When smart grid meets PHEVs: a smart load distribution mechanism in smart grid

Along with the increasing popularity of electric vehicles caused by economic and environmental incentives, the penetration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) poses a great threat to the power grid, especially to the aggregated load in the power system. Motivated by this observation, in this paper, we analyze the impact of large-scale usage of PHEVs and address the load distribution problem by solving a decentralized optimization problem and smoothening the peak load with pricing strategies in the power grid. We also investigate the influence of charging time and charging mode on load distribution, as the charging price varies with the changes of these two factors. Our simulation study on PJM’s data warehouse shows that the proposed strategies can well smooth the peak load by pricing on the charging time and mode. The results also indicate that our strategies always distribute the load in a smoother manner at a smaller load fluctuation compared with other schemes (e.g., First Come First Service and PMCS) and thus improving the stability and reliability of the power grid.     

一种基于稀疏表示的WLAN室内定位算法

随着科技进步和人民生活水平的提高,越来越多的用户对定位技术需求变得日益迫切。基于WLAN的室内定位技术研究在此背景下应运而生,但是该技术容易受非视距离以及多径影响。而位置指纹算法有效地克服了上述缺点,并得到了广泛应用。提出一种基于稀疏表示的WLAN室内定位算法,以解决位置指纹算法K近邻方法中参数选择问题、不能综合利用全局参考点信息问题,并对其进行了实验仿真。     

含盐次氯酸钠酮连氮法制备水合肼研究

研究了酮连氮法制备水合肼 ,并考察了原料次氯酸钠的质量浓度以及氯化钠的含量对合成的影响。试验结果表明 ,次氯酸钠的质量浓度对合成水合肼影响较大 ,而原料中氯化钠的含量对合成水合肼影响不大 ,但对分离提纯操作工艺有一定影响。     

代理重签名研究进展

综述了代理重签名理论及其发展状况、应用背景、一般模型和安全性定义; 通过对现有经典代理重签名方案的系统研究, 详细分析比较了其性能特性、执行效率和安全性。提出了代理重签名方案在数据安全交换中的应用, 解决了现有电子政务中数据交换存在的效率低、密钥管理复杂、交换服务器权限过大等问题。最后概括了所取得的研究成果, 并讨论了目前研究中所遇到的关键问题。     

An empirical investigation of Technology Readiness among medical staff based in Greek hospitals

Technology readiness (TR) represents an individual’s mental readiness to accept new technologies. Although the TR scale has been used in many studies, its application in the healthcare context is limited. This paper focuses on identifying the TR profiles of medical staff and to model preference TR variations with respect to computer use, computer knowledge and computer feature demands. The study reports results from a nationwide study conducted in Greece, during a three-year period, which sampled responses from 604 physicians and nurses working in 14 Greek hospitals. Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling analysis is used in order to confirm the structure of the Technology Readiness Index. The results confirm the five groups of the TR taxonomy. Statistical differences were found between classes in information and communication technology (ICT) knowledge, ICT feature demands, hours of use per week as well as ICT use performance, but not in the general use of ICT. The results facilitate comprehension of the factors, which influence the use of ICT by medical staff and, in addition, they convey important policy and managerial implications. In conclusion, medical staff should be treated according to its TR taxonomy classes in order to expedite the acceptance and use of an ICT system.     

Water uptake of epoxy coatings modified with γ-APS silane monomer

Epoxy resin was modified by a silane monomer, γ-aminopropyltrimethoxy silane (γ-APS), and was used as the protective coatings for LY12 aluminum alloys. The aim of the modification is to reduce the water uptake of polymeric coatings. The water absorption of coatings was measured by coating capacitance method in 3.5 wt.% NaCl aqueous solution. The result indicates that water uptake of epoxy coatings modified with 1.0 wt.% γ-APS decreases compared with pure epoxy coatings, whereas larger amounts of sliane result in the deterioration in performance against water permeation, due to the excessive consumption of epoxide group in epoxy resin by amino-group in silane agent, thus reduce the cross-linking of epxoy coating as a result of presence of excessive curing agent (polyamide). T_g of silane-modified coatings increases slightly after immersion, extremely contrasting with that of pure epoxy coating, which was observed to decrease significantly after water permeation. The formation of Si–O–Si structure resulting from the hydrolysis and condensation of silane components during the immersion in aqueous media may be a reasonable explanation for the abnormal change in T_g of silane-modified coatings. In addition, all silane-modified coatings display better protection performance, which is characterized by higher charge transfer resistances (R_ct) and lower double layer capacitance (C_dl) at substrate/electrolyte interface.     

表面活性剂对聚乙烯醇水溶液黏度影响的研究

研究了阴离子十二烷基硫酸钠、阳离子十六烷基三甲基溴化铵和非离子壬基酚聚氧乙烯醚等3种不同类型的表面活性剂对聚乙烯醇溶液黏度性质的影响。结果表明,离子型表面活性剂与聚乙烯醇发生疏水链相互作用使高聚物带有电荷,体系黏度增加;非离子表面活性剂与聚乙烯醇无相互作用,体系黏度不变;盐的加入,只对聚乙烯醇/离子型表面活性剂混合体系影响大,而对聚乙烯醇/非离子型表面活性剂混合体系无影响。     

The longitudinal impact of enterprise system users’ pre-adoption expectations and organizational support on post-adoption proficient usage

Although enterprise systems (ES) are ubiquitous, many firms report less than stellar payoffs from these costly investments, with underutilization often attributed to failures in the implementation process. Unfortunately, research has not provided sufficient insights into these failures, in part because it has focused on actual usage, as opposed to proficient usage, as the benchmark for successful implementation. Moreover, research has not generally examined how the adoption process unfolds over time, thus overlooking potential underlying mechanisms that may help explain how adopters achieve proficiency. To begin addressing these shortcomings, we study how adopters’ pre-adoption expectations, enacted over time, can influence their post-adoption proficiency, by shaping how and why they spend time using the system during the adoption period. We analyzed time-lagged survey data from 153 financial analysts, required to adopt new ES-based software, at a multinational bank. We found that adopters who hold pre-adoption expectations reflecting greater internal and external motives to adopt the system as well as systematically integrate it into their work routines are more apt to use the system in ways that enhance their cumulative knowledge of it, and subsequently develop higher levels of proficiency post-adoption. Moreover, greater organizational support enhanced the impact of adopters’ expectations on proficiency, except when their actual use is low in which case organizational support had an adverse effect.     

IT capability and organizational performance: the roles of business process agility and environmental factors

The business value of information technology (IT) has been one of the top concerns of both practitioners and scholars for decades. Numerous studies have documented the positive effects of IT capability on organizational performance but our knowledge of the processes through which such gains are achieved remains limited due to a lack of focus on the business environment. Such a linkage therefore remains the subject of debate in the information systems literature. In this study, we fill this gap by investigating the mediating role of business process agility and the moderating roles of environmental factors. On the basis of matched survey data obtained from 214 IT and business executives from manufacturing firms in China, our analyses show that even though firm-wide IT capability presents the characteristics of rarity, appropriability, non-reproducibility, and non-substitutability, its impact on organizational performance is fully mediated by business process agility. Our results also show that the impact of the environment is multifaceted and nuanced. In particular, environmental hostility weakens the effect of IT capability on business process agility, while environmental complexity strengthens it. The theoretical and practical implications of this study, and its limitations, are also discussed.     

Integrated clinical pathway management for medical quality improvement – based on a semiotically inspired systems architecture

Clinical pathway is an approach to standardise care processes to support the implementations of clinical guidelines and protocols. It is designed to support the management of treatment processes including clinical and non-clinical activities, resources and also financial aspects. It provides detailed guidance for each stage in the management of a patient with the aim of improving the continuity and coordination of care across different disciplines and sectors. However, in the practical treatment process, the lack of knowledge sharing and information accuracy of paper-based clinical pathways burden health-care staff with a large amount of paper work. This will often result in medical errors, inefficient treatment process and thus poor quality medical services. This paper first presents a theoretical underpinning and a co-design research methodology for integrated pathway management by drawing input from organisational semiotics. An approach to integrated clinical pathway management is then proposed, which aims to embed pathway knowledge into treatment processes and existing hospital information systems. The capability of this approach has been demonstrated through the case study in one of the largest hospitals in China. The outcome reveals that medical quality can be improved significantly by the classified clinical pathway knowledge and seamless integration with hospital information systems.