Inventory management with advance capacity information

One of the important aspects of supply chain management is dealing with demand and supply uncertainty. The uncertainty of future supply can be reduced, if a company is able to obtain advance capacity information (ACI) on future supply/production capacity availability from its supplier. We address a periodic-review inventory system under stochastic demand and stochastic limited supply, for which ACI is available. We show that the optimal ordering policy is a state-dependent base stock policy characterized by a base stock level that is a function of ACI. We establish a link to inventory models using advance demand information (ADI) by developing a capacitated inventory system with ADI, and showing that the model is closely related to the proposed ACI model. Our numerical results reveal several managerial insights. In particular, we show that ACI is most beneficial when there exists sufficient flexibility to react to anticipated demand and supply capacity mismatches. Further, most of the benefits can be reached with only limited future visibility. We also show that the system parameters affecting the value of ACI interact in a complex way, and therefore need to be considered in an integrated manner

Afshar's Experiment does not show a Violation of Complementarity

A recent experiment performed by S. Afshar [first reported by M. Chown, New Scientist {\bf 183}, 30 (2004)] is analyzed. It was claimed that this experiment could be interpreted as a demonstration of a violation of the principle of complementarity in quantum mechanics. Instead, it is shown here that it can be understood in terms of classical wave optics and the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics. Its performance is quantified and it is concluded that the experiment is suboptimal in the sense that it does not fully exhaust the limits imposed by quantum mechanics.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Promoter Sequences Prediction Using Relational Association Rule Mining

In this paper we are approaching, from a computational perspective, the problem of promoter sequences prediction, an important problem within the field of bioinformatics. As the conditions for a DNA sequence to function as a promoter are not known, machine learning based classification models are still developed to approach the problem of promoter identification in the DNA. We are proposing a classification model based on relational association rules mining. Relational association rules are a particular type of association rules and describe numerical orderings between attributes that commonly occur over a data set. Our classifier is based on the discovery of relational association rules for predicting if a DNA sequence contains or not a promoter region. An experimental evaluation of the proposed model and comparison with similar existing approaches is provided. The obtained results show that our classifier overperforms the existing techniques for identifying promoter sequences, confirming the potential of our proposal

ND5 gene marker reveals recent population expansion of wild Pearse’s mudskipper (Periophthalmus novemradiatus Hamilton) inhabits Setiu Wetlands in East Peninsular Malaysia

Genetic variation and differences in wild Pearse’s mudskipper Periophthalmus novemradiatus populations from Setiu Wetlands in East Peninsular Malaysia were analysed using the partial mitochondrial DNA ND5 gene sequences. Among the 91 individuals sampled from six different localities, 35 novel putative haplotypes of P. novemradiatus were detected. 77% (27) of the haplotypes were unique sequences, with high level of haplotype diversity (H = 0.875) and low nucleotide diversity (π = 0.0037), contributing to the overall highly diversified gene pool of the P. novemradiatus. This reflects a large effective population size with current population expansion, which allows the retention of new alleles in populations. However, due to insufficient time, the accumulation of deeper divergent groups among haplotypes was not possible. Hap05 is the most dominant (33%) and widespread haplotype, followed by Hap11 and 31. Low genetic differentiation with high gene flow was detected between sampling sites, and no pattern for isolation by distance was observed despite being territorial creatures. All sites are at the top priority for conservation because they possess unique haplotypes that are only present at the respective location. Further samples collection from other native regions are required to provide full understanding of its genetic distribution and phylogeographical study over larger scale of geographic regions. Heuristic approach to study other species in this area prior to gazetting the Setiu Wetlands as state park is required in order to conserve the biodiversity in-situ

Enhanced delivery and detection of terahertz frequency radiation from a quantum cascade laser within dilution refrigerator

We report on significant enhancements to the integration of terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCL) and THz detection with a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) within a dilution refrigerator obtained by the inclusion of a multi-mesh 6 THz low-pass filter to block IR radiation, a Winston cone to focus light output, and gating the 2DEG for optimised sensitivity. We show that these improvements allow us to obtain a > 2.5 times reduced sample electron temperature (160 mK compared with 430 mK previously), during cyclotron resonance (CR) measurements of a 2DEG under QCL illumination. This opens up a route to performing sub-100 mK experiments using excitation by THz QCLs

International consensus recommendations on key outcome measures for organ preservation after (chemo)radiotherapy in patients with rectal cancer

Multimodal treatment strategies for patients with rectal cancer are increasingly including the possibility of organ preservation, through nonoperative management or local excision. Organ preservation strategies can enable patients with a complete response or near-complete clinical responses after radiotherapy with or without concomitant chemotherapy to safely avoid the morbidities associated with radical surgery, and thus to maintain anorectal function and quality of life. However, standardization of the key outcome measures of organ preservation strategies is currently lacking; this includes a lack of consensus of the optimal definitions and selection of primary end points according to the trial phase and design; the optimal time points for response assessment; response-based decision-making; follow-up schedules; use of specific anorectal function tests; and quality of life and patient-reported outcomes. Thus, a consensus statement on outcome measures is necessary to ensure consistency and facilitate more accurate comparisons of data from ongoing and future trials. Here, we have convened an international group of experts with extensive experience in the management of patients with rectal cancer, including organ preservation approaches, and used a Delphi process to establish the first international consensus recommendations for key outcome measures of organ preservation, in an attempt to standardize the reporting of data from both trials and routine practice in this emerging area.Patients with early-stage rectal cancer might potentially benefit from treatment with an organ-sparing approach, which preserves quality of life owing to avoidance of the need for permanent colostomy. Trials conducted to investigate this have so far been hampered by considerable inter-trial heterogeneity in several key features. In this Consensus Statement, the authors provide guidance on the optimal end points, response assessment time points, follow-up procedures and quality of life measures in an attempt to improve the comparability of clinical research in this area

Measurement of qubits

We describe in detail the theory underpinning the measurement of density matrices of a pair of quantum two-level systems (qubits). Our particular emphasis is on qubits realized by the two polarization degrees of freedom of a pair of entangled photons generated in a down-conversion experiment; however, the discussion applies in general, regardless of the actual physical realization. Two techniques are discussed, namely, a tomographic reconstruction (in which the density matrix is linearly related to a set of measured quantities) and a maximum likelihood technique which requires numerical optimization (but has the advantage of producing density matrices that are always non-negative definite). In addition, a detailed error analysis is presented, allowing errors in quantities derived from the density matrix, such as the entropy or entanglement of formation, to be estimated. Examples based on down-conversion experiments are used to illustrate our results

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types