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Mobile computing enables end‐users to create small services on their mobiles and share valuable and context‐aware information with others. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a platform for end‐user generated mobile services – so‐called microservices.

As a key component the authors present a microservice description language for user‐driven mobile service creation and platform‐independent service execution and rendering. The paper also gives insight into the authors' visual authoring tool. The chosen design approach is evaluated in two phases: an intermediate evaluation with a small hands‐on trial and an online survey; and a final laboratory test with 24 test users in total.

The paper provides empirical insights about the methods and motivations of end‐users creating small mobile services. The main purposes of service creation would be mostly to exchange information, stay in contact, and just for fun (on the basis of non‐commercial use). The evaluations also indicate the visual drag and drop approach of putting service blocks together as being the most favored in terms of user satisfaction.

The concepts and findings introduced in this paper will help in designing mobile service authoring environments, which is appealing to software communities/vendors and mobile network operators. The presented platform is, to the authors' knowledge, the first designed and implemented infrastructure enabling end‐user mobile service creation.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of the fast multipole boundary element method (FMBEM) in the analysis of stress and effective properties of 3D linear elastic structures with cavities. In particular, a comparison between the FMBEM and the finite element method (FEM) is performed in terms of accuracy, model size and computation time.

The developed FMBEM uses eight-node Serendipity boundary elements with numerical integration based on the adaptive subdivision of elements. Multipole and local expansions and translations involve solid harmonics. The proposed model is used to analyse a solid body with two interacting spherical cavities, and to predict the homogenized response of a porous material under linear displacement boundary condition. The FEM results are generated in commercial codes Ansys and MSC Patran/Nastran, and the results are compared in terms of accuracy, model size and execution time. Analytical solutions available in the literature are also considered.

FMBEM and FEM approximate the geometry with similar accuracy and provide similar results. However, FMBEM requires a model size that is smaller by an order of magnitude in terms of the number of degrees of freedom. The problems under consideration can be solved by using FMBEM within the time comparable to the FEM with an iterative solver.

The present results are limited to linear elasticity.

This work is a step towards a comprehensive efficiency evaluation of the FMBEM applied to selected problems of micromechanics, by comparison with the commercial FEM codes.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

Over the past few years Uber has experienced more controversy than any other digital platform. Looking at the case of Uber in Poland, this chapter distinguishes four arenas in which Uber has been contested: in cities, in public opinion, in the political realm, and in the legal field. Each of these arenas has a different logic and dynamic and also involves different actors and institutions. Nevertheless, the various struggles are connected with each other. Victories and defeats in one spill over into another, providing actors with resources or imposing constraints on them. The author illustrates the connection between various arenas by looking at court cases involving Uber drivers in Poland and shows how those court cases were not only legal events that determined the legality of Uber in Poland but also moral and political events that influenced struggles over legitimacy that were taking place outside the courtroom.

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a short research project, conducted in 2010 as part of a larger EU funded action investigating the participation and impact of doctors in management. The authors sought to compare the ways in which hospital doctors in the UK and Poland – countries with distinct histories – participate in management; whether they are converging and whether the type of participation found results from changes in the governance and management of these systems.

First, a review of existing evidence and an analysis of policy documents and healthcare statistics were conducted. Identifying a lack of empirical data in the Polish context, and a potentially changing situation in the UK, the authors proceeded to collect some exploratory data in Poland, via interviews with expert informants, and to draw on data collected alongside this study in the UK from qualified doctors participating in research on management and leadership development.

Hospital doctors currently hold similar types of management role in both systems, but there are signs that change is underway. In Poland, different types of medical manager and role are now emerging, whereas in the UK younger doctors appear to be expecting greater management responsibility in the future, and are starting to take up the management training now on offer.

The potential implications of these changes for the profession and policymakers in both Poland and the UK are discussed, with opportunities for further research highlighted.

The paper provides a comparison of how medical engagement within two systems with different histories is occurring, and also of the changes underway. It provides some much needed initial insight via interviews with expert informants within the polish system, which has been under-researched in relation to the involvement of medicine in management.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the influences of family business and exposure to family business ideas upon students and graduates during their transition from higher education (HE) towards career identification of entrepreneurship. It explores influences, values and experiences actively impacting on business start-up following exposure to family business or business ideas.

A grounded theory approach was adopted to investigate the wider student/graduate transition between HE and business start-up support provision. The aim of the interviews undertaken was to investigate those influences actively impacting on business start-up provision and reflect upon the complexities within the student journey through transition towards business start-up. The researchers investigated stories, experiences and insights of nascent and practicing entrepreneurs acquiring rich qualitative evidence.

This study evaluates the influences impacting upon practicing entrepreneurs following exposure to family business and awareness of business ideas arising from immediate or extended family prior to undertaking a business start-up. The findings inform discussions about family role models and contribute to the development of enterprise education pedagogy. It is found that individuals attachment to business and family business values are strongly formed concepts that motivate and steer entrepreneurial direction.

This paper contributes to development of enterprise and entrepreneurship educator pedagogy and explores use of entrepreneurial role models and positive learning experiences gained through personal exposure to family business and ideas.

This study contributes to a fuller understanding of the potential for positive influence through exposure to familial businesses, growing up around businesses and awareness of business ideas arising from immediate or extended family. Integration of learning opportunities with development of pedagogy will be of interest to the enterprise education community.