Enhancing signal-to-noise ratio and resolution in low-field NMR relaxation measurements using post-acquisition digital filters

The traditional way to enhance signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals is to increase the number of scans. However, this procedure increases the measuring time that can be prohibitive for some applications. Therefore, we have tested the use of several post-acquisition digital filters to enhance SNR up to one order of magnitude in time domain NMR (TD-NMR) relaxation measurements. The procedures were studied using continuous wave free precession (CWFP-T₁) signals, acquired with very low flip angles that contain six times more noise than the Carr–Purcell–Meiboom–Gill (CPMG) signal of the same sample and experimental time. Linear (LI) and logarithmic (LO) data compression, low-pass infinity impulse response (LP), Savitzky–Golay (SG), and wavelet transform (WA) post-acquisition filters enhanced the SNR of the CWFP-T₁ signals by at least six times. The best filters were LO, SG, and WA that have high enhancement in SNR without significant distortions in the ILT relaxation distribution data. Therefore, it was demonstrated that these post-acquisition digital filters could be a useful way to denoise CWFP-T₁, as well as CPMG noisy signals, and consequently reducing the experimental time. It was also demonstrated that filtered CWFP-T₁ method has the potential to be a rapid and nondestructive method to measure fat content in beef and certainly in other meat samples.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">FCC/BCC</Emphasis> competition and enhancement of saturation magnetization in nanocrystalline Co-Ni-Fe films

The structure, chemical composition, and magnetic properties of electrochemically deposited nanocrystalline Co-Ni-Fe films were investigated using a number of techniques. A high saturation magnetic induction up to B _s = 21 kG was attained. An enhancement of the saturation magnetization compared to the ideal anticipated one was revealed, which correlated with the nonlinear behavior of the structural phase composition and lattice parameters with the change of the composition. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Forecasting call frequency at a financial services call centre

A forecasting model is developed for the number of daily applications for loans at a financial services telephone call centre. The purpose of the forecasts and the associated prediction intervals is to provide effective staffing policies within the call centre. The model building process is constrained by the availability of only 2 years and 7 months of data. The distinctive feature of the data is that demand is driven in the main by advertising. The analysis given focuses on applications stimulated by press advertising. Unlike previous analyses of broadly similar data, where ARIMA models were used, a model with a dynamic level, multiplicative calendar effects and a multiplicative advertising response is developed and shown to be effective.     

Issues in Managing Information Technology

This paper describes three case studies which investigated issues relating to the implementation and management of advanced information technology. The benefits derived from information technology were found to vary from one organization to another. These studies provide further evidence to support earlier research findings that senior management has an important role to play in the effective exploitation of information technology, and that the investment approach taken by an organization has a significant effect on the development of computer-based information systems. The effectiveness of a system depends not only on applying the appropriate technology, but also on how successfully technical and behavioural issues are resolved.     

A warehouse-based design model for reverse logistics

In this paper, an MILP formulation is proposed for the design of a reverse logistics network based on a warehouse location–allocation model, which optimizes, simultaneously, the forward and reverse networks. A single product model with unlimited capacity is first defined. Subsequently, the model is extended to a multi-product capacitated recovery network model, where capacity limitations and a multi-product system can be considered. The proposed model is compared to published work in the field, where different model assumptions have been proposed. Two cases are described so as to gain a better insight into the model and allow a comparative analysis.     

Electroactive conducting polymers for corrosion control

There is an intensive effort underway to develop new corrosion control coatings for structural metals. In part, this effort has been motivated by the desire to replace chromium(VI)-containing coatings currently used for corrosion control of iron and aluminum alloys. Cr(VI) has been shown to be hazardous to the environmental and to human health, and its use in many countries will be sharply curtailed in the coming years. Electroactive conducting polymers (ECPs) represent a class of interesting materials currently being explored for use in corrosion control coating systems, possibly as a replacement for Cr(VI)-based coatings. The electroactivity and the electronic conductivity (or semiconductivity) of ECPs set them apart from traditional organic coatings. As with chromate, interesting and potentially beneficial interactions of ECPs with active metal alloys such as steel and aluminum are anticipated, with concomitant alteration of their corrosion behavior. A review of this active research area will be presented in two parts. Here in Part 1, a general introduction to the topic of corrosion control by ECPs will be presented, including an overview of corrosion and its control by traditional methods, an introduction to ECPs and their properties, and a discussion of the processing issues surrounding the use of ECPs as coatings. Part 1 also includes a review of the literature on the use of ECPs as coatings (or components of coatings) on non-ferrous active metals, principally aluminum and aluminum alloys, although some work on zinc, copper, silver, titanium and silicon will also be described. In Part 2 of this review (to be published in the next issue of this journal), the rather extensive literature on the use of ECPs for the corrosion control of ferrous alloys (steels) will be reviewed. Electronic Publication     

Quadratic data envelopment analysis

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) offers a piece-wise linear approximation of the production frontier. The approximation tends to be poor if the true frontier is not concave, eg in case of economies of scale or of specialisation. To improve the flexibility of the DEA frontier and to gain in empirical fit, we propose to extend DEA towards a more general piece-wise quadratic approximation, called Quadratic Data Envelopment Analysis (QDEA). We show that QDEA gives statistically consistent estimates for all production frontiers with bounded Hessian eigenvalues. Our Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that QDEA can substantially improve efficiency estimation in finite samples relative to standard DEA models.