Coordinated inventory replenishment and outsourced transportation operatoins

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We consider a one-warehouse N retailers supply chain with stochastic demand. Inventory is managed in-house whereas transportation is outsourced to a 3PL provider. We develop analytical expressions for the operating characteristics under both periodic and continuous joint replenishment policies. We identify the settings where a periodic review policy is comparable to a continuous review one. In our numerical test-bed, the periodic policy performed best in larger supply chains operating with larger trucks. We also observed that if the excess utilization charge is less than 25%, outsourcing becomes beneficial even if outsourcing cost is 25% more than the in-house fleet costs

Gradient-based electrical conductivity imaging using MR phase

Purpose: To develop a fast, practically applicable, and boundary artifact free electrical conductivity imaging method that does not use transceive phase assumption, and that is more robust against the noise. Theory: Starting from the Maxwell's equations, a new electrical conductivity imaging method that is based solely on the MR transceive phase has been proposed. Different from the previous phase based electrical properties tomography (EPT) method, a new formulation was derived by including the gradients of the conductivity into the equations. Methods: The governing partial differential equation, which is in the form of a convection-reaction-diffusion equation, was solved using a three-dimensional finite-difference scheme. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method numerical simulations, phantom and in vivo human experiments have been conducted at 3T. Results: Simulation and experimental results of the proposed method and the conventional phase–based EPT method were illustrated to show the superiority of the proposed method over the conventional method, especially in the transition regions and under noisy data. Conclusion: With the contributions of the proposed method to the phase-based EPT approach, a fast and reliable electrical conductivity imaging appears to be feasible, which is promising for clinical diagnoses and local SAR estimation. Magn Reson Med 77:137–150, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Numerical methods and software tools for simulation, design, and resonant mode analysis of radio frequency birdcage coils used in MRI

Design of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) radiofrequency (RF) coils using lumped circuit modeling based techniques begins to fail at high frequencies, and therefore more accurate models based on the electromagnetic field calculations must be used. Field calculations are also necessary to understand the interactions between the RF field and the subject inside the coil. Furthermore, observing the resonance behavior of the coil and the fields at the resonance frequencies have importance for design and analysis. In this study, finite element method (FEM) based methods have been proposed for accurate time-harmonic electromagnetic simulations, estimation of the tuning capacitors on the rungs or end rings, and the resonant mode analysis of the birdcage coils. Capacitance estimation was achieved by maximizing the magnitude of the port impedance at the desired frequency while simultaneously minimizing the variance of RF magnetic field in the region of interest. In order for the proposed methods to be conveniently applicable, two software tools, resonant mode and frequency domain analyzer (RM-FDA) and Optimum Capacitance Finder (OptiCF), were developed. Simulation results for the validation and verification of the software tools are provided for different cases including human head simulations. Additionally, two handmade birdcage coils (low-pass and high-pass) were built and resonance mode measurements were made. Results of the software tools are compared with the measurement results as well as with the results of the lumped circuit modeling based method. It has been shown that the proposed software tools can be used for accurate simulation and design of birdcage coils. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Convection-reaction equation based magnetic resonance electrical properties tomography (cr-MREPT)

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Images of electrical conductivity and permittivity of tissues may be used for diagnostic purposes as well as for estimating local specific absorption rate distributions. Magnetic resonance electrical properties tomography (MREPT) aims at noninvasively obtaining conductivity and permittivity images at radio-frequency frequencies of magnetic resonance imaging systems. MREPT algorithms are based on measuring the B1 field which is perturbed by the electrical properties of the imaged object. In this study, the relation between the electrical properties and the measured B1 field is formulated for the first time as a well-known convection-reaction equation. The suggested novel algorithm, called “cr-MREPT,” is based on the solution of this equation on a triangular mesh, and in contrast to previously proposed algorithms, it is applicable in practice not only for regions where electrical properties are relatively constant but also for regions where they vary. The convective field of the convection-reaction equation depends on the spatial derivatives of the B1 field, and in the regions where its magnitude is low, a spot-like artifact is observed in the reconstructed electrical properties images. For eliminating this artifact, two different methods are developed, namely “constrained cr-MREPT” and “double-excitation cr-MREPT.” Successful reconstructions are obtained using noisy and noise-free simulated data, and experimental data from phantoms

Bacillus Cereus Catheter Related Bloodstream Infection in a Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Bacillus cereus infection is rarely associated with actual infection and for this reason single positive blood culture is usually regarded as contamination . However it may cause a number of infections, such catheter-related bloodstream infections. Significant catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) caused by Bacillus spp. are mainly due to B. cereus and have been predominantly reported in immunocompromised hosts. Catheter removal is generally advised for management of infection. In this report, catheter-related bacteremia caused by B. cereus in a patient with acute lymphoblast c leukemia (ALL) in Istanbul Medical Faculty was presented