43 research outputs found
Improving subsidiary performance via inpatriate assignments: The role of host country national subsidiary CEOs’ social ties and motivational cultural intelligence
No full textInpatriation experience (i.e., working at headquarters) for host-country national (HCN) subsidiary managers is supposed to be beneficial for foreign subsidiaries’ knowledge transfer and financial performance. Applying upper echelons theory, we investigate whether HCN subsidiary CEOs with inpatriation experience promote knowledge transfer from multinational corporation (MNC) headquarters to their subsidiaries via the formation of social ties at MNC headquarters to drive subsidiary performance. Moreover, we theorize and investigate if HCN subsidiary CEOs’ motivational cultural intelligence can amplify the positive effect of inpatriation experience. Combining survey and archival data from 289 subsidiaries of MNCs in South Korea, our results partially support our theoretical model. Our findings offer important implications for expatriate staffing, inpatriation assignments, and subsidiary management
Application of 3D scanning in design education
No full textThree-dimensional scanning technologies have brought great opportunities in ergonomic and product design education as well as research. Not only the anthropometric size but also the shape and posture of the human, form of a product, or interactions between the human and product obtained based on the 3D scanning have been usefully applied in product design. This chapter introduces a number of educational and research cases, which have been performed at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology. First, as ergonomics plays a big role in the product design process, but in a different and advanced way than before, we have broadly applied the emerging 3D scanning technology in our design education and research. Because the topic of “ergonomic design based on 3D scanning” have been taught in our education, the number of students who are using 3D human scans for their course work and/or graduate project has increased considerably. Some of our successful cases will be introduced in this chapter. Second, from the 3D scanning practices in our education, we concluded there is a need of a 3D scanner, especially for the human hand, that is both quick and accurate but is also capable of scanning parts that are normally hard to cover. Multiple final master projects have contributed to the development of a working prototype of an accurate and low-cost 3D hand scanner. Finally, based on our experience, techniques, methods, software, and relevant information that can support design education based on 3D human scans will be discussed.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Applied Ergonomics and DesignMechatronic DesignIndustrial Desig
Simulation-based multi-objective optimization combined with a DHM tool for occupant packaging design
No full textOccupant packaging design is usually done using computer-aided design (CAD) and digital human modelling (DHM) tools. These tools help engineers and designers explore and identify vehicle cabin configurations that meet accommodation targets. However, studies indicate that current working methods are complicated and iterative, leading to time-consuming design procedures and reduced investigations of the solution space, in turn meaning that successful design solutions may not be discovered. This paper investigates potential advantages and challenges in using an automated simulation-based multi-objective optimization (SBMOO) method combined with a DHM tool to improve the occupant packaging design process. Specifically, the paper studies how SBMOO using a genetic algorithm can address challenges introduced by human anthropometric and postural variability in occupant packaging design. The investigation focuses on a fabricated design scenario involving the spatial location of the seat and steering wheel, as well as seat angle, taking into account ergonomics objectives and constraints for various end-users. The study indicates that the SBMOO-based method can improve effectiveness and aid designers in considering human variability in the occupant packaging design process.CC BY 4.0Corresponding author: E-mail address: [email protected] (E. Perez Luque).This work has been made possible with support from the Knowledge Foundation in Sweden in the ADOPTIVE project, VF-KDO project, and by the participating organisations. This support is gratefully acknowledged.</p
Neck postural stabilization, motion comfort, and impact simulation
No full textThe human head-neck system requires continuous muscular stabilization in the presence of gravity and trunk motion. This chapter presents experimental and modeling efforts, applying mechanical perturbations to seated subjects, evaluating trunk and head motion, to investigate postural stabilization.A detailed multisegment neck model has been developed including vestibular/visual and muscular feedback loops and cocontraction. Dynamic validation is presented in the frequency domain in all six motion directions. The neck model captures primary motion responses and interaction terms such as head rotation in response to seat translation. Results show major contributions of vestibular/visual feedback stabilizing the head in space while muscular feedback stabilizes the head on the torso. In addition, muscular feedback is essential to stabilize the individual vertebral joints and prevent neck buckling. The contribution of cocontraction is estimated to be minor in the neck. Validation in impact conditions shows that postural control parameters estimated that fitting the model to small-amplitude experimental data can predict postural responses in high-amplitude loading conditions reasonably well.This manuscript focuses on the neck but also includes experiments with combined stabilization of the complete spine, measuring trunk and head motion, with a perspective toward full spine and full-body modeling. Lumbar stabilization has been captured using a simplified model by assuming a virtual pivot around L4/L5. The model uniquely separates stabilizing contributions of intrinsic stiffness and damping (including muscle cocontraction) and muscle feedback (length, velocity, and acceleration). The model parameters allowed us to estimate the relative contributions of intrinsic and reflexive stabilization and showed intrinsic contributions, similar to or larger than reflexive contributions in lumbar stabilization with horizontal perturbations to the trunk or pelvis. Experiments with a rotating pelvis showed relevant contributions of vestibular and visual feedback, which are more effective to minimize head than trunk rotation.A full-body human model with multisegment spine was previously validated for impact and vertical vibration. Integrating the new detailed neck model in the full-body human model will enable simulation of full-body vibration and impact scenarios with realistic compliant seat models. Further experiments and modeling efforts will aim to capture sensory integration of visual and vestibular motion perceptions in relation to posture maintenance and motion sickness.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Intelligent VehiclesBiomechatronics & Human-Machine Contro
Goodwill Hunting:Why and When Ultimate Controlling Owners Affect Their Firms' Corporate Social Responsibility Performance
No full textResearchers have long been interested in how owners affect firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. However, owners face diverging ethical preferences between funding and potentially benefiting from their firms’ CSR performance. To better understand owners’ influence on firms’ CSR performance, we focus on ultimate controlling owners with the highest control rights over their firms. We theorize that ultimate controlling owners with more control rights have stronger motivations and greater decision-making power to promote firms’ CSR performance to demonstrate that they are responsible owners and gain legitimacy and goodwill from their stakeholders. Moreover, we explore how this positive relationship is strengthened when ultimate controlling owners and their firms share similar corporate names and receive increased financial analyst coverage, as these conditions increase the likelihood of gaining legitimacy and goodwill through their firms’ improved CSR performance. We test our theory using a sample of 852 publicly listed Chinese firms from 2008 to 2017. Our findings support our theoretical predictions and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of how differences in ownership structure and owner type associated with ultimate controlling owners shape their motives and power to affect CSR performance in their firms
From local modification to global innovation:How research units in emerging economies innovate for the world
No full text越来越多的公司将新兴市场作为全球创新的来源, 以帮助改造商业和社会。但对于大多数公司来说, 在新兴市场建立创新能力仍然难以难以捉摸。为了解公司如何成功建立这些能力, 我们调查了六家外国跨国公司在中国研发部门的员工。与先前强调与谁进行创新互动的结构观点的文献对比, 我们的归纳分析突出了研发单位人员在问题和解决方案搜寻过程中如何互动的行为观点。我们确定了与问题和解决方案搜寻相关的两个关键行为: (1) 在客户的日常情境中观察他们; (2) 从内部专家那里发现普遍知识原则。这些行为帮助了研发人员分别地质疑现有产品与客户相关的假设以及应用来自专家知识的有用原则, 而不是复制解决方案模板。我们的发现为在对公司存在结构限制的市场中建立全球创新能力提供了另一种路径。More and more companies are turning to emerging markets as sources of global innovation to help transform business and society. However, building innovation capabilities in emerging markets is still elusive for most companies. To understand how some companies are successfully building these capabilities, we examined workers within R&D units in China across six foreign multinational corporations. In contrast with prior literature that emphasizes a structural view of who the workers interacted with to innovate, our inductive analysis highlights a behavioral view of how R&D unit personnel interact during the problem and solution search process. We identified two key behaviors associated with the problem and solution search: (1) observing customers in their everyday context, and (2) uncovering general knowledge principles from internal experts. Respectively, these behaviors helped R&D workers to question assumptions about existing products as they relate to customers and to apply useful principles from expert knowledge rather than copying solution templates. Our findings offer an alternative path to building global innovation capabilities in markets where structural constraints exist for the company
Digital holographic microscopy applied to measurement of a flow in a T-shaped micromixer
No full textIn this paper, we describe measurements of a three-dimensional (3D) flow in a T-shaped micromixer by means of digital holographic microscopy. Imaging tracer particles in a microscopic flow with conventional microscopy is accompanied by a small depth-of-field, which hinders true volumetric flow measurements. In holographic microscopy, the depth of the measurement domain does not have this limitation because any desired image plane can be reconstructed after recording. Our digital holographic microscope (DHM) consists of a conventional in-line recording system with an added magnifying optical element. The measured flow velocity and the calculated vorticity illustrate four streamwise vortices in the micromixer outflow channel. Because the investigated flow is stationary and strongly 3D, the DHM performance (i.e. accuracy and resolution) can be precisely investigated. The obtained Dynamic spatial range and Dynamic velocity range are larger than 20 and 30, respectively. High-speed multiple-frame measurements illustrate the capability to simultaneously track about 80 particles in a volumetric measurement domain.Process and EnergyMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin
In situ observation of tricalcium aluminate dissolution in water
No full textThe nanoscale dissolution flux of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) in flowing water is characterized in situ by Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM). The pure dissolution of C3A in flowing water with a flow rate of 34 ml·min-1 before the precipitation of hydrated phases only lasted about one quarter of a second, and the pure dissolution rate mostly falls in the range of 500 ~ 1500 μmol·m-2·s-1. Subsequently, foil shape hydration product formed and rapidly covered the surface of C3A, leading to the dramatic decrease of the overall dissolution rate to 55 ± 10 μmol·m-2·s-1
Targeting positive modulation and inhibition of ethanol-induced GABAA receptor potentiation as a novel mechanism for alcohol use disorder
No full textAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most common substance use disorder (SUD) giving rise to major socioeconomic and health consequences, with an estimated 208 million people affected worldwide. Current pharmacotherapies are minimally ineffective, and none target the direct neurological effects of ethanol. To identify promising pharmacological approaches for the treatment of AUD, understanding of the complex psychophysiological influences of SUD is necessary. Thus, we first review psychophysiological aspects of SUD, including a brief review of the brain disease model of addiction and the psychophysiological overlap between SUD and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We expand on the preoccupation stage of the addiction, proposing a hypothesis where substance use can become the obsessive focus in those with underlying obsessive-compulsive pathology, leading to development of SUD. Utilizing this hypothesis, and drawing upon efficacy of OUD treatments, we then provide insight and suggestions for future directions for AUD treatments and pharmacological interventions.
In agreement with the suggested AUD pharmacotherapy approaches, we have identified dihydromyricetin (DHM), a natural flavonoid, to be a promising starting point towards the development of a novel and effective pharmacological mechanism for AUD treatment, that is more in line with those currently available for OUD. DHM has been shown to counteract major neurological effects of ethanol, reduce voluntary ethanol intake, and provide anxiolytic effects through mutually exclusive binding with flumazenil, a GABAAR allosteric modulator. Despite this promising activity, DHM lacks druglike properties, leading to poor CNS exposure and thus limiting clinical utility. Thus, medicinal chemistry efforts are necessary to address the structural limitations of DHM. Further, as flavonoids are known to have non-specific bioactivities, towards which bioactive metabolites often contribute, exploring the specificity, and druggable potential of DHM bioactivity is necessary.
First, we investigated the serum and brain exposure to DHM and metabolites associated with acute anti-intoxicating effects in mice. We found intraperitoneal (IP) administration of DHM 50 mg/kg to be effective at reducing acute ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex (LORR), with these effects limited by rapid serum and brain clearance. Next, we synthesized multiple dihydromyricetin derivatives and assessed intrinsic GABAAR activity, with the aim of determining structure activity relationship (SAR) and enhancing druglike properties. This enabled us to identify 4H-1-Benzopyran-4-one, 2-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-3,5,7-trihydroxy and 4H-1-Benzopyran-4-one, and 2-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-methoxyphenyl)-2,3-dihydro-3,5,7-trihydroxy, respectively) to be GABAAR active metabolites. Notably, this work enabled us to discover a novel druglike, dihydromyricetin derivative (RU-EC2-52) that is a GABAAR positive allosteric modulator (PAM). Molecular modeling studies (MOE® software) in the benzodiazepine binding site of human GABAAR Cryo-EM structure provided insight into key DHM GABAAR interactions, largely correlating with SAR findings. Combined, these results support the potential of DHM’s mechanism at counteracting neurological effects of high doses of ethanol, provide insight into potential GABAAR active metabolites, and identify RU-EC2-52 to be a promising, druglike GABAAR PAM.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Digital monoplotting
No full textThe subject of this thesis is to establish a system for digital monoplotting on behalf of the Dutch Topographic Service. For this purpose a computer program has been written. Digital monoplotting is a system for updating digital data bases by means of single aerial photographs. The method implies the use of a digital height model (DHM) and a second goal of the thesis is to specify its requirements and describe its construction.Civil Engineering and Geoscience
