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The entrepreneurial process often cannot be explained by a single entrepreneurial theory. Instead, it is more likely the result of the interaction between various entrepreneurial behavior patterns and different environmental conditions. However, existing research has frequently overlooked the complexity inherent in the entrepreneurial phenomenon. Building on a configurational perspective, this study aims to examine how new ventures can use different behavioral configurations to achieve high performance amid various uncertain environments.

Based on the survey data from 143 new start-ups in China’s software industry, this study uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

This study jointly considers multiple entrepreneurial behaviors − causation, effectuation and entrepreneurial bricolage and different types of environmental uncertainty − state uncertainty, effect uncertainty and response uncertainty. The findings reveal three behavioral configurations for high/nonhigh new venture performance.

This study expands previous insights into the relationship between entrepreneurial behaviors and new venture performance from the perspective of configurational theory. Moreover, it offers new insights into the types of uncertainty, further refining our understanding of the uncertainties inherent in entrepreneurial activities.

This study aims to understand how the assembly of rotating ring affects the axial forced vibration of gas face seals.

A three-mass kinematic model is established to investigate the axial movement of the rotating ring with bilateral constraints. The separation, collision and frictional sliding of the rotating ring in sleeve are discussed under rotor excitation. The effects of operating parameters and O-ring dynamic characteristics on the separation degree and film thickness disturbance are analyzed. A dimensionless axial characteristic force is defined to determine the critical conditions for the occurrence of separation. Several effective methods to eliminate the separation are proposed based on the adjustment of typical installation parameters.

Under rotor excitation, there may be two collisions between the rotating ring and the sleeve surfaces in one excitation period. This will cause self-excited vibration of the fluid film, increasing the risk of seal failure. The separation and collision can be prevented by increasing the equilibrium ratio, the installation radius of the O-ring on the outer surface of the rotating ring and the friction in the sleeve.

The results develop the modeling of multibody dynamics of gas face seals, enabling more accurate prediction of vibration characteristics.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The study identifies three entrepreneurial behavioral configurations that combine causation, effectuation, and entrepreneurial bricolage, alongside different types of environmental uncertainty, to achieve high startup performance.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists, and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This paper aims to investigate the problem of adaptive bipartite tracking control in nonlinear networked multi-agent systems (MASs) under the influence of periodic disturbances. It considers both cooperative and competitive relationships among agents within the MASs.

In response to the inherent limitations of practical systems regarding transmission resources, this paper introduces a novel approach. It addresses both control signal transmission and triggering conditions, presenting a two-bit-triggered control method aimed at conserving system transmission resources. Additionally, a command filter is incorporated to address the problem of complexity explosion. Furthermore, to model the uncertain nonlinear dynamics affected by time-varying periodic disturbances, this paper combines Fourier series expansion and radial basis function neural networks. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through simulation results.

Based on neural networks and command filter control method, an adaptive two-bit-triggered bipartite control strategy for nonlinear networked MASs is proposed.

The proposed control strategy effectively addresses the challenges of limited transmission resources, nonlinear dynamics and periodic disturbances in networked MASs. It guarantees the boundedness of all signals within the closed-loop system while also ensuring effective bipartite tracking performance.

The paper aims to identify the contributors to freight rate fluctuations in the Suezmax tanker market; this study selected the refinery output, crude oil price, one-year charter rate and fleet development as the main influencing factors for the market analysis.

The paper used the vector error correction model to evaluate the degree of impact of each influencing factor on Suezmax tanker freight rates, as well as the interplay between these factors.

The conclusion and results were tested using the 20-year data from 1999 to 2019, and the methodology and theory of this paper were proved to be effective. Results of this study provide effective reference for scholars to find the law of fluctuations in Suezmax tanker freight rates.

This paper provides a decision-making support tool for tanker operators to cope with fluctuation risks in the tanker shipping market.

In innovation networks, firm innovation performance is affected by external tie strength and internal knowledge absorptive capacity. This study aims to empirically examine the path relationship between tie strength, absorptive capacity and firm innovation performance in Chinese manufacturing industries, thus enhance our understanding on the mechanism between innovation network and innovation performance.

The authors have conducted a survey among Chinese manufacturers in four industries (textile and garment, household appliance, IT and electronics and motor vehicle assemblers) that are located in North, East, Central and South China, respectively, with a valid response from 278 manufacturers. Structural equation model is used to analyze the results.

This study demonstrates that in Chinese Manufacturing industry, tie strength is positively related to innovation performance. The authors also find that absorptive capacity has a positive impact on innovation performance and it mediates the relationship between tie strength and innovation performance. Then, the authors analyze the effect of ownership, industry and sub-region, and the results show that in private firms and traditional manufacturers, and the firms located in North and Eastern China, tie strength has no direct effect on innovation outcomes, but it can influence innovation indirectly through absorptive capacity.

This study further supports that in Chinese guanxi culture, strong ties with other innovation partners can improve the firm’s absorptive capacity and thus improve innovation performance. The results also suggest that a firm’s absorptive capacity has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between tie strength and innovation performance.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the properties of metal nanoparticles which are easy to agglomerate and hard to disperse evenly, thus limiting the application of metal nanoparticles in grease. A novel technology was proposed for modifying metal oxide to improve the dispersibility of nanoparticles.

SA-TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using an in-situ esterification method followed by surface modification with stearic acid. The microstructure of the nanoparticles was characterized by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and their thermal stability was evaluated by thermogravimetric analyzer. The tribological properties of the SA-TiO2 nanoparticles as additives in lithium grease were evaluated with a four-ball tester and TE77 reciprocating friction tester. The worn surfaces of the steel balls were investigated by EDS and XPS.

The prepared nanoparticles can be well dispersed in the lithium grease and possess much better tribological properties compared to traditional nanoparticles. The results indicated that the excellent tribological performance of SA-TiO2 was attributed to the chemical reaction film composing of Fe2O3, iron oxide and other organic compounds.

This paper provides a method to prevent the agglomeration of nano-TiO2 by surface modification with stearic acid. And the prepared nanoparticles can effectively improve the tribology performance of lithium grease.

This study aims to improve the accuracy of hyperspectral estimation of soil organic matter content.

Based on the uncertainty in spectral estimation, 76 soil samples collected in Zhangqiu District, Jinan City, Shandong Province, were studied in this paper. First, the spectral transformation of the spectral data after denoising was carried out by means of 11 transformation methods such as reciprocal and square, and the estimation factor was selected according to the principle of maximum correlation. Secondly, the grey weighted distance was used to calculate the grey relational degree between the samples to be estimated and the known patterns, and the local linear regression estimation model of soil organic matter content was established by using the pattern samples closest to the samples to be identified. Thirdly, the models were optimized by gradually increasing the number of modeling samples and adjusting the decision coefficient, and a comprehensive index was constructed to determine the optimal predicted value. Finally, the determination coefficient and average relative error are used to evaluate the validity of the model.

The results show that the maximum correlation coefficient of the seven estimated factors selected is 0.82; the estimation results of 14 test samples are of high accuracy, among which the determination coefficient R² = 0.924, and the average relative error is 6.608%.

Studies have shown that it is feasible and effective to estimate the content of soil organic matter by using grey correlation local linear regression model.

The paper succeeds in realizing both the soil organic matter hyperspectral grey relation estimating pattern based on the grey relational theory and the estimating pattern by using the local linear regression.

Through the scientific and reasonable evaluation of the site selection of the emergency material reserve, the optimal site selection scheme is found, which provides reference for the future emergency decision-making research.

In this paper, we have chosen three primary indicators and twelve secondary indicators to construct an assessment framework for the determination of suitable locations for storing emergency material reserves. By mean of the improved entropy weight-order relationship weight determination method, the evaluation model of kullback leibler-technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (KL-TOPSIS) emergency material reserve location based on relative entropy is established. On this basis, 10 regional storage sites in Beijing are selected for evaluation.

The results show that the evaluation model of the location of emergency material reserve not only respects the objective knowledge, but also considers the subjective information of the experts, which makes the ranking result of the location of the emergency material reserve more accurate and reliable.

Firstly, the modification factor is added to the calculation formula of traditional entropy weight method to complete the improvement of entropy weight method. Secondly, the order relation analysis method is used to assign subjective weights to the indicators. The principle of minimum information entropy is introduced to determine the comprehensive weight of the index. Finally, KL distance and TOPSIS method are combined to determine the relative entropy and proximity degree of alternative solutions and positive and negative ideal solutions, and the scientific and effective of the method is proved by case study.

Severe airborne particulate pollution frequently occurs over the North China Plain (NCP) region in recent years. To better understand the characteristics of carbonaceous components in particulate matter (PM) over the NCP region.

PM samples were collected at a typical area affected by industrial emissions in Handan, in January 2016. The concentrations of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in PM of different size ranges (i.e. PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and TSP) were measured. The concentrations of secondary organic carbon (SOC) were estimated by the EC tracer method.

The results show that the concentration of OC ranged from 14.9 μg m⁻³ to 108.4 μg m⁻³, and that of EC ranged from 4.0 μg m⁻³ to 19.4μg m⁻³, when PM_2.5 changed from 58.0μg m⁻³ to 251.1μg m⁻³ during haze days, and the carbonaceous aerosols most distributed in PM_2.5 rather than large fraction. The concentrations of OC and EC PM_2.5 correlated better (r = 0.7) than in PM_2.5−10 and PM_>10, implying that primary emissions were dominant sources of OC and EC in PM_2.5. The mean ratios of OC/EC in PM_2.5, PM_2.5–10 and PM_>10 were 4.4 ± 2.1, 3.6 ± 0.9 and 1.9 ± 0.7, respectively. Based on estimation, SOC accounted for 16.3%, 22.0% and 9.1% in PM_2.5, PM_2.5–10 and PM_>10 respectively.

The ratio of SOC/OC (48.2%) in PM_2.5 was higher in Handan than those (28%–32%) in other megacities, e.g. Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang in the NCP, suggesting that the formation of SOC contributed significantly to OC. The mean mass absorption efficiencies of EC (MACEC) in PM₁₀ and TSP were 3.4 m² g⁻¹ (1.9–6.6 m² g⁻¹) and 2.9 m² g⁻¹ (1.6–5.6 m² g⁻¹), respectively, both of which had similar variation patterns to those of OC/EC and SOC/OC.