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

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

Coronary artery bypass surgery in high-risk patients

BACKGROUND: In high-risk coronary artery bypass patients; off-pump versus on-pump surgical strategies still remain a matter of debate, regarding which method results in a lower incidence of perioperative mortality and morbidity. We describe our experience in the treatment of high-risk coronary artery patients and compare patients assigned to on-pump and off-pump surgery. METHODS: From March 2002 to July 2004, 86 patients with EuroSCOREs > 5 underwent myocardial revascularization with or without cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients were assigned to off-pump surgery (40) or on-pump surgery (46) based on coronary anatomy coupled with the likelihood of achieving complete revascularization. RESULTS: Those patients undergoing off-pump surgery had significantly poorer left ventricular function than those undergoing on-pump surgery (28.6 ± 5.8% vs. 40.5 ± 7.4%, respectively, p < 0.05) and also had higher Euroscore values (7.26 ± 1.4 vs. 12.1 ± 1.8, respectively, p < 0.05). Differences between the two groups were nonsignificant with regard to number of grafts per patient, mean duration of surgery, anesthesia and operating room time, length of stay intensive care unit (ICU) and rate of postoperative atrial fibrillation CONCLUSION: Utilization of off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) does not confer significant clinical advantages in all high-risk patients. This review suggest that off-pump coronary revascularization may represent an alternative approach for treatment of patients with Euroscore ≥ 10 and left ventricular function ≤ 30%

Monte Carlo Calculations for Photon Attenuation Studies on Different Solid Phantom Materials

The linear attenuation coefficients of water and some solid phantom materials, namely of solid water RMI-457, of plastic water, of RW3 solid water, and of Perspex were determined by Monte Carlo calculations, for gamma-ray photons with energies of 59.5, 80.9, 140.5, 356.5, 661.6, 1173.2, and 1332.5 keV. The calculated values were compared with the experimental results presented by other researchers and with theoretical values obtained using the XCOM database. Good agreement was observed between the calculations, the experimental, and the theoretical values. The results indicate that the process in Monte Carlo code can be followed to determine the equivalency of other materials at several energies. Three shielding factors such as half-value layer, tenth-value layer, and mean free path were calculated at all considered gamma-ray energies

Determination of radiation shielding properties of some polymer and plastic materials against gamma-rays

A Monte Carlo code is proposed for determination of mass attenuation coefficients of gamma rays for some polymer and plastic materials. It is based on simulation of interaction processes of gamma rays with the energy of 59.5, 80.9, 140.5, 279, 356.5, 511, 661.6, 1173.2, 1332.5 keV with matter. The method was tested by comparison of the simulation results with the literature values (ANSI/ANS-6.4.3 and GRIC toolkit). The compatible behaviour of mass attenuation coefficients versus incident photon energy for the investigated energy range approves the use of this code for the extended energy range and several materials. Also, the values of half-value layer were calculated for assessment of shielding effectiveness of these materials

Coordinated logistics: replenishment with capacitated transportation for a supply chain

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this study, we consider the integrated inventory replenishment and transportation operations in a supply chain where the orders placed by the downstream retailer are dispatched by the upstream warehouse via an in-house fleet of limited size. We first consider the single-item single-echelon case where the retailer operates with a quantity based replenishment policy, (r,Q), and the warehouse is an ample supplier. We model the transportation operations as a queueing system and derive the operating characteristics of the system in exact terms. We extend this basic model to a two-echelon supply chain where the warehouse employs a base-stock policy. The departure process of the warehouse is characterized in distribution, which is then approximated by an Erlang arrival process by matching the first two moments for the analysis of the transportation queueing system. The operating characteristics and the expected cost rate are derived. An extension of this system to multiple retailers is also discussed. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the performance and the sensitivity of the models and the value of coordinating inventory and transportation operations