Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supply chain collaboration: A literature review and empirical analysis to investigate uncertainty and collaborative benefits in regards to their practical impact on collaboration and performance

Supply chain collaboration: A literature review and empirical analysis to investigate uncertainty and collaborative benefits in regards to their practical impact on collaboration and performance" (2014). 2014 ii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my wife Rebecca for her never ending support and understanding. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dr. Scott Grawe has had a tremendous impact on my development as a scholar and hopefully, also as a better person. He is a wonderful role model to emulate professionally and personally. I am indebted to him more than he knows. I would like to thank Dr. Mike Crum for continuously providing me guidance on what it takes to be a successful researcher, colleague, and student resource. I appreciate the time and effort he has taken on my behalf. Ramaswami, all I can say is thank you. Each of them has provided encouragement, helpful suggestions, and honest feedback throughout the dissertation process. I feel the intent was to not only improve the current research project, but to also further enhance my future research endeavors. For that, they have my sincerest gratitude. This dissertation investigates supply chain collaboration. Supply chain collaboration is defined as a long-term relationship where participants generally cooperate, share information, and work together to plan and even modify their business practices to improve joint performance (Whipple et al., 2010). Analyzing supply chain collaboration provides researchers further understanding of the concept as we seek to move the body of knowledge related to supply chain collaboration forward. Investigating supply chain collaboration delivers practical value to firm managers by seeking methods to increase supply chain collaboration success, identifying what factors lead to, or are generated from, successful collaboration, and determining firm performance benefits of supply chain collaboration. Utilizing the three-paper model, this dissertation's main chapters follow journal article formatting to separate distinct, but related, analyses and investigations of supply chain collaboration. Chapter 2 will synthesize existing supply chain collaboration literature and provide an assessment of the gaps in the understanding of the concept. The review will be augmented with thoughts from practitioners discussing why or what causes collaboration to occur, what practitioners look for when collaborating with other firms, and what performance implications result when successful collaboration occurs. Chapter 3 will utilize survey data to investigate uncertainty and its impact on supply chain collaboration, and eventually, firm performance. The relationship between uncertainty and supply chain collaboration is a topic yet to be fully explored and this …
Predicting First-Run Gunnery Performance on Tank Table VIII

Abstract : Research was conducted to determine if performance on the first run of Tank Table VIII can be predicted from amount and level of training on the Unit Conduct-of-Fire Training (U-COFT) and from crew turbulence data. During the first phase of the research, intercorrelations were computed between predictor variables and Tables VIII performance measures obtained from 77 tank crews. Two predictor variables from U-COFT training correlated significantly with Table VIII performance--crew reticle air level and TC reticle aim level. Neither variable was able to predict which crews would qualify on Table VIII, but the composite of crew reticle air and time in crew was able to predict which crews would qualify. This finding was not supported by the results based on 136 crews examined during Phase II. Since gunnery training was curtailed during Phase I but not during Phase II, the Phase I results may be applicable to future training situations in which resource constraints cause to be curtailed. (sdw)
Dynamic analysis on off-road vehicle chassis using 3-d finite element model

Reducing the weight and production cost of chassis is considered to be one of the most important area of research in automotive manufacturing industry. However with lighter vehicle, the chassis is easily subjected to large vibration mainly coming from the engine and road irregularities. This paper looks into the application of dynamic analysis for verification of the complex FE model of truck chassis. The dynamic characteristic of truck chassis such as the natural frequency and mode shape is determined by finite element method. Experimental measurement by modal testing is then carried out to determine the accuracy of finite element analysis. Initial result indicated some discrepancies with regard to natural frequencies at various modes. However for mode shape analysis, both methods produced almost the same shape. As for getting a better agreement between both methods of analysis, modal updating had been carried out. The results show that the error was reduced to ± 2% through the model updating.
A validation of parallel multiblock CFD against the GAMM Francis water turbine runner at best efficiency and off-design operating conditions

The CALC-PMB (Parallel MultiBlock) CFD code is used to predict the flow in the GAMM Francis water turbine runner at best efficiency and off-design operating conditions. The computations are made in a rotating coordinate system, where the computational domain starts at the guide vanes and ends at the entrance to the draft tube. Because the guide vanes are not included in the computations, the inlet boundary conditions are obtained from an extrapolation of measurements before the runner. The flow is assumed to be steady and periodic. This allows periodic computations of a single runner blade, which considerably reduces the size of the computational domain. Most hydraulic turbine computations found in the literature use the wall function approach to further reduce the size of the computational domain. However, the wall function approach is based on local equilibrium assumptions in fully developed boundary layers, which is not found in turbine runners. To bring the computations one step further, this work uses a low Reynolds number turbulence model that can be used all the way to the wall. The computational results that are compared to measurements are the circumferentially averaged velocity and static pressure distributions, the runner blade static pressure distributions, the torque and the efficiency. The comparisons show that most of the flow features observed are captured by the computations. For the flow features that are not captured properly, the assumption of steady and periodic flow is not applicable. This work argues that steady periodic multiblock CFD can be used for water turbine runner computations, but that transient computations of the complete runner are required to capture all the flow features.
Review of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Based on Current Evidence

The coronaviruses are a group of RNA-containing agents known to cause respiratory illnesses in humans and animals. This virus has caused two largescale pandemics in humans in the past two decades, SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the disease Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been isolated from in a seafood and poultry market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019. Cases have been detected in most countries worldwide, and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a pandemic. The virus spreads from person-to-person via close contact, respiratory droplets, or surface contact. The disease is mild in most people, yet may progress to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, multi-organ dysfunction, and even death. Treatment is essentially supportive as the role of antiviral agents is yet to be established. At the moment, is known relatively little about COVID-19, except that it is a highly pathogenic and possibly zoonotic agent. Therefore, the objective of this review paper is to summarize the current published evidence on the genomic structure, pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical characteristics, diagnosis, and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
Nonclassical Adsorption of Methanol on Palladium: The Competition between Adsorption of Single Molecules and Clusters

The adsorption of methanol on the Pd(111) surface at 80, 90, and 100 K has been studied by polarization modulation infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy. It is found that the adsorption of methanol on the palladium surface does not proceed via the layer-by-layer mechanism. At temperatures below 100 K, methanol adsorbs molecularly to form clusters containing several hydrogen-bonded CH3OH molecules. These clusters have low thermal stability and decompose even at 100 K to form isolated methanol molecules bonded with palladium atoms. As a result, at a temperature between 100 and 120 K, methanol adsorbs intact to produce adsorbed isolated molecules. These adsorbed species fast desorb at a temperature above 120 K. The dehydration of methanol is not observed under used conditions.
Energy-minimised virtual topology design in IP over WDM backbone networks

As the Internet expands in terms of users and exchanged traffic, the energy consumption of the network is rapidly increasing and is becoming a very important issue. In backbone internet protocol (IP) over wavelength division multiplexing networks, it is possible to reduce the energy consumption by properly designing the IP topology and routing the traffic on it. The present study faces such a problem and proposes a novel heuristic algorithm derived from the ‘multi-hop grooming’ strategy. The proposed algorithm is based on an innovative approach as it starts considering the solution given by the ‘single-hop grooming’ strategy and then tries to eliminate unnecessary links by iteratively rerouting traffic flows. To achieve such an objective, a load-dependent cost function is used in the shortest path routing algorithm to compute link weights. Results obtained through simulations show that the proposed solution outperforms other algorithms proposed in the literature and performs close to the optimal solution. Moreover, besides showing a good performance in terms of energy efficiency, the proposed algorithm is also able to limit the maximum path length, saving a considerable amount of bandwidth and limiting the delay experienced by packets in the network.
Houston-Galveston Navigation Channels, Texas Project. Navigation Channel Sedimentation Study, Phase 2 Plan Simulations

This report documents the results of several plan scenarios on the sedimentation behavior in the Houston-Galveston Ship Channel area. The U.S. Army Engineer District, Galveston, recently enlarged the Houston Ship Channel in depth and width. Preliminary evaluations of the enlarged channel indicate a higher than anticipated rate of deposition in the channel reach near Atkinson Island. A Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory investigation (Tate and Berger 2006) was charged with determining if this higher deposition rate is a permanent feature or only a temporary issue. A preliminary study focused on the change in currents, as determined by the model, from the pre-enlarged channel to the new configuration and a sediment tracer analysis. The results of this study determined that the dredging should have been only about 20-30 percent higher than for the pre-enlarged channel. This implies that a large increase would be due to other considerations, such as dredged material resuspended from disposal areas and redepositing in the channel, channel dimension equilibration, or vessel impacts on the shoaling. This preliminary study used the sediment model in an unvalidated state for early results to aid planning. In addition to an unvalidated model, other limitations were that the sediment pathways and loadings were not modeled but assumed. A more general validated tool was needed to estimate the causes of the shoaling with the enlarged channel and suggest approaches to reduce the deposition rate. Knowing that there are many factors that contribute to sediment transport, the logical next step was to develop and validate the sediment model. With a validated sediment model, testing and decision making can be made while considering many factors simultaneously. In the validation process it was determined that vessel traffic was important in the deposition and resuspension of sediment. Vessel effects, therefore, are included in this model. The end result is a model that is capable of reproducing tides, circulation, salinity, and sediment transport in Galveston Bay. In addition to these properties, the model also includes the effects of vessel traffic on the sediment transport in the area (Tate et al 2008). Now that the validated sediment model is available, plan simulations can be performed to analyze the effects of various changes within the system.
Economic Impacts of Bio-control Research to Manage Field Insect Pests of Cowpea in Burkina Faso: Baseline Survey Report

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an important staple in Burkina Faso as well as many other countries in West Africa. Among the major cowpea pests affecting the crop are the legume pod borer (Maruca vitrata), flower thrips (Megalurothrips sjostedti), bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus), and pod-sucking bugs, for which conventional plant breeding has not been effective and the use of pesticides has economic, health and environmental limitations. Through support from the USAID funded Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP), the project team led by the University of Illinois is developing alternative strategies to control these insect pests and reduce the levels of pesticide used on the crop. One of these strategies includes implementing a comprehensive bio-control program. The current study was designed to collect baseline data (and eventually end line data) to be able to evaluate the long-term impacts of bio-control research. The baseline data (described in this document) will serve as the ‘before’ scenario, which will be compared with an “after” scenario where the same households will be re-visited after several years.
GenCade version 1 model theory and user’s guide

Abstract : This is the first report to describe the new shoreline change and sand transport model, GenCade. GenCade is based on the synthesis of GENESIS (Hanson and Kraus 1989), a project-scale, engineering design-level model, and Cascade (Larson et al. 2003), a regional-scale, planning-level model. This report describes GenCade model theory, model validation and benchmark cases. The first model validation was performed with data from an experiment conducted in the CHL Large-Scale Sediment Transport Facility while the second focuses on the Jucar River in Spain. A series of simple idealized cases was developed to demonstrate GenCade model capabilities and verify results against the established legacy model, GENESIS. Additionally, this report includes a user s guide that describes the process of setting up and running GenCade. This section should include enough detail for a user with no previous GenCade experience to run a simple GenCade case. The report also describes a GenCade model application on the south shore of Long Island, New York. This report should give a new user enough information to understand the theory behind the model and create a grid and run a GenCade simulation.
POTENTIALITY OF BETAINE SUPPLEMENTATION FOR AMELIORATING THE DELETERIOUS EFFECTS OF DRINKING SALINE WATER ON PERFORMANCE AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF GROWING LAMBS

The aim of the current study is to examine the potentiality of betaine supplementation for ameliorating the deleterious effects of saline water consumed by growing lambs on performance and physiology indices. A Twenty Ossimi lambs, 9 months of age and 31.5 kg average weight were used in five months experimental period. Lambs were offered Na CI in drinking water with levels 0 and 15 g/l. Also, they were offered betaine in concentrate mixture with levels 0 and 2500 mg/kg concentrate. The two factors completed the set of four groups of interaction; control (S0B0), saline water(S1B0), betaine (S0B1) and saline water with betaine(S1B1). Water consumption and feed intake were recorded daily. Body weight, rectal temperature and respiratory rate were recorded every two weeks. Blood samples were collected monthly and plasma were separated and kept at -24 C ̊ until later blood biochemistry analysis. The results showed that, saline water increased (P<0.01) water consumption. Also, saline water decreased (P<0.01) dry matter consumption, body weight and daily gain. On the other hand, saline water significantly (P<0.01) increased the plasma albumin concentration.In contrast, betaine significantly (P<0.01) increased the dry matter consumption, body weight and daily gain.In addition, betaine increased (P<0.01) morning rectal temperature and increased(P<0.01) plasma albumin concentration. On the other hand, betaine decreased (P<0.05) the plasma cholesterol and triglycerides. In conclusion, supplemental dietary betaine enhanced growth performance and biochemical assays of lambs drinking fresh or saline water and decreased the deleterious effect of drinking saline water by growing lambs.
Overhead line from start to finish

Adaptations for the detailed design of the overhead line equipment for high speed rail (LGV) Rhin-Rhone in France were required in order to meet European technical specification for interoperability (TSI) specifications, as detailed in this article. The specifications were independently validated before the route opened in December 2011. The ways in which TSI requirements were met are presented, as well as the process of external validation.
Intraday Price Discovery Process to Earnings Announcements: Evidence from Japan.

This study investigates intraday price discovery process to earnings news released by Japanese firms. Using the large sample of 31,466 firm-years from 2002 to 2016, we find that in very short windows such as earnings announcement time and five minutes just after earnings announcements, stock market reaction to earnings announcements made during regular trading hours is significantly larger than ones made during non-trading hours. In addition, by examining special quote that is a trading rule specific to Japanese stock market, we demonstrate that when firms announce their earnings during non-trading hours, (i) special quote is indicated more frequently, (ii) the first trade executed just after earnings announcements is more delayed, and (iii) trading volume reaction at the earnings announcement time is weaker. Our research contributes to academic literature in suggesting that empirical results for stock price reaction to earnings announcements using the U.S. stock market data do not always generalize to other country setting, because market structure and/or trading rule are not standardized around the world.
Blue light effects in human keloid fibroblasts

Keloids scars are an abnormal overgrowth of fibrotic tissue in response to an injury. The current treatments show several limits and do not represent a definitive solution or a prevention protocol. In a preliminary study, we irradiated two samples of human keloid fibroblasts with a Blue LED light, evidencing a possible modulation of their activity in vitro. In the current study, we use primary fibroblasts cultures from eight keloid tissues (from seven selected patients undergoing aesthetic surgery). The fibroblasts were irradiated with a Blue LED light and the treatment time was varied in the range 5÷60s. After irradiation, cell metabolism and cell proliferation were studied by the use of two colorimetric tests, CCK-8 and SRB (Sigma-Aldrich, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA). The analysis was performed 24 and 48h after the treatment. We thus evidenced that the Blue LED light induces a modulation of the fibroblasts metabolism; this effect is particularly evident at 30s irradiation time. We also evaluated the impact of Blue LED light on membrane currents by performing whole-cell patch-clamp recordings. We observed a significant increase of voltage dependent outward currents activated by a depolarizing ramp-protocol upon Blue LED light irradiation (@30s exposure). This effect was maintained in K+ free-solutions, thus ruling out the involvement of K+ channels. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the Blue LED light has a photobiomodulation effect in fibroblasts from human keloids. This effect can be proposed as a possible treatment of the wound site in human patients to prevent keloid scars occurrence.
Unsteady forces on a particle in compressible flows

of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy UNSTEADY FORCES ON A PARTICLE IN COMPRESSIBLE FLOWS By Manoj Kumar Parmar December 2010 Chair: Andreas Haselbacher Cochair: S. Balachandar Major: Aerospace Engineering Compressible multiphase flows occur in a variety of industrial and environmental problems. The key to improved prediction and control of these flows at the macroscale depends on our understanding of the interaction of an individual particle in a compressible ambient flow at the microscale. For example, simulations of compressible multiphase flows at the macroscale require an accurate model for the time-dependent force on a particle. At present, due to lack of fundamental knowledge, no well-founded model exits for the evaluation of forces on a particle in a compressible flow. By contrast, the problem of determining forces on a particle in incompressible flows has been studied for more than 150 years and produced a comprehensive body of knowledge. Current understanding of the forces on a particle in a compressible flow is limited to the quasi-steady drag force, expressed in terms of a drag coefficient that is dependent on both the Reynolds and Mach numbers. In compressible flows, unsteady interactions between compressible waves and the particle gives rise to unsteady contributions to the force that can be very important but remain virtually unexplored. This dissertation attempts to lay the foundation for compressible multiphase flow by obtaining a rigorous equation of motion for an isolated particle that is applicable in complex compressible flows. Toward this end, we first rigorously derive the compressible extension to the celebrated Basset-Boussinesq-Oseen equation for the unsteady motion of a particle. We then rigorously derive the compressible extension of the Maxey-Riley-Gatignol
A literature review of actual and potential effects of military maneuvers on avian behavior, reproduction, and community structure

Abstract : The Endangered Species Act, 1973 as amended, requires military installations to protect endangered birds and their habitats. Installations must fulfill their military training mission while limiting the associated impacts on birds. Currently, efforts to protect birds are hampered by a lack of knowledge about the actual and potential effects of military maneuvers. This literature review examines reports of the effects of military activities on birds and the effects of certain maneuver-like recreational and natural-resource activities that produce disturbances similar to those induced by troop and mechanized movements. Direct and indirect (habitat) effects are discussed, with emphasis on whether activities impacted avian behavior, reproduction, and community structure. The quality of existing information is summarized in terms of its value for establishing causal relations. The types of information needed are identified so installations can meet their dual responsibilities of effectively training combat troops and protecting endangered birds.