Floating stocks in FMCG supply chains

In this paper we present a new distribution concept called ‘floating stocks’, which uses intermodal transport to deploy inventories in a supply chain in advance of retailer demand. Supplying part of the demand directly by road compensates the longer transit time of this transport. First an analytical comparison is made which shows that this concept has advantages in inventories over pure road and intermodal transport. Next a simulation study of a real case is made which quantifies the cost-differences in detail

Hysteresis and bi-stability by an interplay of calcium oscillations and action potential firing

Many cell types exhibit oscillatory activity, such as repetitive action potential firing due to the Hodgkin-Huxley dynamics of ion channels in the cell membrane or reveal intracellular inositol triphosphate (IP$_3$) mediated calcium oscillations (CaOs) by calcium-induced calcium release channels (IP$_3$-receptor) in the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The dynamics of the excitable membrane and that of the IP$_3$-mediated CaOs have been the subject of many studies. However, the interaction between the excitable cell membrane and IP$_3$-mediated CaOs, which are coupled by cytosolic calcium which affects the dynamics of both, has not been studied. This study for the first time applied stability analysis to investigate the dynamic behavior of a model, which includes both an excitable membrane and an intracellular IP$_3$-mediated calcium oscillator. Taking the IP$_3$ concentration as a control parameter, the model exhibits a novel rich spectrum of stable and unstable states with hysteresis. The four stable states of the model correspond in detail to previously reported growth-state dependent states of the membrane potential of normal rat kidney fibroblasts in cell culture. The hysteresis is most pronounced for experimentally observed parameter values of the model, suggesting a functional importance of hysteresis. This study shows that the four growth-dependent cell states may not reflect the behavior of cells that have differentiated into different cell types with different properties, but simply reflect four different states of a single cell type, that is characterized by a single model.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure

A globally efficient means of distributing UTC time and frequency through GPS

Time and frequency outputs comparable in quality to the best laboratories have been demonstrated on an integrated system suitable for field application on a global basis. The system measures the time difference between 1 pulse-per-second (pps) signals derived from local primary frequency standards and from a multi-channel GPS C/A receiver. The measured data is processed through optimal SA Filter algorithms that enhance both the stability and accuracy of GPS timing signals. Experiments were run simultaneously at four different sites. Even with large distances between sites, the overall results show a high degree of cross-correlation of the SA noise. With sufficiently long simultaneous measurement sequences, the data shows that determination of the difference in local frequency from an accepted remote standard to better than 1 x 10(exp -14) is possible. This method yields frequency accuracy, stability, and timing stability comparable to that obtained with more conventional common-view experiments. In addition, this approach provides UTC(USNO MC) in real time to an accuracy better than 20 ns without the problems normally associated with conventional common-view techniques. An experimental tracking loop was also set up to demonstrate the use of enhanced GPS for dissemination of UTC(USNO MC) over a wide geographic area. Properly disciplining a cesium standard with a multi-channel GPS receiver, with additional input from USNO, has been found to permit maintaining a timing precision of better than 10 ns between Palo Alto, CA and Washington, DC

Double Exchange Alone Does Not Explain the Resistivity of La1−xSrxMnO3La_{1-x} Sr_x MnO_3

The $La_{1-x} Sr_x MnO_3$ system with $0.2 \lesssim x \lesssim 0.4$ has traditionally been modelled with a ``double exchange'' Hamiltonian, in which it is assumed that the only relevant physics is the tendency of carrier hopping to line up neighboring spins. We present a solution of the double exchange model, show it is incompatible with many aspects of the resistivity data, and propose that a strong electron-phonon interaction arising from a Jahn-Teller splitting of the outer Mn d-level plays a crucial role.Comment: Figure available via concentional mail. Contact [email protected]

Impact of Charge Ordering on Magnetic Correlations in Perovskite (Bi,Ca)MnO_3

Single crystalline (Bi,Ca)MnO3 (74< %Ca <82) were studied with neutron scattering, electron diffraction and bulk magnetic measurement. We discovered dynamic ferromagnetic spin correlations at high temperatures, which are replaced by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations at a concomitant charge ordering and structural transition. Our results indicate that thermal-activated hopping of the Jahn-Teller active e_g electrons in these insulating materials, nevertheless, induce ferromagnetic interaction through double-exchange mechanism. It is the ordering of these charges competing with the double-exchange ferromagnetic metallic state.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, Revte

Topological Phase Diagram of a Two-Subband Electron System

We present a phase diagram for a two-dimensional electron system with two populated subbands. Using a gated GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum well, we have mapped out the phases of various quantum Hall states in the density-magnetic filed plane. The experimental phase diagram shows a very different topology from the conventional Landau fan diagram. We find regions of negative differential Hall resistance which are interpreted as preliminary evidence of the long sought reentrant quantum Hall transitions. We discuss the origins of the anomalous topology and the negative differential Hall resistance in terms of the Landau level and subband mixing.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Electron Correlation and Jahn-Teller Interaction in Manganese Oxides

The interplay between the electron repulsion $U$ and the Jahn-Teller electron-phonon interation $E_{LR}$ is studied with a large $d$ model for the ferromagnetic state of the manganese oxides. These two interactions collaborate to induce the local isospin (orbital) moments and reduce the bandwidth $B$. Especially the retardation effect of the Jahn-Teller phonon with the frequency $\Omega$ is effective to reduce $B$, but the strong $\Omega$-dependence occurs even when the Coulombic interaction is dominating ($U >> E_{LR}$) as long as $E_{LR} > \Omega$. The phonon spectrum consists of two components, i.e., the temperature independent sharp peak at $\omega = {\tilde \Omega} = \Omega [(U +4 E_{LR})/U]^{1/2}$ and that corresponding to the Kondo peak. These results compared with the experiments suggest that $\Omega <E_{LR} <U$ in the metallic manganese oxides.Comment: REVTE

Realization of the farad from the dc quantum Hall effect with digitally-assisted impedance bridges

A new traceability chain for the derivation of the farad from dc quantum Hall effect has been implemented at INRIM. Main components of the chain are two new coaxial transformer bridges: a resistance ratio bridge, and a quadrature bridge, both operating at 1541 Hz. The bridges are energized and controlled with a polyphase direct-digital-synthesizer, which permits to achieve both main and auxiliary equilibria in an automated way; the bridges and do not include any variable inductive divider or variable impedance box. The relative uncertainty in the realization of the farad, at the level of 1000 pF, is estimated to be 64E-9. A first verification of the realization is given by a comparison with the maintained national capacitance standard, where an agreement between measurements within their relative combined uncertainty of 420E-9 is obtained.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, 3 table

A simple view of linguistic complexity

Although a growing number of second language acquisition (SLA) studies take linguistic complexity as a dependent variable, the term is still poorly defined and often used with different meanings, thus posing serious problems for research synthesis and knowledge accumulation. This article proposes a simple, coherent view of the construct, which is defined in a purely structural way, i.e. the complexity directly arising from the number of linguistic elements and their interrelationships. Issues of cognitive cost (difficulty) or developmental dynamics (acquisition) are explicitly excluded from this theoretical definition and its operationalization. The article discusses how the complexity of an interlanguage system can be assessed based on the limited samples SLA researchers usually work with. For the areas of morphology, syntax and the lexicon, some measures are proposed which are coherent with the purely structural view advocated, and issues related to their operationalization are critically scrutinized