Industrial sugar beets to biofuel: Field to fuel production system and cost estimates

Specialized varieties of sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.) may be an eligible feedstock for advanced biofuel designation under the USA Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. These non-food industrial beets could double ethanol production per hectare compared to alternative feedstocks. A mixed-integer mathematical programming model was constructed to determine the breakeven price of ethanol produced from industrial beets, and to determine the optimal size and biorefinery location. The model, based on limited field data, evaluates Southern Plains beet production in a 3-year crop rotation, and beet harvest, transportation, and processing. The optimal strategy depends critically on several assumptions including a just-in-time harvest and delivery system that remains to be tested in field trials. Based on a wet beet to ethanol conversion rate of 110 dm³ Mg⁻¹ and capital cost of 128 M$ for a 152 dam³ y⁻¹ biorefinery, the estimated breakeven ethanol price was 507 $ m⁻³. The average breakeven production cost of corn (Zea mays L.) grain ethanol ranged from 430 to 552 $ m⁻³ based on average net corn feedstock cost of 254 and 396 $ m⁻³ in 2014 and 2013, respectively. The estimated net beet ethanol delivered cost of 207 $ m⁻³ was lower than the average net corn feedstock cost of 254–396$ m⁻³ in 2013 and 2014. If for a mature industry, the cost to process beets was equal to the cost to process corn, the beet breakeven ethanol price would be $387 m^-3 (587 $ m⁻³ gasoline equivalent).     

Household endotoxin reduction in the Louisa Environmental Intervention Project for rural childhood asthma

Endotoxin exacerbates asthma. We designed the Louisa Environmental Intervention Project (LEIP) and assessed its effectiveness in reducing household endotoxin and improving asthma symptoms in rural Iowa children. Asthmatic school children (N = 104 from 89 homes) of Louisa and Keokuk counties in Iowa (aged 5-14 years) were recruited and block-randomized to receive extensive (education + professional cleaning) or educational interventions. Environmental sampling collection and respiratory survey administration were done at baseline and during three follow-up visits. Mixed-model analyses were used to assess the effect of the intervention on endotoxin levels and asthma symptoms in the main analysis and of endotoxin reduction on asthma symptoms in exploratory analysis. In the extensive intervention group, dust endotoxin load was significantly reduced in post-intervention visits. The extensive compared with the educational intervention was associated with significantly decreased dust endotoxin load in farm homes and less frequent nighttime asthma symptoms. In exploratory analysis, dust endotoxin load reduction from baseline was associated with lower total asthma symptoms score (Odds ratio: 0.52, 95% confidence interval: 0.29-0.92). In conclusion, the LEIP intervention reduced household dust endotoxin and improved asthma symptoms. However, endotoxin reductions were not sustained post-intervention by residents.     

A bat-neural network multi-agent system (BNNMAS) for stock price prediction: Case study of DAX stock price

Creating an intelligent system that can accurately predict stock price in a robust way has always been a subject of great interest for many investors and financial analysts. Predicting future trends of financial markets is more remarkable these days especially after the recent global financial crisis. So traders who access to a powerful engine for extracting helpful information throw raw data can meet the success. In this paper we propose a new intelligent model in a multi-agent framework called bat-neural network multi-agent system (BNNMAS) to predict stock price. The model performs in a four layer multi-agent framework to predict eight years of DAX stock price in quarterly periods. The capability of BNNMAS is evaluated by applying both on fundamental and technical DAX stock price data and comparing the outcomes with the results of other methods such as genetic algorithm neural network (GANN) and some standard models like generalized regression neural network (GRNN), etc. The model tested for predicting DAX stock price a period of time that global financial crisis was faced to economics. The results show that BNNMAS significantly performs accurate and reliable, so it can be considered as a suitable tool for predicting stock price specially in a long term periods.     

矿山工程建设项目造价管理信息系统设计

为提高矿山工程建设项目造价管理水平,设计了矿山工程建设项目造价管理系统。通过分析矿山工程项目的造价组成,并采用三层B/S架构设计系统硬件框架,运用Web服务器传输矿山工程项目各项数据,划分系统功能子系统,并对矿山工程建设项目造价额与价差预备费进行计算,完成系统软件设计。结果表明,该系统能够有效管理矿山工程建设项目造价,并对外部的恶意攻击进行及时报警,系统具有有效性与安全性。     

Mixed coordination mechanisms for scheduling games on hierarchical machines

In this paper, we study scheduling games under mixed coordination mechanisms on hierarchical machines. The two scheduling policies involved are ‐ and ‐, where ‐ (resp., ‐) policy sequences jobs in nondecreasing order of their hierarchies, and jobs of the same hierarchy in nonincreasing (resp., nondecreasing) order of their processing times. We first show the existence of a Nash equilibrium. Then we present the price of anarchy and the price of stability for the games with social costs of minimizing the makespan and maximizing the minimum machine load. All the bounds given in this paper are tight.     

基于承包商预期收益不变的不平衡报价模型

在招标实践中,通常采用最低价中标原则,使得投标人不得不压低其投标价格。基于承包商预期收益不变的不平衡报价模型,是在“工程量清单报价”的条件下,考虑到施工中工程量的变化及施工顺序的影响,体现了资金的时间价值,在保持承包商预期收益不变的前提下,通过调整各分项工程的单价,来降低工程报价,以增加中标机会而建立的。所建立的模型简单,易于操作,并配以具体的工程实例,通过计算机求得其最优解,可供承包商投标报价时参考。     

利用碳封存技术开发我国深层煤层气资源的思考

碳封存技术是在美国政府大力倡导下,联合加拿大、澳大利亚、挪威、日本等国家,以捕获碳并安全存储的方式来取代直接向大气中排放CO2的一种新技术。我国的煤层气资源非常丰富,煤层气资源量约为116.8×1012m3,埋深2 000~4 000 m范围的煤层气资源量约为50×1012m3,这部分埋藏较深的资源由于开发成本较高,虽然在短期内很难加以利用,但碳封存技术的出现为开发和利用深部煤层气资源提供了可能的技术条件。CO2的吸附能力是CH4的4倍以上,如果把CO2通过钻井注入到深部煤层中,由于其吸附能力的差异,CH4会被优先置换出来,利用该技术一方面实现封存CO2的目的,同时还能够开发深部CH4。这种置换技术在我国很多含煤盆地具有广阔的应用前景。     

我国水权交易博弈定价决策机理

结合水权交易双方的效用函数，基于博弈原理及方法分别建立了水权交易准市场阶段和水市场阶段的水权交易博弈定价模型，并对水市场定价模型的纳什均衡解进行了探讨；基于定价相关要素间关系的探讨，解析了准市场阶段和水市场阶段水权交易定价决策机理，结果认为水权交易双方存在利益冲突，并且准市场阶段水权交易定价相对较低，水市场阶段水权交易定价相对较高。     

住宅设计的分析与研究

总结了住宅设计的发展,概括了住宅各个功能区的特点。通过设计的实例说明了各不同功能区的设计,成果可供进一步的研究参考。     

The Application of the Theory of the Price Elasticity of Demand to the EMS Management

1　Introduction　ExpressMailService (EMS )wasopenedupbyChinaPostintheearly 80stomeettheneedsofeco nomicdevelopment.It sthemostcompetitiveoneofthepostservices.There recivilaviation ,Chinarail wayandotherprivateexpressdeliverycompaniesdomesticallyandUPS ,TNT ,DHLandTEDEXcompetingwithEMSintheinternationalmarket.OneofthemostpowerfulcompeteweaponofthesecompaniesisthelowerpricethanEMS[1 ] .BecauseofthefiercecompetitionEMSdeclinedfromthemo nopolistindomesticandinternationalmarketoftheear…