Parallel software support for computational structural mechanics

The application of the parallel programming methodology known as the Force was conducted. Two application issues were addressed. The first involves the efficiency of the implementation and its completeness in terms of satisfying the needs of other researchers implementing parallel algorithms. Support for, and interaction with, other Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM) researchers using the Force was the main issue, but some independent investigation of the Barrier construct, which is extremely important to overall performance, was also undertaken. Another efficiency issue which was addressed was that of relaxing the strong synchronization condition imposed on the self-scheduled parallel DO loop. The Force was extended by the addition of logical conditions to the cases of a parallel case construct and by the inclusion of a self-scheduled version of this construct. The second issue involved applying the Force to the parallelization of finite element codes such as those found in the NICE/SPAR testbed system. One of the more difficult problems encountered is the determination of what information in COMMON blocks is actually used outside of a subroutine and when a subroutine uses a COMMON block merely as scratch storage for internal temporary results

IMPROVED FOOD SERVICE MARKETING STRATEGIES REFLECTING CHANGING CONSUMER VALUES

Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing,

Onboard processor technology review

The general need and requirements for the onboard embedded processors necessary to control and manipulate data in spacecraft systems are discussed. The current known requirements are reviewed from a user perspective, based on current practices in the spacecraft development process. The current capabilities of available processor technologies are then discussed, and these are projected to the generation of spacecraft computers currently under identified, funded development. An appraisal is provided for the current national developmental effort

Shared versus distributed memory multiprocessors

The question of whether multiprocessors should have shared or distributed memory has attracted a great deal of attention. Some researchers argue strongly for building distributed memory machines, while others argue just as strongly for programming shared memory multiprocessors. A great deal of research is underway on both types of parallel systems. Special emphasis is placed on systems with a very large number of processors for computation intensive tasks and considers research and implementation trends. It appears that the two types of systems will likely converge to a common form for large scale multiprocessors

RETAIL FOOD STORE EMPLOYEE INFLUENCE ON CUSTOMER SHOPPING BEHAVIOR

Retail food store employees presumably improve the level of satisfaction customers realize during a shopping trip. A review of the literature revealed few significant contributions supporting or refuting this contention. A telephone survey of 505 households in Fort Collins, CO during the Fall of 1988 was conducted to generate information on retail food store employees helpfulness. The findings revealed little explicit impact of helpfulness. Statistical analysis determined a number of relationships between dollars spent in a store and the perceived level of employee helpfulness. Retail food stores were not selected, patronized nor avoided based exclusively nor extensively on perceptions of employee helpfulness. On the other hand, employees were considered necessary for an enjoyable shopping trip. Employees are neither change agents in retail food stores nor are they apparently significant stress inducers or inhibitors compared to the potential stress realized by an inconvenient location, high prices or a poor variety of products. It is recommended that employees be more closely associated with obvious service strategies, and that services be made more obvious and predominant in the promotion and advertising of the retail food store.Consumer/Household Economics, Labor and Human Capital,

ROLE OF THE FOOD DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRY IN CURRENT AND LONG RUN RESEARCH EFFORTS

Marketing,

SUPERMARKET CUSTOMER OBSERVATION AND ELECTRONIC DATA ANALYSIS WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MARKETING PLAN

This report is based on research initiated to determine the potential role of observation methodology in market plan development. This report is based on 100 observations conduced in a supermarket dairy department. The findings have implications for market planning, merchandising and communication strategies. As a pilot project, the results are not based entirely on randomly selected customers. This reports represents efforts to apply and refine the observation technique and not necessarily to convey results that can be projected to all shoppers in a supermarket. Further work is being done to accomplish random observations.Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing,

Problems in characterizing barrier performance

The barrier is a synchronization construct which is useful in separating a parallel program into parallel sections which are executed in sequence. The completion of a barrier requires cooperation among all executing processes. This requirement not only introduces the wait for the slowest process delay which is inherent in the definition of the synchronization, but also has implications for the efficient implementation and measurement of barrier performance in different systems. Types of barrier implementation and their relationship to different multiprocessor environments are described. Then the problem of measuring the performance of barrier implementations on specific machine architecture is discussed. The fact that the barrier synchronization requires the cooperation of all processes makes the problem of performance measurement similarly global. Making non-intrusive measurements of sufficient accuracy can be tricky on systems offering only rudimentary measurement tools

SOME SOCIO-ECONOMIC QUESTIONS RELATED TO AUTOMATIC SUPERMARKET CHECKOUT OPERATIONS

Raises a series of questions relative to the "total environment" in which the automated checkout will operate.Marketing,

Forestry Economics: Principles and Practice

This review discusses bioeconomic models of the forest and uses them to explore policy options for forest management. The main type of bioeconomic model used is based on a biomass model of the growth of the forest, similar to the biomass model widely used in fishery economics. However a more detailed model, similar to the cohort-based models of fish stocks, which simulates the growth of subsections of the forest is also referred to. The bioeconomic models are based on simple assumptions about prices and costs - mainly that the forest industry, as a small part of the economy, is a price taker in both output and input markets. The models were initially used to examine the harvesting policy which would maximise the net present value of the timber produced by the forest. However it was recognised that non-timber values are becoming increasingly important and must be accounted for in the development of an optimal forest strategy. Case Studies consider some of the issues raised in the paper in greater detail.