Crossing threshold periods in the retail life cycle:Insights from Wal-Mart international

This article takes a broader theoretical perspective of the retail life cycle by incorporating threshold periods at important inflection points in the international growth process. Specifically, it considers one threshold interval between an early phase of disjointed international expansion and a more focused, accelerated international growth programme. It concludes that executives need to consider a set of threshold periods during the development and growth of international store operations, understand why these events occur, and consider in what ways to respond to them to overcome and cross the threshold. Salient lessons are extracted from Wal-Mart's experiences during the threshold period for other international managers. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transition in convective flows heated internally

The stability of internally heated convective flows in a vertical channel under the influence of a pressure gradient and in the limit of small Prandtl number is examined numerically. In each of the cases studied the basic flow, which can have two inflection points, loses stability at the critical point identified by the corresponding linear analysis to two-dimensional states in a Hopf bifurcation. These marginal points determine the linear stability curve that identifies the minimum Grashof number (based on the strength of the homogeneous heat source), at which the two-dimensional periodic flow can bifurcate. The range of stability of the finite amplitude secondary flow is determined by its (linear) stability against three-dimensional infinitesimal disturbances. By first examining the behavior of the eigenvalues as functions of the Floquet parameters in the streamwise and spanwise directions we show that the secondary flow loses stability also in a Hopf bifurcation as the Grashof number increases, indicating that the tertiary flow is quasi-periodic. Secondly the Eckhaus marginal stability curve, that bounds the domain of stable transverse vortices towards smaller and larger wavenumbers, but does not cause a transition as the Grashof number increases, is also given for the cases studied in this work.

Transition in plane parallel shear flows heated internally

The stability of internally heated inclined plane parallel shear flows is examined numerically for the case of finite value of the Prandtl number, Pr. The transition in a vertical channel has already been studied for 0≤Pr≤100 with or without the application of an external pressure gradient, where the secondary flow takes the form of travelling waves (TWs) that are spanwise-independent (see works of Nagata and Generalis). In this work, in contrast to work already reported (J. Heat Trans. T. ASME 124 (2002) 635-642), we examine transition where the secondary flow takes the form of longitudinal rolls (LRs), which are independent of the steamwise direction, for Pr=7 and for a specific value of the angle of inclination of the fluid layer without the application of an external pressure gradient. We find possible bifurcation points of the secondary flow by performing a linear stability analysis that determines the neutral curve, where the basic flow, which can have two inflection points, loses stability. The linear stability of the secondary flow against three-dimensional perturbations is also examined numerically for the same value of the angle of inclination by employing Floquet theory. We identify possible bifurcation points for the tertiary flow and show that the bifurcation can be either monotone or oscillatory. © 2003 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

The influence of fixation points on contrast detection and discrimination of patches of grating: Masking and facilitation

The use of fixation points (FPs) in visual psychophysics is common practice, though the costs and benefits of different fixation regimens have not been compared. Here we investigate the influence of several different types of FP configurations on the contrast detection of patches of sine-wave gratings. We find that for small targets (1°), the addition of a superimposed central FP can increase thresholds by a factor of 1.3 (2.5 dB) in comparison with no FP, and a factor of 1.5 (3.6 dB) in comparison with FPs that surround the target. These results are consistent with (i) a suppressive influence on the central region of the target from a central FP, and (ii) facilitatory influences from surrounding FPs. Our analysis of the slope of the psychometric function suggests that the facilitatory influence is not due to reduction of uncertainty. Plausible candidate causes for the facilitation are: (i) sensory interactions, (ii) aids to ocular accommodation and convergence, (iii) a reduction in eye-movements and (iv) more accurate placement of the observer’s window of attention. Masking by a central FP is not found for the suprathreshold task of contrast discrimination, suggesting that the masking effects of pedestal and FP do not combine linearly. This means that estimates of the level of masking produced by a contrast pedestal can depend on the details of the fixation point.

Non-periodic quasi-stable nonlinear optical carrier pulses with sliding chirp-free points for transmission at 40 Gbit/s rate

In this paper, we demonstrate the possibility of reaching a quasi-stable nonlinear transmission regime with carrier pulses of 12.5 ps width in multi-channel 40 Gbit/s systems. The quasi-stable pulses that are presented in this work for the first time are not dispersion-managed solitons, and are indeed supported by a large normal span average dispersion and misbalanced optical amplification, and representing a new type of nonlinear carrier.

Estimation of uncertainty in three-dimensional coordinate measurement by comparison with calibrated points

This paper details a method of estimating the uncertainty of dimensional measurement for a three-dimensional coordinate measurement machine. An experimental procedure was developed to compare three-dimensional coordinate measurements with calibrated reference points. The reference standard used to calibrate these reference points was a fringe counting interferometer with a multilateration-like technique employed to establish three-dimensional coordinates. This is an extension of the established technique of comparing measured lengths with calibrated lengths. Specifically a distributed coordinate measurement device was tested which consisted of a network of Rotary-Laser Automatic Theodolites (R-LATs), this system is known commercially as indoor GPS (iGPS). The method was found to be practical and was used to estimate that the uncertainty of measurement for the basic iGPS system is approximately 1 mm at a 95% confidence level throughout a measurement volume of approximately 10 m × 10 m × 1.5 m. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Evaluation in translation:critical points of translator decision-making

Book review: Evaluation in Translation: Critical Points of Translator Decision-Making, by Jeremy Munday, London, Routledge, 2012, 194 pp., £95 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-415-57769-4, £26.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-415-57770-0.

Verification of the indoor gps system by comparison with points calibrated using a network of laser tracker measurements

This paper details a method of determining the uncertainty of dimensional measurement for a three dimensional coordinate measurement machine. An experimental procedure was developed to compare three dimensional coordinate measurements with calibrated reference points. The reference standard used to calibrate these reference points was a fringe counting interferometer with the multilateration technique employed to establish three dimensional coordinates. This is an extension of the established technique of comparing measured lengths with calibrated lengths. Specifically a distributed coordinate measurement device was tested which consisted of a network of Rotary-Laser Automatic Theodolites (R-LATs), this system is known commercially as indoor GPS (iGPS). The method was found to be practical and able to establish that the expanded uncertainty of the basic iGPS system was approximately 1 mm at a 95% confidence level. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.