Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Construction of international brand portfolios: impact on local brands

Purpose - In the literature, the question of how the strategies of brand portfolios affect performance remains open and subject to contradictory developments. This paper aims to highlight the various steps involved in the analysis of international brand portfolios as well as issues specific to each of these phases. Design/methodology/approach - This article relies on the results of a longitudinal case study conducted in collaboration with the marketing direction of Procter & Gamble's European Business Unit "Laundry and Fabric Care" from 2004 to 2009. Findings - The authors present the strategic and operational movements that led to the reduction of the P&G brand portfolio in the laundry category. The authors then compare them with the current results of the company in this market to assess the performance of this strategy of rationalization. Originality/value - While the best way forward to construct international brand portfolios has not yet been specifically defined and many questions remain, this article provides an illustration of a methodology tested by an international company
Nonlinear Networked Control Systems with Random Nature using Neural Approach and Dynamic Bayesian Networks

We propose an intelligent predictive control approach for a nonlinear networked control system (NCS) with time-varying delay and random observation. The control is given by the sum of a nominal control and a corrective control. The nominal control is determined analytically using a linearized system model with fixed time delay. The corrective control is generated online by a neural network optimizer. A Markov chain (MC) dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) predicts the dynamics of the stochastic system online to allow predictive control design. We apply our proposed method to a satellite attitude control system and evaluate its control performance through computer simulation.
On the Relationship between Justice Judgments, Outcomes and Identity Orientations among Iranian EFL Learners: A Structural Equation Model

One problem which can be observed in the field of EFL/ESL learning is that a number of English major BA and MA students are not highly committed to their major and decide not to continue their graduate studies. Sometimes even graduate students from English majors prefer to extend their education or work in an unrelated field. This might be attributed to the extent to which they perceive evaluation procedures and outcomes as fair. Considering this, the present study investigates first the relationships between justice judgments, outcomes and identity orientations. The study, then, uses structural equation modeling in order to examine whether identity orientation has any mediating effect on the relationship between justice judgment and outcomes. Participants were74 students in Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Shiraz University selected based on convenience sampling. They filled out three questionnaires on distributive and procedural justice judgments, rule compliance and outcome satisfaction, and personal and social identity orientations. The collected data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and structural equation modeling. Based on the obtained findings, procedural justice had significant positive correlation with rule compliance and distributive justice was significantly correlated with outcome satisfaction. The generated structural equation model also indicated that justice judgments only directly affected outcomes and identity had no mediating effect on the causal relationship between the two.
The Relationship Between C-Reactive Protein and Diastolic Function of the Left Ventricle in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Yazışma Adresi: Dr.Şükrü ÇELĐK Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Kardiyoloji AD, 61080, TRABZON Summary Aims: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a sensitive, nonspecific marker of inflammation. Acute myocardial infarction triggers an acute phase response resulting in a rise of circulating CRP levels, which correlates with infarct size. We investigated the relation between CRP levels and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with acute anterior wall myocardial infarction. Methods: We analyzed clinical, echocardiographic and biochemical data in 72 consecutive patients (aged 58 ± 12 years; 7 women) with first anterior acute myocardial infarction. Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic examinations were performed within 24 hours of admission. Blood samples were obtained every day during hospitalization. Results: Univariate correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between CRP and left ventricular ejection fraction, mitral E-wave deceleration time (r = 0.250, p = 0.03 ; r = 0.306 , p = 0.009, respectively ). The patients were divided according to the deceleration time assessed at day 1 in 2 groups: group 1 (n=18) with deceleration time ≤ 130 ms and group 2 (n=54) with deceleration time> 130 ms. Peak serum CRP levels were significantly higher in the short deceleration time (≤130) group than in long deceleration time(>130) group (14.01 ± 6.3 mg/dl vs 9.3 ± 5.4 mg/dl, p= 0.02). Conclusions: These results suggest that peak CRP levels correlate with left ventricular restrictive filling pattern.
Automated Generation of Antenna Tracking Plans: A Knowledge-Based Approach

This article describes the Deep Space Network Antenna Operations Planner (DPLAN)—a system that automatically generates tracking plans for operations of DSN antennas. DPLAN accepts as input the current equipment configuration information and a set of requested antenna track services. The system then uses a knowledge base of antenna operations procedures to produce a plan of activities that will provide the requested services using the allocated equipment. DPLAN produces this plan using an integration of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, specifically, hierarchical task network (HTN) and operator-based planning. In this article, we describe the antenna automation problem, the DPLAN system for automatic generation of track plans, DPLAN’s current deployment status, and planned future work.
ENVISAT Validation Campaign at IMAA-CNR

In the period July 2002 - March 2004, at IMAA-CNR, Tito Scalo (Potenza, 40°36’N, 15°44’E, 820 m above sea level) we have performed more than 500 hours of Raman lidar measurements and 50 radiosonde launches in coincidence with ENVISAT overpasses. This campaign has been carried out by using a Raman lidar system, able to perform measurements of water vapor mixing ratio vertical profiles with high vertical and temporal resolution, and a radiosounding station for PTU measurements. These data have been used to validate MIPAS water vapor and temperature products and GOMOS water vapor products. In this paper, we present the results of the validation campaign performed at IMAA, only for MIPAS and GOMOS data processed with MIPAS software version 4.61 and with GOMOS IPF 5.00 respectively.
Observer-Based robust passive control for a class of uncertain neutral systems: an integral sliding mode approach

The problem of integral sliding mode control (ISMC) with passivity is investigated for a class of uncertain neutral systems with time-varying delay (NTSTD) and external disturbance. The system states are unavailable. An ISMC strategy is proposed based on the state estimate. By employing a novel sliding functional, a new sufficient criterion of robust asymptotic stability and passivity for both the error system and the sliding mode (SM) dynamic system is derived via linear matrix inequality (LMI) technique. Then, a SM controller is synthesized to guarantee the reachability of the sliding surface predefined in the state estimate space. Finally, a numerical example shows the feasibility and superiority of the obtained result.
Towards Supervised Music Structure Annotation: A Case-based Fusion Approach.

Analyzing the structure of a musical piece is a well-known task in any music theory or musicological field. However, in recent years, trying to find a way of performing such task in an automated manner has experienced a considerable increase in interest within the music information retrieval (MIR) field. Nonetheless, up to this day, the task of automatically segmenting and analyzing such structures remains an open challenge, with results that are still far from human performance. This thesis presents a novel approach to the task of automatic segmentation and annotation of musical structure by introducing a supervised approach that can take advantage of the information about the music structure of previously annotated pieces. The approach is tested over three different datasets with varying degrees of success. We show how a supervised approach has the potential to outperform state-of-theart algorithms assuming a large and varied enough dataset is used. The approach is evaluated by computing standard evaluation metrics in order to compare the obtained results with other approaches. Several case studies that are considered relevant are as well presented, along with future implications. Copyright © 2014 Giacomo Herrero. This is an open-access document distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Process Modeling and Public Value: Performance Measurement for Emergency Assistance Services?

This paper proposes a process modeling of a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) channel, according to the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) rules, in order to build a balanced scorecard (BSC). The Fire department in the Bouches-du-Rhone (SDIS) and the medical emergency service have coordinated their action and processes with hospitals to set up this kind of specific channel to deal with strokes. According to Hankey and Warlow (1999), each year in a population of 1 million inhabitants of a developed country, 2 400 patients use a care institution because of this pathology. As the window of opportunity for treatment is only 4 hours from first symptoms, swiftness is needed in both diagnosis and intervention. This emphasizes the fluidity of the channel, and thus the coordination of actors, as key success factors. This work upon process modeling is a source of lessons on the role of the information system in organizational innovation in the public services and the required capabilities to be mastered. But it mainly allows us to bring out the relevant indicators to build up the monitoring part of the balance scorecard (BSC) and to propose a roadmap to implement such a method for equivalent medical channels.
Performance of side-channel attacks on encrypted 802.11 web traffic and impact of network-level noise

No mundo de hoje, as redes Wi-Fi estao difundidas por toda a parte e interligadas ao nosso dia-a-dia: acedemos-lhes atraves dos nossos smartphones, tablets e telemoveis. Isto significa que inevitavelmente muitos dados sensiveis sao transmitidos atraves destas redes. A encriptacao, que esta presente em virtualmente todas as redes Wi-Fi, ajuda a proteger estes dados. Ainda assim, atraves de ataques side-channel e possivel obter informacao e potencialmente quebrar a privacidade de um utilizador. Esta tese tem o objetivo de desenvolver um destes ataques, de forma a identificar o website a que um utilizador esta a aceder. Um dataset solido, consistindo em numerosas capturas relativas a websites especificos, providencia os meios para que um algoritmo baseado em machine learning classifique uma captura de trafego. Outro objetivo e estudar o efeito do ruido ao nivel da rede na eficacia do algoritmo.
An Investigation on Safety Performance Assessment of Close-Following Behavior of Heavy Vehicle Using Empirical-Simulation Technique

One of the main causes of rear-end crashes is attributed to close-following and hazardous driving behavior. A study was conducted to investigate the close-following behavior of heavy vehicle under various heavy vehicle categories, travel speeds and gross vehicle weights (GVW). Investigation is based on data obtained from simulation and empirical observations. A safety performance assessment of close-following behavior of heavy vehicles by using empirical-simulation technique is proposed. The simulation, which incorporates vehicle dynamics, is to generate the minimum safe time gap (MSTG) for truck-following-car situations. MSTG is defined as the minimum time required by the following vehicle to decelerate and stop without hitting the leading vehicle when both leading and following vehicles apply the emergency brakes. Based on comparison between the actual time gap data and the MSTG, a safety performance assessment technique that considers vehicle type, vehicle braking characteristics, truck GVW and speed is proposed for truck-following-car situation.
Temperature responses of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase and photosynthetic capacity in arctic and tropical phytoplankton

When assayed near respective in situ temperatures, ribulose blsphosphate carboxylase (RuBPC) exhibits a greater response to increasing temperature in arctic than in tropical phytoplankton. This was also true when the Arrhen~us activation energy (E,) was compared for a range of intermediate temperatures. This difference in temperature response and E, for RuBPC is consistent with the temperature response of photosynthetic capacity, but is contrary to the general observation that coldenvironment ectotherms (organisms whose internal temperature conforms to that of the environment) have physiological processes with lower E,'s. Analysis suggests that the genotypic adaptation of qualititative enzyme temperature responses in marine phytoplankton is related to the vertical structure of the environment and to a suite of variables of which temperature is only one. Quantitatively, however, arctic phytoplankton do not appear to adapt to cold by increasing RuBPC levels per unit pigment biomass.
High Sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Sensor Based on Modified Calix(4)arene Self Assembled Monolayer for Cadmium Ions Detection

In this work, a new chromogenic calix(4) arene was functionalized onto self assembled monolayer (SAM) of cysteamine for cadmium ions detection and tested by using SPR measurement. The functionalization of modified SPR sensor is based on the oxidation of calixarene-SAM alcohol group to quinone. Four interfering ions were used Cu2+, Co2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+. pH of sensor in which the sensitivity of sensor is higher was optimized for cadmium ions and detection of ions was made in basic solution. Detection limit reached for Cd2+ is lower than 10(-11) M with a dynamic response time of about 16 s when changing from 10(-6) M cadmium to 10(-5) M.
Networks of Mobilization: Student Involvement in a Municipal Election

An enduring issue in the study of political participation is the extent to which political awareness and engagement are socially or individually motivated. We address these issues in the context of a municipal election which generated a high level of political engagement on the part of college students for whom the election was relevant. An effort was made to interview all these students using an on-line survey, and the students were asked to provide information on their friendship networks. The paper demonstrates that awareness and engagement are not simply a consequence of individually defined interests and awareness, but rather that individuals are informed and engaged based on their locations within structured networks of social interaction.
Stray–radiation correction as applied to the Leiden/Dwingeloo survey of Hi in the Galaxy

This article describes the stray–radiation correction that was applied to the Hi observations of the Leiden/Dwingeloo survey of Hartmann & Burton. This correction involved convolving the empirically–determined antenna pattern with the measured all–sky Hi distribution. The importance of the correction is demonstrated and practice regarding its application described. The general algorithm used here is presented. The results obtained with this algorithm are compared to those following from other methods. The 0.07 K sensitivity level of the survey depends critically on the success of the stray–radiation correction.
The Use of Kramers-Kronig Relations for Verification of Quality of Ferrite Magnetic Spectra

Abstract The complex initial permeability (CIP) as a function of frequency is one of the main properties of ferrites. This characteristic (CIP) is measured experimentally, therefore there can be found noisy, doubtful or incomplete parts of the spectrum. Thus there is a need for a method of evaluation of quality of CIP. In this article for evaluation of the quality of experimental CIP spectra of polycrystalline ferrite materials the KKR (Kramers-Kronig relations) are used. In order to apply KKR to experimentally measured data (i.e. data with finite limits) the method of transforming these integral relations into summation relations with finite limits is developed and described. This method can be used only for CIP given over the wide frequency rage, so that the imaginary part of CIP is fully presented. Using KKR with the help of CIP spectra model (based on the effects coming from polycrystal grain sizes and defects distribution) partly removes aforementioned limit. Thus with the help of the model we can also make CIP spectra reconstruction (in cases when CIP is noisy or incomplete) and CIP spectra decomposition.
What really matters: conservativeness or independence?

Contemporary views often support the idea that a high level of central bank independence, together with a clear mandate for it to restrain inflation, are important institutional devices for maintaining price stability. The meaning and policy implications of central bank independence are discussed. Two indicators of central bank independence are tested, and it is shown that 'instrument independence' (the freedom of a central bank to choose its policy means) is important for inflation performance, but other aspects of central bank independence and 'conservativeness' have little or no impact on inflation.
MODULUS OF CONTINUITY OF p-DIRICHLET SOLUTIONS IN A METRIC MEASURE SPACE

Let 1 < p < 1 and let X be a metric measure space with a doubling measure and a (1;p)-Poincare inequality. Let › be a bounded domain in X. For a function f on @› we denote by P›f the p-Dirichlet solution of f over ›. It is well known that if › is p-regular and f 2 C(@›), then P›f is p-harmonic in › and continuous in ›. We characterize the family of domains › such that improved continuity of boundary functions f ensures improved continuity of P›f. We specify such improved continuity if X is Ahlfors regular and X n › is uniformly p-fat.
lectrochemical properties of graphene nanosheets / polyaniline nanofibers omposites as electrode for supercapacitors

Graphene nanosheets/polyaniline nanofibers (GNS/PANI) composites are synthesized via in situ polymerization of aniline monomer in HClO4 solution. The PANI nanofibers homogeneously coating on the surface of GNS greatly improve the charge transfer reaction. The GNS/PANI composites exhibit better electrochemical performances than the pure individual components. A remarkable specific capacitance of 1130 F g−1 (based on GNS/PANI composites) is obtained at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1 in 1 M H2SO4 solution −1 −1 eywords:
A global approach for image orientation using Lie algebraic rotation averaging and convex L ∞ minimisation

In this paper we present a new global image orientation approach for a set of multiple overlapping images with given homologous point tuples which is based on a two-step procedure. The approach is independent on initial values, robust with respect to outliers and yields the global minimum solution under relatively mild constraints. The first step of the approach consists of the estimation of global rotation parameters by averaging relative rotation estimates for image pairs (these are determined from the homologous points via the essential matrix in a pre-processing step). For the averaging we make use of algebraic group theory in which rotations, as part of the special orthogonal group SO(3) , form a Lie group with a Riemannian manifold structure. This allows for a mapping to the local Euclidean tangent space of SO(3) , the Lie algebra. In this space the redundancy of relative orientations is used to compute an average of the absolute rotation for each image and furthermore to detect and eliminate outliers. In the second step translation parameters and the object coordinates of the homologous points are estimated within a convex L ∞ optimisation, in which the rotation parameters are kept fixed. As an optional third step the results can be used as initial values for a final bundle adjustment that does not suffer from bad initialisation and quickly converges to a globally optimal solution. We investigate our approach for global image orientation based on synthetic data. The results are compared to a robust least squares bundle adjustment. In this way we show that our approach is independent of initial values and more robust against outliers than a conventional bundle adjustment.
Rehashing bushmeat – interview campaigns reveal some controversial issues about the bushmeat trade dynamics in Nigeria

1 Niger Delta Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation Unit, Department of Applied and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, PMB 5080, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. E-mails: lucamlu@tin.it, gakanina2000@yahoo.com 2 IDECC – Institute for Development, Ecology, Conservation and Cooperation, via G. Tomasi di Lampedusa 33, 00144 Rome, Italy. E-mails: l.luiselli@ideccngo.org, d.dendi@ideccngo.org 3 Ecologia Applicata Italia, via Edoardo Jenner 70, 00151 Rome, Italy. E-mails: fapetrozzi@gmail.com, divittoriomassimiliano@gmail.com 4 CNR – Institute for Ecosystem Studies, viale Università 32, 00152 Rome, Italy. E-mail: giovanni.amori@uniroma1.it 5 Department of Forestry and Wildlife, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. E-mail: e.eniang@ideccngo.org
SAP: An Efficient Scheduling Protocol for Web Servers

We present a new scheduling protocol that we call the “starvation avoidance protocol” (SAP). SAP is designed for situations in which users primarily care about the completion time of a job, such as web serving. SAP is similar to the shortest remaining processing time (SRPT) protocol in that small jobs typically receive priority. However, unlike SRPT, SAP has a safeguarding feature that ensures that large jobs cannot be starved indefinitely. In particular, SAP guarantees that every job completes at least as early as it would under processor sharing (PS), a common web serving protocol. Indeed, SAP is strictly better than PS for every nonterminal job during a busy period. Thus, SAP provides an attractive protocol for web servers.
Impact of coastal forcing and groundwater recharge on the growth of a fresh groundwater lens in a mega-scale beach nourishment

Abstract. For a large beach nourishment called the Sand Engine – constructed in 2011 at the Dutch coast – we have examined the impact of coastal forcing (i.e. natural processes that drive coastal hydro- and morphodynamics) and groundwater recharge on the growth of a fresh groundwater lens between 2011 and 2016. Measurements of the morphological change and the tidal dynamics at the study site were incorporated in a calibrated three-dimensional and variable-density groundwater model of the study area. Simulations with this model showed that the detailed incorporation of both the local hydro- and morphodynamics and the actual recharge rate can result in a reliable reconstruction of the growth in fresh groundwater resources. In contrast, the neglect of tidal dynamics, land-surface inundations, and morphological changes in model simulations can result in considerable overestimations of the volume of fresh groundwater. In particular, wave runup and coinciding coastal erosion during storm surges limit the growth in fresh groundwater resources in dynamic coastal environments, and should be considered at potential nourishment sites to delineate the area that is vulnerable to salinization.