Optimal Policy for Remanufacturing Firms with Carbon Options under Service Requirements

This paper studies the procurement management of carbon financial instruments and the production decisions for an emission-dependent remanufacturing firm under service requirements.In the presence of demand uncertainty,carbon emission options are introduced to hedge risks for the firm who purchases carbon financial instruments under a cap-flexible emission trading scheme(ETS)and then conducts remanufacturing.We develop three optimization models to determine the optimal remanufacturing quantity(procurement quantity of carbon financial instruments)maximizing the firm's expected profit under three contracts:a pure wholesale price contract,a pure carbon option contract,and a portfolio contract.Through analyses and comparisons of optimal solutions,we demonstrate the values of introducing carbon options and committing to service levels for the firm.Compared with the other two pure contracts,the portfolio contract makes the firm better off.However,high service requirements may lead to a profit loss to the firm.We generalize to the cases when the yield rate is dependent on the quality of used products,when the yield is stochastic,and when carbon price performs volatility.Discussion of these extensions illuminates how the variability of used product quality,yield rate and carbon price influences the firm's performances.

Technical Requirements and System Architecture of IPTV Services

Delivering IPTV services entails a complex integration of a variety of industries as well as the support of network,computer,and image processing technologies. That is to say,the IPTV architecture should carry a myriad of services and technologies. In light of current telecom/TV status,the IPTV architecture can be set up on the convergence of the three networks to deliver comprehensive services and make Live TV,TV on Demand (TVOD),and Time-shifted TV services accessible on one platform. It also supports local and cross-regional user and service certification,provides EPG and smooth TV images and guarantees secured content as well.

Press Conference for Issuing National Standard——Target Text Quality Requirements for Translation Services

On June 2nd,the press conference for issuing the national standard—Target Text Quality Requirements for Translation Services was held in Beijing,jointly hosted by China Association for Standardization (CAS),Translator Association of China (TAC),China Translation and Publishing Corporation (CTPC) and China Shipol Information Center.

Optimal ordering policy for platelets:Data-driven method vs model-driven method

Platelets,one of the most significant materials in treating leukemia,have a limited shelf life of approximately five days.Because platelets cannot be manufactured and can only be centrifuged from whole or donated blood directly,an accurate ordering policy is necessary for the efficient use of this limited blood resource.Given this motivation,the present study examines an ordering policy for platelets to minimize the expected shortage and overage.Rather than using the two-step model-driven method that first fits a demand distribution and then optimizes the order quantity,we solve the issue using an integrated datadriven method.Specifically,the data-driven method works directly with demand data and does not rely on the assumption of demand distribution.Consequently,we derive theoretical insights into the optimal solutions.Through a comparative analysis,we find that the data-driven method has a mean anchoring effect,and the amounts of shortage and overage reduced by this method are greater than those reduced by the model-driven method.Finally,we present an extended model with the service level requirement and conclude that the order decided by the data-driven method can precisely satisfy the service level requirement;however,the order decided by the model-driven method may be either higher or lower than the service level requirement and can lead to a higher cost.