Replenishment support decision model for a try­-before-you-­buy retail fashion e­commerce

A try before you buy business model is a type of sales strategy in which customers are allowed to test a product before making a purchase. As the try before you buy online business model is a topic on which there is limited public scholarly research, the purpose of this research is to provide an initial approach to the subject by presenting a tool to support the replenishment strategy of Curve Catch, a fashion e­commerce retailer. A simulation engine characterized by two main components has been built: replenishment and a demand generator. Model development is built on artificially generated data based on real data of Curve Catch. Based on the literature inherent to inventory management and through the use of simulation ­optimization, the model provides managerial guidance on how to manage r,Q policy in a system where most goods shipped to customers are returned. The tool highlights the need to optimize the use of reorder point and economic order quantity to achieve better business performance. This is because conventional formulas, if not adjusted to the specific setting, perform sub optimally. The model also provides insights into the levels of lost sales due to out stocking and the quality of service provided to customers. Studying the relationships among these three KPIs provides insight into what trade­offs are relevant in planning a continuous review replenishment strategy.Um modelo de negócio de "experimentar antes de comprar" é um tipo de estratégia de vendas onde os clientes têm a possibilidade de testar um produto antes de fazer a sua compra. Uma vez que este modelo de negócio online é um tópico sobre o qual não existe nenhuma pesquisa académica pública, o objetivo desta estudo é fornecer uma abordagem inicial ao assunto, fornecendo uma ferramenta para apoiar a estratégia de reposição da Curve Catch, um e ­ commerce de moda. Foi construído um motor de simulação caracterizado por dois componentes principais: reposição e gerador de procura. O desenvolvimento do modelo baseia ­se em dados gerados artificialmente com base em dados reais da Curve Catch. Com base na literatura inerente à gestão de stocks e através do uso de simulação­otimização, o modelo fornece orientação empresarial sobre como gerir a política r, Q em um sistema onde a maioria dos produtos enviados para os clientes é devolvido. A ferramenta destaca a necessidade de otimizar o uso do ponto de reordenação (reorder point) e da quantidade de encomenda económica (economic order quantity), para alcançar um melhor desempenho do negócio. Isso ocorre dado que as fórmulas convencionais, se não forem ajustadas para o ambiente específico, serão desempenhadas de maneira subaproveitada. Para além disso, o modelo fornece insights sobre os níveis de vendas perdidas devido ao esgotamento e a qualidade do aten dimento ao cliente. O estudo das relações entre essas três métricas­chave fornece insights sobre quais trade­offs são relevantes no planeamento de uma estratégia de reposição de revisão contínua.

A Portable Bio-Inspired Architecture for Efficient Robotic Vergence Control

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A Study on Contestable Regions in Europe through the Use of a New Rail Cost Function: An Application to the Hinterland of the New Container Terminal of Leghorn Port

In this paper, the potential hinterland of the new container terminal of the port of Leghorn (Livorno in Italian) is studied. The study actually analyses the competitiveness of major European ports with respect to some of the most contestable regions in Europe. Travel time and monetary costs of railway paths, connecting ports to their hinterland, have been determined. The rail network of a large part of Europe was modelled using a graph. To each link, which represents a portion of the rail line, a cost function is associated. The travel time on the link is determined from the average speed, which has been determined from the maximum speed via formulae obtained through linear regression. The few cost functions that exist in current literature for the computation of the cost of a rail link are not detailed enough. Therefore, a new cost function has been developed. All cost components were determined in detail: the staff cost, the amortisation, maintenance, and insurance costs of locomotives and wagons, the cost of the usage of rail track, the traction cost. The traction cost was calculated in detail from all resistances to motion. Moreover, for each rail link, the number of locomotives needed to operate the train and the maximum towable weight were determined. The monetary value of time in freight transport registers a high variability; therefore, three different optimisations of the paths—by travel times, monetary costs, and generalised costs—between each origin–destination pair were carried out. The rates of competitiveness of the ports with respect to the examined European contestable regions were analysed

A cortical model for binocular vergence control without explicit calculation of disparity

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Nuevos métodos de tintura en frio para lana.

Este trabajo se inició como un estudio de la influencia de la urea en el proceso de tintura. Se investigaron los efectos de la urea sobre fibras y colorantes, teniendo presente sus dos posibles factores. 1. Las soluciones de urea hinchan la lana permitiendo el fácil acceso del colorante. 2. La urea dispersa y disgrega el colorante permitiendo un acceso más facil de las especies monomoleculares.Peer Reviewe

Phase and amplitude electroencephalography correlations change with disease progression in people with idiopathic rapid eye-movement sleep behavior disorder

Study Objectives Increased phase synchronization in electroencephalography (EEG) bands might reflect the activation of compensatory mechanisms of cognitive decline in people with neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we investigated whether altered large-scale couplings of brain oscillations could be linked to the balancing of cognitive decline in a longitudinal cohort of people with idiopathic rapid eye-movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD). Methods We analyzed 18 patients (17 males, 69.7 +/- 7.5 years) with iRBD undergoing high-density EEG (HD-EEG), presynaptic dopaminergic imaging, and clinical and neuropsychological (NPS) assessments at two time points (time interval 24.2 +/- 5.9 months). We thus quantified the HD-EEG power distribution, orthogonalized amplitude correlation, and weighted phase-lag index at both time points and correlated them with clinical, NPS, and imaging data. Results Four patients phenoconverted at follow-up (three cases of parkinsonism and one of dementia). At the group level, NPS scores decreased over time, without reaching statistical significance. However, alpha phase synchronization increased and delta amplitude correlations decreased significantly at follow-up compared to baseline. Both large-scale network connectivity metrics were significantly correlated with NPS scores but not with sleep quality indices or presynaptic dopaminergic imaging data. Conclusions These results suggest that increased alpha phase synchronization and reduced delta amplitude correlation may be considered electrophysiological signs of an active compensatory mechanism of cognitive impairment in people with iRBD. Large-scale functional modifications may be helpful biomarkers in the characterization of prodromal stages of alpha-synucleinopathies.Peer reviewe

A hierarchical system for a distributed representation of the peripersonal space of a humanoid robot

Reaching a target object in an unknown and unstructured environment is easily performed by human beings. However, designing a humanoid robot that executes the same task requires the implementation of complex abilities, such as identifying the target in the visual field, estimating its spatial location, and precisely driving the motors of the arm to reach it. While research usually tackles the development of such abilities singularly, in this work we integrate a number of computational models into a unified framework, and demonstrate in a humanoid torso the feasibility of an integrated working representation of its peripersonal space. To achieve this goal, we propose a cognitive architecture that connects several models inspired by neural circuits of the visual, frontal and posterior parietal cortices of the brain. The outcome of the integration process is a system that allows the robot to create its internal model and its representation of the surrounding space by interacting with the environment directly, through a mutual adaptation of perception and action. The robot is eventually capable of executing a set of tasks, such as recognizing, gazing and reaching target objects, which can work separately or cooperate for supporting more structured and effective behaviors

Desarrollo de un programa de silvicultura intensiva y de precisión para el aumento de la productividad de plantaciones forestales. Fase 1. Preparación de sitio y aplicación de enmiendas en plantaciones recién establecidas

Proyecto de Investigación (Código: 1401066) Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Extensión (VIE). Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Escuela de Ingeniería Agrícola, Escuela de Química. Maderas Cultivadas de Costa Rica, 2020Este proyecto de investigación cumple con el objetivo número 15 de la Agenda 2030 “PROTEGER, RESTABLECER Y PROMOVER EL USO SOSTENIBLE DE LOS ECOSISTEMAS TERRESTRES, GESTIONAR SOSTENIBLEMENTE LOS BOSQUES, LUCHAR CONTRA LA DESERTIFICACIÓN, DETENER E INVERTIR LA DEGRADACIÓN DE LAS TIERRAS Y DETENER LA PÉRDIDA DE LA BIODIVERSIDAD" con la meta número 2: " Para el año 2020, promover la gestión sostenible de todos los tipos de bosques, poner fin a la deforestación, recuperar los bosques degradados e incrementar la forestación y la reforestación a nivel mundial".La falta de paquetes tecnológicos referentes a las técnicas correctas y eficientes de preparación de sitios y manejo nutricional de las plantaciones es una de las serias deficiencias que presenta el sector reforestador costarricense. Con la finalidad de revertir esta situación esta propuesta de investigación tuvo como objetivo principal aumentar la productividad y calidad de plantaciones forestales en Costa Rica. Como primera fase, este proyecto evaluó mediante ensayos individuales con diseños estadísticos robustos el efecto de labrar el suelo en profundidad y de la aplicación de cal en distintas formas en el crecimiento inicial de los árboles y en las propiedades físicas y químicas del suelo. Se realizaron mediciones periódicas donde se evaluó el crecimiento de los árboles, las propiedades físicas y químicas del suelo. Adicionalmente se evaluó mediante un estudio de tiempos y movimientos y determinación de costos, cuál de los tratamientos es financieramente más rentable. Adicionalmente se realizaron los primeros vuelos con aeronaves piloteadas a distancia para la determinación de un flujo de trabajo. En lo resultados se evidenció un efecto positivo en las propiedades del suelo al mecanizar y encalar, pero no se detectaron diferencias entre tratamientos para el crecimiento de los árboles. El poco tiempo de establecimiento del ensayo de labranza y deficiencias en el manejo de malezas en el ensayo de cal afectaron los resultados. Con relación a los costos se determinó que los costos de utilizar maquinaria pesada para realizar procesos de mecanización son elevados. Los tratamientos que realizan dos pasadas de subsolador son mucho más caros que realizar el proceso de labranza una sola vez. Encalar solo la rodaja de los árboles es más barato que realizar una aplicación en banda o total Mediante el uso de aeronaves piloteadas a distancia se logró realizar un flujo correcto para la planificación de vuelos con RPAS y se lograron calcular áreas y estimar alturas con precisión. Una de las principales recomendaciones para futuros estudios es el continuar estudiando y mejorando las limitantes de las plantaciones forestales con el objetivo de obtener mayor crecimiento en menor tiempo