An evaluation of new heuristics for the location of cross-docks distribution centers in supply chain network design

This paper addresses an evaluation of new heuristics solution procedures for the location of cross-docks and distribution centers in supply chain network design. The model is characterized by multiple product families, a central manufacturing plant site, multiple cross-docking and distribution center sites, and retail outlets which demand multiple units of several commodities. This paper describes two heuristics that generate globally feasible, near optimal distribution system design and utilization strategies utilizing the simulated annealing (SA) methodology. This study makes two important contributions. First, we continue the study of location planning for the cross-dock and distribution center supply chain network design problem. Second, we systematically evaluate the computational performance of this network design location model under more sophisticated heuristic control parameter settings to better understand interaction effects among the various factors comprising our experimental design, and present convergence results. The central idea of the paper is to evaluate the impact of geometric control mechanism vis-a-vis more sophisticated ones on solution time, quality, and convergence for two new heuristics. Our results suggest that integrating traditional simulated annealing with TABU search is recommended for this supply chain network design and location problem.     

New product development team intelligence: Antecedents and consequences

Our study investigated the effect of team knowledge on new product development (NPD). By investigating 207 NPD projects, we found that the declarative and procedural knowledge of the team and their use of IT had a positive influence on the team's knowledge base; and that the higher the functional diversity of the project team, the greater their overall knowledge. We also found that team knowledge positively impacted new product creativity and success in the market place.     

A learning classifier system for mazes with aliasing clones

Maze problems represent a simplified virtual model of the real environment and can be used for developing core algorithms of many real-world application related to the problem of navigation. Learning Classifier Systems (LCS) are the most widely used class of algorithms for reinforcement learning in mazes. However, LCSs best achievements in maze problems are still mostly bounded to non-aliasing environments, while LCS complexity seems to obstruct a proper analysis of the reasons for failure. Moreover, there is a lack of knowledge of what makes a maze problem hard to solve by a learning agent. To overcome this restriction we try to improve our understanding of the nature and structure of maze environments. In this paper we describe a new LCS agent that has a simpler and more transparent performance mechanism. We use the structure of a predictive LCS model, strip out the evolutionary mechanism, simplify the reinforcement learning procedure and equip the agent with the ability to Associative Perception, adopted from psychology. We then assess the new LCS with Associative Perception on an extensive set of mazes and analyse the results to discover which features of the environments play the most significant role in the learning process. We identify a particularly hard feature for learning in mazes, aliasing clones, which arise when groups of aliasing cells occur in similar patterns in different parts of the maze. We discuss the impact of aliasing clones and other types of aliasing on learning algorithms.     

A wireless embedded tongue tactile biofeedback system for balance control

We describe the architecture of an original biofeedback system for balance improvement for fall prevention and present results of a feasibility study. The underlying principle of this biofeedback consists of providing supplementary information related to foot sole pressure distribution through a wireless embedded tongue-placed tactile output device.Twelve young healthy adults voluntarily participated in this experiment. They were asked to stand as immobile as possible with their eyes closed in two conditions of no-biofeedback and biofeedback. Centre of foot pressure (CoP) displacements were recorded using a force platform. Results showed reduced CoP displacements in the biofeedback relative to the no-biofeedback condition.On the whole, the present findings evidence the effectiveness of this system in improving postural control on young healthy adults. Further investigations are needed to strengthen the potential clinical value of this device.     

Toward the Proteome of the Human Peripheral Blood Eosinophil

Eosinophils (EOSs) are granular leukocytes that have significant roles in many inflammatory and immunoregulatory responses, especially asthma and allergic diseases. We have undertaken a fairly comprehensive proteomic analysis of purified peripheral blood EOSs from normal human donors primarily employing 2‐DE with protein spot identification by MALDI‐MS. Protein subfractionation methods employed included IEF (Zoom^® Fractionator) and subcellular fractionation using differential protein solubilization. We have identified 3141 proteins, which had Mascot expectation scores of 10^?3 or less. Of these 426 were unique and non‐redundant of which 231 were novel proteins not previously reported to occur in EOSs. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis showed that some 70% of the non‐redundant proteins could be subdivided into categories that are clearly related to currently known EOS biological activities. Cytoskeletal and associated proteins predominated among the proteins identified. Extensive protein posttranslational modifications were evident, many of which have not been previously reported that reflected the dynamic character of the EOS. This data set of eosinophilic proteins will prove valuable in comparative studies of disease versus normal states and for studies of gender differences and polymorphic variation among individuals.     

A robust volumetric apparatus and method for measuring high pressure hydrogen storage properties of nanostructured materials

A volumetric apparatus to measure hydrogen adsorption and desorption at room temperature and up to 100 atm has been constructed and studied for accuracy, reproducibility, and stability. The design principles are presented and considerable attention to detail is given to examine the effects of diurnal temperature changes in the manifold and helium adsorption by carbon-based adsorbents during free volume measurement. A heuristic for helium correction is derived from a model with a basis in literature and verified through calculation of adsorbent density. Several materials with well-known hydrogen capacities are studied to examine reproducibility. The microporous carbon AX-21 is studied to examine the effects of pressure step size and approach to equilibrium caused by gas mixing and the Joule-Thomson effect. Hydrogen spillover on a hybrid material, Pt on templated carbon, is examined for several loadings of metal. Kinetics of both physisorption and spillover are compared via the diffusion time constant (D/R(2)) estimated by fitting models for pore and surface diffusion to time-dependent adsorption profiles. No concentration dependence was found for pore diffusion; however, the surface diffusion time constant was shown to decrease with respect to increasing hydrogen concentration.     

Analysing inconsistent first-order knowledgebases

It is well-known that knowledgebases may contain inconsistencies. We provide a framework of measures, based on a first-order four-valued logic, to quantify the inconsistency of a knowledgebase. This allows for the comparison of the inconsistency of diverse knowledgebases that have been represented as sets of first-order logic formulae. We motivate the approach by considering some examples of knowledgebases for representing and reasoning with ontological knowledge and with temporal knowledge. Analysing ontological knowledge (including the statements about which concepts are subconcepts of other concepts, and which concepts are disjoint) can be problematical when there is a lack of knowledge about the instances that may populate the concepts, and analysing temporal knowledge (such as temporal integrity constraints) can be problematical when considering infinite linear time lines isomorphic to the natural numbers or the real numbers or more complex structures such as branching time lines. We address these difficulties by providing algebraic measures of inconsistency in first-order knowledgebases.     

NMR microscopy of single neurons at 500 MHZ

Previous NMR microimaging studies at 360 MHz have demonstrated a clear differentiation between the nucleus and cytoplasm in isolated single neurons. In particular, theT ₂ of the cell nucleus is 2.5 times larger than that of the cytoplasm. In order to determine the magnitude of possibleT ₂ ^* influences on these observations, images of single cells have been obtained at 500 MHz using spin-echo and line-narrowing sequences. Comparison of the images acquired by the two sequences, and of the spin-echo images at 360 and 500 MHz, imply that anyT ₂ ^* contributions are relatively small. Consequently, the measuredT ₂ differences in spin-echo imaging represent a true difference in theT ₂ relaxation in the two cellular compartments.     

Reaching the Fundamental Limitation in CO2 Reduction to CO with Single Atom Catalysts

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) to value-added chemicals with renewable electricity is a promising method to decarbonize parts of the chemical industry. Recently, single metal atoms in nitrogen-doped carbon (MNC) have emerged as potential electrocatalysts for CO₂RR to CO with high activity and faradaic efficiency, although the reaction limitation for CO₂RR to CO is unclear. To understand the comparison of intrinsic activity of different MNCs, two catalysts are synthesized through a decoupled two-step synthesis approach of high temperature pyrolysis and low temperature metalation (Fe or Ni). The highly meso-porous structure results in the highest reported electrochemical active site utilization based on in situ nitrite stripping; up to 59±6% for NiNC. Ex situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) confirms the penta-coordinated nature of the active sites. The catalysts are amongst the most active in the literature for CO₂ reduction to CO. The density functional theory calculations (DFT) show that their binding to the reaction intermediates approximates to that of Au surfaces. However, it is found that the turnover frequencies (TOFs) of the most active catalysts for CO evolution converge, suggesting a fundamental ceiling to the catalytic rates.