Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supply chain complexity

Supply chain management (SCM) is known as a competitive strategy in today’s business. Through increasing product variety, structures and processes, managers struggle with an increase in supply chain complexity (SCC), which leads to a negative influence on a firm’s efficiency in terms of lead times, flexibility and costs. In order to manage complexity, supply chain managers need to know its drivers or define appropriate management measures. However, managers can no longer manage SCC internally. In order to cope with this challenging issue and achieve overall benefits, it is necessary that the complete supply chain is involved in optimising supply chain processes. An aligned supply chain should ensure that supply chain partners benefit from cost savings. At the same time, supply chain processes should be agile to respond to market volatility, while also being cost-efficient to survive in the highly competitive world. In this dissertation, three research cases are conducted with different focus areas whereby first drivers for internal and external SCC are explored in a single case study. In order to gain a representative overview of relevant drivers, not only interviews with top managers from a manufacturer are held but also with key managers from suppliers and customers. With the interviews held from the upstream to downstream supply chain, this part of the dissertation sheds light on topical SCC drivers and provides some hypotheses for managing detailed and dynamic SCC. With this case, an academic contribution is provided to better understand the relevance of SCC. In a second step, another qualitative study addresses the requirements of a supply chain. The basis for this part is the triple-A supply chain of Hau Lee (2004), where he states from a theoretical perspective the prerequisites of a supply chain, namely agility, adaptability and alignment. In this dissertation, this approach is reviewed from a managerial perspective. It is analysed which key performance indicators of a firm are affected by the three aforementioned qualities. Finally, it is presented how agility, adaptability and alignment are linked together. In order to gain a common understanding, semi-structured interviews are conducted to extend literature through managerial experience. In a third step, a quantitative simulation creating a discrete-event simulation model is provided to evaluate inventory and logistics costs’ effects in a company that faces significant SCC. The target is to align the supply chain by changing the existing distribution channel to direct delivery. The result shall demonstrate the financial benefit for the supply chain partners, as well as illustrating the conditions and risks when changing supply chain processes. This dissertation shows that companies are increasingly faced by SCC. In order to respond flexibly to market volatility, supply chains must be agile to ensure that financial risk shall not alarm a company’s existence. Therefore, it is recommended to align the supply chain with a collaborative supply chain model.
Treatability Study of In Situ Technologies for Remediation of Hexavalent Chromium in Groundwater at the Puchack Well Field Superfund Site, New Jersey

This treatability study was conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), at the request of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, to evaluate the feasibility of using in situ treatment technologies for chromate reduction and immobilization at the Puchack Well Field Superfund Site in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. In addition to in situ reductive treatments, which included the evaluation of both abiotic and biotic reduction of Puchack aquifer sediments, natural attenuation mechanisms were evaluated (i.e., chromate adsorption and reduction). Chromate exhibited typical anionic adsorption behavior, with greater adsorption at lower pH, at lower chromate concentration, and at lower concentrations of other competing anions. In particular, sulfate (at 50 mg/L) suppressed chromate adsorption by up to 50%. Chromate adsorption was not influenced by inorganic colloids.
Measurement and Analysis of Passive Intermodulation Induced by Additional Impedance in Loose Contact Coaxial Connector

The mechanism of the passive intermodulation (PIM) distortion caused by the loose contact in coaxial connectors is of great importance in wireless communication systems. This paper focuses on the effect of the additional impedance on PIM levels in coaxial connectors. First, the additional impedance and PIM levels of the loose contact coaxial connectors are measured. Then, the S-parameters and the additional impedance with three different loose contact cases are simulated. Finally, a modified coaxial connector with different values of conductive tapes is designed to verify the additional impedance impacts on the PIM level. It is shown that the increase of the additional impedance of the metal–metal loose contact will lead to the deterioration of PIM levels in the coaxial connector.
ERAP1 and ERAP2 Haplotypes Influence Suboptimal HLA-B*27:05-Restricted Anti-Viral CD8+ T Cell Responses Cross-Reactive to Self-Epitopes

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*27 family of alleles is strongly associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting the axial and peripheral joints, yet some HLA-B*27 variants not associated with AS have been shown. Since no major differences in the ligandome of associated compared to not-associated alleles have emerged, a plausible hypothesis is that the quantity rather than the quality of the presented epitopes makes the difference. In addition, the Endoplasmic Reticulum AminoPeptidases (ERAPs) 1 and 2, playing a crucial role in shaping the HLA class I epitopes, act as strong AS susceptibility factors, suggesting that an altered peptidome might be responsible for the activation of pathogenic CD8+ T cells. In this context, we have previously singled out a B*27:05-restricted CD8+ T cell response against pEBNA3A (RPPIFIRRL), an EBV peptide lacking the B*27 classic binding motif. Here, we show that a specific ERAP1/2 haplotype negatively correlates with such response in B*27:05 subjects. Moreover, we prove that the B*27:05 allele successfully presents peptides with the same suboptimal N-terminal RP motif, including the self-peptide, pDYNEIN (RPPIFGDFL). Overall, this study underscores the cooperation between the HLA-B*27 and ERAP1/2 allelic variants in defining CD8+ T cell reactivity to suboptimal viral and self-B*27 peptides and prompts further investigation of the B*27:05 peptidome composition.
South Asia: Rising to the Challenge of Globalization

This timely book reviews how South Asia is rising to the challenge of globalization. In particular, how are South Asian countries maximizing the benefits of globalization whilst minimizing its costs? What lessons have these countries learned from the East Asian financial crisis? What actions have they taken at the national, regional, and global level? Some important topics covered in this book include policy reforms and economic integration in South Asia, comparisons between South Asia (mainly India) and China, and economic linkages between South Asia and East Asia including the possibility of an integrated Pan-Asia similar to the European Union. Academics, researchers, students, policymakers and observers of South Asian, and more broadly Asian, economic development and integration will want to read this book.
Preparing Teachers during a Pandemic: Virtual Practicum in an Undergraduate Literacy Course

High-quality field-based experiences are at the core of teacher preparation programs;however, the COVID-19 pandemic severely limited access to such placements for pre-service teachers. This descriptive study examined how virtual tutoring in a summer-semester intermediate literacy course impacted both pre-service teachers and students served. Pre-service teachers worked in dyad pairs to plan and implement reading and writing instruction for a student in the local community in grades three through six using video conferencing platforms. Findings indicated virtual tutoring led to pre-service teachers feeling prepared to work with students in grades 3-6 in one-on-one, small group, and whole-class settings, along with feeling prepared to locate texts for this age group. Tutees felt they learned more and were more excited about reading in virtual tutoring than in their regular school experience. Both groups indicated successes and challenges during the experience.
Integrated modelling of runoff, alkalinity, and pH on a daily basis

Based on the experience from runoff and groundwater recharge simulation a model system has been developed for terrestrial, hydrochemical, and hydrological simulations. The system emphasizes the role of temporary or long term storage in the aquifers of a basin and, separately, accounts for each rainfall or snowmelt event from its entrance into the ground until mixing in the river system. The model is primarily intended for simulation of natural short term variations in alkalinity and pH in running waters. The hydrochemical processes are modelled in a semi-empirical way without assumption of complete hydrochemichal mass-balance. In the paper a brief hydrochemical background is given, and a model with two alternative hydrochemical sub-structures is described. Examples of daily simulations of runoff alkalinity and pH from three different basins are given.
Couplage hydromécanique et perméabilité d'une argile gonflante non saturée sous sollicitations hydriques et thermiques : courbe de sorption et perméabilité à l'eau

L'utilisation d'argile gonflante pour les barrieres ouvragees des ouvrages de stockage des dechets nucleaires, necessite la maitrise de son comportement thermohydromecanique. Le travail presente ici concerne la caracterisation et la modelisation du comportement de lune de ces argiles : largile FoCa 7. Les caracteristiques du materiau etudiees sont : la courbe de sorption (/ desorption) et la permeabilite a leau. Pour chacune delles, de nouveaux protocoles experimentaux ont permis lacquisition de donnees dans des domaines encore peu explores : en temperature (entre 20oC et 80oC) pour la courbe de sorption et dans le domaine non sature pour la permeabilite a leau. Lanalyse de ces resultats et de donnees bibliographiques a permis dune part devaluer limportance du phenomene dhysteresis et de linfluence de la temperature sur la courbe de sorption, et dautre part, detablir la necessite dintroduire au niveau de la modelisation de la courbe de sorption, un parametre plastique lie aux deformations irreversibles se produisant lors du compactage. De plus, les essais realises pour lacquisition des donnees ont egalement pu etre utilises afin de fournir des elements de validation aux lois de comportement non lineaires proposees par O. Coussy et P. Dangla pour les milieux poreux non satures. La particularite de ces lois est de supposer lexistence dune contrainte effective dans le domaine non sature, dou limportance des elements de validation presentes ici.
Fast Direct Solution of Integral Equations With Modified HODLR Structure for Analyzing Electromagnetic Scattering Problems

A modified hierarchically off-diagonal low-rank (HODLR) fast direct solver is presented to analyze the scattering by electrically large and complex perfect electric conducting objects. The overall idea of HODLR solver is that the impedance matrix can be decomposed into the multiplication of several diagonal block matrices and the inverse is obtained easily with Sherman–Morrison–Woodbury formula. In this paper, a novel modified matrix compression method is utilized for the low-rank approximation of the off-diagonal submatrices. The proposed method only compresses the far-group subblocks judged by extended admissibility condition. The low-rank representations of the off-diagonal submatrices are then reconstructed and recompressed with the help of adaptive tolerance strategy. Consequently, the computation time and storage requirements will reduce significantly compared with the conventional solver. Several numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method.
Defining city boundaries through percolation theory: the case of the mexican urban system

We applied an emerging methodology involving percolation theory and fractal dimen-sion to the Mexican national road network to determine cities’ boundaries in a more automated and less subjective manner. The percolated network at the distance where the maximum fractal dimension occurs, corresponds to actual built-up environmental data derived from different sources. The relationship between the critical point of the system and what is defined as urban, seems promising for defining city limits, metropolitan or functional urban areas, and dynamics related to people concentration in geographies
Extended Report

Objective To compare current defi nitions of remission and relapse in polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) with items resulting from a Delphi-based expert consensus. Methods Relevant studies including defi nitions of PMR remission and relapse were identifi ed by literature search in PubMed. The questionnaire used for the Delphi survey included clinical (n=33), laboratory (n=54) and imaging (n=7) parameters retrieved from a literature search. Each item was assessed for importance and availability/ practicability, and limits were considered for metric parameters. Consensus was defi ned by an agreement rate of ≥80%. Results Out of 6031 articles screened, defi nitions of PMR remission and relapse were available in 18 and 34 studies, respectively. Parameters used to defi ne remission and/or relapse included history and clinical assessment of pain and synovitis, constitutional symptoms, morning stiffness (MS), physician's global assessment, headache, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), blood count, fi brinogen and/or corticosteroid therapy. In the Delphi exercise a consensus was obtained on the following parameters deemed essential for defi nitions of remission and relapse: patient's pain assessment, MS, ESR, CRP, shoulder and hip pain on clinical examination, limitation of upper limb elevation, and assessment of corticosteroid dose required to control symptoms. Conclusions Assessment of patient's pain, MS, ESR, CRP, shoulder pain/limitation on clinical examination and corticosteroid dose are considered to be important in current available defi nitions of PMR remission and relapse and the present expert consensus. The high relevance of clinical assessment of hips was unique to this study and may improve specifi city and sensitivity of defi nitions for remission and relapse in PMR.
Scalar Fields in Cosmology: Inflation, Dark Matter, Dark Energy

During the 12 years of project C6 of the SFB 676 it has achieved a set of signi cant contributions to our understanding of the dynamics of scalar elds in early universe cosmology and its connection to string theory. In this contribution we describe our results at this interface between theoretical cosmology and fundamental high-energy theory in their impacts on `string in ation' consequences of multield in ation in string theory inspired random potentials', `pole in ation, f(R)-gravity, and exponential in ationary plateaus', the `phenomenological consequences of features before and during in ation', `false-vacuum tunneling and its consequences for the initial conditions of in ation', connections between slow-rolling scalar elds and electroweak symmetry breaking due to couplings between the Standard Model (SM) Higgs eld and in ation, `moduli stabilization and de Sitter (dS) vacua in string theory', as well as the connection of dS vacua to `sequestering as a solution to the cosmological constant problem', and on the connection between measurements of ΛCDM parameters from the CMB as well as local data such as the local H0 determinations, and e ects from large-scale structure such as weak gravitational lensing. We nish in section with a summary of a review by one of the PIs on the topic of `String cosmology Large eld in ation in string theory'.
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES THE MACROECONOMIC STABILIZATION OF TARIFF SHOCKS: WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL MONETARY RESPONSE?

In the wake of Brexit and the Trump tariff war, and a general weakening of the political support for free trade, central banks have been faced with the need to reconsider the role of monetary policy in managing the economic effects of unexpected hikes in tariffs and trade costs. Although tariffs induce a slowdown with rising inflation like supply shocks, their distortionary effects on production and relative prices distinguish them from standard supply disturbances, and thus motivate a different monetary response. This paper studies the optimal monetary stabilization of tariff shocks using a New Keynesian model enriched with elements from the trade literature, including global value chains in production, firm dynamics, and comparative advantage between traded sectors. We find that, in response to tariff shocks, the optimal monetary stance is generally expansionary: central banks support activity at the expense of further aggravating short-run inflation—contrary to the prescription of the standard Taylor rule. If the tariff is imposed unilaterally by a trading partner, currency depreciation partly offsets the effects of tariffs on relative prices, without completely redressing the effects of the tariff on the broader set of macroeconomic aggregates. Remarkably, the country issuing a dominant currency can shelter its economy from the adverse effects of a selective tariff war on comparative advantage. Paul R. Bergin Department of Economics University of California, Davis One Shields Ave. Davis, CA 95616 and NBER prbergin@ucdavis.edu Giancarlo Corsetti Faculty of Economics Cambridge University Sidgwick Avenue CB3 9DD Cambridge, Cambs United Kingdom giancarlo.corsetti@gmail.com An online appendix is available at http://www.nber. org/data-appendix/w26995
Regeneration of Natural Pine Forest – Review of Work Done After the 1989 Fire in Mount Carmel, Israel

In September 1989 a fire burned a large natural Pinus halepensis Mill. forest on Mt. Carmel, Israel. This paper summarizes the main results of five years of research, in which the effects of natural factors and management on the development of the forest and the vegetation were studied. It was found that the burned pine tree skeletons were correlated with the spatial pattern of seed germination. Fewer pine seedlings were found one year after the fire near the burned trunks, but the survival and growth rate of these young pine trees was higher in the following four years. Pine ash was found to inhibit post-fire seed germination, offering a possible explanation for the apparent effect of the old burned trees on the spatial pattern of the new pine seedlings. Both laboratory experiments and field measurements indicate that the high pH of the ash, is the main factor responsible for the inhibition of germination. We examined several management regimes designed to enhance the growth of the young post-fire pine trees and assess their influence on the recovery of the forest. The results revealed that four years after fire, and three years after treatments, forest regeneration was mainly affected by the natural process while management had only a marginal effect. Management such as cutting and leaving, or cutting and removing the burned trunks and twigs from the plots, had almost no effect on species composition and cover. However, thinning of Pinus and Cistus seedlings increased survival and growth of remaining seedlings.
The differentiation and integration of the hippocampal dorsoventral axis are controlled by two nuclear receptor genes

The hippocampus executes crucial functions from declarative memory to adaptive behaviors associated with cognition and emotion. However, the mechanisms of how morphogenesis and functions along the hippocampal dorsoventral axis are differentiated and integrated are still largely unclear. Here, we show that Nr2f1 and Nr2f2 genes are distinctively expressed in the dorsal and ventral hippocampus, respectively. The loss of Nr2f2 results in ectopic CA1/CA3 domains in the ventral hippocampus. The deficiency of Nr2f1 leads to the failed specification of dorsal CA1, among which there are place cells. The deletion of both Nr2f genes causes almost agenesis of the hippocampus with abnormalities of trisynaptic circuit and adult neurogenesis. Moreover, Nr2f1/2 may cooperate to guarantee appropriate morphogenesis and function of the hippocampus by regulating the Lhx5-Lhx2 axis. Our findings revealed a novel mechanism that Nr2f1 and Nr2f2 converge to govern the differentiation and integration of distinct characteristics of the hippocampus in mice.
The actual use of investigative physiopsychological examinations in Germany EUROPEAN POLYGRAPH

Studies that make use of the bioelectric activity of the brain and falling back on the EEG are presented as an alternative to classical polygraph examinations, especially those that make use of the Guilty Knowledge Tests/Concealed Information Tests (GKT/CIT). Th eir main purpose is detection of concealed information through the analysis of the bioelectric activity of the brain in response to presented stimuli. Th e article aims at elucidating the main questions concerning the detection of concealed information with the use of P300 potential amplitude analysis, discussion of the chief advantages and disadvantages of the method, and presentation of a review of seminal studies.
Prevalence and predictors of self-medication for COVID-19 among slum dwellers in Jinja City, Uganda

Introduction: Self-medication is a serious public health concern globally and is more prevalent in underserved populations, especially in resource limited settings. The lack of effective treatment for COVID-19 and poor access to healthcare were drivers of self-medication. We investigated the prevalence and associated factors with self-medication for COVID-19 among slum dwellers in a Ugandan slum. Methods and materials: We conducted a cross-sectional study using randomly selected respondents from slums in Jinja city, Uganda. Households were proportionately selected from the slums and one participant with confirmed or self-reported COVID-19 during 2021 was recruited. Poisson regression with robust standard errors was used to determine the crude (CPR) and adjusted prevalence ratios (APR) (95% CI) of factors associated with self-medication. Variables were selected apriori and backward elimination approach used to fit the final multivariate model in which variables with a P[≤] 0.05 were included. Results: Overall, 517 respondents were recruited, median age (years) was 31 (26-40), and 59% were male. The prevalence of self-medication for COVID-19 was 87.23% (451/517), 95% CI: [84.00%-90.00%] and 56% knew that self-medication was dangerous. Age[≥]50 years, compared to 20-29 years [APR: 1.12, 95% CI:1.05, 1.20], being female [APR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.13], minor [APR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.25, 2.11], and severe symptoms [APR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.16, 1.96], access to internet [APR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.20]. Having medical insurance [APR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.46, 0.87] and awareness about laws against self-medication [APR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81, 0.97] were associated with a lower risk of self-medication. Conclusion: The prevalence of self-medication in slum dwellers in Uganda was high despite high awareness about its dangers. Self-medication was common in those with severe symptoms and those access to internet. There is need to control infodemia and improve health insurance cover in informal settlements within Uganda.