No-Holdback allocation rules for continuous-time assemble-to-order systems

This paper analyzes a class of common-component allocation rules, termed no-holdback (NHB) rules, in continuous-review assemble-to-order (ATO) systems with positive lead times. The inventory of each component is replenished following an independent base-stock policy. In contrast to the usually assumed first-come-first-served (FCFS) component allocation rule in the literature, an NHB rule allocates a component to a product demand only if it will yield immediate fulfillment of that demand. We identify metrics as well as cost and product structures under which NHB rules outperform all other component allocation rules. For systems with certain product structures, we obtain key performance expressions and compare them to those under FCFS. For general product structures, we present performance bounds and approximations. Finally, we discuss the applicability of these results to more general ATO systems. © 2010 INFORMS.

Control of the orientational order and nonlinear optical response of the "push-pull" chromophore RuPZn via specific incorporation into densely packed monolayer ensembles of an amphiphilic four-helix bundle peptide: characterization of the peptide-chromophore complexes.

"Push-pull" chromophores based on extended pi-electron systems have been designed to exhibit exceptionally large molecular hyperpolarizabilities. We have engineered an amphiphilic four-helix bundle peptide to vectorially incorporate such hyperpolarizable chromophores having a metalloporphyrin moiety, with high specificity into the interior core of the bundle. The amphiphilic exterior of the bundle facilitates the formation of densely packed monolayer ensembles of the vectorially oriented peptide-chromophore complexes at the liquid-gas interface. Chemical specificity designed into the ends of the bundle facilitates the subsequent covalent attachment of these monolayer ensembles onto the surface of an inorganic substrate. In this article, we describe the structural characterization of these monolayer ensembles at each stage of their fabrication for one such peptide-chromophore complex designated as AP0-RuPZn. In the accompanying article, we describe the characterization of their macroscopic nonlinear optical properties.

Predictions of the Pt(8)Ti phase in unexpected systems.

The binary A(8)B phase (prototype Pt(8)Ti) has been experimentally observed in 11 systems. A high-throughput search over all the binary transition intermetallics, however, reveals 59 occurrences of the A(8)B phase: Au(8)Zn(dagger), Cd(8)Sc(dagger), Cu(8)Ni(dagger), Cu(8)Zn(dagger), Hg(8)La, Ir(8)Os(dagger), Ir(8)Re, Ir(8)Ru(dagger), Ir(8)Tc, Ir(8)W(dagger), Nb(8)Os(dagger), Nb(8)Rh(dagger), Nb(8)Ru(dagger), Nb(8)Ta(dagger), Ni(8)Fe, Ni(8)Mo(dagger)*, Ni(8)Nb(dagger)*, Ni(8)Ta*, Ni(8)V*, Ni(8)W, Pd(8)Al(dagger), Pd(8)Fe, Pd(8)Hf, Pd(8)Mn, Pd(8)Mo*, Pd(8)Nb, Pd(8)Sc, Pd(8)Ta, Pd(8)Ti, Pd(8)V*, Pd(8)W*, Pd(8)Zn, Pd(8)Zr, Pt(8)Al(dagger), Pt(8)Cr*, Pt(8)Hf, Pt(8)Mn, Pt(8)Mo, Pt(8)Nb, Pt(8)Rh(dagger), Pt(8)Sc, Pt(8)Ta, Pt(8)Ti*, Pt(8)V*, Pt(8)W, Pt(8)Zr*, Rh(8)Mo, Rh(8)W, Ta(8)Pd, Ta(8)Pt, Ta(8)Rh, V(8)Cr(dagger), V(8)Fe(dagger), V(8)Ir(dagger), V(8)Ni(dagger), V(8)Pd, V(8)Pt, V(8)Rh, and V(8)Ru(dagger) ((dagger) = metastable, * = experimentally observed). This is surprising for the wealth of new occurrences that are predicted, especially in well-characterized systems (e.g., Cu-Zn). By verifying all experimental results while offering additional predictions, our study serves as a striking demonstration of the power of the high-throughput approach. The practicality of the method is demonstrated in the Rh-W system. A cluster-expansion-based Monte Carlo model reveals a relatively high order-disorder transition temperature.

Specialized motor-driven dusp1 expression in the song systems of multiple lineages of vocal learning birds.

Mechanisms for the evolution of convergent behavioral traits are largely unknown. Vocal learning is one such trait that evolved multiple times and is necessary in humans for the acquisition of spoken language. Among birds, vocal learning is evolved in songbirds, parrots, and hummingbirds. Each time similar forebrain song nuclei specialized for vocal learning and production have evolved. This finding led to the hypothesis that the behavioral and neuroanatomical convergences for vocal learning could be associated with molecular convergence. We previously found that the neural activity-induced gene dual specificity phosphatase 1 (dusp1) was up-regulated in non-vocal circuits, specifically in sensory-input neurons of the thalamus and telencephalon; however, dusp1 was not up-regulated in higher order sensory neurons or motor circuits. Here we show that song motor nuclei are an exception to this pattern. The song nuclei of species from all known vocal learning avian lineages showed motor-driven up-regulation of dusp1 expression induced by singing. There was no detectable motor-driven dusp1 expression throughout the rest of the forebrain after non-vocal motor performance. This pattern contrasts with expression of the commonly studied activity-induced gene egr1, which shows motor-driven expression in song nuclei induced by singing, but also motor-driven expression in adjacent brain regions after non-vocal motor behaviors. In the vocal non-learning avian species, we found no detectable vocalizing-driven dusp1 expression in the forebrain. These findings suggest that independent evolutions of neural systems for vocal learning were accompanied by selection for specialized motor-driven expression of the dusp1 gene in those circuits. This specialized expression of dusp1 could potentially lead to differential regulation of dusp1-modulated molecular cascades in vocal learning circuits.