Assessing the value of demand sharing in supply chains

We consider the problem of assessing the value of demand sharing in a multistage supply chain in which the retailer observes stationary autoregressive moving average demand with Gaussian white noise (shocks). Similar to previous research, we assume each supply chain player constructs its best linear forecast of the leadtime demand and uses it to determine the order quantity via a periodic review myopic order‐up‐to policy. We demonstrate how a typical supply chain player can determine the extent of its available information in the presence of demand sharing by studying the properties of the moving average polynomials of adjacent supply chain players. The retailer's demand is driven by the random shocks appearing in the autoregressive moving average representation for its demand. Under the assumptions we will make in this article, to the retailer, knowing the shock information is equivalent to knowing the demand process (assuming that the model parameters are also known). Thus (in the event of sharing) the retailer's demand sequence and shock sequence would contain the same information to the retailer's supplier. We will show that, once we consider the dynamics of demand propagation further up the chain, it may be that a player's demand and shock sequences will contain different levels of information for an upstream player. Hence, we study how a player can determine its available information under demand sharing, and use this information to forecast leadtime demand. We characterize the value of demand sharing for a typical supply chain player. Furthermore, we show conditions under which (i) it is equivalent to no sharing, (ii) it is equivalent to full information shock sharing, and (iii) it is intermediate in value to the two previously described arrangements. Although it follows from existing literature that demand sharing is equivalent to full information shock sharing between a retailer and supplier, we demonstrate and characterize when this result does not generalize to upstream supply chain players. We then show that demand propagates through a supply chain where any player may share nothing, its demand, or its full information shocks (FIS) with an adjacent upstream player as quasi‐ARMA in—quasi‐ARMA out. We also provide a convenient form for the propagation of demand in a supply chain that will lend itself to future research applications. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 515–531, 2014     

Poachers turned gamekeepers: A study of the guerrilla phenomenon in Spain, 1808–1840

This article modifies the associations made by historians and political scientists of Spanish guerrilla warfare with revolutionary insurgency. First, it explains how the guerrilla phenomenon moved from a Leftist to a reactionary symbol. Second, it compares the insurgency and counter-insurgency features of the Carlist War (1833–1840) with those of the better-known Peninsular War (1808–1814). Third, it shows how erstwhile guerrilla leaders during the Carlist War made their expertise available to the counter-insurgency, in a socio-economic as well as military setting. This article revises the social banditry paradigm in nineteenth-century Spain in the under-researched context of Europe bloodiest nineteenth-century civil war.     

某型运载火箭地震响应分析及减震设计

竖立状态的运载火箭一旦遭遇地震,极易造成箭体倾倒等灾难性后果。为了确保运载火箭在地震中的安全,针对某型运载火箭,采用时程分析法对其进行地震响应分析,得到了火箭的弯矩、位移响应峰值沿箭体纵向的分布规律。分析了火箭关键位置处弯矩响应的频域特性,设计了火箭的减震措施,并分析了火箭与发射台的连接刚度、隔震支座刚度对火箭地震响应的影响规律。结果表明:火箭弯矩响应的最大值发生在靠近火箭尾段的位置,位移响应的最大值发生在火箭头部位置;改变火箭与发射台连接刚度以及在发射台底部加装隔震支座的方式可以有效地减小火箭的地震响应。     

The political economy of drones

This paper provides a political economy analysis of the evolution of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or ‘drones’ in the USA. Focus is placed on the interplay between the polity and private economic influences, and their impact on the trajectory of political, economic, and military outcomes. We identify the initial formation of the drone industry, trace how the initial relationships between the military and the private sector expanded over time, and discuss present relationships. Understanding the historical evolution of UAV technology, as well as the major players in the industry today, is important for ongoing policy debates regarding the use of drones both domestically and internationally.     

TERRORISM: FACTS FROM FIGURES 1

If international terrorism is on a rising trend, an important source of confirmation or refutation of this is time‐series data on terrorist activity. Using chiefly data collected by the RAND/MIPT consortium we show using basic statistical analysis that in the period 1968–2005 the yearly number of all international terrorist incidents shows no trend over time, but fluctuates year on year in a random manner. On the other hand some indicators do show a definite trend over time, principally the steady rise in the number of incidents that are death‐dealing in nature. A further conclusion is drawn, showing that the proportion of these incidents leading to deaths above a given level is virtually fixed.     

INCOMPLETE ROHLFS–SULLIVAN ANALYSIS OF THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF ARMORED TACTICAL WHEELED VEHICLES FOR OVERSEAS US ARMY OPERATIONS

This comment addresses the Rohlfs–Sullivan analysis titled: ‘The Cost-Effectiveness of Armored Tactical Wheeled Vehicles [TWVs] for Overseas US Army Operations.’ The analysis evaluated policies to replace Type 1 and 2 TWVs with Type 3s. There is no evidence the analysis factored in fatality causes, fatality relationships to vehicles, or compared survivability of vehicles. Furthermore, it did not note when Type 3 TWVs were requested, when they impacted fatalities, or TWV use policies. It also assumed Type 3 TWVs prompted negative unit behaviors while discounting evidence of positive behaviors. In summary, the analysis is incomplete and should be revised.     

履带车辆下长坡液力辅助制动控制策略仿真研究

针对履带车辆下长坡制动过程中不同制动力的分配关系,在液力减速器和整车下坡动力学分析的基础上,研究了基于液力辅助制动的履带车辆下长坡制动控制策略,建立了基于SIMULINK的履带车辆整车动态仿真模型,对液力减速器的持续制动性能和控制策略的有效性进行了仿真．结果表明,车辆下坡持续制动时,适时应用液力减速器,能够有效分流整车制动功率,明显降低机械制动器的工作负荷,满足整车安全恒速下坡的要求．     

基于Matlab四杆式液压起落机构运动学与动力学分析

提出了一种可用于加油卷盘升降的四杆式液压起落机构的设计方案。分析了四杆式液压起落机构的工作原理,采用复数向量法建立了运动学和动力学数学模型。利用Matlab软件编制了相应的程序进行实例分析和计算,得到了机构关键点的仿真轨迹和有关构件的角位移、角速度及角加速度曲线。运用理论分析计算和软件仿真,验证了机构设计的合理性和方案的可行性。     

Conserving a Late Eighteenth–Early Nineteenth Century Indian Helmet: A Technical Study

This paper describes the treatment of a distinctive late eighteenth/early nineteenth-century helmet from Gwalior in India known as a kolah khud or top. The fine mail aventail of the helmet, comprised of butted rings of iron or steel and brass, had fallen into a severe state of disrepair and was at risk of further deterioration without interventive conservation. The processes of replicating new mail rings and integrating these into the original structure as well as cleaning the helmet are discussed together with an analysis of the ethical implications of such actions.     

姿态角单次调整的固体运载火箭耗尽关机能量管理方法

固体运载火箭传统耗尽关机制导方法姿态角调整次数过多,不利于控制系统设计。提出了姿态角单次调整的耗尽关机能量管理策略:以火箭的待增视速度方向为基准,通过计算火箭所需耗费的视速度,优化选取火箭的初、末姿态角;火箭以恒定角速率从初姿态角变为末姿态角,达到末姿态角时保持恒定,直至耗尽关机。仿真结果表明,新方法在满足火箭的终端速度约束条件下,视速度模量耗费百分比超过30%,且姿态角单向调整,有利于控制系统的工程设计。