Radio frequency identification and time-driven activity based costing:RFID-TDABC application in warehousing

Purpose: This paper extends the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) data for accounting of warehouse costs and services. Time Driven Activity Based Costing (TDABC) methodology is enhanced with the real-time collected RFID data about duration of warehouse activities. This allows warehouse managers to have accurate and instant calculations of costs. The RFID enhanced TDABC (RFID-TDABC) is proposed as a novel application of the RFID technology. Research Approach: Application of RFID-TDABC in a warehouse is implemented on warehouse processes of a case study company. Implementation covers receiving, put-away, order picking, and despatching. Findings and Originality: RFID technology is commonly used for the identification and tracking items. The use of the RFID generated information with the TDABC can be successfully extended to the area of costing. This RFID-TDABC costing model will benefit warehouse managers with accurate and instant calculations of costs. Research Impact: There are still unexplored benefits to RFID technology in its applications in warehousing and the wider supply chain. A multi-disciplinary research approach led to combining RFID technology and TDABC accounting method in order to propose RFID-TDABC. Combining methods and theories from different fields with RFID, may lead researchers to develop new techniques such as RFID-TDABC presented in this paper. Practical Impact: RFID-TDABC concept will be of value to practitioners by showing how warehouse costs can be accurately measured by using this approach. Providing better understanding of incurred costs may result in a further optimisation of warehousing operations, lowering costs of activities, and thus provide competitive pricing to customers. RFID-TDABC can be applied in a wider supply chain.

Essays in Empirical Operations Management: Bayesian Learning of Service Quality and Structural Estimation of Complementary Product Pricing and Inventory Management

This dissertation contributes to the rapidly growing empirical research area in the field of operations management. It contains two essays, tackling two different sets of operations management questions which are motivated by and built on field data sets from two very different industries --- air cargo logistics and retailing.

The first essay, based on the data set obtained from a world leading third-party logistics company, develops a novel and general Bayesian hierarchical learning framework for estimating customers' spillover learning, that is, customers' learning about the quality of a service (or product) from their previous experiences with similar yet not identical services. We then apply our model to the data set to study how customers' experiences from shipping on a particular route affect their future decisions about shipping not only on that route, but also on other routes serviced by the same logistics company. We find that customers indeed borrow experiences from similar but different services to update their quality beliefs that determine future purchase decisions. Also, service quality beliefs have a significant impact on their future purchasing decisions. Moreover, customers are risk averse; they are averse to not only experience variability but also belief uncertainty (i.e., customer's uncertainty about their beliefs). Finally, belief uncertainty affects customers' utilities more compared to experience variability.

The second essay is based on a data set obtained from a large Chinese supermarket chain, which contains sales as well as both wholesale and retail prices of un-packaged perishable vegetables. Recognizing the special characteristics of this particularly product category, we develop a structural estimation model in a discrete-continuous choice model framework. Building on this framework, we then study an optimization model for joint pricing and inventory management strategies of multiple products, which aims at improving the company's profit from direct sales and at the same time reducing food waste and thus improving social welfare.

Collectively, the studies in this dissertation provide useful modeling ideas, decision tools, insights, and guidance for firms to utilize vast sales and operations data to devise more effective business strategies.

Radiocarbon dating and alkenone-based proxies of sediment core GeoB7702-3

In this study we utilize two organic geochemical proxies, the Uk'37 index and TEX86, to examine past sea surface temperatures (SST) from a site located near the Nile River Delta in the eastern Mediterranean (EM) Sea. The Uk'37 and TEX86 records generally are in agreement and indicate SST ranges of 14°C-26°C and 14°C-28°C, respectively, during the last 27 cal ka. During the Holocene, TEX86-based SST estimates are usually higher than Uk'37-based SST estimates, which is likely due to seasonal differences between the timing of the haptophyte and crenarchaeota blooms in the EM and is related to the onset of the modern flow regime of the Nile River. Both records show that SST varied on centennial to millennial timescales in response to global climate events, i.e., cooling during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), Heinrich event 1 (H1), and the Younger Dryas (YD) and warming during the Bølling-Allerød and in the early Holocene during deposition of sapropel S1. The H1 cooling was particularly severe and is marked by a drop in SST of ~4.5°C in comparison to pre-H1 SST, with temperatures >1°C cooler than during the LGM. In contrast to high-latitude and western Mediterranean records, which indicate both an abrupt onset and termination of the YD event, the transition from the YD to the Holocene was much more gradual in the EM.

Overview on bio-based building material made with plant aggregate

Global warming, energy savings, and life cycle analysis issues are factors that have contributed to the rapid expansion of plant-based materials for buildings, which can be qualified as environmental-friendly, sustainable and efficient multifunctional materials. This review presents an overview on the several possibilities developed worldwide about the use of plant aggregate to design bio-based building materials. The use of crushed vegetal aggregates such as hemp (shiv), flax, coconut shells and other plants associated to mineral binder represents the most popular solution adopted in the beginning of this revolution in building materials. Vegetal aggregates are generally highly porous with a low apparent density and a complex architecture marked by a multi-scale porosity. These geometrical characteristics result in a high capacity to absorb sounds and have hygro-thermal transfer ability. This is one of the essential characteristics which differ of vegetal concrete compared to the tradition mineral-based concretes. In addition, the high flexibility of the aggregates leads to a non-fragile elasto-plastic behavior and a high deformability under stress, lack of fracturing and marked ductility with absorbance of the strains ever after having reached the maximum mechanical strength. Due to the sensitivity to moisture, the assessment of the durability of vegetal concrete constitutes one of the next scientific challenging of bio-based building materials.

Three Essays in Empirical Asset Pricing

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 led to extraordinary government intervention in firms and markets. The scope and depth of government action rivaled that of the Great Depression. Many traded markets experienced dramatic declines in liquidity leading to the existence of conditions normally assumed to be promptly removed via the actions of profit seeking arbitrageurs. These extreme events motivate the three essays in this work. The first essay seeks and fails to find evidence of investor behavior consistent with the broad 'Too Big To Fail' policies enacted during the crisis by government agents. Only in limited circumstances, where government guarantees such as deposit insurance or U.S. Treasury lending lines already existed, did investors impart a premium to the debt security prices of firms under stress. The second essay introduces the Inflation Indexed Swap Basis (IIS Basis) in examining the large differences between cash and derivative markets based upon future U.S. inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). It reports the consistent positive value of this measure as well as the very large positive values it reached in the fourth quarter of 2008 after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. It concludes that the IIS Basis continues to exist due to limitations in market liquidity and hedging alternatives. The third essay explores the methodology of performing debt based event studies utilizing credit default swaps (CDS). It provides practical implementation advice to researchers to address limited source data and/or small target firm sample size.

Effects of Information and Time of Use Pricing on Irish Electricity Demand and Supply

In this dissertation I quantify residential behavior response to interventions designed to reduce electricity demand at different periods of the day. In the first chapter, I examine the effect of information provision coupled with bimonthly billing, monthly billing, and in-home displays, as well as a time-of-use (TOU) pricing scheme to measure consumption over each month of the Irish Consumer Behavior Trial. I find that time-of-use pricing with real time usage information reduces electricity usage up to 8.7 percent during peak times at the start of the trial but the effect decays over the first three months and after three months the in-home display group is indistinguishable from the monthly treatment group. Monthly and bi-monthly billing treatments are not found to be statistically different from another. These findings suggest that increasing billing reports to the monthly level may be more cost effective for electricity generators who wish to decrease expenses and consumption, rather than providing in-home displays. In the following chapter, I examine the response of residential households after exposure to time of use tariffs at different hours of the day. I find that these treatments reduce electricity consumption during peak hours by almost four percent, significantly lowering demand. Within the model, I find evidence of overall conservation in electricity used. In addition, weekday peak reductions appear to carry over to the weekend when peak pricing is not present, suggesting changes in consumer habit. The final chapter of my dissertation imposes a system wide time of use plan to analyze the potential reduction in carbon emissions from load shifting based on the Ireland and Northern Single Electricity Market. I find that CO2 emissions savings are highest during the winter months when load demand is highest and dirtier power plants are scheduled to meet peak demand. TOU pricing allows for shifting in usage from peak usage to off peak usage and this shift in load can be met with cleaner and cheaper generated electricity from imports, high efficiency gas units, and hydro units.

The meaning of implied volatility in pricing stock options traded in options markets

Ph.D. in the Faculty of Business Administration

Pricing recreation use of national parks for an efficient nature conservation : an application to the portuguese case

Current institutions, research, and legislation have not yet been sufficient to achieve the conservation level of Nature as required by the society. One of the reasons that explains this relative failure is the lack of incentives to motivate local individual and Nature users in general, to adopt behaviour compliant with Nature sustainable uses. Economists believe that, from the welfare point of view, pricing is the more efficient way to make economic actors to take more environmental friendly decisions. In this paper we will discuss how efficient can be the act of pricing the recreation use of a specific natural area, in terms of maximising welfare. The main conservation issues for pricing recreation use, as well as the conditions under which pricing will be an efficient and fair instrument for the natural area will be outlined. We will conclude two things. Firstly that, from the rational utilitarian economic behaviour point of view, economic efficiency can only be achieved if the natural area has positive and known recreation marginal costs under the relevant range of the marshallian demand recreation curve and if price system management is not costly. Secondly, in order to guarantee equity for the different type of visitors when charging the fee, it is necessary to discuss differential price systems. We shall see that even if marginal recreation costs exist but are unknown, pricing recreation is still an equity instrument and a useful one from the conservation perspective, as we shall demonstrate through an empirical application to the Portuguese National Park. An individual Travel Cost Method Approach will be used to estimate the recreation price that will be set equal to the visitor’s marginal willingness to pay for a day of visit in the national park. Although not efficient, under certain conditions this can be considered a fair pricing practice, because some of the negative recreation externalities will be internalised. We shall discuss the conditions that guarantee equity on charging for the Portuguese case.

THE EFFECT OF ANNEALING ON AMORPHOUS SILICON BASED SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC THERMAL SYSTEM (PV/T) AND APPROPRIATE GLOBAL DISPATCH STRATEGIES

Previous work has shown that high-temperature short-term spike thermal annealing of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems results in higher electrical energy output. The relationship between temperature and performance of a-Si:H PVT is not simple as high temperatures during thermal annealing improves the immediate electrical performance following an anneal, but during the anneal it creates a marked drop in electrical performance. In addition, the power generation of a-Si:H PVT depends on both the environmental conditions and the Staebler-Wronski Effect kinetics. In order to improve the performance of a-Si:H PVT systems further, this paper reports on the effect of various dispatch strategies on system electrical performance. Utilizing experimental results from thermal annealing, an annealing model simulation for a-Si:Hbased PVT was developed and applied to different cities in the U.S. to investigate potential geographic effects on the dispatch optimization of the overall electrical PVT systems performance and annual electrical yield. The results showed that spike thermal annealing once per day maximized the improved electrical energy generation. In the outdoor operating condition this ideal behavior deteriorates and optimization rules are required to be implemented.

Using alcohol unit-marked glasses enhances capacity to monitor intake:evidence from a mixed-method intervention trial

AIMS: In the UK, people tend to have poor knowledge of government guidelines for alcohol use, and lack the motivation and skills required to use them to monitor their drinking. The study aim was to determine whether using glasses marked with such guidelines would improve knowledge and attitudes, increase frequency of counting units and lower alcohol intake. METHODS: A total of 450 adults in the UK participated in an intervention vs control study with 1-month follow-up. The intervention group was encouraged to use glasses supplied by the researchers that indicated the unit content of drinks of different strengths and volumes, and stated the intake guidelines. Data were collected online. A further more in-depth interview with 13 intervention group participants enquired into their experiences of using the glasses. RESULTS: Analyses adjusted for baseline variables showed that the intervention improved the following: knowledge of unit-based guidelines, ability to estimate the unit content of drinks, attitudes toward the guidelines and frequency of counting unit intake. However, there was no significant difference in alcohol consumption between the groups at follow-up. Interviews suggested that the glasses encouraged people to think about their drinking and to discuss alcohol with other people. The design of the glasses was not appealing to all, and their initial impact did not always persist. CONCLUSION: Use of unit-marked glasses led to changes in people's reported use of unit-based guidelines to monitor their drinking but, in the short term, no change in consumption. Qualitative data suggested that the glasses could have an impact at the individual level (on knowledge and attitudes) and at a broader level (by prompting discussion of alcohol use).

Assessing the role of Mediterranean evergreen oaks canopy cover in land surface albedo and temperature using a remote sensing-based approach

Modifications in vegetation cover can have an impact on the climate through changes in biogeochemical and biogeophysical processes. In this paper, the tree canopy cover percentage of a savannah-like ecosystem (montado/dehesa) was estimated at Landsat pixel level for 2011, and the role of different canopy cover percentages on land surface albedo (LSA) and land surface temperature (LST) were analysed. A modelling procedure using a SGB machine-learning algorithm and Landsat 5-TM spectral bands and derived vegetation indices as explanatory variables, showed that the estimation of montado canopy cover was obtained with good agreement (R2 = 78.4%). Overall, montado canopy cover estimations showed that low canopy cover class (MT_1) is the most representative with 50.63% of total montado area. MODIS LSA and LST products were used to investigate the magnitude of differences in mean annual LSA and LST values between contrasting montado canopy cover percentages. As a result, it was found a significant statistical relationship between montado canopy cover percentage and mean annual surface albedo (R2 = 0.866, p < 0.001) and surface temperature (R2 = 0.942, p < 0.001). The comparisons between the four contrasting montado canopy cover classes showed marked differences in LSA (χ2 = 192.17, df = 3, p < 0.001) and LST (χ2 = 318.18, df = 3, p < 0.001). The highest montado canopy cover percentage (MT_4) generally had lower albedo than lowest canopy cover class, presenting a difference of −11.2% in mean annual albedo values. It was also showed that MT_4 and MT_3 are the cooler canopy cover classes, and MT_2 and MT_1 the warmer, where MT_1 class had a difference of 3.42 °C compared with MT_4 class. Overall, this research highlighted the role that potential changes in montado canopy cover may play in local land surface albedo and temperature variations, as an increase in these two biogeophysical parameters may potentially bring about, in the long term, local/regional climatic changes moving towards greater aridity.

Feasibility assessment of sugarcane expansion in southwest Goiás, Brazil based on the GIS technology.

The current study approaches the sugarcane culture expansion in Southwestern Goiás, especially in Mineiros, Quirinópolis and Rio Verde counties, which represent different times and responses to this process. The current logistics structure and future prospects for sugarcane and its derivatives transportation are studied at national level with emphasis to the aforementioned micro-region. Maps showing land use and land cover in three different years were generated from Landsat TM-5 satellite images and they were used to analyze the dynamics of changes in land use and in land cover. The region is marked by strong and rapid growth in the agricultural sector and its sugar-energy industry has been expanding in recent years, although with different aspects among its counties. Since it is a promising region in this sector, due to the favorable soil and weather conditions to the crop, the region requires more investment and planning in logistics to ensure production flow and to make it stronger within domestic and foreign markets.

[almost An Autobiography: A Study Of Social Scientists In Health Based On The Lattes Curriculum].

Among the various ways of adopting the biographical approach, we used the curriculum vitaes (CVs) of Brazilian researchers who work as social scientists in health as our research material. These CVs are part of the Lattes Platform of CNPq - the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, which includes Research and Institutional Directories. We analyzed 238 CVs for this study. The CVs contain, among other things, the following information: professional qualifications, activities and projects, academic production, participation in panels for the evaluation of theses and dissertations, research centers and laboratories and a summarized autobiography. In this work there is a brief review of the importance of autobiography for the social sciences, emphasizing the CV as a form of autobiographical practice. We highlight some results, such as it being a group consisting predominantly of women, graduates in social sciences, anthropology, sociology or political science, with postgraduate degrees. The highest concentration of social scientists is located in Brazil's southern and southeastern regions. In some institutions the main activities of social scientists are as teachers and researchers with great thematic diversity in research.

Phylogenetics, Ancestral State Reconstruction, And A New Infrafamilial Classification Of The Pantropical Ochnaceae (medusagynaceae, Ochnaceae S.str., Quiinaceae) Based On Five Dna Regions.

Ochnaceae s.str. (Malpighiales) are a pantropical family of about 500 species and 27 genera of almost exclusively woody plants. Infrafamilial classification and relationships have been controversial partially due to the lack of a robust phylogenetic framework. Including all genera except Indosinia and Perissocarpa and DNA sequence data for five DNA regions (ITS, matK, ndhF, rbcL, trnL-F), we provide for the first time a nearly complete molecular phylogenetic analysis of Ochnaceae s.l. resolving most of the phylogenetic backbone of the family. Based on this, we present a new classification of Ochnaceae s.l., with Medusagynoideae and Quiinoideae included as subfamilies and the former subfamilies Ochnoideae and Sauvagesioideae recognized at the rank of tribe. Our data support a monophyletic Ochneae, but Sauvagesieae in the traditional circumscription is paraphyletic because Testulea emerges as sister to the rest of Ochnoideae, and the next clade shows Luxemburgia+Philacra as sister group to the remaining Ochnoideae. To avoid paraphyly, we classify Luxemburgieae and Testuleeae as new tribes. The African genus Lophira, which has switched between subfamilies (here tribes) in past classifications, emerges as sister to all other Ochneae. Thus, endosperm-free seeds and ovules with partly to completely united integuments (resulting in an apparently single integument) are characters that unite all members of that tribe. The relationships within its largest clade, Ochnineae (former Ochneae), are poorly resolved, but former Ochninae (Brackenridgea, Ochna) are polyphyletic. Within Sauvagesieae, the genus Sauvagesia in its broad circumscription is polyphyletic as Sauvagesia serrata is sister to a clade of Adenarake, Sauvagesia spp., and three other genera. Within Quiinoideae, in contrast to former phylogenetic hypotheses, Lacunaria and Touroulia form a clade that is sister to Quiina. Bayesian ancestral state reconstructions showed that zygomorphic flowers with adaptations to buzz-pollination (poricidal anthers), a syncarpous gynoecium (a near-apocarpous gynoecium evolved independently in Quiinoideae and Ochninae), numerous ovules, septicidal capsules, and winged seeds with endosperm are the ancestral condition in Ochnoideae. Although in some lineages poricidal anthers were lost secondarily, the evolution of poricidal superstructures secured the maintenance of buzz-pollination in some of these genera, indicating a strong selective pressure on keeping that specialized pollination system.

Ihwg-μnir: A Miniaturised Near-infrared Gas Sensor Based On Substrate-integrated Hollow Waveguides Coupled To A Micro-nir-spectrophotometer.

A miniaturised gas analyser is described and evaluated based on the use of a substrate-integrated hollow waveguide (iHWG) coupled to a microsized near-infrared spectrophotometer comprising a linear variable filter and an array of InGaAs detectors. This gas sensing system was applied to analyse surrogate samples of natural fuel gas containing methane, ethane, propane and butane, quantified by using multivariate regression models based on partial least square (PLS) algorithms and Savitzky-Golay 1(st) derivative data preprocessing. The external validation of the obtained models reveals root mean square errors of prediction of 0.37, 0.36, 0.67 and 0.37% (v/v), for methane, ethane, propane and butane, respectively. The developed sensing system provides particularly rapid response times upon composition changes of the gaseous sample (approximately 2 s) due the minute volume of the iHWG-based measurement cell. The sensing system developed in this study is fully portable with a hand-held sized analyser footprint, and thus ideally suited for field analysis. Last but not least, the obtained results corroborate the potential of NIR-iHWG analysers for monitoring the quality of natural gas and petrochemical gaseous products.