Dynamic Pricing Model for the Operation of Closed-Loop Supply Chain System

A class of closed-loop supply chain system consisting of one manufacturer and one supplier is designed, in which re-distribution, remanufacturing and reuse are considered synthetically. The manufacturer is in charge of recollecting and re-disposal the used products. Demands of ultimate products and collecting quantity of used products are described as the function of prices and reference prices. A non-linear dynamic pricing model for this closed-loop supply chain is established. A numerical example is designed, and the results of this example verified the model’s validity to price for the operation of closed-loop supply chain system.

An Early Cretaceous gold mineralization event in the Triassic West Qinling orogen revealed from U-Pb titanite dating of the Ma'anqiao gold deposit

The West Qinling orogen in central China,formed from continental collision between the North China and Yangtze cratons in the Late Triassic,hosts numerous gold deposits with a total Au endowment of about 2000 t.Most deposits were emplaced at ca.250-195 Ma and are genetically associated with the Triassic orogenesis.Here in situ U-Pb titanite dating with laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicates the Ma’anqiao gold deposit in the northern portion of this orogen has a distinctive age and under a contrasting tectonic regime.This structurally controlled gold deposit is hosted in Late Ordovician to Early Silurian sub-greenschist facies metasedimentary rocks.The gold mineralization is hosted in quartz-pyritepyrrhotite veins and pyrite-pyrrhotite disseminations in hydrothermally altered rocks,which are crosscut by K-feldspar-calcitechlorite±pyrite veins.Titanite,present both in the disseminated sulfide ores and later veins,was used for in situ U-Pb dating.Titanite from three disseminated sulfide ore samples with Th and U averaging 27.46 and 39.31 ppm(1 ppm=1μg g^(-1)),respectively,yielded lower-intercept ages of 121.1±3.1 to 120.7±3.5 Ma(2σ)in the Tera-Wasserburg diagram.Titanite from three later vein samples with much lower Th and U concentrations averaging 2.74 and 16.21 ppm,respectively,yielded overlapping ages of 120.8±3.2 to 120.3±5.8 Ma(2σ).These new titanite U-Pb ages tightly constrain the formation of the Ma’anqiao gold deposit at ca.121-120 Ma and,when combined with independent geological data,indicate it is not related to the Triassic Qinling orogeny.Rather,its formation is attributed to lithospheric thinning and destruction of the North China craton during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous which has generated numerous gold deposits along the southern margin of this craton.This catastrophic event caused extensive magmatism in large areas of the North Qinling terrane and northern edge of the West Qinling orogen immediately to the south of the North China craton.The heat flux and elevated geothermal gradients associated with this magmatism could have induced prograde metamorphism of the Paleozoic sedimentary infrastructure in and beneath these areas with the derived fluids ascending along pre-existing crustal-scale regional structures to form the Ma’anqiao gold deposit.We suggest that areas in the North Qinling terrane that have been affected by the Late Mesozoic magmatism are potential targets for future exploration of the decratonization-related gold deposits.Additionally,this study highlights the use of titanite U-Pb dating as a robust geochronometer for metasedimentary rock-hosted gold deposits in Phanerozoic orogens,which has previously not been utilized.

White light interferometry with spectral-temporal demodulation for large-range thickness measurement

Film thickness measurement can be realized using white light interferometry,but it is challenging to guarantee high precision in a large range of thicknesses.Based on scanning white light interferometry,we propose a spectral-temporal demodulation scheme for large-range thickness measurement.The demodulation process remains unchanged for either coatings or substrate-free films,while some adjustments are made according to the estimated optical thickness.Experiments show that the single-point repeatabilities for 500 nm SiO_(2) coating and 68μm substrate-free Si film are no more than 0.70 nm and 1.22 nm,respectively.This method can be further developed for simultaneous measurement of surface profile and film thickness.

AKG/OXGR1 promotes skeletal muscle blood flow and metabolism by relaxing vascular smooth muscle

In response to contraction during exercise,skeletal muscle growth and metabolism are dynamically regulated by nerve action,blood flow,and metabolic feedback.α-Ketoglutarate(AKG),a bioactive intermediate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle released during exercise,has been shown to promote skeletal muscle hypertrophy.However,the underlying mechanism of AKG in regulating skeletal muscle development and metabolism is still less known.2-Oxoglutarate receptor 1(OXGR1),the endogenous AKG receptor,is found to be distributed in the vascular smooth muscle(VSM)of skeletal muscles.OXGR1 knockout results in skeletal muscle atrophy,accompanied by decreased expression of myosin heavy chain I(MyHC I),capillary density,and endurance exercise capacity.Furthermore,the study found that dietary AKG supplementation increased mice endurance exercise distance,MyHC I/MyHC IIb ratio,arteriole,and capillary densities in skeletal muscle.Meanwhile,acute AKG administration gradually increased the blood flow in the lower limbs.Further,by using OXGR1 global knockout and OXGR1 VSM-specific(MYH11-Cre×OXGR1-FloxP)knockdown models,we found that OXGR1 in VSM is essential for AKG-induced improvement of skeletal muscle performances.According to the in vitro study,AKG expanded the cell area in VSM with a decreased intracellular pH by OXGR1.Our results demonstrated a novel role of AKG/OXGR1 in VSM of skeletal muscle to regulate blood flow and then enhance slow muscle fiber conversion and capillarization.These findings provide a theoretical basis for the AKG/OXGR1 signaling pathway to maintain human muscle function and improve meat production and livestock and poultry meat quality.

Prediction of Primary Frequency Regulation Capability of Power System Based on Deep Belief Network

The primary frequency response ability plays a crucial role in the rapid recovery and stability of the power grid when the grid is disturbed to generate a power imbalance.In order to predict the primary frequency control ability of power system,a new model is proposed based on deep belief networks.The key feature of the proposed model lies in the fact that it considers three key factors,i.e.,disturbance information,system state feature,and unit operation mode.Through this way,it predicts the primary frequency control ability of the power system accurately.The simulation results on real power system data verify the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed model.