New hybrid COPRAS-G MADM Model for improving and selecting suppliers in green supply chain management

Greening the supply chain is an increasingly important concern for many business enterprises and a challenge for logistics management. Critical functions within green supply chain management are internal improvements and selection of green suppliers. This study proposes a novel, hybrid model that addresses dependent relationships between various criteria and the vague information coming from decision-makers. The Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique structures the relationships among criteria, thereby constructing an influential network relationship map (INRM). Meanwhile the DEMATEL-based, analytical network process (ANP) method aids in obtaining influential weights of the criteria. Decision-makers may hold diverse opinions and preferences due to incomplete information, differences in knowledge or simply conflicts that are inherent between various departments. This can make it difficult to judge the performance of alternatives. One remedy is to apply a modified COmplex PRoportional ASsessment of alternatives with Grey relations. Next, this is applied to improve each criterion for integration of the performance values obtained in closing the aspiration level from different expert opinions based on INRM. An empirical example using data from a Taiwanese electronics company is provided to demonstrate our proposed method. The results can provide firms with a knowledge-based understanding of the source of some problems, thus reducing the performance gaps and closing the aspiration levels. Finally, there is a discussion on certain managerial implications.     

Influence of Field Effects on the Performance of InGaAs-Based Terahertz Radiation Detectors

A detailed electrical characterization of high-performance bow-tie InGaAs-based terahertz detectors is presented along with simulation results. The local surface potential and tunnelling current were scanned over the surfaces of the detectors by means of Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), which also enabled the determination of the Fermi level. Current-voltage curves were measured and modelled using the Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD package to gain deeper insight into the processes involved in detector operation. In addition, we performed finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations to reveal features related to changes in the electric field due to the metal detector contacts. The investigation revealed that field-effect-induced conductivity modulation is a possible mechanism contributing to the high sensitivity of the studied detectors.     

Interruption modelling in medium voltage electrical networks

Failures frequently occur in developing countries' electrical energy distribution networks. This paper proposes an approach to network reliability through modelling the interruptions on medium voltage lines. This modelling is based on a representative feeder sampling of a source station in an urban area. In order to determine the probability law governing these interruptions, statistical techniques were used: density estimation using the kernel method and approximation by the least squares. The results we obtained show that, from the quality of the equipment and their maintenance, interruptions for a given network follow a truncated and shifted gamma distribution or a truncated normal law. For the managers of such systems, these results would allow, amongst other things, reduction in the probability of failure, thus improving operational safety on electricity distribution with medium voltage lines.     

Microhydro-PV-hybrid system: Sizing a small hydro-PV-hybrid system for rural electrification in developing countries

In most countries of equatorial Africa, it is difficult to satisfy power demand all year long by hydro sources alone. In some remote areas, where this is the case, a judicious combination of other renewable sources to form a hybrid system can help solve rural electrification problems. One of these combinations is the use of PV together with a diesel and batteries. We highlight the use of an optimization model to size such a system in a village in Cameroon.     

Computation of the Reflection Coefficient of a Triangular Semiconductor Prism in a Rectangular Waveguide

In this paper we present a method to solve Maxwell's equations that enables to compute waveguide structure containing a semiconductor triangular prism. The numerical study has showed that the triangular prism in the waveguide has a wider frequency band in comparison with a square rod under equal conditions. The reflection coefficient dependencies on frequency, prism size and its permittivity have been computed. The algorithm and computer programme have been tested and compared with the numerical results and experimental data of the paper [1] with good agreement.     

Diagnosis of defects on Medium Voltage Electric Energy Distribution Networks

An analysis of the Medium Voltage (MV) electricity power distribution network in the operated by Cameroon’s AES-SONEL company shows that losses are very high due to energy which is produced but not distributed and that the duration of power interruptions as a result of these defects is long due to the time used in searching for the defects. Given that quick detection of defects is a sure means of improving availability and productivity in any company, we hereby propose a system of real-time diagnosis of the defects on AES-SONEL’s electric power distribution network. After an inventory of typical defects on electric power networks and the proposal of a tool for their identification, we propose a system for the detection and localization of these various failures. The implementation of the system on a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) enables the performance of the system to be assessed.     

Substrate binding to the inactive mutants of Streptomyces sp. N174 chitosanase: indirect evaluation from the thermal unfolding experiments

Oligosaccharide binding to chitosanase from Streptomyces sp. N174 was indirectly evaluated from thermal unfolding experiments of the protein. Thermal unfolding curves were obtained by fluorescence spectroscopy in the presence of D-glucosamine oligosaccharides ((GlcN)n, n = 3, 4, 5, and 6) using the inactive mutant chitosanase in which the catalytic residue, Glu22, is mutated to glutamine (E22Q), aspartic acid (E22D), or alanine (E22A). The midpoint temperature of the unfolding transition (Tm) of E22Q was found to be 44.4 degrees C at pH 7.0. However, the Tm increased upon the addition of (GlcN), by 1.3 degrees C (n = 3), 2.5 degrees C (n = 4), 5.2 degrees C (n = 5), or 7.6 degrees C (n = 6). No appreciable change in Tm was observed when (GlcNAc)6 was added to E22Q. The effect of (GlcN)n on the thermal stability was examined using the other protein, RNase T1, but the oligosaccharide did not affect Tm of the protein. Thus, we concluded that the stabilization effect of (GlcN)n on the chitosanase results from specific binding of the oligosaccharides to the substrate binding cleft. When E22D or E22A was used instead of E22Q, the increases in Tm induced by (GlcN)6 binding were 2.7 degrees C for E22D and 4.2 degrees C for E22A. In E22D or E22A, interaction with (GlcN)6 seems to be partly disrupted by a conformational distortion in the catalytic cleft.     

State of imidazole side chain of hen lysozyme modified with histamine and Japanese quail lysozyme. A study by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography

Hen lysozyme modified with histamine (HML) and Japanese quail lysozyme (JQL) were treated with immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography to analyze the states of their imidazole groups. When Ni(II) was used as the metal ion immobilized, JQL was strongly retained in a Ni(II)-chelating Sepharose column, while hen lysozyme and HML were hardly retained in the same column. All of these lysozymes have a histidine imidazole group at the 15th position, while JQL has an additional histidine imidazole group at the 103rd position and HML has an additional imidazole group covalently attached to Asp101. Thus, I concluded that the imidazole group at the 103rd position of JQL is exposed to the solvent and recognized by the metal ion, but that the imidazole group attached to Asp101 in HML is localized to a hydrophobic region and not recognized by the metal ion.     

Numerical Study of a Microstrip Line with a Two-Layer Dielectric Substrate of Finite Width

An open microstrip line with a two-layer substrate of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃, employed in millimeter-wave range mikroelectronic devices, has been numerically studied. The dependences of the characteristic electrodynamical properties of this line upon its geometrical parameters were calculated. For computations, the method of singular integral equations in the quasistatic approximation was applied. Double complexity was introduced: with respect to time and to coordinates. This method allows taking into account even very large losses in the material of the microstrip line substrate. The computation algorithm permitted us to take into account the finite strip conductor thickness and substrate width.