Optimizing Supply Decisions in a B2B Exchange Environment

The advent of the Internet is reshaping the landscape of B2B commerce in a significant manner. Emerging e-marketplaces are offering firms an opportunity to optimize their supply chain decisions across a variety of sourcing scenarios. In this paper, we have specifically focused on decision-making for systematic sourcing of make-to-order (MTO) items. We minimize sourcing and purchasing costs in the presence of fixed costs, shared capacity constraints, and volume-based discounts for bundles of items. We consider a private-exchange that facilitates collaborative sourcing and enables a buyer firm to aggregate demand across different units to gain savings from volume-based discounts on individual items or groups of items, avoiding the duplication of tooling investments, and reducing setup costs. Due to the computational complexity of this problem, we develop a heuristic procedure based on Lagrangian relaxation technique to solve the problem. The computational results show that the procedure is effective under a variety of scenarios

Society or the Environment? Understanding How Consumers Evaluate Brand Messages about Corporate Social Responsibility Activities

This research examines how and why consumers evaluate brand messages about corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities differently. Insights from secondary data suggest that brands may prioritize environmental activities over social activities, and vice versa, depending on the type of company. Using a field experiment and surveys, we explore whether consumers’ attitudes toward these brand decisions follow company priorities. We find that consumers perceive brands that sell goods and communicate messages about environmental sustainability activities more positively than services companies, while consumers perceive brands that provides services and communicate messages about social sustainability activities more positively than goods companies. We show that the tangibility of the brand’s offering also impacts brand attitudes in a similar way. These findings have important implications for brand managers as they communicate CSR activities and attempt to maximize sustainability investments across various causes

Processing of ilmenite (FeOTiO2) for value added products

Beach Placer Ilmenite is an important source for production of titanium metal, titania slag and pigment grade titanium dioxide. Besides, these well known applications for which Ilmenite is mined and processed, there are other emerging processes that are being tried for obtaining highvalue products. Synthesis of Ilmenite based materials for varistor applications and direct electrochemical reduction of Ilmenite to produce ferrotitanium are two such attempts being discussed in this work. In this paper, recent efforts undertaken to study the electrical and magnetic characteristics are discussed. Ilmenite, FeTiO 3 , is one of the mixed-valence transition metalbearing minerals, inwhich Fe can be in two different oxidation states, Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ .. Similarly, Ti can be in Ti 3+ and Ti 4+ .Ilmenite is inherently suitable for making Varistors, which are devices, used for limiting the transient voltage surges in a circuit. Varistors produced from Ilmenite can withstand harsh environments seen in nuclear reactors and outerspace. Electrochemical reduction of Ilmenite can be used to prepare ferrotitanium directly without any reductant. The process essentially involves removal of oxygen from the mineral through electrolytic action using calcium chloride as electrolyte and graphite as anode. At a temperature of 950°C, it is shown to be possible that all the oxygen can be removed from the Ilmenite sample, which passes through the electrolyte, to form CO/CO 2 at the anode. The process has immense potential for cost effective production of titanium metal as well. Results of the above developmental works are presented in this paper

Brza i osjetljiva HPLC metoda za određivanje doksorubicina u krvi psa Artifakt srebrovog nitrata

A rapid and sensitive high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay utilizing fluorimetric detection (excitation at 480 nm, emission at 560 nm) for the determination of doxorubicin in dog blood was developed and validated. Treatment of blood samples containing doxorubicin with AgNO3 (as protein precipitant) resulted in appearance of an additional peak in the chromatogram of doxorubicin at 11.5 min along with the parent peak (tR = 5.5 min). The latter peak was not found when treated with other protein precipitants such as trichloroacetic acid and methanol. Construction of calibration curve based on area of both peaks alone did not result in linearity of the curve. However, summation of areas of both peaks resulted in a curve with good linearity and correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.9985). Appearance of second peak may be due to the interaction of doxorubicin with cellular components of blood in the presence of AgNO3 leading to the formation of complex with reduced polarity. Analysis of the quality control samples showed good accuracy (96.7-100.42) and precision (RSD = 2,6-5,7%). The proposed method could be advantageous in estimation of doxorubicin incorporated into targeted delivery systems that concentrate in blood cells and quantify the absolute blood concentration of doxorubicin.Razvijena je i validirana brza i osjetljiva metoda visokotlačne tekućinske kromatografije (HPLC) s fluorimetrijskom detekcijom za određivanje doksorubicina u krvi psa. Nakon obrade uzoraka krvi koji sadrže doksorubicin s AgNO3 (taložno sredstvo za proteine), uz osnovni signal (tR = 5,5min) pojavljuje se dodatni signal u kromatogramu doksorubicina na 11,5 min. Nikakav dodatni signal se ne pojavljuje ako se za taloženje proteina upotrijebe trikloroctena kiselina ili metanol. Međutim, u hemoliziranim uzorcima plazme kojima je dodan doksorubicin nakon obrade sa srebrovim nitratom pojavljuje se drugi signal. Kalibracijska krivulja s površinom ispod signala za samo prvi pik (tR = 5,5min) nije linearna. Međutim, suma površina ispod prvog (tR = 5.5min) i drugog signala (tR = 11.5min) daje linearnu zavisnost s korelacijskim koeficijentom R2 = 0,9985. Pojava drugog signala mogla bi biti posljedica interakcije doksorubicina sa staničnim komponentama u krvi u prisutnosti AgNO3 te nastajanja kompleksa smanjene polarnosti. Površina ispod signala na kromatogramu određena na temelju fluorescencijske detekcije na 480 nm i 560 nm (valne duljine pobuđivanja, odnosno emisije) upotrebljena je za kvantitativnu analizu doksorubicina. Određivanje doksorubicina u krvi psa je jednostavna, precizna i točna. U svim eksperimentima, relativna standardna devijacija (RSD) najčešće je bila < 10%, a izmjerena i teorijska koncentracija razlikovala se za < 10%. Doksorubicin inkubiran s uzorcima krvi psa bio je stabilan najmanje 3 dana ako je čuvan na 5 °C, odnosno najmanje 8 h ako je čuvan na sobnoj temperaturi (28 °C). Predložena HPLC metoda mogla bi imati prednosti u određivanju doksorubicina u sustavima za isporuku lijekova ciljano u krvne stanice i kvantifikaciji ukupne koncentracije doksorubicina u krvi