A web-based workforce management system for Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd

Labour scheduling plays an important and critical role in Sainsburys day to day operations and profitability. The integrated workforce management solution for Sainsburys is an intelligent solution for the operational deployment of human resources, integrated business forecasting, generation and calculation of workload and staff scheduling. The workforce management technology has provided Sainsburys with a fully web-based and centralised system that produces optimised schedules for all employees satisfying the forecasted demand of work with granularity of fifteen minutes. The system is configured to respect all operational and business requirements as well as employee contractual constraints. This paper introduces the workforce management solution system designed, developed and implemented for Sainsburys. We concentrate on two modelling structures, namely the work pattern model and optimisation model, and briefly discuss the optimisation process.     

Influence of the defect structure on the electrical conductivity of Pb5Ge3O11 single crystals at high temperatures

The impedance spectra of Pb₅Ge₃O₁₁ single crystals are measured in the frequency range from 5 Hz to 13 MHz at temperatures of 600 to 800 K in dry air and in a dry or wet nitrogen gas. It is found that the temperature and the gas composition significantly affect the electrical properties of the compound. The data obtained are used to discuss the origin of crystal lattice defects and their influence on charge transfer. It is concluded that the conduction is mixed in character (p-type electronic and ionic due to oxygen ions). The proton conduction is shown experimentally to be feasible. The possible mechanisms of proton transport in Pb₅Ge₃O₁₁ are discussed.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of multilayer Ni/Cu and NiFe/Cu nanowires

Highly ordered composite nanowires with multilayer Ni/Cu and NiFe/Cu have been fabricated by pulsed electrodeposition into nanoporous alumina membrane. The diameter of wires can be easily varied by pore size of alumina, ranging from 30 to 100 nm. The applied potential and the duration of each potential square pulse determine the thickness of the metal layers. The nanowires have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), magnetic force microscopy (MFM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements. The MFM images indicate that every ferromagnetic layer separated by Cu layer was present as single isolated domain-like magnet. This technique has potential use in the measurement and application of magnetic nanodevices.     

Is life improbable?

E. P. Wigner's argument that the probability of the existence of self-reproducing units, e.g., organisms, is zero according to standard quantum theory is stated and analyzed. Theorems are presented which indicate that Wigner's mathematical result in fact should not be interpreted as asserting the improbability of self-reproducing units.     

Characterization and recognition of generalized clique-Helly graphs

Let p?1 and q?0 be integers. A family of sets F is (p,q)-intersecting when every subfamily F^′⊆F formed by p or less members has total intersection of cardinality at least q. A family of sets F is (p,q)-Helly when every (p,q)-intersecting subfamily F^′⊆F has total intersection of cardinality at least q. A graph G is a (p,q)-clique-Helly graph when its family of (maximal) cliques is (p,q)-Helly. According to this terminology, the usual Helly property and the clique-Helly graphs correspond to the case p=2,q=1. In this work we present a characterization for (p,q)-clique-Helly graphs. For fixed p,q, this characterization leads to a polynomial-time recognition algorithm. When p or q is not fixed, it is shown that the recognition of (p,q)-clique-Helly graphs is NP-hard.     

The infrared spectra of the halogen isocyanate and thiocyanate vapor molecules

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy has been used to investigate the IR spectra of the XNCO (X = Cl, Br, I, CN), the XSCN (X = Cl, Br, I) and the NCNCS vapor molecules from 4800 to 400 cm⁻¹. Vibrational frequencies have been determined for each normal mode of vibration in each molecule in this region.     

Problems of the partial stability and detectability of dynamical systems

The conditions under which uniform stability (uniform asymptotic stability) with respect to a part of the variables of the zero equilibrium position of a non-linear non-stationary system of ordinary differential equations signifies uniform stability (uniform asymptotic stability) of this equilibrium position with respect the other, larger part of the variables, which include an additional group of coordinates of the phase vector, are established. These conditions include the condition for uniform asymptotic stability of the zero equilibrium position of the “reduced” subsystem of the original system with respect to the additional group of variables. Since within the conditions obtained the stability with respect to the remaining unmeasured coordinates of the phase vector remains undetermined or is investigated additionally, partial zero-detectability of the original system occurs in this case, and the conditions obtained supplement the series of known results from partial stability theory. The application of the results obtained to problems of the partial stabilization of non-linear controlled systems, particularly to the problem of stabilizing an asymmetric rigid body relative to an assigned direction in an inertial space, is considered. The partial detectability of linear systems with constant coefficients is also investigated.