Output-based incentive regulation: benchmarkingwith quality of supply in electricity distribution

Incentive regulation is moving towards new schemes where standard efficiency mechanisms are combined with output-based incentives (related to quality of supply, sustainability and innovation). Assessing performance of regulated utilities requires models capable to account for these different regulatory objectives. Benchmarking analysis has been in use for a long time; however, whether these models should ncorporate even quality as an additional regulated output is still a matter of debate. In this paper we study how benchmarking DEA models can be designed to correctly accommodate all regulated variables, including continuity of supply. To this end, we discuss different models to measure technical efficiency, using a comprehensive and balanced panel for 115 electricity distribution Zones, that belong to the largest Italian utility. Our results show that, for our data set, quality significantly affects efficiency scores . We thus claim that the effect of additional regulated outputs should always be tested in benchmarking models

Combination Machine Analysis and Design

针对大型焊接结构件的焊后加工问题，本文主要探讨双面镗车组合机床的设计问题。从工艺分析入手，对956Ⅱ装载机大型结构件后车架进行加工工艺分析，为确保焊后加工质量与各组件间的形位精度要求，对结构件各部件分清主次，使焊接、加工的基准统一，设计合理的工艺方案，并通过经济可行性分析，确定通过设计组合机床来完成加工任务。 本文重点阐述了工艺方案设计、组合机床设计、工装设计、刀具设计、液压系统设计、PLC控制设计等6个方面，经过分析论证，提出用闲置的两个镗孔车端面动力头与两个机械滑台来完成后车架铰接孔与四个端面的加工，工件用副车架支承架的孔定位，设计可平移微调的工装来确保4个端面的加工余量及相互间的位置尺...According to the problem of large structural part machining after welding, this article mainly discusses how to design two-end boring and turning combination machine tool. Starting with process analysis, this article carrys out machining process analysis for rear frame of Wheel loader Model 956Ⅱ. In order to guarantee machining quality after welding and the geometric precision among different asse...学位：工程硕士院系专业：信息科学与技术学院自动化系_控制工程学号：X20043103

Evidence that cells from experimental tumours can activate coagulation factor X.

The procoagulant activity of cells from some experimental tumours isolated in culture or in single-cell suspensions from ascitic fluid was investigated. Cells from Lewis lung carcinoma (primary and metastasis), Ehrlich carcinoma ascites and JW sarcoma ascites were able to shorten markedly the recalcification time of normal, Factor VIII- and Factor VII-deficient but not of Factor X-deficient human plasma. The same cells generated thrombin when mixed with a source of prothrombin and Factor X, absorbed bovine serum (as a source of Factor V), phospholipid and calcium chloride. Thrombin formation was not influenced by the presence of Factor VII. Cells from Sarcoma 180 ascites were completely inactive in both test systems. It is concluded that cells from some experimental tumours have the capacity to activate Coagulation Factor X directly. These findings suggest the existence of an alternative "cellular" pathway in the initiation of blood clotting distinct from both the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms

The convergence of the disciplines for stage in high schools

The scientific discoveries gained over the last 70 years now allow us to build a unitary history of the universe that gathers the contributions of many disciplines. These new vision assigns to the Earth Sciences a new and important role to promote the convergence of many disciplines in order to build a unified history of the universe and of man in it. An example of this new role can be found in the Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro ASL (combined experience of study and work). For the Liceo the ASL, is a challenge. It risks becoming another activity that is added to citizenship education, assessment by skills, university orientation. The teachers see this set of activities as an already inadequate subtraction of time. Interesting opportunities are created by engaging students and the whole class council in activities of contextualization of knowledge. Students, with a precise responsibility in a working group, experience some of the typical dynamics of a work situation. From the observation, guided by indicators, and from the evaluation of the products, the teachers can obtain useful indications for inserting the students in the business realities. The Big History Project in Earth\u2019s Science context can be the solution. The students, in groups, study the history of the Universe according, they will have the task of creating a product of their choice. \u201cAvogadro Institute\u201d of Biella has produced videos with Sony Vegas Pro. One has engaged in a History of the Universe in 8 minutes, the other has presented the geological history of Biella. This job could be preparatory to a subsequent ASL in a geopark. In the \u201cA. Banfi\u201d Liceo in Vimercate (MI) it was decided to let the whole class work in the realization of a single product as 30-minute documentary that obtained almost 1500 views on Youtube. An educational trip to the Geological Observatory of Coldigioco has introduced students to the complexity of the geological history of Italy and the international interest it raises. A subsequent inspection in Val d\u2019Ossola, led by the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Milan, provided the necessary information to relate the remote history of the valley with the recent one. The online attendance of a coding course allowed students to design and implement an application for mobile phones with App Inventor. From the set of evaluative elements such as group work observation tables, the daily report of the progress of the activities on a dedicated platform and the evaluation of the realized products, a profile of the student\u2019s skills can emerge, useful for a subsequent ASL insertion in a company real and also for orientation at the end of high school studies

Local maximum points of explicitly quasiconvex functions

This work concerns generalized convex real-valued functions defined on a nonempty convex subset of a real topological linear space. Its aim is twofold: first, to show that any local maximum point of an explicitly quasiconvex function is a global minimum point whenever it belongs to the intrinsic core of the function’s domain and second, to characterize strictly convex normed spaces by applying this property for a particular class of convex functions

Infrastructure Upgrades and Foreclosure with Coexistence of Service-Based and Facility-Based Firms

We investigate the incentives for facility-based firms to invest in infrastructure upgrades and to foreclose service-based firms. We focus on asymmetric regulation regarding servicebased firms' access to the infrastructure held by a facility-based firm. Spillovers from the infrastructure upgrades made by a regulated facility-based firm on service-based firms play a key role in the incentives for making these upgrades. The spillover effect can enhance the incentives for the regulated facility-based firm to make upgrades if access prices are not regulated. The existence of rival facility-based firms strengthens the incentives for a regulated facility-based firm to make infrastructure upgrades, especially when the spillover effect is significant. Furthermore, if access prices are not regulated, the existence of rival facility-based firms weakens the incentives for a regulated facility-based firm to foreclose service-based firms

A global optimization approach to fractional optimal control

In this paper, we consider a fractional optimal control problem governed by system of linear differential equations, where its cost function is expressed as the ratio of convex and concave functions. The problem is a hard nonconvex optimal control problem and application of Pontriyagin's principle does not always guarantee finding a global optimal control. Even this type of problems in a finite dimensional space is known as NP hard. This optimal control problem can, in principle, be solved by Dinkhelbach algorithm [10]. However, it leads to solving a sequence of hard D.C programming problems in its finite dimensional analogy. To overcome this difficulty, we introduce a reachable set for the linear system. In this way, the problem is reduced to a quasiconvex maximization problem in a finite dimensional space. Based on a global optimality condition, we propose an algorithm for solving this fractional optimal control problem and we show that the algorithm generates a sequence of local optimal controls with improved cost values. The proposed algorithm is then applied to several test problems, where the global optimal cost value is obtained for each case