To resolve the inflation caused by overheated economy in 1992, China executed Macroscopic Control Policy to stabilize the fluctuation of price standard in 1993. It seemed to achieve the effort of controlling inflation. However, because of longtime Macroscopic Control Policy after Asian Financial Crisis, it resulted in negative impacts. CPI in China has been minus quantity for 39 months from October in 1997 to December in 2000. And CPI turned plus into minus from April in 1998 to January in 2000. And CPI turned plus into minus from April in 1998 to January in 2000. The growth rate of RPI is -2.6% and that of CPI is -0.8% in 1998. It declined to -3.0%(RPI) and -1.4%(CPI) in 1999. The growth rate of GDP has fallen down since 1992. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the reason of the deflation late in 1990 in China. I want to find out why deflation was happened in china? What is the main cause of deflation in china? What are the impacts and shocks to china economic growth by these causes? How are the impacts and shocks to china economic growth by these causes? The whole supply and demand and money contraction resulted in the downfall of GDP and CPI. To prevent the phenomena of overheated economy since 1993, most of investment moved away China because of Macroscopic Control Policy. Under this kind of situation, we couldn¡¦t say that the investments were excess. Therefore, the main reason isn¡¦t prices dropping caused by too much supply. China continued Deflation Policy after Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, so the speed of economy development decreased slowly. It also reduced the whole consumption, public spending, investment export, and money supply and demand. The effect of negative development resulted in the deflation of economy development.

Work done by several researchers reveals that unbound aggregate materials show nonlinear cross-anisotropic behavior. The incorporation of cross-anisotropic properties significantly improves the predictions of stress distribution by reducing tensile stresses computed within granular layers. Existing pavement analysis and design approaches, however, generally assume the pavement structure to be linear isotropic layered system. This assumption is motivated by the difficulties in determining cross-anisotropic resilient material properties from laboratory experiments and lack of pavement anisotropic analysis programs. Recently, the International Center for Aggregates Research (ICAR) developed a methodology to characterize unbound aggregate layers by considering stress-sensitivity and nonlinear cross-anisotropy. The ICAR model requires nine coefficients to account for stress-sensitivity and anisotropy of vertical, horizontal, and shear moduli. Unfortunately, ICAR testing protocol is time-consuming and expensive to perform and certainly do not lend themselves to routine testing. Since it is important to be able to consider the stress-sensitive and anisotropic nature of unbound granular materials, a simple procedure was proposed by accounting for the effects of aggregate gradation and shape properties in predicting the cross-anisotropic modular ratio of unbound granular materials. Variable confining pressure type repeated load triaxial tests were performed on six aggregate sources with three different gradations and three different moisture contents. The experimental results were analyzed within the framework of nonlinear cross-anisotropic elastic model in order to determine the model coefficients. Image analysis techniques were utilized to measure aggregate shape properties. The gradation and shape properties were fitted using a cumulative distribution function and nonlinear regression analysis, which is capable of capturing the complete distribution of these properties. The experimental and analytical results indicate that the vertical resilient modulus is greater than the horizontal resilient modulus and that aggregate physical properties significantly affect the anisotropic resilient behavior. Based on finite element analysis, the anisotropic resilient behavior has substantial effect on the critical pavement responses. Thus, it is extremely valuable to approximate the degree of cross-anisotropy in unbound aggregates and to use it as input in the pavement analysis programs to adequately model unbound aggregate bases for pavement design and analysis.

Aggregate properties influence different aspects of asphalt pavement performance. Aggregate polishing characteristics are directly related to pavement surface frictional properties and thus to skid resistance. Aggregate resistance to degradation (abrasion and breakage) is another important property that influences pavement performance. Aggregate degradation could take place during production due to plant operations and during compaction, leading to change in aggregate characteristics and mix properties. In addition, aggregate resistance to degradation is important in mixes such as Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) and Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC) that rely on stone-to-stone contacts among coarse aggregates. Some aggregates in these mixes fracture due to the high stresses at contact points. Many test methods exist for measuring aggregate polishing and degradation, but a critical review of these methods reveals that they suffer from being time consuming, are unable to differentiate between aggregates with distinct resistance to polishing, or unable to differentiate between aggregate resistance to abrasion and breakage. New methodologies are needed to give better assessment of aggregate resistance to polishing, abrasion, and breakage. The thesis presents the development of new methods for measuring aggregate resistance to polishing, abrasion, and breakage. These methods rely on measurements using the Aggregate Imaging System (AIMS) and Micro-Deval. The new method for measuring aggregate resistance to polishing monitors change in aggregate texture as a function of polishing time. As such, it provides the initial texture, rate of polishing, and final texture. The new method for measuring aggregate degradation is capable of distinguishing between breakage and abrasion. In this method, abrasion is defined as the reduction in aggregate angularity, while breakage is defined by fracture of particles. The new methods are shown to be rapid and accurate, and they require reasonable training. Since both AIMS and Micro-Deval are used in the new methods, it was necessary to evaluate the repeatability of these two methods. Measurements using two AIMS units and two Micro-Deval machines were used to assess the variability. There was no statistical difference between the measurements of the two AIMS units or between the measurements of the two Micro-Deval units.

Moisture induced damage of hot mix asphalt pavements has a significant economic impact in terms of excessive maintenance and rehabilitation costs. The moisture sensitivity of an asphalt mix depends on the combined effects of material properties, mixture design parameters, loading conditions and environmental factors. Traditional methods to assess moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes rely on mechanical tests that evaluate the mix as a whole. These methods do not measure material properties and their role in moisture sensitivity of the mix independently. This information is very important to select materials resistant to moisture induced damage, or to modify locally available materials to improve their resistance to moisture damage for economic reasons. The objective of this research is to develop experimental and analytical tools to characterize important material properties that influence the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes. Quality of adhesion between the aggregate and bitumen binder in wet and dry conditions plays an important role on the moisture sensitivity of the asphalt mix. A part of this research work was to develop the Wilhelmy plate method and the Universal Sorption Device to measure the surface free energy components of the bitumen and aggregate with adequate precision and accuracy, respectively. Surface energy of these materials was used to identify parameters based on thermodynamics that can quantify their interfacial adhesion and propensity to debond in the presence of water. The thermodynamic parameters were shown to correlate well with the moisture sensitivity of asphalt mixes determined from laboratory tests. Specific surface areas of the aggregates were also used to account for the influence of mechanical interlocking at the micro scale. In some mixes, chemical bonding also contributes to the adhesion between bitumen and aggregate. The use of a micro calorimeter was introduced in this research as a versatile and fast tool to quantify the combined effects of physical and chemical adhesion between these materials.

Coarse aggregate is often one of the largest volume occupying components in a portland cement concrete system. With increases in transportation costs and depletion of many of the aggregate sources currently in use the need to reevaluate the performance of aggregates in concrete has arisen. Current aggregate testing requirements for many organizations have not been updated in decades, even with the advancements in aggregate testing equipment that are currently available. This research project investigates current used and potential test methods for evaluating coarse aggregate for use in portland cement concrete. Testing focused on determining the most appropriate aggregate property to evaluate and then determining the correlation to mechanical concrete properties. Relationships between potential aggregate tests and currently used aggregate tests were evaluated to determine if compatible relationships between methods were evident. For this purpose concrete mixtures were made at a fixed aggregate volume to establish if a link was evident between aggregate test properties and concrete. To establish a link between laboratory and real world performance field sites with known distress were visited to better establish limits for aggregate testing requirements. Results obtained provided the basis for recommendations for testing requirements and limits to be used for aggregates in portland cement concrete. / text

The topic of insider/director trading raises interesting questions and has generated much attention from researchers, market participants and regulators. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the long-run director trading performance in the UK market. It examines relationship between aggregate director trading and indicators of the UK macroeconomy focus on the macro-aspects in Chapter 4 and 5. The extant empirical literature on aggregate director trading can be categorized into two parts: the first is the relationship between director trading and the stock market; and the second is the link between stock returns and future aggregate economic activities. Having examined the macro-picture, it goes to examine a more micro-picture. Chapter 6 examines long-run relationship between director trading and market reactions. This thesis is organized around three research studies which are presented in Chapters 4, 5 and 6 and which examine long-run director trading activities in the UK. Chapters 4 and 5 together investigate the evidence for director trading activities and the macroeconomy. There is little literature on aggregate director trading and the macro-economy: therefore Chapter 4 examines the relationship between aggregate director trading and future market excess returns. Empirical evidence is presented which demonstrates that the returns on stock market are significantly correlated to future economic growth. Chapter 5 then examines whether the forecasting ability can be improved by adding aggregate director trading as a measurement of business confidence into the forecasting model. Chapter 6 examines the long-run performance of market reaction to director roles. In order to examine the relationship between aggregate director trading and the macro-economy, the link between aggregate director trading and future market excess returns is investigated. This thesis considers the importance of the seasonality issue in UK director trading and employs a number of alternative seasonality adjustments to adjust the raw data on aggregate director trading. The positive correlation between aggregate director trading and future market excess returns is confirmed and evidence is provided that indicates directors are contrarian: in aggregate they purchase (sell) their own-company stock prior to general stock market increases (decreases). In the long-run, the empirical work demonstrates that aggregate director trading has forecasting power in terms of predicting future stock market excess returns. Additional findings are that aggregate director trading in large firms has a positive significant predictive ability for identifying future excess returns of large firms and aggregate director trading of some industries has positive significant forecasting ability for future excess returns of these industries. Having confirmed the relationship between aggregate director trading and future market movement, this thesis turns to examine the link between aggregate director trading and future UK economic growth. It measures economic growth of future real economic activity by the change in gross domestic product (GDP) and it documents a strong correlation between past aggregate director trading and future real economic activity. The predictability of future economic growth increases with both the length of forecasting horizon and past net number of director trading. In a multivariate regression analysis this thesis finds that aggregate director trading retains predicting power with respect to future GDP growth even after including popular business cycle variables (dividend yield of FTSE All share, growth rate of industrial production and term spread) as explanatory variables. This finding suggests that aggregate director trading captures things related to changes in real activity but not captured by market factors (Fama-French 3 factors: SMB, HML and RMRF) and business cycle variables. After examining the relationship between aggregate director trading, market returns and changes in GDP, the last empirical Chapter of the thesis concentrates director trading on the micro-aspects of director trading and stock movement. It examines the stock market reaction to director trading with firm characteristics and the effects of director trading pattern. Using long-run calendar-time abnormal returns (CTAR) methodology with Fama-French 3-factor model, evidence is presented that directors do have more valuable information allowing them to make significant abnormal returns than other market participants, the performance of CFOs supports the information hierarchy hypothesis in 1- and 6-month post-purchase trading time, and the director trading with firm characteristics has a significant effect on stock abnormal returns.

Manufactured fine aggregates are a product created when rocks are crushed using a mechanical crusher. With the depletion of sources of natural sands, the usage of manufactured fine aggregates has increased. Manufactured fine aggregates have properties that differ from natural sands; for this reason, the plastic and hardened properties of concrete produced using manufactured fine aggregates differ from the properties of concrete made with natural sands. The main concrete properties affected by the usage of manufactured fine aggregates are skid resistance, workability, and finishability. The aim of this research project was to investigate how manufactured fine aggregates could be used in concrete pavements without causing workability or skid related issues. To improve the workability of concrete made with manufactured fine aggregates, the use of the optimized mixture proportioning method developed by the International Center for Aggregate Research (ICAR) was investigated. Results obtained from this testing were used to make recommendations on how the ICAR method for pavement concrete could be improved The goal of this research was to also develop laboratory tests that could reasonably predict skid performance of concrete pavements made with different types of sand. For this purpose concrete slabs made with different sands were evaluated for friction and texture using a circular texture meter (CTM), a dynamic friction tester (DFT), and a polisher. To ensure that the values obtained at the laboratory related to field performance, test sections constructed with 100% limestone sand and blended sands were evaluated. Laboratory and field test results for skid were used to identify aggregate tests that best correlates with concrete performance. Results show that the micro-Deval test for fine aggregates could be used to predict the polish resistance of concrete laboratory specimen. Results from field testing has shown that if limestone fine aggregates are not blended with siliceous sands, PCC pavements made with limestone sands on truck lanes could experience a large drop in skid resistance within a year of service. Results obtained from laboratory testing showed that blending a small quantity of siliceous sand with limestone sands considerably increased the skid resistance of concrete specimens. / text

Covering approximately (57%) of the country's surface area the main basin of the geology of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa has an important influence on the materials used in the construction of transport infrastructure in South Africa. The Karoo Dolerite Suite often serves as the only competent material in this otherwise sedimentary basin but on numerous occasions rapid premature failures of pavements constructed with Karoo Dolerite base courses have been attributed to the poor durability of these materials. The research presented here attempts to determine if the cause of such rapid failures can be attributed to dolerite durability deficiencies and if so if the durability of the material can be predicted using the current specifications to which these materials are required to conform with. The methodology followed was to perform comprehensive material investigations on selected pavement sections where Karoo Dolerite had been used as a base course aggregate. Eight suitable sites, ranging in age from two months to 10 years, were selected and comparative testing performed on samples of material obtained from the source quarries and pavement layers at each. Three of these sites experienced rapid failure that was suspected to be due to base course aggregate degradation. The tests performed included those specified by South African standards and a selection of new tests derived from published literature on alternative tests and proposed basic igneous rock degradation models. Well established tests were completed with relative ease while newer tests and newly proposed tests required additional development. The materials from at least two poor performance sites was shown to have undergone various degrees of degradation after quarrying which manifested itself primarily as a loss in resistance to attrition and abrasion forces. The variability in the inherent resistance of the material to these forces was also noted to have contributed to the poor performance of at least two sites. It is therefore proven that degradation of Karoo Dolerites after quarrying can occur and contribute to the poor performance of pavements but also that the variability in a source quarry can result in poor performance without material degradation. The prediction of material durability is possible but requires numerous tests to be performed on representative samples, particularly to identify variations in material properties. Petrographic properties that result in variable material properties and a susceptibility to further alteration included high degrees of deuteric and metasomatic alteration of primary minerals, especially the fine matrix minerals. It has been shown that the accurate quantification of such alteration is not feasible using easily available analysis techniques and therefore that no specifications can be based thereon. The current material specifications have been shown to not accurately predict the durability of Karoo Dolerite, primarily due to the inability to activate the mechanism by which material physical degradation occurs, namely the expansion of clay minerals within the aggregate. The only exception was the water absorption test performed on core samples, which was able to identify poor materials. Tests that were able to predict the durability included the modified versions of previously specified tests (e.g. ethylene glycol soaked aggregate impact value and ethylene glycol soaked modified durability mill index) and newly proposed testing methods (e.g. modified ethylene glycol durability index and shear wave velocity). Preliminary specifications for these have been proposed. The initial development of an aggregate expansion test has also shown a strong ability to predict Karoo Dolerite durability and is proposed for further development. Ultimately the use of poor durability Karoo Dolerite results in two changes in the material properties. The first effect is the production of more fines during construction, which can result in an unsuitable amount of fines (as identified by a low coarse sand ratio). The second effect is an increase in plasticity index and linear shrinkage of the material<0.425mm to levels considered marginal based on the current specifications. The shear strength of a Karoo Dolerite base course layer has been shown to be sensitive to such changes in plasticity index and linear shrinkage and the reduction of the current specification limit to ensure materials are non-plastic and/or non-expansive may therefore be justified.

Aggregate extraction has been identified as one of the most contentious land-uses in Southern Ontario. The siting or expansion of aggregate operations is often met with vehement debate from concerned members of the public, local municipalities, and additional parties who have various reasons to be opposed to aggregate extraction operations. “Aggregate wars” have now become a common planning challenge in a number of aggregate rich municipalities in Ontario. Due to a legacy of poor rehabilitation practices, aggregate site rehabilitation has been identified as one of the most serious problems plaguing pit and quarry developments. Aggregate site rehabilitation plays and essential role in preparing the land for its sequential land-use and is the primary mechanism for the mitigation of adverse environmental and social impacts caused by the extraction process. Using a mixed-methods research approach, this study aimed to determine the rate and quality of aggregate site rehabilitation occurring in Ontario for the time period of 1992-2011. This was completed using an assessment of production statistics and a sample of rehabilitation plans. In addition, interviews with representatives from key actor groups were conducted to strengthen the base for evaluating the effectiveness of the current policy framework to ensure the adequate rehabilitation of aggregate sites. Results from this study indicate that progressive rehabilitation efforts are falling short and a net gain in disturbed land is occurring each year. More research, in the form of field studies and long-term monitoring initiatives, is needed to permit a better assessment of the quality of rehabilitation occurring. Findings from this study illustrate that the current rate of aggregate site rehabilitation occurring in Ontario is not enough to moderate adverse environmental and social impacts. Changes are needed to the current policy framework in order to address this problem. Four policy recommendations are suggested: to set a maximum for disturbed areas at operating aggregate sites, to re-implement a security deposit type model, to introduce citizen advisory committees in the aggregate site management process, and to tie site and rehabilitation plans to predetermined timelines. An analysis of aggregate site rehabilitation prior to 1992 requires further research

Protecting existing habitat for species-at-risk is an important conservation measure; however, many populations occupy highly fragmented habitat patches to the extent that population persistence is unlikely without the creation of new habitat patches. This research examines the potential for clusters of rehabilitated aggregate extraction sites to be used as reintroduction sites for species-at-risk. Using a method combining GIS and metapopulation modeling, I evaluated the success of establishing metapopulations of the Five-Lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus, in 137 clusters of aggregate extraction sites using three hypothetical recovery scenarios. Patch abundance and patch clustering had a significant negative effect on metapopulation extinction risk. Increasing the quality of a single patch relative to other patches of suitable quality had little effect on extinction risk and patch occupancy. Introducing all individuals into a single patch decreased extinction risk and patch occupancy. Rehabilitated aggregate sites could play a role in the protection of species-at-risk in Ontario.