”Bricks vs. Clicks”: The impact of manufacturer encroachment with a dealer leasing and selling of durable goods

In durable goods markets, many brand name manufacturers, including IBM, HP, Epson, and Lenovo, have adopted dual-channel supply chains to market their products. There is scant literature, however, addressing the product durability and its impact on players’ optimal strategies in a dual-channel supply chain. To fill this void, we consider a two-period dual-channel model in which a manufacturer sells a durable product directly through both a manufacturer-owned e-channel and an independent dealer who adopts a mix of selling and leasing to consumers. Our results show that the manufacturer begins encroaching into the market in Period 1, but the dealer starts withdrawing from the retail channel in Period 2. Moreover, as the direct selling cost decreases, the equilibrium quantities and wholesale prices become quite angular and often nonmonotonic. Among other results, we find that both the dealer and the supply chain may benefit from the manufacturer’s encroachment. Our results also indicate that both the market structure and the nature of competition have an important impact on the player’s (dealer’s) optimal choice of leasing and selling.

Stochastic Analysis of Saltwater Intrusion in Heterogeneous Aquifers using Local Average Subdivision

This study investigates the effects of ground heterogeneity, considering permeability as a random variable, on an intruding SW wedge using Monte Carlo simulations. Random permeability fields were generated, using the method of Local Average Subdivision (LAS), based on a lognormal probability density function. The LAS method allows the creation of spatially correlated random fields, generated using coefficients of variation (COV) and horizontal and vertical scales of fluctuation (SOF). The numerical modelling code SUTRA was employed to solve the coupled flow and transport problem. The well-defined 2D dispersive Henry problem was used as the test case for the method. The intruding SW wedge is defined by two key parameters, the toe penetration length (TL) and the width of mixing zone (WMZ). These parameters were compared to the results of a homogeneous case simulated using effective permeability values. The simulation results revealed: (1) an increase in COV resulted in a seaward movement of TL; (2) the WMZ extended with increasing COV; (3) a general increase in horizontal and vertical SOF produced a seaward movement of TL, with the WMZ increasing slightly; (4) as the anisotropic ratio increased the TL intruded further inland and the WMZ reduced in size. The results show that for large values of COV, effective permeability parameters are inadequate at reproducing the effects of heterogeneity on SW intrusion.

Experimental Investigation of Transient Saltwater Intrusion in Heterogeneous Porous Media

A 2D sandbox style experiment was developed to compare the results of numerical modelling to physical testing for saltwater intrusion in homogeneous and heterogeneous aquifers. The sandbox consisted of a thin central viewing chamber filled with glass beads of varying diameters (780μm, 1090μm and 1325μm) under fully saturated conditions. Dyed saltwater (SW) was introduced at the side boundary and a head difference imposed across the porous media. Images of the SW wedge were recorded at intervals in order to assess the suitability of the numerical models predictions of transient SW intrusion. Numerical modelling of the experimental cases were simulated using SUTRA. Two main parameters were chosen to express the condition of the intruding SW wedge at each recorded time step; the toe penetration length (TL) and the width of the mixing zone (WMZ). The WMZ was larger under transient conditions in the heterogeneous case, while the TL was longer for the homogeneous case. The increased variability in the flow field fo the heterogeneous case resulted in increased dispersion, and thus, increased WMZ.

Experimental Saltwater Intrusion in Coastal aquifers Using Automated Image Analysis: Applications to Homogeneous Aquifers.

This paper presents the applications of a novel methodology to quantify saltwater intrusion parameters in laboratory-scale experiments. The methodology uses an automated image analysis procedure, minimizing manual inputs and the subsequent systematic errors that can be introduced. This allowed the quantification of the width of the mixing zone which is difficult to measure in experimental methods that are based on visual observations. Glass beads of different grain sizes were tested for both steady-state and transient conditions. The transient results showed good correlation between experimental and numerical intrusion rates. The experimental intrusion rates revealed that the saltwater wedge reached a steady state condition sooner while receding than advancing. The hydrodynamics of the experimental mixing zone exhibited similar
traits; a greater increase in the width of the mixing zone was observed in the receding saltwater wedge, which indicates faster fluid velocities and higher dispersion. The angle of intrusion analysis revealed the formation of a volume of diluted saltwater at the toe position when the saltwater wedge is prompted to recede. In addition, results of different physical repeats of the experiment produced an average coefficient of variation less than 0.18 of the measured toe length and width of the mixing zone.

A rising e-channel tide lifts all boats? the impact of manufacturer multi-channel encroachment on traditional selling and leasing

Organizing and managing channels of distribution is an important marketing task. Due to the emergence of electronic commerce on the Internet, e-channel distribution systems have been adopted by many manufacturers. However, academic and anecdotal evidence both point to the pressures arising from this new e-channel manufacturing environment. Questions marks therefore remain on how the addition of this e-channel affects the traditional marketing strategies of leasing and selling. We set up several two-period dual-channel models in which a manufacturer sells a durable product through both a manufacturer-owned e-channel and an independent reseller (leaser) who adopts selling (leasing) to consumers. Our main results indicate that, direct selling cost aside, product durability plays an important role in shaping the strategies of all members. With either marketing strategy, the additional expansion of an e-channel territory may secure Pareto gains, in which all members benefit.

Monkey mountain as a megazoo: analysing the naturalistic claims of “wild monkey parks” in Japan

In Japan yaen koen or ‘wild monkey parks’ are popular visitor attractions that show free-ranging monkey troops to the paying public. Unlike zoos, which display animals through confinement, monkey parks control the movements of the monkeys through provisioning. The parks project an image of themselves as ‘natural zoos’, claiming to practice a more authentic form of wild animal display than that practiced by the zoo. This article critically evaluates the monkey park’s claim by examining park management of the monkeys. The monkey park’s claim to display ‘wild monkeys’ is shown to be questionable because of the way that provisioning changes monkey behaviour. Against the background of human encroachment onto the forest habitat of the monkey, the long-term effect of provisioning is to sedentarize what were nomadic monkeys and to turn the ‘wild monkey park’ into a megazoo.

Distribution of the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) and landscape favourability for the species in Northern Ireland

The common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) is Ireland’s only native reptile, forming a key part of the island’s biodiversity. However, there is a general paucity of distributional and abundance data for the species. In this study, we collated incidental records for common lizard sightings to define the distribution of the species in Northern Ireland. Maximum entropy modelling was employed to describe species-habitat associations. The resulting predicted landscape favourability was used to evaluate the current status of the species based on the distribution of its maximum potential range in relation to the degree of fragmentation of remaining suitable habitat. In common with previous studies in the Republic of Ireland, sightings were highly clustered indicating under-recording, observer bias, and fragmentation of suitable habitat. A total of 98 records were collated from 1905 to 2009. The species was recorded in 63 (ca. 34%) of 186 × 10 km Northern Irish grid squares. Lizard occurrence was strongly and positively associated with landscapes dominated by heathland, bog and coastal habitats. The single best approximating model correctly classified the presence of lizards in 84.2% of cases. Upland heath, lowland raised bog and sand dune systems are all subject to Habitat Action Plans in Northern Ireland and are threatened by conversion to agriculture, afforestation, invasive species encroachment and infrastructural development. Consequently, remaining common lizard populations are likely to be small, isolated and highly fragmented. Establishment of an ecological network to preserve connectivity of remaining heath and bog will not only benefit remaining common lizard populations but biodiversity in general.

Resource pressure and environmental change on the North African littoral: Epipalaeolithic to Roman gastropods from Cyrenaica, Libya.

This paper discusses the marine and terrestrial shell on Epipalaeolithic to Classical-period sites in the Cyrenaican coastlands, northeast Libya, with particular reference to the Haua Fteah, with parallel studies at a late-Roman farmstead and two small caves. Together they provide evidence for coastal and terrestrial environments and for the continued nutritional importance of gastropods to humans during the Holocene. Land snail evidence is consistent with regional vegetation in coastal Cyrenaica becoming increasingly open through the Holocene, as a result of some combination of climate change and human impact. Marine species suggest that the coastline near the Haua had been rocky throughout the Holocene. At Hagfet al-Gama, changing faunas provide evidence for sand encroachment onto a previously rocky shoreline in Hellenistic times. A biometric study of Osilinus turbinatus shows that in the archaeological sites these shells are systematically smaller than modern specimens, providing evidence for long-term dietary stress in the human populations around the Haua Fteah, with particularly severe stress in parts of the Epipalaeolithic. A biometric study of Patella spp. provided evidence for size selection, but also seems to show evidence for resource pressure. It is unlikely that variations in resource pressure seen in the mollusc biometrics are the result of climatic stress or natural ecological factors and explanations must be sought in society-environment dynamics.

The Houses of the Oireachtas:Parliament in Ireland

The Irish parliament - the Oireachtas - is nearing the centenary year of its foundation, making it one of the oldest continuously surviving parliaments in the world. As the most important national institution in the state, it plays an essential role in giving voice to a diversity of views and opinions, providing stable governments, approving law and national budgets and upholding democratic values. For much of its existence, however, and most pointedly in the context of recent banking and economic crises, it has been subject to criticism concerning its ability to adequately hold the executive to account, to act as a coherent policy-making forum, to meet the challenges arising from European Union membership, to embrace wide-ranging reforms and to develop with purpose and ambition.

This comprehensive new volume considers all aspects of the Houses of the Oireachtas - including their evolution, composition, organisation, financing, administration and reform. Contributors include academics, administrators and sitting and former parliamentarians. Contemporary challenges brought about by transformations in media style, increased inter-parliamentarism and the changing character of politics are also addressed. The book questions a number of assumptions about parliament and its work, including the efficacy of the legislative and budgetary processes, the nature of executive-legislative relations and the perceived encroachment of the courts on the legislature. Combined, this wide-ranging and detailed study fills a long-standing void, and provides essential reading not alone for those interested in Irish politics and government, but also for students and scholars of legislative studies.