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We investigate a data‐driven dynamic inventory control problem involving fixed setup costs and lost sales. Random demand arrivals stem from a demand distribution that is only known to come out of a vast ambiguity set. Lost sales and demand ambiguity would together complicate the problem through censoring, namely, the inability of the firm to observe the lost portion of the demand data. Our main policy idea advocates periodically ordering up to high levels for learning purposes and, in intervening periods, cleverly exploiting the information gained in learning periods. By regret, we mean the price paid for ambiguity in long‐run average performances. When demand has a finite support, we can accomplish a regret bound in the order of 풪(T2/3·(lnT)1/2) which almost matches a known lower bound as long as inventory costs are genuinely convex. Major policy adjustments are warranted for the more complex case involving an unbounded demand support. The resulting regret could range between 풪(T0.779) and 풪(T0.889) depending on the nature of moment‐related bounds that help characterize the degree of ambiguity. These are improvable to 풪(T2/3·(lnT)2) when distributions are light‐tailed. Our simulation demonstrates the merits of various policy ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of more frequent global change‐type droughts and associated tree mortality events, competition release is one silvicultural measure discussed to have an impact on the resilience of managed forest stands. Understanding how trees compete with each other is therefore crucial, but different measurement options and competition indices (CI) leave users with a difficult choice, as no single competition index has proven universally superior.To help users with the choice and computation of appropriate indices, we present the open‐source TreeCompR package, which handles 3D point clouds and classical forest inventory data, enabling the calculation of both innovative point cloud‐based indices and traditional distance‐dependent indices. It serves as a centralized platform for exploring and comparing different CIs, allowing users to test and select the most suitable CI for their specific research questions within a common interface.To evaluate the package, we used TreeCompR to quantify the competition situation of 307 European beech trees from 13 sites in Central Europe. Based on this dataset, we discuss the interpretation, comparability and sensitivity of the different indices to their parameterization and identify possible sources of uncertainty and ways to minimize them.The compatibility of TreeCompR with different data formats and different data collection methods makes it accessible and useful for a wide range of users, specifically ecologists and foresters. Due to the flexibility in the choice of input formats as well as the emphasis on tidy, well‐structured output, our package can easily be integrated into existing data‐analysis workflows both for 3D point cloud and classical forest inventory data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the vulnerability of large and medium‐sized mammal communities to climate change and human disturbances, understanding the spatial–temporal dynamics of these communities is essential for effective conservation planning. However, in many biodiversity hotspots, precise biological community assessments are insufficient. From 2012 to 2022, we deployed 784 camera traps in eight nature reserves (including sub‐reserves) and one State Forest Farm (SFF, less strictly protected than a reserve) to study the composition and distribution of large and medium‐sized mammals in tropical Xishuangbanna. The findings revealed the following: (1) Forty‐three species, encompassing six orders, 17 families, and 37 genera, were documented. Among the species in historical data, nine species were not detected in this survey. (2) Smaller and more fragmented reserves lacked larger body‐sized predators and herbivores, and most common species showed lower relative population abundance. Conversely, the SFF exhibited high mammal diversity. (3) The community composition of large and medium‐sized mammals varied significantly across the nine sites, particularly among threatened species. Our findings highlight the uneven distribution of these mammal communities in Xishuangbanna, with rare and large‐sized species facing increased vulnerability to rapid environmental changes. Moreover, the findings demonstrate the importance of considering species specificity and uniqueness in conservation planning for maintaining regional‐scale biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies. Recent advances in satellite remote‐sensing measurements allow us to track greenhouse gas emissions globally. This study assessed CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emissions from various point or local sources, particularly power plants in India, using 8 years of concurrent high‐spatial resolution OCO‐2 satellite measurements. A Gaussian plume (GP) model was used to evaluate the power plant emissions reported in the Carbon Brief (CB) database. In total (39 cases), 42 different power plant CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emissions were assessed, with 26 of them being assessed more than once. The estimated power plant CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emissions were within ± $\pm $ 25% of the emissions reported in the CB database in 11 out of 39 cases and within ± $\pm $ 50% in 18 cases. To evaluate the EDGAR and ODIAC CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emission inventories in terms of missing and highly underestimated sources, we estimated the cross‐sectional (CS) CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emission flux for 45 cases. We identified the possible omission of power plant emissions in three cases for both inventories. Furthermore, we also showed 17 cases in which CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emissions from unknown (non‐power plant) sources were highly underestimated in the EDGAR and ODIAC CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emission inventories. Due to the simplicity of the employed approaches and their lower computational requirements compared to other methods, they can be applied to large data sets over extended time periods. This enables the acquisition of initial emission estimates for various sources, including those that are unknown and underestimated. Plain Language Summary: Tracking greenhouse gas emissions from large sources is crucial for combating climate change, and recent advances in space‐based remote sensing have enhanced our ability to monitor these emissions. In this study, we utilized high‐resolution data from the OCO‐2 satellite to assess CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emissions from power plants in India over the past 8 years. We compared the satellite‐based CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emission estimates with reported values from the Carbon Brief database. Our analysis indicated that the satellite‐based estimates were generally close to the reported values, though some discrepancies were observed. Additionally, we reviewed two CO2 ${\text{CO}}_{2}$ emission databases, EDGAR and ODIAC, to identify any missing or underestimated emissions. Our findings suggested that some power plant emissions might be absent from these databases and that emissions from other sources were often underestimated. Our methods are simpler and less resource‐intensive compared to other approaches, making them effective for analyzing large data sets over extended periods. This approach provides initial estimates of emissions, even for sources that are poorly reported, and supports efforts to enhance overall emission tracking and reporting. Key Points: CO2 emissions from power plants in India were assessed using 8 years of OCO‐2 satellite measurementsIdentified highly underestimated and missing emission sources within global emission inventories, suggesting the need for re‐evaluationSatellite‐based emission assessments show great promise and will improve with upcoming high‐resolution satellite missions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transboundary Arun River Basin (ARB) spreads across Nepal and Tibet. Nearly 95% of the basin lies in Tibet through which the Pumqu River flows, forming the Arun River once it enters Nepal. The ARB has five large hydropower projects undergoing construction or planned for the future. Rainfall and earthquake‐induced landslides, landslide‐dammed lakes and landslide‐induced glacial lake outburst floods pose major risks to smooth operation of these projects. To safeguard upcoming hydropower projects, areas susceptible to landslides in the ARB must be identified. We used high‐resolution satellite imagery and open‐source tools to generate a multitemporal landslide inventory for the basin. The rigorously quality‐controlled inventory represents a yearly record of landslides from 2011 to 2020. A data‐driven approach was used to map areas susceptible to landslides within the ARB. The multitemporal landslide inventory combined with other readily available Earth observation‐based variables was used to create a landslide susceptibility map. The susceptibility analysis provides a valuable initial estimate of where landslides are likely to initiate. These landslide products could form the basis of more comprehensive local studies to inform hydropower project development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. (Fabaceae), is one of the most important crops worldwide, but caterpillars of various species (Lepidoptera) may greatly reduce its annual yield. Nowadays, the main method of controlling these pest species is based on the use of broad‐spectrum insecticides, which are harmful to human health and increase environmental contamination. Therefore, other sustainable methods of control, such as biological control, are in increasing demand. The present study aimed to identify the egg parasitoid species that attack lepidopterans defoliating soybeans in South America's subtropical regions, as well as evaluate their effectiveness at various stages of soybean development. The research was conducted in a commercial soybean field (80 ha) located in Tucumán, Argentina, which was surrounded by wild vegetation as a way to promote biological control. Every week, throughout three consecutive soybean seasons, 20 soybean plants were randomly selected and brought to the laboratory in search of lepidopteran eggs. Over the course of the three crop seasons, the soybean plants were attacked by Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner (Erebidae), Rachiplusia nu (Guenée), and Chrysodeixis includens (Walker) (both Noctuidae). Six egg parasitoid species were identified, but only three of them were frequently found during the current study. Trichogramma pretiosum Riley (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) was the most predominant species attacking all lepidopteran pests across all soybean phenological stages. Encarsia porteri (Mercet) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) preferred to attack R. nu eggs, whereas Telenomus cyamophylax Polaszek (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) parasitized only A. gemmatalis and R. nu eggs. Despite the use of insecticides in the soybean field, the parasitism rates recorded were high. This suggests that using conservation tactics such as native vegetation patches and surrounding alternative crops may result in higher rates of natural control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice of inventory cost flow assumption is a key financial reporting decision. The resurgence of inflation has renewed interest in this option. We derive algebraic models of the LIFO‐FIFO difference in cost of goods sold and the LIFO tax savings as a function of inflation, turnover, inventory increments, and tax rates. Managers and researchers can use these models to estimate the likely financial and tax impacts of LIFO adoption. Historic trends in public company LIFO usage since 1971 are consistent with the changing impacts estimated by our model. We infer an approximate cost level of using LIFO based on historic public company behavior. In the 1971–2022 period, LIFO adoptions were only common when the tax benefit in our model exceeded about 0.35% of COGS. Even when inflation rose in 2021 and 2022, the tax savings remained below this threshold, and there were far more LIFO abandonments than adoptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High individual detection success enables precise estimates of density and the ability to monitor trends in abundance for wolverine and other low‐density species, information that is critical for the implementation and assessment of conservation measures. We evaluated a dataset that included six different wolverine capture–recapture studies over a large gradient in wolverine (Gulo gulo) density to provide recommendations for increasing detection. We examined factors related to bait station components, habitat, and seasonal timing. Accounting for variation in wolverine density and trap duration, our results suggest that bait stations setups having a run pole, frame, and camera to photograph unique ventral color patterns, in addition to hair snag devices, identify more individual wolverine than those without. The presence of snow is a habitat feature that also increases individual detection. Female detection rates were lower than male detection rates at the onset of the reproductive denning season in late February and early March compared with January and early February. We found latency to detection was independent of wolverine density, but greater in areas with human influence. Relatively high rates of genotyping success (55%) were predicted by even a single guard hair left at bait stations, while underfur required ~15 hairs for similar success. Longer sampling intervals reduced genotyping success in spring, more so for underfur than guard hair. Hair samples acquired from barbwire were of higher quality than those from either alligator clips or gun brushes. To improve individual detection for wolverine inventory and monitoring, we recommend deploying run pole setups in areas with low human disturbance that will retain snow into late spring. Extending the winter trapping effort into April and May could increase the chances of detecting denning females. Latency to detection suggests that traps should be active for more than a month, especially in human‐influenced areas, but genotyping success suggests that traps should also be cleared of hair samples at smaller intervals of a month or less, during late winter/spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commodity inventories are the key state variable determining the magnitude of commodity price responses to supply and demand shocks. Many firms in commodity supply chains use storage, but we know little about which firms and why. The economic theory of storage asserts that firms in a competitive market for inventories will store based on current and expected market prices and the per‐unit cost of storing. We empirically test at the firm‐level the importance of one major cost of storage: the opportunity cost of capital used to value foregone revenue from deferred commodity sales. To do so, we use panel data from thousands of Illinois farms who hold inventories of corn and soybeans. Although interest rates as a measure of capital costs are unlikely to vary widely across firms in this context, we exploit variation in the weighted average cost of capital due to cross‐firm differences in capital structure. Using two‐way fixed effects regressions, we find a statistically significant average effect of capital costs on inventory that masks notable heterogeneity across firms. Panel quantile regressions reveal two groups of firms: one whose inventory holdings are responsive to changes in the opportunity cost of storage and another whose are not. Our results suggest some farms behave like the profit‐maximizing ones from theory but substantial inframarginal commodity inventories are held by farms for other reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Performing surgical procedures is a recognized source of stress for surgeons. Vocational stress is an important contributor to performance, patient care, and burnout with dispositional and environmental factors contributing. Accurately assessing surgeon stress is critical to measuring effectiveness of stress reduction programs. The primary aim was to identify differences between surgeons' self‐reported anticipated stress and anxiety prior to gynecological surgery, compared with their recollection of experienced stress and anxiety during surgery. Secondary aims assessed any differences by level of training, surgical type, and surgeon role. Material and methods: Attending and resident gynecologists performing routine elective surgeries completed a visual analog scale (VAS) assessing perceived stress and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) prior to and immediately after completing 161 elective surgeries including total laparoscopic hysterectomy, laparoscopic excision of moderate–severe endometriosis, or hysteroscopic myomectomy. Results: Eight attending gynecologists and nine residents participated. Residents commenced as primary surgeon in 62/90 (69%) procedures. Stress experienced during surgery was greater than anticipated in 92/161 (57%) surgery episodes (mean VAS increase: 3.9; 95% CI: 1.1–6.8, p = 0.009). State anxiety was greater than anticipated in 99/161 (62%) episodes (mean state anxiety increase: 4.4; 95% CI: 3.0–5.8, p < 0.001). Greater preprocedural anticipatory stress and anxiety was observed in residents vs. attending gynecologists (VAS 51.9 vs. 22.8, p < 0.001; state anxiety 38.3 vs. 28.1, p < 0.001) and in primary vs. assistant surgeons (VAS 47.2 vs. 29.9, p < 0.001; state anxiety 36.9 vs. 28.3, p < 0.001). Intraoperative stress and anxiety were greater in primary surgeons (VAS 50.4 vs. 30.5, p < 0.001; anxiety 41.3 vs. 32.5, p < 0.001) and residents (VAS 43.4 vs. 31.7, p < 0.001; anxiety 53.5 vs. 33.7, p < 0.001) compared with assistants and attending gynecologists. Perceived stress and anxiety were positively correlated at both timepoints (r = 0.68, p < 0.001; r = 0.82, p < 0.001). Conclusions: When asked to reflect on stress experienced during surgery, our data show that stress during surgery is greater than anticipated for many surgical episodes. Self‐reported stress symptoms commence prior to surgery and are more commonly reported by surgeons operating as primary surgeon and by those in training. Future research should focus on determinants of presurgical stress and examine when stressors become inhibitory to performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Croplands account for ~ one‐third of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. A number of recent field experiments found substantial fallow‐period N2O emissions, which have been neglected for decades. However, the global contribution of the fallow‐period emissions and the associated drivers remain unclear. Based on 360 observations across global agroecosystems, we simulated the ratio of the fallow to the whole‐year N2O emissions (Rfallow) by developing a mixed‐effect model and compiling cropping‐system‐specific input data. Our results revealed that the mean global gridded Rfallow was 44% (15%–75%, 95% confidence interval), with hotspots mainly in the northern high latitudes. For most cropping systems, soil pH was the dominant driver of global variation in Rfallow. Global cropland emission factors (i.e., the percentage of fertilizer N emitted as N2O, EFs) in EF‐based models doubled to 1.9% when the fallow‐period N2O emissions were included in our simulation, similar to EFs estimated by process‐based and atmospheric inversion models (1.8%–2.3%). Overall, our study highlights the importance of fallow‐period N2O emissions in annual totals, especially for single cropping systems and croplands in acidic areas. To accurately estimate N2O emissions for national greenhouse gas inventories, it is crucial to update current EFs with full consideration of the fallow‐period N2O emissions in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 1 method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient management of inventories is essential for both retailers and wholesalers. Two disciplines which have extensively studied retail and wholesale (R&W) inventories are supply chain management (SCM) and economics. Each discipline is affected by R&W inventories but has taken different approaches to investigating these inventories, presenting an opportunity for learning between disciplines. In this manuscript, we aim to advance the study of R&W inventories in the SCM discipline. We accomplish this goal by reviewing and synthesizing SCM and economics research set in the R&W sectors that studies inventories or inventory performance as the outcome of interest. To synthesize the literature and develop research suggestions, we develop a framework along which to classify the existing literature to identify gaps and opportunities, grouping the literature based on (1) the level at which inventory is studied (sector/industry level, firm level, or SKU/product/category level) and (2) the type of predictors that are studied (internal or external). Based on the literature review, we identify opportunities for future research to enhance our understanding of R&W inventories, with research falling within four topics: (1) resolving inconsistencies across studies; (2) expanding the study of R&W inventories within the developed framework; (3) cross‐level theorizing; and (4) theorizing across time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of distribution networks that simultaneously consider location and inventory decisions seeks to balance costs and product availability. The most commonly observed measure of product availability in practical settings is the fill‐rate service level. However, the optimal design of a distribution network that considers the fill rate to control shortages of fast‐moving consumer goods (FMCG) is considered intractable and has only been addressed by heuristic methods. This paper addresses the optimal design of a distribution network for FMCG able to provide high fill‐rate service level under a continuous review (r,Q)$(r,Q)$ policy. Considering the exact formulation for the provided fill rate, we formulated a joint location–inventory model with fill‐rate service level constraints as a convex mixed integer nonlinear problem for which a novel decomposition‐based outer approximation algorithm is proposed. Numerical experiments have shown that our solution approach provides good‐quality solutions that are on average 0.15% and, at worst, 2.2% from the optimal solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop residues are important inputs of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) to soils and thus directly and indirectly affect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. As the current inventory methodology considers N inputs by crop residues as the sole determining factor for N2O emissions, it fails to consider other underlying factors and processes. There is compelling evidence that emissions vary greatly between residues with different biochemical and physical characteristics, with the concentrations of mineralizable N and decomposable C in the residue biomass both enhancing the soil N2O production potential. High concentrations of these components are associated with immature residues (e.g., cover crops, grass, legumes, and vegetables) as opposed to mature residues (e.g., straw). A more accurate estimation of the short‐term (months) effects of the crop residues on N2O could involve distinguishing mature and immature crop residues with distinctly different emission factors. The medium‐term (years) and long‐term (decades) effects relate to the effects of residue management on soil N fertility and soil physical and chemical properties, considering that these are affected by local climatic and soil conditions as well as land use and management. More targeted mitigation efforts for N2O emissions, after addition of crop residues to the soil, are urgently needed and require an improved methodology for emission accounting. This work needs to be underpinned by research to (1) develop and validate N2O emission factors for mature and immature crop residues, (2) assess emissions from belowground residues of terminated crops, (3) improve activity data on management of different residue types, in particular immature residues, and (4) evaluate long‐term effects of residue addition on N2O emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: Acceptance of predictive modeling as a verification method in inventories complying with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions is determined by individual states, many of which accept this approach. Predictive modeling is an accurate, time‐saving, economical way to reduce unknowns in the inventory and streamline lead service line replacement. For the best outcomes, the performance and reliability of predictive models must be evaluated carefully and from multiple perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine how an exogenous supply shock affects product availability, prices, and price‐setting behavior, we analyzed a unique dataset representing a natural experiment concerning the 2011 flood in Thailand, which affected the production facilities of Western Digital, the world's largest producer of hard drives. The natural disaster impacted the overseas inventory of hard drives in the United States, where availability declined by more than 40% and price indexes increased by as much as 38%. However, our findings suggest that such supply shocks, when transmitted to either substitute or complementary products, are likely to be absorbed within production networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy management practices can shed new light on traditional asset management programs, save energy costs, increase the likelihood of failure accuracy, improve reliability, and reduce the capital burden of rehabilitation or replacement opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: A utility survey was performed to gather cost data and information on identification and verification methods. In compiling a service line inventory, water utilities need to account for using multiple verification methods at some locations to improve accuracy. Costs vary significantly between verification methods for developing accurate service line inventories and should be accounted for in a water system's planning efforts. The costs for lead service line replacements are estimated to be higher than originally reported when accounting for auxiliary costs to utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty per cent of European peatlands are in a damaged state. While intact peatlands are natural carbon sinks, degraded sites release important amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Restoration of the hydrological functionality of peatlands has proved to be an efficient tool to avoid these emissions. In France, Tuffnell & Bignon's ministerial report (2019) emphasized the need for peatlands 'integration into the National Low Carbon Strategy, targeting carbon neutrality by 2050. However, current knowledge regarding French peatlands' distribution and carbon stocks is insufficient and does not allow decision makers and managers to prioritize areas for restoration. The most complete database to date is the 1949 Atlas, an inventory of exploitable peat deposits that was conducted during WWII for peat exploitation as fuel. Until its digitalization, the latter database was archived and never used in a scientific study. It provides detailed information about peatland surfaces, peat thicknesses and carbon contents at that time. We estimated peat carbon stocks from French peatlands to be 111 Mt C in 1949 for 63,290 ha identified as peaty sites, the equivalent of 3% of the organic carbon contained in the upper 30 centimetres of French soils. 34% of this stock was held in Lower Normandy (37.7 Mt C) and 12% in the Picardy's region (13.0 Mt C), in large lowland peatlands. However, not all peatlands were prospected in the 1949 inventory and the characteristics of the prospected peatlands may have changed with anthropic disturbances of the last decades, such as draining or climate change. These first results highlight the need for a recent inventory of French peatlands and carbon stocks based on local data aggregation. Data from the 1949 Atlas could help constituting this new inventory but should be validated before being used to describe the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the problem of optimally managing an inventory system with backorders over a finite time horizon where the objective is minimization of expected total discounted costs. The system consists of two locations each stocking the same product. At the beginning of each time period decisions are made about replenishment at each location and about any quantity to transship between the locations before demand is observed. Leveraging the L♮‐convexity of the problem's cost function; we characterize the optimal replenishment and transshipment policy for this system. More specifically, we show the optimal policy can be described using switching curves monotone in the system state. We also discuss two extensions. For a lost‐sales model, we establish L♮‐convexity and apply it to characterize the optimal policy, simplifying the analysis found in previous work. In the other extension, we investigate the optimal policy for a partial transshipment problem where only one location orders from the external supply source and then transships to the other location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lead and Copper Rule Revisions require water systems to compile an inventory of service line materials by Oct. 16, 2024. A recently published document from the US Environmental Protection Agency provides utilities with detailed guidance on creating and maintaining an inventory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint consideration of inventory and shipment decisions is an important aspect of obtaining economically and environmentally sustainable distribution systems. We consider this issue in the context of a one‐warehouse‐multiple‐retailer inventory system with quantity‐based shipment consolidation to groups of nonidentical retailers facing Poisson demand. The system is centralized, with free information sharing and access to real‐time point of sale data. Thus, demand information at the retailers is immediately conveyed upstream to the warehouse without any fixed ordering costs. However, fixed costs associated with handling and transporting goods from the warehouse to the retailers are reflected in the shipment consolidation policy. Stock replenishments at the warehouse are made from an outside supplier/manufacturer according to an (R, Q) policy. For this system, we derive an exact recursive method for determining the inventory level distributions at the retailers. This allows us to evaluate the expected inventory and shipment costs, fill‐rates, and transport emissions for the entire system. We also show how to optimize the system by providing bounds on the optimal shipment quantities and the warehouse reorder level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cash conversion cycle (CCC) measures the duration between a firm's outgoing and incoming cash flows. Firms track the CCC metric and employ it as a benchmark since lower CCC values may signal better operational and credit performance. We develop a typification of firms based on the processing lead time and credit periods negotiated with suppliers and customers, and demonstrate how these characteristics interact with sales growth rate, seasonality, and fiscal year end to affect the CCC. Based on our analytical models, we hypothesize that the impact of sales growth rate and the indirect effect of time on CCC can be positive or negative depending on the firm type. We also identify the crucial role that demand pattern in the zone of influence, an interval that we define around the fiscal year end, plays in determining the CCC. We test our hypotheses empirically using a multi‐level (random effect) model and a fixed effect model, where the levels of analyses are the specific firm types and individual firms, respectively. Our results, based on quarterly financial data of 58 firms over a 12‐year period, confirm the hypothesized effects of sales growth rate, fiscal year end, and seasonality on the CCC. Though frequently used, the CCC is thus a nuanced metric that needs careful interpretation. The findings of the paper are important to facilitate more accurate longitudinal CCC analyses and benchmarking comparisons that account for unique differences in sales growth rate, fiscal year end, and seasonality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water utilities should act now to inventory their service line materials and ensure compliance with the US Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) is essential for different medical conditions such as surgery, anemia, and cancer. Blood is a precious living composition consisting of eight types of RBCs that can be transfused by either exact or compatible substitutes. As stored blood gets older, it begins to deteriorate; therefore, excessive blood supply at hospitals results in spoilage, while limited supply results in shortage. This research aims at finding the optimal order‐up‐to‐level quantities of blood, which minimize its shortage and outdated units. Stochastic demand, blood aging, emergency orders, and compatibility preference are considered in this study. A customized simulated annealing algorithm is built for optimization. Several simulation experiments are conducted to test the merits of the model in a selected hospital. Not only does the model demonstrate improved results in the mean inventory/age, shortage/spoilage, and substitution percentage but it also serves as a test bed for better understanding of RBC inventory behavior under different compatibility policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Institutional data on initiating and maintaining a low-titer O positive whole blood (LTOWB) inventory for the civilian trauma sector may help other institutions start a LTOWB program. This study from a level 1 trauma center with a hospital-based donor center highlights challenges faced during the collection, maintenance, and utilization of LTOWB.Study Design and Methods: Male O positive donors with low (≤1:100) anti-A and anti-B antibody titers were recruited for LTOWB collection. The daily inventory goal of 4 LTOWB units was kept in the emergency department refrigerator and transfused to adult male trauma patients. Unused units older than 10 days were reprocessed into packed red blood cells.Results: Of 900 donors screened, 61% qualified and 52% of eligible donors provided a collective total of 505 LTOWB units over 2.5 years. The number of collected units directly correlated with the availability of inventory; 42% of the units were transfused, 54% were reprocessed, and 4% were discarded. The inventory goal was maintained for 56% of the year 2018 and 83% of the year 2019. Over these 2 years, 52% of patients had their transfusion needs fully met, 41% had their needs partially met, and 6.5% did not have their needs met.Discussion: Initial challenges to LTOWB implementation were inventory shortages, low utilization rates, and failure to meet clinical demand. Proposed solutions include allowing for a higher yet safe titer, extending shelf life, expanding the donor pool, identifying barriers to utilization, and permitting use in female trauma patients beyond childbearing age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Diabetes is among the most prevalent noncommunicable chronic diseases globally and carries a substantial expense in worldwide health care. Pharmaceutical supplies related to diabetes management account for 20%–40% of the disease's management cos, and this percentage continues to increase. This study examines the pharmaceutical expenses associated with one of the most common chronic diseases: diabetes. Specifically, we measure the extent to which patient health and demographic factors drive the annual cost of pharmaceutical supplies for diabetes management. Second, the study applied a procurement‐centric classification scheme to pharmaceutical items involved in diabetes treatment. Methods: Data on 98,648 pharmaceutical‐dispensing transactions (related to 2828 patients) over 1 year were collected from a specialized diabetes health center. Pharmaceutical prices from the sample were compared internationally to ensure that the findings apply to other countries. The association between the item cost and the number of unique patients prescribed pharmaceutical products was estimated at the category and subcategory levels. Results: Approximately 80% of total pharmaceutical expenditures were attributed to 20% of patients. Two of 20 pharmaceutical categories—anti‐diabetes drugs and insulin—accounted for 34% of products dispensed and 57% of total pharmaceutical expenditures. Age, body mass index, and diabetes type were essential factors in predicting supply cost per patient. Conclusion: Applying the portfolio purchasing model also suggested that some clinically similar items, like insulin types, are best procured through divergent procurement strategies or vendors for optimal cost efficiency. A better understanding of the diverse array of diabetes supplies can reveal opportunities for better strategic supply management. This supply classification approach can also be applied in other supply‐intensive specialties, such as orthopedics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the modernization of the medical curriculum and technological advancements, anatomy education has evolved beyond cadaveric dissection alone. Plastination techniques, three‐dimensional (3D) modeling, and 3D printing technologies have progressively gained importance. However, there are limited valid and reliable surveys to evaluate students' perceptions of these new anatomy tools. Hence, this study aimed to develop a validated instrument to measure students' learning satisfaction, self‐efficacy, humanistic values, and perceived limitations of plastinated and 3D printed models. A 41‐item survey (five‐point Likert scale, 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) was administered to Year 1 undergraduate medical students following a randomized controlled crossover study that evaluated plastinated and 3D printed cardiac and neck models. Ninety‐six responses were received, and a factor analysis was performed with the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin sampling adequacy of 0.878. The confirmatory factor analysis yielded a 4‐factor, 19 items model that had a good fit with the latent constructs of x2 (147) = 211.568, P < 0.001, root mean square error of approximation = 0.068, root mean square residual = 0.064, comparative fit index = 0.946, and Tucker Lewis index = 0.937. The Cronbach's alpha for the individual factors ranged from 0.74 to 0.95, indicating good internal consistency. This demonstrated a psychometrically valid and reliable instrument to measure students' perceptions toward plastinated and 3D printed models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: Risk governance has useful applications for water and wastewater utility operations. An inventory of all risks, not just those of recent or past interest, should be developed to get a thorough knowledge of risks—and actions to take to reduce them. Risk forms can be used to gather the background information needed for developing risk inventories, assigning priorities, and making regular updates. Risk governance tools applied to individual units within a utility can help communicate risks across an organization and rank utility‐wide risks by consequence and likelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in remotely piloted aerial systems ('drones') and imagery processing enable individual tree mapping in forests across broad areas with low‐cost equipment and minimal ground‐based data collection. One such method involves collecting many partially overlapping aerial photos, processing them using 'structure from motion' (SfM) photogrammetry to create a digital 3D representation and using the 3D model to detect individual trees. SfM‐based forest mapping involves myriad decisions surrounding methods and parameters for imagery acquisition and processing, but it is unclear how these individual decisions or their combinations impact the quality of the resulting forest inventories.We collected and processed drone imagery of a moderate‐density, structurally complex mixed‐conifer stand. We tested 22 imagery collection methods (altering flight altitude, camera pitch and image overlap), 12 imagery processing parameterizations (image resolutions and depth map filtering intensities) and 286 tree detection methods (algorithms and their parameterizations) to create 7,568 tree maps. We compared these maps to a 3.23‐ha ground reference map of 1,775 trees >5 m tall that we created using traditional field survey methods.The accuracy of individual tree detection (ITD) and the resulting tree maps was generally maximized by collecting imagery at high altitude (120 m) with at least 90% image‐to‐image overlap, photogrammetrically processing images into a canopy height model (CHM) with a twofold upscaling (coarsening) step and detecting trees from the CHM using a variable window filter after applying a moving window mean smooth to the CHM. Using this combination of methods, we mapped trees with an accuracy exceeding expectations for structurally complex forests (for canopy‐dominant trees >10 m tall, sensitivity = 0.69 and precision = 0.90). Remotely measured tree heights corresponded to ground‐measured heights with R2 = 0.95. Accuracy was higher for taller trees and lower for understorey trees and would likely be higher in less dense and less structurally complex stands.Our results may guide others wishing to efficiently produce broad‐extent individual tree maps of conifer forests without investing substantial time tailoring imagery acquisition and processing parameters. The resulting tree maps create opportunities for addressing previously intractable ecological questions and informing forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity inventories provide critical information on the ecology of natural ecosystems and inform conservation planning at local to regional scales.Based on a systematic review, we compiled data on over 1000 mammal inventories conducted throughout the Neotropics – from Mexico to Argentina – to document the status of assemblage‐wide field mammalogy in the world's most biodiverse Tropical realm.We analysed data using descriptive statistics and a confusion matrix to understand the prevalence of species' pseudo‐absences, map overall patterns of survey density, and quantify any geographic sampling bias.Based on the 1028 site‐specific inventories published between 1983 and 2020, mean species richness of medium‐ to large‐bodied mammals was 11.9 (± 8.8 standard deviation). Local inventories were distributed across elevational gradients, and overall sampling effort and survey techniques employed were extremely variable. The best‐sampled regions were the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Mesoamerica, but we identified nine large assemblage‐wide Wallacean shortfalls and a pseudo‐absence rate of 11% (± 4% standard deviation); geographic sampling bias was largely related to human population density, regardless of the assemblages' intactness presumably found in the undersampled wilderness regions of the Neotropics.We document the 40‐year legacy of mammal field surveys throughout the Neotropics, where several glaring knowledge shortfalls still persist. This calls for an audacious research agenda for future Neotropical mammal studies, which should target sampling in more remote areas, standardise sampling methodology, and provide high‐resolution data that can be used to fill current knowledge shortfalls. To do so, Latin American countries and the wider international community will need to commit greater personnel and financial resources to understanding biodiversity patterns and processes related to the Tropical vertebrate fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Reconnaissance surveys followed by monitoring are needed to assess the impact and response of biodiversity to wildfire. However, post‐wildfire survey and monitoring design are challenging due to the infrequency and unpredictability of wildfire, an urgency to initiate surveys and uncertainty about how species respond. In this article, we discuss key design considerations and quantitative tools available to aid post‐wildfire survey design. Our motivation was to inform the design of rapid surveys for threatened species heavily impacted by the 2019–2020 fires in Australia. Location: Global. Methods: We discuss a set of best practice design considerations for post‐wildfire reconnaissance surveys across a range of survey objectives. We provide examples that illustrate key design considerations from post‐fire reconnaissance surveys and monitoring programmes from around the world. Results: We highlight how the objective of post‐fire surveys drastically influences design decisions (e.g. survey location and timing). We discuss how the unpredictability of wildfire and uncertainty in the response of biodiversity complicate survey design decisions. Main conclusions: Surveys should be conducted immediately following wildfire to assess the impact on biodiversity, to ground truth fire severity mapping and to provide a benchmark from which to assess recovery. Where possible, surveys should be conducted at burnt and unburnt sites in regions with historical data so that state variables of interest can be compared with baseline estimates (i.e. BACI design). This highlights the need to have long‐term monitoring programmes already in place and be prepared to modify their design when wildfires occur. There is opportunity to adopt tools from statistics (i.e. power analysis) and conservation planning (i.e. spatial prioritization) to improve survey design. We must anticipate wildfires rather than respond to them reactively as they will occur more frequently due to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some real inventory systems, item sales can be adjusted to a stable demand rate along the inventory cycle. For instance, home appliances, electrical products, lounge furniture, home water supply, etc., are items with a stable demand rate. In this work, we analyze an inventory system for an item of this type, where the demand rate is constant. Shortages are allowed, and it is assumed that a fraction of demand during the stock‐out period is backlogged. It is supposed that the shortage costs (backorder cost and lost sales cost) have an affine structure: a fixed cost plus a linear cost that depends on the period of time where shortages exist. In this paper, instead of the maximization of the profit per unit time, or the minimization of the average inventory cost per unit time, the objective is the maximization of the return on inventory investment, which is a quotient defined as the average profit divided by the average inventory cost. The optimal inventory policy is obtained in a closed form under this new perspective. Moreover, it is shown that the optimal policy that maximizes the return on inventory investment is, in general, different from the one that maximizes the profit per unit time. In addition, the new optimal perspective offers some advantages. The optimal inventory policy that maximizes the return on investment does not depend on the unit selling price. Therefore, the inventory manager does not need to change his/her inventory policy if this price changes. These advantages are not usually present when the objective is the maximization of the profit per unit time. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results developed in this work. A sensitivity analysis of the optimal policy with respect to the system input parameters is also developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian fires are a primary driver of variability in Australian atmospheric composition and contribute significantly to regional and global carbon budgets. However, biomass burning emissions from Australia remain highly uncertain. In this work, we use surface in situ, ground‐based total column and satellite total column observations to evaluate the ability of two global models (GEOS‐Chem and ACCESS‐UKCA) and three global biomass burning emission inventories (FINN1.5, GFED4s, and QFED2.4) to simulate carbon monoxide (CO) in the Australian atmosphere. We find that emissions from northern Australia savanna fires are substantially lower in FINN1.5 than in the other inventories. Model simulations driven by FINN1.5 are unable to reproduce either the magnitude or the variability of observed CO in northern Australia. The remaining two inventories perform similarly in reproducing the observed variability, although the larger emissions in QFED2.4 combined with an existing high bias in the southern hemisphere background lead to large CO biases. We therefore recommend GFED4s as the best option of the three for global modeling studies with focus on Australia or the Southern Hemisphere. Near fresh fire emissions, the higher resolution ACCESS‐UKCA model is better able to simulate surface CO than GEOS‐Chem, while GEOS‐Chem captures more of the observed variability in the total column and remote surface air measurements. We also show that existing observations in Australia can only partially constrain global model estimates of biomass burning. Continuous measurements in fire‐prone parts of Australia are needed, along with updates to global biomass burning inventories that are validated with Australian data. Plain Language Summary: Biomass burning inventories estimate the distribution and abundance of gases emitted to the atmosphere from fires. In this study, we found that three popular fire emission inventories (GFED, FINN, and QFED) predict very different emissions of the gas carbon monoxide (CO) from fires in Australia. To determine which inventory is best for Australia, we fed those emissions into global atmospheric models that combine the emissions with the chemistry and movement of gases in the atmosphere to predict the abundance of atmospheric gases, including CO. We compared the predictions to measurements in the real atmosphere. We found that GFED is better suited for Australian studies than QFED, which led to large overestimates, or FINN, which failed to capture much of the annual variation in measured CO levels. To further the outcomes of this study, more ground‐based measurements are needed in Australia, particularly in the northern half of the continent where most of the fires normally occur. In addition, the use of atmospheric models with finer resolution would also allow us to make better use of the existing ground‐based measurements to judge the reliability of different fire emission inventories. Key Points: GFED4s and QFED2.4 outperform FINN1.5, especially in northern savanna regionsACCESS‐UKCA provides a better CO simulation near fresh emissions, while GEOS‐Chem better captures variability in remote measurementsSparsity and locations of Australian ground‐based measurements offer limited constraints on Australian fire emissions in global models [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Knowledge about the quality of assessment methods used in the support of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) is scarce. This study aimed to provide an overview of the assessment methods used in practice and to examine whether these instruments were studied for their psychometric properties for people with PIMD. Method: Professionals (N = 148) from three European countries completed a survey on assessment practices. We performed a literature search to find information about the psychometric properties of the instruments that were identified in the survey. Results: Of the participants, 78.1% used assessments that were not developed for people with PIMD. Documentation on psychometric properties was found for 8 out of 116 instruments. Conclusions: Most of the instruments in use were not designed for people with PIMD, and information about their quality is lacking. Guidelines are needed regarding the use and development of assessment methods for people with PIMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The western Nyainqêntanglha Range on the Tibetan Plateau reaches an elevation of 7,162 m and is characterized by an extensive periglacial environment under semi‐arid climatic conditions. Rock glaciers play an important part of the water budget in high mountain areas and recent studies suggest that they may even act as climate‐resistant water storages. In this study we present the first rock glacier inventory of this region containing 1,433 rock glaciers over an area of 4,622 km. To create the most reliable inventory we combine manually created rock glacier outlines with an automated classification approach. The manual outlines were generated based on surface elevation data, optical satellite imagery and a surface velocity estimation. This estimation was generated via InSAR time series analysis with Sentinel‐1 data from 2016 to 2019. Our pixel‐based automated classification was able to correctly identify 87.8% of all rock glaciers in the study area at a true positive rate of 69.5%. In total, 65.9% of rock glaciers are classified as transitional with surface velocities of 1–10 cm/yr. In total, 18.5% are classified as active with higher velocities of up to 87 cm/yr. The southern windward side of the mountain range contains more numerous and more active rock glaciers. We attribute this to higher moisture availability supplied by the Indian Monsoon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A long‐standing goal of ecology has been to understand the cycling of carbon in forests. This has taken on new urgency with the need to address a rapidly changing climate. Forests serve as long‐term stores for atmospheric CO2, but their continued ability to take up new carbon is dependent on future changes in climate and other factors such as age. We have been measuring many aspects of carbon cycling at an unmanaged evergreen forest in central Maine, USA, for over 25 years. Here we use these data to address questions about the magnitude and control of carbon fluxes and quantify flows and uncertainties between the different pools. A key issue was to assess whether recent climate change and an aging tree population were reducing annual C storage. Total ecosystem C stocks determined from inventory and quantitative soil pits were about 23,300 g C m−2 with 46% in live trees, and 48% in the soil. Annual biomass increment in trees at Howland Forest averaged 161 ± 23 g C m−2 yr−1, not significantly different from annual net ecosystem production (NEP = −NEE) of 211 ± 40 g C m−2 y−1 measured by eddy covariance. Unexpectedly, there was a small but significant trend of increasing C uptake through time in the eddy flux data. This was despite the period of record including some of the most climate‐extreme years in the last 125. We find a surprising lack of influence of climate variability on annual carbon storage in this mature forest. Plain Language Summary: Trees remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere by photosynthesis and store it in chemical form in wood and other plant tissues. Much of the stored carbon ends up in the soil. Plants and soil organisms use some of the stored carbon to provide energy for growth and plant maintenance processes which releases CO2 back to the atmosphere. The movement of carbon atoms into and out of the forest and through the plants and soils is termed the "carbon cycle". We have been studying the carbon cycle of the Howland Forest in central Maine, an unmanaged evergreen forest with most trees between 100 and 200 years old. Over the last 25 years the forest has stored almost 3.5 tons of CO2 per acre each year, even though that timespan has included the warmest, wettest, and driest years in the last 125. Although the forest is maturing, it is storing on average a bit more carbon each year and there is as yet no clear reason why. Forest growth is a natural solution to the problem of too much CO2 in the atmosphere. This research helps show the longer‐term stability and viability of forests as natural climate solutions. Key Points: An unmanaged evergreen forest has been a net carbon sink for over 25 years and the sink strength has increased significantly with timeAnnual average carbon increment measured by eddy flux or inventory data are not significantly differentThe forest remained a robust C sink in the warmest, wettest, and driest years since 1895, indicating resistance to climate variability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human land use is fragmenting forests around the globe, increasing the edge density in forest landscapes. More frequent natural disturbances also increase the presence of edges in forest ecosystems. Studying a mountain landscape in the Eastern Alps, we contrasted 661 plots situated at varying distances from a stand edge with 615 plots sampled in forest interiors. Our objectives were (1) to analyze the strength of edge effects on forest structure, functioning, and diversity; (2) to determine the penetration depth of edge effects into the forest interior; and (3) to quantify the difference between permanent edges (i.e., to a different land cover type) and transient edges (as created e.g., by natural disturbances). Edges affected forest biomass accumulation negatively (basal area, litter depth, live tree carbon), but had positive effects on diversity (variation in tree diameter, effective plant species number, plant species richness, number of red‐listed plant species). Biodiversity indicators responded most strongly to the presence of edges. The maximum distance of a significant edge effect was <50 m across all indicators. Effects on forest structure and functioning were generally stronger at transient edges compared to permanent edges. Our findings highlight that both permanent and transient edges have a considerable influence on forest ecosystems and should be considered more explicitly in the analysis and management of forest landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving flow is a core Operations Management theme that is set to become even more important following contemporary developments in manufacturing, such as smart products and digital encapsulation that enable new control concepts such as multi‐agent holonic control. But, companies often struggle to realize flow improvements in practice, both with and without new technologies. While the literature agrees on the importance of flow, a structured and independent process that supports managers in identifying the root causes of why flow items wait in inventories instead of being processed is missing. Managers often use a single production management concept, such as lean production or the theory of constraints, when they seek to understand the reasons for a flow problem, which may lead to misdirected and unsuccessful interventions. In response, we use design science to develop a comprehensive approach to diagnosing flow problems that is independent from any production management concept. This diagnosis process results from successive iterations with five companies and supports the selection of appropriate analytical models and flow improvement solutions. It enables an organization to widen the focus of its flow improvement actions beyond the scope of a singular production management concept and complements the application of recent advances in technology, allowing smart products to quickly interpret what is happening in a location without first simulating and analyzing the whole system. Furthermore, the study expands buffer theories by showing that buffers have an internal hierarchy and can be absorbed by other buffers, while enhancing other theories related to coordination, material flow control, and lean improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, offering credit period by the supplier to the retailer has become a usual strategy. Hence, in the present work, an inventory model for noninstantaneous deteriorating items is framed considering money inflation and time discounting, where a permissible delay period is offered by the supplier as an alternative to price discount. Further, the salvage value associated with deteriorated units is considered, and the shortages allowed are partially backlogged. Focus is made on obtaining the optimal replenishment policy by minimizing the total inventory cost. This is achieved by developing mathematical theorems that determines the existence and the uniqueness of the optimal solutions. Moreover, computational algorithm is designed and illustrated using numerical examples and analysis. Various managerial insights obtained from the analysis are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: A complete and accurate water service line inventory goes beyond regulatory requirements when used in conjunction with a lead service line replacement program. Absent accurate historical records, it's likely several sources of information will be needed to complete a lead service line inventory. The inventory data must be maintained as a living document so they can be used to help respond if an exceedance occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published reports suggest efforts designed to prevent the occurrence of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia by reducing non‐point and point source phosphorus (P) pollution are not delivering water quality improvements in many areas. Part of the uncertainty in evaluating watershed responses to management practices is the lack of standardized estimates of phosphorus inputs and outputs. To assess P trends across the conterminous United States, we compiled an inventory using publicly available datasets of agricultural P fluxes, atmospheric P deposition, human P demand and waste, and point source discharges for 2002, 2007, and 2012 at the scale of the 8‐digit Hydrologic Unit Code subbasin (∼1,800 km2). Estimates of agricultural legacy P surplus accumulated from 1945 to 2001 were also developed. Fertilizer and manure inputs were found to exceed crop removal rates by up to 50% in many agricultural regions. This excess in inputs has led to the continued accumulation of legacy P in agricultural lands. Atmospheric P deposition increased throughout the Rockies, potentially contributing to reported increases in surface water P concentrations in undisturbed watersheds. In some urban areas, P fluxes associated with human waste and non‐farm fertilizer use has declined despite population growth, likely due, in part, to various sales bans on P‐containing detergents and fertilizers. Although regions and individual subbasins have different contemporary and legacy P sources, a standardized method of accounting for large and small fluxes and ready to use inventory numbers provide essential infromation to coordinate targeted interventions to reduce P concentrations in the nation's waters. Plain Language Summary: Excessive phosphorus (P) concentrations in surface water endanger public health and welfare by contributing to harmful algal blooms and hypoxic zones. Many efforts to decrease P pollution to the nation's waters have not achieved desired outcomes. To help decision‐makers develop strategies to decrease P loads, we developed an inventory of inputs and outputs of P across the United States. This inventory reveals the source and magnitude of P in a local area and how it changes through time. We found that agricultural P inputs were the largest source of P nationwide and inefficiencies in use contribute to the continued accumulation of phosphorus across the landscape. This excess phosphorus may make it more difficult to achieve water quality goals. However, many agricultural regions in the eastern and western United States demonstrated more efficient use of phosphorus fertilizer in 2012. On another positive note, urban areas in certain regions have likely decreased their fertilizer application rates, the amount of P being released by detergents, and point source loads. These efforts may have contributed to recent reports of improved water quality in more urbanized watersheds. Decision makers should consider the role of current fluxes and legacy P when designing strategies to reduce P pollution. Key Points: Agricultural surplus declined by 8% for the entire US and declines are seen in many subbasins of the eastern and western United StatesAtmospheric phosphorus (P) deposition increased by 9% from 2002 to 2012, coincident with increases in stream P concentrations in undisturbed watershedsSummed legacy P surplus accumulation is more than 50 times contemporary P surplus and may perpetuate eutrophication in the nation's waters [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Procurement, inventory, and stockholding strategies are important functions for agricultural commodity processing and trading. This paper's purpose is to develop an optimal inventory strategy for wheat in flour milling by considering the risks in margins and demand. We develop a model that views buffer stocks as real options for future sales. The model was applied to a representative wheat flour mill in the Upper Midwest and used prices for inputs, outputs, margins, and associated distributions and correlations. The base case results indicated that the optimal buffer stocks should be 20% more than expected demand in the base case, and vary in a logical way with changes in demand, market carry, and stockout penalties. Implications from these results illustrate that stockholding is an important element of agricultural processing. This approach indicates that managers should strategically manage inventory positions and purchases that result in buffer stocks. [EconLit citations: C6, L1, L7, L9, Q12, Q14] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although changes, particularly declines, in Australian terrestrial insects and other invertebrates have long been suspected and well‐documented for some species, the magnitude, rate and spatial extent of decline remain unclear. Here we use a combination of alternative, qualitative approaches (expert opinion, historical records and temporal replication of surveys) to standardised monitoring and mapping programs to investigate the extent of change of a peri‐urban butterfly assemblage. This assemblage, comprising 52 species, of which 46 are residents or seasonal immigrants, was studied at three spatial scales (local ~0.01 km2, intermediate ~9 km2 and regional ~100 km2) in the Eltham district near Melbourne based on presence/absence data over the past 40 (1981–2020) and 80 years (1941–2020). We then consider the causal factors or drivers that have led to changes, and we explore the timing and ecological patterns underpinning extirpations. Long‐term records reveal substantial changes (mostly decline) in composition and species richness of the 46 breeding species at all spatial scales and time frames analysed. Although the magnitude and rate of decline were higher at the smaller, local to intermediate scales (29–43% decline over 40 years, loss rate of 0.20–0.25 species/year) compared with the larger, regional scale (26% decline over 80 years, loss rate of 0.15 species/year), extirpations at the larger scale were more alarming because they are indicative of widespread population collapse. Declines in relative abundance and occupancy were also recorded at the intermediate and regional spatial scales. Further decline (extinction debt) is anticipated for several ecological specialists currently known from very few sites. Historical extirpations mostly involved obligate myrmecophilous lycaenids and appear to have been largely driven by a combination of urbanisation (habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation) and vegetation encroachment. More recent extirpations consist mainly of grass‐feeding and mistletoe‐feeding specialists and are more worrying because they have predominantly occurred within the past 20–30 years. An interaction of urbanisation (tree canopy death and decline of mistletoes and their host trees from ecosystem dysfunction) and climate change (water stress and heat waves) are considered to be the most likely drivers for these ecological guilds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers an economic order quantity (EOQ) inventory model for items with imperfect quality and shortage backordering under several styles of managerial leadership via lock fuzzy game theoretic approach. The decision maker (DM) controls several cost components by playing as Player 1 on the one side and the consumers who may accept/reject those items (unwilling to buy those commodities) stands as Player 2 on the other side. First of all, we develop a profit maximization backlogging EOQ model where the imperfect items are screened out batchwise. Because of the fuzzy flexibility of the model parameters we also develop a fuzzy mathematical model by considering the demand, all cost parameters, and other input parameters of the inventory system as triangular lock fuzzy numbers. Then we develop a 3 × 3 matrix game by applying a five‐stage leadership theory employing several key vectors in the model itself. The problem has been solved for crisp, general fuzzy models of several leadership styles also. Numerical results show that for a cooperative game, inventory profit function reaches its maximum rather than the noncooperative game by the use of proper keys. Finally, comparative study, sensitivity analysis, and graphical illustrations are made to justify the new approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the periodic review joint replenishment problem under the class of cyclic policies. For each item, the demand in the protection interval is assumed stochastic. Moreover, a fraction of shortage is lost, while the other quota is backordered. We suppose that lead times and minor ordering costs are controllable. The problem concerns determining the cyclic replenishment policy, the lead times, and the minor ordering costs in order to minimize the long‐run expected total cost per time unit. We established several properties of the cost function, which permit us to derive a heuristic algorithm. A lower bound on the minimum cost is obtained, which helps us to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed heuristic. The heuristic is also compared with a hybrid genetic algorithm that is specifically developed for benchmarking purposes. Numerical experiments have been carried out to investigate the performance of the heuristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The introduction of aquatic non‐indigenous species (ANS) has become a major driver for global changes in species biogeography. We examined spatial patterns and temporal trends of ANS detections since 1965 to inform conservation policy and management. Location: Global. Methods: We assembled an extensive dataset of first records of detection of ANS (1965–2015) across 49 aquatic ecosystems, including the (a) year of first collection, (b) population status and (c) potential pathway(s) of introduction. Data were analysed at global and regional levels to assess patterns of detection rate, richness and transport pathways. Results: An annual mean of 43 (±16 SD) primary detections of ANS occurred—one new detection every 8.4 days for 50 years. The global rate of detections was relatively stable during 1965–1995, but increased rapidly after this time, peaking at roughly 66 primary detections per year during 2005–2010 and then declining marginally. Detection rates were variable within and across regions through time. Arthropods, molluscs and fishes were the most frequently reported ANS. Most ANS were likely introduced as stowaways in ships' ballast water or biofouling, although direct evidence is typically absent. Main conclusions: This synthesis highlights the magnitude of recent ANS detections, yet almost certainly represents an underestimate as many ANS go unreported due to limited search effort and diminishing taxonomic expertise. Temporal rates of detection are also confounded by reporting lags, likely contributing to the lower detection rate observed in recent years. There is a critical need to implement standardized, repeated methods across regions and taxa to improve the quality of global‐scale comparisons and sustain core measures over longer time‐scales. It will be fundamental to fill in knowledge gaps given that invasion data representing broad regions of the world's oceans are not yet readily available and to maintain knowledge pipelines for adaptive management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem statement: We present a data‐driven analytics study of a Chinese fashion retailer. The retailer fulfills cross‐border orders using online platforms, but faces inventory problems in its overseas warehouses, owing to operational complexities, such as extensive product offerings, high demand risks, and tax risks in cross‐border trade. Traditional approaches (e.g., model‐driven approaches) often fail to provide effective solutions. Therefore, this study proposes a new data‐driven approach to manage inventory in overseas warehouses. Methodology: A two‐stage predictive analytics approach is implemented, as follows: (i) all items are classified into one of two classes, where A‐items are profitable to store in overseas warehouses, but B‐items are not; (ii) the demand levels of SKUs of A‐items are predicted. In the subsequent prescriptive analytics, models are proposed for optimizing inventory decisions related to A‐items. These include a deterministic model that uses the predicted demand as the true demand, and a stochastic model that treats the true demand as a random variable. Results: (i) Using a variety of machine learning techniques in the predictive analytics phase, we find the random forest outperforms other methods. (ii) The deterministic model can be solved as a linear program, and the stochastic model with maximum entropy distributions can be solved using Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions. (iii) An application of our results shows that the predictive classification reduces costs (an average cost reduction of up to 20%) by avoid shipping unprofitable items to overseas warehouses. Furthermore, the stochastic model provides near‐optimal solutions (the smallest performance loss is just 0.00%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key Takeaways: If community water systems can easily access information about hazardous chemical storage in their source water protection area (SWPA) and know how to make full use of the data, they stand a better chance of sufficiently preparing for source water emergencies. Required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right‐to‐Know Act, annual Tier II reports contain valuable information about specific hazardous chemicals that are stored or used in SWPAs. Provisions in America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 give community water systems a legal right to Tier II hazardous chemical inventory data for facilities in their SWPA, which can be used to promote comprehensive source water protection planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]