of each network. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Search Engine Optimization: Comparison of Link Building and Social Sharing

The practice of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can significantly increase a website’s search rankings, driving more traffic to the website, and thereby increasing revenue. Three primary SEO strategies are Content, Link Building, and Social Sharing. Our study compares the performance of three similar content-rich websites; each uses a different SEO strategy – one focused on Content only, the second uses Content and proactive Link Building, and the third uses Content and Social Media campaign designed to elicit social mentions and social sharing. We use Google Analytics to collect, analyze, and compare their site traffic, domain authority, search ranks, and ad revenue before and after SEO implementation, over the course of 18 months. Our study suggests that link building and social media both improve website traffic and revenue. Social media can be an effective method for quickly building traffic (for events); however, link building provides better return on investment in the long run.     

Multisecret-sharing schemes and bounded distance decoding of linear codes

Error-correcting codes are used to correct errors when messages are transmitted through a noisy communication channel. Bounded distance decoding (i.e. decoding up to the error-correcting capacity) is a method of correcting errors that guarantees unique decoding. Secret sharing is a cryptographic protocol that allows a secret known from a person called the dealer to be distributed to n participants. No single participant knows the secret but some special subsets of participants called coalitions can. In this paper, we present a multisecret-sharing scheme based on an error-correcting code where secret reconstruction is made by using bounded distance decoding of the code. This scheme is ideal in the sense that the size of each secret equals the size of any share. Its security improves on that of multisecret-sharing schemes.