Cost-effectiveness of alternative powertrains for reduced energy use and CO2 emissions in passenger vehicles

This work analysed the cost-effectiveness of avoiding carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions using advanced internal combustion engines, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel cell vehicles and electric vehicles across the nine UK passenger vehicles segments. Across all vehicle types and powertrain groups, minimum installed motive power was dependent most on the time to accelerate from zero to 96.6km/h (60mph). Hybridising the powertrain reduced the difference in energy use between vehicles with slow (t z - 60 > 8 s) and fast acceleration (t z - 60 < 8 s) times. The cost premium associated with advanced powertrains was dependent most on the powertrain chosen, rather than the performance required. Improving non-powertrain components reduced vehicle road load and allowed total motive capacity to decrease by 17%, energy use by 11%, manufacturing cost premiums by 13% and CO2 emissions abatement costs by 15%. All vehicles with advanced internal combustion engines, most hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains reduced net CO2 emissions and had lower lifetime operating costs than the respective segment reference vehicle. Most powertrains using fuel cells and all electric vehicles had positive CO2 emissions abatement costs. However, only vehicles using advanced internal combustion engines and parallel hybrid vehicles may be attractive to consumers by the fuel savings offsetting increases in vehicle cost within two years. This work demonstrates that fuel savings are possible relative to today's fleet, but indicates that the most cost-effective way of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions is by advanced combustion technologies and hybridisation with a parallel topology. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Quantifying the effectiveness of SiO2/Au light trapping nanoshells for thin film poly-Si solar cells

In order to enhance light absorption of thin film poly-crystalline silicon (TF poly-Si) solar cells over a broad spectral range, and quantify the effectiveness of nanoshell light trapping structure over the full solar spectrum in theory, the effective photon trapping flux (EPTF) and effective photon trapping efficiency (EPTE) were firstly proposed by considering both the external quantum efficiency of TF poly-Si solar cell and scattering properties of light trapping structures. The EPTF, EPTE and scattering spectrum exhibit different behaviors depending on the geometric size and density of nanoshells that form the light trapping layer. With an optimum size and density of SiO2/Au nanoshell light trapping layer, the EPTE could reach up to 40% due to the enhancement of light trapping over a broad spectral range, especially from 500 to 800 nm.

The experimental measurement of the relative biological effectiveness of carbon ions with different qualities

The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of carbon ions with linear energy transfer (LET) of 172 keV/mu m and 13.7 keV/mu m were determined in this study. The clonogenic survival and premature terminal differentiation were measured on normal human. broblasts AG01522C and NHDF after exposure of the cells to 250 kV X-rays and carbon ions with different qualities. RBE was determined for these two biological end points. The results showed that the measured RBE10 with a survival fraction of 10% was 3.2 for LET 172 keV/mu m, and 1.33 for LET 13.7 keV/mu m carbon ions. RBE for a doubling of post-mitotic. broblasts (PMF) in the population was 2.8 for LET 172 keV/mu m, and 1 for LET 13.7 keV/mu m carbon ions. For the carbon ion therapy, a high RBE value on the Bragg peak results in a high biological dose on the tumour. The tumour cells can be killed effectively. At the same time, the dose on healthy tissue would be reduced accordingly. This will lighten the late effect such as fibrosis on normal tissue.

Comparison of effectiveness of different ashing auxiliaries for determination of phosphorus in natural waters, aquatic organisms and sediments by ignition method

An improved method for the determination of phosphorus in natural waters, aquatic organisms and sediments by ignition method is proposed. The recoveries of phosphorus (P) from selected inorganic and organic P-containing compound standards after ignition with different auxiliaries, such as MgSO4, Mg(NO3)(2), MgO2, Mg(Ac-2) and CaCl2, were compared. We found that the phosphorus from most compound standards could not be completely recovered when these compounds were ignited (450-500degreesC) with the MgSO4 as auxiliary and the baked residue was extracted with 0.2 mol l(-1) HCl for 30min at 80degreesC or at room temperature. P recoveries, for example, were poor, less than 85%, if pyrophosphate and metaphosphate were ignited with the addition Of MgSO4 prior to the extraction of the baked residue with 0.2 mol l(-1) HCl at 80degreesC for 30 min. In contrast, MgO2, Mg(Ac)(2) and CaCl2, as well as Mg(NO3)(2), could all yield complete P recoveries at routine ashing temperatures (450-500degreesC). The results demonstrate that MgC12 is a more effective auxiliary agent for the determination of phosphorus in natural waters, aquatic organisms and sediments by ignition method than MgSO4 which is commonly used. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

领导行为的复杂性、角色结构及其有效性研究

As the social and organizational environment become more and more complex, the topic of leadership complexity is gaining more and more attention. So far, some critical issues in this field need further exploration, such as clarifying the theoretical framework, developing and validating the measurments and exploring the mechanism of the its effectiveness. Using BEI(Behavioral Event Interview), content analysis and EFA/CFA, ANOVA, regression analysis and other qualitative/quantitative methods, this research explored the leadership structure of Chinese enterprise managers, developed a new leadership questionnaire, investigated the differences of the leadership roles among various managerial areas and on different hirachical levels, and examined the impacts of the leadership roles and leadership complexity on different indicators of leadership effectiveness in various organizational contexts. 1,020 managers were surveyed. The followings are the main findings： First，the structure of leadership behaviors of Chinese enterprise managers included ethical model, authoritarian, producer, director, monitor, mentor, strategist, enterpriser, among which ethical model and authoritarian are the new findings in Chinese cultural context. Ethical model was characterized by presenting honesty, setting an example to others, being just and diligent. Authoritarian was characterized by showing power and arbitrariness. In addition, mentor, strategist and enterpriser incarnated some cultural features of present China. The new developed leadership questionnaire’s reliability and validity reached the criterion of standardized measurement. Second, there were significant differences of frequency of leadership behaviors among the managers at different managerial postions and hirachical levels, while the impacts of different leadership roles on different leadership effectiveness indicators were also singnificantly different. Ethical model had positive impacts on the whole performance and three indicators across task and context performance, and authoritarian’s impacts on the whole performance and department performance were negatively significant. Third, the impact of leadership complexity on the whole leadership effectiveness was positively significant, while the moderating effects of organization level and position function was not significant.

团队有效性：协作行为与作业特征作用机制研究

Organizations are increasingly turning to team-based structures to contend with the pressure of the increasing global competition, consolidation, innovation and need for diverse skills, expertise, and experiences. This ongoing transformation in the basic organization of work has captured the attention of researcher. And group and team research has become increasingly centered in the fields of organizational psychology and organizational behavior since the 1990s. A great deal empirical studies were conducted; a number of variables contributing to team effectiveness and several IPO models were summarized. But teamwork behaviors, the dynamic and adaptive interactions among team members during the task completion, were still very vague. So were the team task characteristics, an important input variable of the IPO models. The effects of team task characteristics and teamwork behaviors on team effectiveness were explored according to IPO model on the basis of the reviews on previous studies, the Hierarchical Conceptual Structure of Teamwork Behaviors (Rousseau et al.,2006), and the task characteristic theory(Hackman & Oldman, 1975). The questionnaire data from 479 team members and 110 team managers of 22 organizations were analyzed. The results indicate: A. Teamwork behaviors consist of 13 behavioral dimensions: team mission analysis, goal specification, planning, coordination, cooperation, information exchange, performance monitoring, backing-up behaviors, intra-team coaching, collaborative problem solving, team practice innovation, psychological support and integrative conflict management. The hierarchical conceptual structure was partly supported with five variable identified, i.e., preparation of work accomplishment, task-related collaborative behaviors, work assessment behaviors, team adjustment behaviors and the management of team maintenance. The formal four variables are in a sequential way. B. The task characteristic theory at individual level is applicable to the team level. This means that the team task characteristics consist of task variety, identity, significance, feedback, autonomy, interdependence. C. The correlations among task characteristics, teamwork behaviors and outcomes support the IPO model. The regulation of team performance mediated the effects of task meaningfulness and interdependence on team outcomes, with the direct effects of task meaningfulness on the preparation behaviors and the direct effects of interdependence on the task-related collaborative behaviors. The management of team maintenance mediated the effects of autonomy on team cohesion and satisfaction. The regulation of team performance has a direct effect on the team performance and the management of team maintenance. And the management of team maintenance has a direct effect on the team attitude and the regulation of team performance.

工作群体有效性评价及群体工作设计

This thesis study the problem of work group effectiveness and group job design according to extensive literature investigation and the analysis of realistic background. The whole research consists of four parts: (1) The evaluation of work group effectiveness, the aim is to search to criteria that can describe and analysis work group, and explore the cognitive dimensions of effectiveness of Chinese subjects; (2) The study on the relationship between group job characteristic and effectiveness, the aim is to find the general correlation between work group characteristic and effectiveness, and try to search the most important core variable; (3) The study on the preference for the way of group work; (4) The study of the relationship between group composition and group effectiveness, try to examine how different approaches of personnel selection influence work results. The results indicate: (1) The evaluation of group effectiveness mainly consists of two dimensions: performance and the employee's attitude and feelings toward the group, so we can use these two dimensions and corresponding criteria as the standard of effectiveness evaluation. (2) According to the analysis of related literature, we can determine work group characteristic from five aspects: job design, the interdependence among members, group composition, organizational background, group process. (3) Experimental study find that different group job characteristics have different relationship models with effectiveness criteria. Job design, the interdependence among group members, group composition have significant correlation relationships with two kinds of effectiveness criteria; organizational background mainly has relationships with satisfaction criteria; group process mainly has relationships with performance criteria. (4) The choice for people to select the way of group work has the consistency, that is people prefer to "Self--managed work groups"; but different groups have the difference, the main group dimension is the difference between group members and group leaders. (5) Work groups which were composed accordingly to interpersonal attraction have higher levels of communication, coordination, group cohesion and job satisfaction than ability--based groups based. But the performance evaluation under these two conditions has no difference. The thesis analysis and discuss the research results, also point out several questions that needed to be explored further and the possible research directions in the future. This study has some reference value in group--level performance appraisal and reward design, the content and method of group--level job design, and personnel selection of group, etc.