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To identify the dexterity of spacesuit gloves, they need to undergo bending tests in the development process. The ideal way is to place a humanoid robotic hand into the spacesuit glove, mimicking the motions of a human hand and measuring the bending angle/force of the spacesuit glove. However, traditional robotic hands are too large to enter the narrow inner space of the spacesuit glove and perform measurements. This paper aims to design a humanoid robot hand that can wear spacesuit gloves and perform measurements.

The proposed humanoid robotic hand is composed of five modular fingers and a parallel wrist driven by electrical linear motors. The fingers and wrist can be delivered into the spacesuit glove separately and then assembled inside. A mathematical model of the robotic hand is formulated by using the geometric constraints and principle of virtual work to analyze the kinematics and statics of the robotic hand. This model allows for estimating the bending angle and output force/torque of the robotic hand through the displacement and force of the linear motors.

A prototype of the robotic hand, as well as its testing benches, was constructed to validate the presented methods. The experimental results show that the whole robotic hand can be transported to and assembled in a spacesuit glove to measure the motion characteristics of the glove.

The proposed humanoid robotic hand provides a new method for wearing and measuring the spacesuit glove. It can also be used to other gloves for special protective suits that have highly restricted internal space.

The use of flexible connections throughout the steel structures provides a high level of stiffness compared to that of fully welded connections. Flexible connections allow for rotation to an extent, which make them perform better during earthquake than welded connections. In hanger connections, the applied load produces tension in the bolts and bolts are designed for tensile forces. When the deformation of the flange plate is equal to that of the bolts, a plastic hinge is formed in the flange plate at the weld line and the bolts are pulled to failure. If the attached plate is allowed to deform, additional tensile forces called prying forces are developed in the bolts. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper includes the results of investigation on prying force in T-stub connection fabricated with normal grade bolts and high strength friction grip (HSFG) bolts. Finite element analysis has been carried out by creating models and analyzing the effect of external tensile force and bolt force. For different grades of bolt (4.6, 8.8, 10.9, 12.9), the prying force is calculated.

It is found that prying force is increasing with the change in grade of bolt used from normal to HSFG. The results obtained from analysis using IS 800:2007 codal provision are also included. It is observed that HSFG bolts do not allow for any slip between the elements connected and hence rigidity is increased.

The prying force mainly depends on geometrical parameter of the connection. In this research work, the variation of prying force was studied based on the variation in dimensions of T-stub angle section and bolt grade (4.6, 8.8, 10.9, 12.9). The method of obtaining prying force from bolt load and applied load is a unique approach. The results of FE analysis is validated with the analytical calculation as per IS 800:2007 code provisions, which shows the originality of the research.

This chapter examines the acquisition of assets (real estate) and companies in the Chinese real estate industry. We propose a nuanced view of state ownership (beyond state being the largest shareholder) and argue that firms with a combination of state and private ownership may be in a unique position to acquire real assets. We conduct an analysis of the growth and funding of the industry for the period and also analyze the successful acquisitions in the industry over 2004–2007. Our analysis is supportive of the nuanced view about state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their advantageous position for acquiring real estate assets from the government. Our analysis also sheds light on the two-stage marketization process in the Chinese real estate industry where SOEs endowed with real estate assets are sold to non-SOEs.

Continuous annealing (CA) units usually lack a physical shapemeter; consequently, real-time display and closed-loop control of the strip shape are impossible to achieve.

A shape model for the CA process is established in this study. Specifically, a virtual shapemeter and closed-loop control system based on the advanced parameter acquisition system and information transmission of CA units are developed in C++ programming language. This system realises real-time dynamic shape display, closed-loop control and shape prediction by collecting raw data of steel coils and parameters during CA.

Field test results show that the shape predicted by the virtual shapemeter coincides with the measured shape by over 90 per cent, which fully meets the precision requirement of industrial applications.

Moreover, shape quality is effectively improved without increasing hardware investments.

The purpose of this study is to solve the key problem of the residual stress of strip in buckling and deviation during the continuous annealing process (CAP).

Considering the one-to-one correspondence between deformation and residual stress, the strip was divided into multiple elements. To obtain the total deformation of each element, the influence model of some factors on the deformation of steel strip element was established. Then, according to the constitutive equation of residual stress and deformation, and the deformation coordination relation between strip elements, a set of calculation model, which is suitable for residual stress of strip during CAP was established, the model precision was verified by finite element method simulation, and the influences on residual stress of strip were also analyzed.

The weighted calculation of comparison between analytical results and simulation shows that the accuracy of the analytical method is within 10 per cent, which fully meets the requirements.

The different residual stress of steel strip can be displayed quickly and intuitively in the synchronous process segment according to this model, which is of great importance to the prevention of strip buckling and deviation.

This study aims to investigate the impact of business ties, political ties and dynamic capabilities on balanced and combined ambidextrous innovation within the knowledge-intensive business services sector using the dynamic capability view framework. It explores the mediation role of dynamic capabilities in the relationship between business and political tie with these forms of innovation. In addition, it examines how innovation climate moderates the relationship between dynamic capabilities and ambidextrous innovation.

Multilevel analysis was conducted on 520 individuals from 61 KIBSs firms in the UAE using AMOS 26.

Results showed that BT indirectly affect both balanced and combined AI, with a greater impact on combined innovation. However, DCs did not significantly mediate the relationship between PT and AI. In addition, the IC was found to moderate the effects of DCs on both types of AI, with a stronger effect on combined innovation.

This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of DCs and climate in the context of innovation and ambidexterity and by advancing the understanding of how these capabilities and organizational factors promote superior innovation.

This paper aims to propose a new ultrasonic diagnosis method for stainless steel weld defects based on multi-domain feature fusion to solve two problems in the ultrasonic diagnosis of austenitic stainless steel weld defects. These are insufficient feature extraction and subjective dependence of diagnosis model parameters.

To express the richness of the one-dimensional (1D) signal information, the 1D ultrasonic testing signal was derived to the two-dimensional (2D) time-frequency domain. Multi-scale depthwise separable convolution was also designed to optimize the MobileNetV3 network to obtain deep convolution feature information under different receptive fields. At the same time, the time/frequent-domain feature extraction of the defect signals was carried out based on statistical analysis. The defect sensitive features were screened out through visual analysis, and the defect feature set was constructed by cascading fusion with deep convolution feature information. To improve the adaptability and generalization of the diagnostic model, the authors designed and carried out research on the hyperparameter self-optimization of the diagnostic model based on the sparrow search strategy and constructed the optimal hyperparameter combination of the model. Finally, the performance of the ultrasonic diagnosis of stainless steel weld defects was improved comprehensively through the multi-domain feature characterization model of the defect data and diagnosis optimization model.

The experimental results show that the diagnostic accuracy of the lightweight diagnosis model constructed in this paper can reach 96.55% for the five types of stainless steel weld defects, including cracks, porosity, inclusion, lack of fusion and incomplete penetration. These can meet the needs of practical engineering applications.

This method provides a theoretical basis and technical reference for developing and applying intelligent, efficient and accurate ultrasonic defect diagnosis technology.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) is growing steadily and Chinese multinationals (MNCs) are playing an increasingly important role in the global economy. Thus, the number of papers focusing on China’s OFDI and Chinese MNCs has been increasing during the last years. The aim of this chapter is to carry out a review of the empirical papers dealing with Chinese MNCs published between 2002 and 2012 in high-impact international business and management journals.

This chapter reviews 43 empirical papers focusing on Chinese MNCs that were published in nine major scholarly journals between 2002 and 2012.

We report individual and institutional contributions, the theories and methods used, the research topics, and the main findings. We also discuss implications for future research.

Some previous literature reviews have dealt with research on China’s OFDI and Chinese MNCs. Nevertheless, none of the earlier reviews dealt specifically with empirical papers; neither did they provide an analysis of both individual and institutional contributions.

The study explores how pre-service teachers engage in Tong Ke Yi Gou (“Same lesson and different design”) as a Chinese version of lesson study in a language teacher education course.

Data were collected from multiple sources, including semi-structured interviews, field observations, as well as individual reflections constructed by the participants. The different data sources served to triangulate and enrich each other, shedding light on the student teachers’ learning experiences through lesson study.

The findings of the study reveal the participants’ enhanced motivation and participation through a process-oriented, collaborative design (i.e. joint lesson planning, micro-teaching, collaborative debrief and individual reflections). In addition, the participants engaged in constant comparisons at multiple levels, which collectively refined and expanded their pedagogical knowledge about language teaching. Such rich and collaborative experiences further contributed to their reflections on and for practice as future language teachers. On the other hand, the study also reveals the emotional challenges faced by some participants due to the competitive atmosphere brought by the comparative element embedded in the process of Tong Ke Yi Gou.

This study incorporates the mode of Tong Ke Yi Gou into a pre-service teacher education course in order to examine how it can benefit student teachers’ learning to teach. The findings highlight the power of “comparison” in promoting student teachers’ reflective and analytical thinking at multiple levels with practical implications for current pre-service teacher education programs.

The growth and significance of emerging economies’ multinationals (EEMs) in the global economy have transformed the business landscape. This study constructs a conceptual framework that displays and links the prerequisites of the formation, composition and development stages of dynamic capabilities (DCs) that lead to competitive advantages in EEMs.

This study follows the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines (excluding meta-analysis) to present a systematic review of 111 empirical and conceptual academic articles published in the past 24 years in the A+, A and B tier categories in scientific journal indexes.

The findings illustrate the DCs of EEMs in terms of four components: prerequisites for formation, composition, development process and outcomes. Among these, the compositions of DCs contain four types: management capabilities of available and desired resources, agile organizational capabilities, fast-learning modes and predictive capabilities. The authors also explain the developmental stages of DCs in EEMs, which is seen as a continuous process of anticipating change, consisting of high sensitivity to opportunities, advanced knowledge absorption, resource optimization and adjustment. Additional analysis also reveals the challenges in researching and measuring DCs.

This study provides a highly synthesized multi-dimensional framework of EEMs’ DCs, which fills the research gap and contributes to the enrichment of extant theories. The results can guide most EEMs, particularly those in the manufacturing, IT and service industries, in cultivating entrepreneurship and creating a more efficient operational team to achieve competitiveness.