2,324 research outputs found
Impact of reverse logistics on supply chain performance
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of reverse logistics on order and inventory variance amplification in a single-echelon supply chain and to propose a new order policy for dampening such amplification.
Design/Methodology/Approach
A general review of the literature on sustainable operations and on the impact of reverse logistics on SC performance provides the foundation for the study. We use difference equation math approach for modelling and analysing a closed supply chain. A proper design of experiment and data collected from the European Union statistics validate the obtained numerical results.
Findings
The variability of reverse flow in a closed loop supply chain increases the serviceable inventory variance. However, a proper design of the reverse flow considerably improves the global performance. To this purpose, we propose a new order policy, namely R-APIOBPCS, which explicitly considers the reverse flow of products.
Research limitations/Implications
The paper presents a math model describing a closed loop supply chain. No empirical analysis is provided. Future researches should evaluate the impact of the proposed R-APIOBPCS on more realistic closed loop supply chain models.
Practical implications
Our findings may motivate logistics and supply chain managers to implement CLSC when supported by innovative, suitable tools for the proper management of the information and material flow in the chain. Managers should be well acquainted that, by doing so, they not only satisfy National and International legislations but also achieve improvements in logistics performance.
Originality/Value
We propose a novel replenishment rule that accurately coordinates the upstream and downstream flows in a SC. The proposed order policy can be reasonably considered one of the advocated managerial tools for the proper management of reverse logistics: it allows reducing inventory and limiting the variability of the orders placed to suppliers in supply chain with reverse logistics
Measuring beauty production in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC via single electrons in ALICE
We present the expected ALICE performance for the measurement of the
p_t-differential cross section of electrons from beauty decays in central Pb-Pb
collisions at the LHC.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, proceeding of poster presentation at "Quark
Matter 2005
Development, Validation and Preliminary Experiments of a Measuring Technique for Eggs Aging Estimation Based on Pulse Phase Thermography
Assessment of the freshness of hen eggs destinated to human consumption is an extremely important goal for the modern food industry and sale chains, as eggs show a rapid natural aging which also depends on the storage conditions. Traditional techniques, such as candling and visual observation, have some practical limitations related to the subjective and qualitative nature of the analysis. The main objective of this paper is to propose a robust and automated approach, based on the use of pulsed phase thermography (PPT) and image processing, that can be used as an effective quality control tool to evaluate the freshness of eggs. As many studies show that the air chamber size is proportional to the egg freshness, the technique relies on the monitoring of the air chamber parameters to infer egg aging over time. The raw and phase infrared images are acquired and then post-processed by a dedicated algorithm which has been designed to automatically measure the size of the air chamber, in terms of normalized area and volume. The robustness of the method is firstly assessed through repeatability and reproducibility tests, which demonstrate that the uncertainty in the measure of the air chamber size never exceeds 5%. Then, an experimental campaign on a larger sample of 30 eggs, equally divided into three size categories (M, L, XL), is conducted. For each egg, the main sizes of the air chamber are measured with the proposed method and their evolution over time is investigated. Results have revealed, for all the egg categories, the existence of an analytic relationship and a high degree of correlation (R-2 > 0.95) between the geometric data of the air chamber and the weight loss, which is a well-known marker of egg aging
Thermal bremsstrahlung probing the thermodynamical state of multifragmenting systems
Inclusive and exclusive hard-photon (E 30 MeV) production in five
different heavy-ion reactions (Ar+Au, Ag, Ni,
C at 60{\it A} MeV and Xe+Sn at 50{\it A} MeV) has been
studied coupling the TAPS photon spectrometer with several charged-particle
multidetectors covering more than 80% of 4. The measured spectra, slope
parameters and source velocities as well as their target-dependence, confirm
the existence of thermal bremsstrahlung emission from secondary nucleon-nucleon
collisions that accounts for roughly 20% of the total hard-photon yield. The
thermal slopes are a direct measure of the temperature of the excited nuclear
systems produced during the reaction.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings CRIS 2000, 3rd Catania Relativistic
Ion Studies, "Phase Transitions in Strong Interactions: Status and
Perspectives", Acicastello, Italy, May 22-26, 2000 (to be published in Nuc.
Phys. A
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for influenza A (H1N1): experience in a regional referral center
Treatment of Small-Cell Lung Cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology Endorsement of the American College of Chest Physicians Guideline
PURPOSE: The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) produced an evidence-based guideline on treatment of patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Because of the relevance of this guideline to American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) membership, ASCO reviewed the guideline, applying a set of procedures and policies used to critically examine guidelines developed by other organizations.
METHODS: The ACCP guideline on the treatment of SCLC was reviewed for developmental rigor by methodologists. An ASCO Endorsement Panel updated the literature search, reviewed the content, and considered additional recommendations.
RESULTS: The ASCO Endorsement Panel determined that the recommendations from the ACCP guideline, published in 2013, are clear, thorough, and based on current scientific evidence. ASCO endorses the ACCP guideline on the treatment of SCLC, with the addition of qualifying statements.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Surgery is indicated for selected stage I SCLC. Limited-stage disease should be treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with good performance status. Thoracic radiotherapy should be administered early in the course of treatment, preferably beginning with cycle one or two of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy should consist of four cycles of a platinum agent and etoposide. Extensive-stage disease should be treated primarily with chemotherapy consisting of a platinum agent plus etoposide or irinotecan. Prophylactic cranial irradiation prolongs survival in patients with limited-stage disease who achieve a complete or partial response to initial therapy and may do so in similarly responding patients with extensive-stage disease as well. Additional information is available at http://www.asco.org/endorsements/sclc and http://www.asco.org/guidelineswiki
Performance of ALICE pixel prototypes in high energy beams
The two innermost layers of the ALICE inner tracking system are instrumented
with silicon pixel detectors. Single chip assembly prototypes of the ALICE
pixels have been tested in high energy particle beams at the CERN SPS.
Detection efficiency and spatial precision have been studied as a function of
the threshold and the track incidence angle. The experimental method, data
analysis and main results are presented.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, contribution to PIX2005 Workshop, Bonn
(Germany), 5-8 September 200
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL OUTCOME IN VERY PRETERM AND TERM INFANTS AT 36 MONTHS CORRECTED AGE USING THE BAYLEY-III
n/
Beam Test Performance and Simulation of Prototypes for the ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector
The silicon pixel detector (SPD) of the ALICE experiment in preparation at
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is designed to provide the precise
vertex reconstruction needed for measuring heavy flavor production in heavy ion
collisions at very high energies and high multiplicity. The SPD forms the
innermost part of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) which also includes silicon
drift and silicon strip detectors. Single assembly prototypes of the ALICE SPD
have been tested at the CERN SPS using high energy proton/pion beams in 2002
and 2003. We report on the experimental determination of the spatial precision.
We also report on the first combined beam test with prototypes of the other ITS
silicon detector technologies at the CERN SPS in November 2004. The issue of
SPD simulation is briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, prepared for proceedings of 7th International
Position Sensitive Detectors Conference, Liverpool, Sept. 200
Hard photon and neutral pion production in cold nuclear matter
The production of hard photons and neutral pions in 190 MeV proton induced
reactions on C, Ca, Ni, and W targets has been for the first time concurrently
studied. Angular distributions and energy spectra up to the kinematical limit
are discussed and the production cross-sections are presented. From the target
mass dependence of the cross-sections the propagation of pions through nuclear
matter is analyzed and the production mechanisms of hard photons and primordial
pions are derived. It is found that the production of subthreshold particles
proceeds mainly through first chance nucleon-nucleon collisions. For the most
energetic particles the mass scaling evidences the effect of multiple
collisions.Comment: submitted to Phys. Lett.
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