An Additive Basis for the Chow Ring of \bar{M}_{0,2}(P^r,2)

We begin a study of the intersection theory of the moduli spaces of degree two stable maps from two-pointed rational curves to arbitrary-dimensional projective space. First we compute the Betti numbers of these spaces using Serre polynomial and equivariant Serre polynomial methods developed by E. Getzler and R. Pandharipande. Then, via the excision sequence, we compute an additive basis for their Chow rings in terms of Chow rings of nonlinear Grassmannians, which have been described by Pandharipande. The ring structure of one of these Chow rings is addressed in a sequel to this paper.Comment: Published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGMA

Simulation Modeling of Alternative Staffing and Task Prioritization in Manual Post-Distribution Cross Docking Facilities

Many supply chains have grown increasingly complex, which has led to the development of different facility types. One such facility is known as a post-distribution cross docking system (Post-C). In these facilities, bulk sorted product is received from various suppliers. Each product has its own destination, so the bulk package is broken, sorted by destination, and staged by destination. Typical processing includes: sort received goods by product type; break bulk and sort out goods by destination; move palletized goods to the staging areas of their respective destinations. This paper compares a global staffing policy (in which all workers may perform any task) to a dedicated staffing policy (in which groups of workers are assigned specific tasks). Through comparisons of the two models, it was found the dedicated worker model’s benefits from reduced change-over outweigh the lower worker utilization it experiences

WHAT SHOULD BE THE ROLE OF RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP IN FUTURE FARM POLICY?

Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Early warning systems for malaria in Africa: from blueprint to practice.

Although the development of early warning systems for malaria has been advocated by international agencies and academic researchers for many years, practical progress in this area has been relatively modest. In two recent articles, Thomson et al. provide new evidence that models of malaria incidence that incorporate monitored or predicted climate can provide early warnings of epidemics one to five months in advance in semi-arid areas. Although the potential benefits of these models in terms of improved management of epidemics are clear, several technical and practical hurdles still need to be overcome before the models can be widely integrated into routine malaria-control strategies