Large-scale Market Research Articles

English

This study reviews the productive and reproductive performance of indigenous chickens in Ethiopia with the aim of delivering summarized and synthesized information for the beneficiaries and producers. Chicken production encompasses into traditional scavenging, small and large-scale market orientated systems based on the objective of the producer, the type of inputs used and the number and types of chickens kept. In Ethiopia, indigenous chickens produces 10 to 20 eggs per clutch and 30 to 65 small eggs per hen per year in 3 to 4 clutches. Local chickens reach slaughter/market age at 8 to 12 months with 0.6 to 2.5 kg average weight at farmer management system. Indigenous chickens require long time to reach sexual maturity and takes longest time to recover reproductive cycle by local broody hen. The average mortality rate was highest and which affects both productive and reproductive performance of indigenous chickens by reducing survival rate. There were huge number of indigenous chickens existing in Ethiopia but productivity was disproportional to the number of chickens. The major constraint which affects productive and reproductive performance of indigenous chickens are diseases and predators, feed shortages, lack of training and extension services, and lack of proper marketing systems. Conclusively, lowest productive and reproductive performance was recorded which needs further improvement by adjusting training and extension service for farmers. Key words: Indigenous chickens, reproductive performance, productive performance, Ethiopia. &nbsp

Small signal averaged transfer function model and controller design of modular solid state transformers

The prime objective of this paper is to design and develop simple and efficient closed loop controllers independently for each of the conversion stages of a Modular Solid State Transformer (MSST) for low/medium voltage applications. The controller design is based on small signal averaged transfer function model using topology independent black box approach. Hence it can be universally adopted for any choice of topologies. The independently designed controllers enhance the modularity of the apparatus such that extension and reduction of ac/dc voltage and power levels are possible by addition and removal of modules as and when required. This paves way for easy maintenance and replacement of modules. Further, the cost and complexity in control is reduced to enable large scale market penetration of the apparatus. Time and frequency response plots are illustrated to validate the performance of the individual converters with the designed closed loop controllers. The simple control design adopted for MSST is shown to mitigate power quality issues to a greater extent possible. Simulation and experimental results are presented which substantiate the appropriateness of the small signal model and hence the controllers designed for the MSST.

Polymer Capacitor Dielectrics for High Temperature Applications.

Much effort has been invested for nearly five decades to identify and develop new polymer capacitor dielectrics for higher than ambient temperature applications. Simultaneous demands of processability, dielectric permittivity, thermal conductivity, and dielectric breakdown strength dictated by increasing high power performance criteria limit the number of available materials. The present review first explains the advantages of metallized polymer film capacitors over the film-foil, ceramic, and electrolytic counterparts and then presents a comprehensive review on both past developmental effort of commercial resins and recent research progress on new polymers targeted for operating temperature above 150 °C. Some historical background and discussion on the limitation of the commercially available polymer film dielectrics for high temperature applications are also given. In many cases, further development of promising polymers that appear to possess all or most of the important criteria is limited by lack of large scale market incentives but could be of great value to niche applications in the military or aerospace realm.

Recent developments in electrocatalyst design thrifting noble metals in fuel cells

Summary Proton exchange membrane fuel cells are uniquely placed as the key technology for the successful conversion of hydrogen-containing fuels to electricity and heat. Critically, they currently use platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts to meet performance targets in amounts too high for large scale market introduction cost targets. Here, the status, concepts and challenges of recent developments in engineered catalysts aimed at reducing the total PGM content in fuel cells are reviewed and the latest advances in the catalyst layer architecture design are discussed.

Optimal quotation and institutional cost model in market maker quotation transaction

Emission trading can not only significantly improve the environment quality, but also save the total social cost. The emission trading market can only overcome the market failure caused by externalities only if it has good transaction efficiency, and the market pricing system is the most direct factor that affects transaction efficiency. This paper constructs a three-party dynamic game model for market maker’s quotation trading to study the forming mechanism of the market maker’s optimal quotation, and constructs an institutional cost model for market maker’s quotation trading to compares the institutional costs of the market maker system. The study found that: (1) The optimal quotation of market makers is affected by marginal information costs, marginal pollution control costs, and initial allocation of emission permits. (2) The high cost of market information, the extremely uneven initial allocation of emission permits, and the free allocation scheme based on historical emissions may all lead to inefficient transactions. (3) When the trading volume is the same, compared with the competitive bidding mechanism, market maker quotes can save social information costs in the large-scale market. The study results of this paper can provide a theoretical basis for the development of China’s emission permits trading.

Exploring the development of electric vehicles under policy incentives: A scenario-based system dynamics model

Recently, the energy scarcity and environmental pollution have greatly promoted rapid development of the electric vehicles (EV) industry. In this context, we established a scenario analysis using system dynamics model to analyze the development of EV in China under policy incentives. Four scenarios were set in this paper: scenario 1 (Without any policy), scenario 2 (Only direct policy), scenario 3 (Only indirect policy), scenario 4 (Both direct & indirect policy). It is shown that the EV industry was in preliminary stage in 2010. After a period of development, in 2040, the total amount of EVs will reach 4.03, 8.61, 4.2 and 8.85 million in scenario 1–4. The results indicate that China's EV market penetration is mainly dominated by state policies, especially the financial supports. Reducing the governments’ financial supports for EVs will put EV manufacturers at a cost disadvantage in the automobile markets. In addition, because of our emerging carbon market and low average carbon price, participating in carbon trading market cannot promote a rapid growth by stimulating investment passion. In all, cutting the financial supports is not a good option, because the large-scale market penetration still requires the clear and strong policy incentives.

Development of a Methodology for Condition-Based Maintenance in a Large-Scale Application Field

This paper describes a methodology, developed by the authors, for condition monitoring and diagnostics of several critical components in the large-scale applications with machines. For industry, the main target of condition monitoring is to prevent the machine stopping suddenly and thus avoid economic losses due to lack of production. Once the target is reached at a local level, usually through an R&D project, the extension to a large-scale market gives rise to new goals, such as low computational costs for analysis, easily interpretable results by local technicians, collection of data from worldwide machine installations, and the development of historical datasets to improve methodology, etc. This paper details an approach to condition monitoring, developed together with a multinational corporation, that covers all the critical points mentioned above.

Effective Strategies for Improving the Cycle Life of Ni-Rich LiNixMnyCozO2 Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium ion battery (LIB) is considered the most promising energy storage system for applications in electrical vehicles (EVs). However, the large-scale market penetration of EVs has been impeded by several challenges, particularly the limited energy density, high cost and safety concern of cathodes in LIB. Conventional layered oxide LiCoO2 (LCO) has been widely used in LIBs developed for consumer electronics, but the high cost of cobalt, low lithium utilization (~0.5 Li) has limited its application for EVs. To increase the driving range of EVs to over 300 miles at a single charge and promote the massive market penetration of EVs, low-cost electrode materials with high tap density, high-energy density, good rate capability, and long-term cycle life must be developed. Recently, Ni-rich layered structure cathode materials LiNixMnyCozO2 (NMC, x ≥ 0.6) have been receiving much attention as one of the most promising cathode materials for large scale applications owing to their high discharge capacity (200~220 mAh g-1) and energy density (~800 Wh kg-1) as compared to traditional LiCoO2 (~570 Wh kg-1). However, several technical challenges still exist with these Ni-rich NMCs due to their structural/interfacial instability and poor thermal stability. In this presentation, we will discuss several effective approaches, including lattice doping, grain boundary engineering, and use of novel electrolytes that enhance the structural/interfacial stability of Ni-rich NMC cathodes and significantly improved their long-term cycle life.

In Situ Monitoring the Uptake of Moisture into Hybrid Perovskite Thin Films.

Solution-processed hybrid perovskites are of great interest for use in photovoltaics. However, polycrystalline perovskite thin films show strong degradation in humid atmospheres, which poses an important challenge for large-scale market introduction. With in situ grazing incidence neutron scattering (GISANS) we analyzed water content, degradation products, and morphological changes during prolonged exposure to several humidity levels. In high humidity, the formation of metastable hydrate phases is accompanied by domain swelling, which transforms the faceted crystals to a round-washed, pebble-like form. The films incorporate much more water than is integrated into the hydrates, with smaller crystals being more affected, making the degradation strongly dependent on film morphology. Even at low humidity, water is adsorbed on the crystal surfaces without the formation of crystalline degradation products. Thus, although production in an ambient atmosphere is of interest for industrial production it might lead to long-term degradation without appropriate countermeasures like postproduction drying below 30% RH.

Gridwave: a grid-based clustering algorithm for market transaction data based on spatial-temporal density-waves and synchronization

The notion of density has been widely used in many spatial-temporal (ST) clustering methods. This paper proposes the novel notion of an ST density-wave, which is an extension of the notion of density. It also presents a new grid-based ST clustering algorithm called Gridwave based on the notion of ST density-waves and ST synchronization. The proposed algorithm can be used to discover synchronized changes in density among various locations as well as distinguish ST events and noise from market transaction data. Based on the theory of small-world networks, our algorithm can be used to evaluate ST synchronized correlations among regions with respective to the ST density over the whole network. To improve its performance, the proposed algorithm was implemented using parallel computing. To verify its feasibility, a real large-scale market transaction dataset was used to demonstrate the ST synchronized correlations and the final clustering results. Although our algorithm is applied in a domain-specific case, we suggest that the clustering notion and method could be generalized for other domain applications with similar ST data.

Determination of the health state of fuel cell vehicle for a clean transportation

The penetration of Fuel Cell vehicle in a large scale market requires efficiency, long life cycle use and health state monitoring of the key powertrain element: the fuel cell stack. This paper presents three novel methods for an efficient and rapid estimation of the Electrochemical Impedance Spectrum (EIS) of the Fuel Cell. The EIS is a very useful technique for fault detection of electrochemical systems as FC. To perform EIS, measurements at high frequencies are quite easy and rapid to perform but the measurements at low (and very low) frequencies can take a long time to proceed. This long delay to obtain those low-frequency measurements can limit the applicability of the methodology, especially when considering that stationary operating conditions of FC are quite difficult to maintain, nevertheless required for guarantying the quality of the measurements. A method allowing an accurate estimation of the FC EIS at low and very low frequencies could be of a great interest to solve this issue. Authors present different FC EIS estimation methods in order to overcome the drawback of the EIS method used in the fault detection. The three different methods are validated experimentally and the performances are compared.

Bayesian analysis and free market trade within the Roman Empire

Abstract

Growing the pie in emerging markets: Marketing strategies for increasing the ratio of non-users to users

Emerging markets are the growth engines of the world but they differ significantly from developed countries. Multinationals tend to flounder in these countries due to the challenges posed by five key emerging market characteristics: market heterogeneity, sociopolitical governance, unbranded competition, chronic shortage of resources and inadequate infrastructure. Reducing the negative impact of these emerging market characteristics can increase the ratio of first-time users to nonusers thereby resulting in large scale market expansion. To this end, we propose eight marketing strategies rooted in the 4 A's framework: Affordability through democratizing and upscaling the offer; Accessibility through managing and reinventing reach; Acceptability through cultural and functional fusion; and Awareness through building brand identity and engaging stakeholders. Achieving these customercentric outcomes can help companies overcome the challenges and realize the true potential of emerging markets.

Smarter Markets for Smarter Life: Applications, Challenges, and Deployment Experiences

While a number of studies reveal the performance and effectiveness of applying wireless systems to various smart city applications, surprisingly, a market environment, in which we rely on a daily or weekly basis for purchasing essential goods, is still understudied. A wireless system in a market, along with rapidly growing IoT technology, can enable interesting applications such as automated electronic price tag updates, shopping- cart-based advertisements and information display, and automated inventory/stock management. These applications can first benefit market staff by automating routine tasks or opening possibilities for additional profits. Not only that: for everyday customers, these applications provide more reliable services by eliminating many man-made errors and offer additional services that can be enabled by newly gained connectivities. In this work, we introduce application requirements and technical challenges for such smart market applications and pilot deployment experiences in an urban large-scale market. Our pilot deployment experiences of wireless systems in markets provide quantified knowledge on the impact of various in-market activities on the wireless link performance and led us to design MarketNet, a wireless networking architecture suitable for IoTbased smart market systems. We see this work as a first step in bringing the attention of many researchers to a new application area, where wireless systems have the potential to benefit the quality of life of many smart city residents.

Values and Volume in Sustainable Organic Market Chain: A Multi-perspectival Analysis

Organic sectors and markets differ throughout Europe, but common to all is that local organic market initiatives have inherent problems in moving from niche to volume (both in terms of management and logistics or course, but also in terms of maintaining their core values) and often , while mainstream large-scale market chains have inherent problems in securing and advancing organic values. This has been amply studied within agrifood studies and especially within the conventionalisation debate. However, beyond these often dichotomized views, an assessment of the diversity of organic chains in diverse European countries has showed the existence a diversity of intermediary cases which can be considered as midscale “Values Based food chains” (Kvam and Bjorkhaug 2014). These chains are based on forms of organisations and partnerships between farmers, businesses and consumers that often combine “conventional” (or mainstream”) and alternative principles and sometimes actors, in order to better mediate values between producers and producers despite or along the growth process. These midscale VBFC’s differ from direct marketing initiatives in the sense that they aim for growth in volume and scale and often include intermediaries, and from the mainstream globalised food chains in that they aim to reconnect producers and consumers (although often not through direct relationships). These forms of marketing initiatives have been less studied in the literature, especially in relation to how these chains are organised and the role of the interactions

Driving Toward Accessibility: A Review of Technological Improvements for Electric Machines, Power Electronics, and Batteries for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

Electric and hybrid vehicles continue to demand a considerable share of the automotive market. This movement has been enabled by the recent technological improvements in the areas of electric motors, power electronics, and energy storage. While many electric vehicles (EVs) are on the market, they are not as cost competitive as conventional vehicles, and affordable cost is necessary for large-scale market penetration. For this to become a reality, continued research is needed to develop new cost-efficient technologies. This article presents the metrics and benchmarks used to gauge the performance of various electric drivetrains. In addition, current state-of-the-art technologies are presented in terms of these metrics as well as the future goals and trends in the industry. With ongoing development, the market for electric and hybrid vehicles will continue to increase.

Quantifying self-consumption linked to solar home battery systems: Statistical analysis and economic assessment

The recent development of new and innovative home battery systems has been seen by many as a catalyst for a solar energy revolution, and has created high expectations in the sector. Many observers have predicted an uptake of combined PV/battery units which could ultimately disconnect from the grid and lead to autonomous homes or micro-grids. However, most of the comments in social media, blogs or press articles lack proper cost evaluation and realistic simulations. We aim to bridge this gap by simulating self-consumption in various EU countries, for various household profiles, with or without battery. Results indicate that (1) self-consumption is a non-linear, almost asymptotic function of PV and battery sizes. Achieving 100% self-consumption (i.e. allowing for full off-grid operation) is not realistic for the studied countries without excessively oversizing the PV system and/or the battery; (2) although falling fast, the cost of domestic Li-Ion storage is most likely still too high for a large-scale market uptake in Europe; (3) home battery profitability and future uptake depend mainly on the indirect subsidies for self-consumption provided by the structure of retail prices; (4) the self-sufficiency rate varies widely between households. For a given household, the volume of self-consumption cannot be predicted in a deterministic way. Along with these results, this study also provides a database of synthetic household profiles, a simulation tool for the prediction of self-consumption and a method for the optimal sizing of such systems.

Combining Spot and Futures Markets: A Hybrid Market Approach to Dynamic Spectrum Access

Dynamic spectrum access is a new paradigm of secondary spectrum utilization and sharing. It allows unlicensed secondary users (SUs) to exploit the opportunistically underutilized licensed spectrum. Market mechanism is a widely used promising means to regulate the consuming behaviours of users and, hence, achieve the efficient allocation and consumption of limited resources. In this paper, we propose and study a hybrid secondary spectrum market consisting of both the futures market and the spot market, in which SUs (buyers) purchase underutilized licensed spectrum from a spectrum regulator (SR), either through predefined contracts via the futures market, or through spot transactions via the spot market. We focus on the optimal spectrum allocation among SUs in an exogenous hybrid market that maximizes the secondary spectrum utilization efficiency. The problem is challenging because of the stochasticity and asymmetry of network information. To solve this problem, we first derive an off-line optimal allocation policy that maximizes the ex ante expected spectrum utilization efficiency based on the stochastic distribution of network information. We then propose an online Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) auction that determines the real-time allocation and pricing of every spectrum based on the realized network information and the prederived off-line policy. We further show that with the spatial frequency reuse, the proposed VCG auction is NP-hard; hence, it is not suitable for online implementation, especially in a large-scale market. To this end, we propose a heuristics approach based on an online VCG-like mechanism with polynomial-time complexity, and further characterize the corresponding performance loss bound analytically. We finally provide extensive numerical results to evaluate the performance of the proposed solutions.

Investigation on secondary metabolite content and antioxidant activity of commercial saffron powder

The secondary metabolites and the antioxidant properties of twelve commercial saffron powder samples, purchased from Italian large-scale market, were studied. An HPLC–DAD method was applied to determine the content of trans-4-digentiobioside crocetin ester (trans-crocin-4), picrocrocin, and safranal, while the antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts of saffron samples was tested using two in vitro assays, DPPH and ABTS. The samples were also subjected to alkaline hydrolysis before testing. The content of trans-crocin-4 ranged from 1.7 to 7.5/100 g, while picrocrocin content varied from 2.6 to 6.7/100 g. Using DPPH test, all saffron samples showed very low radical scavenging activity, while higher values were observed after hydrolysis. As regards ABTS assay, saffron samples exhibited higher antioxidant activity against radical than the respective hydrolyzed. Interestingly, correlations between DPPH values of hydrolyzed samples and ABTS values of methanolic extracts were obtained. Moreover, a significant correlation (R 2 = 0.5732) between ABTS values and trans-crocin-4 content of saffron samples was observed. The obtained results contribute to the characterization of saffron powder, the most used and economic but also the less studied form of saffron.

Accelerating the Global Adoption of Electric Vehicles: Barriers and Drivers

For EVs to achieve a large-scale market presence, the regulatory framework needs to be designed in a way that incorporates both push and pull factors within its incentive schemes. These incentives can be aimed at dwindling the total cost of ownership compared to conventional vehicles, overcoming obstacles to EV usage and offering EV buyers benefits that offset EV liabilities, thus alleviating the risks of buying and using EVs early in their developmental stage.