Enabling Supply Chain Agility through IOS Integration and Supply Chain Flexibility

In today’s turbulent environment, competitive pressures and market unpredictability have dramatically lashed business profits. Agility is an essential ability for firms facing such an environment. However, coping with the hostile business environment requires not only the agility from individual firms but also the collaboration from their supply chain partners. Supply chain agility (SCA) therefore is vital to the competitiveness and performance of a firm and its supply chain partners. Exploring how to effectively enable SCA is significant for both practice and theory development. Recently, firms are increasingly relying on integrated information systems and analytical tools, such as business intelligent systems, and close collaboration with their supplier chain partners to enhance their responsiveness. This paper seeks to broaden the understanding about the enabling roles of IOS integration, analytical ability of inter-organizational information systems (IOS), and supply chain flexibility on SCA based on the dynamic capabilities view and real options theory. With a sample of 147 matched-pair data gathered from the top 2000 Taiwanese manufacturing firms, our results support the effect of IOS integration on supply chain flexibility, including offering and sourcing flexibilities, which in turn facilitate SCA. We also propose and show the moderating effect of analytical ability of IOS on the process of enabling SCA. These results contribute to a better understanding of how SCA may be achieved in theory and in practice. The model and findings of this study should be able to serve as a basis for future research for studying SCA

MODEL-BASED CONTROL WITH STOCHASTIC SIMULATORS: BUILDING PROCESS DESIGN AND CONTROL SOFTWARE FOR CATALYTICALLY ENHANCED MICROSYSTEMS

The production, characteristics, dynamics, and economics of microreactors were studied in this report. Overall it was found that the best microfabrication techniques for small scale processes were laser ablation, the LIGA process, soft lithography, and anisotropic wet chemical etching, roughly in ascending order of effectiveness. One of the few viable bonding techniques was found to be diffusion bonding followed by microlamination, whereas many coating methods -- such as solgel coating, modified anodic oxidation, and electrophoretic deposition -- were effective in μTAS integration. The high surface area to volume ratio of microreactors enables precise control of the temperature of the reactor along its axial dimension. Taking advantage of this feature in the design of microreactors leads to better control of complex reaction networks and generates more valuable effluent streams. A model predictive controller was implemented for the common, archetypical reaction network involving the hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of cyclohexene with various control objectives. It was found that the highest rate of production of benzene and cyclohexane occurred at 600 K while the most pure stream of benzene occurred at 200 K. Model predictive control was found to be highly resistant to the inherent stochasticity of small scale processes. The market for a software-based controller for microreactors was surveyed and found to still be in the early stages of development. A profitability analysis was conducted for a start-up company using microreactors to make cyclohexane. A price of $18,000 for the product was found to be a reasonable selling price yet allowed the start-up to remain profitable

Can Intra-Firm IT Skills Benefit Supply Chain Integration and Performance?

While inter-firm collaboration and integration remain critical for supply chain performance and information technology (IT) has been playing an increasingly important role in inter-firm cooperation, whether intra-firm IT skills can impact the inter-firm integration of IT has not been explored in the IS area. IT human capital involving soft skills and hard skills is a relatively unexplored topic, especially in the supply chain context. This study develops a model to examine whether intra-firm IT skills can have cross-boundary effects on supply chain collaboration and integration, which then can lead to greater supply chain performance. Accordingly, eight hypotheses were proposed and the model was tested with Partial Least Square technique based on the data collected from a survey of 250 manufacturing firms in Taiwan. The results largely support our model with seven hypotheses confirmed. By focusing on the supply chain context, this study thus extends and integrates the literatures on IT skills and supply chain management by showing the boundary-spanning effect of intra-firm capabilities on inter-firm collaboration, integration and performance. Implications of the results are provided and limitations and future research directions are discussed

Progress in the development and application of computational methods for probabilistic protein design

Proteins exhibit a wide range of physical and chemical properties, including highly selective molecular recognition and catalysis, and are also key components in biological metabolic, catabolic, and signaling pathways. Given that proteins are well-structured and can now be rapidly synthesized, they are excellent targets for engineering of both molecular structure and biological function. Computational analysis of the protein design problem allows scientists to explore sequence space and systematically discover novel protein molecules. Nonetheless, the complexity of proteins, the subtlety of the determinants of folding, and the exponentially large number of possible sequences impede the search for peptide sequences compatible with a desired structure and function. Directed search algorithms, which identify directly a small number of sequences, have achieved some success in identifying sequences with desired structures and functions. Alternatively, one can adopt a probabilistic approach. Instead of a finite number of sequences, such calculations result in a probabilistic description of the sequence ensemble. In particular, by casting the formalism in the language of statistical mechanics, the site-specific amino acid probabilities of sequences compatible with a target structure may be readily identified. The computational probabilities are well suited for both de novo protein design of particular sequences as well as combinatorial, library-based protein engineering. The computed site-specific amino acid profile may be converted to a nucleotide base distribution to allow assembly of a partially randomized gene library. The ability to synthesize readily such degenerate oligonucleotide sequences according to the prescribed distribution is key to constructing a biased peptide library genuinely reflective of the computational design. Herein we illustrate how a standard DNA synthesizer can be used with only a slight modification to the synthesis protocol to generate a pool of degenerate DNA sequences, which encodes a predetermined amino acid distribution with high fidelity

Host Star Properties And Transit Exclusion For The HD 38529 Planetary System

The transit signature of exoplanets provides an avenue through which characterization of exoplanetary properties may be undertaken, such as studies of mean density, structure, and atmospheric composition. The Transit Ephemeris Refinement and Monitoring Survey is a program to expand the catalog of transiting planets around bright host stars by refining the orbits of known planets discovered with the radial velocity technique. Here we present results for the HD 38529 system. We determine fundamental properties of the host star through direct interferometric measurements of the radius and through spectroscopic analysis. We provide new radial velocity measurements that are used to improve the Keplerian solution for the two known planets, and we find no evidence for a previously postulated third planet. We also present 12 years of precision robotic photometry of HD 38529 that demonstrate the inner planet does not transit and the host star exhibits cyclic variations in seasonal mean brightness with a timescale of approximately six years

The Apparent Host Galaxy of PKS 1413+135: HST, ASCA and VLBA Observations

PKS 1413+135 (z=0.24671) is one of very few radio-loud AGN with an apparent spiral host galaxy. Previous authors have attributed its nearly exponential infrared cutoff to heavy absorption but have been unable to place tight limits on the absorber or its location in the optical galaxy. In addition, doubts remain about the relationship of the AGN to the optical galaxy given the observed lack of re-emitted radiation. We present new HST, ASCA and VLBA observations which throw significant new light on these issues. The HST observations reveal an extrremely red color (V-H = 6.9 mag) for the active nucleus of PKS 1413+135, requiring both a spectral turnover at a few microns due to synchrotron aging and a GMC-sized absorber. We derive an intrinsic column N_H = 4.6^{+2.1}_{-1.6} times 10^{22}cm^{-2} and covering fraction f = 0.12^{+0.07}_{-0.05}. As the GMC is likely in the disk of the optical galaxy, our sightline is rather unlikely (P ~ 2 times 10^{-4}). The properties of the GMC typical of GMCs in our own galaxy. The HI absorber appears centered 25 milliarcseconds away from the nucleus, while the X-ray and nearly all of the molecular absorbers must cover the nucleus, implying a complicated geometry and cloud structure, with a molecular core along our line of sight to the nucleus. Interestingly, the HST/NICMOS data require the AGN to be decentered relative to the optical galaxy by 13 +/- 4 milliarcseconds. This could be interpreted as suggestive of an AGN location far in the background compared to the optical galaxy, but it can also be explained by obscuration and/or nuclear structure, which is more consistent with the observed lack of multiple images.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures; accepted to A

A Third Planet Orbiting HIP 14810

We present new precision radial velocities and a three-planet Keplerian orbit fit for the V = 8.5, G5 V star HIP 14810. We began observing this star at Keck Observatory as part of the N2K Planet Search Project. Wright et al. (2007) announced the inner two planets to this system, and subsequent observations have revealed the outer planet planet and the proper orbital solution for the middle planet. The planets have minimum masses of 3.9, 1.3, and 0.6 M_Jup and orbital periods of 6.67, 147.7, and 952 d, respectively. We have numerically integrated the family of orbital solutions consistent with the data and find that they are stable for at least 10^6 yr. Our photometric search shows that the inner planet does not transit.Comment: ApJL, accepte

High-Velocity Line Forming Regions in the Type Ia Supernova 2009ig

We report measurements and analysis of high-velocity (> 20,000 km/s) and photospheric absorption features in a series of spectra of the Type Ia supernova (SN) 2009ig obtained between -14d and +13d with respect to the time of maximum B-band luminosity. We identify lines of Si II, Si III, S II, Ca II and Fe II that produce both high-velocity (HVF) and photospheric-velocity (PVF) absorption features. SN 2009ig is unusual for the large number of lines with detectable HVF in the spectra, but the light-curve parameters correspond to a slightly overluminous but unexceptional SN Ia (M_B = -19.46 mag and Delta_m15 (B) = 0.90 mag). Similarly, the Si II lambda_6355 velocity at the time of B-max is greater than "normal" for a SN Ia, but it is not extreme (v_Si = 13,400 km/s). The -14d and -13d spectra clearly resolve HVF from Si II lambda_6355 as separate absorptions from a detached line forming region. At these very early phases, detached HVF are prevalent in all lines. From -12d to -6d, HVF and PVF are detected simultaneously, and the two line forming regions maintain a constant separation of about 8,000 km/s. After -6d all absorption features are PVF. The observations of SN 2009ig provide a complete picture of the transition from HVF to PVF. Most SN Ia show evidence for HVF from multiple lines in spectra obtained before -10d, and we compare the spectra of SN 2009ig to observations of other SN. We show that each of the unusual line profiles for Si II lambda_6355 found in early-time spectra of SN Ia correlate to a specific phase in a common development sequence from HVF to PVF.Comment: 19 pages, 11figures, 4 tables, submitted to Ap

Gastric colonisation with a restricted commensal microbiota replicates the promotion of neoplastic lesions by diverse intestinal microbiota in the Helicobacter pylori INS-GAS mouse model of gastric carcinogenesis

Objectives: Gastric colonisation with intestinal flora (IF) has been shown to promote Helicobacter pylori (Hp)-associated gastric cancer. However, it is unknown if the mechanism involves colonisation with specific or diverse microbiota secondary to gastric atrophy. Design: Gastric colonisation with Altered Schaedler's flora (ASF) and Hp were correlated with pathology, immune responses and mRNA expression for proinflammatory and cancer-related genes in germ-free (GF), Hp monoassociated (mHp), restricted ASF (rASF; 3 species), and specific pathogen-free (complex IF), hypergastrinemic INS-GAS mice 7 months postinfection. Results: Male mice cocolonised with rASFHp or IFHp developed the most severe pathology. IFHp males had the highest inflammatory responses, and 40% developed invasive gastrointestinal intraepithelial neoplasia (GIN). Notably, rASFHp colonisation was highest in males and 23% developed invasive GIN with elevated expression of inflammatory biomarkers. Lesions were less severe in females and none developed GIN. Gastritis in male rASFHp mice was accompanied by decreased Clostridum species ASF356 and Bacteroides species ASF519 colonisation and an overgrowth of Lactobacillus murinus ASF361, supporting that inflammation-driven atrophy alters the gastric niche for GI commensals. Hp colonisation also elevated expression of IL-11 and cancer-related genes, Ptger4 and Tgf-β, further supporting that Hp infection accelerates gastric cancer development in INS-GAS mice. Conclusions: rASFHp colonisation was sufficient for GIN development in males, and lower GIN incidence in females was associated with lower inflammatory responses and gastric commensal and Hp colonisation. Colonisation efficiency of commensals appears more important than microbial diversity and lessens the probability that specific gastrointestinal pathogens are contributing to cancer risk.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant R01 AI37750)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant R01 CA093405)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant P30-ES02109)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant P01 CA028842)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant T32 RR07036

Characterization of soluble bromide measurements and a case study of BrO observations during ARCTAS

A focus of the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) mission was examination of bromine photochemistry in the spring time high latitude troposphere based on aircraft and satellite measurements of bromine oxide (BrO) and related species. The NASA DC-8 aircraft utilized a chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS) to measure BrO and a mist chamber (MC) to measure soluble bromide. We have determined that the MC detection efficiency to molecular bromine (Br2), hypobromous acid (HOBr), bromine oxide (BrO), and hydrogen bromide (HBr) as soluble bromide (Br−) was 0.9±0.1, 1.06+0.30/−0.35, 0.4±0.1, and 0.95±0.1, respectively. These efficiency factors were used to estimate soluble bromide levels along the DC-8 flight track of 17 April 2008 from photochemical calculations constrained to in situ BrO measured by CIMS. During this flight, the highest levels of soluble bromide and BrO were observed and atmospheric conditions were ideal for the space-borne observation of BrO. The good agreement (R2 = 0.76; slope = 0.95; intercept = −3.4 pmol mol−1) between modeled and observed soluble bromide, when BrO was above detection limit (\u3e2 pmol mol−1) under unpolluted conditions (NOmol−1), indicates that the CIMS BrO measurements were consistent with the MC soluble bromide and that a well characterized MC can be used to derive mixing ratios of some reactive bromine compounds. Tropospheric BrO vertical column densities (BrOVCD) derived from CIMS BrO observations compare well with BrOTROPVCD from OMI on 17 April 2008