Coordination of split deliveries in one-warehouse multi-retailer distribution systems

In this paper, we consider a distribution system where a warehouse is responsible for replenishing the inventories at multiple retailers by a fleet of vehicles of limited capacity. If a distribution policy of the system involves split deliveries, that is, the inventory of at least one retailer is replenished by using multiple vehicle routes, the coordination of the deliveries can further reduce the inventory cost of the retailer. We consider the coordination where two split deliveries are realized by direct shipping and multiple-stop shipping, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this kind of coordination was never studied in the literature but can find its application in inventory routing problems. This paper proposes and analyses a class of coordination policies for the split deliveries which can reduce the inventory costs of the retailers without increasing transportation costs. A non-linear programming model is established for formulating the class of polices. Because the optimal coordination policy corresponding to an optimal solution of the model may be hard to find and/or implement, two simple but effective coordination policies are proposed. The inventory cost savings realized by the two policies are evaluated analytically and algorithmically. Our theoretical analysis and computational experiments show that both policies are effective. Under certain conditions, they can save 50% of the inventory costs at the retailers without increasing transportation costs.     

Group awareness tools: It’s what you do with it that matters

This study examined the effect of using a group awareness tool on online collaboration. Furthermore, we examined whether the effect of using a group awareness tool on online collaboration is mediated by group awareness (i.e., students’ awareness of their group members’ levels of participation). To answer these questions, we determined how often and how long 107 secondary education students used the Participation-tool (PT), a group awareness tool designed to visualize group members’ relative contribution to the online collaborative process. Our analyses show that duration of PT use (how long students displayed the tool on their screens) significantly predicted group members’ participation in the online dialogue, their participation when writing collaborative texts, equality of participation within the group, and coordination and regulation of activities in the relational space (i.e., discussing the collaboration process with group members). No effect of using the PT on group performance was found. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of using the PT is only partially mediated by group awareness: an indirect effect of using the PT, via enhanced awareness of participation, on student participation during chat discussions and the collaborative writing process was found.     

Agent-based negotiation and decision making for dynamic supply chain formation

Modern businesses are facing the challenge of effectively coordinating their supply chains from upstream to downstream services. It is a complex problem to search, schedule, and coordinate a set of services from a large number of service resources under various constraints and uncertainties. Existing approaches to this problem have relied on complete information regarding service requirements and resources, without adequately addressing the dynamics and uncertainties of the environments. The real-world situations are complicated as a result of ambiguity in the requirements of the services, the uncertainty of solutions from service providers, and the interdependencies among the services to be composed. This paper investigates the complexity of supply chain formation and proposes an agent-mediated coordination approach. Each agent works as a broker for each service type, dedicated to selecting solutions for each service as well as interacting with other agents in refining the decision making to achieve compatibility among the solutions. The coordination among agents concerns decision making at strategic, tactical, and operational level. At the strategic level, agents communicate and negotiate for supply chain formation; at the tactical level, argumentation is used by agents to communicate and understand the preferences and constraints of each other; at the operational level, different strategies are used for selecting the preferences. Based on this approach, a prototype has been implemented with simulated experiments highlighting the effectiveness of the approach.     

GNSS系统接收机自主完好性监测算法

提出一种适用于多星座情况的接收机自主完好性监测算法——基于完好性指标动态分配的完好性监测算法。该算法比传统算法更能适应多星座情况下不同星座观测量属性的差异,其可用性比传统算法提高2％～3％。在多星座和双频情况下,利用该算法分析完好性监测的性能,结果表明,该算法在LPV-200完好性要求下是适用的。     

不等保护码在CBTC系统中的应用

针对轨道交通车地通信中信息对误码敏感程度不同的现象,提出利用不等保护码作为信道编码方案,为基于通信的列车控制（CBTC）系统重要信息提供更好的误码保护。采用分离最小理想的方法给出R—S码空间的构造方法,提出一种适用于具有2个保护能力等级的R—S码的译码算法——二次译码算法。仿真显示,不等保护码可以使高保护等级信息位的信噪比降低0．5dB以上。     

Guarding against online threats: why entrepreneurs take protective measures

Information technology is becoming increasingly important for entrepreneurs. Protecting their technical infrastructure and stored data is, therefore, also becoming more vital. Nevertheless, research into the safety and security of entrepreneurs in general, and online threats targeted at entrepreneurs in particular, is still limited. This study investigates to what extent self-employed entrepreneurs protect themselves against online threats, and what motivates them to do so. Based on secondary analyses on data collected from 1622 Dutch entrepreneurs, we observe that the majority implement technical and personal coping measures. By adopting protection motivation theory as a theoretical basis for our study, we found that coping appraisal explains the adoption of protective measures. Entrepreneurs are likely to implement protective measures when they believe a measure is effective, when they are capable of using internet technology, when their attitude towards online protection is positive and when they believe they are responsible for their own online security. Although the secondary analysis provides some limitations, this study offers new insights into the usage of protective measures and the motivation for taking them. These insights can help to improve information security campaigns.     

甘肃景电灌区次生盐化土壤的性质及其发生机理

本文对甘肃景电灌区次生盐化土壤的理化性质进行了研究 .该区次生盐渍化土壤主要为硫酸盐氯化物和氯化物硫酸盐型 ,水溶性钠离子在阳离子中占绝对优势 .土壤通体碳酸钙含量很高 ,并有少量的石膏 .钠离子饱和度很高 ,具有钠质特性或钠质化现象 ,盐化与钠质化同时进行 .在此基础上对次生盐渍化的机理和改良进行了讨论     

Coordination components for collaborative virtual environments

This paper deals with the behavior of virtual environments from the collaboration point-of-view, in which actors (human or virtual beings) interact and collaborate by means of interdependent tasks. In this sense, actors may realize tasks that are dependent on tasks performed by other actors, while the interdependencies between tasks (through resource management and temporal relations) delineate the overall behavior of a virtual environment. Our main goal is to propose an approach for the coordination of those behaviors. Initially a generic study of possible interdependencies between collaborative tasks is presented, followed by the formal modeling (using Petri Nets) of coordination mechanisms for those dependencies. In order to implement such mechanisms, an architecture of reusable and pluggable coordination components is also introduced. These components are used in an implementation of a multi-user videogame. The presented approach is a concrete step to create virtual societies of actors that collaborate to reach common goals without the risk of getting involved in conflicting or repetitive tasks.     

城市群区域公共基础设施网络的协调模式浅析

针对现在我国城市化发展进程,城市群的发展已迫在眉睫,本文主要分析了城市群区域公共基础设施网络体系的协调发展对城市群经济建设的重要性,以及协调发展的模式,并对我国未来城市群发展的方针提出自己的看法。