Towards a normative model for inventory cost management in a generalized ABC classification system

This paper establishes a general ABC inventory classification system as the foundation for a normative model of the maintenance cost structure and stock turnover characteristics of a large, multi-item inventory system with constant demand. For any specified number of inventory classes, the model allows expression of the overall system combined ordering and holding cost in terms of (i) the re-ordering frequencies for the items in each inventory class and (ii) the inventory class structure, that is, the proportion of the total system's items that are in each inventory class. The model yields a minimum total maintenance cost function, which reflects the effect of class structure on inventory maintenance costs and turnover. If the Pareto curve (a.k.a. Distribution-by-value function) for the inventory system can be expressed (or approximated) analytically, the model can also be used to determine an optimal class structure, as well as an appropriate number of inventory classes. A special case of the model produces a simply structured, class-based ordering policy for minimizing total inventory maintenance costs. Using real data, the cost characteristics of this policy are compared to those of a heuristic, commonly used by managers of multi-item inventory systems. This cost comparison, expressed graphically, underscores the need for normative modelling approaches to the problem of inventory cost management in large, multi-item systems.     

Squeezed states and uncertainty relations since 1991

A brief review of the history of ten workshops/conferences on “Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations” and main achievements in the related fields of quantum physics for the period from 1991 to 2007 are presented.     

Some remarks on general commutators theorems

The paper proves some general facts on commutators that refer to Fuglede-Putnam classical theorem in the spectral theory of not necessarily selfadjoint operators.     

A version of Hörmander’s theorem for the fractional Brownian motion

It is shown that the law of an SDE driven by fractional Brownian motion with Hurst parameter greater than 1/2 has a smooth density with respect to Lebesgue measure, provided that the driving vector fields satisfy Hörmander’s condition. The main new ingredient of the proof is an extension of Norris’ lemma to this situation.     

Linear matrix inequality representation of sets

This article concerns the question, Which subsets of ?^m can be represented with linear matrix inequalities (LMIs)? This gives some perspective on the scope and limitations of one of the most powerful techniques commonly used in control theory. Also, before having much hope of representing engineering problems as LMIs by automatic methods, one needs a good idea of which problems can and cannot be represented by LMIs. Little is currently known about such problems. In this article we give a necessary condition that we call “rigid convexity,” which must hold for a set ?? ? ?^m in order for ?? to have an LMI representation. Rigid convexity is proved to be necessary and sufficient when m = 2. This settles a question formally stated by Pablo Parrilo and Berndt Sturmfels in [15]. As shown by Lewis, Parillo, and Ramana [11], our main result also establishes (in the case of three variables) a 1958 conjecture by Peter Lax on hyperbolic polynomials. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Asymmetry in the Multiprotein Systems of Molecular Biology

Signaling in living systems needs to achieve high specificity, to be reversible, and to achieve high signal to noise. Signaling mediated by multiprotein systems has evolved that avoids the requirement for high-affinity binary complexes that would be difficult to reverse and which, in the overcrowded cell, would lead to excessive noise in the system. Symmetrical structures are only occasionally formed. When they are, it is principally to colocate components, for example, the tyrosyl kinases of growth factors, where dimers form. Symmetry is, however, often broken, presumably to create more sensitivity and specificity in the signaling system by assembling other components, into higher-order multiprotein systems. The binding of a single heparin to two 1:1 FGF:FGFR complexes is an example, as is the binding of a single ligase to the Xrcc4 dimer, perhaps so creating a further DNA-binding site.     

P-harmonic obstacle problems

We prove an extension theorem for Sobolev functions which plays an important role in the partial regularity theory of vector valued functions which minimize degenerate variational integrals subject to some nonlinear side conditions in the image space.