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Domain integrals, known as volume potentials in 3D elasticity problems, exist in many boundary-type methods, such as the boundary element method (BEM) for inhomogeneous partial differential equations. The purpose of this paper is to develop an accurate and reliable technique to effectively evaluate the volume potentials in 3D elasticity problems.

An adaptive background cell-based domain integration method is proposed for treatment of volume potentials in 3D elasticity problems. The background cells are constructed from the information of the boundary elements based on an oct-tree structure, and the domain integrals are evaluated over the cells rather than volume elements. The cells that contain the boundary elements can be subdivided into smaller sub-cells adaptively according to the sizes and levels of the boundary elements. The fast multipole method (FMM) is further applied in the proposed method to reduce the time complexity of large-scale computation.

The method is a boundary-only discretization method, and it can be applied in the BEM easily. Much computational time is saved by coupling with the FMM. Numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method..

Boundary elements are used to create adaptive background cells, and domain integrals are evaluated over the cells rather than volume elements. Large-scale computation is made possible by coupling with the FMM.

Based on social influence theory (SIT) and social capital theory, this paper aims to explore the mediating role of entrepreneurial networks between technological entrepreneurs' political skills and entrepreneurial performance and whether market dynamics positively moderates this relationship.

This study collected data from 454 technological entrepreneurs in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou in China and examined four hypotheses by hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping analysis in an empirical design.

Results reveal that technological entrepreneurs' political skills not only have a direct positive impact on entrepreneurial performance (β = 0.544, t = 12.632, p < 0.001), but also have an indirect positive impact on entrepreneurial performance through entrepreneurial networks (β = 0.473, t = 10.636, p < 0.001). Entrepreneurial networks play a mediating role between entrepreneurs' political skills and entrepreneurial performance with 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals [0.034, 0.015]. Market dynamics plays a moderating role in the relationship among technological entrepreneurs' political skills, entrepreneurial networks and entrepreneurial performance (entrepreneurial performance: β = 0.190, t = 4.275, p < 0.001; entrepreneurial networks: β = 0.135, t = 4.455, p < 0.001). When market dynamics is high, technological entrepreneurs' political skills have a significant positive effect on entrepreneurial networks (simple slope = 0.309, t = 7.656, p < 0.001); but when market dynamics is low, there is no significant correlation between political skills and entrepreneurial networks (simple slope = 0.039, t = 0.966, p > 0.05).

The study relies on self-reported data from single informants. Although the severity of common method bias is tested through two methods, future research designs should avoid the influence of common method bias. Future research should adopt a vertical tracking design, collect data from multiple sources and use subjective assessment and objective indicators to measure variables. In addition, the applicability of the results outside China is worth further empirical exploration. Therefore, the authors hope that future studies can replicate the research to different countries, different cultural backgrounds and different organizational sections to explore the generalizability of the results.

The findings provide useful suggestions for entrepreneurs, who can use political skills to build a strong entrepreneurial network to improve their entrepreneurial performance. The results also suggest that entrepreneurs should pay more attention to cultivating and developing their political skills through methods such as training and practice. In addition, the conclusion is of great implications to enrich the content of entrepreneurship education and guide entrepreneurship practice.

These findings enrich SIT and social capital theory by providing the empirical evidence of the effect of entrepreneurs' political skills on entrepreneurial performance through entrepreneurial network. They also provide deeper insights into market dynamics research by uncovering the moderating role of market dynamics in the relationship between entrepreneurs' political skills, entrepreneurial networks and entrepreneurial performance.

Dynamic movement primitives (DMPs) is a general robotic skill learning from demonstration method, but it is usually used for single robotic manipulation. For cloud-based robotic skill learning, the authors consider trajectories/skills changed by the environment, rebuild the DMPs model and propose a new DMPs-based skill learning framework removing the influence of the changing environment.

The authors proposed methods for two obstacle avoidance scenes: point obstacle and non-point obstacle. For the case with point obstacles, an accelerating term is added to the original DMPs function. The unknown parameters in this term are estimated by interactive identification and fitting step of the forcing function. Then a pure skill despising the influence of obstacles is achieved. Using identified parameters, the skill can be applied to new tasks with obstacles. For the non-point obstacle case, a space matching method is proposed by building a matching function from the universal space without obstacle to the space condensed by obstacles. Then the original trajectory will change along with transformation of the space to get a general trajectory for the new environment.

The proposed two methods are certified by two experiments, one of which is taken based on Omni joystick to record operator’s manipulation motions. Results show that the learned skills allow robots to execute tasks such as autonomous assembling in a new environment.

This is a new innovation for DMPs-based cloud robotic skill learning from multi-scene tasks and generalizing new skills following the changes of the environment.

Employee improvisation is valuable in seizing opportunities, creating radically new ideas and dealing with unexpected events. It is increasingly important for new ventures in unpredictable environments. However, as an important organizational factor, the mechanism of leadership style on employee improvisation has not been fully explored. Against this background, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of entrepreneurial leadership on employee improvisation. Specifically, drawing on cognitive-affective processing system framework and regulatory focus theory, the study investigates the dual mediating role of workplace spirituality and positive affect between entrepreneurial leadership and employee improvisation and the moderating role of promotion focus in such relationships.

Using time-lagged data from 327 leader–employee dyads from new ventures in China, the study tests all hypotheses using hierarchical multiple regression and bootstrapping analysis in IBM SPSS 26.0.

The results reveal that entrepreneurial leadership is positively related to employee improvisation, and this link is mediated by workplace spirituality and positive affect. Additionally, moderated path analysis indicates that promotion focus strengthens the direct effect of workplace spirituality and positive affect on employee improvisation and the indirect impact of entrepreneurial leadership on employee improvisation.

The findings also provide some practical suggestions for managers on how to promote employee improvisation. Managers can promote employee improvisation by cultivating their entrepreneurial leadership. The results also constitute valuable information for new ventures in terms of suggesting steps that can be taken to promote employee improvisation in the workplace, particularly in regard to employees' cognition and affect. In addition, personality traits such as promotion focus should also be considered in recruitment.

The study makes an original contribution by showcasing the complex cognitive and affective mechanism of entrepreneurial leadership on employee improvisation. Through the dual mediating role of workplace spirituality and positive affect, the study expands the research results on employee improvisation and enriches the application of cognitive-affective processing system framework in the entrepreneurship field. The study also provides deeper insights into promotion focus research by exploring the boundary conditions of employee improvisation.

Guided by social exchange theory and signaling theory, this chapter investigates the relationship between individual perceptions of high-performance work systems (HPWS), union instrumentality, and employees’ turnover intention. The results obtained from a multilevel and multisource sample of more than 1,300 employees in 37 multinational corporation based in China show that, in contrast to our hypothesis, union instrumentality is not directly related to turnover intention; rather, the results from the post hoc mediation analysis show that union instrumentality is indirectly and negatively related to turnover intention through affective organizational commitment. Consistent with our hypothesis, the results of our analysis show that union instrumentality serves as an important contingent factor in the relationship between HPWS and employee turnover intention. The relationship between HPWS and turnover intention becomes positive when employee union instrumentality is low.

In manufacturing environments, mobile radio frequency identification (RFID) robots need to quickly identify and collect various types of passive tag and active tag sensor data. The purpose of this paper is to design a robot system compatible with ultra high frequency (UHF) band passive and active RFID applications and to propose a new anti-collision protocol to improve identification efficiency for active tag data collection.

A new UHF RFID robot system based on a cloud platform is designed and verified. For the active RFID system, a grouping reservation–based anti-collision algorithm is proposed in which an inventory round is divided into reservation period and polling period. The reservation period is divided into multiple sub-slots. Grouped tags complete sub-slot by randomly transmitting a short reservation frame. Then, in the polling period, the reader accesses each tag by polling. When tags’ reply collision occurs, the reader tries to re-query collided tags once, and the pre-reply tags avoid collisions through random back-off and channel activity detection.

The proposed algorithm achieves a maximum theoretical system throughput of about 0.94, and very few tag data frame transmissions overhead. The capture effect and channel activity detection in physical layer can effectively improve system throughput and reduce tag data transmission.

In this paper, the authors design and verify the UHF band passive and active hybrid RFID robot architecture based on cloud collaboration. And, the proposed anti-collision algorithm would improve active tag data collection speed and reduce tag transmission overhead in complex manufacturing environments.

Emergence is the kernel concept of complexity science. Lack of precision when people refer to “emergent properties” hinders the research of complex systems. The purpose of this paper is to develop a formal definition of emergence to make it intrinsic to a system and to integrate different views on emergence.

Based on the modeling framework of entity grammar systems (EGS), a formal definition of emergence is proposed and a theorem is obtained for exploring the producing conditions of emergence. With the definition and theorem, three views on emergence are unified using the same formalism of EGS.

The concept of emergence can be formally defined in the framework of EGS to integrate the “downward causation” and “upward causation” views of emergence and makes emergent properties intrinsic to a system. It is possible to control the production of emergence when the system is analyzed using the formalism of EGS.

A formal definition of emergence is proposed in this paper. This work combines the modeling power of EGS with the formal analysis of emergence, which will prompt the further application of EGS in modeling, simulation, and analysis of complex systems in many fields and will provide practical tools for complexity research.

This chapter investigates the environmental behaviours of three, four- and five-star hotels in Azuay (Ecuador). The methodology involved a quantitative research that measured the relationship between environmental responsibility (Gallardo, Sanchez, & Corchuelo, 2013) and stakeholder engagement (Kostova & Roth, 2002; Llamas-Sanchez, García-Morales, & Martin-Tapia, 2013; Vargas-Sánchez & Riquel-Ligero, 2012). The main findings suggest that the managers of the hotels implement environmental practices as they reduce waste, gas emissions and recycle materials. These practices are aligned with Ecuador’s extant legislation and regulations. In conclusion, this contribution implies that the hotels’ managers ought to communicate about their environmental responsibility with their stakeholders, including the employees, suppliers and customers.

This chapter discusses key training challenges that organizations need to confront with the objective of building a robust human resource management system. Given the dynamics of the current business environment, training and development has become an indispensable function in global organizations. Building an effective human capital that contributes to continual organizational growth has become the established norm to survive in a competitive business landscape. However, the training and development function is often rendered ineffective, on account of various bottlenecks existing in the organization. Addressing these bottlenecks is quintessential in ensuring the creation of a performance-driven human capital. The goal of this chapter is to draw attention to the training impediments that hinder organizational growth and to diagnose the underlying causes for the same. This chapter concludes with recommendations that organizational decision-makers can leverage in their quest to strengthen the human capital, by utilizing their training and development infrastructure optimally.

Nowadays, the global agricultural system is highly dependent on the widespread use of synthetic pesticides to control diseases, weeds and insects. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is deployed as a major part of integrated pest management in a precision agriculture system for accurately and cost-effectively distributing pesticides to resist crop diseases and insect pests.

With multimodal sensor fusion applying adaptive cubature Kalman filter, the position and velocity are enhanced for the correction and accuracy. A dynamic movement primitive is combined with the Gaussian mixture model to obtain numerous trajectories through the teaching of a demonstration. Further, to enhance the trajectory tracking accuracy under an uncertain environment of the spraying, a novel model reference adaptive sliding mode control approach is proposed for motion control.

Experimental studies have been carried out to test the ability of the proposed interface for the pesticides in the crop fields. The effectiveness of the proposed interface has been demonstrated by the experimental results.

To solve the path planning problem of a complex unstructured environment, a human-robot skills transfer interface is introduced for the UAV that is instructed to follow a trajectory demonstrated by a human teacher.