Managing Fashion Goods Inventories: Dynamic Recourse for Retailers with Outlet Stores

The proliferation of both online and bricks and mortar outlet stores underscores the observation that secondary markets are readily accessible to retailers of short-life-cycle products. These secondary markets provide recourse channels for retailers to sell excess inventory of out-of-favor items at reduced prices when overstocking occurs in a primary market. We study the problem of determining when a retailer should terminate its primary selling season by selling remaining inventory on a secondary market. The retailer has a single opportunity to procure prior to a primary selling season consisting of multiple periods. Demand in each period is random, but correlated. At the end of each period, any remaining inventory incurs a holding cost. Then, based upon the current level of inventory and the cumulative demand-to-date, the retailer decides either to terminate the primary selling season by selling all or part of the remaining inventory on a secondary market, or to extend the current primary selling season by another period. We develop structural properties of the optimal policy for determining when to terminate the primary selling season, and we develop corresponding implications for procurement.     

Verhalten von Magnesiumlegierungen für Anwendungen im Fahrzeugbau bei mechanisch‐elektrochemischer Komplexbeanspruchung: Einfluss passivierender Deckschichten und Mechanismen der lokalen Schädigung

Behavior of Magnesium‐Alloys for Automotive Applications under Mechanical and Environmental Loading: Influence of Passivating Films and Mechanisms of Local Breakdown To assure an efficient design of components under cyclic loading, all available data concerning fatigue have to be observed. Therefore the influences of manufacturing on the material condition, the mechanical loads and environmental effects have to be analysed. Magnesium‐alloys are of special interest for lightweight applications because of their excellent strength‐density ratio. The corrosion resistance of magnesium‐alloys depends on the same factors that are critical to other metals. The alloys have a good stability to atmospheric exposure and a good resistance to attack by alkali, chromic and hydrofluoric acids. However, because of the electrochemical activity of magnesium, the relative importance of some factors is greatly amplified. The nature and composition of passive films formed on magnesium‐alloys depend on the prevailing conditions, viz. alloy‐composition, passivation potential, pH, electrolyte composition and temperature. Passive films may be damaged by local breakdown. Because of this, magnesium‐alloys suffer a degradation of their properties when exposed to an aqueous environment. The main topic of the present investigations is the verification of mechanisms of the local breakdown of the protecting film. At least two mechanisms are possible for this localization: mechanical breakdown by slip steps and electrochemical breakdown (for e.g. by the effects of chloride ions). Corrosion and passivation of different high purity alloys have been studied in different solutions (neutral, alkaline with specific anions and cations) using electrochemical techniques. The diecasted alloys were tested as produced and machined. The results clarified that depending on alloy/material and surface condition/corrosion environment different mechanisms for electrochemical breakdown of the protecting films are possible. Hence fatigue life under environmental loading is influenced by surface and testing conditions.     

Effects of surface charge, micro-bubble size and particle size on removal efficiency of electro-flotation.

Flotation is a water treatment alternative to sedimentation, and uses small bubbles to remove low-density particles from potable water and wastewater. The effect of zeta potential, bubble size and particle size on removal efficiency of the electro-flotation process was investigated because previous model-simulations indicated that these attributes are critical for high collision efficiency between micro-bubbles and particles. Solutions containing Al3+ as the metal ion were subjected to various conditions. The zeta potentials of bubbles and particles were similar under identical conditions, and their charges were influenced by metal ion concentration and pH. Maximum removal efficiency was 98 and 12% in the presence and absence of flocculation, respectively. Removal efficiency was higher when particle size was similar to bubble size. These results agree with modelling simulations and indicate that collision efficiency is greater when the zeta potential of one is negative and that of the other is positive and when their sizes are similar.     

Synthesis and characterization of biocompatible hydroxyapatite coated ferrite

Ferrite particles coated with biocompatible phases can be used for hyperthermia treatment of cancer. We have synthesized substituted calcium hexaferrite, which is not stable on its own but is stabilized with small substitution of La. Hexaferrite of chemical composition (CaO)_0.75(La₂0₃)_0.20(Fe₂O₃)₆ was prepared using citrate gel method. Hydroxyapatite was prepared by precipitating it from aqueous solution of Ca(NO₃)₂ and (NH₄)₂HPO₄ maintaining pH above 11. Four different methods were used for coating of hydroxyapatite on ferrite particles. SEM with EDX and X-ray diffraction analysis shows clear evidence of coating of hydroxyapatite on ferrite particles. These coated ferrite particles exhibited coercive field up to 2 kOe, which could be made useful for hysteresis heating in hyperthermia. Studies by culturing BHK-21 cells and WBC over the samples show evidence of biocompatibility. SEM micrographs and cell counts give clear indication of cell growth on the surface of the sample. Finally coated ferrite particle was implanted in Kasaulli mouse to test its biocompatibility. The magnetic properties and biocompatibility studies show that these hydroxyapatite coated ferrites could be useful for hyperthermia.     

Untersuchung der Verteilung und Intensität filamentierter Barrierenplasmen für die Behandlung von Oberflächen

The application of barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure in air expands on the market of plasma technology, because it is an ecological and cost‐effective alternative to other processes of surface treatment. These plasmas usually consist of a multitude of spatially and temporally localized filaments, whose distribution should be as even as possible for homogeneous treatment. This holds especially for the plasma treatment of sensitive goods such as wool or other textiles. In equipment for continuous pass of material the barrier arrangements often consist of a system cylinder – cylinder or cylinder – plane, whereby the gap width changes locally. Space distribution and intensity of filaments has been investigated by means of short‐time photography and spatially resolved measurement of current distribution and energy distribution derived from it. The local dependency found can be explained by means of a capacitive equivalent circuit.     

Robust vector control of induction motors using full-order observer in consideration of core loss

This paper proposes a method for designing a robust full-order observer for vector-controlled induction motors taking core loss into account. Although conventional research focuses on parameter identification, global stability of the identification remains questionable. Therefore, robustness against some parameters is required. This paper describes the design of a robust full-order observer which takes core loss into account, using both the gain-scheduled H/sub /spl infin// control and the linear matrix inequality technique. This design always results in a stable controller. The robustness of the proposed method against variations of resistances is evaluated by experiments.     

On the linear correlation between microhardness and mechanical properties in polar polymers and blends

The tensile elastic modulus (E), yield stress (σ_Y) and microhardness (MH) of neat and binary and ternary blends of glassy semicrystalline ethylene–vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), a glassy amorphous polyamide and a semicrystalline nylon‐containing ionomer covering a broad range of properties were examined. The tests were carried out on dry and water‐equilibrated samples to produce stiffer and softer materials, respectively. From the results, more accurate linear correlations were found to describe adequately the microhardness, modulus and yield stress of these strongly self‐associated polymers through hydrogen bonding. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Assessing stem cell research productivity

Honour Index (HoI), a method to evaluate research performance within different research fields, was derived from the impact factor (IF). It can be used to rate and compare different categories of journals. HoI was used in this study to determine the scientific productivity of stem cell research in the Asian Four Dragons (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) from 1981 to 2001. The methodology applied in this study represents a synthesis of universal indicator studies and bibliometric analyses of subfields at the micro-level. We discuss several comparisons, and conclude the developmental trend in stem cell research for two decades. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A comparison of transformation methods for evaluating two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals

Accurate numerical evaluation of integrals arising in the boundary element method is fundamental to achieving useful results via this solution technique. In this paper, a number of techniques are considered to evaluate the weakly singular integrals which arise in the solution of Laplace's equation in three dimensions and Poisson's equation in two dimensions. Both are two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals and are evaluated using (in a product fashion) methods which have recently been used for evaluating one‐dimensional weakly singular integrals arising in the boundary element method. The methods used are based on various polynomial transformations of conventional Gaussian quadrature points where the transformation polynomial has zero Jacobian at the singular point. Methods which split the region of integration into sub‐regions are considered as well as non‐splitting methods. In particular, the newly introduced and highly accurate generalized composite subtraction of singularity and non‐linear transformation approach (GSSNT) is applied to various two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals. A study of the different methods reveals complex relationships between transformation orders, position of the singular point, integration kernel and basis function. It is concluded that the GSSNT method gives the best overall results for the two‐dimensional weakly singular integrals studied. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrochemical synthesis and characterization of chloride doped polyaniline

Chloride doped polyaniline conducting polymer films have been prepared in a protic acid medium (HCl) by potentiodynamic method in an electrochemical cell and studied by cyclic voltammetry and FTIR techniques. The FTIR spectra confirmed Cl^- ion doping in the polymers. The polymerization rate was found to increase with increasing concentration of aniline monomer. But the films obtained at high monomer concentration were rough having a nonuniform flaky polyaniline distribution. Results showed that the polymerization rate did not increase beyond a critical HCl concentration. Cyclic voltammetry suggested that, the oxidation-reduction current increased with an increase in scan rate and that the undoped polyaniline films were not hygroscopic whereas chloride doped polyaniline films were found to be highly hygroscopic.