The impact of animal welfare regulations on firms' product offerings: Humane or organic product?

Increased public concerns about animal welfare have spurred new regulations to improve animals' treatment and living conditions. We study how these regulations affect firms' product offerings, prices, and profits. We consider two competing animal agriculture supply chains, each consisting of a supplier and a buyer. New regulations require firms to choose between offering humane or organic products, which are differentiated by animals' living conditions. We find that consumers' growing awareness of animal welfare encourages firms to offer organic products, which require the highest standards for animals' living conditions. We also show that tightening humane product standards and loosening organic product standards encourage firms to offer organic products—but with distinct pricing implications. The former leads to higher retail prices whereas the latter may lower retail prices. Depending on costs and consumers' awareness of animal welfare, a humane product may be priced higher or lower than an organic product. Furthermore, we provide conditions under which a regulator should offer a unit-cost or an investment cost subsidy to improve social welfare. We show that subsidies can encourage firms to change from offering humane to organic products, or vice versa, to enhance total social welfare.     

一类拟线性周期抛物边值问题

研究了一类带有小扩散系数的拟线性周期抛物混合边值问题。给出当扩散系数趋于零时其非平凡解的渐近性。     

Performance analysis of queue length monitoring of M/G/1 systems

This study investigates the statistical process control application for monitoring queue length data in M/G/1 systems. Specifically, we studied the average run length (ARL) characteristics of two different control charts for detecting changes in system utilization. First, the nL chart monitors the sums of successive queue length samples by subgrouping individual observations with sample size n. Next is the individual chart with a warning zone whose control scheme is specified by two pairs of parameters, (upper control limit, d_u) and (lower control limit, d_l), as proposed by Bhat and Rao (Oper Res 20 (1972) 955–966). We will present approaches to calculate ARL for the two types of control charts using the Markov chain formulation and also investigate the effects of parameters of the control charts to provide useful design guidelines for better performance. Extensive numerical results are included for illustration. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2011     

基因表达缺失值的加权回归估计算法

在基因芯片实验中,数据缺失客观存在,并在一定程度上影响芯片数据后续分析结果的准确性。在不增加实验次数的情况下,缺失值估计是降低缺失数据对后续分析影响的有效方法。利用相似性信息的核加权函数来实现缺失值回归估计的局部化,提出了基于加权回归估计的基因表达缺失值估计算法。在两个不同类型的基因芯片数据上,将新方法与几种已知的方法进行了比较分析。实验结果表明,新的估计算法具有比传统缺失值估计算法更好的稳定性和估计准确度。     

基于集值统计法确定掩护重点目标问题

确定掩护重点是地面防空作战的一个重点和难点问题.利用集值统计分析采集的数据更适合指挥员确定掩护重点的思维方式,用区间数对数据进行处理能较好地降低主观误差.通过对被掩护目标的价值度的求取,为确定被掩护目标重要性顺序和兵力分配提供了依据.算法推理严密,模型简单实用,易于编程实现,为确定掩护重点目标提供了一种很好的算法.     

刑罚轻缓化之理性思考

刑罚轻缓化是当今世界发展的潮流,但我国由于历来受传统重刑思想影响,对刑罚轻缓化思想是排斥的。要改变这种状况,就要对刑罚轻缓化的基本理论进行研究,以使我国的领导层和普通大众对刑罚轻缓化有一个理性的认识,改变我国的重刑刑罚结构和法官量刑偏重的重刑情结,接受刑罚轻缓化思想,以顺应世界发展趋势。     

论心理健康教育的人本价值

心理健康教育无疑具有重要的人本价值。从历史发展看,心理健康教育就是沿着以人为本的方向演进;人作为心理健康教育价值的承载者,其心理的复杂性决定着心理健康教育的人本向度;心理健康教育的人本价值则体现在从个体全面发展到民族素质的综合提高上;只有树立起以人为本的心理健康教育观,方能真正实现其人本价值。     

构建和谐社会之法律思想透析

实现社会和谐始终是人类追求的一个社会理想,只是因为社会历史的不同,和谐社会思想所包含的要义以及所追求的目标也随之有所差异。但法之于和谐社会具有重要价值却是绝大多数法哲学家所认同的,即构建和谐社会离不开法律保障之基石。从中西方法律思想以及可持续发展观角度层层递进,对构建和谐社会之合理性、时代性、先导性以及法之于和谐社会的重要价值进行探讨与思索。     

演化硬件中变异概率对进化算法首次命中时间的影响

在(1+1)EAs中,采用马尔可夫链推移时间分析法,推导出了平均首次命中时间的表达式。从理论上分析了变异概率对平均首次命中时间的影响。结果表明适当的变异概率会缩短平均首次命中时间,加快进化算法的寻优时间。     

基于神经网络的模糊理论在桥梁状态评估中的应用

探讨了模糊数学中的隶属函数在桥梁技术等级状态评估中的应用.在研究现有桥梁状态评估方法的基础上,把人工神经网络和模糊数学理论结合起来应用于大跨度预应力斜拉桥的等级状态评估,建立了基于三层神经元的模糊神经网络模型,并建立结构损伤度函数及等级隶属度模型,通过样本学习训练,获取评估专家的知识及直觉思维,最终确定桥梁所对应的技术状态等级.以检测的480组索力数据作为学习样本,另外4组作为验证样本进行了索力状态评估预测.计算结果表明,网络预测值与期望值吻合良好.