Managing Information in a Service Industry to Enhance Buyer/Supplier Relationships

Information technology has allowed motor carriers to enhance the visibility of the service process to provide shippers an incentive for shipper/carrier partnerships. In today’s business environment, information technology offers customers the ability to take an active part in the service process, without actually being present in the service setting. Since the transportation industry represents a service characterized by low customer contact, little information exchange and a lack of influence over the production process; marketing challenges are great and high sales opportunities are minimal. In an attempt to overcome these problems, motor carriers have installed satellite communications systems to increase customer contact and interaction that will lead to greater customer satisfaction and long term relationships. A number of case studies of shippers that currently use carriers employing satellite communications are examined and the potential benefits discussed. An inventory-theoretic model of transportation choice is developed and future research directions are discussed

FINISHING OR WINNING? THE VARIABLES THAT IMPACTED THE NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE CHASE I FORMAT (2004-2013)

Since 2004 NASCAR has evolved its championship format in an effort to put more emphasis on wins, thus encouraging drivers to take more risk to get the race win. Past research has shown that drivers taking a conservative approach, by completing laps rather than going for wins, results in championships. This research attempts to determine if previous models are robust in predicting factors that influence individual points accumulation towards winning the championship and if driver consistency, rather than winning, remains the dominant factor in predicting NASCAR\u27s championship standings

Magnetic Property Changes in various Structural Steels Due to Irradiation

Nondestructive evaluation in nuclear power plants has been a growing concern for electric utility operators over the past decade 1. Many plants are operating beyond their original design lives primarily through intermittent replacement of individual components as necessary. It is critically important for the NDE field to develop technology that can evaluate the life expectancy of components in these plants, such as steam boiler pipes, headers and tubes, steam turbine rotors and blades, and nuclear pressure vessels. These components typically experience long service exposure, high temperature under high loading conditions, corrosive media and neutron irradiation. The focus of this paper will be on the irradiation effects

Screened-exchange Determination of the Electronic Properties of Monoclinic, Tetragonal and Cubic Zirconia

First-principles electronic band structure investigations of monoclinic, tetragonal, and cubic ZrO2 reveal the highly anisotropic nature of the conduction and valence band topologies in the monoclinic phase with electron and hole effective masses differing by over an order of magnitude in perpendicular directions. The planes of relatively high implied electron and hole mobilities intersect along a single crystallographic direction, making this the only direction readily available for exciton motion. Conversely, in the tetragonal and cubic phases, charge carrier effective masses are more isotropic and exciton motion is less restricted. These findings may explain recent experimental observations suggesting that exciton production via gamma irradiation in zirconia crystallites immersed in water is responsible for the accelerated dissociation of adsorbed water molecules on crystallite surfaces, and for the specificity of the effect to the tetragonal zirconia phase

PRex: an experiment to investigate detection of near-field particulate deposition from a simulated underground nuclear weapons test vent

A radioactive particulate release experiment to produce a near-field ground deposition representative of small-scale venting from an underground nuclear test was conducted to gather data in support of treaty capability development activities. For this experiment, aCO₂‐driven “air cannon” was used to inject ¹⁴⁰La, a radioisotope of lanthanum with 1.7‐d half-life and strong gamma-ray emissions, into the lowest levels of the atmosphere at ambient temperatures.Witness plates and air samplers were laid out in an irregular grid covering the area where the plume was anticipated to deposit based on climatological wind records. This experiment was performed at the Nevada National Security Site, where existing infrastructure, radiological procedures, and support personnel facilitated planning and execution of the work. A vehicle-mounted NaI(Tl) spectrometer and a polyvinyl toluene-based backpack instrument were used to survey the deposited plume. Hand-held instruments, including NaI(Tl) and lanthanum bromide scintillators and high purity germanium spectrometers, were used to take in situ measurements. Additionally, three soil sampling techniques were investigated and compared. The relative sensitivity and utility of sampling and survey methods are discussed in the context of on-site inspection.Keywords: environmental transport, airborne, radioactivity, atomic bomb, accidents, transpor

The Determinants of Scoring in NFL Games and Beating the Over/Under Line

In this paper we attempt to predict the total points scored in National Football League (NFL) games for the 2005-2006 season. Separate regression equations are identified for predicting points for the home and away teams in individual games based on information known prior to the games. The predictions from the regression equations (updated weekly) are then compared to the over/under line on individual NFL games in a wagering experiment to determine if a successful betting strategy can be identified. All predictions in this paper are out-of-sample. Using this methodology, we find that several successful wagering procedures could have been applied to the 2005-2006 NFL season. We also estimate a single equation to predict the over/under line for individual games. That is, we test to see if the variables we have collected and formulated are important in predicting the line for NFL games.