Front Distribution Centre (FDC) is a new terminal warehouse which is closer to customer, and its location selection is crucial for e-commerce and customer time satisfaction. We introduce in this paper a joint distribution function of demand based on time and space and design a staged clustering...

Large amounts of coastal silt are converted into subgrade soil by cement solidification for resource utilization, while the compressive strength was too low (<1.0 MPa) with as little cement usage as possible (<15%, w/w). Our previous studies have shown that biochar was added into the raw materials to achieve strength enhancement, but the specific mechanisms need to be further explored. Three biochars derived from peanut shells (PSBC), cow dung (CDBC) and sewage sludge (SSBC) at 300°C, 500°C and 700°C pyrolysis, respectively were used as exogenous additives with 1%, 2% and 5%. Results showed that all biochars significantly improved the compressive strength of the subgrade soil products by 20-110%, which was attributed to that biochar catalyzed cement hydration reactions to produce more Ca(OH)2, CaCO3 and calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H gel). The catalytic capacity of different biochars was SSBC > PSBC CDBC. Due to the suitable specific surface area and porosity of 500°C biochar, it is the most effective for strength enhancement....</1.0>

A deep insight into the reaction mechanism is essential to control the polymerization process with the desired macromolecular structure for high-performance thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer. In this work, density functional theory (DFT) was used to investigate the catalytic polymerization...

Here, a natural and non-toxic inositol additive with six hydroxyl groups is added into the 2 M ZnSO4 aqueous baseline electrolyte to enhance the electrochemical performances of the zinc ion batteries (ZIBs). 2H chemical shift in the Nuclear magnetic resonance demonstrates that the inositol...

This paper examines international trade in tainted food and other low-quality products. We first find that for a large class of environments, free trade is the trading system that conveys the highest incentives to produce non-tainted high-quality goods by foreign exporters. However, free trade...

We consider a bilateral monopoly with a supplier and a buyer. Their trading terms are determined through negotiations, but affected by the buyer's efforts to search for outside suppliers. We find surprisingly that a market expansion may harm the supplier

This paper examines the role of outside options in a downstream duopoly with exclusive vertical relations as in the Japanese automobile industry. In our setup, the downstream firms have outside options, and two upstream firms with exclusive relations can engage in cost reducing investments. More...