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Titanium (Ti) is a biocompatible alloy widely used in dental implants, thanks to the protective Ti oxide film that forms spontaneously on the surface. Unfortunately, the film is bioinert and prone to the release of metal ions. In a previous study, we applied oxygen plasma immersion ion implantation (O-PIII) treatment to Ti surface to enhance the corrosion resistance and cell response of Ti. In this study, we examined the surface characteristics of the treated alloy, including roughness, hydrophilicity, and chemical composition. We investigated the blood response to the O-PIII-treated Ti surfaces, including the blood-clotting ability and platelet adhesion. We also investigated resistance of the treated alloy to the adhesion of oral bacteria, Streptococcus mutans, in terms of bacterial attachment and morphology. Our results demonstrate that O-PIII treatment did not have a significant effect on surface roughness or hydrophilicity. This treatment resulted in the formation of a Ti oxide film containing mainly TiO2, Ti2O3, and TiO. The presence of surface Ti oxides (particularly TiO2) positively influenced blood-clotting ability and platelet adhesion as well as resistance to bacterial adhesion. These effects were particularly evident when O-PIII treatment was applied at a higher voltage. Our results demonstrate that the proposed O-PIII treatment promotes blood-clotting and resistance to bacterial adhesion in dental implant applications.

Ti-6Al-4V is a biocompatible alloy widely used for dental prostheses. Unfortunately, the oxide film that forms spontaneously on the surface is bioinert and sometimes prone to the release of metal ions. In this study, we applied nitrogen plasma immersion ion implantation (N-PIII) treatment to Ti-6Al-4V in order to improve corrosion resistance and biological responses, including cell growth and antibacterial adhesion, for dental applications. We then analyzed the surface characteristics, such as topography, chemical composition, hardness, and hydrophilicity. Resistance to corrosion was examined using potentiodynamic polarization curves obtained in artificial saliva, simulated body fluid, and simulated blood plasma solutions. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were used to test cell responses, including adhesion, proliferation, and mineralization. The oral bacteria, Streptococcus salivarius, was used to evaluate antibacterial adhesion, including bacterial attachment and morphology. Our results demonstrate that N-PIII treatment did not significantly affect surface roughness at the macroscopic (micrometer) scale or hydrophilicity. During N-PIII treatment, a thin film of TiN (

Gears are among the most crucial components in the transmission systems of machine tools. Gear manufacturing includes a number of processing procedures. The grinding process is an important procedu...

The title compound, C21H15FN2O4S, contains two chiral carbon centres, but crystal symmetry generates a racemic mixture. The crystal structure features N—H...O hydrogen bonding. The sulfonate group is disordered with an occupancy ratio of 0.933 (4):0.067 (4).

The title compound, C

An efficient NHC-catalyzed amidation between esters and amines or hydrazines is described. This strategy was tolerant for a wide scope of substrates, affording a series of amides (or hydrazides) in good to excellent yields (60–96%) under simple conditions. The approach was also used to synthesize the pharmaceutically relevant antidepressant moclobemide in 85% yield.

This study uses an alternative fabrication scheme to study the effect of rework of nonconforming items and delayed differentiation on a multiproduct supply-chain system. Traditional economic production quantity model focuses on a single-product inventory system where all products made are assumed to be perfect quality and finished products are issued continuously. To increase machine utilization, lower quality costs in production, and reflect the real-world vendor-buyer integrated systems Chiu et al. (2016a) [Chiu, Y-S.P., Kuo, J-S., Chiu, S. W., Hsieh, Y-T. (2016a). Effect of delayed differentiation on a multiproduct vendor–buyer integrated inventory system with rework. Advances in Production Engineering & Management, 11(4), 333-344.] employed a single-machine two-stage production scheme to study the effects of rework and delayed differentiation on a multi-product supply-chain system. With the intention of further reducing fabrication cycle time, this study considers an alternative two-machine two-stage fabrication scheme to re-explore the problem in Chiu et al. (2016a). Machine one solely produces all common parts for multiple end products. Then, machine two fabricates the customized multiproduct using a common cycle time strategy. Through the use of mathematical modeling and analyses, the optimal production cycle length and distribution policy are derived. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate practical usage of the research results, and show its significant benefit in reducing fabrication cycle time compared to that obtained from prior studies that used different schemes.

The antiobesity effects of quercetin-rich supplement (QRS), which contain quercetin, lycopene, taurine, and litchi flower extract, on a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats were investigated. The rats that consume HFD with QRS (185 mg/kg rat) have significantly modulated the final body weights [490 ± 11 (HFD) → 441 ± 11 (HFD+QRS) g], total body fat [112.9 ± 4.5 (HFD) → 86.6 ± 5.7 (HFD+QRS) g], liver weights [14.8 ± 0.4 (HFD) → 12.6 ± 0.4 (HFD+QRS) g/rat], and the serum TG [102.5 ± 7.3 (HFD) → 90.7 ± 6.5 (HFD+QRS) mg/dL] to a level that resembled the regular diet-consumed rats (p < 0.05). The excretion of lipid in the faeces augmented in QRS groups as compared with the nonsupplemented HFD group [faecal total lipid: 62.43 ± 2.80 (HFD) → 73.15 ± 0.88 (HFD+QRS) mg/g dried faeces, p < 0.05]. In the histological analysis, quercetin-rich formulation supplemented groups presented a much less lipid accumulation and smaller size of adipocytes. Moreover, a decreased serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [1.55 ± 0.17 (HFD) → 0.78 ± 0.04 (HFD+QRS) nmol MDA eq/mL serum] increased levels of serum Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity [3.89 ± 0.08 (HFD) → 6.46 ± 0.20 (HFD+QRS) μmol/mL serum], and more active hepatic antioxidant enzymes were observed in the supplemented groups (p < 0.05). The result of this work is a good demonstration of how a combination of bioactive compounds could work synergistically and become very effective in disease prevention.

Black garlic (also called aged garlic) is a type of fermented garlic product from fresh garlic that is often used as a food ingredient and a functional food in Asian countries. The aim of this study was to investigate whether black garlic ameliorates obesity induced by a high-fat diet in rats. Male Wistar rats were fed a normal diet or a high-fat diet (HFD) (30% lard, w/w) combined with 0, 0.2, 0.6, or 1.2% black garlic (BG) (w/w) for a period of six weeks. The results demonstrated that body weight, tissue weights of liver, peritoneal fat, and epididymal fat, serum triglycerides, and hepatic lipid profiles (total lipids, triglycerides, and cholesterol) in the HFD+BG groups were significantly decreased compared with those in the HFD group. BG also reduced hepatic oxidative stress (reduced GSSG and enhanced TEAC, GSH, GRd, and GPx) in HFD-induced obese rats. These results suggest that black garlic may be useful for the treatment of obesity.

Phytochemicals have multifunctional bioactivities, such as anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity activities. However, there are still relatively few studies that have investigated the possible anti-fatigue of functional phytochemical compounds (such as resveratrol, triterpenoids, and catechins) in animal models. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop of in vitro models as tools for cellular and molecular studies of anti-fatigue. C2C12 myotubes were used for evaluating in vitro the anti-fatigue of functional compounds. The results indicated that treatment with some functional compounds (including resveratrol, quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate, and epicatechin) significantly increased the expression of mitochondrial DNA genes (including cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase subunit II ) and the activities of mitochondrial enzymes (including citrate synthase and cytochrome c oxidase) in C2C12 myotubes. These results demonstrated that resveratrol, quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate, and epicatechin have great potential as novel mitochondrial-activating agents that may play an important role in anti-fatigue.

Bicycle parts industry is a highly competitive industry, especially product components often adopt a low price strategy. The case company losing competitive advantage because of higher list price than other companies in Taiwan. The case company analyzes the manufacturing cost structure in order to promote the price competitive power. The case company re-exams the manufacturing process carefully. There are three processing stage for product manufacturing, from raw materials processed into parts level, assembled parts into components, and assembles components into bicycle finally. The customized product causes different manufacturing process that will cause multiple resource expired to drive variant cost structure. The complicate cost structure might affect price strategy to make. Therefore this paper explores cost calculation methodology for more accurate cost information than the traditional volume-based costing (VBC). The paper uses Activity-Based Costing (ABC) approach with two stages to allocate and calculate the manufacturing cost which is based on resources expired of process activities. By comparing the cost information between VBC and ABC approach, the research findings indicate that current VBC approach distorts cost structure because of single cost drive had been chosen, therefore, cross-subsidization among manufacturing cost structure among variant product. Secondly, ABC approach provides more accurate cost information that will help to set the competitive price strategy of the product that is great contribution to increase enterprise's profitability and competitive power. The paper look forwards to implement Activity-Based Costing approach which the product are variant and manufacturing process are complicate of the enterprise and industry.

Objective According to the investigations of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), health insurance fraud has caused an enormous pecuniary loss in the U.S. In Taiwan, in dentistry the problem is getting worse if dentists (authorized entities) file fraudulent claims. Several methods have been developed to solve health insurance fraud; however, these methods are like a rule-based mechanism. Without exploring the behavior patterns, these methods are time-consuming and ineffective; in addition, they are inadequate for managing the fraudulent dentists. Methods Based on social network theory, we develop an evaluation approach to solve the problem of cross-dentist fraud. The trustworthiness score of a dentist is calculated based upon the amount and type of dental operations performed on the same patient and the same tooth by that dentist and other dentists. Results The simulation provides the following evidence. (1) This specific type of fraud can be identified effectively using our evaluation approach. (2) A retrospective study for the claims is also performed. (3) The proposed method is effective in identifying the fraudulent dentists. Conclusions We provide a new direction for investigating the genuineness of claims data. If the insurer can detect fraudulent dentists using the traditional method and the proposed method simultaneously, the detection will be more transparent and ultimately reduce the losses caused by fraudulent claims.

Industry 4.0 can use production data and integrated information to make a production line perform dynamically and flexibly. Industry 4.0 can also make information be circulated easily and enable managers to make decisions more accurately and rapidly. The production process can be accelerated by those benefits. However, manufacturers do not have complete transformation strategies for Industry 4.0 yet. This study tries to find out the key success factors of Industry 4.0 from the cases of European manufacturing enterprises. The development histories of Siemens, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) and Schneider electrics were analyzed through multiple cases comparisons. The same and different factors were compared to find out the key success factors of industry 4.0 development through thematic analysis. The key success factors of industry 4.0 identified is helpful for guiding the development strategy and transformation plan for other companies in the future.

In the past, many studies focused on the impact of the alignment between information technology and business strategies, and they concluded that this alignment affects organizational performance. Despite many alignment studies, the studies which discussed the ideal profile of mobile commerce strategies and business typology are still limited. Therefore, this study adopted case study to develop the ideal profile of the business typology and the ideal profile structure. This study tended to understand how companies use mobile commerce technology to support specific business typology. After in-depth interviews and analysis of three companies in the finance and insurance industry, this study found that companies with different business typologies tended to adopt different types of mobile commerce strategy. For example, Prospector on strategic management tended to use the mobile commerce technology to support the activity of collection of external marketing information and innovative marketing; on administration, the focus was to build a high mobile office environment in the corporation. Analyzer would prefer to adopt similar application after observing the successful cases of Prospector. Defender would emphasize using the mobile commerce technology to support the internal standardized operation.

Organizational critical activities (OCAs) are "activities that the organization considers first and invest lots of resources in and that are monitored and guided frequently by executives. Organizational critical activities are regarded as the activities that are indispensable and must be conducted for the short-, medium-, and long-term success by the organization". After interviewing 15 medium and senior supervisors of the hospitals, this research organizes and constructs a list of organizational critical activities, which includes three aspects (Internal Management, External Environment, and Innovation & Service). After the list of OCAs is found, the research interviews two vice presidents of the hospitals to refine the OCAs list. This research then conducted the questionnaire survey on executives of 151 large-scaled hospitals in Taiwan, and the questionnaire is divided into three parts (Organizational critical activities, Information technology capabilities, and Organizational performance). According to the past literature, strategic alignment was the key to organizational success. After the questionnaire copies are retrieved, fit as profile deviation [33] is taken to confirm whether the alignment between organizational critical activities and information technology capabilities exists. The result of this study shows that there is alignment between organizational critical activities and information technology capabilities, both of them have a significant influence on organizational performance. As the environment of the hospital in Taiwan is very competitive, this study expects that the list of OCAs in medical institutions of this study can serve as a reference when operators of hospitals make strategies and practice important activities.

We investigated whether post-exercise capsinoids (CSN) supplementation could enhance muscle glycogen resynthesis via GLUT4/Akt expressions in human skeletal muscle. Nine male college students (aged 21.4±0.2 years, BMI 21.9±1.3 kg/m2, VO2max 47.1±1.8 ml/kg/min) participated in this crossover designed study, and completed a 60-min cycling exercise at 70% VO2max. Immediately after exercise, participants consumed high-carbohydrate diet (2 g carb/kg bodyweight) with CSN (12 mg, single dosage) or placebo. Biopsied muscle samples (vastus lateralis) were obtained immediately (0h) and 3h after exercise. Blood and expired gas samples were collected before and after exercise. We found oral CSN supplementation immediately after exercise was unable to enhance glycogen resynthesis in exercised human skeletal muscle. Despite, CSN could alter the energy reliance on fat oxidation during post-exercise recovery, based on gaseous exchange measurement (NEFA and glycerol). We further identified no significant differences in postprandial glucose/insulin area under curve in both trials. Western blot data showed no significant response of p-Akt/Akt ratio with CSN during post-exercise recovery. Inconsistent with glycogen levels, muscle GLUT4 expression was significantly elevated at 3h in CSN trial. Our findings emphasize the necessity of further evidences to confirm the ergogenic properties of CSN in connection with glycogen recovery in exercised human skeletal muscle.

Manufacturers tend to carry out certain important and continuous activities with respect to internal operations which could contribute to their success. These activities are termed organization critical activities (OCAs). The main objective of this study is to elicit the OCAs in the manufacturing industry to understand what can cause them to be successful. Through the case study approach including the interviews with the senior managers from three manufacturing companies in Taiwan and a series of prioritizing activities, 12 OCAs have been identified. This study found that Taiwanese manufacturers placed more importance on the activities of quality and cost control while placed relatively less importance on the marketing related activities. More findings and future research suggestions are also provided.

In the last decade, information and communication technologies have been highly developed. For convenience, many applications have been installed in smartphones instead of desktop computers. As a popular platform, Google Play presents thousands of mobile applications. Because there are so many dazzling applications, it is difficult for users to determine which are suitable for their needs. Many factors are likely to influence the purchase of an application, such as advertisements, word of mouth, and other media. In deciding whether to purchase an application, users probably refer to customer reviews. Indeed, users may take a significant amount of time to evaluate the legitimacy of the reviews. In this paper, we introduce a concept for recommending applications. Based on pointwise mutual information, we calculate the positive or negative score of semantic orientation in each review. We also consider subjective factors (i.e., public opinion, anonymous opinion, and star rating) and objective factors (i.e., download number and reputation).

Strengthening core competitiveness is the main goal of enterprises in a fierce competitive environment. Accurate cost information is a great help for managers in dealing with operation strategies. This paper establishes a profitability management mechanism that applies the Activity-Based Benefit approach (ABBA) to solve the profitability for each customer from the market. ABBA provides financial and non-financial information for the operation, but also indicates what resources have expired in the operational process. The customer profit management model shows the level of profitability of each customer for the company. The empirical data were gathered from a case company operating in the leather industry in Taiwan. The research findings indicate that 30% of customers create little profit for the company as a result of asking for over 5% of sales discounts. Those customers ask for sales discount because of color differences of leather products. This paper provides a customer’s profitability evaluation mechanism to help enterprises to greatly improve operating effectiveness and promote operational activity efficiency and overall operation profitability., {"references":["Cooper R, Kaplan RS. How Cost Accounting Distorts Products, Management Accounting, 20-27 (1988)","Turney PBB, Common Cents: The ABC Performance Breakthrough, Hillsboro, Ore, Cost Technology Published. (1991)","Carsten H. Improving activity-based costing heuristics by higher-level cost drivers, European Journal of Operational Research, 157(2), 332-343(2004).","Raffish N, Turney PBB, Glossary of activity-based management, Journal of Cost Management, 53-63. (1991).","Cooper R, Activity-Based Costing for Improved Costing, Handbook of Cost Management, B1. Boston: Warren, Gorham &Lamont. (1992).","Barnes, IEs Can Improved Management Decision Using Activity-Based Costing, Industrial Engineering, 44-50, (1991).","Foster, G, M. Gupta, and L. Sjoblom. Customer profitability analysis: challenges and new directions, Journal of Cost management, 10, 5-17(1996)."]}

This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant and anticancer effects of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the roots of Ficus beecheyana (EERFB and AERFB) and their phenolic components. In this study, total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of EERFB were higher than those of AERFB. Major phenolic compounds in the extracts were gallic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, and rutin; which were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Flow cytometric analysis of HL-60 cells exposed to EERFB showed that the percentage of apoptotic cells increased in a dose-dependent manner. EERFB treatment resulted in the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and induced the apoptosis of HL-60 cells through a Fas- and mitochondrial-mediated pathway. Finally, pretreatment with general caspase-9/-3 inhibitors prevented EERFB from inhibiting cell viability in HL-60 cells. Our finding suggests that EERFB is an agent that may have antioxidant activity and inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

This paper is concerned with solving a vendor–buyer integrated inventory problem with rework and a specific multi-delivery policy by a two-phase algebraic approach. Conventional method to the problem is to use differential calculus and Hessian matrix equations to prove convexity of system cost function first before determining the optimal production–shipment policy for such a vendor–buyer integrated system (Chiu et al., 2013b). This study presents an alternative two-phase algebraic approach to derive the same optimal policy. The proposed straightforward algebraic derivations can assist practitioners who may not have sufficient knowledge of calculus in understanding with ease such a real life vendor–buyer integrated system.

This paper addresses the joint determination of a rotation cycle time and number of shipments for a multi-item economic production quantity (EPQ) model with random defective rate. The classic EPQ model considers production planning for a single product with a perfect production process and continuous inventory issuing policy for its finished goods. However, in real vendor–buyer integrated systems, the multi-delivery policy is often used in lieu of the continuous issuing policy, and due to various uncontrollable factors, the generation of defective items is inevitable. Furthermore, in order to maximize machine utilization, management often plans the production of m products in turn on a single machine, rather than a single product on one machine, as assumed by the EPQ model. Therefore, by assuming that all defective items produced are scrap, this study aims to jointly determine the optimal rotation cycle time and number of shipments that minimize the long-run average cost for such an imperfect quality multi-item EPQ model. We employ mathematical modeling with the renewal reward theorem and obtain closed-form optimal operating policies for the proposed model. Further, we demonstrate the practical use of the results by using a numerical example and sensitivity analysis.

This study employs mathematical modeling along with a recursive searching algorithm to determine the optimal run time for an imperfect finite production rate model with scrap, rework, and stochastic machine breakdown. In real-life manufacturing systems, generation of defective items and machine breakdown are inevitable. The objective of this paper is to address these issues and to be able to derive the optimal production run time. It is assumed that the proposed manufacturing system produces defective items randomly, a portion of them is considered to be scrap, and the other portion can be repaired through rework. Further, the proposed system is subject to random breakdown and when it occurs, the abort/resume (AR) policy is adopted. Under such an inventory control policy, the production of the interrupted lot will be resumed immediately when machine is fixed and restored. Mathematical modeling along with a recursive searching algorithm is used for deriving the replenishment policy for such a realistic production system.

The rapid development technology and widespread Internet make business environment changing a lot. In order to stand in the global market and to keep subsistence, “changing” is unspoken rule for the company’s survival. The purpose of this paper is building up change model by using SWOT, strategy map, KPI and change management theory. The research findings indicate that the company needs to deal with employee’s resistance emotion firstly before building up change model. The ways of providing performance appraisal reward, consulting and counseling mechanisms that will great help to achieve reducing staff negative emotions and motivate staff’s efficiencies also. To revise strategy map, modify corporate culture, and improve internal operational processes which is based on change model. Through the change model, the increasing growth rate of net income helps company to achieve the goals and be a leading brand of precision machinery industry., {"references":["Kaplan R. S., Norton D. P., Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes., Publishing: Harvard Business Press (2004).","Weihrich, H, the TOWS matrix--A tool for situational analysis, (1982).","Newsletter, National Applied Research Laboratory, (2006).","Peter F. Drucker, the Practice of Management., Publishing: Harper (1954).","Webber R.A., Management: Basic Elements of Managing Organization, Publishing: Richard D. Irwin Inc. (1979).","Wikipedia web, SWOT analysis building steps, (2014).","Mckinsey & Company, SWOT analysis model, (2014).","Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton, Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets Into Tangible Outcomes, (2004).","DMG MORI SEIKI AG Annual Report (2013) \n[10]\tZhi-Hua Lin, Corporate Culture and the relationship between Key Factor of Success (KFS) in Re-organization- A large domestic enterprises validation study, (1996).\n[11]\tZhuo Zhengqin, Ge Jianpei, Performance Management and Development - Enhance the organizational value of human capital, publishing: Yeh Book Gallery, (2008)."]}

Transnational companies, operating in extremely competitive global markets, always seek to lower different operating costs, such as inventory holding costs in their intra- supply chain system. This paper incorporates a cost reducing product distribution policy into an intra-supply chain system with multiple sales locations and quality assurance studied by [Chiu et al., Expert Syst Appl, 40:2669–2676, (2013)]. Under the proposed cost reducing distribution policy, an added initial delivery of end items is distributed to multiple sales locations to meet their demand during the production unit’s uptime and rework time. After rework when the remaining production lot goes through quality assurance, n fixed quantity installments of finished items are then transported to sales locations at a fixed time interval. Mathematical modeling and optimization techniques are used to derive closed-form optimal operating policies for the proposed system. Furthermore, the study demonstrates significant savings in stock holding costs for both the production unit and sales locations. Alternative of outsourcing product delivery task to an external distributor is analyzed to assist managerial decision making in potential outsourcing issues in order to facilitate further reduction in operating costs.

Deep sea water (DSW) is a natural marine resource that has been utilized for food, agriculture, cosmetics, and medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DSW has beneficial lipid metabolic effects in an animal model. Our previous in vitro study indicated that DSW significantly decreased the intracellular triglyceride and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. DSW also inhibited the gene levels of adipocyte differentiation, lipogenesis, and adipocytokines, and up-regulated gene levels of lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation. In the present study, the results showed that body weight, liver, adipose tissue, hepatic triglycerides and cholesterol, and serum parameters in the high-fat diet (HFD) + DSW groups were significantly lower compared to the HFD group. Moreover, the fecal output of total lipids, triglycerides, and cholesterol in the HFD + DSW groups was significantly higher than that of the HFD group. Regarding gene expression, DSW significantly increased the gene levels of lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation, and decreased the gene levels of adipocytokine in the adipose tissue of rats with HFD-induced obesity. These results indicate a potential molecular mechanism by which DSW can suppress obesity in rats with HFD-induced obesity through lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation.

This work reports the current-temperature characteristics of the low-temperature-sputtered (Ba 0.8 Sr 0.2 )TiO 3 (BST) film post treated by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in O 2 ambient. The top electrode was biased under negative/positive voltage to investigate the interface properties of the Pt/BST/Pt multifilm. As the results, the current density of the RTA-treated BST film was greatly reduced owing to compensation of oxygen vacancies. The RTA-treated BST thin film biased at negative voltage exhibits a negative temperature-coefficient-resistivity (NTCR) behavior, but, intriguingly, that biased at positive voltage reveals a positive temperature-coefficient-resistivity (PTCR) behavior. According to the leakage current analysis, the Schottky emission dominates the negative biased current at upper interface, but the Heywang barrier scattering confines the positive biased current.

This paper considers optimization of a multi-product economic production quantity(EPQ) model with scrap items and an improved multi-delivery policy. We extend thework of Chiu et al. (2013a) by incorporating an improved n + 1 multi-delivery planinto their model with an aim at reducing vendor’s inventory holding cost. Under such aspecific shipment policy, for each product an extra delivery of finished goods is madeduring production uptime to satisfy the product demand for the period of vendor’suptime. Then, when rework process comes to an end (i.e., the rest of the productionlot is quality assured) n fixed quantity installments of finished goods are delivered tobuyers at a fixed time interval. The objectives of this study are to determine the optimalrotation production cycle time that minimizes the long-run average system cost perunit time and reveals the effects of random scrap rate and the improved delivery policyon the optimal production cycle time. With the help of a mathematical model a closedformoptimal common cycle time is derived. Through a numerical example, practicalusages of obtained results and significant savings in vendor’s stock holding cost aredemonstrated.

This study revisits a single-producer multi-retailer system with a cost-reduction shipment plan and rework [1] using an alternative approach. Unlike the conventional method that uses differential calculus on system cost function to prove its convexity and derive the optimal production-shipment policy, we proposed an algebraic solution procedure to the problem. Such a straightforward approach may enable the practitioners with little knowledge of calculus to understand real supply chain systems more easily.

An azide-bridged polymeric cationic chain complex, [LCu2(N3)2]n(ClO4)2n·n(H2O)**, where L=the dinucleating macrocyclic ligand bis-p-xylylBISDIEN, has been prepared and characterized by x-ray crystallography, u.v.-vis and i.r. spectra, and by magnetic measurements. The structure consists of cationic azide-bridged [LCu2(N3)2]2+ (unit) chains, non-coordinated perchlorate anions and crystallized water molecules. The azide anion is bound to two copper atoms in neighboring units with an end-to-end bridging mode. In each unit, the copper atoms have a different coordination geometry; Cu(1) is a four-coordinated, distorted square-planar geometry, whereas Cu(2) is a five-coordinated, distorted square-pyramid. The electronic spectra of the title complex differ in anhydrous and in aqueous MeCN solutions, indicating that dissociation and solvation occur in aqueous solutions. The characteristic i.r. absorptions of azides and perchlorates are described. Magnetic moments vary from 2.05 (B.M.) at 300K to␣2.01 (B.M.) at 80K, which suggests that very weak interactions exist between the metals.

The crystal structure and magnetic properties of a new dinuclear nickel(II) complex [LNi2(AcO)4]·14H2O, where L = 3,6,9,17,20,23-hexaazatricyclo [23.3.1.111,13] triaconta-1(29),11(30),12,14,25(26),27-hexene, has been studied. X-ray structure analysis shows that the compound consists of a discrete [LNi2(AcO)4] complex and 14 lattice water molecules. Each Ni atom is six coordinated by three N atoms from the macrocycle and three O atoms from the two coordinated acetates; two nickel atoms in each macrocycle are at the distance of 7.028A. The result of the magnetic measurement indicates that the zero-field splitting constant of nickel(II) centres |D| = 1.87 cm−1.

A pair of seldom seen hydrate isomers with a formula of LCu 2 (CH 3 COO) 2 (H 2 O) 2 (ClO 4 ) 2 , where L is the dinucleating macrocyclic ligand bis- p -xytylBISDIEN, have been prepared and characterized by X-ray crystallography, UV⧹Vis spectra and magnetic measurements. The blue isomer, [LCu 2 (CH 3 COO) 2 (H 2 O) 2 ] (ClO 4 ) 2 , crystallizes in the triclinic system and the violet isomer, [LCu 2 (CH 3 COO) 2 ](ClO 4 ) 2 · 2H 2 O, crystallizes in the orthorhombic system. The blue complex consists of one cation [LCu 2 (CH 3 COO) 2 (H 2 O) 2 ] 2 and two ClO 4 − anions. The two copper atoms are independent to each other with a separation of 6.781(9) A. Each has a square pyramidal geometry and is five-coordinated by three N atoms from the macrocycle and two O atoms from the monodentate acetate anion and the coordinated water molecule, respectively. In violet isomer, both central copper atoms are located in an approximately square planar environment and are not coordinated by the water molecules. The isomers have different reflectance spectra due to the different coordination geometry but can rapidly interchange in solution at ambient temperature. Both compounds exhibit quite weak antiferromagnetic couplings verified by the small but negative Weiss constant ( θ = −5.72 K for the blue and −25.6 K for the violet isomer).

The synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic properties of the imidazolate-bridged dinuclear copper(II) complex [LCu 2 (Im)(DMSO) 2 ](ClO 4 ) 3 (DMSO), where ImH is imidazole, and L is 3, 6, 9, 17, 20, 23-hexaazatricyclo[23.3.1.1 11,13 ]triaconta-1(29), 11(30), 12, 14, 25(26), 27-hexaene, have been studied. Single crystal X-ray diffraction determination reveals the distorted tetragonal pyramid geometries of the imidazolate bridged dicopper(II) center are incorporated within the binucleating macrocycle. Both copper atoms are five-coordinated by four basal nitrogen atoms (three from the macrocycle and one from the imidazolate) and one oxygen atom from the DMSO molecule. Two coordinated DMSO molecules are situated at the same side of the macrocycle. The Cu–Cu separation in the complex is 5.93 A. Magnetic measurements and ESR spectroscopy studies exibit an antiferromagnetic exchange interaction with a coupling constant of J = − 26.94 cm −1 . Investigations on the pH-dependent ESR of the title compound in frozen 50% aqueous DMSO solution confirm the existence of the bridged cation [LCu 2 (Im)] 3+ as a major species in solution mainly in the range 5.2⩽pH⩽11.5. The imidazolate bridge is broken in the pH range of 5.2–3.3, which is close to that for the native enzyme.