A bi-criteria model for the inventory aggregation problem under risk pooling

Inventory aggregation, also called Risk Pooling, is one of the most efficient ways to reduce the level of safety stocks thereby reducing inventory across the supply chain. Determining the best level of aggregation is a difficult problem and needs extensive study of all the possible scenarios that can affect this decision. Minimizing costs in a supply chain is no longer the sole priority of businesses. Maintaining a high level of responsiveness is also considered equally important. The conflicting nature of these two criteria makes the solution of the problem difficult. In this paper, we develop a bi-criteria nonlinear stochastic integer programming model to determine the best supply chain distribution network to meet customer demands, where minimizing costs while maintaining high levels of responsiveness is important. We develop a two-stage optimization algorithm to solve this problem.     

PSoC-based embedded design and quartz tuning fork for low-temperature measurement system design

This article describes a commercial quartz tuning fork (QTF), 8 mm in height by 3 mm in diameter, holding a two-terminal electronic component with a nominal frequency of 32.768 kHz and 12.5 pF typical load capacitance packed in a vacuum-sealed metal container, which has been used as a sensor for low-temperature measurement with good sensitivity, repeatability, and reliability. An embedded readout design with the support of a programmable system on-chip (PSoC) and virtual instrument control program, which uses a personal computer as an input/output device, provides online data acquisition of the QTF frequency data, which will in turn provide the measurement of the low-temperature bath in which the QTF is immersed. The embedded PSoC readout captures the varying frequency signals from the QTF as a response to the measurement temperature, processes it, and sends the frequency value to a personal computer, where LabVIEW, a graphical language ("G" language), displays the data in a graphical format. The QTFs for low temperature (300 K to 77 K) are well studied, whereas a sensor using a PSoC embedded design as a readout is a novel design implementation.     

Short‐beam three‐point bend test study in syntactic foam. Part III: Effects of interface modification on strength and fractographic features

Syntactic foam slabs having uncoated microballoons and paraffin oil surface‐treated microballoons were fabricated and tested for short‐beam three‐point bend test. The work points to the role of paraffin oil coating first weakening the interface between the microballoons and the matrix and hence lowering the efficiency of load transfer from matrix to the fillers (i.e., microballoons). This led to an overall decrement of 71% in the experimentally measured strength value compared to the deduced value for uncoated microballoons' specimens. The large strengths for uncoated microballoons specimens can be traced to the presence of the curvilinear marks in the matrix that, incidentally, are absent in the case of paraffin oil coated specimens. These observations are revealed distinctly in the microscopy of test‐failed specimens. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 687–693, 2005     

State of the academic field of IS in India

The field of information systems (IS) remains ill-defined, facing problems of recognition and identity crisis. Several papers and debates have been dedicated on this topic for over three decades. The focus of these debates have largely centered on the state of the IS field in Americas and Europe and with a limited study conducted in the Asia–Pacific context. This study attempts to assess the field in the Indian context and highlight the challenges and issues faced by IS faculties in India. Based on literature survey of the seminal papers in the field, we identified the salient topics of interest to IS researchers: identity of the IS field; diversity of the field; research approaches, methods and rigor; reference disciplines; journals and conferences; and IS course and curriculum. A two-phase study was carried out to explore the interest generated by the IS field in India. In the first phase, secondary data review of leading business schools in India was carried out to understand their focus on IS as an academic discipline. In the second phase, we conducted interviews of IS researchers from the premium business schools in India. In our study, we analyze the research focus of IS faculties in B-schools in India, analyze the composition of the faculty pool and the nature of research work undertaken by them. Our study points at the restricted focus of IS researchers in India around a few narrow areas, with a significant breadth of topics not being explored for research. We found the identity struggle of the field to be prominent, which was further compounded by the limited number of active, IS researchers. The growing importance of qualitative techniques in IS research, the challenges of developing a sound base in multiple reference disciplines and the need for making IS course interesting for business school students were some of the other significant observations. Our study also highlighted the paradox of the success of the IT industry in India leading to reduced enrollment of IS courses in B-Schools. We conclude by providing recommendations to B-school deans and directors.     

Targeting and design of water networks for fixed flowrate and fixed contaminant load operations

Water-using processes are typically modeled as either fixed flowrate operations or fixed contaminant load operations. A new method for targeting the minimum freshwater and pinch in a single-contaminant water network is proposed, which can be applied to both kinds of operations. The method consists of plotting separate source and demand composites with flowrate as the horizontal axis and contaminant load unusually as the vertical axis. It is elegant, non-iterative, and can handle hybrid problems where both kinds of operations coexist.To design minimum freshwater networks for fixed flowrate problems, an algorithm is presented based on a newly developed principle of nearest neighbors. The principle simply states that the source streams to be chosen to satisfy a particular water demand must be the nearest available neighbors in terms of contaminant concentration.To design minimum freshwater networks for fixed contaminant load problems, the nearest neighbors algorithm is applied to process units that lie across the pinch. Units that lie entirely on one side of the pinch are satisfied by the cleanest source available on that side of the pinch. In other words, below-pinch units are satisfied by freshwater and above-pinch units are satisfied by the cleanest available stream above the pinch. Designs based on this methodology, apart from meeting the minimum freshwater target, also minimize the water flowing through the process units resulting in reduced network capital cost.     

High-Temperature Structural Phase Transition in Ca0.7Ti0.7La0.3Al0.3O3: Investigation by Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction

Mixed-oxide prepared Ca_0.7Ti_0.7La_0.3Al_0.3O₃ (CTLA) ceramics (≈96% dense), grain size 6–7 μm, with dielectric properties (at 4 GHz) of ɛ_r≈46, Q × f ≈38 000 GHz, and τ_f+13 ppm/°C, were studied at 25°–1300°C using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. At room temperature, CTLA exhibits a distorted orthorhombic structure, with two tilt systems: a =5.40383 (4) Å, b =5.41106 (6) Å, and c =7.64114 (7) Å with space group Pbnm . At 1050°±25°C, there is a transition from orthorhombic ( Pbnm ) to tetragonal ( I 4/ mcm ), with a simpler tilt arrangement. The lattice parameters at 1100°C were: a =5.44285 (4) Å and c =7.68913 (8) Å.     

Self-assembly of C60 containing poly(methyl methacrylate) in ethyl acetate/decalin mixtures solvent

[60]Fullerene (C₆₀) was mono-substituted with well-defined poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-C₆₀) using the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. The self-assembly behaviors of PMMA-b-C₆₀ in ethyl acetate (EA) and decalin mixtures were studied using laser light scattering (LLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Homogeneous solutions of PMMA-b-C₆₀ can be obtained in the solvent mixtures containing more than 40 wt% EA, where the molar ratio of decalin to EA is close to 1. For each solvent mixture, unimers coexist with micelles and large aggregates. The sizes of PMMA-b-C₆₀ micelles and aggregates are independent of polymer concentration, confirming that they are produced via the closed association mechanism. For the various solvent mixtures, the weight-averaged molecular weights, M_w of the PMMA-b-C₆₀ aggregates range from 4.1×10⁷ to 12.5×10⁷ g/mol. The hydrodynamic radii of the large aggregate, R_h, vary from 90 to 136 nm, while the z-averaged radii of gyration, R_g, range from 210 to 311 nm. The R_g/R_h value for each solvent mixture is ∼2.3, which is independent of decalin contents in the mixed solvents. The morphological study using the transmission electron microscope suggests that the large aggregates are composed of porous large compound micelles (LCM) in solution.     

Short beam three point bend tests in syntactic foams. Part I: Microscopic characterization of the failure zones

Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) studies were carried out on the failure surface of syntactic foam material tested in a short beam three point bend test (SBT) by employing 21 × 15 × 3 mm³ dimension bearing specimens. The syntactic foams were fabricated using glass microballoons in epoxy binder. The failure of the tensile, compression, and shear dominated regions were studied by SEM at different magnifications. The tensile region had characteristic features, such as partial debonding of the microballoons from the matrix and cracking of glass microballoons, apart from matrix cracking and some river pattern features. The compression side was characterized by crushing and collapsing of microballoons, resulting in accumulation of debris with no apparent river pattern for matrix‐rich regions. The midway positions of the SBT failed surface comprised of deformation bands in the matrix and occasional debonding of microballoons. The morphology recorded in the tensile and compression regions corroborated well with the results obtained on these foam samples in those specimens that were subjected to pure uniaxial tension and compression, respectively. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 673–679, 2005     

Computer aided decision support system for mitral valve diagnosis and classification using depthwise separable convolution neural network

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The significance of mitral valve (MV) treatment is increasing recently because of an aging population. The computer vision-based acquisition and quantification...