Wind energy development and dissemination in China: Prospects and constraints in an institutional context

This study is intended to provide a better understanding of the functional roles and dynamics of institutions in determining the effectiveness of national and regional public-sector initiatives to promote the dissemination of wind turbine technologies in China. The structures, roles, and relationships of relevant institutions involved in wind energy development are analyzed. It examines wind energy development in the last four decades and divides them into four different stages of development. The objective of the study is to identify the steering mechanisms in wind-energy technology dissemination, and the obstacles involved. It is argued that institutional problems constitute major barriers for cost-effective development of wind turbines in China. These include investment loans, tax systems, electricity prices, technology transfer and adaptation, and human resources development. Two empirical studies about the Inner Mongolia region and the Dachen Island in Zhejiang Province are presented as illustrative cases. It concludes that establishing stable frameworks for private sector participation in the wind-energy market holds the key for effective dissemination of wind turbine technologies in China

Is Cognitive Linguistics deadly sinful? On the pros and cons of Cognitive Linguistics and its development

Cognitive Linguistics started from the 1980s, and it has become a mainstream since the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, which has got widespread attention, with a nickname as the third revolution in linguistic circles after the Saussurean Revolution and the Chomskyean Revolution. According to the dialectical principle of “negation of negation”, theoretical research is always advancing, thus the linguists are beginning to think of the shortcomings of Cognitive Linguistics and new developments in the future. For instance, Dabrowska (2016) pointed out the seven deadly sins of Cognitive Linguistics, which, we think, are overstated and too radical. Cognitive Linguistics has its own historical significance and makes great contributions to the criticism of Saussurean “Linguistic Apriorism” and Chomskyean “Linguistic Nativism”, but Cognitive Linguistics also has its own weaknesses, which are to be exposed in brief in this paper. We have also tried to propose “Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics as a revision in order to emphasize the philosophical views of “materialism” and “humanism” as a basic start in linguistic research

Coexistence and asymptotic periodicity in a competitor–competitor–mutualist model

AbstractIn this paper, the competitor–competitor–mutualist three-species Lotka–Volterra model is discussed. Firstly, by Schauder fixed point theory, the coexistence state of the strongly coupled system is given. Applying the method of upper and lower solutions and its associated monotone iterations, the true solutions are constructed. Our results show that this system possesses at least one coexistence state if cross-diffusions and cross-reactions are weak. Secondly, the existence and asymptotic behavior of T-periodic solutions for the periodic reaction–diffusion system under homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions are investigated. Sufficient conditions which guarantee the existence of T-periodic solution are also obtained

Analysis of Survivabilty of the Ship Propulsion System in a Severe Shock Environment, Based on the Fuzzy Theory and Analytic Hierarchy Process

Ship survivability is a critical aspect of the design of naval ships operating in weapon-induced shock environments. While most of studies have focused on the failure mechanisms of ship structures, little work has been done to assess the damage that may be inflicted on the propulsion systems of such vessels. This paper presents a novel model for evaluating the survivability of naval ship propulsion systems subjected to severe shock environments. The model accounts for the effects of weapon damage, including blast-induced structural crevasses and shock-induced equipment failures, by conducting the vulnerability analysis using empirical formulations for pressure and fragment perforation calculation. The proposed model consists of two sub-models: a crevasse damage sub-model and a shock damage severity sub-model. The former utilizes a fifth-order analytic hierarchy process structural model, while the latter utilizes the fuzzy theory. Combining the two sub-models yields the total survivability of the propulsion system of a naval ship. The model is applied to assess the survivability of three propulsion system design types (CODOG, CODAD, and CODAG) for a 3000 T class frigate. Results demonstrate the utility of the proposed model as a fast and robust method for use during iterative design cycles, enabling design changes based on the analysis results