Unequal Competition Among Chains of Supercenters: Kmart,Target, and Wal‐Mart

The three largest discount chains, Kmart, Target, and Wal‐Mart, have adopted the supercenter format for expansion. This article examines the locations of and the competition among these supercenters. Wal‐Mart has the greatest number of supercenters and is driving the expansion of the supercenter format. Both Kmart and Target have clustered their supercenters in a small number of metropolitan markets. In contrast to Wal‐Mart and Kmart, Target has focused on a middle‐class rather than a blue‐collar clientele. Now Kmart is struggling following a declaration of bankruptcy. Wal‐Mart has largely defeated its supercenter competitors and now is confronting the major grocery chains for grocery sales.     

Synchrotron IR study of hydrous ringwoodite (γ-Mg2SiO4) up to 30 GPa

High-pressure synchrotron infrared (IR) absorption spectra were collected between 650 and 4,000 cm⁻¹ at ambient temperature for hydrous Mg-ringwoodite (γ-Mg₂SiO₄) up to 30 GPa. The main feature in the OH⁻ stretching region is an extremely broad band centred at 3,150 cm⁻¹. The hydrogen bond is strong for most protons and the most probable site for protonation is the tetrahedral edge. With increasing pressure, this band shifts downward while decreasing its integrated intensity until disappearance at a pressure of 25 GPa. Only one band at 2,450 cm⁻¹ and an absorption plateau persist with a maximum wavenumber of 3,800 cm⁻¹. This behaviour is reversible upon pressure release. We interpret this as a second-order phase transition occurring in hydrated Mg-ringwoodite at high pressure (beyond ∼ 25 GPa). This result is compatible with the observation by Kleppe et al. (Phys Chem Miner 29:473–476, 2002a) who suggested the presence of Si–O–Si linkages and/or partial increase in the coordination of Si. Beyond the phase transition, the protons are delocalized and their environment on the ringwoodite structure is probably quite different from that at low pressure. Data obtained in situ at high pressures and temperatures are needed to better understand the effect of protonation on the structure and to better constrain this phase transition.     

基于MPI的机群并行计算系统平台构建

在高性能计算机领域,机群并行系统已成为一种重要的系统结构。这里介绍了机群并行系统的特点和发展现状;给出了将PC机或工作站通过高速以太网连接,使用TCP/IP作为标准的通信协议,利用MPI作为分布式的并行计算软件环境,在Windows平台和Unix平台上搭建用户自己的PC机群系统的两种方法;还给出了MPI安装中需要注意的关键步骤。实践表明,PC机群系统具有高性能、高可用性和极高的性价比。     

Electrical aerosol spectrometer of Tartu University

The electrical aerosol spectrometer (EAS) of the parallel measuring principle at Tartu University is an efficient instrument for rapid measurement of the unstable size spectrum of aerosol particles. The measuring range from 10 nm to 10 μm is achieved by simultaneously using a pair of differential mobility analyzers with two different particle chargers. The particle spectrum is calculated and measurement errors are estimated in real time by using a least-squares method. Experimental calibration ensures reliability of measurement. The instrument is well suited for continuous monitoring of atmospheric aerosol.     

油田污水中Fe2+,S2-,DO及pH值对HPAM-酚醛CDG成胶性能影响的研究

在对河南油田双河矿区油田污水进行全分析的基础上，研究了污水中Fe^2 ,S^2-，溶解氧（DO）及污水的pH值对有机交联体系聚丙烯酰胺（HPAM）－酚醛胶态分散凝胶（CDG）成胶性能的影响。研究结果表明，Fe^2 ,S^2－，DO及污水的pH值对HPAM－酚醛体系的成胶性能都有影响当ρ（Fe^2 )=1.6mg/L,ρ（S^2-)=0.1mg/L,ρ（DO）=1.6mg/L，HPAM－酚醛体系就不能成胶；随着污水pH值的增大，CDG强度变弱。     

DGSC—203型液动射流冲击器在地热井的试验

介绍了新研制的DGSC－203石油钻井液动射液冲击器的性能参数及结构设计上的创新点，测试所获得的排量与压降之间的关系曲线可指导冲击器的使用。生产性试验证明该冲击器工作稳定，可大幅度提高硬地层钻井效率，克服钻柱振动，延长钻柱的使用寿命，具有良好应用前景。     

Tests on low‐ductility RC frames under high‐ and low‐frequency excitations

The response of low‐ductility reinforced concrete (RC) frames, designed typically for a non‐seismic region, subjected to two frequencies of base excitations is studied. Five half‐scaled, two‐bay, two‐storey, RC frames, each approximately 5 m wide by 3.3 m high, were subjected to both horizontal and/or vertical base excitations with a frequency of 40 Hz as well as a lower frequency of about 4 Hz (close to the fundamental frequency) using a shake table. The imposed acceleration amplitude ranged from 0.2 to 1.2g. The test results showed that the response characteristics of the structures differed under high‐ and low‐frequency excitations. The frames were able to sustain high‐frequency excitations without damage but were inadequate for low‐frequency excitations, even though the frames exhibited some ductility. Linear‐elastic time‐history analysis can predict reasonably well the structural response under high‐frequency excitations. As the frames were not designed for seismic loads, the reinforcement detailing may not have been adequate, based on the crack pattern observed. The effect of vertical excitation can cause significant additional forces in the columns and moment reversals in the beams. The ‘strong‐column, weak‐beam’ approach for lateral load RC frame design is supported by experimental observations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic response of self‐centring hysteretic SDOF systems

The seismic response of single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) systems incorporating flag‐shaped hysteretic structural behaviour, with self‐centring capability, is investigated numerically. For a SDOF system with a given initial period and strength level, the flag‐shaped hysteretic behaviour is fully defined by a post‐yielding stiffness parameter and an energy‐dissipation parameter. A comprehensive parametric study was conducted to determine the influence of these parameters on SDOF structural response, in terms of displacement ductility, absolute acceleration and absorbed energy. This parametric study was conducted using an ensemble of 20 historical earthquake records corresponding to ordinary ground motions having a probability of exceedence of 10% in 50 years, in California. The responses of the flag‐shaped hysteretic SDOF systems are compared against the responses of similar bilinear elasto‐plastic hysteretic SDOF systems. In this study the elasto‐plastic hysteretic SDOF systems are assigned parameters representative of steel moment resisting frames (MRFs) with post‐Northridge welded beam‐to‐column connections. In turn, the flag‐shaped hysteretic SDOF systems are representative of steel MRFs with newly proposed post‐tensioned energy‐dissipating connections. Building structures with initial periods ranging from 0.1 to 2.0s and having various strength levels are considered. It is shown that a flag‐shaped hysteretic SDOF system of equal or lesser strength can always be found to match or better the response of an elasto‐plastic hysteretic SDOF system in terms of displacement ductility and without incurring any residual drift from the seismic event. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical evaluation of the damping‐solvent extraction method in the frequency domain

The damping‐solvent extraction method for the analysis of unbounded visco‐elastic media is evaluated numerically in the frequency domain in order to investigate the influence of the computational parameters—domain size, amount of artificial damping, and mesh density—on the accuracy of results. An analytical estimate of this influence is presented, and specific questions regarding the influence of the parameters on the results are answered using the analytical estimate and numerical results for two classical problems: the rigid strip and rigid disc footings on a visco‐elastic half‐space with constant hysteretic material damping. As the domain size is increased, the results become more accurate only at lower frequencies, but are essentially unaffected at higher frequencies. Choosing the domain size to ensure that the static stiffness is computed accurately leads to an unnecessarily large domain for analysis at higher frequencies. The results improve by increasing artificial damping but at a slower rate as the total (material plus artificial) damping ratio ζ_t gets closer to 0.866. However, the results do not deteriorate significantly for the larger amounts of artificial damping, suggesting that ζ_t≈0.6 is appropriate; a larger value is not likely to influence the accuracy of results. Presented results do not support the earlier suggestion that similar accuracy can be achieved by a large bounded domain with small damping or by a small domain with larger damping. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.