Companies

Net earnings after pre-tax profits. Profiles include: Anadarko Petroleum, Chevron Texaco, Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Occidental, Schlumberger, YPF SA, EnCana Corporation, Imperial Oil, Petroleo Brasileiro, Total SA, E.ON, ENI, Repsol, Ecopetrol SA, Norsk Hydro, Statoil, Devon Energy Corporation. BP, Shell, BHP Billiton, CNOOC, Sinopec and PetroChina. Updated on a monthly basis.     

Effect of Strain Rate on Discontinuous Flow and Mechanical Characteristics of High-Nitrogenous Steel

Experimental study on the effect of strain rate on discontinuous flow and mechanical characteristics of the high-nitrogenous steel Kh23AG19F has been performed. Within the range of strain rates from 4.62 · 10^-5 to 1.85 · 10 ^-4 s^-1, discontinuous flow, reflected by serration on the tensile diagram, is chiefly determined by intergranular deformation mechanisms. Under strain rates over 1.85 · 10^-2 s^-1, combined deformation modes prevail, which cause a change in the character of discontinuous flow and transform a serrated tensile diagram into a wavy graph, with the yield stress of steel increased significantly.     

铁路冷藏运输运价分析

本文对各种运输方式易腐货物的运价进行了比较分析,对铁路冷藏运输的现行运价和保本运价进行了讨论,提出了铁路冷藏运输运价改革的若干建议,可供铁路进行冷藏运输改革参考。     

基于BOOSt结构下不连续导电模式的PFC电路

采用现代高频功率变换技术的有源功率因数校正（Power Factor Corrector,PFC)技术是解决高频开关变换器谐波污染的有效手段。与传统的PFC电路相比，有源PFC电路的输入电流接近正弦波且与输与电压同相位，能有效抑制电流波形畸变和谐波，因此避免了对同一电网设施的干扰。在PFC电路中，Boost变换器是研究和应用得最多的一种变换器。本文着重分析了Boost电路在不连续导电模式状态下，PFC电路的临界条件，对实际电路结构的设计有很好的指导意义。     

New two‐dimensional slope limiters for discontinuous Galerkin methods on arbitrary meshes

In this paper, we introduce an extension of Van Leer's slope limiter for two‐dimensional discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods on arbitrary unstructured quadrangular or triangular grids. The aim is to construct a non‐oscillatory shock capturing DG method for the approximation of hyperbolic conservative laws without adding excessive numerical dispersion. Unlike some splitting techniques that are limited to linear approximations on rectangular grids, in this work, the solution is approximated by means of piecewise quadratic functions. The main idea of this new reconstructing and limiting technique follows a well‐known approach where local maximum principle regions are defined by enforcing some constraints on the reconstruction of the solution. Numerical comparisons with some existing slope limiters on structured as well as on unstructured meshes show a superior accuracy of our proposed slope limiters. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Benchmarking of electricity networks: Practical problems with its use for regulation

Benchmarking is a technique derived for management purposes, intended to identify outliers in any population as possible problems for resolution. Several regulatory agencies have tried to use benchmarking to define the degree of inefficiency of regulated companies, by reference to some target or frontier. This paper identifies the main problem inherent in trying to adapt a management technique to a regulatory purpose – namely that it requires the exercise of subjective judgements. The resulting lack of predictability and objectivity is not conducive to the provision of efficient regulatory incentives.This paper explains where subjective judgement enters into regulatory applications of benchmarking, which is not always apparent. The choice of model and selection of data sets are two obvious areas, but the main problem arises over the assumption that any costs not explained by the model must be due to inefficiency. Such assumptions are simply unsupported by evidence and lead to cost targets (or cost reduction targets defined over several years) that are little better than subjective guesses. There are other, superior ways to set cost reduction targets, based on long-term trends in total factor productivity for the regulated sector, which are used in the US and in other countries. However, some regulators feel obliged to use benchmarking and the paper concludes with recommendations as to how benchmarking should support further and more objective investigations into the costs of regulated utilities.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERNAL FRICTION AND MODULUS ASSOCIATED WITH NON-EQUILIBRIUM DIFFUSION-TYPE PHASE TRANSFORMATION IN EUTECTOID Al-Zn ALLOY

The characteristics of the low frequency internal friction and the modulus effect associatedwith the non-equilibrium spinodal pretransformation and the following discontinuous trans-formation was investigated in an as-quenched eutectiod Al-Zn alloy.It was observed that theloss of the stability in the lattice,which corresponded to the large-amplitude long-wavelengthstatic concentration wave in the non-equilibrium spinodal pretransformation,did not induceany effect of localized soft modulus.Although there are two aging internal friction peaks inphase transformation which correspond to the appearance and disappearance of the coherencyin spinodal pretransformation and the maximum of the interface area in the discontinuoustransformation respectively,the effect of localized soft modulus did not take place yet.     

TiAl基合金在快速加热循环热处理过程中的结构失稳

观察了快速加热循环热处理过程中发生的4种结构失稳现象：形成二次层片组织、原始层片球化、晶界处非连续粗化、相界形核。通过比较连续加热与等温加热条件下的相转变开始线，探讨了连续加热与等温加热条件下结构失稳机制的异同。提出了快速加热循环热处理过程中避免结构失稳的途径：确保合金成分均匀，使各区域相变温度一致；使最高温度下的保温时间尽可能短。     

Pricing strategies with reference effects in competitive industries

This paper examines the effect of reference prices on companies operating within competitive industries. We confirm that even with competition, firms optimally price high in the short term to generate a high reference price and then decrease this price over time. Competitors' prices converge toward each other over time, emphasizing the short‐term nature of reference prices. We then show that pricing optimally to take advantage of reference prices generates a positive externality for other firms in an industry, such that competitors may generate higher profit. The longer the focus of a given firm, the more profit the firm generates, but less relative to its competitors. This arises because the externalities created through pricing high to increase reference prices outweigh the benefits of the higher reference prices themselves. If pricing managers are compensated relative to their competition, this suggests that short‐termism may be implicitly encouraged to the detriment of profit.     

利率政策对西安房价影响的有效性分析

由于经济发展水平不同,居民购买力水平不同,货币政策调控对不同地区房价的有效性也存在差异,需要根据不同地区的特点进行分析.以西安市房价变化为例,选取2003~2007年的数据,分析利率政策调控对西安房价影响的有效性并进行了实证检验,发现利率政策实施对西安市房地产价格的影响非常有限,2003~2007年的利率政策调控并没有达到预期效果,只是使市场发生了轻微变动.为此,提出了提高利率、提升地方政府公共服务能力等相关的政策建议.