Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between entrepreneurship and resilience in an indigenous context. The overarching research questions are: What are the mechanisms that link entrepreneurial thought and action to resilience in a marginalized context? How can entrepreneurial thought and actions lead to building economic, community and cultural resilience? Design/methodology/approach An exploratory-naturalistic case study methodology was used to examine the entrepreneurial journey of the Boruca. Data were collected from in-depth semi-structured and unstructured interviews among 10 informants over a five-year period. Constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. Findings Due to the need to survive, the Boruca engaged in entrepreneurial thought and action, which, in turn, led to the development of community, cultural and economic resilience. The authors developed a conceptual model to illustrate how individual resiliency gained through entrepreneurial thought and action led to community, cultural and economic resiliency of the Boruca. Research limitations/implications This paper examines the entrepreneurial journey of one of the eight indigenous tribes of Costa Rica. Future research should expand their sample to include the other indigenous contexts. Practical implications From a practical standpoint, this paper suggests the need for entrepreneurial training among indigenous businesses as a key factor in developing resiliency. This is applicable for non-profit, for-profit and public organizations interested in preserving world ethnic cultures and empowering indigenous people. Social implications Gaining deeper and richer insights into the linkages of resilience and entrepreneurial success is important for supporting efforts of those seeking to forge pathways out of poverty. Originality/value This paper suggests a different view of the relationship between resilience and entrepreneurship when the context is outside of the resource-rich context of the developed world.

TECHNOLOGICAL MODE EFFECT OF FINISH GRINDING ON TRIBOTECHNICAL INDICES OF SURFACES MACHINED

Grinding is the most common finish stage of friction surface machining. The surface machined is transferred in a non-equilibrium state in consequence of thermal and power effect at grinding. During friction part material strives for a more equilibrium state in microcontacts of surface layers due to the presence of a considerable share of a defect phase formed at finish grinding. It is evident that the process of the material transition from a nonequilibrium state (after grinding) into a more equilibrium state (at surface runningin) and mainly defines the character of modes and finish grinding effect upon surface tribotechnical indices (wear intensity, runningin period, constant of friction). The researches were carried out in two stages. In the first stage at the expense of changes of grinding depth and time of surface sparking-out (that is, the intensity and duration of thermal and power effect of grinding on a sample) there were formed surface layers with different parameters on steel samples. In the second stage of investigations there were carried out tribotechnical tests of grinded samples under the same conditions and, in such a way the effect of grinding modes on surface durability was evaluated. On the basis of the results there were revealed the dependences of sample wear on test time and also dependences for the computation of wear intensity in grinded surfaces made of different structural materials. It is shown that at the abrasion there are possi-bilities for considerable increase (up to several times) of machinery surfaces durability by means of grinding depth changes and time of surface sparkingout, as these technological modes define the intensity and duration of thermal and power effects of abrasion upon a surface layer.

Power Reserve Classification and Control for Peaking Balance with Intermittent Generation Grid

The problem of intermittent generation peaking is highly concerned by the grid operator. To build control model for solving unbalance of peaking is great necessary. In this paper, we propose reserve classification control model which contain constant reserve control model with real-time reserve control model to guide the peaking balance of the grid with intermittent generation. The proposed model associate time-period constant reserve control model with real-time reserve control model to calculate, and use the peaking margin as intermediate variable. Therefore, the model solutions which are the capacity of reserve classification are obtained. The grid operators use the solution to achieve the peaking balance control. The proposed model was examined by real grid operation case, and the results of the case demonstrate the validity of the proposed model.

Microwave Drying Characteristics and Kinetics of Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) Seeds

Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) seeds were dried in a laboratory quality microwave oven to determine the effects of microwave output and mass load on drying time and drying rate. By increasing the microwave output power (231–539 W) and mass load (100–200 g), the drying time decreased from 36 to 13 min and increased from 18 to 30 min, respectively. The drying process can be divided into three stages: the heating period, constant rate period, and falling rate phase. A kinetics model which could describe the relationship of moisture ratio and drying time was established based on experimental data. The results show the drying procedure of lotus seeds could accurately be described by the Page model. The predicted values of the model were nearly consistent with the observed values. The moisture content and drying rate during the drying procedure matched the predicted results estimated by the Page model.