The optimisation of a strategic business process

The optimisation of a Tendering Process for Warship Refit Contracts is presented. The Pre Contract Award process (PCA) involves all the activities needed to successfully win a Refit Contract, e.g. estimating, planning, tendering and negotiation. Process activities and information flows have been modelled using Integrated computer aided manufacturing DEFinition methodology (IDEF0) and a Design Structure Matrix (DSM) with optimisation performed via a Genetic Algorithm (DSM-GA) search technique [1]. The aim of the DSM-GA is to provide the user with an enhanced sequence of performing process activities. A new process was extracted from the optimised solution, showing an improved sequence with reduced iteration and planned activity concurrency based on carefully considered information requirements. This is of practical benefit to enhance understanding and to provide a guide to implementation. The approach suggests an enhanced sequence of process activities, based on information requirements, and can lead to improved business practice. This Paper discusses the potential benefits and limitations of this approach in a practical setting

The optimisation of the estimating and tendering process in warship refit - a case study

The optimisation of a tendering process for warship refit contracts is presented. The tendering process, also known as the pre-contract award process (PCA), involves all the activities needed to be successfully awarded a refit contract. Process activities and information flows have been modelled using Integrated Definition Language IDEF0 and a Dependency Structure Matrix (DSM) with optimisation performed via a Genetic Algorithm (DSM-GA) search technique. By utilising this approach the process activities were re-sequenced in such an order that the number and size of rework cycles were reduced. The result being a 57% reduction in a criterion indicating 're-work' cycles

An 8-month longitudinal exploration of body image and disordered eating in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic

Research suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic is negatively impacting mental health, with rates of eating disorder referrals in particular rising steeply during the pandemic. This study aimed to examine 8-month changes in body image and disordered eating during the COVID-19 pandemic, and explore whether any changes were moderated by gender, age, or eating disorder history. This study used a longitudinal survey design in which 587 adults living in the UK (85 % women; mean age = 32.87 years) completed assessments every two months over five timepoints from May/June 2020 to January/February 2021. Measures included body esteem, disordered eating, and psychological distress. Mixed effect models showed small but significant improvements in body esteem and disordered eating symptoms from May/June 2020 to January/February 2021. These improvements were independent of changes in psychological distress, and did not vary by gender, age or eating disorder history. Whilst poor body image and disordered eating may have been elevated in the early period of the pandemic, this study suggests improvements, rather than worsening, of these outcomes over time. This may reflect adaptation to this changing context

Quasi-particle Lifetimes in a d_{x^2-y^2} Superconductor

We consider the lifetime of quasi-particles in a d-wave superconductor due to scattering from antiferromagnetic spin-fluctuations, and explicitly separate the contribution from Umklapp processes which determines the electrical conductivity. Results for the temperature dependence of the total scattering rate and the Umklapp scattering rate are compared with relaxation rates obtained from thermal and microwave conductivity measurements, respectively.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Challenges for room temperature operation of electrically pumped GeSn lasers

Recent demonstrations of room-temperature lasing in optically pumped GeSn show promise for future CMOS compatible lasers for Si-photonics applications. However, challenges remain for electrically pumped devices. Investigation of the processes that limit device performance is therefore vital in aiding the production of future commercial devices. In this work, a combined experimental and modelling approach is utilised to explore the dominant loss processes in current devices. By manipulating the band structure of functioning devices using high hydrostatic pressure techniques at low temperature, the dominant carrier recombination pathways are identifed. This reveals that 93±5% of the threshold current is attributable to defect-related recombination at a temperature, T = 85 K. Furthermore, carrier occupation of L-valley states (carrier leakage) is responsible for 1.1± 0.3% of the threshold current, but this sharply increases to 50% with a decrease of just 30 meV in the L-r separation energy. This indicates that thermal broadening of a similar order may reproduce these adverse efects, limiting device performance at higher temperatures. Temperature dependent calculations show that carrier occupation of indirect valley L-states strongly afects the transparency carrier density and is therefore very sensitive to the Sn composition, leading to an efective operational temperature range for given Sn compositions and strain values. Recommendations for future device designs are proposed based on band structure and growth optimisations

The institutional shaping of management: in the tracks of English individualism

Globalisation raises important questions about the shaping of economic action by cultural factors. This article explores the formation of what is seen by some as a prime influence on the formation of British management: individualism. Drawing on a range of historical sources, it argues for a comparative approach. In this case, the primary comparison drawn is between England and Scotland. The contention is that there is a systemic approach to authority in Scotland that can be contrasted to a personal approach in England. An examination of the careers of a number of Scottish pioneers of management suggests the roots of this systemic approach in practices of church governance. Ultimately this systemic approach was to take a secondary role to the personal approach engendered by institutions like the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but it found more success in the different institutional context of the USA. The complexities of dealing with historical evidence are stressed, as is the value of taking a comparative approach. In this case this indicates a need to take religious practice as seriously as religious belief as a source of transferable practice. The article suggests that management should not be seen as a simple response to economic imperatives, but as shaped by the social and cultural context from which it emerges

Signatures of Spin and Charge Energy Scales in the Local Moment and Specific Heat of the Two-Dimensional Hubbard Model

Local moment formation driven by the on--site repulsion $U$ is one of the most fundamental features in the Hubbard model. At the simplest level, the temperature dependence of the local moment is expected to have a single structure at $T \sim U$, reflecting the suppression of the double occupancy. In this paper we show new low temperature Quantum Monte Carlo data which emphasize that the local moment also has a signature at a lower energy scale which previously had been thought to characterize only the temperatures below which moments on {\it different} sites begin to correlate locally. We discuss implications of these results for the structure of the specific heat, and connections to quasiparticle resonance and pseudogap formation in the density of states.Comment: 13 pages, 19 figure

Monitoring Soil Quality to Assess the Sustainability of Harvesting Corn Stover

Harvesting feedstock for biofuel production must not degrade soil, water, or air resources. Our objective is to provide an overview of field research being conducted to quantify effects of harvesting corn (Zea mays L.) stover as a bioenergy feedstock. Coordinated field studies are being conducted near Ames, IA; St. Paul and Morris, MN; Mead, NE; University Park, PA; Florence, SC; and Brookings, SD., as part of the USDA-ARS Renewable Energy Assessment Project (REAP). A baseline soil quality assessment was made using the Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF). Corn grain and residue yield for two different stover harvest rates (∼50% and ∼90%) are being measured. Available soil data remains quite limited but sufficient for an initial SMAF analysis that confirms total organic carbon (TOC) is a soil quality indicator that needs to be closely monitored closely to quantify crop residue removal effects. Overall, grain yields averaged 9.7 and 11.7 Mg ha−1 (155 and 186 bu acre−1) in 2008 and 2009, values that are consistent with national averages for both years. The average amount of stover collected for the 50% treatment was 2.6 and 4.2 Mg ha−1 for 2008 and 2009, while the 90% treatment resulted in an average removal of 5.4 and 7.4 Mg ha−1, respectively. Based on a recent literature review, both stover harvest scenarios could result in a gradual decline in TOC. However, the literature value has a large standard error, so continuation of this long-term multi-location study for several years is warranted

A comparative study of epitaxial InGaAsBi/InP structures using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence techniques

In this work, we used a combination of photoluminescence (PL), high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) techniques to investigate material quality and structural properties of MBE-grown InGaAsBi samples (with and without an InGaAs cap layer) with targeted bismuth composition in the 3%–4% range. XRD data showed that the InGaAsBi layers are more homogeneous in the uncapped samples. For the capped samples, the growth of the InGaAs capped layer at higher temperature affects the quality of the InGaAsBi layer and bismuth distribution in the growth direction. Low-temperature PL exhibited multiple emission peaks; the peak energies, widths, and relative intensities were used for comparative analysis of the data in line with the XRD and RBS results. RBS data at a random orientation together with channeled measurements allowed both an estimation of the bismuth composition and analysis of the structural properties. The RBS channeling showed evidence of higher strain due to possible antisite defects in the capped samples grown at a higher temperature. It is also suggested that the growth of the capped layer at high temperature causes deterioration of the bismuth-layer quality. The RBS analysis demonstrated evidence of a reduction of homogeneity of uncapped InGaAsBi layers with increasing bismuth concentration. The uncapped higher bismuth concentration sample showed less defined channeling dips suggesting poorer crystal quality and clustering of bismuth on the sample surface