Challenges in supply chain redesign for the Circular Economy: a literature review and a multiple case study

Despite companies face several challenges when redesigning their supply chain for the Circular Economy, the literature lacks a systematisation of such challenges and of the ways to overcome them. Through a systematic literature review, this paper identifies and systematises 24 challenges that may hamper a supply chain redesign for the Circular Economy. Sixteen among these challenges are well known from research in related topics. On the contrary, the remaining eight are relatively new or take a different relevance within the Circular Economy context. A multiple case study in the household appliance supply chain is carried out, to explore how these challenges appear in practice and how companies may tackle them. The cases analysed involve actors at different supply chain levels, and findings suggest that a great degree of vertical integration by one actor in the supply chain is not a necessary condition for Circular Economy implementation. The empirical study, in conjunction with the literature analysis, leads to the development of a framework linking the challenges to specific levers that companies may pursue to overcome them. The framework can be seen as a reference for managers undertaking the path towards Circular Economy.     

Texture Feature Extraction Method for Ground Nephogram Based on Contourlet and the Power Spectrum Analysis Algorithm

It is important to extract texture feature from the ground-base cloud image for cloud type automatic detection. In this paper, a new method is presented to capture the contour edge, texture and geometric structure of cloud images by using Contourlet and the power spectrum analysis algorithm. More abundant texture information is extracted. Cloud images can be obtained a multiscale and multidirection decomposition. The coefficient matrix from Contourlet transform of ground nephogram is calculated. The energy, mean and variance characteristics calculated from coefficient matrix are composed of the feature information. The frequency information of the data series from the feature vector values is obtained by the power spectrum analysis. Then Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier is used to classify according to the frequency information of the trend graph of data series. It is shown that altocumulus and stratus with different texture frequencies can be effectively recognized and further subdivided the types of clouds.     

Formation of radioactive cesium microparticles originating from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident: characteristics and perspectives

ABSTRACT

Following identification of radioactive Cs microparticles (CsMPs) in aerosol samples from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP), numerous reports on CsMPs have been published. This paper reviews recent progress in the measurement and characterization of CsMPs by advanced analytical techniques, including advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and synchrotron X-ray analysis. These analyses revealed that the CsMPs contained Si, Fe, Zn, Cs, and minor quantities of U together with some fission products. Uranium in the CsMPs was identified as being in the form of uraninite and (U,Zr)O₂. Detailed advanced TEM analysis has clarified some of the processes resulting in the alteration of constituents of the nuclear fuels and containment vessel materials during this severe accident. In addition, a detailed report on the elemental compositions and structures of the fuel debris fragments collected inside and outside of the primary containment vessel²⁵ highlighted the fact that the fuel debris fragments contained nanoparticles with the U and Zr components having similar structures to that of the CsMPs. This similarity in structures has stimulated further research on the structure and elemental constituents, especially for U and Zr in the CsMPs, and has opened up new avenues for studying the chemical characteristics of the fuel debris.     

Weighted power means of q-rung orthopair fuzzy information and their applications in multiattribute decision making

Weighted power means with weights and exponents serving as their parameters are generalizations of arithmetic means. Taking into account decision makers' flexibility in decision making, each attribute value is usually expressed by a $q$-rung orthopair fuzzy value ($q$-ROFV, $q\ge 1$), where the former indicates the support for membership, the latter support against membership, and the sum of their $q$th powers is bounded by one. In this paper, we propose the weighted power means of $q$-rung orthopair fuzzy values to enrich and flourish aggregations on $q$-ROFVs. First, the $q$-rung orthopair fuzzy weighted power mean operator is presented, and its boundedness is precisely characterized in terms of the power exponent. Then, the $q$-rung orthopair fuzzy ordered weighted power mean operator is introduced, and some of its fundamental properties are investigated in detail. Finally, a novel multiattribute decision making method is explored based on developed operators under the $q$-rung orthopair fuzzy environment. A numerical example is given to illustrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed approach, and it is shown that the power exponent is an index suggesting the degree of the optimism of decision makers.     

Digital hysteresis sliding mode control for interleaved DC–DC converters

This paper presents a digital constant frequency sliding mode control (SMC) law for interleaved DC–DC converters. Constant switching frequency and interleaving are achieved by dynamically adjusting the hysteresis of the control signals generating comparators. The interleaving method neither imposes constraints on the number of required phases to obtain a specific output voltage nor uses quasi-SMC. Hence, the control scheme achieves high flexibility, robustness, and performance. Furthermore, a sliding mode observer (SMO) for reconstructing the inductor currents is proposed. Experimental results for a two-phase buck converter are reported. The control concept accomplishes an improved dynamic performance in comparison with quasi-SMC.     

Refurbishment or quality recovery: joint quality and pricing decisions for new product development

Refurbishment and quality recovery, as two important strategies of reverse logistics, have been widely used for consumer durables, especially consumer electronics. This trend is driven by manufacturers’ profit-seeking behaviours and the increasing environmental concerns of society. This study investigates and compares the optimal emergence of these two strategies when product quality is endogenous. Model analyses provide several notable insights. First, we find that the refurbishment strategy dominates the quality recovery strategy when the fraction of the recoverable quality-inducing components in the defective product is low enough. Moreover, when the refurbishment strategy emerges as the optimum, the quality and price of the new product as well as the total realised sales of both new and refurbished products are consistently higher than those with the quality recovery strategy. In addition, when either the refurbishment or quality recovery strategy emerges as the optimum, the overall consumer surplus is also enhanced. Finally, in the model generalisation, we show that a synthetic strategy with which some of the returned defective products are refurbished and others are remanufactured through quality recovery can certainly increase the manufacturers’ profit compared to either one of them when the fraction of the recoverable quality-inducing components in the defective product is moderate.     

基于CSC方法的钢铁行业节能减排技术潜力分析

为了研究中国钢铁行业的节能减排潜力，以35项钢铁行业先进节能减排技术为研究对象，建立节能供应曲线(Conservation Supply Curve，简称CSC)模型，分析影响钢铁行业的节能减排收益、成本效益以及钢铁生产流程工序层面的节能减排潜力因素。结果表明，这35项技术全部应用可实现3.01 GJ/t的节能量以及398.22 kg/t的CO2减排量。将结果与第十三个五年计划推广技术作对比，在当前情况下，约有50%的推广技术并不符合成本效益；运用CSC模型进行了钢铁生产流程工序层面的节能减排潜力研究，得到各个工序的节能量和减排量，并据此分析了各项技术未来的发展趋势和应用前景。     

计及Spark和属性权重的售电套餐推荐方法

针对电力市场用户群庞大，交易过程中售电套餐选择困难的问题，在Spark环境下设计了一种售电套餐推荐方法，同时也解决了售电套餐推荐过程中在大数据环境下的可扩展性及实时性问题。首先，计算出每个套餐属性的权重值，从而计算得到售电套餐综合相似度。然后，计及用户和套餐两方面提出一种售电套餐推荐方法，实现售电套餐的精准推荐。实验表明，提出的推荐方法能够明显提高推荐的准确度，并且在分布式环境下具有良好的推荐效率和可扩展性。     

A critical narrative approach to openness: The impact of open development on structural transformation

Openness has become an important, all‐encompassing term denoting activities facilitated by sharing, using, producing, and redistributing information and communication resources within digital information systems. We compare theoretical advancements that emphasize processes and characteristics of openness with the limitations of extant approaches that have largely focused on improvements to productivity and efficiency. Based on Foucault and Bruner's ideas, this paper contributes a new critical narrative approach to understanding openness explicitly focused on structural transformation and power. The analysis focuses on the case of open development, examining 20 key studies based primarily on developing countries. The critical narrative approach unpacked the production of power/knowledge across actors, intentions, and outcomes of openness research and practice. We find that discursive formations are reliant on technocentric and normative ideals of researchers, leading to narratives of hypothetical outcomes that exclude marginalized perspectives. We propose hermeneutic composability and contesting normative narratives of openness as analytical techniques for an integrated, mutually constitutive conception of interactions between individuals, open artefacts, and open social praxis.     

核电厂聚乙烯管道设计方法及标准简介

随着聚乙烯管道在三门核电厂、大亚湾核电厂中的试应用成功，大量的新建核电厂及核电厂改造项目均将聚乙烯管道作为海水冷却水管道系统的首选管材，自主研制核电厂聚乙烯管技术标准迫在眉睫。本文介绍了核电聚乙烯管道的发展历史和应用现状，对比了核安全3级聚乙烯管道和非核安全相关聚乙烯管道、城市燃气与给水聚乙烯管道技术标准的设计方法及适用范围，探讨了中国目前聚乙烯管技术标准与核3级聚乙烯管道技术标准的差异与差距，为核电厂聚乙烯管道的设计制造与标准研制提供参考。