Supply chain scheduling: Just-in-time environment

We study the benefits of coordinated decision making in a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer, a distributor, and several retailers. The distributor bundles finished goods produced by the manufacturer and delivers them to the retailers to meet their demands. The distributor is responsible for managing finished goods inventory. An optimal production schedule of the manufacturer, if imposed on the distributor, may result in an increased inventory holding cost for the distributor. On the other hand, an optimal distribution schedule of the distributor, if imposed on the manufacturer, may result in an increased production cost for the manufacturer. In this paper we develop mathematical models for individual optimization goals of the two partners and compare the results of these models with the results obtained for a joint optimization model at the system level. We investigate the computational complexities of these scheduling problems. The experimental results indicate that substantial cost savings can be achieved at the system level by joint optimization. We also study conflict and cooperation issues in the supply chain. The cost of conflict of a supply chain partner is a measure of the amount by which the unconstrained optimal cost increases when a decision is to be made under the scheduling constraint imposed by the other partner. We quantify these conflicts and show that the cost of conflicts are significant. We also show that a cooperative decision will generate a positive surplus in the system which can be shared by the two partners to make cooperation and coordination strategy more attractive.     

Sorption of some isomeric monohydric alcohols on egg albumin

Summary Sorption of iso-propyl, iso-butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl and iso-amyl alcohols on egg albumin has been studied at 35 °C by using quartz fiber spring technique. Sorption is related inversely to the molar volume of the sorbate. The specific surface area of egg albumin has been calculated by the BET method. The thermodynamic functions have also been evaluated.With 3 figures and 2 tables     

Decays of the mesons and the singlet photon

In an attempt to explain the recent measurements on the radiative decays of the vector-mesons (V→Pγ), we study the consequences of introducing a small admixture of SU (3) singlet piece in the electromagnetic current. We find that this leads to an excellent fit of the theory with the new measurements on theV→Pγ decays. However, this addition adversely affects the fit of the leptonic decays of the vector mesons (V→e ⁺ e ⁻) and of the radiative decay of the pion (π→2γ). We conclude that the overall fit to the available data does not favour a large (>10%) admixture of the SU(3) singlet. The decay rates have been calculated in the vectormeson dominance model. At the hadronic vertex (VVP), we assume asymptotic nonet symmetry. The electromagnetic couplings (V−γ) are the ones appropriate to vector-mixing.     

The electroweak mixing angle in unified gauge theories—the renormalisation effects

A general analysis of the renormalisation corrections to the unification results for the coupling constants of strong and electroweak interactions is attempted. In particular, the effects of introducing an energy scale intermediate between the unification energy and the low-energy regions are studied and found to be important. This analysis is applied to unification schemes of both kinds, namely, unification at superhigh energies, and unification at accessible energies.     

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic studies of dithia tetraphenylporphine

We present here infrared absorption spectra of dithia tetraphenylporphine and its cation in the 450–1600 and 2900–3400 cm⁻¹ regions. Most of the allowed IR bands are observed in pairs due to overallD _2h point group symmetry of the molecule. The observed bands have been assigned to the porphyrin skeleton and phenyl ring modes. Some weak bands, which are forbidden underD _2h , also appear in the spectra due to the distortion of the molecule from planarity-caused by the out-of-plane positioned N and S atoms. Increased intensity of some phenyl ring bands compared to free-base tetraphenylporphine is explained on the basis of rotation of phenyl rings towards the mean molecular plane. Contrary to the point group symmetry of cation of dithia tetraphenylporphine, certain bands are observed to be degenerate due to identical bonding arrangements in pyrrole rings of the cation     

Reduced blood brain barrier breakdown in P-selectin deficient mice following transient ischemic stroke: a future therapeutic target for treatment of stroke

Background  

The link between early blood- brain barrier (BBB) breakdown and endothelial cell activation in acute stroke remain poorly defined. We hypothesized that P-selectin, a mediator of the early phase of leukocyte recruitment in acute ischemia is also a major contributor to early BBB dysfunction following stroke. This was investigated by examining the relationship between BBB alterations following transient ischemic stroke and expression of cellular adhesion molecule P-selectin using a combination of magnetic resonance molecular imaging (MRMI), intravital microscopy and immunohistochemistry. MRMI was performed using the contrast, gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) conjugated to Sialyl Lewis X (Sle^x) where the latter is known to bind to activated endothelium via E- or P selectins. Middle cerebral artery occlusion was induced in male C57/BL 6 wild-type (WT) mice and P-selectin-knockout (KO) mice. At 24 hours following middle cerebral artery occlusion, T₁ maps were acquired prior to and following contrast injection. In addition to measuring P- and E-selectin expression in brain homogenates, alterations in BBB function were determined immunohistochemically by assessing the extravasation of immunoglobulin G (IgG) or staining for polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes. In vivo assessment of BBB dysfunction was also investigated optically using intravital microscopy of the pial circulation following the injection of Fluorescein Isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran (MW 2000 kDa).