SOIL AGGREGATE AND ITS RESPONSE TO LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

This paper provides a broad review of the existing study on soil aggregate and its responses to land management practices. Soil aggregate is used for structural unit, which is a group of primary soil particles that cohere to each other more strongly than other surrounding particles. The mechanism of soil particle aggregation may be expressed by a hierarchical model, which is based upon the hypothesis that macroaggregates （〉250μm） are collections of smaller microaggregates （〈250μm） held together with organic binding agents. Primary particles form microaggregates and then macroaggregates. Carbon （C）-rich young plant residues form and stabilize macroaggregates, whereas old organic C is occluded in the microaggregates. The interaction of aggregate dynamics with soil organic carbon （SOC） is complex and embraces a range of spatial and temporal processes within macroaggregates and microaggregates. The nature and properties of aggregates are determined by the quantity and quality of coarse residues and humic compounds and by the degree of their interaction with soil particles. The mechanisms resulting in the binding of primary soil particles into stable aggregates vary with soil parent material, climate, vegetation, and land management practices. Land management practices, including tillage methods, residue management, amendments, and soil fertility management, enhance soil aggregation. However, there is still much uncertainty in the dynamics of organic matter in macroaggregation and microaggregation, and research is still needed to understand further the mechanisms of aggregate formation and its responses to human activities.     

Operational risk: Emerging markets,sectors and measurement

The role of decision support systems in mitigating operational risks in firms is well established. However, there is a lack of investment in decision support systems in emerging markets, even though inadequate operational risk management is a key cause of discouraging external investment. This has also been exacerbated by insufficient understanding of operational risk in emerging markets, which can be attributed to past operational risk measurement techniques, limited studies on emerging markets and inadequate data.     

Contract type and decision right of sales promotion in supply chain management with a capital constrained retailer

From the practices of Chinese consumer electronics market, we find there are two key issues in supply chain management: The first issue is the contract type of either wholesale price contracts or consignment contracts with revenue sharing, and the second issue is the decision right of sales promotion (such as advertising, on-site shopping assistance, rebates, and post-sales service) owned by either manufacturers or retailers. We model a supply chain with one manufacturer and one retailer who has limited capital and faces deterministic demand depending on retail price and sales promotion. The two issues interact with each other. We show that only the combination (called as chain business mode) of a consignment contract with the manufacturer’s right of sales promotion or a wholesale price contract with the retailer’s right of sales promotion is better for both members. Moreover, the latter chain business mode is realized only when the retailer has more power in the chain and has enough capital, otherwise the former one is realized. But which one is preferred by customers? We find that the former is preferred by customers who mainly enjoy low price, while the latter is preferred by those who enjoy high sales promotion level.     

STOCHASTIC OPTIMIZATION FOR MULTISPECIES FISHERIES IN THE BARENTS SEA

We present a multispecies stochastic model that suggests optimal fishing policy for two species in a three‐species predator–prey ecosystem in the Barents Sea. We employ stochastic dynamic programming to solve a three‐dimensional model, in which the catch is optimized by using a multispecies feedback strategy. Applying the model to the cod, capelin, and herring ecosystem in the Barents Sea shows that the optimal catch for the stochastic interaction model is more conservative than that implied by the deterministic model. We also find that stochasticity has a stronger effect on the optimal exploitation policy for prey (capelin) than for predator (cod).     

ECONOMICALLY OPTIMAL MARINE RESERVES WITHOUT SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY IN A SIMPLE TWO‐PATCH MODEL

Bioeconomic analyses of spatial fishery models have established that marine reserves can be economically optimal (i.e., maximize sustainable profit) when there is some type of spatial heterogeneity in the system. Analyses of spatially continuous models and models with more than two discrete patches have also demonstrated that marine reserves can be economically optimal even when the system is spatially homogeneous. In this note we analyze a spatially homogeneous two‐patch model and show that marine reserves can be economically optimal in this case as well. The model we study includes the possibility that fishing can damage habitat. In this model, marine reserves are necessary to maximize sustainable profit when dispersal between the patches is sufficiently high and habitat is especially vulnerable to damage.     

Time-dependent optimization of a multi-item uncertain supply chain network: A hybrid approximation algorithm

We consider the uncertain least cost shipping problem. The input is a multi-item supply chain network with time-evolving uncertain costs and capacities. Exploiting the operational law of uncertainty theory, a mathematical model of the problem is established and the indeterminacy factors are tackled. We use the scaling idea together with transformation approach and uncertainty programming to develop a hybrid algorithm to optimize and obtain the uncertainty distribution of the total shipping cost. We analyze the practical performance of the algorithm and present an illustrative example.     

美军F-35战斗机PHM体系结构分析

为借鉴国外状态预测与健康管理(PHM)技术的发展经验,促进大型平台实现从状态监控向健康管理过渡,本文回顾了美军PHM技术的发展概况,分析了F-35战斗机PHM的体系结构组成以及各模块的主要功能,总结了F-35战斗机PHM的工作流程,介绍了F-35战斗机PHM系统的发展现状及存在的主要问题,提出了对发展PHM技术的认识,为从事PHM技术工作者提供了参考。     

VxWorks平台内核态ARINC653分区实时调度算法设计与实现

集成模块化航空电子架构(Integrated Modular Avionic, IMA)已成为主流航空电子系统。ARINC 653作为航空电子设备IMA架构的标准应用接口,成为研究航空电子软件编程方法的入口。最新研究表明,VxWorks能够为航空电子分区管理提供最优化的平台。然而,基于VxWorks的ARINC 653高效分区调度算法依然是研究的“盲区”。由此,设计了VxWorks内核态分层ARINC 653分区实时调度算法,提高了分区调度效率,为VxWorks内核ARINC 653完整性的研究提供非常有价值的参考。实验数据说明,相较于传统用户态分区管理模型,该调度算法使分区释放开销和分区释放抖动两项指标均显著降低。     

Effect of aspect ratio of vertically aligned copper nanowires in the presence of cellulose nanofibers on the thermal conductivity of epoxy composites

The composites comprising vertically aligned network of copper nanowires (CuNWs) in the presence of cellulose nanofibers were fabricated by using the freeze‐templating method and the effect of aspect ratio (A/R) of CuNWs on the thermal conductivity of epoxy composites was investigated. The thermal conductivity of epoxy composites increased to 0.79 W m^?1 K^?1 at 1.12 vol% of high A/R CuNWs loading, corresponding to the thermal conductivity enhancement of 365% as compared to the pure epoxy. The thermal conductivity of vertically aligned higher A/R CuNWs/epoxy, which is 38.5% and 51.9% higher than those of the lower A/R CuNWs and the randomly aligned CuNWs, respectively. The application of the epoxy composites in heat dissipation was demonstrated by the temperature changes of composites on a hot plate with the increase of heating time. These results indicate that the thermally conductive composites in this study could be applied for thermal dissipating materials in electronic devices.     

A Microelectronic Sensor Device Powered by a Small Implantable Biofuel Cell

Biocatalytic buckypaper electrodes modified with pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-dependent glucose dehydrogenase and bilirubin oxidase for glucose oxidation and oxygen reduction, respectively, were prepared for their use in a biofuel cell. A small (millimeter-scale; 2×3×2 mm³) enzyme-based biofuel cell was tested in a model glucose-containing aqueous solution, in human serum, and as an implanted device in a living gray garden slug (Deroceras reticulatum), producing electrical power in the range of 2–10 μW (depending on the glucose source). A microelectronic temperature-sensing device equipped with a rechargeable supercapacitor, internal data memory and wireless data downloading capability was specifically designed for activation by the biofuel cell. The power management circuit in the device allowed the optimized use of the power provided by the biofuel cell dependent on the sensor operation activity. The whole system (power-producing biofuel cell and power-consuming sensor) operated autonomously by extracting electrical energy from the available environmental source, as exemplified by extracting power from the glucose-containing hemolymph (blood substituting biofluid) in the slug to power the complete temperature sensor system and read out data wirelessly. Other sensor systems operating autonomously in remote locations based on the concept illustrated here are envisaged for monitoring different environmental conditions or can be specially designed for homeland security applications, particularly in detecting bioterrorism threats.