Income, Time Effects and Direct Preferences in a Multimodal Choice Context: Application of Mixed RP/SP Models with Non-Linear Utilities

Transport problems typically involve at least two types of constraints, on income and on time. Therefore, the indirect utility function depends either on the income available after having subtracted the cost of the discrete alternative and on the free time left after having worked and travelled by each competing option. In the typical linear-in-the-attributes and in-the-parameters specification, that represents the first grade approximation of the indirect utility function, the effect of income and time constraints cancel out and only the cost and time of the alternatives matter in the comparison between them. From a microeconomic point of view this is equivalent to assume that income and time effects could be disregarded; which is not always the case. To account for these effects the utility function should include second order attributes; however, in non-linear utility functions it may not be easy to distinguish among several effects that could be relevant: direct preferences for good and leisure, and simple interactions between attributes other than income and time effects. This paper analyses these effects from a theoretical point of view focusing on the possible confounding problem in detecting income and time effects. We use a dataset collected for a modal choice context and containing both revealed and stated preference data, and estimate several NL models examining the effect of the different second-order terms on detecting income and time effects. We compared specifications including square cost and time attributes, interactions between time and cost, cost divided by the income available to be spent on free time, and time multiplied by free time. Our results confirm the strong effect of direct preferences for goods and leisure time on choice, and the potential confounding effect between quadratic attributes and other non-linear omitted terms. Finally, we also found that care should be taken in highlighting income and time effects using mixed data sources, since confounding effects can occur when non-linearities are accounted for in both data sets.     

100吨转炉设备安装

针对100吨转炉设备安装过程中设备重量超载，超高，无法直接采用行车安装的情况，采用了设备分体移位吊装，现场整体组合焊接的施工工艺方案，设计专用安装工装，确保了设备安装精度并一次安装到位。     

Stable Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Compositions of Lates stappersii Otoliths from Lake Tanganyika,East Africa

In this study, we measured growth trends in oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in whole sagittal otoliths from three adult centropomid fish (Lates stappersii) from each of three sub-basins of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa. Sampling density was 20 to 50 samples per otolith. Both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values increase with age. The δ¹⁸O data suggest that otoliths were precipitated near the expected equilibrium with the ambient environment (ca. +3.5‰) and support a migration pattern from surface waters during larval stages to deeper waters (40 to 80 m) for mature fish. Relatively high δ¹⁸O values in the southern sub-basin are consistent with cooler temperatures in the region during seasonal upwelling. The δ13C increase from otolith core to edge is large (up to 4‰) and is interpreted as due to ontogenetic changes in diet and contributions from a decrease in the proportion of respired CO₂ incorporated into otolith carbonate as metabolic rates of the fish dropped with maturity. The data seem to successfully reveal life strategy and migration patterns of L. stappersii, document regional differences in lake conditions, and provide a record of temperature within the water column during which the fish lived. Higher resolution studies and analyses of historical samples could be used to constrain modern and past growth patterns, and to reconstruct past temperature gradients and productivity patterns in the lake.     

我国钢铁行业清洁生产标准HJ/T189存在的问题与修订建议

2006年10月1日起实施的《清洁生产标准钢铁行业》(HJ/T189-2006)存在着一些不足之处,如不及时修订,将无法适应“十一五”期间钢铁工业的发展形势和清洁生产形势,在某种程度上还很容易对国内钢铁企业造成误导,而且会产生一些负面不良影响。根据目前我国钢铁工业的发展形势和国内外钢铁企业已经达到的实际清洁生产水平,就其存在的问题和今后的修订谈了一些看法。     

Law,liability and expert systems

This paper examines some of the possible legal implications of the production, marketing and use of expert systems. The relevance of a legally useful definition of expert systems, comprising systems designed for use both by laymen and professionals, is related to the distinctions inherent in the legal doctrine underlying provision of goods and provision of services. The liability of the sellers and users of, and contributors to, expert systems are examined in terms of professional malpractice as well as product liability. A recurring theme indicates that legislators may be inclined to restrict possibilities of liability suits in order to avoid disincentives to the creation of expert systems.     

莱钢职业安全健康动态监控信息系统的建立及运行分析

以网络技术和信息技术为依托，建立职业安全健康动态监控信息系统，进行职业安全健康管理的监控和预警，提高安全管理的现代化水平。     

微波干燥原理及其应用

介绍了微波干燥的原理和主要特点及其应用的现状,并且给出了微波干燥经济核算的计算方法。     

热轧带肋钢筋屈服不明显原因分析与探讨

针对涟钢热轧带肋钢筋的屈服不明显现象，从金属的金相组织、人工时效、自然时效、测试方法等方面着手，寻求各因素对钢筋力学性能的影响，并阐述了该异常组织的形成机理及相关因素，指出魏氏体、粒状贝氏体等的存在是造成带肋钢筋性能异常的主要原因，同时对部分屈服不明显的带肋钢筋判定提供了较为科学的依据。     

Identification of gaps in mangrove forests with airborne LIDAR

Mangrove forests change frequently due to disturbances from tropical storms, frost, lightning, and insects. It has been suggested that the death and regeneration of trees in small gaps due to lightning may play a critical role in mangrove forest turnover; however, the large-scale quantification of spatial pattern and areas of gaps is lacking for investigating this issue. Airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology provides an effective way for identifying gaps by remotely obtaining direct measurements of ground and canopy elevations. A method based on an alternative sequential filter and black top-hat mathematical morphological transformation was developed to extract gap features. Comparison of identified gap polygons with raw LIDAR measurements and field surveys shows that the proposed method successfully extracted gap features in mangrove forests in Everglades National Park. There are 400–500 lightning gaps per square kilometer in mangrove forests at the study sites. The distribution of gap sizes follows an exponential form and the area of gaps with sizes larger than 100 m² account for 55–61% of the total area of gaps. The area of gaps in the mangrove forest in Everglades National Park is about 4–5% of the total forest area and the average gap formation rate is about 0.3% of the total forest area per year, indicating that lightning gaps play an important role in mangrove forest dynamics.     

A novel open-loop high-speed CMOS sample-and-hold

A new open-loop high-speed CMOS sample-and-hold is presented. Based on new method for further reduction of voltage-dependent charge injection, a new CMOS sample-and-hold was designed. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of this method. Over 10 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio, compared to the signal-to-noise ratio of conventional bottom plate sampling S/Hs was achieved with this method. A comparison between newly designed S/H and the bottom-plate sampling S/H is presented.