Distribution of available soil water capacity in China

The available soil water capacity (ASWC) is important for studying crop production, agro-ecological zoning, irrigation planning, and land cover changes. Laboratory determined data of ASWC are often not available for most of soil profiles and the nationwide ASWC largely remains lacking in relevant soil data in China. This work was to estimate ASWC based on physical and chemical properties and analyze the spatial distribution of ASWC in China. The pedo-transfer functions (PTFs), derived from 220 survey data of ASWC, and the empirical data of ASWC based on soil texture were applied to quantify the ASWC. GIS technology was used to develop a spatial file of ASWC in China and the spatial distribution of ASWC was also analyzed. The results showed the value of ASWC ranges from 15 × 10-2 cm3·cm-3 to 22 × 10-2 cm3·cm-3 for most soil types, and few soil types are lower than 15 × 10-2 cm3·cm-3 or higher than 22 × 10-2 cm3·cm-3. The ASWC is different according to the complex soil types and their distribution. It is higher in the east than that in the west, and the values reduce from south to north except the northeastern part of China. The "high" values of ASWC appear in southeast, northeastern mountain regions and Northeast China Plain. The relatively "high" values of ASWC appear in Sichuan basin, Huang-Huai-Hai plain and the east of Inner Mongolia. The relatively "low" values are distributed in the west and the Loess Plateau of China. The "very low" value regions are the northern Tibetan Plateau and the desertified areas in northern China. In some regions, the ASWC changes according to the complex topography and different types of soils. Though there remains precision limitation, the spatial data of ASWC derived from this study are improved on current data files of soil water retention properties for Chinese soils. This study presents basic data and analysis methods for estimation and evaluation of ASWC in China.

Multiproduct and multistage integrated production planning model and algorithm based on an available production capacity network

This research attempts to devise a multistage and multiproduct short-term integrative production plan that can dynamically change based on the order priority and virtual occupancy for application in steel plants. Considering factors such as the delivery time, varietal compatibility between different products, production capacity of variety per hour, minimum or maximum batch size, and transfer time, we propose an available production capacity network with varietal compatibility and virtual occupancy for enhancing production plan implementation and quick adjustment in the case of dynamic production changes. Here available means the remaining production capacity after virtual occupancy.To quickly build an available production capacity network and increase the speed of algorithm solving, constraint selection and cutting methods with order priority were used for model solving. Finally, the genetic algorithm improved with local search was used to optimize the proposed production plan and significantly reduce the order delay rate. The validity of the proposed model and algorithm was numerically verified by simulating actual production practices. The simulation results demonstrate that the model and improved algorithm result in an effective production plan.

The Relationship Between Maintenance and Personnel Management In Industrial Companies

The Netherlands With the rapid development of computers and Management Information Systems(MIS), increasing number of factories have paid more attention to developing MIS, including provision for maintenance. But maintenance systems in many organizations have been developed in a piecemeal fashion and often in isolation from other management systems . This paper describes the main relationship between maintenance and one of the maintenance resourcesPersonal.

Using a systems modeling approach to improve soil management and soil quality

Soils provide the structural support, water andnutrients for plants in nature and are considered to be thefoundation of agriculture production. Improving soilquality and soil health has been advocated as the goal ofsoil management toward sustainable agricultural intensifi-cation. There have been renewed efforts to define andquantify soil quality and soil health but establishing aconsensus on the key indicators remains difficult. It isargued that such difficulties are due to the former ways ofthinking in soil management which largely focus on soilproperties alone. A systems approach that treats soils as akey component of agricultural production systems ispromoted. It is argued that soil quality must be quantifiedin terms of crop productivity and impacts on ecosystemsservices that are also strongly driven by climate andmanagement interventions. A systems modeling approachcaptures the interactions among climate, soil, crops andmanagement, and their impacts on system performance,thus helping to quantify the value and quality of soils.Here, three examples are presented to demonstrate this. Inthis systems context, soil management must be an integralpart of systems management practices that also includemanaging the crops and cropping systems under specificclimatic conditions, with cognizance of future climatechange.