Why and How Does a Supplier Choose Factoring Finance?

Suppliers offering trade credit to the downstream retailers have to face many problems, such as receivables management, capital occupancy, and buyer’s credit risk. Many of them choose factoring finance to solve those problems simultaneously. This paper develops several supply chain decision models to show the benefits a supplier can obtain from the main functions of factoring and how he should choose between recourse factoring and nonrecourse factoring. In particular, we identify the conditions on which factoring may bring benefits (including financial benefit, guarantee benefit, and receivables management benefit) to the supplier. The supplier’s choice between recourse and nonrecourse factoring relies on his risk attitude. Given that the supplier is risk-neutral and the factoring fees are acceptable, recourse factoring is preferred when the factoring finance ratio is relatively high; otherwise, nonrecourse factoring is preferred. However, if the supplier is risk-averse, his preference for the two factoring schemes under different finance ratios may change when the risk constraints become stricter. If the target profit is lower than a certain level, the supplier’s financial choice will switch from recourse factoring to nonrecourse factoring in the case finance ratio is relatively low; otherwise, his financial choice switches from nonrecourse factoring to recourse factoring in the case finance ratio is relatively high

Experimental Study of Joint Roughness Influence on Fractured Rock Mass Seepage

Surrounding rock pressure, water pressure, and joint roughness are the important factors that affect the fractured rock mass seepage. It is of great significance to quantify the influence of these factors through experiments. In this study, rock fracture joint surfaces were measured. Next, 3D coordinates of joint surfaces were extracted with using the Geomagic software, and joint roughness was described using the mean variance of protrusion height and equidistant fluctuation angle, which were acquired through calculation. Stress-seepage coupling test was then conducted on the samples on a triaxial apparatus, and the effects of confining stress and water pressure on the permeability of single-fracture rock were investigated. On the basis of the relationship between the parameters in data fitting expression and the mean variance of protrusion height and equidistant fluctuation angle, the calculation formula of the permeability coefficient including joint roughness, confining pressure, and seepage pressure difference was derived

Crystalline boron nitride nanosheets by sonication-assisted hydrothermal exfoliation

Abstract A simple method to prepare two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) scalably is essential for practical applications. Despite intense research in this area, high-yield production of two-dimensional h-BN with large size and high crystallinity is still a key challenge. In the present work, we propose a simple exfoliation process for boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) with high crystallinity by sonication-assisted hydrothermal method, via the synergistic effect of the high pressure, and cavitation of the sonication. Compared with the method only by sonication, the sonication-assisted hydrothermal method can get the fewer-layer BNNSs with high crystallinity. Meanwhile, it can reach higher yield of nearly 1.68%, as the hydrothermal method with the yield of only 0.12%. The simple sonication-assisted hydrothermal method has potential applications in exfoliating other layered materials, thus opening new ways to produce other layered materials in high yield and high crystallinity

The operational efficiency of a novel AnMBR treating antibiotic solvent wastewater in start-up stage

The performance of a novel anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for treating antibiotic solvent wastewater was investigated in the start-up stage. The removal efficiencies of the four tested antibiotics were over 90%, mainly attributed to the biological process. Volatile fatty acid increased along with anaerobic sludge acclimation. pH (mean value 7.5) and a (mean value 0.12) remained stable. Mixed liquid suspended solids and mixed liquor volatile suspended solids increased along with the sludge acclimation as well. The protein and polysaccharide in suspended sludge decreased, while the protein/polysaccharide in exopolysaccharides increased. Microbial community analysis showed the abundance of Methanosarcina spp. fluctuated over time and was finally stable at 17%. The abundance of Methanosaeta spp. increased significantly. There are two kinds of hydrogen producing methane producing microorganisms (Methanobacteriales and Methanomicrobiales) in AnMBR. Methanobacteriales was the dominant methanogenus. These results indicate that an AnMBR can effectively treat antibiotic solvent wastewater in the start-up period