Performance management through strategic total productivity optimisation

This paper presents that performance management of contemporary companies has to be oriented towards optimisation of total productivity as it has a very strong impact on competitiveness. Four contingent performance management strategies for total productivity optimisation have been modelled using the non-linear mathematical programming approach. A case study is presented to demonstrate the applications. Some significant learning points have been highlighted to provide direction for the managerial practice community.     

Probing the Mysterious Behavior of Tungsten as a Dopant Inside Pristine Cobalt-Free Nickel-Rich Cathode Materials

Nickel-rich cathode materials with small amounts of tungsten (W) dopants have attracted extensive attention in recent years. However, the chemical state, crystalline form, compound chemistry, and location of W in these layered cathodes are still not well-understood. In this study, these missing structural properties are determined through a combination of macro-, to atomic-sensitive characterization techniques and density functional theory (DFT). W-doped LiNiO₂ (LNO) particles, prepared with mechanofusion and coprecipitation methods, are used to probe changes in the structure and location of W-species. The results indicate that W is mainly distributed on the surfaces and inside grain boundaries of the secondary particles, regardless of the doping method. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) mapping confirms the simultaneous presence of W, O, with and without Ni in the grain boundaries as well as W- and O-rich regions on the very surface. The W-rich areas inside the grain boundaries are found to be in two forms, crystalline and amorphous. This paper suggests the presence of kinetically stabilized-Li_4+xNi_1-xWO₆ (x = 0, 0.1) with the possibility of Li_xW_yO_z phases in LNO which are consistent with the electron microscopy, X-ray absorption and diffraction data. The multiple roles of W in this complex microstructure are discussed considering the W distribution.     

Performance of Hybrid Load Balancing Algorithm in Distributed Web Server System

The challenges that load balancing (LB) faces are that there may not always be enough physical servers to be able to handle the demand requested at any one time. If a huge influx of players comes online at the same time, there may just not be enough room for them all. In this case, the server would usually initiate a queue system where players are held before they are allowed to attempt to connect to the world server. If too many requests are made however, the load balancer itself may stop working and deny players access completely. These challenges are specific to the Client/Server model of game content distribution. The proposed hybrid Grid model has a slightly different set of challenges. The load balancer in this model has to constantly check the network for player disconnections so that any outstanding events can be cleaned up by the dedicated hosts. It also has to balance load like normal to these hosts as they will appear as one entity on the network but can be scaled to as many machines as are needed. The popularity of decentralization over recent years has led to issues with the demand on server hardware and the need for LB which generates increased costs for companies and affects the quality of service. The aim of this work was to design and construct a Hybrid load balancing solution for Grid and compare it to the other load balancing algorithms. Grid with a load balancer was written in Java using a modular construction which allowed code reuse between different network models. Four common algorithms, one of which was redeveloped to improve its performance, were compared to determine load balancing efficiency for selecting servers from a pool.     

Comments, with reply, on `A digital frequency independentphasemeter' by A. Nemat

The commenters point out that the phase-measurement scheme presented in the above-titled paper by A. Nemat (see ibid., vol.39, p.665-7, Aug. 1990) is essentially the same as that previously presented by the commenters (Proc. IEEE, vol.72, p.397-8, Mar. 1984). In fact, it is suggested that the former scheme is a special case of the latter one when the counting time interval τ is equal to the time period T _s of the signals. In reply, Nemat agrees that his scheme can be regarded as another approach to achieving the same goal. He goes on to point out some differences between his approach and that of the commenters     

Evaluation of methods of analysis for dietary fibre using real foods and model foods

Rationale and objectives

There are several rational and empirical methods for the measurement of dietary fibre and its components. A selection of these methods were evaluated by investigation of a range of real foods and model foods with added resistant starch (RS), non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) and resistant oligosaccharide (RO) ingredients.

Methods

A range of rational methods were applied in determining specific carbohydrate constituents: RS, NSP and RO, including fructans. For comparison, empirical methods AOAC 991.43 (2001.03) and AOAC 2009.01 were applied, based on determination of gravimetric residues for high molecular weight and size-exclusion HPLC analysis of the ethanol filtrate for low molecular weight components.

Results

In general there was agreement between different rational methods for the analysis of RS and fructans, though there were notable exceptions for some product types. Comparison of methods for total RS and those that only measure the RS3 fraction, from retrograded starch, indicated that RS3 was the only type present for most processed products. This also explains the similar results obtained by AOAC 991.43 (2001.03) and AOAC 2009.01, though the latter is intended to recover other RS types as well. For many products there was agreement between results obtained by rational and empirical methods, though there were exceptions and the reasons for these are discussed.

Conclusion

Rational and empirical methods can both be used to determine dietary fibre in most situations. The information provided by rational methods is useful in identifying the specific carbohydrate constituents present in foods and can assist in determining whether added extracted and synthesised ingredients are ones that conform to the Codex and EU dietary fibre definition.     

Study of combined effect of natural convection and radiation heat transfer from annular finned vertical cylinder

The present numerical study reports the combined effect of natural convection and radiation heat from a vertical cylinder with annular fins. The study involves simulation for laminar as well as turbulent regimes. For the present study, Rayleigh's number is varied in the range ${10}^8-{10}^{12}$, emissivity in the range $0.2-0.8$, and the fin spacing ratio (s/d) in the range $0.1-10$. The radiation heat transfer has been found to share a considerable amount in the total heat transfer of the system for the laminar regime, but in the turbulent regime, its effect is minimal and can be neglected. When the fin spacing ratio is reduced, the total heat transfer increases for both the turbulent and laminar flow conditions. But the radiation heat increases with a reduction in fin spacing ratio for laminar and in case of turbulent flow radiation heat rate reduces with a reduction in s/d ratio. For the range of Rayleigh numbers considered in the present study, the Nusselt number increases with the increment of the fin spacing ratio. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a remarkable enhancement in the heat transfer rate in laminar cases with the fins. For turbulent cases, the fin efficiency lies between 40% and 50%.