Balancing public and private interests through optimization of concession agreement design for user-pay PPP projects

In user-pay public private partnership (PPP) projects, private sectors collect user fees to cover cost and reap revenue. For projects that cannot be self-financed, public sectors usually invest public funds to make them financially feasible. The concession agreement allocates revenues and risks, and lies in the center of balancing public and private interests. However, stakeholders may have contrary opinions regarding the optimization of concession agreement. While private sectors are concerned about earning money, public sectors pay more attention to the efficient use of public funds. To address this challenge, this paper firstly identifies several key concessionary items, including concession period, concession price, capital structure and government subsidy. Then, a multi-objective optimization model is presented using discounted cash flow method, in which key concessionary items act as decision variables and public and private interests are represented by two sub-objectives. Subsequently, the model is solved using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II). Furthermore, a numerical case based on Beijing No. 4 Metro Line is provided to demonstrate the application of the model. Results show that the proposed model can produce a series of viable combinations of concessionary items that balance public and private interests, which provides practical references for relative decision making activities

A low-cost collaborative location scheme with GNSS and RFID for the Internet of Things

The emergence and development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has attracted growing attention to low-cost location systems when facing the dramatically increased number of public infrastructure assets in smart cities. Various radio frequency identification (RFID)-based locating systems have been developed. However, most of them are impractical for infrastructure asset inspection and management on a large scale due to their high cost, inefficient deployment, and complex environments such as emergencies or high-rise buildings. In this paper, we proposed a novel locating system by combing the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) with RFID, in which a target tag was located with one RFID reader and one GNSS receiver with sufficient accuracy for infrastructure asset management. To overcome the cost challenge, one mobile RFID reader-mounted GNSS receiver is used to simulate multiple location known reference tags. A vast number of reference tags are necessary for current RFID-based locating systems, which means higher cost. To achieve fine-grained location accuracy, we utilize a distance-based power law weight algorithm to estimate the exact coordinates. Our experiment demonstrates the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed scheme with sufficient accuracy, low cost and easy deployment on a large scale. The proposed scheme has potential applications for location-based services in smart cities

Comparative study on effect of microstructure characteristics on adsorption of CH4 and CO2 in anthracite based on molecular simulation

In order to explore the effects of pore size, aromatic lamellar stacking degree, aromatic lamellar ductility, gas temperature and gas pressure on the competitive adsorption of CH4 and CO2, the No.3 coal from Jincheng mining area was taken as the research object. The adsorption process of binary mixed gas of CH4 and CO2 in coal under different temperatures, pressures, pore diameters, aromatic lamellar stacking degrees and aromatic lamellar ductility was studied. The microstructure of coal was tested and analyzed based on industrial analysis and X-ray diffraction experiments. Molecular simulation of the process of gas mixture adsorption in coal using the Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) method. The results shown that, the increase of gas pressure was favorable for adsorption, and the adsorption capacity of CO2 was close to saturation at a pressure of 5 MPa. The increase of temperature led to a decrease in the maximum adsorption capacity and adsorption heat of CO2 in coal. The increase of pore size led to the increase of CH4 adsorption capacity in coal, with the fastest increase in CH4 adsorption occurred when pore size increased from 1 nm to 2 nm. With the increase of aromatic lamellar stacking degree, the number of gas molecules adsorbed in coal did not change significantly, but CO2 adsorption capacity of per unit mass in coal decreased rapidly, and the CH4 adsorption capacity decreased slightly. With the increase of aromatic lamellar ductility, the number of CH4 molecules adsorbed in coal increased slowly and the number of CO2 molecules adsorbed increased rapidly, and the change of the two gases adsorption capacity in coal per unit mass was not significant. From the perspective of adsorption capacity and adsorption heat, CO2 is in a dominant position in the competitive adsorption process, so injecting CO2 into coal seam can effectively displace CH4. The results of this paper strengthened the molecular understanding of the adsorption of binary mixed gas of CH4 and CO2, which can lay a theoretical foundation for the enhancement of coalbed methane extraction by CO2 injection

Preservation of Simmental bull sperm at 0°C in Tris dilution: effect of dilution ratio and long-distance transport

Objective This study aimed to assess the impact of the dilution ratio of Tris diluent, storage at 0°C, and long-distance transportation on the spermatozoa of Simmental cattle. It also validated the feasibility of the regional distribution of fresh semen. Methods In experiment 1, semen was diluted at four dilution ratios (1:6, 1:9, 1:12, and 1:15) to determine the optimal dilution ratio of Tris diluent. In experiment 2, we assessed sperm viability, progressive motility (objectively assessed by computer-assisted sperm analyzer), and acrosome intactness in Tris dilutions kept at constant 0°C for 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 days. We compared them to Tianshan livestock dilutions (Commercial diluent). In experiment 3, semen was diluted using Tris diluent, and sperm quality was measured before and after long-distance transport. Artificial insemination of 177 Simmental heifers compared to 156 using Tianshan Livestock dilution. Results The outcomes demonstrated that 1:9 was the ideal Tris diluent dilution ratio. The sperm viability, Progressive Motility, and acrosome integrity of both Tris and Tianshan dilutions preserved at 0°C gradually decreased over time. sperm viability was above 50% for both dilutions on d 9, with a flat rate of decline. The decrease in acrosome integrity rate was faster for Tianshan livestock dilutions than for Tris dilutions when stored at 0°C for 1 to 6 days. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in sperm viability between semen preserved in Tris diluent after long-distance transportation and semen preserved in resting condition. The conception rates for Tris dilution and Tianshan livestock dilution were 49.15% and 46.15% respectively, with no significant difference (p>0.05). Conclusion This shows that Tris diluent is a good long-term protectant. It has been observed that fresh semen can be successfully preserved for long-distance transport when stored under 0°C conditions. Additionally, it is feasible to distribute semen regionally

Public-Private Partnership in Infrastructure Development - Case Studies from Asia and Europe

Development of infrastructure projects with private engagement through PPP has become one of the commonly adopted procurement strategies in developed and developing countries. All over the world where PPP procurement has been used in one form or another, the way in which it is carried out has become an important issue. Yet, there is no standard method of PPP implementation as each country adapts the process as appropriate for its own culture, economy, political climate and legal system. It is therefore essential that all parties likely to be involved have a common understanding of the principles underlying PPP structures and an appreciation of the key issues from the standpoints of the private as well as the public sectors. PPP projects with substantial private investments involve participation of stakeholders with diverse perspectives, which can lead to different perceptions on the viability of the project. The introduction chapter covers the general issues of PPP implementation and presents an overview of the use of PPP in the delivery of public infrastructure and services across the world. Following, in five case studies PPP projects from Asia and Europe are presented and reveal differences in the respective approaches of each country. The case studies analyze project objectives, scope and site as well as legal, contractual and financial framework under which the projects were realized. Each case study closes with a chapter discussing the different approaches and summarizing lessons learned

Suppression of MAPK11 or HIPK3 reduces mutant Huntingtin levels in Huntington's disease models.

Most neurodegenerative disorders are associated with accumulation of disease-relevant proteins. Among them, Huntington disease (HD) is of particular interest because of its monogenetic nature. HD is mainly caused by cytotoxicity of the defective protein encoded by the mutant Huntingtin gene (HTT). Thus, lowering mutant HTT protein (mHTT) levels would be a promising treatment strategy for HD. Here we report two kinases HIPK3 and MAPK11 as positive modulators of mHTT levels both in cells and in vivo. Both kinases regulate mHTT via their kinase activities, suggesting that inhibiting these kinases may have therapeutic values. Interestingly, their effects on HTT levels are mHTT-dependent, providing a feedback mechanism in which mHTT enhances its own level thus contributing to mHTT accumulation and disease progression. Importantly, knockout of MAPK11 significantly rescues disease-relevant behavioral phenotypes in a knockin HD mouse model. Collectively, our data reveal new therapeutic entry points for HD and target-discovery approaches for similar diseases