Adaptability of competitive electricity reforms a modular analysis

Among the competitive electricity reforms that have been implemented in Europe and the US for the last 18 years, none has “survived” over several years without major changes. Their changing nature raises the question of their adaptability. Two characteristics of reforms play a key role on their adaptation properties. Firstly, they are “modular” objects in the sense of [Baldwin, C., 2008. Where do transactions come from? Modularity, transactions, and the boundaries of firms. Industrial and Corporate Change 17 (1), 155–195]. Secondly, they are produced in an institutional process which leads to “incomplete” rules and designs [Pistor, K., Xu, C., 2003. Incomplete law. International Law and Politics 35, 931–1013]. We propose a typology of adaptations based on the framework proposed by [Williamson, O.E., 1991. Comparative economic organization: the analysis of discrete structural alternatives. Administrative Science Quarterly 36 (2), 269–296] for contracts: (1) in case of small disturbances, adaptations are realized quasi-automatically, by autonomous decisions of the institutions governing the implementation of reforms; (2) in case of middle-range disturbances, adaption is made by Coasian bargaining; (3) finally, in case of strong disturbances, or when bargaining is not feasible, the adaptation of reforms is in the hands of legislative and executive institutions [North, D.C., 2005. Le processus du développement économique. Editions d’Organisation]. These institutions can reform the reforms [Joskow, P.L., 2006. Introduction to electricity sector liberalization: lessons learned from cross-country studies. In: Sioshansi, F.P. (Ed.), Electricity Market Reform: An International Perspective. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 1–32; Hogan, W.W., 2002. Electricity market restructuring: reforms of reforms. Journal of Regulatory Economics 21, 103–132]. The role of these types of adaptations in each electricity reform is a consequence of the allocation of rights to the regulator, to stakeholders and to legislative and executive institutions.     

A Bipolar Host Material Containing Triphenylamine and Diphenylphosphoryl‐Substituted Fluorene Units for Highly Efficient Blue Electrophosphorescence

Highly efficient blue electrophosphorescent organic light‐emitting diodes incorporating a bipolar host, 2,7‐bis(diphenylphosphoryl)‐9‐[4‐(N,N‐diphenylamino)phenyl]‐9‐phenylfluorene (POAPF), doped with a conventional blue triplet emitter, iridium(III) bis[(4,6‐difluoro‐phenyl)pyridinato‐N,C^2´]picolinate (FIrpic) are fabricated. The molecular architecture of POAPF features an electron‐donating (p‐type) triphenylamine group and an electron‐accepting (n‐type) 2,7‐bis(diphenyl‐phosphoryl)fluorene segment linked through the sp³‐hybridized C9 position of the fluorene unit. The lack of conjugation between these p‐ and n‐type groups endows POAPF with a triplet energy gap (E_T) of 2.75 eV, which is sufficiently high to confine the triplet excitons on the blue‐emitting guest. In addition, the built‐in bipolar functionality facilitates both electron and hole injection. As a result, a POAPF‐based device doped with 7 wt% FIrpic exhibits a very low turn‐on voltage (2.5 V) and high electroluminescence efficiencies (20.6% and 36.7 lm W^?1). Even at the practical brightnesses of 100 and 1000 cd m^?2, the efficiencies remain high (20.2%/33.8 lm W^?1 and 18.8%/24.3 lm W^?1, respectively), making POAPF a promising material for use in low‐power‐consumption devices for next‐generation flat‐panel displays and light sources.     

Synthesis,Biological Evaluation of 1,1‐Diarylethylenes as a Novel Class of Antimitotic Agents

The cytotoxic activities of 23 new isocombretastatin A derivatives with modifications on the B‐ring were investigated. Several compounds exhibited excellent antiproliferative activity at nanomolar concentrations against a panel of human cancer cell lines. Compounds isoFCA‐4 ( 2 e ), isoCA‐4 ( 2 k ) and isoNH₂CA‐4 ( 2 s ) were the most cytotoxic, and strongly inhibited tubulin polymerization with IC₅₀ values of 4, 2 and 1.5 μM , respectively. These derivatives were found to be 10‐fold more active than phenstatin and colchicine with respect to growth inhibition but displayed similar activities as tubulin polymerization inhibitors. In addition, cell cycle arrest in the G₂/M phase and subsequent apoptosis was observed in three cancer cell lines when treated with these compounds. The disruptive effect of 2 e , 2 k and 2 s on the vessel‐like structures formed by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) suggest that these compounds may act as vascular disrupting agents. Both compounds 2 k and 2 s have the potential for further prodrug modification and development as vascular disrupting agents for treatment of solid tumors.     

Chiral α substituted acrylates side-chain polymers with a cinnamate core

Summary In this paper we report thermal studies and microscopic observations on optically active liquid crystalline monomers having the following general formula: with X = H (acrylates), CH₃ (methacrylates) and Cl (chloroacrylates) and n=2, 6, 11 (flexible spacer groups) and a few corresponding side-chain polymers.     

The effects of method of castration,rearing condition and diet on sensory quality of pork assessed by a trained panel

Beside surgical castration possible alternatives helping to reduce the incidence of boar taint in cooked pork are rearing conditions, immunocastration and feeding strategies for entire males known to lower the skatole levels. The goal of this study was to assess the effects of these alternatives on the sensory acceptability of pork. In experiment 1, carcasses from barrows, entire males (EM) and entire males fed raw potato starch (EM+) 7 d before slaughter were selected based on the androstenone (≤ 2 µg/g) and skatole (≤ 0.32 µg/g) levels. In experiment 2, carcasses from barrows, immunocastrates (IC), entire males either group-penned (EMG) or individually penned (EMP) were selected based on the aforementioned criteria. Boar odour and boar flavour intensities of longissimus dorsi (LD) and neck chops were evaluated by trained panellists. Boar odour and flavour scores were higher (P < 0.01) in neck than LD chops. Although skatole tissue levels in barrows and EM+ were similar (P > 0.05), boar odour and flavour scores were greater (P < 0.05) in EM+ than barrows. In experiment 2, scores for boar odour and flavour were lower (P < 0.05) in pork from barrows and IC than EMP, with intermediate values for EMG. In conclusion, we observed a discrepancy between the known boar taint compounds androstenone and skatole and sensory acceptability, which indicates that other factors influenced the perception of boar taint. Thus, surgical castration with or without anesthesia or immunocastration are still the safest methods to avoid boar taint.     

非线性减振结构等效动弹性亚超谐共振拟合法研究术(Ⅰ)

提出了利用亚超谐共振响应傅氏谱拟合非线性弹性结构等效参数的两种基本方法,得到了以三次多项式描述非线性弹性的亚超谐共振约束方程,研究了稳态响应或周期响应存在条件,从理论上分析了两种拟合方法的特点     

Reduction of the correlation sensitivity to the changes of the input illumination by a post processing based on the correlation statistics

Linear-correlation amplitude changes when the intensity level of the input image is modified. As recognition is often based on the correlation-peak level, a change of the input illumination may result in a false recognition. We propose an illumination-change compensation by a post processing of the correlation distribution that is based on statistical measures of the correlation histograms. The theoretical background and simulation results are provided in the frame of an actual application in biology.     

Shape estimation from topographic primal sketch

In this paper, a technique for estimating object shape from topographic primal sketch is investigated. Given a gray tone image of a three-dimensional object, a topographic labeling of the image indicates the peaks and pits, ridges and valleys, and flats and hillsides of the underlying, continuous, gray tone surface. The patterns of these topographic labels capture information about the original three-dimensional object in the scene and about the illumination. In order to determine if estimation of three-dimensional shape from a topographic labeling is feasible, we have both analytically and experimentally determined the topographic labelings for images of some mathematically generated surfaces with varied directions of illumination. Our results indicate that such patterns do exist and will be useful in determining three-dimensional shape from two-dimensional images. A scheme for partial classification of three-dimensional object surface is proposed. Preliminary results are illustrated.     

The NMFECC cray time-sharing system

The National Magnetic Fusion Energy Computer Center (NMFECC) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has implemented a simple, yet powerful interactive operating system, the Cray Time-Sharing System (CTSS), on a Cray-1 supercomputer. CTSS augments the multi-programming batch facilities normally found in supercomputer systems with many of the interactive services typical of interactive minicomputer systems. This paper gives some of the historical background leading to CTSS and gives an overview of the system that emphasizes the strong points or unusual features such as multiple channels, decentralized control of resources, priorities and program scheduling, system recovery, and on-line documentation.