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In recent years much attention has been given to global supply chains. However, the emphasis has been on forward chains, with reverse flows been insufficiently studied. In this work, we study closed loop supply chains and analyse the impact caused by the introduction of new facility sites into an already existing supply chain. The model considers both strategic and tactical decisions allowing for the design of a global supply chain with reverse flows. The impact of the network redesign is analysed and the associated costs calculated. The obtained MILP is solved using a standard Branch and Bound solver. The results obtained prove that the proposed model handles satisfactorily the network redesign problem.

The notion of the Abelian kernel of a finite monoid is a generalization of that of the derived subgroup of a finite group. A monoid $M$ is then called solvable if its chain of Abelian kernels terminates with the submonoid of $M$ generated by its idempotents. The main result of this paper is that the finite idempotent commuting monoids bearing this property are precisely those whose subgroups are solvable. In particular any finite aperiodic monoid is Abelian-solvable in this sense. A generalization of the main result of this paper has been published [in Int. J. Algebra Comput. 14, No. 5-6, 655-665 (2004; Zbl 1081.20067)] by the authors and ıt S. Margolis and ıt B. Steinberg.

The technological evolution brought the society to a networked reality. New organizational forms are being created, towards a better response to market opportunities, both in terms of time-to-market and added-value creation. In this context the Collaborative Networked Organizations (CNO) paradigm appears as a good organizational form to attend market needs. To avoid the conventional barriers in the implementation of this new organizational form, education and training are very important activities, already building an international consensus. This paper surveys current work on teaching initiatives in the CNO area around the world.

Sauropods were the largest animals ever to walk the earth, and evolved several specializations in their limbs in order to support their body mass. Their legs became columnar and their manual digits became reduced and encapsulated in tissue to form a single weight-bearing unit in the derived sauropods. A new three-dimensionally preserved cast of a sauropod manus, found in the Upper Jurassic Lourinhã Formation, Portugal, demonstrates not only the shape, but also the actual movements of the sauropod manus during the stride. The manus cast is 32 cm deep, and show the manus to be hoof-shaped and lacking any impressions of individual digits, except for digit I, the pollex. Well preserved striations from skin on the sides of the cast show that the manus was covered in rough, tubercular skin. The width of the manus cast is consistent from top to bottom, demonstrating that the manus was brought down and lifted vertically before any parasaggital movement of the upper limb took place.

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GaN films were deposited by cyclic pulsed laser deposition (cyclic-PLD) at different substrate temperatures between 400 and 600◦C. Alignment of the films along the c-axis, grain size, roughness and conductivity increased with temperature. Surface elemental ratio N/Ga was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and was smaller for films deposited at higher temperature. A decrease of the resistivity of the films agreed with higher metallic (Ga) surface concentration. Bulk elemental ratio N/Ga, determined by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), was higher than the XPS ratio and showed a very small tendency to decrease with deposition temperature. At 600 ◦C, there was evidence of contamination of the films by oxygen probably resulting from diffusion from the sapphire (Al2O3) substrate. These results suggest that adjustments in the deposition conditions are needed in order to have high crystal alignment, large grain size and good N/Ga ratio.