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Most businesses have been severely affected during the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as they lack sufficient cash reserves for turnaround in this devastated business environment. This study presents a nudge-based approach for encouraging employees to choose delayed but larger wage payment. Through two laboratory experiments and one field experiment, we found that blue light more likely promotes individuals choosing the farsighted intertemporal option (i.e., delayed but larger payment) than red light. We further investigated why blue light can promote such a farsighted decision and found that the intradimensional difference comparison—that is, comparing the difference between the two options in the time dimension (∆ time A,B) and the difference in the payoff dimension (∆ payoff A,B)—mediates the effect of blue (vs. red) light on intertemporal choice. The current study demonstrates the effectiveness of light color and provides a solution to nudge people to make farsighted choices.

Although extant work has found that employee depletion is associated with less voice behavior, an emerging line of research suggests that depletion may sometimes be associated with more voice behavior. We build on this emerging line of research by establishing when and why employee depletion is associated with more voice behavior on a daily basis. We then further identify the implications of these relationships for daily voice endorsement by managers. Integrating research on the strength model of self-control and the resource distinction between promotive and prohibitive voice, we predict that, among employees with low levels of trait self-control, higher levels of daily depletion will be associated with lower levels of daily voice impulse control. In turn, lower levels of daily voice impulse control will be associated with higher levels of daily prohibitive voice, but lower levels of daily voice endorsement. Results from a 10-day daily study with 697 daily observations from 88 employees working for 50 managers (Study 1) and an experimental recall task with 136 full-time employees (Study 2) supported our hypotheses. We discuss how our findings contribute to theories of voice and self-control, review the methodological strengths and limitations of our studies, and expound on the practical implications of our results.

Recent success in strain engineering has triggered tremendous interest in its study and potential applications in nanodevice design. In this paper, we establish a coupled piezoelectric/semiconducting model for a wurtzite structure ZnO nanofiber under the local mechanical loading. The energy band structure tuned by the local mechanical loading and local length is calculated via an eight-band k · p method, which includes the coupling of valance and conduction bands. Poisson’s effect on the distribution of electric potential inversely depends on the local mechanical loading. Numerical results reveal that both the applied local mechanical loading and the local length exhibit obvious tuning effects on the electric potential and energy band. The band gap at band edges varies linearly with the applied loading. Changing the local length shifts the energy band which is far away from the band edges. This study will be useful in the electronic and optical enhancement of semiconductor devices.

PurposeWorking-from-home (WFH) practice has been adopted by many companies of a variety of industries in a diverse manner; however, it is not until the recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic WFH gains worldwide popularity. With so many different views out there and based on work–family balance theory, this study aims to find out the factors which affect peoples' WFH effectiveness and whether they want the extended WFH practice when the pandemic crisis is over.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopted an online survey approach by posting questionnaires on the university website and different social media channels to collect views from full-time Hong Kong workers who have had WFH experience during the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 1,976 effective responses were collected for the data analysis.FindingsThe findings of this study indicate that WFH effectiveness is improved by personal and family well-being but reduced by environmental and resource constraints. When workers are experiencing higher WFH effectiveness, they have a higher preference for WFH even after the pandemic; the female workers preferred WFH twice per week, while the male workers more often preferred WFH once per week. Finally, workers from the management and the self-employed levels demonstrated a lower preference for WFH, compared to the front-line and middle-grade workers.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils to provide a timely reflection on workers' post-pandemic WFH preference, the factors affecting their WFH effectiveness and the demographic differences inducing to the differentiated preferences.

Although a great deal of knowledge has accumulated about dyadic relationships (i.e., leader–member exchange (LMX) or team–member exchange (TMX)) within a team, employee behaviours that involve triadic relationships among focal employees, leaders, and teammates have seldom been investigated. Using balance theory, which describes triadic relationships from a power dependence perspective, in the current study, we explore how the interplay of LMX, TMX, and peers’ LMX jointly impacts employees’ feedback-seeking behaviour (FSB) and subsequent job performance. By conducting a multilevel moderated polynomial regression on three-wave, multi-source data from 147 team members and their leaders (from 45 work teams), we found that the incongruence between LMX and TMX facilitates FSB when peers’ LMX or task interdependence is high. We also found an asymmetrical incongruence effect concerning the way in which individuals are more likely to seek feedback when LMX is worse than TMX, compared with when LMX is better than TMX. This differential effect is stronger when peers’ LMX or task interdependence is high. The interplay of LMX, TMX, peers’ LMX, and task interdependence eventually has an indirect effect on job performance through FSB. The results from a follow-up study of 270 employees from 77 teams further confirm our predictions about the mechanism of balance theory. Specifically, the results indicate that when peers’ LMX is high, the incongruence between LMX and TMX decreases employees’ psychological safety. Practitioner points: Our study highlights the importance of studying the triadic (LMX, TMX, and peers’ LMX) rather than dyadic relationships in a work team. This study demonstrates that imbalanced relationship triads can influence employees in a positive way (i.e., motivate employees to conduct more change-oriented proactive behaviours). Our study’s findings show that feedback-seeking behaviour is important in promoting job performance when it aims at changing the imbalanced social environment. Our findings suggest practitioners should pay more attention to the role of task interdependence, which changes the power dependence structure of workplace relationships.

Pitting corrosion damage is a major problem affecting material strength and may result in difficult to predict catastrophic failure of metallic material systems and structures. Computational models have been developed to study and predict the evolution of pitting corrosion with the goal of, in conjunction with experiments, providing insight into pitting processes and their consequences in terms of material reliability. This paper presents a critical review of the computational models for pitting corrosion. Based on the anodic reaction (dissolution) kinetics at the corrosion front, transport kinetics of ions in the electrolyte inside the pits, and time evolution of the damage (pit growth), these models can be classified into two categories: (1) non-autonomous models that solve a classical transport equation and, separately, solve for the evolution of the pit boundary; and (2) autonomous models like cellular automata, peridynamics, and phase-field models which address the transport, dissolution, and autonomous pit growth in a unified framework. We compare these models with one another and comment on the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. We especially focus on peridynamic and phase-filed models of pitting corrosion. We conclude the paper with a discussion of open areas for future developments.

Trendy advances in electric cars and wearable electronics triggered growing awareness in device lethality/survivability from accidents. A divergent design in protection calls for high stress resistance, large ductility, as well as efficient energy dissipation, all from the device itself, while keeping the weight-specific device performance to its premium. Unfortunately, the polymer electrolyte or the ductile elastomer lacks a mechanistic design to resist puncture or tear at a high stress level. Here, we designed molecular complexes along phase boundaries to mitigate the damages by placing these mechanically strong complexes along the phase boundaries or between two immiscible polymers. This puncture-resistant gel, dubbed as gel-nacre, is able to survive a few challenging incidents, including a 400 MPa puncture from a sharp nail, a 1 cm steel ball traveling at 540 km/h, and attempted rupture on stitched samples.

A new three-dimensional peridynamic (PD) model is introduced for pitting corrosion damage. Based on simple mechanistic views of passivation, salt-layer presence, and passive-film rupture, the model simulates pitting corrosion damage in stainless steel in 3D, with autonomous formation of lacy covers. Computed lacy morphologies are strikingly similar to real pits. The model is validated against experiments. Merger of two 3D pits is studied and PD results compare well with experiments. The results imply that first-order mechanistic factors that determine corrosion rate, pit shape/size, and lacy cover morphology are those included in our model: diffusion, concentration-based damage, passivation, and salt-layer formation.

Normally, peridynamic (PD) models for transient heat transfer converge, in the limit of the horizon size going to zero, to the solution of the corresponding PDE-based heat transfer. However, different ways of imposing local boundary conditions have been observed to lead to some interesting properties that may deliver the classical solution at a point in space and time from a series of PD solutions obtained with relatively large horizons. Here, we use analytical derivation of PD solutions to explain how approximations introduced by the one-point Gaussian discretization in space (the so-called “meshfree” PD method) and by specific implementations of boundary conditions lead to the intersection of m-convergence curves at the exact value of the corresponding classical model solution. This leads to a strategy of approximating the local solution better with a sequence of PD models that use relatively large horizons compared to a PD model that uses a small horizon. We analyze this property for transient heat conduction in homogeneous and heterogeneous bars. We find that material interfaces influence the intersection of m-convergence curves for transient heat conduction in a 1D heterogeneous bar.

The nonlinear governing equations on the coupling between electromechanical fields and charge carrier in a thermal equilibrium piezoelectric pn junction subjected to asymmetric mechanical loads are established in this article. Effect of mechanical loads on the basic physical parameters of a piezoelectric pn junction, such as potential barrier region width, contact potential difference, electric potential, and carrier concentrations are analyzed numerically. Results show that asymmetry compressive stresses exert more influence on the movement of the potential barrier region’s boundary and the migration of carrier compare to asymmetry tensile stresses. It is also found that asymmetry compressive stresses lead to a pn junction with a thin potential barrier region which enhances the chance of carrier’s passing through of potential barrier region. The obtained results are useful in reducing the disadvantage of capacitance on rectification characteristic and can be used to tune the ${I}$ – ${V}$ characteristic of the pn junction working with bias voltage.

(A final version is published in Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics) Peridynamic (PD) models of bodies without pre-cracks, based on a single fracture parameter (associated with the critical fracture energy), produce different strengths when different horizon sizes are used to simulate crack nucleation under quasi-static conditions. To maintain the same strength and fracture energy under different horizon sizes, extra parameters have to be introduced in the failure model. Bilinear and trilinear bond force-strain relationships have been proposed in the literature for crack propagation in quasi-brittle materials. In this paper we study crack nucleation in a plate with a hole under quasi-static loading using bilinear and trilinear PD models. We provide analytical formulas to calibrate the models to measurable material properties. We show convergence for both strength and fracture toughness. The bilinear PD constitutive model works well for both brittle (e.g. ceramics) and quasi-brittle (e.g. concrete) systems, while the trilinear version is more suited for quasi-brittle fracture behavior. We also find that for quasi-brittle fracture, a model that accounts, stochastically, for the presence of small-scale pores/defects performs better than a homogenized model. A wedge-splitting test in concrete and crack nucleation in a quasi-isotropic composite plate with a circular hole are used to demonstrate the model’s performance. In contrast with other models, the current formulation does not depend on the sample geometry.

This paper investigated the variation characteristics of ambient atmospheric PM2.5 and its influence on indoor environment, with considering several monitored residential buildings in Beijing, China. Conditions were considered for the room by air infiltration, with all the external windows closed and no indoor PM2.5 pollution sources. The constant monitoring of both outdoor and indoor PM2.5 mass concentrations was respectively made for one year from March 2016 to February 2017. Meteorological parameters were monitored simultaneously to be correlated with PM2.5 mass concentrations and indoor-outdoor concentration ratios. The results indicated: (1) Size of more than 90% of atmospheric particles were under 1 μm. (2) The monthly-average concentrations of outdoor and indoor PM2.5 tended to be highest in winter, followed by autumn, spring and summer. Additionally, the average I/O ratios in summer were lower compared to other three seasons. (3) PM2.5 mass concentration was significantly influenced by ambient wind speed and relative humidity. However, outdoor temperature played a negligible role in PM2.5 mass concentrations. (4) Better window airtightness will help to keep a high-demanded indoor environment by resisting atmospherics PM2.5 going indoors.

This paper analyzes the characteristics of typical main rooms of biosafety laboratories and the potential energy-saving measures. We calculated the air-conditioning design load for different temperature and humidity ranges in a real high-level biosafety laboratory. The analysis results showed the air exchange rates were fallen into 15–30 times/h, and these ranges can be seen as the best design values without considering other biosafety equipment. In the case, the envelope structure is tightly rigorous, and the number of air change rates can be further reduced. In the next phase of the laboratory specification revision, it can be considered to reduce the required minimum air supply volume, which can bring objective energy-saving benefits.

In this paper, the main technical indicators and pressure disturbance factors of the high-level biosafety laboratory are introduced firstly. Then the pressure-difference controlling mode of the high-level biosafety laboratory built in China is focused, and the advantages and disadvantages of each mode combined with the field monitoring results are illustrated, respectively. Among them, the innovativeness of the constant air volume controlling mode in laboratory A breaks through the restraint that it cannot be used in the laboratory with high airtightness. Besides, the pressure-difference controlling mode of double regulating valves in laboratory B provides a reference for the laboratory construction with high tightness of laboratory envelope structure and large air supply and exhaust volume.

Air filters are one effective way of removing indoor fine particulate matter (generally known as PM2.5). An accurate evaluation of indoor PM2.5 filtration load will provide great help in designing efficient air filtration systems. In order to make the existing indoor PM2.5 filtration load calculation model more available by considering the availability of some important parameters, such as air infiltration volume through a unit length of external window (ql), particle penetration factor (P), and deposition rate (k), this study introduces a determination method of those key design parameters for various external window airtightness levels under infiltration conditions. Furthermore, the indoor PM2.5 filtration loads were quantified based on a longitudinal field measurement from five unoccupied offices located in the central area of Beijing, China. Results revealed that higher airtightness level windows can help to significantly decrease the indoor PM2.5 filtration load. The proposed method in this study can help in the calculation of indoor PM2.5 filtration load through infiltration and the design of indoor air filtration systems.

We develop a theoretical framework that delineates the process by which customer-oriented perspective taking contributes to employees’ proactive service performance. Drawing from motivated information processing and proactivity perspectives, the model hypothesizes that employees’ customer-oriented perspective taking enhances their role breadth self-efficacy (RBSE), which in turn enhances proactive customer service performance and proactive complaint-handling performance. A three-wave, time-lagged study, involving 145 frontline employees and their immediate supervisors in the Chinese hospitality industry, tests the research model. The results of structural equation modelling show taking customers’ perspectives results in a high level of RBSE. This relationship grows stronger if employees exhibit a strongly proactive personality. A high level of RBSE also mediates the interactive effects of customer-oriented perspective taking and proactive personality on proactive customer service performance and proactive complaint-handling performance. These findings provide insights for research on perspective taking, RBSE, and proactive service performance.

We introduce a transient advection-diffusion peridynamic model using a constructive approach. We verify our model against the classical model in 1D and 2D, and we find that in the limit of the peridynamic horizon going to zero the peridynamic solutions converge to the classical ones. We find that a hybrid between upwind and central models performs better in advection-dominated cases. We compute solutions to sample problems in heterogeneous domains for two different conditions and observe the contrast between the solutions depending on microstructure and material properties. Remarkably, no extra effort was required in producing solutions for the complex, heterogeneous cases.

This study draws on trait activation theory to examine the effects of frontline hospitality employees’ prosocial motivation on their taking charge and job performance and how job autonomy moderates these effects. We collected data in two stages from 185 pairs of frontline hospitality employees and their direct supervisors, and we found a positive relationship between employees’ prosocial motivation and their taking charge. In addition, job autonomy strengthened this positive relationship, and taking charge mediated the interactive effect of prosocial motivation and job autonomy on job performance. These results suggest that when frontline hospitality employees perceive their level of job autonomy to be high enough to activate their expression of prosocial motivation, they will be more likely to engage in taking charge, which should lead to a higher evaluation of their job performance. Theoretical and practical implications for hospitality industry were discussed at the end of the article.

A Diffusion-based Corrosion Layer (DCL) in Mg alloys composed of partially oxidized alloy is present between the corrosion product and the uncorroded bulk metal. This layer has different mechanical properties compared to the bulk (lower elastic modulus and ductility) that change gradually from the bulk to the surface. We investigate, experimentally and computationally, mechanisms that play a role in corrosion-induced embrittlement of ZK60A Mg alloys. We find that the DCL may assist in crack initiation and propagation under loading because of its graded mechanical properties and strong, seamless bonding to the bulk. Tensile tests on specimens with different post-treatments identify the role played by the DCL in lowering ductility, and separate it from the role played by hydrogen embrittlement (HE) or/and corrosion surface defects. The DCL effect on embrittlement dominates HE and other corrosion-induced effects in this alloy. A peridynamic model of a structure with a pit with various damage distributions through the surface damage layer reveals that this layer produces a structure with lower ductility. Remarkably, the model shows that the largest embrittlement occurs when the damage layer is seamlessly bonded to the bulk, which is what is observed experimentally in the case of the DCL.