高级控制系统提高巴西水电站性能

巴西的一个重要电力公司COPEL最近开发了一个水电站高级控制系统，这是在电力部门经受重大变革时期，提高水电竞争力的里程碑。     

What Prompts the People＇s Bank of China to Change Its Monetary Policy Stance？ Evidence from a Discrete Choice Model

In the present paper, we model the policy stance of the People＇s Bank of China （PBC） as a latent variable, and the discrete changes in the reserve requirement ratio, policy interest rates, and the scale of open market operations are taken as signals of movement of this latent variable. We run a discrete choice regression that relates these observed indicators of policy stance to major trends of macroeconomic and financial developments, which are represented by common factors extracted from a large number of variables. The predicted value of the estimated model can then be interpreted as the implicit policy stance of the PBC. In a second step, we estimate how much of the variation in the PBC＇ s implicit stance can be explained by measures of its policy objectives on inflation, growth and financial stability. We find that deviations of CPI inflation from an implicit target and deviations of broad money growth from the announced targets, but not output gaps, figure significantly in the PBC＇s policy changes.     

The right cure for health care

An aging population with nearly unlimited access to high-priced doctors and technology is pushing medical costs skyward. Managed care is the best way to bring them down.     

Measuring cost savings in the operating room: a matter of FOCUS (follow-through, obsolescence, control, utilization, standardization)

In summary, changes came slowly at first in the OR. The biggest inventory reduction came about a year after the effort had begun. It would seem that tackling obsolescence, standardizing products, etc. would give an initial "big chunk" savings, with small amounts coming later as inventories are lowered. What we expected did not occur, due to the inherent nature of practices and what was customarily being used. For example, previously, some equipment purchases were paid for by purchasing product, which resulted in long-term commitments and high supply costs. The OR at times seemed more like a process of managing change, not just supplies. FOCUS is a daily process. How many times can you afford to overlook this process? How often are the mistakes of the past repeated? In review, we suggest this simple outline: Follow-through (review each case from start to finish), Obsolescence (schedule inventories every six months), Control (achieve inventory management by adjusting PAR levels to needs), Utilization (utilize product/equipment with your control), and Standardization (standardize products and measure results).     

Vying for time. Work and family

Time--there is never enough of it. There are never enough hours in the day to do everything at work and at home. Today's employees, forced to choose between work obligations and family responsibilities, often feel frazzled and guilty. Some employers recognize these conflicts and are finding ways to lighten the work/family load. They are offering a sophisticated combination of dependent-care options, flexible work hours and family-related benefits tailored to meet the needs of the employees within their specific industries. HRMagazine looks at leaders in six major industries--manufacturing, health, communications/technology, financial management, government and retail. No one can give employees that 25-hour day that everyone feels they need to juggle all their work and family obligations. But these industry leaders have provided a nurturing environment where employees can successfully balance those obligations.     

Effect of Ce(3+) on soluble microbial products production in anaerobic granular sludge digestion

Upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactors fed on glucose were used to investigate the effects of Ce(3+) on soluble microbial products (SMP) production, which is the majority of the residual chemical oxygen demand present in the effluent. It was found that Ce(3+) concentration of 0.05 mg/L had no significant effect on the amount of SMP production, whereas that of 1 mg/L led to the increase in SMP production. The molecular-weight distribution and carbohydrate analysis indicated that an increase in SMP production may be partly attributed to the release of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) into the bulk solution resulted from cerium toxicity, and the nucleic acids analysis suggested that increased cell lysis also contributed to SMP accumulation in the presence of Ce(3+). The increase in SMP production in the presence of Ce(3+) is possibly a consequence of the release of EPS and increased cell lysis due to cerium toxicity.     

Working towards sustainable urban water management: the vulnerability blind spot

The unprecedented water scarcity in Australia coincides with the adoption of a new urban water rhetoric. The 'Security through Diversity' strategy has been adopted in a number of Australian cities as a new and innovative approach to urban water management. Although this strategy offers a more holistic approach to urban water management, in practice, the Security through Diversity strategy is largely being interpreted and implemented in a way that maintains the historical dependence on large scale, centralised water infrastructure and therefore perpetuates existing urban water vulnerabilities. This research explores the implementation of Security through Diversity as the new water scarcity response strategy in the cities of Perth and Melbourne. Through a qualitative study with over sixty-five urban water practitioners, the results reveal that the practitioners have absorbed the new Security through Diversity language whilst maintaining the existing problem and solution framework for urban water management. This can be explained in terms of an entrenched technological path dependency and cognitive lock-in that is preventing practitioners from more comprehensively engaging with the complexities of the Security through Diversity strategy, which is ultimately perpetuating the existing vulnerability of our cities. This paper suggests that greater engagement with the underlying purpose of the security though diversity strategy is a necessary first step to overcome the constraints of the traditional technological paradigm and more effectively reduce the continued vulnerability of Australian cities.