<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.     

Micromachining of circular ring microstructure by femtosecond laser pulses

In this paper, integration of interference phenomenon into femtosecond laser micromachining was reported as the femtosecond laser pulses were reshaped spatially to perform ablation. The generation of circular interference pattern was demonstrated by overlapping infrared femtosecond laser pulses. The interference pattern was subsequently focused on a copper substrate to ablate microstructures of concentric circular rings. The present technique is expected to open up new applications in the areas of rapid fabrication of micro-Fresnel lenses, hybrid microlenses and lens arrays.     

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.     

Estimation of multivariate binary density using orthogonal functions

In this paper, the authors studied certain properties of the estimate of Liang and Krishnaiah (1985, J. Multivariate Anal. 16, 162–172) for multivariate binary density. An alternative shrinkage estimate is also obtained. The above results are generalized to general orthonormal systems.     

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.     

A new solution of reducing polymer optical fiber losses

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is one of the most commonly used optical materials. However, the application of it in the area of optical communication is strongly limited by the intrinsic absorption loss of carbon-hydrogen stretching vibration. In this paper, we present a method to solve the problem by adopting the hollow-core fibers with cobweb cladding structure. The fibers use a single dielectric material and may solve the problem of structural support. Thus the feasibility of the “OmniGuide” fibers is improved, while a series of advantages of the “OmniGuide” hollow-core fiber are retained. It is promising that a fiber with low transmission loss, high bandwidth, large-core, and low costs can be designed and fabricated using PMMA. At the same time, a very broad range of the wavelengths (from visible to near infrared region, for instance, wavelengths at 0.65-1.12 μm, and even 1.30 μm, 1.54 μm and their neighbors) may be adopted for signal wavelength.