Supplier quality improvement: The value of information under uncertainty

We consider supplier development decisions for prime manufacturers with extensive supply bases producing complex, highly engineered products. We propose a novel modelling approach to support supply chain managers decide the optimal level of investment to improve quality performance under uncertainty. We develop a Poisson–Gamma model within a Bayesian framework, representing both the epistemic and aleatory uncertainties in non-conformance rates. Estimates are obtained to value a supplier quality improvement activity and assess if it is worth gaining more information to reduce epistemic uncertainty. The theoretical properties of our model provide new insights about the relationship between the degree of epistemic uncertainty, the effectiveness of development programmes, and the levels of investment. We find that the optimal level of investment does not have a monotonic relationship with the rate of effectiveness. If investment is deferred until epistemic uncertainty is removed then the expected optimal investment monotonically decreases as prior variance increases but only if the prior mean is above a critical threshold. We develop methods to facilitate practical application of the model to industrial decisions by a) enabling use of the model with typical data available to major companies and b) developing computationally efficient approximations that can be implemented easily. Application to a real industry context illustrates the use of the model to support practical planning decisions to learn more about supplier quality and to invest in improving supplier capability.     

Consistent predictable patterns in the hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios of animal proteins consumed by modern humans in the USA

Published datasets of proteinaceous animal tissues suggest that co‐variation between amino acid hydrogen (δ²H) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotope ratios is a common feature in systems where isotopic variation is driven by geographic or temporal variation in the δ²H and δ¹⁸O values of environmental water. This has led to the development of models relating tissue δ²H and δ¹⁸O values to those of water, with potential application in a number of fields. However, the strength and ubiquity of the influence of environmental water on protein isotope ratios across taxonomic groups, and thus the relevance of predictive models, is an open question. Here we report strong co‐variation of δ²H and δ¹⁸O values across a suite of terrestrial and aquatic animal meats purchased in American food markets, including beef, poultry (chicken and turkey), chicken eggs, pork, lamb, freshwater fish, and marine fish. Significant isotope co‐variation was not found for small collections of marine bivalves and crustaceans. These results imply that isotopic signals from environmental water were propagated similarly through most of the diverse natural and human‐managed foodwebs represented by our samples. Freshwater fish had the largest variation in δ²H and δ¹⁸O values, with ranges of 121 ‰ and 19.2 ‰, respectively, reflecting the large isotopic variation in environmental freshwaters. In contrast marine animals had the smallest variation for both δ²H (7 ‰ range, crustaceans) and δ¹⁸O (3.0 ‰ range, bivalves) values. Known‐origin beef samples demonstrated direct relationships between the variance of environmental water isotope ratios and that of collected meats. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CGC using a programmable electronic pressure controller

Capillary gas chromatographic separations were performed with an electronic pressure control system developed to provide precise closed-loop control of inlet pressure through the use of a solid state micro-machined pressure sensor and electronically controlled proportional valve. The closed-loop control of the electronic system provided better precision than the open-loop control achieved by manual pressure regulation. Closed-loop control can perform pressure programming, which can be combined with temperature programming to optimize separations. The pressure sensor monitors the integrity of the flow system and singals the controller to reduce flow in the presence of a sudden loss of system pressure.     

Carbazolylmethylphosphonate compounds – Synthesis,coordination and fluorescence in solution and cells

The compounds diethyl-N-carbazolylmethylphosphonate 1 and diethyl-2-oxymethylphosphonate carbazole 2 have been synthesised and characterized by a range of techniques including NMR, absorption and emission spectroscopy, infrared, and mass spectroscopy. Compound 1 forms a 2:1 complex 3 with calcium nitrate and the single crystal X-ray diffraction structure of 3 is described. Titrations of 1 with Zn²⁺ and Ca²⁺ in ethanol reveal that the intrinsic fluorescence is only slightly perturbed in the presence of these metal ions in micromolar ethanol solutions. Compounds 1 and 2 are readily taken up and visualized in L929 fibrosarcoma and DRG (Dorsal root ganglia) cell lines.     

Isolation of lanthanides from spent nuclear fuel by means of high performance ion chromatography (HPIC) prior to mass spectrometric analysis

Pure and complete fractions of neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium and dysprosium were isolated by means of high performance ion chromatography, using a cation exchange column and gradient elution with alpha-hydroxyisobutyric acid solutions (α-HIBA). Intermediate precision and robustness of the isolation method was investigated, identifying eluent pH as the most important parameter. Investigation of the elution behaviour of the most important fission and activation products and actinides indicated that preventing the accumulation of cesium on the cation exchange column required further isocratic elution with a higher concentrated α-HIBA solution after elution of the lanthanides. A sample matrix free of carbon was achieved by means of acid digestion, followed by UV photo-oxidation, resulting in samples suitable for mass spectrometric analysis.

     

Analysis of the hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope ratios of beverage waters without prior water extraction using isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy

Hydrogen (δ²H) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) stable isotope analysis is useful when tracing the origin of water in beverages, but traditional analytical techniques are limited to pure or extracted waters. We measured the isotopic composition of extracted beverage water using both isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy (IRIS; specifically, wavelength‐scanned cavity ring‐down spectroscopy) and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). We also analyzed beer, sodas, juices, and milk ‘as is’ using IRIS. For IRIS analysis, four sequential injections of each sample were measured and data were corrected for sample‐to‐sample memory using injections (a) 1‐4, (b) 2‐4, and (c) 3‐4. The variation between δ²H and δ¹⁸O values calculated using the three correction methods was larger for unextracted (i.e., complex) beverages than for waters. The memory correction was smallest when using injections 3‐4. Beverage water δ²H and δ¹⁸O values generally fit the Global Meteoric Water Line, with the exception of water from fruit juices. The beverage water stable isotope ratios measured using IRIS agreed well with the IRMS data and fit 1:1 lines, with the exception of sodas and juices (δ²H values) and beers (δ¹⁸O values). The δ²H and δ¹⁸O values of waters extracted from beer, soda, juice, and milk were correlated with complex beverage δ²H and δ¹⁸O values (r = 0.998 and 0.997, respectively) and generally fit 1:1 lines. We conclude that it is possible to analyze complex beverages, without water extraction, using IRIS although caution is needed when analyzing beverages containing sugars, which can clog the syringe and increase memory, or alcohol, a known spectral interference. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

多功能两亲梳状聚合物的合成及包覆荧光量子点

利用溶液聚合和成酰胺反应合成了多功能梳状两亲性共聚物,聚(甲基丙烯酸-co-甲基丙烯酸十八酯)-(乙醇胺-乙二胺叶酸)(PSM-EE-FA).用红外光谱(FTIR),核磁共振(1H-NMR)及凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)表征了该聚合物的结构及分子量分布.实验结果证明合成了该聚合物,其数均分子量(Mn)为28600,多分散性为1.375.用该两亲梳状聚合物包覆油溶性CdSe/ZnS量子点,通过相转移作用,得到水溶性靶向量子点(PSM-EE-FA-QDs).该水溶性量子点溶液具有较好的稳定性.通过紫外-可见(UV-Vis)及荧光发射光谱分析对该量子点的光学性质进行研究.结果表明,PSM-EE-FA-QDs的紫外-可见光谱及荧光发射光谱峰形与原量子点基本一致.由于量子点表面聚合物层的形成,峰位发生少量红移.该量子点水溶液的荧光强度是原量子点氯仿溶液的98%,荧光产率是原量子点氯仿溶液的95%.动态光散射(DLS)及透射电镜(TEM)测试结果表明水溶性量子点分布均匀.合成的水溶性量子点不但光学性能稳定,而且聚合物及水溶性量子点的合成方法较为简便.