Some Important Relations in College English Teaching

There are some important relations in College English teaching.How to deal with these relations is of great significance for efficient teaching and learning.The paper takes three key relations,i.e.,the relation between language competence and communicative competence,one’s mother tongue and foreign languages,foreign language competence and quality-oriented education,as research objects,and has made a detailed analysis of the relationship between the two elements in each pair.The paper points out that only if teachers know the relations between them clearly can they teach better.

Multi-objective Fuzzy Optimization Algorithm for Separation-Recycle System

Separation-recycle system is an important part in chemical process, and its optimization is a multiobjective problem. In this paper the process optimization procedure is proposed. The fuzzy optimization algorithm with the concept of relative importance degree (RID) is utilized to transfer multi-objective optimization (MO-O) model into a single-objective optimization (SO-O) framework. The treatment of process condensate in synthesisa mmonia plant is taken as example to illustrate the optimization procedure, and the satisfactory result demonstrates feasibility and effectiveness of the suggested method.

Effects of meteorological factors on the defoliation dynamics of the larch caterpillar(Dendrolimus superans Butler)in the Great Xing’an boreal forests

Larch caterpillars are widely distributed in the Great Xing’an boreal forests;however,the relationship between caterpillar defoliation dynamics and climatic factors is poorly understood.The aims of this study are to investigate the primary weather conditions that might influence forest defoliation and to identify the most important life stage of the larch caterpillar at which forest defoliation might be mitigated by incorporating more inhibitory influences from climatic factors.The life cycle of the larch caterpillar was partitioned into four stages and multiple linear regression and mixed effect models were combined with a relative weight analysis approach to evaluate the importance and influence of meteorological variables on defoliation dynamics.The results show that warmer temperatures in growing seasons and overwintering periods can increase the defoliation area,while rainy and humid growing seasons decrease the defoliation area.Total precipitation during the early instar larval period had the greatest power to explain the variance in defoliation dynamics and had a very strong inhibitory effect,followed by the accumulative temperatures of the late instar larval period which had a positive impact,and precipitation during the middle instar larval period which had a negative impact.Weather conditions during the early instar larval period had the greatest influence on the area defoliated and accounted for 40%of the explained variance.This study demonstrates that climatic warming and drying will increase the risk of larch caterpillar outbreaks in the Great Xing’an Mountains.

Analysis on Factors Causing Project Delays in Road and Highways Sector in India Using Relative Ranking Index Technique

On-time completion of road infrastructure projects is a critical goal.When projects were not completed on schedule and real construction progress is slower than expected,the inconvenience and disruption to business access increases.On time completion is linked to economic and social welfare,as well as safety.Construction delays continue to be a typical occurrence,despite the need of prompt completion.A literature study is conducted in this context in order to learn more about the causes and factors that contribute to delays.Following a thorough review of the literature,it was determined that a questionnaire survey is the most effective and trustworthy way for gathering information about the causes and quantifying delays caused by emergent factors.The Relative Importance Index(RII)method was used to analyze the data,and the reasons for the delay were prioritized according to their importance.This study focuses on the emergent concerns/causes and reasons of concern in road infrastructure projects,as well as how to priorities these issues sequentially during the planning stage.This study survey can assist construction companies doing business in India in understanding the essential or sensitive issues that require special attention in order to conduct their businesses smoothly in this country while employing appropriate project management practices.

glmm.hp: an R package for computing individual effect of predictors in generalized linear mixed models

Generalized linear mixed models(GLMMs)have been widely used in contemporary ecology studies.However,determination of the relative importance of collinear predictors(i.e.fixed effects)to response variables is one of the challenges in GLMMs.Here,we developed a novel R package,glmm.hp,to decompose marginal R2^(2)explained by fixed effects in GLMMs.The algorithm of glmm.hp is based on the recently proposed approach‘average shared variance’i.e.used for multivariate analysis.We explained the principle and demonstrated the use of this package by simulated dataset.The output of glmm.hp shows individual marginal R2^(2)s that can be used to evaluate the relative importance of predictors,which sums up to the overall marginal R2^(2).Overall,we believe the glmm.hp package will be helpful in the interpretation of GLMM outcomes.

Risk-Identification-Based Hybrid Method for Estimating the System Reliability of Existing Jacket Platforms Under Fire

This paper proposes a risk-identification-based hybrid method for estimating the system reliability of steel jacket structures under fire.The proposed method starts with risk identification;according to the results of hazard identification and Dow’s fire and explosion index(F&EI) methodology,the most dangerous hazard sources are determined.In term of each equipment layout in steel jacket structures,fire load is imposed and elasto-plastic analysis is performed.According to the deformed state of steel jacket structures,the weakest failure mode of steel jacket structures is identified.In order to know the effect on ultimate bearing capacity of the offshore structural system,a series of elasto-plastic analyses are performed in which single failure element contained in the weakest failure mode is removed from the whole offshore platform structural system.Finally,the failure function of the steel jacket structure is generated and the failure probability of the steel jacket structure system is estimated under fire by genetic algorithm via MATLAB program.

Detection of schedule delay risk of empirical construction projects

In Ethiopian construction projects, schedule delay risk is a predominant issue because it is not properly addressed. Although several studies have been focused on the various effects of risk in construction projects, limited efforts have been made to investigate the typical and the overall schedule delay risk. In this study, our aim is to detect the typical and overall schedule delay risk throughout the construction project lifecycle, which consists of the pre-construction, construction, and post-construction stages, and compare the stages with each other. Common criteria, sub-criteria, and attributes were developed for all alternatives for the purpose of making a risk decision. The methodology that was followed integrated the multiplecriteria decision-making(MCDM) model of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process comprehensive evaluation(FAHPCE)and the relative important index(RII). Data were collected from 77 participants, who were selected through purposive sampling from different contracting organizations in Ethiopian construction projects by means of questionnaires that were distributed to experienced experts. The findings showed that there is a typical delay risk either in the type or in the level of the different construction activities.Consequently, the most influenced alternative is the construction stage because of the high-risk responsibility,resource, and contract condition related criteria. The postconstruction stage was the second most influenced stage because of the high-risk responsibility-related criteria. The pre-constructed stage was the least influenced stage that consist high-risk criteria of responsibility, resource, and contract condition related. These differences provided noteworthy information about risk mitigation in construction projects by identifying the exact risk level on specific activity to make appropriate decision.

Relative importance of climatic and edaphic factors as drivers of plantδ^(15)N along a longitudinal transect

Many studies have shown that climatic and edaphic factors influence the variations in nitrogen isotopes(δ^(15)N)in terrestrial ecosystems.However,the relative importance of co-varying climatic and edaphic controls on plantδ^(15)N remains somewhat unclear.To address this issue,regional-scale plant(L.chinensis)and soil samples were collected along a longitudinal transect across the temperate grasslands in northern China.The influences of climatic and edaphic factors on the plantδ^(15)N were disentangled using the variable importance in projection(VIP)approach.We found that the climatic and edaphic variables explained 52.4%and 31.2%,respectively,of the variation in plantδ^(15)N.The mean annual precipitation(MAP),soil N,and mean annual temperature(MAT)were the most important variables,but the soil water content(SWC),aridity index(AI),and soil clay content were also important variables.The soil pH and soil C:N ratios were identified as unimportant variables.Furthermore,a high-performance model for simulating plantδ^(15)N values was constructed based on the important variables(VIP>0.8).Further investigations should focus on the effects of the interaction between the climatic and edaphic variables on the N cycles in the temperate grasslands to provide more reliable predictions of plantδ^(15)N.