The distribution and marketing has faced a new business environment with the advent of mobile distribution channels. Due to the prevalence of smartphones and SNS, distribution structures in the market are changing naturally from multi-channel to omni-channel. Recently, omni-channel strategies have been established and implemented in many domestic distributors. This paper has proceeded with a preliminary study on how the change of the distribution structure to the omni-channel affects the supply chain management. To do this, we first looked at the cases of omni-channel strategy. Based on the systematic classification of the strategies implemented in the cases, strategies for strengthening the omni-channel were derived from statistical testing of hypotheses and research models.

This study investigated the physical properties of polymers and antimicrobial activities of organic acids on Listeria monocytogenes to develop hydrogels. κ-carrageenan (1, 2, and 3%), carboxymethylcellulose (CMC; 1, 3, and 5%), and agar (1.5 and 3%) were mixed with cross-linkers (Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Al3+) or each other by stirring or heating to form cross-linkage, and their physical properties (hardness, elasticity, and swelling) were measured. The hydrogels formulated with organic acid (1, 3, and 5%) were analyzed by spot assay against L. monocytogenes. κ-carrageenan formed hydrogels with high hardness without other cross-linkers, but they had low elasticity. The elasticity was improved by mixing with other cross-linkers such as K+ or other polymer, especially in 3% κ-carrageenan. CMC hydrogel was formed by adding cross-linkers Al3+, Na+, or Ca2+, especially in 5% CMC. Thus, stickiness and swelling for selected hydrogel formulations (two of κ-carrageenan hydrogels and three of CMC hydrogels) were measured. Among the selected hydrogels, most of them showed appropriate hardness, but only 3% κ-carrageenan-contained hydrogels maintained their shapes from swelling. Hence, 3% κ-carrageenan+0.2% KCl and 3% κ-carrageenan+1% alginate+0.2% KCl+0.2% CaCl2 were selected to be formulated with lactic acid, and showed antilisterial activity. These results indicate that 3% κ-carrageenan hydrogels formulated with lactic acid can be used to control L. monocytogenes on food surface.

Ceramic powder, such as MgO, is added as a binder to prepare the green compacts of molten salts of an electrolyte for a thermal battery. Despite the addition of a binder, when the thickness of the electrolyte decreases to improve the battery performance, the problem with the unintentional short circuit between the anode and cathode still remains. To improve the current powder molding method, a new type of electrolyte separator with porous MgO preforms is prepared and characteristics of the thermal battery are evaluated. A Spherical PMMA polymer powder is added as a pore-forming agent in the MgO powder, and an organic binder is used to prepare slurry appropriate for tape casting. A porous MgO preform with 300 μm thickness is prepared through a binder burnout and sintering process. The particle size of the starting MgO powder has an effect, not on the porosity of the porous MgO preform, but on the battery characteristics. The porosity of the porous MgO preforms is controlled from 60 to 75% using a pore-forming agent. The batteries prepared using various porosities of preforms show a performance equal to or higher than that of the pellet-shaped battery prepared by the conventional powder molding method.

We investigate the radio properties of the dwarf galaxy SDSS J133245.62+263449.3 which shows optical signatures of black hole activity. Dwarf galaxies are known to host intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) with masses MBH ∼ 10 4-6 M⊙, some of them being radio loud. Recently, Reines et al. (2013) found dwarf galaxy candidates which show signatures of being black hole hosts based on optical spectral lines. SDSS J133245.62+263449.3 is one of them; it shows a flux density of ∼ 20 mJy at 1.4 GHz, which corresponds to L 1.4GHz ∼ 10 23 WHz -1. This is much brighter than other black hole host dwarf galaxies. However, star formation activity can contribute to radio continuum emission as well. To understand the nature of the radio emission from SDSS J133245.62 + 263449.3, we imaged this radio loud dwarf galaxy at low frequencies (325 MHz and 610 MHz) using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). We present here the high resolution images from our GMRT observations. While we detect no obvious extended emission from radio jets from the central AGN, we do find the emission to be moderately extended and unlikely to be dominated by disk star formation. VLBI observations using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) are now being planned to understand the emission morphology and radiation mechanism.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the dielectric properties of impregnated and activated palm kernel shells (PKSs) samples using two activating agents, potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), at three impregnation ratios. The materials were characterized by moisture content, carbon content, ash content, thermal profile and functional groups. The dielectric properties were examined using an open-ended coaxial probe method at various microwave frequencies (1–6 GHz) and temperatures (25, 35, and 45°C). The results show that the dielectric properties varied with frequency, temperature, moisture content, carbon content and mass ratio of the ionic solids. PKSK1.75 (PKS impregnated with K2CO3 at a mass ratio of 1.75) and PKSN1.5 (PKS impregnated with NaOH at a mass ratio of 1.5) exhibited a high loss tangent (tan δ) indicating the effectiveness of these materials to be heated by microwaves. K2CO3 and NaOH can act as a microwave absorber to enhance the efficiency of microwave heating for low loss PKSs. Materials with a high moisture content exhibit a high loss tangent but low penetration depth. The interplay of multiple operating frequencies is suggested to promote better microwave heating by considering the changes in the materials characteristics.