Competitive Adjustment and Advancement in Global Commodity Chains II: The Case of the Singapore Garment Industry

This is the second part of a contribution to the debate on the possibilities of leveraging economic globalisation — through incorporation in international production networks and global commodity chains (GCCs) — as a strategy for developing countries to industrialise and advance their position in the world economy. In the first part, we analysed the experience of the East Asian apparel industry and addressed the issues of sustaining positions, upgrading to more rewarding roles, and advancing to less dependent positions within production networks and GCCs. We developed an analytical framework at both the firm and industry levels, and subsequently identified alternative firm- and industry-level strategies and trajectories. The present paper deals with these issues in the context of the Singapore apparel industry. Based on extensive empirical research, we demonstrate that although the East Asian experience of upgrading and repositioning within the GCC is to some extent emulated in the case of the Singapore apparel industry, the outcomes have been less favourable in terms of the depth, extent and strength of these trajectories. The differing outcomes can be explained in terms of different (systemic) conditions in the Singapore business environment, including the agency of local players, the geography of sourcing networks, and the role of the state and prevailing business attitudes. Our conclusions merit continued attention in both research and policy circles on the development of capabilities at the firm level, and the role of local business and institutional environments in local industry development processes under globalisation.     

Atmospheric Methyl Iodide at Cape Grim, Tasmania, from AGAGE Observations

Atmospheric mixing ratios of methyl iodide (CH₃I) and other methyl halides have been measured at Cape Grim, Tasmania (41°S, 145°E), since early 1998 as part of the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE). This paper analyses about 1700 ambient air CH₃I measurements from the 14-month period (March 1998–April 1999). Mixing ratios peaked during the summer, despite faster photolytic loss, suggesting local oceanic emissions were about 2.2–3.6 times stronger in summer than in winter. Back trajectories show that CH₃I levels are strongly dependent on air mass origin, with highest mixing ratios in air from the Tasman Sea/Bass Strait region and lowest levels in air originating from the Southern Ocean at higher latitudes. CH₃I mixing ratios were not well correlated with other methyl halides in unpolluted marine air. The large variations with season and air mass origin suggest that high frequency, continuous data from key locations will make a significant contribution to the understanding of sources and sinks of this important short-lived atmospheric species.     

Comparison of the Langrangian Footprint

We compare flux and concentration footprint estimates of athree-dimensional Lagrangian stochastic dispersion modelapplying backward trajectories with the results of ananalytical footprint model by Kormann and Meixner.The comparison is performed for varying stability regimesof the surface layer as well as for different measurementheights. In general, excellent correspondence is found.     

智能卡和出租车轨迹数据中蕴含城市人群活动模式的差异性分析

当前采用交通流数据量化城市人群活动模式研究已经取得了丰硕的研究成果,但是对于同一区域、同一时段不同类型交通流数据反映城市人群活动模式的共性与差异性仍然知之甚少,直接影响了城市人群活动模式挖掘结果的可解释性与实际应用效果。为此,本文旨在对目前广泛采用的智能卡数据（公交和地铁刷卡）和出租车轨迹数据2种重要的交通流数据,从时空分布模式的差异性、行程距离及距离衰减效应的差异性、空间社团结构的差异性3个方面,探索二者反映城市人群活动模式的差异性：① 采用北京市六环以内区域2016年5月9日至15日的智能卡和出租车轨迹数据进行实验分析,研究发现：① 2种交通流反映出行需求的空间分布呈现出高度相关性,但是在同一空间单元上,2种交通流反映出行需求的时间相关性较低;② 2种交通流的使用率在不同空间位置存在明显差异,仅在城市中心区域使用率较为均衡;③ 2种交通流反映人群行程距离的空间分布、距离衰减效应存在明显差异,公共交通对于促进长距离出行更为重要;④ 从2种交通流发现的空间社团结构都显示了城市的多中心结构特征,但是二者发现社团结构存在的差异性表明两种交通方式对城市空间交互起着不同的作用。本研究有助于深入理解多源交通流反映城市人群活动的内在机理,提升城市人群活动模式在城市规划、交通管理等领域的应用效果。     

Why GPS makes distances bigger than they are

Global navigation satellite systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) is one of the most important sensors for movement analysis. GPS is widely used to record the trajectories of vehicles, animals and human beings. However, all GPS movement data are affected by both measurement and interpolation errors. In this article we show that measurement error causes a systematic bias in distances recorded with a GPS; the distance between two points recorded with a GPS is – on average – bigger than the true distance between these points. This systematic ‘overestimation of distance’ becomes relevant if the influence of interpolation error can be neglected, which in practice is the case for movement sampled at high frequencies. We provide a mathematical explanation of this phenomenon and illustrate that it functionally depends on the autocorrelation of GPS measurement error (C). We argue that C can be interpreted as a quality measure for movement data recorded with a GPS. If there is a strong autocorrelation between any two consecutive position estimates, they have very similar error. This error cancels out when average speed, distance or direction is calculated along the trajectory. Based on our theoretical findings we introduce a novel approach to determine C in real-world GPS movement data sampled at high frequencies. We apply our approach to pedestrian trajectories and car trajectories. We found that the measurement error in the data was strongly spatially and temporally autocorrelated and give a quality estimate of the data. Most importantly, our findings are not limited to GPS alone. The systematic bias and its implications are bound to occur in any movement data collected with absolute positioning if interpolation error can be neglected.     

Extensional fault and fold growth: Impact on accommodation evolution and sedimentary infill

Extensional faults and folds exert a fundamental control on the location, thickness and partitioning of sedimentary deposits on rift basins. The connection between the mode of extensional fault reactivation, resulting fault shape and extensional fold growth is well‐established. The impact of folding on accommodation evolution and growth package architecture, however, has received little attention; particularly the role‐played by fault‐perpendicular (transverse) folding. We study a multiphase rift basin with km‐scale fault displacements using a large high‐quality 3D seismic data set from the Fingerdjupet Subbasin in the southwestern Barents Sea. We link growth package architecture to timing and mode of fault reactivation. Dip linkage of deep and shallow fault segments resulted in ramp‐flat‐ramp fault geometry, above which fault‐parallel fault‐bend folds developed. The folds limited the accommodation near their causal faults, leading to deposition within a fault‐bend synclinal growth basin further into the hangingwall. Continued fold growth led to truncation of strata near the crest of the fault‐bend anticline before shortcut faulting bypassed the ramp‐flat‐ramp structure and ended folding. Accommodation along the fault‐parallel axis is controlled by the transverse folds, the location and size of which depends on the degree of linkage in the fault network and the accumulated displacement on causal faults. We construct transverse fold trajectories by tracing transverse fold hinges through space and time to highlight the positions of maximum and minimum accommodation and potential sediment entry points to hangingwall growth basins. The length and shape of the constructed trajectories relate to the displacement on their parent faults, duration of fault activity, timing of transverse basin infill, fault linkage and strain localization. We emphasize that the considerable wavelength, amplitudes and potential periclinal geometry of extensional folds make them viable targets for CO₂ storage or hydrocarbon exploration in rift basins.     

A spatiotemporal calculus for reasoning about land-use trajectories

Earth observation images are a powerful source of data about changes in our planet. Given the magnitude of global environmental changes taking place, it is important that Earth Science researchers have access to spatiotemporal reasoning tools. One area of particular interest is land-use change. Using data obtained from images, researchers would like to express abstractions such as ‘land abandonment’, ‘forest regrowth’, and ‘agricultural intensification’. These abstractions are specific types of land-use trajectories, defined as multi-year paths from one land cover into another. Given this need, this paper introduces a spatiotemporal calculus for reasoning about land-use trajectories. Using Allen’s interval logic as a basis, we introduce new predicates that express cases of recurrence, conversion and evolution in land-use change. The proposed predicates are sufficient and necessary to express different kinds of land-use trajectories. Users can build expressions that describe how humans modify Earth’s terrestrial surface. In this way, scientists can better understand the environmental and economic effects of land-use change.     

不同固有频率比条件下圆柱双自由度涡激振动特性的数值研究

采用RANS方法,结合SST k-ω湍流模型,对不同顺流向与横顺流向固有频率的比值(即固有频率比,fnx/fny)条件下低质量比圆柱体的双自由度涡激振动进行了二维数值模拟。圆柱体的质量比为2.6,雷诺数范围为2 500~18 750,相应的约化速度范围为2~15,包括了经典试验中出现的整个锁定范围。通过研究发现,固有频率比是影响振动特性的重要参数,随着固有频率比的增加,响应幅值逐渐降低且向更高的约化速度偏移;在低约化速度范围内,固有频率比对顺流向和横流向振动之间的相位差以及升力频率有较大影响,从而得到各种不同偏向的8字形轨迹;最后对不同固有频率比条件下的尾涡模式进行了讨论,给出了对应不同约化速度时的尾涡模式。     

海洋气团对沿海城市大气环境影响与识别研究

本研究通过识别海洋气团特征及沿海城市大气受到海洋气团的影响方式与程度,为评价沿海城市空气环境质量提供科学依据。以青岛市为例,收集大气气溶胶样品中放射性核素~(210)Pb、40K数据及采集时段当地大气颗粒物数据;分析~(210)Pb活度浓度与气溶胶颗粒物浓度变化;对当地当时大气气团进行溯源分析。研究表明:(1)研究期间青岛沿岸地区2015年4月至2016年6月与2016年6月至2017年6月大气污染特征显著不同,前者~(210)Pb活度浓度与污染颗粒物浓度显著相关,而后者~(210)Pb活度浓度与污染颗粒物无相关关系;(2)穿越海洋的陆地气团呈现出高活度浓度、低颗粒物浓度的特征;来自海洋气团的气溶胶呈现出低活度浓度、低颗粒物浓度的特征;(3)海洋气团气溶胶中~(210)Pb活度浓度较低。临近大陆的海洋(黄海、东海)上层大气受到大陆气团的影响,其海洋气团的特征有所减弱。~(210)Pb活度浓度、颗粒物浓度(PM2.5)可作为判断海洋气团的指标,识别"来自海洋的气团"与"经过海洋的气团"。     

温州市海洋渔业监控指挥中心建设

温州市海洋渔业监控指挥中心是温州市海洋渔业船舶的海上情况实时监控和海陆间全天候卫星通信的监控指挥中心,通过对该中心的系统组成、网络架构、逻辑结构、基本设备和功能特性的介绍,反映出该中心能最大限度地保障海洋渔业船舶生产安全,满足海洋渔业综合管理、应急救援和防台救灾的需要。