Experimental study on the shear performance of quasi-NPR steel bolted rock joints

Quasi-NPR(negative Poisson’s ratio)steel is a new type of super bolt material with high strength,high ductility,and a micro-negative Poisson’s effect.This material overcomes the contrasting characteristics of the high strength and high ductility of steel and it has significant energy-absorbing characteristics,which is of high value in deep rock and soil support engineering.However,research on the shear resistance of quasi-NPR steel has not been carried out.To study the shear performance of quasi-NPR steel bolted rock joints,indoor shear tests of bolted rock joints under different normal stress conditions were carried out.Q235 steel and#45 steel,two representative ordinary bolt steels,were set up as a control group for comparative tests to compare and analyze the shear strength,deformation and instability mode,shear energy absorption characteristics,and bolting contribution of different types of bolts.The results show that the jointed rock masses without bolt reinforcement undergo brittle failure under shear load,while the bolted jointed rock masses show obvious ductile failure characteristics.The shear deformation ca-pacity of quasi-NPR steel is more than 3.5 times that of Q235 steel and#45 steel.No fracture occurs in the quasi-NPR steel during large shear deformation and it can provide stable shear resistance.However,the other two types of control bolts become fractured under the same conditions.Quasi-NPR steel has significant energy-absorbing characteristics under shear load and has obvious advantages in terms of absorbing the energy released by shear deformation of jointed rock masses as compared with ordinary steel.In particular,the shear force plays a major role in resisting the shear deformation of Q235 steel and#45 steel,therefore,fracture failure occurs under small bolt deformation.However,the axial force of quasi-NPR steel can be fully exerted when resisting joint shear deformation;the steel itself does not break when large shear deformation occurs,and the supporting effect of the jointed rock mass is effectively guaranteed.

Encapsulated peracetic acid as a valid broad‑spectrum antimicrobial alternative,leading to beneficial microbiota compositional changes and enhanced performance in broiler chickens

Background Antimicrobial alternatives are urgently needed,including for poultry production systems.In this study,we tested the potential broad-range antimicrobial alternative peracetic acid,delivered in feed via the hydrolysis of encapsulated precursors through a 28-day study using 375 Ross 308 broiler chickens.We tested two peracetic acid concentrations,30 and 80 mg/kg on birds housed on re-used litter,and we evaluated the impact of both levels on gut microbial communities,bacterial concentration,antimicrobial resistance genes relative abundance and growth performance when compared to control birds housed on either clean or re-used litter.Results Body weight gain and feed conversion ratio improved in peracetic acid fed birds.At d 28,birds given 30 mg/kg of peracetic acid had a decreased Firmicutes and an increased Proteobacteria abundance in the jejunum,accompanied by an increase in Bacillus,Flavonifractor and Rombustia in the caeca,and a decreased abundance of tetracycline resistance genes.Chicken given 80 mg/kg of peracetic acid had greater caecal abundance of macrolides lincosamides and streptogramins resistance genes.Growth performance on clean litter was reduced compared to reused litter,which concurred with increased caecal abundance of Blautia,decreased caecal abundance of Escherichia/Shigella,Anaerostipes and Jeotgalicoccus,and greater gene abundance of vancomycin,tetracycline,and macrolides resistance genes.Conclusions Peracetic acid could be used as a safe broad-spectrum antimicrobial alternative in broilers.Encapsulated precursors were able to reduce the bacterial concentration in the jejunum whilst promoting the proliferation of probiotic genera in the caeca,especially at the low peracetic acid concentrations tested,and improve growth performance.Moreover,our findings offer further insights on potential benefits of rearing birds on re-used litter,suggesting that the latter could be associated with better performance and reduced antimicrobial resistance risk compared to clean litter rearing.

Performance-based Research Funding in Denmark: The Adoption and Translation of the Norwegian Model

Purpose: The main goal of this study is to outline and analyze the Danish adoption and translation of the Norwegian Publication Indicator. Design/methodology/approach: The study takes the form of a policy analysis mainly drawing on document analysis of policy papers, previously published studies and grey literature. Findings: The study highlights a number of crucial factors that relate both to the Danish process and to the final Danish result underscoring that the Danish BFI model is indeed a quite different system than its Norwegian counterpart. One consequence of these process-and design differences is the fact that the broader legitimacy of the Danish BFI today appears to be quite poor. Reasons for this include: unclear and shifting objectives throughout the process; limited willingness to take ownership of the model among stakeholders; lack of communication throughout the implementation process and an apparent underestimation of the challenges associated with the use of bibliometric indicators. Research limitation: The conclusions of the study are based on the authors’ interpretation of a long drawn and complex process with many different stakeholders involved. The format of this article does not allow for a detailed documentation of all elements, but further details can be provided upon request. Practical implications: The analysis may feed into current policy discussions on the future of the Danish BFI. Originality/value: Some elements of the present analysis have previously been published in Danish outlets, but this article represents the first publication on this issue targeting a broader international audience.

Evaluation of the robusticity of mutual fund performance in Ghana using Enhanced Resilient Backpropagation Neural Network(ERBPNN)and Fast Adaptive Neural Network Classifier(FANNC)

Mutual fund investment continues to play a very important role in the world financial markets especially in developing economies where the capital market is not very matured and tolerant of small scale investors.The total mutual fund asset globally as at the end of 2016 was in excess of$40.4 trillion.Despite its success there are uncertainties as to whether mutual funds in Ghana obtain optimal performance relative to their counterparts in United States,Luxembourg,Ireland,France,Australia,United Kingdom,Japan,China and Brazil.We contribute to the extant literature on mutual fund performance evaluation using a collection of more sophisticated econometric models.We selected six continuous historical years that is 2010-2011,2012-2013 and 2014-2015 to construct a mutual fund performance evaluation model utilizing the fast adaptive neural network classifier(FANNC),and to compare our results with those from an enhanced resilient back propagation neural networks(ERBPNN)model.Our FANNC model outperformed the existing models in terms of processing time and error rate.This makes it ideal for financial application that involves large volume of data and routine updates.

The Flemish Performance-based Research Funding System: A Unique Variant of the Norwegian Model

The BOF-key is the performance-based research funding system that is used in Flanders, Belgium. In this paper we describe the historical background of the system, its current design and organization, as well as its effects on the Flemish higher education landscape. The BOFkey in its current form relies on three bibliometric parameters: publications in Web of Science, citations in Web of Science, and publications in a comprehensive regional database for SSH publications. Taken together, the BOF-key forms a unique variant of the Norwegian model: while the system to a large extent relies on a commercial database, it avoids the problem of inadequate coverage of the SSH. Because the bibliometric parameters of the BOF-key are reused in other funding allocation schemes, their overall importance to the Flemish universities is substantial.

Redesigning the Model of Book Evaluation in the Polish Performance-based Research Funding System

Purpose: This study aims to present the key systemic changes in the Polish book evaluation model to focus on the publisher list, as inspired by the Norwegian Model. Design/methodology/approach: In this study we reconstruct the framework of the 2010 and 2018 models of book evaluation in Poland within the performance-based research funding system. Findings: For almost 20 years the book evaluation system in Poland has been based on the verification of various technical criteria(e.g. length of the book). The new 2018 model is based on the principle of prestige inheritance(a book is worth as much as its publisher is) and is inspired by the publisher list used in the Norwegian Model. In this paper, we argue that this solution may be a more balanced policy instrument than the previous 2010 model in which neither the quality of the publisher nor the quality of the book played any role in the evaluation.Research limitations: We work from the framework of the 2018 model of book evaluation specified in the law on higher education and science from 20 July 2018, as implementation acts are not available yet. Practical implications: This study may provide a valuable point of reference on how structural reforms in the research evaluation model were implemented on a country level. The results of this study may be interesting to policy makers, stakeholders and researchers focused on science policy. Originality/value: This is the very first study that presents the new framework of the Polish research evaluation model and policy instruments for scholarly book evaluation. We describe what motivated policy makers to change the book evaluation model, and what arguments were explicitly raised to argue for the new solution.

The Relation between Performance and Flows of Mutual Funds: Case of the Croatian Fund Market

With pre 2008 euphoria and present depression, inflows to open investment funds and outflows from it shaped general market conditions on the Croatian fund market. This article studies the relationship between performance of open ended investment funds and inflows (outflows) to them on Croatian funds data in an environment without long fund data history, with small number of funds and relatively illiquid underlying equity market. The results suggest that the driving forces behind funds’ flows encompass the combined influence of present month fund’s performance and persistency of past performances. At the end of our analysis we test the significance of the introduced explanatory variables on the data sets that include data for each particular fund. The significance of the introduced explanatory variables varies among different funds, although a general level of the explanatory power is maintained on average.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF CHINESE NEW FUNDS

The performance of Chinese investment funds was empirically analyzed using the following models, i.e. Jensen model, Treynor Mazuy (T M) model amd Merton Henriksson model. The results show that T M model is fitted to Chinese investment funds best among these three. But none of them can perfectly interpret the new funds’ performance. So, the idea suggested by Jagannathan, Korajczyk (J K) to extend the test was adopted in this paper, and the results show that J K model augmented from the M H can explain the source of excess return of fund Anxin.

‘Smart’copycat mutual funds:on the performance of partial imitation strategies

Using a novel measure of stock-level trade imitation,we uncover‘smart’copycats:fund managers that use their own information when beneficial,and otherwise imitate other managers’better trades.Contrary to previous research,we find that these partial imitation strategies lead to outperformance.Our‘Copycat Score’combines the propensity to imitate and to lead trades.Funds at the high and low ends of the score outperform all others.The Copycat Score is persistent in time,related to other measures of skill,and a good predictor of fund performance.We conclude that smart copycatting is another skill of successful fund managers.

Investigating the Islamic and Conventional Mutual Fund Performance: Evidence From Malaysia Equity Market

The phenomena of financial crisis (2007-2008) shows a significant breakdown of US$16 trillion in conventional financial industry. This provides an opportunity for Islamic capital market to drive the global asset growth investments to investors. Previous studies signal mixture results on Islamic mutual fund (IMF) and conventional mutual fund (CMF) performance. This study aims to analyze the performance of 200 IMFs and CMFs from 2007 to 2015. The sub-sample period of 2007 to 2015 will be compared to the era of financial crisis from 2007-2008. Findings show all types of mutual funds are performed throughout 2007 until 2015. The results provide information that would benefit the investors and market players in asset funds selection.

Mutual Funds Performance(A Case of Pakistan Open Ended Mutual Funds)

Mutual Funds through its professional managers enable small investors to enjoy benefits of capital market with small amount.This study with special focus on Performance-Chasing Behavior and Mutual Funds in an Emerging Economy like Pakistan.The data of 100 open-end Mutual Funds,for the period 2013 to 2018 was collected from Mutual Fund Association of Pakistan;while the risk free rates data was collected from State Bank of Pakistan and Stock data from Pakistan Stock Exchange for predicting the results,Ratio and models were used to understand its suitability.The study has certain implications for the investors in knowing which funds perform better and which kind of funds are ideal for investment.

Evaluating the Performance of Investment Funds in Turkey

It is important to determine the most appropriate levels of risk and return for small investors. For that purpose, the investment funds are very important tools to create a portfolio for small investors, to deploy the potential risks in optimal proportions, and to direct investors. In this study, the performance of 83 pieces of investment funds will be evaluated which are treated in Turkey dates from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2012 with performance evaluation methods such as Sharpe, Modigliani （M2） that is based on the standard deviation, and Treynor, T2, Jensen that is based on systematic risk （beta）, and the highest and lowest performance investment funds will be presented. The aim of the study is to examine the success of the investment fund managers whether they could estimate the course of the market well or not regarding time period. The empirical results show that the investors who invest on the funds that have negative risk premium by investing in the investment funds getting under the risk cannot get more excess return than getting the return from the risk-free interest rate as treasury bills. The result implies that it could be said that the systematic and total risks of all investment funds are low and they are not sensitive to the developments in the market, and thus, regarding funds could be called as conservative funds.

An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Fund Manager's Personal Characteristics on Fund Performance

A great deal of research found that fund performance is related to a series of personal characteristics of fund managers,but how these personal characteristics affect fund performance is still unknown.China is the most important emerging country and the second largest economy in the world.The development of China's capital market is different from that of most developed countries.Therefore,empirical evidence on the performance of funds in developed countries often cannot be extended to the Chinese market.In addition,there is evidence that many successful fund managers in developed countries may not achieve good performance in China.Therefore,it is particularly meaningful to examine the determinants of fund performance in the Chinese market.This paper establishes a three-level framework model to study this connection.Considering return and risk,the two basic factors that affect fund performance,this paper chooses nine proxy variables:Sharpe ratio,Jensen index,Treynor index,abnormal return(α),total risk(β),non-systemic risk,standard deviation of return,stock choosing ability and time picking ability as the criteria to measure the comprehensive performance.This paper investigates China's open-end funds to fill the gap in literature on the relationship between fund managers'personal characteristics and fund performance in emerging capital markets.The results of this paper found that age,gender,fund manager years,number of funds under management,master's or doctor’s degree,MBA degree,business background and fund managers have better stock choosing ability,higher abnormal return and better overall performance has a significant positive relationship.The results of further decomposition indicate that the abnormal return is the main influencing factor of the fund's comprehensive performance;the abnormal return is also affected by the fund manager's ability of stock choosing and time picking.In addition,stock choosing ability is the main factor affecting abnormal return.Therefore,the education background of the fund manager’s personal characteristics will affect the abnormal return and ultimately affect the comprehensive performance of the fund.This paper also finds that gender and majors affect fund managers'risk control behavior.The research results in this paper have great practical significance.Firstly,it introduces a framework that can explain how the individual characteristics of fund managers affect the performance mechanism of funds.Secondly,the findings in China's stock market supplement the empirical evidence in the mature markets of developed countries.Since China is already the largest emerging economy in the world,the results of this study are of great significance not only to Chinese researchers,but also to international scholars who want to study China's capital market.Thirdly,the empirical study is of great practical significance to test the ability of fund managers to divide abnormal earnings into stock choosing ability and time picking ability.

An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of the Performance of the Global Private Equity Funds Markets

Over the last decade, the private equity （PE） industry, primarily venture capital and leveraged buyout investments, has matured massively. Consequently, public interest towards that particular asset class has increased rapidly. This study seeks to empirically assess the determinants of private equity funds＇ （PEFs） performance around the world. The study comprises a panel data of 103 publicly traded PEFs globally for the period of 2007-2013. Generalized least squares （GLS） technique is employed to regress the explanatory variables. The objective is accentuated on the major contributing factors that make a PEF successful. The analysis, in this paper, examines the effect of fund size, investment size, geographical focus, and industrial specialization on return. The empirical results provide evidence that： （1） Fund size and industrial specialization were observed to have an insignificant influence on the funds＇ returns in our panels; （2） Investment size is positively related to fund performance, indicating that larger deal sizes exhibited superior performance level; and （3） Geographical focus exhibited a negative association with fund performance, leading to the conclusion that limited geographical deployment of funds or absence of market diversification resulted in a fall in funds＇ returns. Consequently, to proxy for return of funds, stock prices of listed PEFs under LPEQ listings were employed.

Research on the performance management of the special funds in provincial colleges and universities

This paper is a comprehensive data collection and analysis of the special performance of the managed fund in provincial universities, which has very important academic value and theoretical and practical significance for the effective and rational improvement of the utilization ratio of the special funds, the specification of the management the university capitals and the ceaseless development of the education reform. It also has very important academic value and theoretical practical significance for the improvement of the financial management levels, the introduction of the evaluation results of the special funds into the budget appropriation mechanism, the refinement of the budget planning of the special funds, the improvement of the scientificalness and accuracy of the budget planning oft he special fimds, and the further strengthening of the management of the expenditure and balance of the special funds of universities, and the formulation of the scientific and effective performance evaluation methods, and the formation of the theoretical platform of the performance management evaluation.

High Performance 70nm CMOS Devices

A high performance 70nm CMOS device has been demonstrated for the first time in the continent, China. Some innovations in techniques are applied to restrain the short channel effect and improve the driving ability, such as 3nm nitrided oxide, dual poly Si gate electrode, novel super steep retrograde channel doping by heavy ion implantation, ultra shallow S/D extension formed by Ge PAI(Pre Amorphism Implantation) plus LEI(Low Energy Implantation), thin and low resistance Ti SALICIDE by Ge PAI and special cleaning, etc. The shortest channel length of the CMOS device is 70nm. The threshold voltages, G m and off current are 0 28V,490mS·mm -1 and 0 08nA/μm for NMOS and -0 3V,340mS·mm -1 and 0 2nA/μm for PMOS, respectively. Delays of 23 5ps/stage at 1 5V, 17 5ps/stage at 2 0V and 12 5ps/stage at 3V are achieved in the 57 stage unloaded 100nm CMOS ring oscillator circuits.

高速S-CO_(2)向心透平几何参数优化及变工况特性分析

透平是热力循环中实现热功转换的核心设备,优化透平几何参数以改善气动性能,是提升系统热效率的关键。该文以面向某船舶主机烟气余热利用的超临界二氧化碳布雷顿循环透平设计参数为基础,给出向心透平主要几何参数,采用耦合CO_(2)真实物性参数的CFX仿真方法,分析几何参数动、静叶包角以及叶轮出口几何角对透平性能的影响规律并进行参数优化,进一步研究非设计工况下的透平运行特性。结果表明:增大静叶包角会使动叶前缘出现扰动涡流并减少余速损失,增大叶轮出口几何角,动叶包角对透平效率的影响规律不变,但效率峰值点会沿动叶包角减小的方向移动;动、静叶包角和叶轮出口几何角分别为49°、21.5°、25°时透平设计点总-静等熵效率高达87.99%,相比优化前,提高0.54个百分点;透平偏离设计点±20%工况下等熵效率大于80%。结果可为超临界二氧化碳高速向心透平设计提供一定参考。

深水采油树Spring-Seal密封圈接触模型构建与实验测试

为提高深水采油树在高压、高温、低温等工况下长时间工作的稳定性,对采油树密封圈进行重新设计,提出Spring-Seal密封圈(以下简称S密封圈);基于赫兹接触理论、填料密封接触理论,重新构建S密封圈接触力学模型;建立有限元仿真分析模型,分析不同条件下S密封圈的密封性能,同时验证新建接触模型的合理性;利用实验测试S密封圈的实际密封效果。研究结果表明:S密封圈在高压、高温、低温等工况下能够长时间稳定工作且密封性能良好。研究结果可为S密封圈的接触研究及工程运用提供理论参考。

D-S理论和Markov链组合的桥梁性能退化预测研究

为准确预测桥梁性能退化,考虑到数据随机性和微小扰动发生状态跳跃,提出了一种D-S(Dempster-Shafer)证据理论和Markov链组合的桥梁性能退化组合预测模型和性能退化率的概念.该模型基于指数平滑(exponential smoothing,ES)方法获得新的预测数据序列,并利用Markov链和D-S理论不断进行优化,从而实现桥梁性能退化的组合预测.实际工程的应用结果表明:性能退化率可以直观地表征在梁性能退化的速度.其次,该模型的平均相对误差为1.54%,较于回归、灰色和模糊加权Markov链模型,精度分别提高了1.11%,0.88%和2.8%,而后验差比值为0.242,小于0.35;模型的标准差为9.021,相比其他模型分别减小了3.978,3.405和7.500,而变异系数为0.109,均小于其他模型,验证了组合预测模型在精度和稳定性方面的优越性,可为在役桥梁结构性能退化预测与维护提供理论基础.

售货机升降系统S型速度控制策略

在传统三闭环控制方式下,售货机升降接货系统易因启停过程中加速度突变产生冲击,导致系统运行不平稳。针对这一问题,文中对传统升降系统加减速控制策略进行改进,加入前馈和微分负反馈,提出一种S型速度曲线控制算法。根据路径规划判别条件将S型速度曲线分为七段式、六段式和四段式3种,并给出各路径约束条件下的参数求解方法和具体执行流程。将该算法运用到升降控制系统中进行仿真和实际工况测试,实验结果表明,与传统三闭环控制相比,文中所提控制策略可以提高售货机升降系统运行的平稳性,减小冲击,使速度曲线更加柔和,并能够保持较好的跟踪性能。