Risk and return of U.S. water transportation stocks over time and over bull and bear market conditions

The aim of this paper is to investigate the behaviour of water transportation company stock returns in the U.S. stock exchanges from 1985 to 1994 in order to determine whether the systematic risk of this industry is different from that of the 'average' company in the market, whether it has changed over the ten year period, over bull and bear market conditions, and whether there is a firm 'size' effect in the industry. In the context of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (Capm), we find that the systematic risk of the shipping industry return is not different from that of the 'average' company. It is also found that the covariance of water transportation companies with respect to the overall stock market return did not change over the ten year period although it appears that it has changed over normal upward/downward market movements. There is also reasonable evidence that the intercept of the equation might have changed over normal upward/downward market movements. Finally, we document contradictory evidence regarding the size effect; during the period 1985-1989 we find small companies to have significantly higher returns and risk while during the period 1990-1994 medium size companies tend to have higher risk than small and large firms, which is not however compensated by higher returns.     

浅谈询问调查

询问调查与海事工作关系十分密切,水上交通事故和海事行政处罚案件的调查取证都离不开询问调查,本文从询问前、询问过程和询问后三个方面谈了询问调查的一些方法和技巧。     

Biologically induced modification of seawater viscosity in the Eastern English Channel during a Phaeocystis globosa spring bloom

To identify the potential relationship between Pheaocystis globosa bloom conditions and seawater properties, a hydrobiological survey was performed in the inshore waters of the Eastern English Channel over the course of the phytoplankton spring bloom. Chlorophyll concentration, auto- and hetero/mixotrophic composition of protists and standing stock, and seawater viscosity were measured weekly from March to June 2004. The decline of the bloom is characterized by a massive foam formation in the turbulent surf zone. Before foam formation, seawater viscosity significantly increased, showing a significant positive correlation with chlorophyll concentration. In contrast, after foam formation this correlation was negative, seawater viscosity kept increasing despite a sharp decrease in chlorophyll concentrations. No significant correlation has been found between seawater viscosity and the composition of the phytoplankton assemblages observed during the survey. However, significant positive correlations have been found between seawater viscosity and both the size and the abundance of P. globosa colonies. From the correlation patterns observed between chlorophyll concentration and seawater viscosity, we suggest that the rheological properties of seawater are mainly driven by extracellular materials associated with colony formation and maintenance rather than by cell composition and standing stock.     

Driver steering and muscle activity during a lane-change manoeuvre

The article reports an experimental study of driver steering control behaviour in a lane-change manoeuvre. Eight test subjects were instrumented with electromyography to measure muscle activation and co-contraction. Each subject completed 30 lane-change manoeuvres with one vehicle on a fixed-base driving simulator. For each driver, the steering torque feedback characteristic was changed after every ten manoeuvres; the response of the vehicle to steering angle inputs was not changed. Drivers' control strategies were found to be robust to changes in steering torque feedback. Path-following errors, muscle activity and muscle co-contraction all reduce with the number of lane-changes performed by the driver, suggesting the existence of a learning process. Comparing the test subjects, there was some evidence that high levels of co-contraction were used to allow high-frequency steering inputs to be generated. The results contribute to the understanding of vehicle-driver (and more generally, human-machine) dynamic interaction.     

基于WITNESS的集装箱码头闸口仿真分析

结合集装箱码头物流系统的特点,本文提出采用面向对象的方法对集装箱码头闸口系统进行建模、仿真分析的思路。在简要回顾了国内有关外集装箱码头闸口系统的研究动态的基础上,介绍了当前国际上流行的仿真软件WITNESS的主要特点和功能,分析了其在集装箱码头闸口系统仿真的应用。之后,根据日照港闸口的仿真目的对闸口系统做了一定程度的简化,利用WITNESS仿真软件完成了闸口系统的仿真运行。同时,基于实际仿真运行过程和仿真模型测算吞吐量为150万TEU时的合理通道数,并预测此工况下的极限吞吐量,从而为闸口系统的规划设计提供理论依据。最后分析了本文局限性和进一步的研究方向。     

大风浪中船舶安全航行探讨

大风浪严重影响船舶的正常航行,给船舶的安全运输生产带来了诸多的困难,可能造成货损、船损,甚至发生海难事故,威胁人的生命安全。但因其有自身的客观规律性,而且我们具备较强的专业知识及能力,事先做好完整的、有效的、具体的安全保障措施,正确处置大风浪带来的各种突发情况,即可达到安全航行的目的。本文通过相关内容的分析,对大风浪中船舶的航行安全做了一些探讨。     

Evasive manoeuvres with a steering robot

In the pursuit of an objective rating on vehicle stability performance, it is always desirable to reduce disturbances and inconsistencies during experimental evaluations, especially the ones introduced by human drivers. This paper presents the development of a steering robot designed for closed-loop steering tasks during evasive manoeuvres. It describes the controller structure and discusses experimental results, in addition to simulation/vehicle model verifications and theoretical control analysis.     

Experimental study on the width of the turbulent area around bridge pier

At present, the method of calculating the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier is not given in the "Standard for Inland River Navigation" (GB50139-2004) in China, and the bridge designer usually increases the bridge span in order to ensure the navigation safety, which increases both of the structural design difficulty and the project investments. Therefore, it is extremely essential to give a research on the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier. Through the experiments of the fixed bed and the mobile bed, the factors influencing the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier have been analyzed, such as the approaching flow speed, the water depth, the angles between the bridge pier and the flow direction, the sizes of bridge pier, the shapes of the bridge pier, and the scouring around the bridge pier, etc. Through applying the dimension analytic method to the measured data, the formula of calculating the turbulent flow width around the bridge pier is then inferred.     

折弯机平衡杆同步机构研究

本文通过对折弯机平衡杆同步机构的受力分析,得出了平衡杆的最佳运动角;为平衡杆同步机构尺度的确定和合理布局提供了设计依据,并在我厂生产的折弯机上得到应用,取得了满意效果。     

铁路路基道碴囊及路基空洞注浆加固治理

对既有铁路软弱桥头、路基碴囊及路基空洞采用注浆加固,可使路基承载力显著提高,且施工不要点、不封闭、不缓行,提高了铁路的综合效益。注浆加固是整治类似病害而不影响运营的一种较好方法。