Private labels and retail assortment planning: a differential evolution approach

Despite the longstanding recognition of the importance of product assortment planning (PAP), existing literature has failed to provide satisfactory solutions to a great deal of problems that reside in this area of research. The issue of optimal assortment planning in the retail sector becomes even more important in periods of economic crisis, as retailers must adapt their product portfolios to new evolving patterns of consumer buying behaviour and reduced levels of consumer’s purchasing power. Private labels (PLs) typically experience significant growth in times of recession, due to their low prices, and the reduced disposable income of households. In this direction, the present paper introduces differential evolution to assist retailers in adapting their product portfolios in periods of economic recession and facilitate strategic PAP decisions, related to (a) optimal variety of PL product categories, (b) optimal service level of PL merchandise within a product category, and hence, (c) optimal balance between PLs and National Brands in a retailer’s product portfolio. The interrelated issue of assortment adaptation across different store formats is also considered. Economic recessions contribute to the prolonged upward evolution in PL share, and hence, our mechanism facilitates decisions that are nowadays more important than ever before. The proposed mechanism is illustrated through an implementation to an empirical dataset derived from a random sample of 1928 consumers who participated in a large-scale computer assisted telephone survey during the current economic crisis period.     

Phantom dark energy with varying-mass dark matter particles: Acceleration and cosmic coincidence problem

We investigate several varying-mass dark matter particle models in the framework of phantom cosmology. We examine whether there exist late-time cosmological solutions, corresponding to an accelerating universe and possessing dark energy and dark matter densities of the same order. Imposing exponential or power-law potentials and exponential or power-law mass dependence, we conclude that the coincidence problem cannot be solved or even alleviated. Thus, if dark energy is attributed to the phantom paradigm, varying-mass dark matter models cannot fulfill the basic requirement that led to their construction.     

Some unexpected proportionalities between components of the spin—other-orbit interaction in the f shell

The reduced matrix elements of the component z _i of the inter-electronic spin-other-orbit interaction have been calculated for all the states of the atomic f shell. Three of the z _i , each of which belongs to the irreducible representation (30) of Racah's group G₂, are found to exhibit matrix elements that are often related to one another in ways that go beyond what the Wigner-Eckart theorem, generalized to G₂, would predict. Examples are presented for matrix elements whose bras belong to the IR (20) of G₂ and whose kets belong to (31). The challenges to current theory are discussed.     

MODELLING OF RELEASE OF GAS FROM HIGH-PRESSURE PIPELINES

The problem investigated is the break of a high-pressure pipeline carrying natural single-phase gas which may condensate (retrograde) when the pressure drops. Single-phase non-ideal gas is assumed using a general- ized equation of state. Taking advantage of the choked massflow condition, the break is split into a pipe flow problem and a dispersion flow problem, both solved using a finite difference control volume scheme. The transient flow field from the pipeline break location is expanded analytically, using an approximation of the governing equations, until ambient pressure is reached and matched to the corresponding gas dispersion flow field using as subgrid model a jet box with a time-varying equivalent nozzle area as an internal boundary of the dispersion domain. The turbulence models used for the pipe and dispersion flow fields are an empirical model of Reichard and the k–ϵ model for buoyant flow respectively. The pipe flow simulations indicate that the flow from the pipeline might include dispersed condensate which will affect quantitatively the mass flow rate from the pipeline and qualitatively the gas dispersion if the condensate rains out. The transient dispersion simulation shows that an entrainment flow field develops and mixes supersaturated gas with ambient warmer air to an unsaturated mixture. Because of the inertia of the ambient air, it takes time to develop the entrainment flow field. As a consequence of this and the decay of the mass flow with time, the lower flammability limit of the gas–air mixture reaches its most remote downstream position relatively early in the simulation (about 15 s) and withdraws closer to the break location.     

Hořava-Lifshitz cosmology with generalized Chaplygin gas

We investigate cosmological scenarios of generalized Chaplygin gas in a universe governed by Hořava-Lifshitz gravity. We consider both the detailed and non-detailed balance versions of the gravitational background, and we include the baryonic matter and radiation sectors. We use observational data from Type Ia Supernovae, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, and Cosmic Microwave Background, along with requirements of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, to constrain the parameters of the model, and we provide the corresponding likelihood contours. We deduce that the present scenario is compatible with observations. Additionally, examining the evolution of the total equation-of-state parameter, we find in a unified way the succession of the radiation, matter, and dark energy epochs, consistently with the thermal history of the universe.     

Generalized consistent orderings and the Accelerated Overrelaxation method

In this paper, the behavior of the block Accelerated Overrelaxation (AOR) iterative method, when applied to linear systems with a generalized consistently ordered coefficient matrix, is investigated. An equation, relating the eigenvalues of the block Jacobi iteration matrix to the eigenvalues of its associated block AOR iteration matrix, as well as sufficient conditions for the convergence of the block AOR method, are obtained.     

Correspondence between holographic and Gauss–Bonnet dark energy models

In the present work we investigate the cosmological implications of holographic dark energy density in the Gauss–Bonnet framework. By formulating independently the two cosmological scenarios, and by enforcing their simultaneous validity, we show that there is a correspondence between the holographic dark energy scenario in flat universe and the phantom dark energy model in the framework of Gauss–Bonnet theory with a potential. This correspondence leads consistently to an accelerating universe. However, in general one has not full freedom of constructing independently the two cosmological scenarios. Specific constraints must be imposed on the coupling with gravity and on the potential.     

The generalized Dirichlet–Neumann map for linear elliptic PDEs and its numerical implementation

A new approach for analyzing boundary value problems for linear and for integrable nonlinear PDEs was introduced in Fokas [A unified transform method for solving linear and certain nonlinear PDEs, Proc. Roy. Soc. London Ser. A 53 (1997) 1411–1443]. For linear elliptic PDEs, an important aspect of this approach is the characterization of a generalized Dirichlet to Neumann map: given the derivative of the solution along a direction of an arbitrary angle to the boundary, the derivative of the solution perpendicularly to this direction is computed without solving on the interior of the domain. This is based on the analysis of the so-called global relation, an equation which couples known and unknown components of the derivative on the boundary and which is valid for all values of a complex parameter k. A collocation-type numerical method for solving the global relation for the Laplace equation in an arbitrary bounded convex polygon was introduced in Fulton et al. [An analytical method for linear elliptic PDEs and its numerical implementation, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 167 (2004) 465–483]. Here, by choosing a different set of the “collocation points” (values for k), we present a significant improvement of the results in Fulton et al. [An analytical method for linear elliptic PDEs and its numerical implementation, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 167 (2004) 465–483]. The new collocation points lead to well-conditioned collocation methods. Their combination with sine basis functions leads to a collocation matrix whose diagonal blocks are point diagonal matrices yielding efficient implementation of iterative methods; numerical experimentation suggests quadratic convergence. The choice of Chebyshev basis functions leads to higher order convergence, which for regular polygons appear to be exponential.     

Holographic dark energy with varying gravitational constant

We investigate the holographic dark energy scenario with a varying gravitational constant, in flat and non-flat background geometry. We extract the exact differential equations determining the evolution of the dark energy density-parameter, which include G-variation correction terms. Performing a low-redshift expansion of the dark energy equation of state, we provide the involved parameters as functions of the current density parameters, of the holographic dark energy constant and of the G-variation.     

苦瓜中维生素C含量的测定

建立苦瓜中维生素C含量直接测定新方法。以10%盐酸溶液为溶剂,采用紫外分光光度法测定含量。维生素C在0—10μg/mL浓度范围内与吸光度呈良好的线性关系,回归方程为：y=0.04746C＋0.00109,r=0.9997。检出限为0.023μg/mL,加标回收率在94.8%—101.1%之间。该法操作简单,干扰离子少,结果准确,测量快速、准确度和灵敏度高,可应用于维生素C含量的测定。