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Product configuration is considered as one of the most successful applications of knowledge‐based approaches in the past decade. Knowledge‐based configurations can be classified into three different approaches, namely, rule‐based, model‐based and case‐based approaches. Past research has mainly focused on the development of reasoning techniques for mapping requirements to configurations. Despite the success of certain conventional approaches, the acquisition of configuration knowledge is usually done manually. This paper aims to explore fundamental issues in product configuration system, and propose a novel approach based on data mining techniques to automatically discover configuration knowledge in constraint‐based configurations.

Given a set of product data comprising product requirements specification and configuration information, the paper adopted an association rule mining algorithm to discover useful patterns between requirement specification and product components, as well as the correlation among product components. A configuration was developed which takes XML‐based requirement specification as input and bases on a constraint knowledge base to produce product configuration as output consisting of a list of selected components and the structure and topology of the product. Three modules are developed, namely product data modelling, configuration knowledge generation and product configuration generation module. The proposed approach is implemented in the configuration knowledge generation module. The configuration generation module realizes a resolution of constraint satisfaction problem to generate the output configuration.

The significance and effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by its incorporation in our configuration system prototype. A case study was conducted and experimental results show that the approach is promising in finding constraints with given sufficient data.

Novel knowledge generation approach is proposed to assist constraint generation for Constraint‐based product configuration system.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) to analyze the mechanical properties, failure behavior and slope stability of soil rock mixtures (SRM), in which the rocks within the SRM model have shape randomness, size randomness and spatial distribution randomness.

Based on the modeling method of heterogeneous rocks, the SRM numerical model can be built and by adjusting the boundary between soil and rock, an SRM numerical model with any rock content can be obtained. The reliability and robustness of the new modeling method can be verified by uniaxial compression simulation. In addition, this paper investigates the effects of rock topology, rock content, slope height and slope inclination on the stability of SRM slopes.

Investigations of the influences of rock content, slope height and slope inclination of SRM slopes showed that the slope height had little effect on the failure mode. The influences of rock content and slope inclination on the slope failure mode were significant. With increasing rock content and slope dip angle, SRM slopes gradually transitioned from a single shear failure mode to a multi-shear fracture failure mode, and shear fractures showed irregular and bifurcated characteristics in which the cut-off values of rock content and slope inclination were 20% and 80°, respectively.

This paper proposed a new modeling method for SRMs based on FDEM, with rocks having random shapes, sizes and spatial distributions.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new strong-form numerical method, called the free element method, for solving general boundary value problems governed by partial differential equations. The main idea of the method is to use a locally formed element for each point to set up the system of equations. The proposed method is used to solve the fluid mechanics problems.

The proposed free element method adopts the isoparametric elements as used in the finite element method (FEM) to represent the variation of coordinates and physical variables and collocates equations node-by-node based on the newly derived element differential formulations by the authors. The distinct feature of the method is that only one independently formed individual element is used at each point. The final system of equations is directly formed by collocating the governing equations at internal points and the boundary conditions at boundary points. The method can effectively capture phenomena of sharply jumped variables and discontinuities (e.g. the shock waves).

a) A new numerical method called the FEM is proposed; b) the proposed method is used to solve the compressible fluid mechanics problems for the first time, in which the shock wave can be naturally captured; and c) the method can directly set up the system of equations from the governing equations.

This paper presents a completely new numerical method for solving compressible fluid mechanics problems, which has not been submitted anywhere else for publication.

In modern China, sports and nationalism always have close connection, and nationalism is the important reason for the promotion of Chinese sports. However, the relationship between Chinese sports and nationalism in globalised China could be much more examined by academics, as well as its influencing factors. This chapter selects the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as the context and representative three Chinese sports heroes in the period of globalisation to study. The findings show that in some extent, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and three Chinese sports heroes represent the national image of China in the globalised world, also bearing the burden of washing away historical humiliation and pursuing national glory. Furthermore, it is manifested that China have a complex nationalism in the process of hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. Under the influence of mass media, market economy and sports professionalisation, nationalism still exists in Chinese sports, but people gradually start to reflect on the ‘Juguo Tizhi’, the traditional Chinese sports system and the concept of ‘winning glory for the nation’. The relationship between Chinese nationalism and sports shows the important implications of rapid Chinese sports development.

Along with the important impact of green strategies on firm survival and performance improvement, its dark side likewise requires attention. By integrating network evolution theory with the literature on green supply chain management, this study proposes a theoretical framework consisting of green strategies, network conduct (cooperation length), network structure (structural holes) and relationship maintenance. The purpose of this study is to indicate how green strategies can affect relationship maintenance on the basis of a network evolution perspective, and demonstrate how this effect can be influenced by cooperation length and structural holes.

Based on a sample of 122 matched pairs of the upstream and downstream supply chain from the Chinese paper-making industry, which is in urgent requirement of green strategies due to high pollution and resource consumption.

This study theoretically and empirically indicates that green strategies may have a positive impact on relationship maintenance. In addition, this effect can be positively moderated by cooperation length, but negatively moderated by structural holes.

This study uncovers the impact of green strategies on relationship maintenance by proposing a network evolution perspective, which could solve its conflicting effects in a specific context and move extant research a step forward.

Digital transformation is essential for commercial banks to maintain long-term competitiveness in the digital economy era. This study aims to investigate the relationship between inside debt and the bank's digital transformation.

This study set up a quasi-natural experiment based on implementing the executive compensation deferral system in the Chinese banking industry. Using the annual panel data of 180 commercial banks in China from 2007 to 2021, this study employed the difference-in-differences (DID) method to conduct an empirical analysis.

This study confirms a significant statistical relationship between inside debt and the bank's digital transformation, and managerial myopia is the transmission channel of inside debt affecting the bank's digital transformation. Furthermore, the development of Internet finance and the enhancement of bankers' confidence will improve the contributions of inside debt to the bank's digital transformation.

This study contributes to the literature on inside debt and the bank's digital transformation. It has specific policy value for the scientific design of the banking compensation mechanism and accelerating banks' digital transformation.

This paper aims to study the application of reinforcement learning (RL) in the control of an output-constrained flapping-wing micro aerial vehicle (FWMAV) with system uncertainty.

A six-degrees-of-freedom hummingbird model is used without consideration of the inertial effects of the wings. A RL algorithm based on actor–critic framework is applied, which consists of an actor network with unknown policy gradient and a critic network with unknown value function. Considering the good performance of neural network (NN) in fitting nonlinearity and its optimum characteristics, an actor–critic NN optimization algorithm is designed, in which the actor and critic NNs are used to generate a policy and approximate the cost functions, respectively. In addition, to ensure the safe and stable flight of the FWMAV, a barrier Lyapunov function is used to make the flight states constrained in predefined regions. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the stability of the system is analyzed, and finally, the feasibility of RL in the control of a FWMAV is verified through simulation.

The proposed RL control scheme works well in ensuring the trajectory tracking of the FWMAV in the presence of output constraint and system uncertainty.

A novel RL algorithm based on actor–critic framework is applied to the control of a FWMAV with system uncertainty. For the stable and safe flight of the FWMAV, the output constraint problem is considered and solved by barrier Lyapunov function-based control.

Drought is the primary disaster that negatively impacts agricultural and animal husbandry production. It can lead to crop reduction and even pose a threat to human survival in environmentally sensitive areas of China (ESAC). However, the phases and periodicity of drought changes in the ESAC remain largely unknown. Thus, this paper aims to identify the periodic characteristics of meteorological drought changes.

The potential evapotranspiration was calculated using the Penman–Monteith formula recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, whereas the standardized precipitation evaporation index (SPEI) of drought was simulated by coupling precipitation data. Subsequently, the Bernaola-Galvan segmentation algorithm was proposed to divide the periods of drought change and the newly developed extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition to analyze the periodic drought patterns.

The findings reveal a significant increase in SPEI in the ESAC, with the rate of decline in drought events higher in the ESAC than in China, indicating a more pronounced wetting trend in the study area. Spatially, the northeast region showed an evident drying trend, whereas the southwest region showed a wetting trend. Two abrupt changes in the drought pattern were observed during the study period, namely, in 1965 and 1983. The spatial instability of moderate or severe drought frequency and intensity on a seasonal scale was more consistent during 1966–1983 and 1984–2018, compared to 1961–1965. Drought variation was predominantly influenced by interannual oscillations, with the periods of the components of intrinsic mode functions 1 (IMF1) and 2 (IMF2) being 3.1 and 7.3 years, respectively. Their cumulative variance contribution rate reached 70.22%.

The trend decomposition and periods of droughts in the study area were analyzed, which may provide an important scientific reference for water resource management and agricultural production activities in the ESAC. However, several problems remain unaddressed. First, the SPEI considers only precipitation and evapotranspiration, making it extremely sensitive to temperature increases. It also ignores the nonstationary nature of the hydrometeorological water process; therefore, it is prone to bias in drought detection and may overestimate the intensity and duration of droughts. Therefore, further studies on the application and comparison of various drought indices should be conducted to develop a more effective meteorological drought index. Second, the local water budget is mainly affected by surface evapotranspiration and precipitation. Evapotranspiration is calculated by various methods that provide different results. Therefore, future studies need to explore both the advantages and disadvantages of various evapotranspiration calculation methods (e.g. Hargreaves, Thornthwaite and Penman–Monteith) and their application scenarios. Third, this study focused on the temporal and spatial evolution and periodic characteristics of droughts, without considering the driving mechanisms behind them and their impact on the ecosystem. In future, it will be necessary to focus on a sensitivity analysis of drought indices with regard to climate change. Finally, although this study calculated the SPEI using meteorological data provided by China’s high-density observatory network, deviations and uncertainties were inevitable in the point-to-grid spatialization process. This shortcoming may be avoided by using satellite remote sensing data with high spatiotemporal resolution in the future, which can allow pixel-scale monitoring and simulation of meteorological drought evolution.

Under the background of continuous global warming, the climate in arid and semiarid areas of China has shown a trend of warming and wetting. It means that the plant environment in this region is getting better. In the future, the project of afforestation and returning farmland to forest and grassland in this region can increase the planting proportion of water-loving tree species to obtain better ecological benefits. Meanwhile, this study found that in the relatively water-scarce regions of China, drought duration was dominated by interannual oscillations (3.1a and 7.3a). This suggests that governments and nongovernmental organizations in the region should pay attention to the short drought period in the ESAC when they carry out ecological restoration and protection projects such as the construction of forest reserves and high-quality farmland.

The findings enhance the understanding of the phasic and periodic characteristics of drought changes in the ESAC. Future studies on the stress effects of drought on crop yield may consider these effects to better reflect the agricultural response to meteorological drought and thus effectively improve the tolerance of agricultural activities to drought events.

The complicated social relationship in Chinese culture requires human resource management (HRM) practitioners to be aware of the implications of social network. This paper aims to disclose the relevance between social network structure and employees’ performance.

An empirical research is exploited in this paper. Based on cluster sampling method, the authors collected 336 employees’ socio-demographic characteristic data and social network data by means of face-to-face interviews using the structured questionnaire. In addition, employees’ performance data were obtained from the financial department, to support subsequent correlation analysis, grey relational analysis and OLS regression analysis.

The informal network, rather than the formal network, was observed to contribute more toward employees’ individual performance. We further found that structure centrality has a distinct advantage in delineating an individual’s power and status in the network, success over degree centrality, thus predicting individual performance.

For the management practice of an organization, the present study’s empirical results demonstrate that informal relations have a more decisive influence on individual performance than formal relations. This research also found that the structure centrality, from the perspective of networks’ structure heterogeneity, is valuable in discovering crucial staff in social networks, especially those in informal network associations.

First, the relations between network structure and individual performance have been summarized. Second, the different influences between formal and informal networks on individual performance have been discussed. Third, a new index – structure centrality to recapitulate network structure for developing social network theory – introduced. Finally, this paper is an attempt to explore the associations between social network structure and employees’ performance from the perspective of the whole network.