Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do movie majors really collude?: Indirect evidence from release schedules

Major Hollywood motion picture studios have a dominant market share in the main international movie markets, but their competitive behavior has come under suspicion. In 2006, the Spanish Competition Court fined these Major Distributors for anticompetitive practices. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the presence (or absence) of collusive behavior among the Major Distributors during the 2002-2009 period. Because the release date of a movie is a critical variable of competition, we test whether Major Distributors are coordinating their release schedules by employing a reduced-type model in which the distance between a pair of films that are released in the same "theater demand window" is regressed on a set of variables that are likely to affect distributors� release schedules. In general, our results suggest that Major Distributors achieve a larger degree of coordination in their release schedules than other distributors in the Spanish motion picture market.
Categorizing Admittance Control Parameters for the Ranger 8-DOF Tele-operated Space Manipulator

Title of Thesis: CATEGORIZING ADMITTANCE CONTROL PARAMETERS FOR THE RANGER 8-DOF TELE-OPERATED SPACE MANIPULATOR. Enrico Sabelli, Master of Science, 2007 Thesis Directed By: Dr. David L. Akin, Associate Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering Position-based admittance control of a robotic manipulator is a strategy that allows the manipulator to achieve compliance without sacrificing positional accuracy or modifying the underlying position controller. Desired manipulator stiffness and damping can be specified so that the tool tip behaves as a spring-dashpot system. This work characterizes the range of parameters that allows stable task execution in contact with an environment of varying stiffness for the Ranger dexterous manipulator. A classical stability analysis and simulation of the controller is conducted to predict its response in contact. The manipulator’s behavior is then observed during a series of simple tasks involving contact in one and two degrees of freedom. Suitable gains are chosen such that interaction forces at the tool tip are kept low. A compliant peg-in-hole insertion task is successfully accomplished. The work also outlines the implementation of an algorithm that removes unwanted gravity forces measured at the tool tip. CATEGORIZING ADMITTANCE CONTROL PARAMETERS FOR THE RANGER 8-DOF TELE-OPERATED SPACE MANIPULATOR.
Connecting Key Organizational Dimensions for Creating Value Focused on Service in the New Era

This is an era of profound changes in the businesses management and in people’s life. Many companies need to survive, recover and find new ways to create value for stakeholders. A focus on service is an imperative for that purpose, but it is necessary to harmonize this focus with a right understanding about the creation of value in the organizational reality according to the new era. As new technologies are replacing, facilitating and complementing the work of service employees more than ever, it is crucial reorienting the value that service can add. Our task is rethinking the main forces for establishing a focus on service in order to create consistent value. We focus on service culture and climate as the forces that need to be integrated for conveniently connecting with the organizational dimensions for creating value. Through an anthropological analysis and the case methodology we can understand the connection among the key organizational dimensions and the value they create: (a) to obtain sufficient incentives and resources-economic value, (b) to develop the organizational capability-social value and (c) to forge trust and commitment to the mission-ethical value. We extend current conceptualizations about climate and culture focused on creating value and share our reflections about the required connections for consolidating an integrated value, suggesting some managerial implications for that purpose.
Parameter identification and dynamic response analysis of a modified Prandtl–Ishlinskii asymmetric hysteresis model via least-mean square algorithm and particle swarm optimization

Hysteresis is a nonlinear phenomenon observed in the dynamic response behavior of numerous structural systems under high intensity cyclic or random loading, as well as in numerous mechanical and electromagnetic systems. For several decades, hysteretic response analysis of structural systems has been widely studied and numerous hysteresis models have been proposed and utilized in order to reproduce and better understand the complex hysteretically degrading behavior of structural systems. An important area of research in this regard has been the parameter identification of hysteretic systems. In this paper, we propose a modified Prandtl–Ishlinskii model to simulate the asymmetric hysteresis, which is the complex behavior in structural systems. In addition, a new approach based on particle swarm optimization and least-mean square algorithm is utilized for parameter identification of this hysteresis model. Finally, the model is applied in structural dynamic response analysis of a base isolated structural model under seismic load.
The Value of Orientation and Mobility in the Preparation, Response, and Recovery of the 2017 Hurricane Season in Puerto Rico

Introduction: The 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria significantly affected all people in Puerto Rico, including people with visual impairments. This population has historically been underserved; therefore, access to disaster-related services and the overall availability of training in independence skills are inadequate. This study focuses on independence as related to orientation and mobility (O&M) and was part of a larger case study that sought to determine what unique factors affected people with visual impairments during the aforementioned hurricanes and how challenges could potentially improve. Methods: Qualitative exploratory single-case study of the 2017 hurricane season in Puerto Rico. Interviews used language interpreters and were conducted in-person and by telephone between November 2 and December 17, 2018. Referred sampling included 29 people with visual impairments, four relief agencies, an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) technical specialist, and seven organizations serving people with visual impairments. Results: The post-Maria travel environment presented many challenges through altered infrastructure. Impact was also felt due to insufficient disaster-related institutional supports and a lack of empowerment for people with visual impairments. Post-disaster life presented mental health challenges; however, the usage of O&M training helped to curb its effects. For study participants, the greater the acquisition and practice of O&M, the greater their well-being. Discussion: Paternalism minimized the acquisition and practice of O&M. Knowledge and practice of O&M were salient in post-disaster life. The use of O&M aided in mental health before, during, and after the hurricanes. Implications for practitioners: Expressions of the importance of O&M skills among participants can be used to encourage future recipients of O&M training. These testimonials can also be used to advocate for more social support and financial assistance for organizations which provide such training.
Risicomanagement in de aderen?! : een onderzoek naar hetinvoeren en inbedden van projectrisicomanagement binnen NS ProjectConsult

The research project is aimed at the process of introducing and embedding project risk management (PRM) within NS ProjectConsult (NPC). NPC is a project management, consultancy and engineering company, owned by the Dutch Railways (NS). Based on the outcome of this research project, the organization? s management is advised on how to establish a management process regarding the introduction and embedding of PRM, the purpose of which is to advance the use of PRM to the desired level.
S.O.S –Supporting Other Students: the role of student library ambassadors at Southampton Solent University

Since March 2008, the library at Southampton Solent has been employing a team of students to act as ‘library ambassadors’. They provide alternative support to our users, particularly during periods when library staff are not on duty, such as during extended opening hours on bank holidays and late evenings. Ambassadors provide peer support covering library facilities and resources,as well as more technical issues (ICT, photocopying,binding). Overall they help to ensure that a high-quality learning environment is accessible throughout our full opening hours
Brain Connectomics and Severity of Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adolescence Predict Severity of Suicidal Ideation in Later Adolescence

Suicidal ideation (SI) typically emerges during adolescence but is challenging to predict. Given the consequences of SI, it is important to identify neurobiological and psychological predictors of SI in adolescents in order to improve strategies to prevent suicide.In 109 participants (61 female), we assessed psychological characteristics and obtained resting-state fMRI data in early adolescence (ages 9-13). Using graph theoretical methods, we assessed local network properties across 250 brain regions by computing measures of nodal interconnectedness: local efficiency, eigenvector centrality, nodal degree, within-module z-score, and participation coefficient. Four years later (ages 13-17), participants self-reported their SI severity. We used LASSO regression to identify a linear combination of the most important psychological, environmental, and brain-based predictors of future SI severity.The LASSO analysis identified a combination of 10 predictors of future SI severity (R2=0.23). Severity of internalizing symptoms at baseline was the strongest predictor; the remaining 9 predictors were brain-based, including nodal degree of the inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and inferior temporal gyrus; within-module degree of the substantia nigra and inferior parietal lobe; eigenvector centrality of the subgenual cingulate gyrus; participation coefficient of the caudal cingulate gyrus and medial amygdala.Our findings suggest that combining network properties and earlier internalizing symptoms may improve prediction of later SI, compared to prior symptoms and other sociodemographic variables alone. Research should validate the clinical utility of these markers as predictors of suicidal thoughts.
Creating engaging self-learning opportunities for out-of-school children in Sri Lanka: employing constructivist design principles for distance and open learning

Education plays a vital role in improving people's quality of life and is an essential part of social and human development. Addressing the issue of access to quality education is a matter of urgency, and yet the formal education system has not tended to provide education for all. For out-of school children, therefore, distance and open learning methodologies have been adopted by developing countries as an alternative path to address their educational needs. The challenge is h o w to develop suitable programs and learning materials to motivate and engage learners to learn. The purpose of this study was to investigate appropriate design principles for developing self-learning materials to promote learner motivation and engagement. The study was guided by a constructivist theoretical framework. Utilising a multiple case study approach and a naturalistic methodology the study was conducted in three phases. The process of data collection began by designing a training program concerning instructional design for course writers. This training program made the course writers aware of instructional design principles and assisted them to develop skills of writing self-learning materials embedded in constructivist theory. At the end of the training program the course writers tested the sample materials developed with a targeted group of out-of-school children. For both learning situations (course writers and children) the data were collected using multiple data gathering techniques and results were presented as individual stories of the course writers and children. The overall findings have provided conclusive evidence that constructivist design principles do support the creation of active, constructive and meaningful learning and learner-motivated learning materials. The findings indicate that this type of material was practical and meaningful and students were excited when they were learning what they deemed relevant. The materials were able to engage the students in a continuing learning process and they were successful in integrating the whole environment (family, community members and peers) into students' learning, successfully providing multiple avenues and multiple resources for students' learning processes. The findings provide practical implications for designing self-learning materials that relate to the learner's context and their real world problems. The important implication for the Sri Lankan context and indeed other contexts is that it is possible to design a new learning culture to promote flexible, cooperative, friendly learning environments that help to immerse the learners in a wider society. The findings demonstrate that a constructivist learning environment introduced to the target groups a new path for experiencing enjoyable, interesting and exciting learning. The study indicates that a paradigm shift is possible in the design of out-of-school learning activities.
A Novel Stable QTL in Chromosome A04 for Salt Tolerance at the Seed Germination Stage of Upland Cotton via a Resequencing-Based High-Density Genetic Map

Key message Two candidate genes GhGASA1 and GhADC2 playing negative roles by modulating the GA and PA signaling pathway, respectively, were identified in a major QTL for germination under salt stress.The successful transition of a seed into a seedling is the prerequisite for plant propagation and crop yield. Germination is a vulnerable stage in a plant’s life cycle which is strongly affected by environmental conditions, such as salinity. In this study, we identified a novel stable quantitative trait locus (QTL) qRGR-A04-1 associated with relative germination rate (RGR) after treatment with salt stress based on a high-density genetic map under phytotron and filed conditions, with LOD values of 6.65-16.83 and 6.11-12.63% of phenotypic variations in all five environment tests. Two candidate genes with significantly differential expression between two parents were finally identified through RNA-seq and qRT-PCR analyses. Further functional analyses showed that GhGASA1- and GhADC2-overexpression lines were more sensitive to salt stress than wild-type in Arabidopsis through regulating the transcript levels of gibberellic acid (GA) and polyamine (PA) -related genes implicating in GA and PA biosynthesis with reducing the accumulation of GA and PA under salt stress, respectively. Virus-induced gene silencing analysis showed that TRV:GASA1 and TRV:ADC2 displayed more tolerant to salt stress by increasing the expression of GA-synthesis genes and decreasing the H2O2 content, respectively. Taken together, our results suggested that QTL qRGR-A04-1 and its harbored two genes, GhGASA1 and GhADC2, were promising candidates for salt tolerance improvement in cotton.
THE HYSTERESIS PHENOMENON IN TRAFFIC FLOW

The application of aerial survey methods to record and study the movement of traffic on an urban freeway led to the isolation of the phenomenon of traffic flow hysteresis. This phenomenon is manifested as a generally retarded behavior displayed by a platoon of vehicles after emerging from a kinematic disturbance as compared to the behavior of the same vehicles approaching the disturbance. Although data suitable for the study of the phenomenon is still quite scarce, the appearance of the retardataion effect has been confirmed for all ten platoons studied to date. This paper undertakes an analysis of the nature of the hysteresis phenomenon from both a macroscopic and a microscopic point of view. Macroscopically attention is concentrated on the relationships existing between speed and density, volume and density, kinetic energy and density and mean headway and density. Each relationship is shown to dispaly distinctly different characteristics for disturbance approaching and disturbance leaving conditions. Microscopically consideration is given to the acceleration-deceleration asymmetry which underlies the hysteresis phenomenon and the concepts of car following theory are employed to provide further insight into the fundamental nature of the phenomenon. It is thought that the hysteresis phenomenon has substantial implications for the design of modern freeway control systems and further efforts toward its exploration are planned. /Author/
GATE 2 - IGR Review Report

This report reviews the last three years of work on GATE, a General Architecture for Text Engineering, under EPSRC grant GM/M31699. GATE is an infrastructure for support of human language computation work, based on an extendable component model and delivered with a range of free components for common language processing tasks. This project has extended and redeveloped the successful version 1 of GATE, which was used in many R&D projects, PhDs and MScs, for teaching and for a number of commercial applications [Maynard et al. 00].
Pinch analysis of Billerud Karlsborg, a partly integrated pulp and paper mill

The awareness of climate change together with limited resources of fossil fuels are driving forces for energy efficiency improvements and a shift towards renewable resources. For energy intensive industry like the pulp and paper industry, the incentives are even stronger. A useful tool for identifying potential for energy savings at an existing site is pinch analysis. Presented in this thesis is a pinch analysis of Billerud Karlsborg, a partly integrated pulp and paper mill. The plant’s potential for energy savings has been evaluated using information and data collected at the mill. The aim has been to identify the potential for energy efficiency improvements, focusing on possibilities to save steam. The potential for energy savings at Billerud Karlsborg has been identified to 18.5 MW, which accounts for 12% of the present steam demand. Parts of this can be achieved through replacing steam with hot effluents from the bleaching and evaporation plant, when fulfilling heating demands. Two retrofit proposals are presented, one were fewer changes are made and one which is more comprehensive. The latter is an extension of the first. In the light retrofit, 5.8 MW of steam is saved through utilization of hot effluents. The cost for this retrofit is 0.13 M€ per MW of saved steam. In the rigorous retrofit further steam savings are achieved through improvements in the hot and warm water system summing up to a total of 11 MW. The cost for this retrofit is 0.14 M€ per MW of saved steam.
Material and accompanying logistics transactions: Collaboration and coordination issues

Abstract Governance mechanisms are examined within the context of material transaction (vendor-manufacturer governance form) and logistics transactions (vendor-third-party-logistician-manufacturer governance form). Using arguments from dynamic capability proponents, the effect of governance mechanisms (trust, commitment, and flexibility) on logistics capability is found to be contingent on the interactive governance forms. Sampling organizations from material and logistics transactions in a business-to-business setting, financial performance outcomes are a joint function of the governance mechanisms deployed in these transactions.
Disaster Analysis: Police and Fire Departments

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION Background of This Report The Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware in the fall of 1985 initiated work under Contract EMW-85C-1981 on a five year project focusing upon community and organizational response to natural and technological disasters. During the First Phase of the project where the work extended over a year, the DRC undertook a comparative study of the responses of local emergency management agencies (LEMAs) during the emergency time period of disasters. The Final Report on the First Phase of the work (Wenger, Quarantelli and Dynes, 1987) reported on both the extensiveness and effectiveness of the disaster response by LEMAs in six communities. An empirically grounded eightfold typology of local emergency management arrangements was developed, and the effectiveness of the various types was studied in relation to such variables as disaster experience, disaster planning and federal assistance. In general, we found a strong positive relationship between prior disaster experience and both the extensiveness and effectiveness of LEMA response. A similar pattern was discerned for prior disaster planning. In addition, we found that various forms of federal assistance can have positive, salutary effects upon local community response. The Second Phase of the research has shifted the focus of study from LEMAs to local police and fire departments. As was the case in the work in Phase One, there are actually two distinct although related project activities, i.e., the field work on the organizations being studied and the work on the computerization of the DRC library and data base. In this Final Report we discuss the major empirical findins we have generated with regard to the response of local police and fire departments to disasters; another Final Report summarizes our work on the DRC library and data base ( see Quarantelli, 1989).
A role for the early pregnancy maternal milieu in the intergenerational transmission of obesity

Maternal obesity increases the risks for adverse pregnancy and offspring outcomes but with large heterogeneity. This study examined changes to the maternal metabolic milieu across pregnancy in women with obesity. It identified differences between a metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) phenotype and a metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) phenotype, as well as the differences in offspring adiposity between the two metabolic phenotypes.
Forecasting Models for Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Survey of the State-of-the-Art

When new virus and its respective disease cause more infections, it is very important to decide the strategies to control the spread and determine its impact. Considering the recent example of Coronavirus initially identified in Wuhan China has now targeted Italy badly, It is very important to study different forecasting models to control this pandemic. In the view of this, this study present the comparative analysis of various forecasting models, their classification and the techniques used. The detail analysis of forecasting models with respect to the parameters like data source, techniques, algorithms, mathematical parameters is also presented in this study. In the sequel, this study also presents useful recommendations to help government and healthcare community in designing better strategies and in taking productive decisions to control this outbreak.