Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coordination Mechanisms for Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Pharmaceutical Industry

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the human environmental problems resulting from industrial manufacturing activities have affected pharmaceutical supply chain management. Governments have imposed legislations and policies on producers to tackle the medications recovery process. Besides, customers social pressure plays a major role in determining corporate sustainable strategies and performance measures. Creative and proactive approaches are therefore necessary to reduce the introduction of pharmaceutical wastes to the environment and to improve the sustainability of the value chain. In this dissertation, we propose different coordination mechanisms for sustainable pharmaceutical value chains inspired by traditional supply chains coordination mechanisms. For this purpose, a real case study for a generic pharmaceutical company, Generic PharmaX, is considered. We first focus on the reverse supply chain activities in order to reduce medication leftovers at customer sites. We develop a negotiation-based mechanism by the aid of a linear mathematical model to reflect the relationship between the supply chain entities. Results show that up to 28% more products could be collected if companies coordinate their operations efficiently. Moreover, the proposed coordination approaches leads to a win-win situation for the reverse supply chain entities, where each effort is rewarded. Next, we explore the role of providing incentives to customers in order to facilitate leftover returns and improve the sustainability for the pharmaceutical reverse supply chain. Coordination model is therefore presented between the producer and third-party logistics companies, responsible for collecting unwanted medications from customer zones. A technique is also proposed to share the expected saving between the supply chain entities. The experimental results indicate that introducing incentives to customers could decrease the amount of leftovers from 18% up to 6.5%. Furthermore, having a proper coordination with 3PL companies, in addition to customer incentives, could guarantee a full medication recovery. Finally, we focus on the inventory control management activities of the value chain. The effect of implementing a Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI) system on minimizing the quantity of expired medications at customer zones is investigated. Results reveal that implementing the VMI system could improve the sustainability of the supply chain. More precisely, the amount of expired medications could reach zero against the current 18% expiration rate of shipped items. Some insights to guide the supply chain entities through the VMI implementation are also provided.
[Assessment of motor and process skills (AMPS)].

 Measure the amount of physical effort, safety, and independence a person demonstrates while doing ADL tasks  Test a person in the context of doing familiar and client-selected personal or instrumental ADL tasks (more than 120 task choices)  Score the quality of 16 ADL motor performance skills and 20 ADL process performance skills  Print computer-generated reports that facilitate occupation-focused documentation and occupation-based intervention planning  Interpret results from criterion and norm referenced perspectives  Document the effectiveness of OT interventions and measure progress over time
Patient satisfaction and efficacy of accent high-intensity focused ultrasound for face lifting

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) method treatment has recently erosed in response to the increasing demand for skin lifting and tightening. This study was aimed at evaluating the patient’s satisfaction with HIFU treatment for lifting in different areas of the face. Twenty five Iranian women patients with facial wrinkle and laxity were analyzed after a single session of HIFU treatment. Two independent, blinded clinicians and patients evaluated the clinical improvement in seven areas of the face by comparison of standardized photographs obtained before, and at two months after treatment. Assessment of satisfaction and adverse effects of treatment were done by using questionnaires. Results showed that significant differences (p<0.05) between the physician and patients’ satisfaction about lifting. HIFU could be an effective and non-invasive procedure that can be used to improve facial lifting in Iranian skin. If more sessions to be used in the patients more likely it will be effective.
'Non-specific' binding. The problem, and a solution.

The concept of 'non-specific' binding, as it relates to studies of the binding of hormones to their receptors, is reviewed. It is concluded that the most widely used operational definition, namely binding that is not displaceable by an excess of unlabelled ligand, is often inaccurate, resulting either in overestimation of the number of high-affinity receptors and underestimation of the affinity of a given hormone for its receptor, or in a curvilinear Scatchard plot suggesting (artifactually) the presence of negative co-operativity or multiple classes of binding sites. The general use of an alternative approach to non-specific binding, in which the non-specific component is assessed from an analysis of total binding, is advocated. The superiority of this approach is illustrated with data on the binding of high-density lipoproteins to their receptors.
DETERMINANTS OF DIVIDEND POLICY IN GCC FIRMS: AN APPLICATION OF PARTIAL LEAST SQUARE METHOD

This study focuses on providing empirical evidence on explanation of alternate dividend theories and determinants of payout policies by examining the GCC market. The study explores the financial determinants of the dividend payout policies by examining 646 dividend intensive firms of the GCC. The results suggest that large firms in GCC tends to have larger retained cash flows and tend to have higher dividend intensity. It can be implied that GCC based firms adopt a balanced and cautious approach regarding future growth opportunities as well as the dividend payout policy. Higher the liquidity and profitability signals higher dividend intensity. GCC firms which are liquid and profitable tend to pay more dividends. GCC firms with higher market valuation tend to pay more dividends. Firms with high growth rates of earnings and assets tend to pay less dividends. Firms with high leverage are riskier and risky firms tend to pay less dividends.
Highly Stretchable and UV Curable Elastomers for Digital Light Processing Based 3D Printing

Stretchable UV-curable (SUV) elastomers can be stretched by up to 1100% and are suitable for digital-light-processing (DLP)-based 3D-printing technology. DLP printing of these SUV elastomers enables the direct creation of highly deformable complex 3D hollow structures such as balloons, soft actuators, grippers, and buckyball electronical switches.
Evidence that fibroblast growth factors 1 and 4 participate in regulation of cardiogenesis

Previous studies in this laboratory have indicated that the early embryonic chick heart depends on fibroblast growth factor‐2 (FGF‐2; bFGF), sequentially utilized in paracrine and autocrine fashion, for its growth and development (Sugi and Lough, [1995] Dev. Biol. 168:667–574). This view emanated from immunohistochemical detection of FGF‐like antigens in endoderm cells at stage 6, and later in the early myocardium at stage 9 + (Parlow et al. [1991] Dev. Biol. 146:139–147). To identify other members of the FGF family that are expressed by these cells, we have used peptide‐generated antisera that specifically recognize FGFs 1 and 4. Like FGF‐2, FGFs 1 and 4 were exclusively detected in the endoderm at stage 5 + and later in the myocardium, appearing as punctate cytoplasmic deposits. However, whereas FGF‐2 is first detected at stage 9 +, FGFs 1 and 4 did not appear until stages 11 and 15, respectively. Expression of all FGFs peaked at stages 18–24, decreasing thereafter in parallel with reduced myocardial cell proliferation. To determine these isoproteins' ability to facilitate the completion of terminal cardiac myocyte differentiation, stage 5+ precardiac mesoderm was cultured in defined medium with purified FGFs. Like FGF‐2, as little as 5–10 ng/ml FGF‐1 or FGF‐4 supported the proliferation and differentiation of precardiac myoblasts, resulting in the formation of a vesicle containing an adherent multilayer of synchronously contractile cells. Evidence that this represented FGF receptor‐mediated signaling rather than a nonspecific effect of exogenous FGF was indicated by the ability of sodium chlorate to inhibit FGF‐mediated cardiogenesis. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, like FGF‐2, FGFs 1 and 4 participate in the regulation of early heart development via paracrine and autocrine mechanisms. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identification of Escherichia coli serotype O157 strains by using a monoclonal antibody

The O157 antigenic determinant of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7, an important bacterial pathogen, resides in the polysaccharide portion of its cellular lipopolysaccharide component which, from structural studies, was identified as a linear polymer of a repeating tetrasaccharide unit composed of D-glucose, L-fucose, 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galactose, and 4-acetamido-4,6-dideoxy-D-mannose residues (1:1:1:1). Hybrid cells producing monoclonal antibodies against the E. coli O157 antigen were obtained by fusion of myeloma cells with lymphocytes from BALB/c mice immunized with killed E. coli O157:117 cells. Clones were selected for binding specificity with purified O polysaccharide. One monoclonal antibody used in direct slide agglutinations or in coagglutination reactions with Staphylococcus aureus Cowan 1 cells sensitized with the affinity column-purified antibody accurately detected all strains of E. coli O157 tested. This selected monoclonal antibody did not agglutinate E. coli strains such as E. coli O7 and E. coli O116 or other bacteria which are known to give positive agglutinations with conventional polyclonal E. coli antisera. These results indicate that the monoclonal antibody is a superior specific-typing reagent.
Effect of cytosine arabinoside on viral-specific protein synthesis in cells infected with herpes simplex virus

The relationship between viral DNA and protein synthesis during herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication in HeLa cells was examined. Treatment of infected cells with cytosine arabinoside (ara-C), which inhibited the synthesis of HSV-1 DNA beyond the level of detection, markedly affected the types and amounts of viral proteins made in the infected cell. Although early HSV-1 proteins were synthesized normally, there was a rapid decline in total viral protein synthesis beginning 3 to 4 h after infection. This is the time that viral DNA synthesis would normally have been initiated. ara-C also prevented the normal shift from early to late viral protein synthesis. Finally, it was shown that the effect of ara-C on late protein synthesis was dependent upon the time after infection that the drug was added. These results suggest that inhibition of progeny viral DNA synthesis by ara-C prevents the "turning on" of late HSV-1 protein synthesis but allows early translation to be "switched off. "
Lung cancer and angiogenesis imaging using synchrotron radiation

Early detection of lung cancer is the key to a cure, but a difficult task using conventional x-ray imaging. In the present study, synchrotron radiation in-line phase-contrast imaging was used to study lung cancer. Lewis lung cancer and 4T1 breast tumor metastasis in the lung were imaged, and the differences were clearly shown in comparison to normal lung tissue. The effect of the object–detector distance and the energy level on the phase-contrast difference was investigated and found to be in good agreement with the theory of in-line phase-contrast imaging. Moreover, 3D image reconstruction of lung tumor angiogenesis was obtained for the first time using a contrast agent, demonstrating the feasibility of micro-angiography with synchrotron radiation for imaging tumor angiogenesis deep inside the body.
Integrated Biometric Template Security using Random Rectangular Hashing

Large centralized biometric databases, accessible over networks in real time are especially used for identification purposes. Multimodal biometric systems which are more robust and accurate in human identification require multiple templates storage of the same user analogous to individual biometric sources. This may raises concern about their usage and security when these stored templates are compromised since each person is believed to have a unique biometric trait. Unlike passwords, the biometric templates cannot be revoked and switch to another set of uncompromised identifiers when compromised. Therefore, fool-proof techniques satisfying the requirements of diversity, revocability, security and performance are required to protect stored templates such that both the security of the application and the users’ privacy are not compromised by the impostor attacks. Thus, this paper proposes a template protection scheme coined as random rectangular hashing to strengthen the multimodal biometric system. The performance of the proposed template protection scheme is measured using the fingerprint FVC2004 and PolyU palmprint databases
Institutional Country Herding

Using a noble set of data from 1999 to 2010, I investigate whether or not the US mutual funds following other mutual funds investing stocks into a country and out of another, institutional country herding. My empirical results reveal strong institutional country herding. The cross-sectional correlation between the fraction of mutual funds buying stocks of a country this quarter and buying the same country’s stock in the last quarter averages 26%. Additionally, cross-sectional evidence indicates that past country returns are negatively related to contemporaneous institutional demand, showing mutual funds in my sample are contrarian traders.
A comprehensive model of anaerobic bioconversion of complex substrates to biogas

A dynamic model describing the anaerobic degradation of complex material, and codigestion of different types of wastes, was developed based on a model previously described (Angelidaki et al., 1993). In the model, the substrate is described by its composition of basic organic components, i.e., carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins, the concentration of intermediates such as volatile fatty acids and long-chain fatty acids, and important inorganic components, i.e., ammonia, phosphate, cations, and anions. This allows dynamic changes of the process during a shift of substrate composition to be simulated by changing the input substrate data. The model includes 2 enzymatic hydrolytic steps, 8 bacterial steps and involves 19 chemical compounds. The model also includes a detailed description of pH and temperature characteristics. Free ammonia, acetate, volatile fatty acids, (VFA) and long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) constitute the primary modulating factors in the model. The model was tested with success in lab-scale reactors codigesting manure with glycerol trioleate or manure with gelatin. Finally, the model was validated using results from a full-scale biogas plant codigesting manure together with a proteinous wastewater and with bentonite-bound oil, which is a waste with high content of lipids. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Trichomonas vaginalis kills and eats – evidence for phagocytic activity as a cytopathic effect

SUMMARY This study reports that the cytopathic effect of Trichomonas vaginalis, an important human parasite of the urogenital tract, occurs due to mechanical stress and subsequent phagocytosis of the necrotic cells. The investigation was done using a primary culture of bovine oviduct epithelial cells (BOECs), grown either in monolayers or as floating cells. Trophozoites displaying different virulence levels were co-incubated with BOECs for times varying between 1 min and 48 h. Analyses were performed using videomicroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, colourimetric assays and cytochemistry. Injury was observed as early as 1 h after incubation, while after 12 h the host cells were severely damaged when a fresh trichomonad isolate was used. Trichomonads attack the host cells by clustering around them. Mechanical stress on the microvilli of the host cells was observed and appeared to induce plasma membrane damage and cell death. After membrane injury and lysis, fragments of the necrotic cells were ingested by trichomonads. Phagocytosis occurred by trichomonads avidly eating large portions of epithelial cells containing the nucleus and other organelles, but living or intact cells were not ingested. Necrotic fragments were rapidly digested in lysosomes, as shown by acid phosphatase and ruthenium red assays where only the BOECs were labelled. The lytic capacity of the trichomonads was more pronounced in host cell suspensions.
A load-balancing distributed platform based on differentiated services for a telecare application

Telecare applications are composed by different kinds of services. Some of these services require high level availability and performance because they involve human lives. One possible solution to improve availability and performance in these applications is to make an efficient distribution of service avoiding concentration of several tasks on only one server. This work presents a load-balancing platform based on differentiation of services that increases application-level QoS (quality of service) in a telecare application. The platform allows the coexistence of Internet services and distributed objects. We also present experimental results showing that the platform balances the imposed load and differentiates the QoS offered to different services.
A New Fiber-Bragg-Grating Sensor Interrogation System Deploying Free-Spectral-Range-Matching Scheme With High Precision and Fast Detection Rate

A new method for fiber-Bragg-grating sensor interrogation and multiplexing is proposed and its operating features are investigated experimentally. This technique utilizes free-spectral-range-matched interrogation (FSRMI) employing a tunable scanning Fabry-Perot filter and a multichannel bandpass filter. An -channel FSRMI allows simultaneous scanning and thus improvement of detection speed by times compared to a nonfree-spectral-range-matched interrogation scheme. A 5-pm wavelength resolution has been obtained. This technique simultaneously scans the multiple transmission peaks and provides solutions to a wavelength-modulated distributed sensors and multisensor arrays with high sampling speed and wavelength accuracy.
Resting and active mechanical properties of trabeculae carneae from aged male rats.

WEISFELDT, MYRON L. , W. A. LOEVEN, AND N. W. SHOCK. Resting and active mechanical properties of trabeculae carneae from aged male rats. Am. J. Physiol. 220(6): 1921-1927. 1971. -Trabeculae carneae from the left ventricles of 1 lto 13and 26to 3 l-monthold male rats were examined in terms of the active and resting length-tension curves. No significant difference between the two groups was noted for the active length-tension curve. The resting length-tension curves showed that muscles from the older rats had significantly greater resting tension at lengths greater than 115 y. of Lo. Lo was defined as the shortest length with a resting tension above zero. The duration of contraction, time-to-peak tension, and relaxation time at maximum isometric tension were prolonged in muscles from the older group. Stress relaxation was studied using other trabeculae from rats of similar ages. Resting tension was found to decline linearly with the log of time from 0.3 to 240 set after a rapid stretch. Less stress relaxation was exhibited by muscles from 25to 29-month-old male rats than 1 lto 12-month-old rats. This age-associated alteration in stress relaxation accounts in part for the age-associated changes in the resting length-tension curve.
Evidence that hepatocytes can phagocytize exogenous substances

Although the phagocytic action of Kupffer cells is well known, such a phenomenon has not been well documented for hepatocytes. Follwing the injection of a suspension of egg lecithin‐coated silicon particles (0.5–1.5 μm in diameter) into the portal vein of rats, Kupffer cells showed minimal phagocytotic action, which was in contrast to the hepatocytes which displayed numerous phagocytized silicon particles. By comparison, when noncoated silicon particles of the same diameter as those that were coated were injected into the portal vein, the opposite observation was made. There was no uniformity in the ability of the hepatocytes to phagocytize either coated or noncoated particles from one lobule to another. Some showed active phagocytosis, while in others no evidence of such a process was observed. These data provide strong evidence for the selective phagocytic action of liver hepatocytes. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cell-dependent efficiency of reiterated nuclear signals in a mutant simian virus 40 oncoprotein targeted to the nucleus

We investigated the requisites for, and functional consequences of, the relocation to the nucleus of a transforming nonkaryophilic mutant of the simian virus 40 large T antigen (a natural deletion mutant lacking an internal large-T-antigen domain that includes the signal for nuclear transport). Synthetic oligonucleotides were used to obtain gene variants with one or more copies of the signal-specifying sequence inserted near the gene 3' end, in a region dispensable for the main large-T-antigen functions. The analysis of stable transfectant populations showed that mouse NIH 3T3 cells, rat embryo fibroblasts, and simian CS cells (a subclone of CV1 cells) differed considerably in their ability to localize some variant molecules into the nucleus. CS cells were always the most efficient, and NIH 3T3 cells were the least efficient. The nuclear localization improved either with reiteration of the signal or with a left-flank modification of the signal amino acid context. Three signals appeared to be necessary and sufficient, even in NIH 3T3 cells, to obtain a nuclear accumulation comparable to that of wild-type simian virus 40 large T antigen; other signal-cell combinations caused a large variability in subcellular localization among cells of the same population, as if the nuclear uptake of some molecules depended on individual cell states. The effect of the modified location on the competence of the protein to alter cell growth was examined by comparing the activity of variants containing either the normal signal or a signal with a mutation (corresponding to large-T-antigen amino acid 128) that prevented nuclear transport. It was found that the nuclear variant was slightly more active than the cytoplasmic variants in rat embryo fibroblasts and NIH 3T3 cells and was notably less active in CS cells.