China’s Military Faces the Future,

This collection of high-quality essays by some of the leading experts on the Chinese military is the product of the 1997 Seventh Annual Conference on the People’s Liber- ation Army (PLA), sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute. The au- thors, although inspired by different secu- rity and threat perceptions, present sober, straightforward, and reasonable assess- ments of PLA efforts to modernise itself in the 1990s and of its prospects for the im- mediate future. Evidence drawn from the essays shows that the PLA is increasingly modern, confident, and assertive but that it has not yet developed sophisticated the- ories and technologies comparable to those of the United States or relevant to fighting an American-style, high-tech lim- ited war, or any war beyond its borders

Collecting badges: Understanding the gold rush for business excellence awards

Business excellence awards (BEAs) have become all too commonplace. Entering and winning one has now become part of contemporary organising. However, scholarly work examining these awards remains scattered, with the dominant narrative focusing on what could even be described as the intense obsession with award ceremonies. In this paper, we articulate the mechanisms through which the dual demands for managing competitive pressures and achieving competitive advantage drive organisations to enter these awards. In doing this, we integrate and expand upon prior work to explicate an integrative framework for examining how the interactions between various contextual and environmental factors may induce organisations to enter BEAs and the potential outcomes, particularly for those who win or are shortlisted for these awards. We go on to present a set of propositions constituting a contribution, after which our study's implications for the theory and practice of BEAs are outlined

Power optimization control of VSC-HVDC system for electromechanical oscillation suppression and grid frequency control

The voltage source converter (VSC) based high-voltage DC (HVDC) transmission system usually adopts damping and inertia control to quickly and independently adjust the active- and reactive- power, to improve the frequency stability and suppress the electromechanical oscillations of the power grid. This paper first analyzes the effect of the proportional-derivative (PD) controller parameter on the HVDC output power. The study shows that when the proportional-derivative controller parameter is increased to the limit value, HVDC will operate in the rapid power compensation (RPC) mode. Namely, according to the positive or negative polarities of the rotor speed deviation and the grid frequency deviation, the active- and reactive- power limits are used as the reference to rapidly control the output power, thereby minimizing the system’s unbalanced power, the rotor oscillation, and the frequency fluctuation. To this end, this paper proposes a coordinated active-/reactive- power control strategy for the VSC-HVDC system based on the RPC mode to suppress the grid electromechanical and frequency oscillations. The RPC mode enables HVDC to quickly release/absorb power, to compensate for system’s required power shortage or suppress excess power. When the speed deviation, the frequency deviation, and their rates of change meet the requirements, the damping control is used to make HVDC exit the RPC mode and further enhance the ability of the VSC-HVDC system. Simulation results prove the effectiveness of the proposed power optimization control strategy

In direct breach of managerial edicts: A practice approach to creative deviance in professional service firms

Drawing on practice as a meta-theoretical lens, we explore creative deviance (CD): wilful violation of managerial orders by employee(s) to pursue creative ideas. Data for our inquiry comes from in-depth interviews with middle managers and employees in two professional service firms (PSFs). We argue that two distinct organising processes are necessary for the emergence of CD in practice: organising configuration and formalisation of R&D processes. We develop these dimensions to produce a typology of interrelated ideal types of outcomes when employees are explicitly instructed to stop pursuing an idea. We found three salient organising practices (technical concerns for efficiency and metrics, suppression of metistic knowledge and disjointed managerial responses to violations of sanctioned organising procedures), which may operate in combination or serially, to foster CD in practice. We conclude with some key implications for the theory and practice of creativity in PSFs. © 2018 RADMA and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Collecting badges: understanding the gold rush for business excellence awards

Business excellence awards (BEAs) have become all too commonplace. Entering and winning one has now become part of contemporary organising. However, scholarly work examining these awards remains scattered, with the dominant narrative focusing on what could even be described as the intense obsession with award ceremonies. In this paper, we articulate the mechanisms through which the dual demands for managing competitive pressures and achieving competitive advantage drive organisations to enter these awards. In doing this, we integrate and expand upon prior work to explicate an integrative framework for examining how the interactions between various contextual and environmental factors may induce organisations to enter BEAs and the potential outcomes, particularly for those who win or are shortlisted for these awards. We go on to present a set of propositions constituting a contribution, after which our study's implications for the theory and practice of BEAs are outlined

Enhanced conductivity and stability of Co_0.98Cu_{<italic>x</italic>}Mn_{2.02−<italic>x</italic>}O₄ ceramics with dual phases and twin structures

Semiconductor materials with heterogeneous interfaces and twin structures generally demonstrate a higher concentration of carriers and better electrical stability. A variety of Cu-doped Co0.98CuxMn2.02−xO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) negative temperature coefficient (NTC) ceramics with dual phases and twin structures were successfully prepared in this study. Rietveld refinement indicates that the content of a cubic spinel phase increases with increasing Cu content. The addition of Cu can promote grain growth and densification. Atomic-level structural characterization reveals the evolution of twin morphology from large lamellae with internal fine lamellae (LIT lamellae) to large lamellae without internal fine lamellae (L lamellae) and the distribution of twin boundary defects. First-principles calculations reveal that the dual phases and twin structures have lower oxygen-vacancy formation energy than those in the case of the pure tetragonal and cubic spinel, thereby enhancing the transmission of carriers. Additionally, the three-dimensional charge-density difference shows that metal ions at the interface lose electrons and dwell in high valence states, thereby enhancing electrical stability of the NTC ceramics. Furthermore, the additional Cu ions engage in electron-exchange interactions with Mn and Co ions, thereby reducing resistivity. In comparison to previous Cu-containing systems, the Co0.98CuxMn2.02−xO4 series exhibit superior stability (aging value ≤ 2.84%), tunable room-temperature resistivity (ρ), and material constant (B) value (17.5 Ω·cm ≤ ρ ≤ 7325 Ω·cm, 2836 K ≤ B ≤ 4315 K). These discoveries lay a foundation for designing and developing new NTC ceramics with ultra-high performance.</p

Long-Term immunopersistence and safety of the Escherichia coli-produced HPV-16/18 bivalent vaccine in Chinese adolescent girls

The study assessed long-term immunopersistence and safety of the Escherichia coli (E. coli)-produced HPV-16/18 bivalent vaccine. In total, 979 participants in the initial immunogenicity noninferiority study, including girls aged 9-14 years who were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive 2 doses at months 0 and 6 (n = 301) or 3 doses at months 0, 1 and 6 (n = 304); girls aged 15-17 years (n = 149) and women aged 18–26 years (n = 225) who received 3 doses of the vaccine, were invited to participate in follow-up to 30 months post vaccination (NCT03206255). Serum samples were collected at months 18 and 30, and anti-HPV-16/18 IgG antibodies were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serious adverse events (SAEs) occurred from month 7 through month 30 were recorded. At month 30, in the per-protocol set, all participants remained seropositive, except for one girl in the 9-14 years (2 doses) group who seroconverted to negative for HPV-18. HPV-16 and HPV-18 antibody levels were higher in girls aged 9-17 years who received 3 doses (125.3 and 60.2 IU/ml) than in women aged 18-26 years who received 3 doses (72.6 and 28.3 IU/ml), and those in girls aged 9-14 years who received 2 doses (73.2 and 24.9 IU/ml) were comparable to those in women aged 18-26 years who received 3 doses. No SAEs were reported to be causally related to vaccination. The E. coli-produced bivalent HPV-16/18 vaccine is safe and induces persistent protective antibodies for up to 30 months after vaccination in girls aged 9-17 years receiving 2 or 3 doses

Technological inclusiveness: Northern versus Chinese induced technologies in the garment industry

The Northern economies have been the main sources of technologies for the global garment manufacturing industry. Over the past decade, China has become an important alternative source of these technologies offering a range of technological choices for small scale and dispersed production of cheap consumer goods, particularly in the developing world. Preceding a national foresight exercise aimed at enhancing the capabilities of small-scale garment producers in Uganda, we examine the potential ‘inclusiveness’ of garment sewing machines imported from the Northern economies and China, and their individual potential to enhance the capabilities of poor garment producers, particularly, women and rural dwellers. Data for our study included a survey and semi-structured interviews with 147 garment firms and other key informants. Compared to the Chinese sewing machines, we found that the Northern machines have high acquisition cost, relies on scale and advanced infrastructure, and tend to exclude poor rural producers (often women). The transfer of Chinese technologies to Uganda, we also found is much easier, have larger spread effects, leading to smaller gaps in technological know-how between China and Uganda because of the context in which Chinese technological innovations are induced. We conclude with some implication of our study to theory and policy