We present an account of the background, principles and requirements for the classification of Chinese coals. A great deal of experimental work has been carried out on a wide variety of rich coal resources in China. Studies have been conducted on classification parameters for coals with low,...

Optimal sections have been applied to the classification of bituminous coals according to the magnitudes of the parameters Vr and (G)R.I., which reflect metamorphism and caking properties of coal, respectively. The points at which the sections are divided and the number of groups are determined...

This paper addresses the sampling period scheduling of Networked Control Systems (NCSs) with multiple control loops. The generalized exponential function is employed to describe Integral Absolute Error (IAE) performance versus sampling period by Truetime toolbox under Matlab environment, and the...

To help a firm reduce inefficiencies associated with equipment capacity planning, we propose a <i>dual-mode equipment procurement</i> (DMEP) framework. DMEP combines dual-source (i.e., a less-expensive-but-slower base mode and a faster-but-more-expensive flexible mode) procurement with option contracts...

Theoretical work on indexation and contract duration suggests no role for the expected rate of inflation in equations explaining these variables. Yet, stand-alone or two-equation studies of indexation and contract duration often report that this variable is statistically significant. We study a...

By mapping the optimization problems to physical systems, the paper presents a general-purpose stochastic optimization method with extremal dynamics. It is built up with the traveling salesman problem (TSP) being a typical NP-complete problem. As self-organized critical processes of extremal...

Lane-changing behavior plays an important role in characterizing urban arterial road traffic dynamics. This paper investigates efficiency-driven and objective-driven motives for drivers to change lanes on arterial roads. The former motive is determined by the circumstances of the surrounding...

In the study reported here, we estimated the forward-looking long-term equity risk premium by extrapolating the way it has participated in the real economy. We decomposed the 1926–2000 historical equity returns into supply factors-inflation, earnings, dividends, the P/E, the dividend-payout...