Automatic Parameter Configuration for Inventory Management in SAP ERP/APO

Companies today generally hold several thousands SKUs (stock-keeping units) in stock. With an ever increasing trend towards highly customized products, the number of SKUs held by companies is likely to increase even more in the future. For each of the SKUs held in stock, a decision has to be made on how to configure each module of the SKU's inventory system. Doing this for each SKU individually seems to be an unfeasible task, given the large numbers of SKUs held in stock by most companies. Therefore, these companies configure inventory systems not on a SKU-basis but on a group basis, where the groups are usually determined using an ABC/XYZ analysis. The configuration using such a rough group basis for several thousand SKUs does not allow for individually customized inventory systems and therefore might not exploit the implemented inventory methods in a software package in an optimal way. In this research project, decision systems allowing an automated inventory system configuration in SAP ERP and SAP APO at the SKU-level are developed. The SAP ERP corporate software package is the market leader for Enterprise Resource Planning systems, offering a wide range of inventory methods for the relevant inventory system modules. The advanced planning and scheduling system of SAP, Advanced Planning and Optimization (APO), provides additional inventory methods that can be chosen for the configuration in the inventory system modules

Measurement and analysis of a small nozzle plume in vacuum

Pitot pressures and flow angles are measured in the plume of a nozzle flowing nitrogen and exhausting to a vacuum. Total pressures are measured with Pitot tubes sized for specific regions of the plume and flow angles measured with a conical probe. The measurement area for total pressure extends 480 mm (16 exit diameters) downstream of the nozzle exit plane and radially to 60 mm (1.9 exit diameters) off the plume axis. The measurement area for flow angle extends to 160 mm (5 exit diameters) downstream and radially to 60 mm. The measurements are compared to results from a numerical simulation of the flow that is based on kinetic theory and uses the direct-simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Comparisons of computed results from the DSMC method with measurements of flow angle display good agreement in the far-field of the plume and improve with increasing distance from the exit plane. Pitot pressures computed from the DSMC method are in reasonably good agreement with experimental results over the entire measurement area

Circadian Entrainment Triggers Maturation of Human In Vitro Islets

Stem-cell-derived tissues could transform disease research and therapy, yet most methods generate functionally immature products. We investigate how human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) differentiate into pancreatic islets in vitro by profiling DNA methylation, chromatin accessibility, and histone modification changes. We find that enhancer potential is reset upon lineage commitment and show how pervasive epigenetic priming steers endocrine cell fates. Modeling islet differentiation and maturation regulatory circuits reveals genes critical for generating endocrine cells and identifies circadian control as limiting for in vitro islet function. Entrainment to circadian feeding/fasting cycles triggers islet metabolic maturation by inducing cyclic synthesis of energy metabolism and insulin secretion effectors, including antiphasic insulin and glucagon pulses. Following entrainment, hPSC-derived islets gain persistent chromatin changes and rhythmic insulin responses with a raised glucose threshold, a hallmark of functional maturity, and function within days of transplantation. Thus, hPSC-derived tissues are amenable to functional improvement by circadian modulation

Pressure measurements in a low-density nozzle plume for code verification

Measurements of Pitot pressure were made in the exit plane and plume of a low-density, nitrogen nozzle flow. Two numerical computer codes were used to analyze the flow, including one based on continuum theory using the explicit MacCormack method, and the other on kinetic theory using the method of direct-simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC). The continuum analysis was carried to the nozzle exit plane and the results were compared to the measurements. The DSMC analysis was extended into the plume of the nozzle flow and the results were compared with measurements at the exit plane and axial stations 12, 24 and 36 mm into the near-field plume. Two experimental apparatus were used that differed in design and gave slightly different profiles of pressure measurements. The DSMC method compared well with the measurements from each apparatus at all axial stations and provided a more accurate prediction of the flow than the continuum method, verifying the validity of DSMC for such calculations

Multi-Magnon Scattering in the Ferromagnetic XXX-Model with Inhomogeneities

We determine the transition amplitude for multi-magnon scattering induced through an inhomogeneous distribution of the coupling constant in the ferromagnetic XXX-model. The two and three particle amplitudes are explicitely calculated at small momenta. This suggests a rather plausible conjecture also for a formula of the general n-particle amplitude.Comment: 21 pages, latex, no figure

(+)-Chlorido[(1,2,3,4-η;P 2′)-2′- diphenylphosphanyl-2-diphenylphosphoryl-1,1′-binaphthyl]rhodium(I) methanol monosolvate

In the title complex, [RhCl(C 44H 32OP 2)]·CH 3OH, the Rh I ion is coordinated by a naphthyl group of a partially oxidized 2,2′-bis-(diphenylphosphanyl)-1, 1′-binaphthyl (BINAP) ligand in a 4 mode, one P atom of the diphenylphosphanyl group and one Cl atom. The P=O group does not interact with the Rh I ion but accepts an O - H⋯O hydrogen bond from the methanol solvent molecule

In vivo Firre and Dxz4 deletion elucidates roles for autosomal gene regulation

Recent evidence has determined that the conserved X chromosome mega-structurescontrolled by theFirreandDxz4loci are not required for X chromosome inactivation (XCI) in celllines. Here, we examined the in vivo contribution of these loci by generating mice carrying a singleor double deletion ofFirreandDxz4. We found that these mutants are viable, fertile and show nodefect in random or imprinted XCI. However, the lack of these elements results in manydysregulated genes on autosomes in an organ-specific manner. By comparing the dysregulatedgenes between the single and double deletion, we identified superloop, megadomain, andFirrelocus-dependent gene sets. The largest transcriptional effect was observed in all strains lacking theFirrelocus, indicating that this locus is the main driver for these autosomal expression signatures.Collectively, these findings suggest that these X-linked loci are involved in autosomal generegulation rather than XCI biology

Diverse epigenetic mechanisms maintain parental imprints within the embryonic and extraembryonic lineages

Genomic imprinting and X chromosome inactivation (XCI) require epigenetic mechanisms to encode allele-specific expression, but how these specific tasks are accomplished at single loci or across chromosomal scales remains incompletely understood. Here, we systematically disrupt essential epigenetic pathways within polymorphic embryos in order to examine canonical and non-canonical genomic imprinting as well as XCI. We find that DNA methylation and Polycomb group repressors are indispensable for autosomal imprinting, albeit at distinct gene sets. Moreover, the extraembryonic ectoderm relies on a broader spectrum of imprinting mechanisms, including non-canonical targeting of maternal endogenous retrovirus (ERV)-driven promoters by the H3K9 methyltransferase G9a. We further identify Polycomb-dependent and -independent gene clusters on the imprinted X chromosome, which appear to reflect distinct domains of Xist-mediated suppression. From our data, we assemble a comprehensive inventory of the epigenetic pathways that maintain parent-specific imprinting in eutherian mammals, including an expanded view of the placental lineage