A survey of berth allocation and quay crane scheduling problems in container terminals

Due to the variety of technical equipments and terminal layouts, research has produced a multitude of optimization models for seaside operations planning in container terminals. To provide a support in modeling problem characteristics and in suggesting applicable algorithms this paper reviews the relevant literature. For this purpose new classification schemes for berth allocation problems and quay crane scheduling problems are developed. Particular focus is put on integrated solution approaches which receive increasing importance for the terminal management.     

Facilitated modelling in operational research

The traditional way of employing operational research in organisational interventions has been the expert mode. In this mode, the problem situation faced by the client is given to the operational research consultant, who then builds a model of the situation, solves the model to arrive at an optimal (or quasi-optimal) solution, and then provides a recommendation to the client based on the obtained solution. An alternative mode of engagement is to conduct the whole intervention together with the client: from structuring and defining the nature of the problem situation of interest, to supporting the evaluation of priorities and development of plans for subsequent implementation. In this latter mode, the operational researcher works throughout the intervention not only as an analyst, but also as a facilitator to the client. This paper discusses this latter mode of engagement with clients, with particular emphasis on the use of facilitated modelling as the intervention tool. Drawing on research scattered across a range of publications and domains, the review presented here provides a formal definition of facilitated modelling, together with a general framework that allows the conceptualisation of a wide variety of facilitated modelling approaches to organisational intervention. Design issues in facilitated modelling and their practical implication are discussed, and directions for future research identified.     

A facility location and installation of resources model for level of repair analysis

The Level of Repair Analysis – LORA – is an analytic methodology aimed at determining: (i) the optimal location of facilities that compose a maintenance structure; (ii) the quantity of required resources in each facility; and (iii) the best repair policies, i.e., rules that determine if a given component should be discarded or repaired, and where those actions should take place. This work presents a mixed-integer programming model for LORA that is more comprehensive than others in the literature, being suitable to many practical situations. The model was applied to 15 substantial real world problems, and considering distinct maintenance policies to some of them, resulted in 22 different solutions, all of which could be achieved by a commercial Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) solver in reasonable times.     

Galactic cosmic-ray modulation and solar-terrestrial relationships

Summary Representative examples of the Italian scientific undertaking on galactic cosmic-ray modulation within the GIFCO projects are given. Also current ideas from the international community on long-term effects are discussed. To speed up publication, the proofs were not sent to the authors and were supervised by the Scientific Committee.     

常用光源对太阳电池性能的影响

讨论了太阳、荧光灯、白炽灯的光谱对太阳电池的影响，分析了同亮度下，太阳电池在荧光灯下不能工作，而在白炽灯下能正常工作的原因．     

不同供电模式下光伏空调系统采暖性能研究

针对光伏空调系统在不同供电模式下的性能进行了实验研究,分别考察了市电供电、电池板-蓄电池联合供电、蓄电池单独供电模式下系统的供热性能,研究发现市电供电模式下系统效率为3.7;蓄电池单独供电模式下系统效率为3.57;电池板-蓄电池联合供电模式下系统效率为0.38.     

Effects of solar irradiation on the properties of ethylene-norbornene composites containing solvent dyes

This study investigates the effects of irradiation with artificial solar light on the resistance to aging of ethylene-norbornene (EN) copolymer with different solvent dyes and commercial stabilizers. The mechanical properties of the samples were measured before and after ageing using tensile tests. FTIR spectroscopy was used to evaluate the carbonyl index as a measure of photooxidation after irradiation. It was found that the carbonyl index of the samples depended on the type of additive in the composite. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) was used to analyze the chemical composition of the sample surfaces. The degree of oxidative aging was evaluated by measuring the intensities of secondary C_xH_yO_z⁺ type ions. Samples containing anthraquinone solvent dyes, such as Solvent Blue 97 or Solvent Green 28, showed the most significant improvements in durability in an aging test. Some of the applied solvent dyes showed much greater ability than the studied stabilizers to protect EN films exposed to the full solar spectrum.     

Cross-relaxation and spectral broadening of gain for Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic lasers with white-light pump source under high-temperature operation

Spectral broadening of the fluorescence of a Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic at the 1064 nm lasing wavelength was observed, and the amplification properties at a high temperature were investigated by considering cross-relaxation. These ceramics are promising for use as a solid-laser material pumped with solar or lamp light. It has been found that whenever the temperature of a laser medium is high and a spectral shift occurs, a high small-signal gain remains owing to the broad spectral band and the cross-relaxation. This optical property is remarkably different from that of a Nd:YAG laser. For a conventional Nd:YAG laser, the bandwidth at 1064 nm is 0.45 nm, and a reduction in small-signal gain occurs at a temperature of 373 K because the spectral peak shift is 0.005 nm/K. However, for the Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic, the bandwidths are 1.2 and 1.9 nm in the case of 0.1% Cr ion doping and 3% Cr ion doping, respectively, owing to the existence of excited Cr ions and the shortening of the effective Nd ion coherence time. It is prospected that the laser medium can be used at a high temperature of 600 K.     

Development of novel flexible black silicon

We report a new type of black silicon: flexible black silicon. A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer is irradiated by automatically scanning a femtosecond laser and then split by etching out the SOI silica middle layer. Large-area, uniform micro spikes on the surface of a very thin flexible silicon layer are obtained. The black silicon shows good flexibility and optical properties. The absorption spectrum of the flexible black silicon is as high as 97% in the visible and insensitive to the change of the incident angle of the light, which makes it a potential good candidate as an absorber for the solar-thermo generator.     

The effect of anti-reflection coating of porous silicon on solar cells efficiency

Anti-reflection coatings of solar cells have been fabricated using different techniques. The techniques used include SiO₂ thermal oxidation, ZnO/TiO₂ sputtering deposition and porous silicon prepared by electrochemical etching. Surface morphology and structural properties of solar cells were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy and atomic forces microscopy. Optical reflectance was obtained by using optical reflectometer. I-V characterizations were studied under 80 mW/cm² illumination conditions. Porous silicon was found to be an excellent anti-reflection coating against incident light when it is compared with another anti-reflection coating and exhibited good light-trapping of a wide wavelength spectrum which produced high efficiency solar cells.