University of Southern Denmark

About: University of Southern Denmark is a education organization based out in Odense, Syddanmark, Denmark. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Randomized controlled trial. The organization has 11928 authors who have published 37918 publications receiving 1258559 citations. The organization is also known as: SDU.

A hybrid approach using ISM and fuzzy TOPSIS for the selection of reverse logistics provider

Abstract: Return of used products is becoming an important logistics activity due to government legislation and increasing awareness among the people to protect the environment and reduce waste. For industries, the management of return flow usually requires a specialized infrastructure with special information systems for tracking and dedicated equipment for the processing of returns. Therefore, industries are turning to third-party reverse logistics providers (3PRLPs). In this study, a multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) model in fuzzy environment is developed to guide the selection process of best 3PRLP. The interactions among the criteria are also analyzed before arriving at a decision for the selection of 3PRLP from among 15 alternatives. The analysis is done through Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). Finally the effectiveness of the model is illustrated using a case study on battery manufacturing industry in India.

Atmospheric oxygenation three billion years ago

Abstract: The distribution of chromium isotopes and redox-sensitive metals in the Nsuze palaeosol and in the Ijzermyn iron formation from the Pongola Supergroup, in South Africa, suggests that there were appreciable levels of atmospheric oxygen about three billion years ago, some 300–400 million years earlier than previous indications for Earth surface oxygenation. The first long-term oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere — the Great Oxidation Event — is thought to have occurred around 2.3 billion years ago, although there is some geochemical evidence for transient atmospheric oxygenation as early as 2.7 billion years ago. Sean Crowe et al. examine the distribution of chromium isotopes and other metals that act as indicators for oxidative weathering in ancient soil and rock samples from South Africa. Their measurements suggest that oxygen-driven weathering was taking place 3 billion years ago, implying the presence of appreciable levels of atmospheric oxygen. This oxygen was probably produced by photosynthesis, indicating that cyanobacteria may have evolved by this time. This suggests an early evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis, 600 million years before the Great Oxidation Event. It is widely assumed that atmospheric oxygen concentrations remained persistently low (less than 10−5 times present levels) for about the first 2 billion years of Earth’s history1. The first long-term oxygenation of the atmosphere is thought to have taken place around 2.3 billion years ago, during the Great Oxidation Event2,3. Geochemical indications of transient atmospheric oxygenation, however, date back to 2.6–2.7 billion years ago4,5,6. Here we examine the distribution of chromium isotopes and redox-sensitive metals in the approximately 3-billion-year-old Nsuze palaeosol and in the near-contemporaneous Ijzermyn iron formation from the Pongola Supergroup, South Africa. We find extensive mobilization of redox-sensitive elements through oxidative weathering. Furthermore, using our data we compute a best minimum estimate for atmospheric oxygen concentrations at that time of 3 × 10−4 times present levels. Overall, our findings suggest that there were appreciable levels of atmospheric oxygen about 3 billion years ago, more than 600 million years before the Great Oxidation Event and some 300–400 million years earlier than previous indications for Earth surface oxygenation.