Effect of foreign exchange management on firm performance using genetic algorithm and VaR

Management of foreign exchange risk is considered to be as important as trading results in firm performance when international trading and transaction of different kind of currencies are getting popular. Most previous researches on this issue have been based on the foreign exchange market and financial investing and accounting, focusing on theoretical point of view. And it is difficult to apply these research results to each company, since all companies in industry have different financial circumstances. In this paper, the solution for the foreign exchange management is proposed using GA and VaR which is very practical to export-oriented companies. The developed software enables a user to specify the criteria for the foreign exchange trading condition, constraints on dealing amount, GA operator and penalty, and variables in VaR. This approach is useful for managing foreign exchange holdings of a company in a practical way, analyzing past exchange rate trend with dealing results.     

Performance of the smoke extraction system for fires in the Busan–Geoje immersed tunnel

A new partial smoke extraction system for the Busan–Geoje immersed tunnel was investigated experimentally using simulated tunnel fires. The tests were performed in a 1:20-scale model tunnel with a smoke extraction duct between two traffic tubes. The fire corresponded to a 5-MW full-scale fire, based on Froude modeling. Isothermal and thermal experimental models were considered. The performance of the partial smoke extraction system was quantified under natural and longitudinal ventilation conditions. The results showed that the smoke extraction efficiency of the natural ventilation was 30% better than with longitudinal ventilation, because of smoke stratification in the tunnel. Additionally, the efficiency obtained from the thermal model was comparable to that from the isothermal model under both ventilation conditions. The results suggested that the use of a partial smoke extraction system without longitudinal ventilation improved the initial visibility during tunnel fires.     

An analysis of CH4/N2 rich biogas production, fuel treatment process and microturbine application

Biogas usually contains CH₄ and CO₂ as main components with the ratio of 6: 4, and its composition varies with wide range depending on digester conditions. In addition to concentration change of each constituent, biogas composition could be changed due to the variations in the organic matter treatment process. The aim of the study is to analyze the production and application to a microturbine system of CH₄/N₂ rich biogas produced from Gong-Ju wastewater treatment plant. CH₄/N₂ rich biogas is produced due to the internal wastewater recirculation. The internal wastewater recirculation is intended to enhance NO₃ ^? removal without additional carbon source input. As a result, the digester was shown to be the highest contributor for nitrogen removal and average CH₄ concentration was lowered compared to the typical biogas composition. Nitrate removal rate was influenced by the internal recirculation ratio. Content of N₂ has no effect on biogas clean-up system performance. Besides, adaptability of CH₄/N₂ rich biogas to microturbine was satisfactory with very low NOx and SO₂ concentration in microturbine exhaust gas. Influence of high N₂ concentration of biogas on NOx concentration was limited due to the low combustion temperature.     

An Auto-configuration 4M Group Management using Wireless Sensor Networks for Reconfigurable Manufacturing System

<正>The first tier of automotive manufacturers has faced to pressures about move,modify,updating tasks for manufacturing resources in production processes from demand response of production order sequence for motor company and process innovation purpose for productivity. For meets this requirements,it has to require absolutely lead time to re-wiring of physical interface for production equipment,needs for change existing program and test over again.For prepare this constraints,it needs studying an auto-configuration functions that build for both visibility and flexibility based on the 4M(Man,Machine,Material, Method)group management which is supports from WSN (Wireless Sensor Network)of the open embedded device called M2M(Machine to Machine)and major functions of middleware including point manager for real-time device communication,real-time data management,Standard API (Application Program Interface)and application template management.To be application system to RMS (Reconfigurable Manufacturing System)for rapidly response from various orders and model from motor company that is beginning to establishing the mapping of manufacturing resources of 4M using WSN.     

Photocatalytic overall water splitting with dual-bed system under visible light irradiation

Photocatalytic overall water splitting has been demonstrated with WO₃ for oxygen producing photocatalyst (OPC), and Rh-doped SrTiO₃ for hydrogen producing photocatalyst (HPC) in a simulated dual-bed system under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 400 nm). The Fe³⁺/Fe²⁺ redox couple was chosen as the most effective electron mediator between OPC and HPC. The overall performance of the dual-bed system was limited by the low activity of HPC, and thus the activity of HPC should be increased to improve the overall performance. For overall water splitting reaction in a dual-bed system, the conduction band of OPC must be more negative than the redox potential of the electron acceptors and the valence band of HPC must be more positive than the redox potential of the electron donors.     

Effects of rice koji inoculated with Aspergillus luchuensis on the biochemical and sensory properties of a sailfin sandfish (Arctoscopus japonicus) fish sauce

The effects of rice koji inoculated with Aspergillus luchuensis on the biochemical and sensory properties of fish sauce produced from sailfin sandfish (Arctoscopus japonicus) with different salt concentrations (10% and 20%) were investigated over 10 months. Fish sauces prepared from sailfin sandfish with rice koji and a low salt concentration had higher total nitrogen, amino nitrogen and total free amino acid than did those without rice koji or with a high salt concentration. Sensory evaluation of fish sauces prepared with rice koji and a low salt concentration found better taste, flavour and overall acceptance than those prepared without rice koji during fermentation (P < 0.05). The use of rice koji increased the total nitrogen, amino nitrogen and free amino acid and also enhanced the sensory qualities during fermentation. These results suggest that the use of rice koji can result in a low‐salt fish sauce with better flavour.     

Quality characteristics of imitation crab sticks made from Alaska Pollack and spent laying hen meat

Imitation crab stick (ICS) samples were divided into four treatments, a control (C) prepared with Alaska Pollack as a commercial ICS, T1, which consisted of Alaska Pollack with spent laying hen surimi collected by the pH adjust method, T2, which was composed of Alaska Pollack with spent laying hen surimi collected by the filter cake method, and T3, which consisted of Alaska Pollack with whole spent laying hen meat batter collected by the cutting method. The moisture content was significantly higher in T3 than in the other ICS samples; but, there was no significant difference in the crude protein, fat and ash content, regardless of the spent laying hen substitution methods. The lightness (L∗) and whiteness (W) was higher in the control than in the other ICS samples at 0 days of storage, whereas the yellowness (b∗) was significantly higher in T3 than in the other ICS samples. The level of polyunsaturated fatty acids was significantly higher in the control group than in the other ICS samples. Additionally, the pH increased with storage time in the spent laying hen substituted samples (T1, T2 and T3), with T1 showing a significantly higher pH during storage. The TBARS value increased with storage time in all ICS samples, with T2 showing a significantly lower TBARS value than the other ICS samples at the beginning and end of the storage periods. There was no significant difference in any sensory evaluation items among the ICS samples during storage. Thus, we assumed that T3 was better than other ICS samples, because T3 method (cutting) is much easier to collect spent laying hen surimi than T1 (pH adjust) and T2 (filter cake).     

Thermodynamic behaviour of zinc in Fe‐C and CaO‐FeO‐CaF2 slag at high temperatures

The distribution ratio of zinc between Ag‐Zn and Fe‐Zn alloys was measured to clarify the thermodynamic behaviour of zinc in Fe‐C melt at high temperatures. Also, the distribution ratio between Ag‐Zn alloy and CaO‐FeO‐CaF₂ slag was measured to understand the dissolution mechanism of zinc in molten slags. The activity coefficient of zinc in Ag‐Zn alloy was preliminarily measured as a fundamental thermodynamic data for the activity of zinc in Fe‐C melt. From the dependence of the activity coefficient of zinc in Fe‐C melts on temperature and carbon content, the following equation could be obtained at 1473 ‐ 1623 K: The distribution ratio of zinc between Ag‐Zn alloy and CaO‐FeO‐CaF₂ slag increased by increasing both the oxygen potential and slag basicity. The stoichiometric coefficients of the dissolution reaction were obtained by considering the relationship between zinc distribution ratio and slag basicity or oxygen partial pressure, when one of these two independent variables was fixed. The dissolution reaction of zinc into the slags could be described as follows:      

Departure process of a single server queueing system with Markov renewal input and general service time distribution

The independence of processes in queueing systems is generally assumed when developing queueing models. However, real systems often involve several process dependencies, and failure to take these into consideration can lead to serious underestimation of the performance measures. We consider herein a single server queueing system with a Markov renewal process (MRP) for its arrival process and a general service time distribution, and derive the distribution function and correlation coefficient of the departure process. Since the departure process also often corresponds to an arrival process in downstream queues, the results obtained here can be used to derive a better approximation of the performance measures of a non-product form general queueing network.     

A high‐luminous‐efficacy PDP having multi‐anodes for reduction of ionic effect (MARI)

Abstract— We propose a PDP having a new structure and driving scheme. An auxiliary electrode was inserted between X and Y electrodes. Driving and discharge stability was determined using a test panel. A 42‐in. SD (852 × 480) panel and a 42‐in. HD (1366 × 768) panel were also made having this new structure, and we verified the increase in luminous efficacy and the reduction of ionic losses. We achieved a luminous efficacy of 2.35 lm/W in an SD panel and 1.97 lm/W in a HD panel. Finally, we investigated the characteristics and merits of the new structure.