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The purpose of this paper is to make compliant training control of exoskeleton for ankle joint with electromyograph (EMG)-torque interface.

A virtual compliant mapping which is modeled by mass-spring-damper system is incorporated into the whole system at the reference input. The EMG-torque interface contains both data acquisition and torque estimator/predictor, and extreme learning machine is utilized for joint torque estimation/prediction from multiple channels of EMG signals.

The reference ankle joint angle to follow is produced from the compliance mapping whose input is the measured/predicted torque on healthy subjects. The control system works well with the desired angle to track. In the actuation level, the input torque to drive the ankle exoskeleton is less than the actual torque of the subject(s). This may have positive influence on diminishing overshoot of input torque from motors and protect the actuators. The torque prediction and final tracking control performance demonstrate the efficiency of the presented architecture.

This work can be beneficial to compliant training of ankle exoskeleton system for pilots and enhance current training control module in rehabilitation.

This research addressed online customer-to-customer (C2C) incivility during digital service recovery.

To examine the effectiveness of managerial responses to online C2C incivility post a restaurant service failure, a 2 (Managerial response: general vs specific) x 2 (Failure severity: high vs low) quasi-experimental design was employed. A pretest was conducted with 123 restaurant consumers via Amazon Mechanical Turk, followed by a main study with 174 restaurant consumers. Taking a mixed-method approach, this research first asked open-ended questions to explore how participants perceived the restaurant’s motivation for providing a generic versus a specific response. Hayes’ (2013) PROCESS procedure was then performed for hypotheses testing.

The results revealed significant interaction effects of managerial responses and failure severity on perceived online service climate and revisit intention, mediated by trust with managerial responses.

This research yielded unique insight into C2C incivility management literature and industry practices in the context of digital customer service recovery.

Although research on channel integration has evolved into a major stream in literature in international marketing, channel integration in new product export remains unexamined. Drawing on transaction cost analysis, organizational capability, and marketing control perspectives, the authors develop a conceptual model of channel integration in new product export. They further test the model using data collected from the computer software industry. The findings indicate that both channel integration and new product competitive advantage exert positive impacts on product market performance in foreign markets. The results regarding asset specificity, country risk, and firm size offer interesting insights about the linkage between these antecedents and channel integration.

The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of customer incivility on employees' negative emotions (i.e. anger, fear and sadness) considering the moderating role of organizational power distance.

A survey sample comprising 312 service employees was collected from 51 Taiwanese and Vietnamese companies spanning different industries. Given the multilevel characteristics of the data structure, hierarchical linear modeling was used to rigorously test the proposed hypotheses.

The results indicate a significant contribution of customer incivility to employees' negative emotions. Notably, this impact is more pronounced among employees in organizations characterized by low power distance compared to those in organizations with high power distance.

This research significantly advances our understanding of the emotional repercussions of customer incivility on employees by integrating cognitive–motivational–relational theory and organizational culture perspectives. The findings not only provide valuable theoretical insights but also offer practical implications for effectively managing employee well-being in culturally diverse contexts. The study recognizes certain limitations and puts forth suggestions for future research directions.

The aim of this paper was to attempt to investigate the transformation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry in Guangdong Province of China by applying a perspective of sectoral system of innovation (SSI). TCM industry in China has experienced an evolution path from low-tech to modern industry.

An analytical framework of sectoral system innovation for explaining the change in TCM industry in Guangdong Province has been conducted.

It shows that during the successful transformation of the TCM industry in Guangdong from low-tech to modern sector, national and provincial institution are acting as main drivers. Knowledge integration is the decision factor of modernization and innovation strategy as an actor that makes the transformation adjust and operate efficiently. Other actors, such as demand and external networks interplay together and led to a gradual organizational, structural and institutional change and modernization of TCM industry.

SSI analyses of TCM in China have never been conducted before, this paper also contributes to enrich the experience of low-tech industry transformation and provide references to other low-tech industries around the world.

Competitiveness of cities forces the city and public sector representatives to invent new methods of management and use the innovative thinking. Success of cities, based on Etzkowitz and Leyedesdorff (2000), has to take into account new strategies of co-operation of the academic institutions with the local authorities, entrepreneurs (in our case in tourism business) and new graduates focused on high-tech industries and start-up businesses. This trend is based on the principles of New Economic Geography (Krugman, 1994; Porter, 1998) and the new Theory of Growth (Romer, 1990), which enforce the importance of knowledge capital and smart technologies. Hjalager (2002) supported the idea of the importance of the institutional innovations and Ward (1998) mentioned that universities and research institutes are key entities to promote smart technologies and decisions in a city (Triple Helix concept). The purpose of the chapter is to discuss the results of research conducted in Waterloo, Canada, Ontario, which belongs to the Ontario Technological Triangle. Waterloo is a city of two universities, Waterloo University and Wilfred Laurier University. The purpose of the chapter is to discuss the results of research conducted in Waterloo, Canada, Ontario, which was focused on the competitiveness growth through the implementation of the smart management systems (Triple Helix Model) in the city marketing and governance. Some of these approaches influenced also tourism business due to multiplication effect and the growing competitiveness is a source of a continual growth of students, visitors and entrepreneurs to the city and the region.

Preservice teacher (PST) professional development programs are crucial for cultivating high-quality STEAM teachers of the future, significantly impacting the quality of regional STEAM education. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as a region of cross-border cooperation, integrates the resources and advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, possessing rich cultural heritage and innovative capabilities. Transdisciplinary Education for Cultural Inheritance (C-STEAM) is an effective approach to promoting educational collaboration within the Greater Bay Area, facilitating the integration of both technological and humanities education. This study aims to develop a Technology-Enabled University-School-Enterprise (T-USE) collaborative education model and implement it in the Greater Bay Area, to explore its role as a support mechanism in professional development and its impact on C-STEAM PSTs' professional capital.

Adopting a qualitative methodology, the study interviewed PSTs who participated in a C-STEAM teacher education course under the T-USE model. Thematic coding is used to analyze their knowledge acquisition, interaction benefits with community members, and autonomous thinking and decision-making in theoretical learning and teaching practice.

The findings show that the T-USE model significantly enhanced the PSTs' human capital, including teaching beliefs, knowledge, and skills. In terms of social capital, PSTs benefited from collaboration with PST groups, university teaching teams, in-service teachers, and enterprises, though challenges such as varying levels of expertise among in-service teachers and occasional technical instability emerged. For decisional capital, the T-USE model provided opportunities for autonomous thinking and promoted teaching judgment skills through real teaching challenges and scenarios. Reflective practice activities also supported PSTs' professional growth.

This study reveals the effectiveness and internal mechanism of the T-USE model in C-STEAM PST training, offering significant theoretical and practical references for future PST education.

This paper aims to investigate the thermal oxidation behavior of trimethylolpropane trioleate (TMPTO) base oil when exposed to Fe surfaces.

Samples of TMPTO bulk oil were placed in Fe vessels and heated in an oven to accelerate the oxidation at different time intervals, while others were placed in glass vessels and used as experimental controls. Subsequently, the physicochemical properties of the oxidized TMPTOs, including the kinematic viscosity and acid value, were measured and a structural analysis was conducted using the Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques.

The results demonstrate that the TMPTO bulk oil exhibited an exponential increase in the kinematic viscosity along with the increasing acid value over the oxidation time. The Fe surface significantly increased the kinematic viscosity of TMPTO, while only mildly impacting its acid value compared with the experimental controls. The structural analysis results of the TMPTO suggest that the C = C and = C-H bonds were the vulnerable sites. Furthermore, the results suggest that the Fe surface evidently accelerates the chemical reactions of the C = C and the = C-H bonds, and less alcohols and more carbonyl products were identified in the oil samples that were heated in the Fe vessels.

The results demonstrate that the Fe surfaces affected the oxidation behavior of the TMPTO base oil, and an interaction mechanism between the Fe and the TMPTO is developed.