Defines and discusses quick response (QR), with its relationship to vendor partnering, short-cycle manufacturing, demand-flow manufacturing, "virtual integration", re-engineering, just-in-time (JIT), and efficient consumer response as an introduction to the results of a study on which firms are implementing QR and at what stage they are regarding their implementation strategy. The results of the study show that 73 per cent of the responding retailers claimed to be implementing some phase of QR. Implementation is slow, however, with only two of 15 QR components reported to be as much as half-implemented among the retail respondents.

<p class="western" align="justify">Global climate models poorly represent mixed-phase clouds, which leads to uncertainties in cloud radiative forcing and precipitation. In the FORCeS ice experiment (FOR-ICE) we compare three global climate models (ECHAM-HAM, NorESM, EC-Earth) and show which processes are crucial for a realistic representation of cloud ice and supercooled water in each global climate model framework using the factorial method as a statistical approach. A specific focus of the experiments is on secondary ice production (SIP) - which apart from one mechanism (rime splintering) is typically not represented in models, even if observations of ice crystal concentrations of ice crystal number in warm mixed-phase clouds often exceed available ice nuclei by orders of magnitude. We evaluate the importance of three SIP mechanisms combined (rime splintering, ice-ice collisions, and droplet shattering) compared to all other processes that can modulate ice mass and number in mixed-phase clouds: ice nucleation, sedimentation, and transport of ice crystals, and the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process. To describe SIP we adopt two approaches: an explicit microphysical representation of the processes, and a parameterization based on a random forest regression of high-resolution two-year simulations in the Arctic using the polar Weather Research and Forecast model (polar-WRF). Satellite observations are used to evaluate if including descriptions of SIP leads to a more realistic representation of mixed phase clouds.</p>

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IntroductionDefence Medical Services, supporting CBRN Casualty Care, requested that Dstl consider the use of a crude radiological dispersal device (‘dirty bomb’) in a mass casualty scenario, and the effect of a radioactive fragment embedded in a patient on a diagnostic medical radiograph, as well as the impact on the patient and surgical team. Initial work showed an unpredicted white ‘bloom’ artefact, opposite to the expected darkening; subsequently this trial empirically tested all Defence mobile X-ray systems (DRagon, DART, and DR-Go).MethodMeasurements were taken with DART equipment; a 600 GBq sealed iridium-192 source at varying heights to simulate different activities; and a caesium iodide flat panel detector. The width of the resulting artefact was plotted against source height, to determine a threshold dose rate at which the bloom was indistinguishable. From this, minimum detectable activities (MDAs) were calculated for several fragment depths.ResultsThe MDAs, without the scatter reduction grid (MDAs with it are higher), for radioactive fragments 0.5 cm and 24.5 cm from the detector are 0.79 ± 0.06 GBq and 1900 ± 140 GBq, respectively. Other effects are discussed such as inconclusive results on changing exposure factors, shadows and an unaffected central region at high dose rates. Anatomically representative images were also taken with a test phantom for future clinical training use.ConclusionEven for fragment activities below the MDA, surgical teams are likely to approach occupational dose limits within an hour, and in some cases, minutes. Patient images could appear normal, with the injury site still receiving several hundred Grays, having severe impacts on patient outcomes and clinical decision making, such as amputation. This work has contributed to surgical and CBRN medical training, planning recommendations in NHS Emergency Preparedness procedures, and will support further work to develop UK and international clinical guidelines, refine dose thresholds, and investigate other imaging modalities.