NPP distribution related to the terrains along the North-South Transect of Eastern China

Vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) is defined as the accumulative amount of organic matters per unit area and time, which is calculated from the difference between accumulative photosynthesis and accumulative autotrophic respiration by green plants. Since the NPP reflects the physiological and ecological characteristics of the plants and the interactive results of the environmental factors, it is an important index to evaluate a structure of ecological system, functional features and …     

MERGING OPTIMALITY CONDITIONS WITH GENETIC ALGORITHM OPERATORS TO SOLVE SINGLE MACHINE TOTAL WEIGHTED TARDINESS PROBLEM

1.Introduction Production sequencing and scheduling is one of the most important activities in production planning and control.Sequencing is defined as the order in which the jobs are processed through the machines.The allocation of machines over time to process a collection of jobs is defined as Scheduling.Several methods have been developed to solve the scheduling problem which can be classified as follows:1)efficient optimal methods,2)implicit and explicit,or complete enumerative methods,a…     

On the Strong Law of Large Numbers for Non-Independent B-Valued Random Variables

This paper investigates some conditions which imply the strong laws of large numbers for Banach space valued random variable sequences. Some generalizations of the Marcinkiewicz- Zygmund theorem and the HoffmannJφrgensen and Pisier theorem are obtained.     

Swelling Studies of Chitosan-Gelatin Films Cross-Linked by Sulfate

0　IntroductionChitosanisadeacetylatedderivativeofchitin ,containinginitsstructure glucosamineandacetylglucosamine joinedthroughβ (1→ 4 )linkages.ItisinsolubleinwaterandcommonorganicsolventsbutsolubleatapHunder 6 .5acidicmedia.Duetoitsexcellentbiodegradableandbiocompatiblecharacter,chi tosanhasbeenexaminedextensivelyinthepharmaceuticalindus tryforitspotentialinthedevelopmentofdrugdeliverysys tems[1 ,2 ] .Gelatinisabiodegradablepolymerofwidesafety ,pro ducedfromcollagen ,themostabundantprote…     

Soil Erosion on a Slope without Vegetation： a Simulating Experiment on a Bare Land in Mt. Tanakami

0　IntroductionManystudieshavebeendoneonthesedimentdischargeinMt.Tanakami .Thosestudiesconcerntheamountofsedi mentsandfewdiscussionsabouttheprocessonly .Andthesedi mentyieldmechanismindevastatedslopeinMt.Tanakamiisnotfullyunderstood.Inordertorecordthewholeprocessofsoilero sionfromthebeginningofprecipitation ,totheendofsedimentmovement,asimulatingexperimentbyusingartificialrainiscon ducted .Basedonthisexperiment,andbyfurthercomparingwiththepreviousdataofsedimentsinthisarea,somebasicdataaboutc…     

Systems Thinking and Scenario Planning: Application in the Clothing Sector

Industrial sectors that operate in uncertain environments - with demand variability, product seasonality and different industrialisation structures - need studies that enable identification and forecast trends. Therefore, the development of competitiveness extends beyond a company’s individual performance. Collective action, whether toward consumer markets, supplier markets, competitors and substitutes, can reinforce or help reformulate the current practices of an organisation, besides providing better results in the development of strategies and competitive positioning. Thus, clothing, the sector addressed in this work, is characterised by a long, fragmented, heterogeneous production chain, the competitiveness of which is linked to product differentiation. Therefore, the use of systemic approaches to study this sector is effective. In this sense, this research aims at adapting Systems Thinking and Scenario Planning (STSP) so that it supports the development and planning process in a given sector. Thus, this research applies STSP adapted to an analysis of the clothing sector in the northern region of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. As a result, in academic terms, this research proposed and validated a method for analysing industrial sectors of the clothing industry. In the sectoral context, this research identified elements that leverage the sector’s competitiveness, besides generating knowledge and learning aimed at strengthening the sectoral structure identified, and fostering the formation of a new clothing cluster.     

Systemic Indicators for Rural Communities in Developing Economies: Bringing the Shared Vision into Being

Community indicators have been a frequent focus of the scholarly literature. There has been little exploration, however, in relation to rural communities, especially in developing countries. This reflects the special challenges associated with the complexity of rural systems, and the difficulties involved in developing appropriate and systemic indicators for rural communities. Identifying indicators that help the community to monitor progress towards sustainable outcomes requires a framework that is both practical and holistic. This paper introduces a participatory systemic framework for identifying community indicators, which respects the principles of complexity and honours the sense of ownership present in the communities. This framework is an iterative, sharing, co-learning engagement process that extends from creating a shared vision and extracting its core messages, to identifying indicators of progress and determining what actions to try. Importantly, this framework enables us to rank the indicators identified by communities with reference to ‘leverage points’, the best places to intervene in the social-environmental system for transformational change. This framework provides a potential pathway for sustainable rural development and perhaps also for organisations and urban communities.     

Adaptive Event-Based Consensus of Multi-Agent Systems with General Linear Dynamics

In this paper, adaptive event-based consensus of multi-agent systems with general linear dynamics is considered. A novel adaptive event-based controller and a state-dependent triggering function are proposed for each agent. The consensus can be achieved without the assumption that (A,B) is stabilizable. Furthermore, the Zeno-behavior of the concerned closed-loop system is also excluded under certain conditions. Finally, a numerical simulation example is presented to show the effectiveness of the theoretical results.