The efficiency of postal services in the age of market liberalization and the internet: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

The rise in electronic communications and the recent liberalization of the postal market in the European Union have put national postal-service providers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) under pressure to restructure and optimize their operations. The paper employs non-parametric methods to measure the relative technical and cost efficiency of CEE postal operators in terms of quantity-based and quality-based output indicators. The results indicate that inefficiency varies between 20% and 30%. Regression analysis attributes efficiency gains to increased competition, institutional reforms, less burdensome customs procedures, and population density, while use of electronic mail was negatively related to postal-service efficiency.     

基于循证设计理念的医院急诊医学科服务效率研究——以北京朝阳医院为例

循证设计是西方医疗建筑中逐渐兴起的、以实证研究为基础的设计理论和方法,基于循证设计的指导思想将很有可能成为未来医院设计的主体。本文运用循证设计的基本原理和方法,对北京朝阳医院急诊科调研结果进行分析,总结其设计优点与不足,提出影响医院急诊科使用效率的几个方面的内容,期望为医院急诊科设计者提供一些参考。     

Review of windcatcher technologies

Mechanical cooling systems in buildings are the main producers of carbon dioxide emissions, which have negative impacts on environment and amplify global warming, particularly in hot climate. Due to the lack of energy supply, windcatchers can be utilized as a sustainable attempt for cooling and ventilation purposes. The objective of this paper is to review and provide a comprehensive literature on windcatcher system for space cooling and ventilation. The concepts were discussed according to the relevant parameters of windcatcher, i.e. windcatcher attributes, windcatcher configurations and windcatcher technologies. The pros and cons of this green architectural feature have also been highlighted and the future research need in this realm of study is proposed.     

Cross-sector sustainability benchmarking of major utilities in the United Kingdom

Benchmarking can be a useful tool for utility companies to improve their efficiency, offering many potential positives such as assessing performance objectively, exposing areas where improvement is needed, and identifying best performing companies, ultimately illuminating possible strategies for poorer performers to implement. Despite these positives, the challenge remains of how to compare the performance of different organisations from different sectors. This research aimed to develop a methodology to effectively compare companies across sectors using UK utilities across the water and sewage, energy, and communications sectors as a case study. A methodology was constructed based on service, environmental, and financial metrics, and cross-sector benchmarking was undertaken, which generated performance scores based on company metrics relative to sector peers. This circumnavigated issues of indicators often being mismatched across sectors and the lack of relevance and context when sectors do use similar indicators. Results showed that the sample of 18 utilities had two distinct clusters, one of eight sector leaders and the other of ten lower performers. Sky had the highest overall score of 13.5 (maximum 15), suggesting it significantly outperformed the rest of the communications sector. Similarly, British Gas and SSE lead the energy sector, whilst Wessex, Severn Trent, and United Utilities lead the way for water and sewage companies. The two distinct groups of sector leaders and lower performers can be employed to identify other companies that may offer learning opportunities. Top performers can assess top performers in other sectors to identify how they might continue improving, rather than be potentially limited within their sectors. Conversely, lower-performing companies can look within and across sectors to identify best practices to improve their performance. The methodological development and UK utility sustainability results collectively provide novel insight into the water, energy, and communication sectors and contribute to the international academic literature on benchmarking by illustrating an alternative and unique solution to comparing diverse sectors in any region.     

村镇土地利用效益及耦合协调度评价研究 ——以天津市蓟州区为例

土地利用变化是影响村镇发展的重要 因素,长期以来,我国村镇用地存在布局散乱、 粗放利用、空心村等问题,如何实现村镇土地的 合理高效利用成为村镇空间优化的重要问题。 目前,村镇土地的相关研究集中在土地发展问 题解析、动态演变分析、规划管理机制等方面, 开展村镇土地利用效益定量分析的研究较少。 因此,本文以促进村镇土地可持续利用为导向, 从经济、社会和生态三个维度选取18个指标构 建了村镇土地利用效益评价指标体系,并以天 津市蓟州区为例,采用多源数据融合的方式获取 949个村庄层级相关数据,通过计算村镇土地利 用效益及耦合协调度加以实证。研究结果与实 地调研情况基本一致,蓟州区村庄的经济效益 偏低,社会效益处于中等水平,生态效益良好。 总体协调度南低北高,且两两间的耦合协调度存在明显差异,社会—生态效益的耦合协调度明显高于经济—社会效益和经济—生态效益的耦 合协调度,且整体处于较高水平。文章基于分析结果对蓟州区村镇土地利用提出优化建议,为促 进村镇可持续发展、有效实施乡村振兴战略和乡村建设行动提供参考。     

小世界网络在多机器人编队中的应用

研究小世界网络在多机器人编队中的应用。根据小世界网络的特点,只需改变很少的几个连接,就可以很明显地改变多机器人编队的性能。分析小世界网络与多机器人编队的特点,并以Matlab7.0作为仿真软件,仿真多机器人编队通讯网络的全局效率和局部效率。仿真结果表明,小世界网络具有较高的效率和传播速度。     

煤矿湿润剂抑尘影响因素分析

通过室内实验选取了非离子型湿润剂和阴离子湿润剂进行复配,针对不同的变质程度煤样与除尘效率,湿润剂水溶液浓度与湿润时间的关系进行研究。实验表明非离子型湿润剂、阴离子湿润剂水溶液浓度为20%～40%最佳;同一种湿润剂随着煤的变质程度增加,非离子型湿润剂和阴离子湿润剂除尘效果越来越差。     

Modeling the performance of residential building envelope: The role of sustainable energy performance indicators

The success of modeling the sustainable performance of the residential building envelope will be to a great extent associated to the sustainable energy performance indicators used. The sustainable energy performance indicators that these building assessment models are developed around should be chosen by taking into account the targeted objectives. However, it is very common to find building performance assessment models that do not take into account these considerations and therefore have a limited capability and scope. This leads to inadequate aggregate indicators for the actual assessment of the sustainable performance of the building envelope for a sustainable energy efficient building. The focus of this paper is to investigate the principal sustainable energy performance indicators for modeling the sustainable performance of the residential building envelope and develop an approach for determining the most appropriate sustainable energy performance indicators. In doing that, this paper provides an overview of previous research on sustainable energy performance indicators and discusses conceptual framework for developing sustainable energy performance indicators. In order to identify these indicators that influence the capability of building performance assessment models, a comprehensive survey of construction industry professionals was conducted using questionnaire survey technique while the data was analyzed using correlation analysis techniques.     

对电梯能效监管的思考和建议

介绍了电梯能效监管工作开展的现状,总结归纳了电梯能效的标准、评价方法以及检验方法、检验设备的国内外研究现状,并对电梯能效监管工作提出几点建议。     

加热炉应用耐高温辐射节能涂料的效果

分析了中国石油锦西石化分公司南蒸馏装置常压加热炉效率降低的主要原因,根据当前提高加热炉效率的手段,在2007年大检修期间实施了常压加热炉辐射室炉衬内表面喷涂耐高温节能辐射涂料的措施,取得了一定的节能效果及经济效益。