<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.     

Prediction of chromatographic retention of metal complexes from stability constants measured by ion chromatography

Chromatographia - A theoretical model is used to predict retention times of divalent metal cations in single-column ion chromatography using one or more ligands in the eluent. Stability constants...     

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.     

Quadratic data envelopment analysis

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) offers a piece-wise linear approximation of the production frontier. The approximation tends to be poor if the true frontier is not concave, eg in case of economies of scale or of specialisation. To improve the flexibility of the DEA frontier and to gain in empirical fit, we propose to extend DEA towards a more general piece-wise quadratic approximation, called Quadratic Data Envelopment Analysis (QDEA). We show that QDEA gives statistically consistent estimates for all production frontiers with bounded Hessian eigenvalues. Our Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that QDEA can substantially improve efficiency estimation in finite samples relative to standard DEA models.     

Effective field and the Bloch-Siegert shift at bichromatic excitation of multiphoton EPR

The dynamics of multiphoton transitions in a two-level spin system excited by transverse microwave and longitudinal RF fields with the frequencies ω_mw and ω_rf, respectively, is analyzed. The effective time-independent Hamiltonian describing the “dressed” spin states of the “spin + bichromatic field” system is obtained by using the Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolsky averaging method. The direct detection of the time behavior of the spin system by the method of nonstationary nutations makes it possible to identify the multiphoton transitions for resonances ω₀ = ω_mw + rω_rf (ω₀ is the central frequency of the EPR line, r = 1, 2), to measure the amplitudes of the effective fields of these transitions, and to determine the features generated by the inhomogeneous broadening of the EPR line. It is shown that the Bloch-Siegert shifts for multiphoton resonances at the inhomogeneous broadening of spectral lines reduce only the nutation amplitude but do not change their frequencies.     

A Language for Teaching Discrete-event Simulation

Courses which teach discrete-event simulation are based on many different simulation languages. The requirements for a language to support teaching simulation are discussed. In particular, it is recommended that such languages separate into distinct modules those aspects of simulation which are taught as separate topics. Implementation of the separation is discussed. The SEESIM language, developed as a teaching aid, is described, and examples of its use are given. Straightforward use of SEESIM can be learned quickly, yet the language provides facilities for a staged introduction to advanced concepts of simulation.     

Complete ideals and singularities of space curves

We consider complete ideals supported on finite sequences of infinitely near points, in regular local rings with dimensions greater than two. We study properties of factorizations in Lipman special *-simple complete ideals. We relate it to a type of proximity, linear proximity, of the points, and give conditions in order to have unique factorization. Several examples are presented. Received: 2 February 2000 / in final form: 14 March 2001 / Published online: 18 January 2002