Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blueberry Supply Chain in Peru: Planning, Integration and Execution

The Blueberry situation in Peru is in a stage of development, in which it is necessary to incorporate good management practices as well as productive to raise the competitiveness of the enterprises. The findings were synthesized and analyzed, to propose improvements and to support the growth of the small companies in the long term. The improvement case study is based on the best practices and supply chain models applied in the industry. Also, the research was based on sources of information from researchers with experience in evaluating and analyzing the supply chain of the perishable sector in different scenarios worldwide.
Control of flexible structures with spatially varying disturbance: spatial H/sub /spl infin// approach

This paper introduces a new optimal H/sub /spl infin// control framework for controlling vibration of flexible structures with spatially varying disturbance. The spatially distributed nature of disturbance is taken into account in control design by introducing the concept of spatial H/sub /spl infin// norm for systems with spatially distributed input. A control design approach is then introduced to allow a systematic control design for controlling structural vibration caused by spatially distributed disturbance. Simulation studies on a flexible beam demonstrate that the proposed spatial control can minimise vibration for spatially varying bending moment disturbance.
Polynucleotide modulation of the protease, nucleoside triphosphatase, and helicase activities of a hepatitis C virus NS3-NS4A complex isolated from transfected COS cells

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural 3 protein (NS3) is a 70-kDa multifunctional enzyme with three known catalytic activities segregated in two somewhat independent domains. The essential machinery of a serine protease is localized in the N-terminal one-third of the protein, and nucleoside triphosphatase (NTPase) and helicase activities reside in the remaining C-terminal region. NS4A is a 54-residue protein expressed immediately downstream of NS3 in the viral polyprotein, and a central stretch of hydrophobic residues in NS4A form an integral structural component of the NS3 serine protease domain. There is no evidence to suggest that the two domains of NS3 are separated by proteolytic processing in vivo. This may reflect economical packaging of essential viral replicative components, but it could also mean that there is functional interdependence between the two domains. In this study, a full-length NS3-NS4A complex was isolated after expression and autoprocessing in transiently transfected COS cells. The protein was used to examine the effects of polynucleotides on the NTPase, helicase, and protease activities. Unlike the previously reported behavior of a separately expressed NS3 helicase domain, the full NS3-NS4A complex demonstrated optimal NTPase activity between pH 7.5 and 8.5. All three NS3-NS4A activities were modulated by polynucleotides, with poly(U) having the most remarkable effect. These findings suggest that the domains within NS3 may influence the activity of one another and that the interplay of HCV genomic elements may regulate the enzyme activities of this complex HCV replicase component.
Effects of temperature on uptake of aqueous metals by blue mussels Mytilus edulis from Arctic and temperate waters

Arctic waters are contaminated with metals and radionuclides from diverse sources. Here we present experimental results evaluating the bioaccumulation of dissolved metals by the mussel Mytilus edulis, widely used as a food source and also as a bioindicator of coastal contamination. We used radioisotopes to determine the uptake and excretion of Ag, Am, Cd, Co and Zn by M. edulis collected from both Arctic and temperate waters at 2 and 12°C. For both mussel populations, uptake rates (k u ) of Cd, Co and Zn were 50 to 60% slower at 2°C than at 12°C, mainly attributable to differences in mussel filtration rates at these temperatures, whereas uptake of Ag and Am was not affected by temperature. For both populations, the first-order loss constant for all metals from the slowest exchanging pool (k e ) was 20 to 50% smaller at 2°C than at 12°C. As well, the loss of Cd and Zn was significantly slower in the temperate mussels than in Arctic mussels. Because temperature had similar effects on uptake and efflux, the concentration factor for all metals from water (CF w = k u /k e ) did not vary significantly between temperatures, but CF w values for Cd and Zn in temperate mussels were 15-fold and 2.6-fold higher, respectively, than in Arctic mussels. Thus, while temperature does not exert a major influence on net bioaccumulation of aqueous metal by M. edulis, Arctic mussels may accumulate dissolved Cd and Zn to a lesser degree than temperate mussels.
Video sensor node with distributed video summary for Internet-of-Things applications

In order to reduce the required transmission bandwidth of a video sensor network for Internet-of-Things applications, a video sensor node with distributed video summary capability is developed, where the video summarization algorithm is developed based on a scene model and a frame color descriptor. Experimental results show that by exchanging information between video sensors, the required transmission bandwidth is drastically reduced. Moreover, real-time performance is achieved on an embedded platform.
Do farmers benefit from participating in specialty markets and cooperatives? The case of coffee marketing in Costa Rica1

Historically low prices in the conventional coffee market have caused financial and social hardship among coffee farmers. In the face of this crisis, specialty markets have attracted the attention of the international donor community. These market segments have shown consistent growth over the last decade and exhibit price premiums in international markets. Therefore, if higher prices are passed on to farmers, access to specialty markets could help to alleviate the crisis brought on by low prices in the conventional sector. The present study attempts to identify the factors that determine farmers' participation in specialized markets and whether participation in these markets leads to higher prices for farmers. A two-stage model is used to analyze farmers' marketing decisions and their effect on the prices received. This procedure allows us to control for the endogeneity bias introduced by the marketing choice. Our results indicate that farmers participating in the specialty coffee segment do in fact receive higher prices than those participating in conventional channels. Additionally, we find that participation in cooperatives has a positive impact on the probability that a farmer chooses to grow specialty coffee and analogously on the prices that they receive. Based on these results, it seems that efforts to increase participation in the specialty coffee segment and in cooperatives would help to lessen some of the hardships brought on by low prices in the conventional coffee sector. Copyright 2007 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
Gibbs sampling for fitting finite and infinite Gaussian mixture models

This document gives a high-level summary of the necessary details for implementing collapsed Gibbs sampling for fitting Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) following a Bayesian approach. The document structure is as follows. After notation and reference sections (Sections 2 and 3), the case for sampling the parameters of a finite Gaussian mixture model is described in Section 4. This is then extended to the infinite case in Section 5.
FAST AND ACCURATE DETECTION OF ROAD TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE MOVEMENT USING HAAR LIKE FEATURES AND YOLO CLASSIFIER

Autonomous driving is the most focused research problem in real world to ensure the transportation services to the people. In this research work, autonomous driving is focused by introducing the techniques which can ensure the uninterrupted vehicle movement in the road even with presence of obstructs. This is ensured by introducing the technique Fast and Accurate Road Detection System (FARDS). In the proposed research method, initially preprocessing is done on the traffic surveillance video to remove the noises by applying the Hybrid Median Filter method. And then background extraction is done by using markov random field process to extract the required objects. After extracting the required objects from the videos, Haar like Feature extraction is done to detect the objects present in the videos. Based on those feature road and objects detection is performed dynamically by applying Yolo classifier. This information is utilized to adjust the vehicle speed, acceleration and steering values to ensure the uninterrupted vehicle movements without any accidents. The overall evaluation of the research method is done in the matlab simulation environment from which it is proved that the proposed method FARDS leads to ensure the better outcome than the existing research techniques.
Making a Mark: a computational and visual analysis of one researcher’s intellectual domain

Dr. David Mark is widely regarded as a path-breaking researcher in geographic information science. What are the structural and temporal characteristics of his intellectual contributions, as seen through the eyes of the broader academic community? Aiming to answer that question, this article presents a scientometric analysis of publications that have been cited alongside David Mark’s papers. In deliberate contrast to the widespread focus on using citation data to condense scientific impact into a handful of indicators, the methodological contribution of this study lies in its mix of computational and visualization approaches. In the search for latent domain structures, state-of-the-art practices in information science, bibliometrics, and network visualization are combined and extended. An initial network of 50,000+ publications and 4,000,000+ document co-citations undergoes a series of transformations reducing it to 9000 publications that are then clustered in a two-stage process, leading to 678 communities whose co-citation linkages are used to delineate 19 super-communities. To enable replication of this approach for other studies, much focus in this article is on detailed discussion of that workflow as well as on highlighting the reasoning behind the choices made among data sources and analytical methods. The topical evolution of David Mark’s domain of influence is explored in some detail, based on tabular and graphic representations of extracted community structures. Results confirm not only the enormous overall breadth of his influence but also how lasting and recurrent it has been in some areas.
Partial delaunay triangulation-based asynchronous planarization of quasi unit disk graphs

We present a distributed and fully asynchronous algorithm for construction of the partial Delaunay triangulation over quasi unit disk graphs. Provided that the ratio of the maximum to the minimum communication range of nodes is bounded from above by square root of two, our algorithm outputs a connected and planar overlay graph of the input graph, which enables the use of localized geographic routing algorithms that guarantee message delivery. Moreover, under the assumption that the input graph is civilized (i.e., any two network nodes have non-zero minimum Euclidean distance), we show that our algorithm is localized. We show by means of simulation that our approach yields output graphs whose Euclidean spanning ratio is on average significantly smaller compared to those constructed by all other asynchronous approaches.
Distributional Changes of Osteoclasts and Pre-osteoclastic Cells in Periodontal Tissues during Experimental Tooth Movement as Revealed by Quantitative Immunohistochemistry of H+-ATPase

To investigate the mechanism of alveolar bone remodeling in response to orthodontic force application, we examined the distribution of osteoclasts and pre-osteoclastic cells using quantitative immunohistochemistry of vacuolar-type H+-ATPase. For orthodontic force to be produced by the Waldo method, an orthodontic elastic band was inserted between the upper first and second molars of rats. The observed areas of periodontal tissues around second molars were the distal surfaces of mesial roots, as the pressure side, and the mesial surfaces of distal roots, as the tension side. Specific expression of vacuolar-type H+-ATPase at the ultrastructural level was detected in mononuclear and multinucleated pre-osteoclastic cells, as well as osteoclasts with ruffled borders on bone surfaces. At 6 hrs after orthodontic force application, many osteoclasts and pre-osteoclastic cells with H+-ATPase expression were first observed in vascular canals of the alveolar bone crest near the pressure side of the periodontal ligament, but the number of osteoclasts was not increased in the periodontal ligament. On day 1 after tooth movement, osteoclasts were increased in number in the periodontal ligament and in adjacent alveolar bones on the pressure side, but were seldom observed in corresponding areas on the tension side. The number of osteoclasts increased until day 7, but had decreased by day 14. These results suggest that, in bone remodeling during experimental tooth movement, (1) osteoclasts and pre-osteoclastic cells can be identified by H+-ATPase immunohistochemistry, (2) osteoclasts and pre-osteoclastic cells are rapidly induced after force application, (3) osteoclast induction first occurs in vascular canals of the alveolar bone crest on the pressure side, and then, (4) the number of osteoclasts increases in the periodontal ligament on the pressure side.
Effects of Array's Digital Beam Forming and Digital Polarization Synthesis Sequence on the Synthesis Results

─ A polarized beamforming method of antenna array is addressed here. In this method, digital polarization synthesis (DPS) and digital beam forming (DBF) are processed separately in sequence. It synthesizes linearly-polarized antenna array into a circularlypolarized antenna whose main beam can scan in azimuth direction. The synthesis process and how the sequence affect the results are both expressed. It can be derived that with DPS-DBF (DPS first and DBF next), the beam is more smooth and has a better circular polarization in the main beam. This method can be used in solar radio observations and other systems that require wideband polarization measurements. Index Terms ─ Antenna array, DBF, DPS.
Some Aspects of the Reliability of Information on the Web

When we look up information in the WWW we hope to find information that is correct, fitting in quantity for our purposes and written at a level that we can understand. Unfortunately, very often one of the above criteria will not be met. A young person looking for information on some aspect of physics may well be frustrated when finding a complex formula whose understanding requires higher mathematics. In other cases, information may be much too voluminous or too short. This seems to indicate that what we need is presentation of material at various levels of detail and complexity. But most important of all, and this is what we are going to discuss in this paper is: how do we know that what we read is actually true? We will analyse this problem in the introductory section. We will show that it is impossible to expect "too much". We will argue that some improvements can be made, particularly if the domain is restricted. We will then examine certain types of geographical information. Detailed research shows that some quantitative measurements like the area of a country or the highest mountains of a country, even if different sources disagree, can be verified by explaining why the discrepancies occur and by trusting numbers if they are identical in very different databases.
Black vs white owned new venture performance: a study of mediating effects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to move beyond individual level characteristics of founders to explain the performance gap between white and black majority owned new ventures. It specifically investigates three potential mediators: demographic characteristics of venture’s location, financial size of the venture and its credit riskiness. Design/methodology/approach The Kauffman Firm Survey, a longitudinal data set of 4,928 new ventures started in the USA in 2004, has been utilized in this paper. Pooled OLS and Logit regression models were employed for direct effects. Mediation effects were tested using two different approaches: the Baron and Kenny approach and decomposition analysis. Findings The paper finds that the financial size and credit riskiness mediate the relationship between majority race ownership and the performance of a venture. Research limitations/implications The data were collected for a single cohort (2004) of nascent firms; furthermore, the sample draws from firms based in the USA. Future studies could replicate this research utilizing samples of different cohorts and from other parts of the world. Practical implications The paper provides important guidance to policy makers. In general, to reduce the performance gap between black and white owned ventures, providing access to subsidized assets, capital and credit could be very helpful. Originality/value Past research suggests that the majority race ownership of a new venture impacts its performance and attributes these differences to heterogeneous endowments, usually of the primary owner. In this paper, analyses are conducted at multiple levels and new mechanisms through which the internal resources and capabilities of a new venture mediate the relation are discovered.
Fractal coding based image retrieval with histogram of collage error

Collage error is a quantitative measure of the similarity between range block and "best-match" domain block. However, it was neglected in many fractal-based image retrieval techniques. In this paper, a new fractal coding based indexing technique with histogram of collage errors is proposed. Experimental results on a database of more than 200 texture images show that the proposed method not only reduces computational complexities, but also enhances the retrieval accuracy.
Chloride secretion in a morphologically differentiated human colonic cell line that expresses the epithelial Na+ channel

Cell line models of colonic electrolyte transport have been extensively used despite lacking some of the characteristics of native tissue. While native colonic crypts absorb or secrete NaCl, immortalized cell lines only retain the secretory phenotype. In the present study we have characterized functionally and molecularly, vectorial fluid and electrolyte transport in the morphologically differentiated human colonic cell line LIM1863. LIM1863 cells form morphologically differentiated organoids resembling native human colonic crypts, which secrete fluid and electrolytes across the apical membrane into a centrally located lumen. Net fluid secretion was evaluated by means of morphometric measurement of lumens formed in LIM organoids in response to known secretagogues. Pharmacological profiling of the channels and transporters involved in fluid and electrolyte transport showed that net fluid transport requires Cl− uptake across the basolateral membrane through a Na+–K+–2Cl− cotransporter (NKCC1) and its subsequent exit across an apical cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl− channel. Similar to the native colon, net Cl− secretion in the LIM1863 cell line is activated by cAMP‐mediated agonists. Carbachol, a Ca2+‐mediated agonist, does not induce net Cl− secretion but modulates the cAMP‐activated response. Expression of chloride channels (CFTR and the Ca2+‐dependent Cl− channel, ClCa1), potassium channels (KCNN4 and KCNQ1), epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC) α, β and γ subunits and ion transporters (NKCC1; anion exchanger, AE2; Na+/H+ exchangers, NHE1–3) was detected by RT‐PCR and Western blot in the case of ENaC. Based on this evidence we propose that LIM1863 cells provide a unique model for studying CFTR‐dependent Cl− secretion in a morphologically differentiated human colonic crypt cell line that also expresses ENaC.
Computing the divisional cost of capital using the pure-play method

The cost of capital model is used to calculate the net present value (NPV) of projects within a multi-unit corporation but may provide incorrect answers for projects that have a level of risk that differs from the overall average risk level for the corporation. We demonstrate the use of the pure-play method for calculating the required rate of return for a division of a corporation that has risk characteristics that differ from the risk characteristics of the overall corporation. We apply this methodology to the Integrated Electronic Systems Segment (IESS) of the Motorola Corporation. We find that the IESS division cost of capital of is 9.3% rather than the 12.3% cost of capital for the corporation as a whole.
Student Admission Data Analytics for Open and Distance Education in Greece

Over the last few decades, distance learning has become very popular, as a result of the many pros it offers, along with its flexibility. The need for a better understanding of the data originating from such educational environments has led to the rise of the Educational Data Mining research field. However, most of the studies so far focus on the analysis of the data being collected during and/or after the distance learning courses. In this paper, we study the demographical data related to student applications for acceptance in distance learning programs offered by the Hellenic Open University, during the decade from 2003 to 2013. Our study aims at analyzing the data, and discovering patterns and knowledge that can be used to help the strategic placement of the university, and the improvement of the experience that offers to its students. Moreover, we attempt to correlate the discovered findings with the social and financial status of the applicants’ environment.
Methods for Assessing Risks of Dermal Exposures in the Workplace

The skin as a route of entry for toxic chemicals has caused increasing concern over the last decade. The assessment of systemic hazards from dermal exposures has evolved over time, often limited by the amount of experimental data available. The result is that there are many methods being used to assess safety of chemicals in the workplace. The process of assessing hazards of skin contact includes estimating the amount of substance that may end up on the skin and estimating the amount that might reach internal organs. Most times, toxicology studies by the dermal route are not available and extrapolations from other exposure routes are necessary. The hazards of particular chemicals can be expressed as “skin notations”, actual exposure levels, or safe exposure times. Characterizing the risk of a specific procedure in the workplace involves determining the ratio of exposure standards to an expected exposure. The purpose of this review is to address each of the steps in the process and describe the assumptions that are part of the process. Methods are compared by describing their strengths and weaknesses. Recommendations for research in this area are also included.