Effects of customer response to fashion product stockout on holding costs,order sizes,and profitability in omnichannel retailing

In retailing practice, customers may actively respond in one of the following ways after experiencing stockout of a preferred brand: switch to a substitutable brand, switch to another store (where the preferred brand could be available), or delay purchase (backlogging). This paper presents a model of active customer responses to stockout of fashion products. In the single‐period model, a retailer maximizes profit by selling two substitutable brands through two different stores. Analytical results and numerical experiments suggest that active response to stockout increase the retailer's profitability due to (a) additional revenue from backlogging and brand and store switching and (b) decrease in optimal order size resulting in lower holding costs. Omnichannel fulfillment offers additional opportunities for retailers to benefit from active responses to stockout.     

Gain-scheduled control via filtered scheduling parameters

Gain-scheduled control via LPV system models enjoys LMI-based synthesis methods and in particular parameter-dependent Lyapunov matrices have been employed to successfully reduce conservatism. Those controllers derived via parameter-dependent Lyapunov matrices, however, end up with depending on derivatives of scheduling parameters. Though this can be avoided by approximating derivatives or restricting Lyapunov matrices to be partly constant, the former loses guarantee of performance and stability and the latter can cause conservatism. This paper proposes a synthesis method of gain-scheduled controllers that depend on filtered scheduling parameters, instead of derivatives, with a concrete guarantee of a performance level. Moreover, it is shown that the performance level of conventional derivative-dependent gain-scheduled controllers is recovered with arbitrarily small errors.     

Information geometry of Boltzmann machines

A Boltzmann machine is a network of stochastic neurons. The set of all the Boltzmann machines with a fixed topology forms a geometric manifold of high dimension, where modifiable synaptic weights of connections play the role of a coordinate system to specify networks. A learning trajectory, for example, is a curve in this manifold. It is important to study the geometry of the neural manifold, rather than the behavior of a single network, in order to know the capabilities and limitations of neural networks of a fixed topology. Using the new theory of information geometry, a natural invariant Riemannian metric and a dual pair of affine connections on the Boltzmann neural network manifold are established. The meaning of geometrical structures is elucidated from the stochastic and the statistical point of view. This leads to a natural modification of the Boltzmann machine learning rule.     

A technique of waveform judgment for harmonic analysis on distribution lines

Most general‐purpose analyzers for harmonic analysis on distribution lines are designed to sample the data of one or two power supply periods. In other words, these analyzers process waveforms and display the results based on the assumption that the analyzed waveforms contain no noninteger components, such as subharmonics and interharmonics. When waveforms containing noninteger components are analyzed with these general‐purpose analyzers, the results often indicate components that are not actually present. This paper proposes a technique of waveform judgment and explains its method of application. The technique allows noninteger components to be recognized in analyzed waveforms from the properties of Lissajous figures, and clarifies the types of components and the time windows necessary for appropriate analysis. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 166(2): 32– 38, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20536     

Extension of dynamic link matching by introducing local linear maps.

It is well known that dynamic link matching (DLM) is a flexible pattern matching model tolerant of deformation or nonlinear transformation. However, previous models cannot treat severely deformed data pattern in which local features do not have their counterparts in a template pattern. We extend DLM by introducing local linear maps (LLMs). Our model has a reference vector and an LLM for each lattice point of a data pattern. The reference vector maps the lattice point into a template pattern and the LLM carries the information regarding how the local neighborhood is mapped. Our model transforms local features by LLMs in a data pattern and then matches them with their counterparts in a template pattern. Therefore, our model is adaptable to larger transformations. For simplicity, we restricted LLMs to rotations. Neighboring LLMs are diffusionally coupled with each other. The model is numerically demonstrated to be very flexible in dealing with deformation and rotation compared to previous models. The framework of our model can be easily extended to models with more general LLMs (expansion, contraction, and so on).     

The Mucus Binding Factor Is Not Necessary for Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus CRL1505 to Exert Its Immunomodulatory Activities in Local and Distal Mucosal Sites

Both viable and non-viable orally administered Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus CRL1505 modulate immunity in local (intestine) and distal (respiratory) mucosal sites. So, intestinal adhesion and colonization are not necessary for this probiotic strain to exert its immunomodulatory effects. In this work, a mucus-binding factor knockout CRL1505 strain (ΔmbfCRL1505) was obtained and the lack of binding ability to both intestinal epithelial cells and mucin was demonstrated in vitro. In addition, two sets of in vivo experiments in 6-week-old Balb/c mice were performed to evaluate ΔmbfCRL1505 immunomodulatory activities. (A) Orally administered ΔmbfCRL1505 prior to intraperitoneal injection of the Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) agonist poly(I:C) significantly reduced intraepithelial lymphocytes (CD3⁺NK1.1⁺CD8αα⁺) and pro-inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-15) in the intestinal mucosa. (B) Orally administered ΔmbfCRL1505 prior to nasal stimulation with poly(I:C) significantly decreased the levels of the biochemical markers of lung tissue damage. In addition, reduced recruitment of neutrophils and levels of pro-inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-8) as well as increased IFN-β and IFN-γ in the respiratory mucosa were observed in ΔmbfCRL1505-treated mice when compared to untreated control mice. The immunological changes induced by the ΔmbfCRL1505 strain were not different from those observed for the wild-type CRL1505 strain. Although it is generally accepted that the expression of adhesion factors is necessary for immunobiotics to induce their beneficial effects, it was demonstrated here that the mbf protein is not required for L. rhamnosus CRL1505 to exert its immunomodulatory activities in local and distal mucosal sites. These results are a step forward towards understanding the mechanisms involved in the immunomodulatory capabilities of L. rhamnosus CRL1505.     

Crosslinking and mechanical property of liquid rubber. I. Curative effect of aliphatic diols

The structure–property relationships of polyurethane elastomer derived from liquid hydroxylterminated polybutadiene/low molecular weight aliphatic diol/diisocyanate system were studied. The effects of the amount of low molecular weight diol on the mechanical properties of elastomer were discussed on the basis of the results of the stress–strain curve, swelling, dynamic viscoelasticity, x-ray diffraction, and others. It was found that some particular combinations of low molecular weight diol and diisocyanate specifically affect the properties of elastomers. When the mechanical properties of the elastomers were plotted against the number of methylene carbons in low molecular weight diol, the characteristic zigzag patterns were obtained. These patterns were explained by the difference in the packing and the dependence of the ability of intermolecular hydrogen bonding on whether the number of the methylene carbons was even or odd. This assumption was confirmed by x-ray diffraction.     

Evaluation method to determine radial accuracy of high-precision rotating spindle units

In this paper, the authors present a new technique, called the vector indication method, which computes and illustrates the radial error motion of a rotating spindle as the instantaneous vectors on a plane normal to a spindle axis. The radial error motion is measured by two sensors located perpendicularly to each other. A new algorithm is developed to obtain the instantaneous vectors of spindle axis displacement by digital processing. It is revealed that the behavior of displacement of spindle axis can be more precisely known by the vector indication method than by “the Lissajous' figure,” which is one of the conventional methods.