An Opportunity to Raise the Ultimate Consumption Rate While Re-starting the Economy

Last year, 1998, was an extraordinary year. In the face of financial tur-moil inter nationally and record--breaking floods domestically, we havestood severe tests. The macroeconomic control policy adopted by the cen-tral au thorities to expand investment in order to provide incentives to do-mestic demand yielded positive results and the economic growth ratereached 7.8percent. However the investment expansion was only the be-

Rates of oxygen consumption and tolerance of hypoxia and desiccation in Chinese black sleeper(Bostrichthys sinensis)and mudskipper(Boleophthalmus pectinirostris)embryos

The rates of oxygen consumption, tolerance of hypoxia and desiccation of the Chinese black sleeper （ Bostrichthys sinensis） and mudskipper （Boleophthalmus pectinirostris） embryos were investigated. The pattern of oxygen consumption of the Chinese black sleeper embryos was similar to that of the mudskipper ones. The lowest rates of oxygen consumption [ （ 1.65 ±0. 66） nmol/ （ind. ·h） ] of the Chinese black sleeper embryos 16 h after fertilization and the lowest rates of oxygen consumption [ （0.79± 0.08 ）nmolf（ ind. · h） ] of the mudskipper embryos 6 h after fertilization were recorded, respectively. Then the rates of oxygen consumption of these two species embryos increased gradually until hatching [ （8.26 ± 1.70 ） nmolf（ ind.· h） in the Chinese black sleeper, （2.69 ± 0.23 ）nmolf（ ind. · h） in mudskipper]. After exposure to hypoxia water （0.16 mg/dm^3）, bradycardia of the embryos occurred in both the Chinese black sleeper and the mudskipper. However, the Chinese black sleeper embryos survived approximately 45 min longer than the mudskipper ones. After exposure to desiccation at a relative humidity of 58%, bradycardia of the embryos was observed in both the Chinese black sleeper and the mudskipper, and the Chinese black sleeper embryos lived approximately 9 min longer than the mudskipper ones.

Modeling of coal consumption rate based on wavelet neural network

In this paper,two wavelet neural network(WNN)frames which depend on Morlet wavelet function and Gaussian wavelet function were established.In order to improve the efficiency of model training,the momentum term was applied to modify the weights and thresholds,and the output of the network was summed up by function transformation of output layer nodes.When the Gaussian Wavelet Neural Networks(GWNN)and Morlet Wavelet Neural Networks(MWNN)were applied to coal consumption rate(CCR)estimation in a thermal power plant,the results confirmed their potency in function approximation.In addition,the influence of learning rate on the models was also discussed through the orthogonal experiment.

Use of float consumption rate in resource leveling of construction projects

The management of resources has been claimed to be as important as scheduling methods.Inefficiency in managing resources may bring about severe delays and cost overruns caused by resource shortages in some cases and/or idle resources in others.Therefore,resources should be utilized efficiently to prevent project failures.Resource leveling is one of the approaches that are used for the management of resources.It aims to minimize fluctuations,peaks,and valleys in resource utilization without changing the completion time of a project and the number of resources required.Although the main principle behind traditional resource leveling is achieving an even flow of resources while the original project duration remains unchanged,the literature supports the need to develop an efficient model that discriminates among the activities that are selected for participation in resource leveling.For this purpose,this study has developed a model that considers the float consumption rates of activities in resource leveling.The float consumption rate is the percentage that is set to determine the maximum amount of float which will be consumed to shift the start time of the activity.The proposed model allows a scheduler to assign float consumption rates to each activity that can be used during the resource leveling procedure.When the required information is inputted,the proposed model automatically changes the required daily resources as it shifts the noncritical activities along their available total float times.The proposed model is expected to minimize the likelihood of severe delays and cost overruns.The model is demonstrated by constructing a network and its resource utilization histograms.

OPTIMAL INVESTMENT CONSUMPTION MODEL WITH A HIGHER INTEREST RATE FOR BORROWING

This paper considers a consumption and investment decision problem with a higher interest rate for borrowing as well as the dividend rate.Wealth is divided into a riskless asset and risky asset with logrithmic Brownian motion price fluctuations.The stochastic control problem of maximizating expected utility from terminal wealth and consumption is studied.Equivalent conditions for optimality are obtained.By using duality methods,the existence of optimal portfolio consumption is proved,and the explicit solutions leading to feedback formulae are derived for deteministic coefficients.

The Effect of Lateral Offset Distance on the Aerodynamics and Fuel Economy of Vehicle Queues

The vehicle industry is always in search of breakthrough energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies.In recent years,vehicle intelligence has progressed considerably,and researchers are currently trying to take advantage of these developments.Here we consider the case of many vehicles forming a queue,i.e.,vehicles traveling at a predetermined speed and distance apart.While the majority of existing studies on this subject have focused on the influence of the longitudinal vehicle spacing,vehicle speed,and the number of vehicles on aerodynamic drag and fuel economy,this study considers the lateral offset distance of the vehicle queue.The group fuel consumption savings rate is calculated and analyzed.As also demonstrated by experimental results,some aerodynamic benefits exist.Moreover,the fuel consumption saving rate of the vehicle queue decreases as the lateral offset distance increases.

Study on Oxygen Consumption of Erinaceus europaeus under Laboratory Conditions

[Objective]The study aimed to determine oxygen consumption of Erinaceus europaeus at different temperatures to accumulate basic da- ta for the protection and deep discuss of Erinaceus europaeus. [Method]By using the improved close respiration apparatus,the time spent by ani- mals consuming a unit volume of oxygen was recorded by the improved close respiration apparatus to estimate oxygen consumption of Erinaceus europaeus at 20,25 and 30 °C respectively. [Result]When the temperature varied from 20 to 30 °C,the oxygen consumption and oxygen con- sumption rate of Erinaceus europaeus reduced with the increase of external temperature on the whole. The weight of Erinaceus europaeus had no obvious relation with its oxygen consumption and oxygen consumption rate. In addition,the temperature had linear regression relationships with the oxygen consumption and oxygen consumption rate of Erinaceus europaeus,that is,the linear regression equation between oxygen consumption （ x 0 ） （ ml/h） and temperature （ t） was x 0 =658. 81 -14. 98t,and the equation between oxygen consumption rate （ Q 0 ） [L/（ kg·h） ]and tempera- ture （ t） was Q 0 =827. 94 -19. 52t. [Conclusion]The metabolic rate of Erinaceus europaeus changed with environmental temperature,and 20 °C was more suitable for its growth,conforming with the fact that it is active just at night.

EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND AMMONIA EXCRETION BY SOLENAIA OLEIVORA

The effects of water temperature on oxygen consumption rate and ammonia excretion rate of Solenaia oleivora were studied in the laboratory. The results showed that, under controlled conditions and ambient temperatures 15—30℃, the relationship between oxygen consumption rate (O) [mg/h] and dry weight of soft tissue (W) [g] can be represented by an allometric equation O=aW b, while the relationship between ammonia excretion rate (N) [μg/h] and dry weight of soft tissue (W) [g] follows also an allometric equation N=cW b. It is indicated that both metabolic rates are correlated positively with water temperature. High temperature can reduce the level of protein metabolism. The linear regression among oxygen consumption rate (O), temperature (T) and dry weight of soft tissue (W) can be described by the equation O=-0.6513+0.0532T+0.1073W, and for ammonia this relation is N=32.1626-1.0566T+1.3222W, the multiple relation coefficient was 0.9642 and 0.8921, respectively.

Re-activation characteristics of preserved aerobic granular sludge

In some industrial plants, wastewater was intermittently or seasonally generated. There may be periods during which wastewater treatment facilities have to be set into an idle phase over several weeks. When wastewater was generated again, the activated sludge flocs may have disintegrated. In this experiment, re-activation characteristics of aerobic granular sludge starved for 2 months were investigated. Specific oxygen utilization rate(SOUR) was used as an indicator to evaluate the metabolic activity of the sludge. The results revealed that aerobic granular sludge could be stored up to two months without running the risk of losing the integrity of the granules and metabolic potentials. The apparent color of aerobic granules stored at room temperature gradually turned from brownish-yellowish to gray brown. They appeared brownish-yellowish again 2 weeks after re-activation. The velocity and strength of granules after 2-month idle period could be fully restored about 3 weeks after re-activation. Metabolic activity, however, dropped to 15 8 mg O_2/(g MLVSS·h), i.e. 74 % reduction after 2 months of storage. After restarting the reactor, it took 2 weeks that SOUR of up to 48 5 mg O_2 /(g MLVSS·h) was achieved. A stable effluent COD concentration of less than 150 mg/L was achieved during the re-activation process.

Effects of temperature on the respiratory metabolism,feeding and expression of three heat shock protein genes in Anadara broughtonii

Anadara broughtonii is one of the main commercially important species of shellfish in northern China.A.broughtonii lives in relatively stable subtidal zone where the clam could respond to environmental changes with minimum energy.Therefore,slight fluctuations in water environment may have a great impact on physiological processes such as feeding and metabolism.Large-scale mortality often occurs during the intermediate rearing processes,and high temperatures in summer are considered the leading cause of mortality.To understand the physiological and molecular response patterns of A.broughtonii at high temperatures and to estimate the appropriate metabolism temperature for A.broughtonii,the effects of temperature on the respiratory metabolism and food intake at different growth stages were studied.The response patterns of heat shock protein genes to heat stress and post-stress recovery were also explored.Results show that the temperature and growth stage of A.broughtonii were two important factors affecting metabolism and feeding.The optimum temperature for feeding and physiological activities in each shell-length group was 24℃.The temperature at which the peak metabolic rate occurred in each shell-length group increased with the increase in shell length.With the increase in heat stress,the expression of three heat shock protein genes(Abhsp60,Abhsp70,and Abhsp90)in the tissues of two size groups of A.broughtonii increased significantly when temperature was above 24℃and reached a peak at 30℃.After heat shock at 30℃for 2 h,the expression of the three heat shock protein genes rapidly increased,peaked at 2 h after the heat shock,and then gradually decreased to the level of the control group at 48 h after the heat shock.The three heat shock protein genes respond rapidly to heat stress and can be used as indicators to the cellular stress response in A.broughtonii under an environmental stress.

ELECTROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF Ir-Ta-Ti METAL OXIDE COATED TITANIUM ANODES

Ir-Ta-Ti metal oxide coated titanium anodes prepared by thermal decomposition at different calcination temperatures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and accelerated life test, while the consumption rate of an anode was also measured in seawater. The SEM results indicate that all oxide layers exhibit a cracked-mud morphology influenced by calcination temperature. Voltammetric charge (q), obtained by integration of I-E curve, is proportional to the number of surface active sites, and can be taken as a measure of the active surface area of oxide layer. It is found that q* decreases linearly with the increase of calcination temperature, and reaches a maximum at 450℃. The anode prepared at 500℃ possesses the best anodic stability and the longest service life in 1M H2 SO4 at an anodic current density of 2A/cm2. Owing to good corrosion resistance and low consumption rate in seawater, Ir-Ta-Ti metal oxide coated titanium anodes belong to insoluble material with excellent electrocatalytic activity, which are outstanding candidates for using as anode in impressed current cathodic protection systems.

The Research Development of Respiratory Metabolism for Living Beings of Fishery Resources

[Objective]To describe the research development of respiratory metabolism for living beings of fishery resources home and abroad so as to provide reference for fishery production and management. [Method]Investigate research methods of respiratory metabolism about fish,shrimp, crab,shells and other living beings and analyze factors affecting their oxygen consumption rates and ammonia excretion rates according to research results of respiratory metabolism for living beings of fishery resources home and abroad. [Result] Respiratory metabolism is one of the important contents of bioenergetics research,an important part of energy balance research. It reflects not only the physiological status of living beings,but al- so the influence of environment condition on their physiological activities. Factors affecting respiratory metabolism are divided into biological factors and non-biological factors. By researching factors such as weight,temperature,activities,circadian rhythm,ingestion,Oxygen partial pressure and so on,we can evaluate respiratory metabolism of living beings of fishery resources. [Conclusion]Investigating from the individual physiology and e- cology to group physiology and ecology,the research provides data support for enhancement and releasing of sea ranch.

Adaptation strategies of juvenile grass carp(Ctenopharyngodon idella)facing different dissolved oxygen concentrations in a recirculating aquaculture system

Fishes exposed to different dissolved oxygen concentrations over prolonged time periods have different susceptibility and adaptation mechanisms.In this study,healthy grass carp with an average weight of 214.6±18.7 g were selected for long-term culture in recirculating aquaculture systems at three different dissolved oxygen concentrations,i.e.,3.00 mg/L[(2.57±0.33)mg/L,DO_(2.57)),5.00 mg/L[(4.61±0.11)mg/L,DO_(4.61)],which was the control group,and 7.00 mg/L[(6.50±0.48)mg/L,DO_(6.50)].Blood,gill,muscle,and liver samples were collected after 60 days.Using hematoxylin-eosin(HE),alcian blue periodic acid Schiff(AB-PAS)staining,determination of respiratory metabolism enzyme activity,and fluorescent quantitative PCR,the adaptability of juvenile grass carp facing different dissolved oxygen levels were explored.The results showed that the respiration rate increased,and hemoconcentration and hemoglobin(Hb),electrolyte and pH changed at DO2.57.Furthermore,gill lamellae became thinner and longer,the distance between them increased,the mucus on them decreased and the interstitial cell mass decreased.In addition,the relative expression of apoptosis-related genes bcl-2 and bcl-xl in gill tissue decreased,while caspase-3 and bax increased.In muscles and liver tissues,lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)activity and lactic acid content(LA)increased,pyruvate dehydrogenase(PDH)activity decreased,and genes related to the respiratory metabolic enzymes PDH-A4 and PDH-E1α also changed accordingly.The oxygen consumption rate decreased significantly(P<0.05).At DO_(6.50),the distance between gill lamellae,numbers of red blood cells(RBC)and the content of hemoglobin decreased wheras the mucus on gill lamellae increased.The activity of PDH,the expression of PDH-E1a in liver and oxygen consumption rate increased.Different dissolved oxygen concentrations affected the respiratory behavior,gill tissue structure,blood transport capacity and tissue enzyme activity of juvenile grass carp.In summary,juvenile grass carp showed different adaptation strategies when facing different dissolved oxygen concentrations over prolonged periods in recirculating aquaculture systems.

Using Less Oil Despite the unquenchable thirst for oil to fuel nina's fast growing economy,the oil consumption growth rate is dropping

At first glance, the official figures of China's oil consumption in 2005 seem a bit confusing. With a robust economic growth and rising annual oil imports, China made the surprise announcement that its oil consumption growth rate was dropping sharply, from 15.3 percent in 2004 to 2.1 percent in 2005. Earlier, China's Ministry

Habitat components and population density drive plant litter consumption by Eudrilus eugeniae(Oligochaeta)under tropical conditions

The ingestion of organic and mineral materials by earthworms is a prominent functional role that has profound consequences for the decomposition and stabilization of soil organic matter.To investigate the litter consumption of the African nightcrawler earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae under different tropical conditions,we used DNA barcoding to identify specimens of E.eugeniae collected from sites across the Adamawa region in Cameroon,and studied the influence of habitat suitability(soil properties),soil moisture,litter type,and population density on litter consumption.A total of four litter consumption experiments were carried out using soils collected from refuse disposal sites,agricultural lands,and savannahs dominated by the Mexican sunflower Tithonia diversifolia.The results revealed that litter consumption significantly increased in the refuse disposal and agricultural soils as opposed to the Mexican sunflower(T.diversifolia)soil,a cow dung enriched substrate,and a sterile soil horizon from the savannah(P<0.05).The optimum moistures for litter consumption were between 24%and 50%.Litter type did not affect the consumption rate of the earthworms(P>0.05).We observed a general positive density-dependent consumption with litter mass loss increasing with increasing density.Our results suggest that E.eugeniae has a strong direct effect on the decomposition of plant materials than expected from previous estimations,and that litter consumption rates are determined by several habitat components and population density.

Effects of low-oxygen conditions on embryo growth in the painted turtle,Chrysemys picta

Low-oxygen conditions(hypoxia;<21%O_(2))are considered unfavorable for growth;yet,embryos of many vertebrate taxa develop successfully in hypoxic subterranean environments.Although enhanced tolerance to hypoxia has been demonstrated in adult reptiles,such as in the painted turtle(Chrysemys picta),its effects on sensitive embryo life stages warrant attention.We tested the hypothesis that short-term hypoxia negatively affects growth during day 40 of development in C.picta,when O_(2) demands are highest in embryos.A brief,but severe,hypoxic event(5%O_(2) for 0.5 h)moderately affected embryo growth,causing a 13%reduction in mass(relative to a normoxic control).The same condition had no effect during day 27;instead,a nearly anoxic event(1%O_(2) for 72 h)caused a 5%mass reduction.All embryos survived the egg incubation period.Our study supports the assumption that reptilian embryos are resilient to intermittently low O_(2) in subterranean nests.Further work is needed to ascertain responses to suboptimal O_(2) levels while undergoing dynamic changes in developmental physiology.

Energy conservation in China's coal-fired power industry by installing advanced units and organized phasing out backward production

Coal-fired power is the main power source and the biggest contributor to energy conservation in the past several decades in China.It is generally believed that advanced technology should be counted on for energy conservation.However,a review of the decline in the national average net coal consumption rate(NCCR)of China's coal-fired power industry along with its development over the past few decades indicates that the upgradation of the national unit capacity structure(including installing advanced production and phasing out backward production)plays a more important role.A quantitative study on the effect of the unit capacity structure upgradation on the decline in the national average NCCR suggests that phasing out backward production is the leading factor for the decline in the NCCR in the past decade,followed by the new installation,whose sum contributes to approximately 80%of the decline in the national average NCCR.The new installation has an effective affecting period of about 8 years,during which it would gradually decline from a relatively high value.Since the effect of phasing out backward production may remain at a certain degree given a continual action of phasing out backward capacity,it is suggested that the organized action of phasing out backward production should be insisted on.

Foliar persistence and residual activity of methoxyfenozide against beet armyworm （Lepidoptera： Noctuidae）

A greenhouse study was conducted to investigate the persistence of methoxyfenozide in pepper （Capsicum annuum L.） foliage. An aqueous suspension of methoxyfenozide was sprayed on pepper plants at concentrations of 72 and 144 mg of active ingredient （a.i.）/L. Foliage was collected at different intervals of time （0, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 days） after the treatment, and the methoxyfenozide residue was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. The foliage was also used in bioas- says to determine the residual toxicity on and the consumption rate of the third-instar larvae of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua （Htibner） （Lepidoptera： Noctuidae）. The methoxyfenozide concentrations observed after 50 days had decreased to 19 and 69μg/g per sample, corresponding to a loss of 61% and 28% from the application concentrations of 72 and 144 mg a.i./L, respectively. When fitting a first-order kinetics degradation model, the half-life （DT50） of this compound was 76 days. Both application concentrations of methoxyfenozide caused a high mortality rate （〉97%） when the larvae were fed the pepper foliage collected at all of the time intervals. Lastly, at all of the time points, the consumption rate by the larvae was reduced to between 57% and 92% for both concentrations that were bioassayed. Our results indicate that, under the present greenhouse conditions, the degradation of methoxyfenozide was slower than that reported by other authors and that its residues were highly toxic to S. exigua larvae. The implications of these results for the management programs of this pest are discussed.

Data fusion and machine learning for ship fuel efficiency modeling:Part Ⅱ-Voyage report data,AIS data and meteorological data

When voyage report data is utilized as the main data source for ship fuel efficiency analysis,its information on weather and sea conditions is often regarded as unreliable.To solve this issue,this study approaches AIS data to obtain the ship's actual detailed geographical positions along its sailing trajectory and then further retrieve the weather and sea condition information from publicly accessible meteorological data sources.These more reliable data about weather and sea conditions the ship sails through is fused into voyage report data in order to improve the accuracy of ship fuel consumption rate models.Eight 8100-TEU to 14,000-TEU containerships from a global shipping company were used in experiments.For each ship,nine datasets were constructed based on data fusion and eleven widely-adopted machine learning models were tested.Experimental results revealed the benefits of fusing voyage report data,AIS data,and meteorological data in improving the fit performances of machine learning models of forecasting ship fuel consumption rate.Over the best datasets,the performances of several decision tree-based models are promising,including Extremely randomized trees(ET),AdaBoost(AB),Gradient Tree Boosting(GB)and XGBoost(XG).With the best datasets,their R^(2) values over the training sets are all above 0.96 and mostly reach the level of 0.99-1.00,while their R^(2) values over the test sets are in the range from 0.75 to 0.90.Fit errors of ET,AB,GB,and XG on daily bunker fuel consumption,measured by RMSE and MAE,are usually between 0.8 and 4.5 ton/day.These results are slightly better than our previous study,which confirms the benefits of adopting the actual geographical positions of the ship recorded by AIS data,compared with the estimated geographical positions derived from the great circle route,in retrieving weather and sea conditions the ship sails through.