Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assortment Optimization for a Multi-Stage Choice Model

Problem definition: Motivated by several practical selling scenarios that require previous purchases to unlock future options, we consider a multistage assortment optimization problem, where the seller makes sequential assortment decisions with commitment and the customer makes sequential choices to maximize her expected utility. Methodology/results: We start with the two-stage problem and formulate it as a dynamic combinatorial optimization problem. We show that this problem is polynomial-time solvable when the customer is fully myopic or fully forward-looking. In particular, when the customer is fully forward-looking, the optimal policy entails that the assortment in each stage is revenue-ordered, and a product with higher revenue always leads to a wider range of future options. Moreover, we find that the optimal assortment in the first stage must be smaller than the optimal assortment when there is no second stage and the optimal assortment in the second stage must be larger than the optimal assortment when there is no first stage. When the customer is partially forward-looking, we show that the problem is NP-hard in general. In this case, we establish the polynomial-time solvability under certain conditions. In addition, we propose a 2-approximation algorithm in the general setting. We further extend these results to the multistage problem with an arbitrary number of stages, for which we derive generalized structural properties and efficient algorithms. Managerial implications: Firms can benefit from our study and improve their sequential assortment strategies when their interaction with each customer consists of multiple stages. Funding: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China [Grant 72150002] and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mathematical Foundations for Artificial Intelligence. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2023. 1224 .
New Strategies in Drug Development Focusing on the Anti-Protease- Protease Balance in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) is the most abundant proteinase inhibitor within the circulation and AAT deficiency is a genetic disorder characterised by serum levels of less than 11μmol/L. The Z mutation is the most common AAT allele associated with the disease and causes the most severe plasma deficiency, as the mutant protein polymerizes and accumulates within the endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes. The retained polymers are associated with cirrhosis and reduced serum levels of AAT contribute to the development of chronic pulmonary disease in AAT deficient individuals. This article will review the importance of AAT as a serine anti-protease, the clinical manifestations of AAT deficiency and specific treatment of the disease. Current therapies including AAT replacement and treatment with synthetic or alternative protease inhibitors are reviewed, along with possible future therapies including those focusing on targeting AAT polymer formation or based on gene therapy.
Edge‐enabled IoT gateway criteria selection and evaluation

In this contribution, we define the concept of transferring intelligence from the cloud to the edge of the network and highlight its importance in modern IoT architectures. It leads to edge‐enabled IoT solutions, where intelligence is distributed to the end devices, ie, edge of the network. The IoT gateway is a middle‐ware between devices and cloud and facilitates computations and communication. We have encountered a research gap and decided to propose our solution on creating an edge‐enabled IoT gateway and evaluating its rating by functionality. In the beginning, we describe the general architecture where we demonstrate the location of the edge‐enabled IoT gateway in edge‐enabled solution. Then, we discuss a selection of major criteria, which could be implemented to any edge‐enabled solution. In the end, we evaluate our proposed edge‐enabled IoT gateway and also compare several scientific works focused on IoT gateway design according to our criteria.
THE EFFECTS OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE HEAT-TREATMENT ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF ROWAN (SORBUS AUCUPARIA L.) WOOD

Heat treatment of wood has attracted a lot of attention both in Europe and recently in North America as an environmentally-friendly wood-protection method. Th e untreated wood is hydrophilic (high affi nity for water). During the heat treatment, wood becomes more and more hydrophobic (low affi nity for water) with increasing heat treatment temperature. As a result, it becomes dimensionally more stable compared to untreated wood. Th e high temperature thermal treatment of wood is an environment-friendly method for wood preservation. Th is technique has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Th is study investigated the infl uence of heat treatment on the physical and surface roughness of Rowan ( Sorbus aucuparia L.) wood to understand its role in wood processing. Samples obtained from Kastamonu Forest Enterprises, Turkey, were subjected to heat treatment at varying temperatures and durations. Th e physical properties of heat-treated and control samples were tested, and ovendry density, air-dry density, and swelling properties were determined. A stylus method was employed to evaluate the surface characteristics of the samples. Roughness measurements, using the stylus method, were made in the direction perpendicular to the fi ber. Four main roughness parameters, mean arithmetic deviation of profi le (Ra), mean peak-to-valley height (Rz), root mean square roughness (Rq), and maximum roughness (Ry) obtained from the surface of wood were used to evaluate the eff ect of heat treatment on the surface characteristics of the specimens. Signifi cant diff erence was determined (p = 0.05) between physical properties and surface roughness parameters (Ra, Rz, Ry, Rq) for three temperatures and three durations of heat treatment. Th e results showed that the values of density, swelling and surface roughness decreased with increasing temperature treatment and treatment times. Th e results obtained in this study provide important information for future research and utilization of thermally modifi ed wood.
FIBROLYTIC ENZYMES IN RUMINANT NUTRITION AND THEIR EFFECT ON FORAGE CELL WALL INTEGRITY

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of treatment of forage substrates with an exogenous fibrolytic enzyme cocktail (EFE, containing xylanase and cellulase activities) on in vitro gas production and in vitro true digestibility (IVTD). Rumen liquor, obtained from cannulated sheep fed a lucerne-oat hay based diet, was used as inoculum. Substrates used in the fermentations were lucerne hay (Medicago sativa) and two C4 grasses: weeping love grass (Eragrostis curvula) hay and kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) grass dried at 50oC for 24h. Gas production was measured in 120 ml glass vials with the aid of a digital pressure gauge, following anaerobic fermentation in an incubator at 39oC after 6, 12, 18, 24, 48 and 72 hours. Pressure values were converted to volume using a pre-determined regression equation. In vitro true digestibility was measured after 24 hours of fermentation with the aid of an Ankom Daisy II incubator. The gas production fermentation kinetic values upon applying a non-linear model to the data showed significant effects on the total gas production (b) as well as the rate of gas production (c). The rate of gas production (c) was 0.049 and 0.054 h for lucerne control and EFE treatement, respectively and 0.016 and 0.019 h for kikuyu control and EFE treatment, respectivley. The non-linear model did not fit the weeping love grass data and therefore only a linear regression line was fitted to the data. The potential total gas production (b) was increased for EFE-treated lucerne, regardless of whether the model was used with or without a lag phase. For kikuyu, the potential gas production (b) was increased due to EFE treatment, but only in the non-linear model that included an estimation for lag. Exogenous fibrolytic enzyme treatment resulted in higher rates of gas production (c) for both lucerne and kikuyu, and in both models used, but had no effect on the lag time of either lucerne or kikuyu. In contrast with the fermentation kinetic values, enzyme treatment had no effect on cumulative gas production (ml/g DM) of lucerne or weeping love grass as substrate. However, with kikuyu as substrate, EFE treatment resulted in a 12 % increase in cumulative gas production (P < 0.05) after 24h of fermentation which was carried over to the rest of the incubation period. This is in agreement with the higher b value predicted by the models (P < 0.05). This increase was observed for the remainder of the fermentation period at each subsequent time point (P < 0.05). In vitro true digestibility, as measured after 24h of fermentation, was higher for lucerne than for the C4 grasses (love grass or kikuyu). Enzyme treatment increased 24h IVTD (P<0.05), but only for
Metabolic Activities of the Gut Microflora in Relation to Cancer

The human large intestine is host to a diverse range of bacteria with numbers reaching 10 11 /ml of faecal material. This population plays a significant role in colonic metabolism and health. Undigested dietary substrates and endogenous residues are metabolised by the gut flora. Some of the products of this metabolism have been associated with carcinogenic processes such as tumour promotion (ammonia, secondary bile acids), mutagenesis (fecapenaenes) and carcinogenesis ( N -nitroso compounds). Bacterial enzymes involved with carcinogen formation include g -glucuronidase, g -glycosidase, azoreductase, nitroreductase, nitrate reductase, the conversion of pre-carcinogen 2 amino-3-methyl-7H-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) to 7-hydroxy-2-amino-3,6-dihydro-3-methyl-7H-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoline-7-one (7OHIQ). Protective effects of gut bacterial metabolism include carcinogen binding, detoxification of methylmercury and formation of lignans and isoflavones. Diet is known to play a role in gut microflora metabolism and cancer development. Studies have shown that gut bacterial enzymes are affected by diet and bacterial metabolism of dietary protein releases toxic products including ammonia, phenols and cresols. The interrelationships between diet, gut microflora metabolism and effects on the host are complicated however they may be important in the understanding of epidemiological associations between exogenous factors and colorectal cancer risk.
Continuous adaptive sliding-mode control scheme for an autonomous underwater vehicle with region-based approach

Set point method has been typically used for trajectory tracking of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). However, this method has several limitations. In this regard, region based method has been applied in trajectory tracking of AUV in order to solve the limitations of set point method. The main idea behind the region-based method is the tracking target of an AUV set as a region, so that the AUV will maintain its position under weak ocean current. This method uses lower energy compared to set point method because the AUV will not turn on its thrusters as long as it maintains its position within the region. Realistically, there is also strong current that can drift vehicle away from the required region. The purpose of the thesis is to develop a robust controller with region-based method. Robust control enables an AUV to reject the disturbance and re-enter the region even under the influence of external disturbance. Based on the literature review, adaptive sliding mode control was chosen as the proposed controller in this study. Sliding mode control is known for its insensitivity towards uncertainty and external disturbance. Adaptive component was introduced to replace switching component. This substitute enables AUV to reject external disturbance better compared to conventional sliding mode control. The stability of the proposed controller was analyzed using Lyapunov function. The energy consumption of region based method was compared with the set point tracking method. It has been shown from this study that the energy consumption for region-based method is indeed lower than set point method. The effectiveness of the proposed controller was compared with adaptive controller using simulation under the influence of ocean current. Underwater vehicle model used in the simulation was Omni Directional Intelligent Navigator (ODIN). It has been proven that the proposed controller performed better compared to adaptive controller. The proposed controller had managed to handle ocean current and re-enter the region.
Miera regionalizácie inovačných politík a jej vplyv na inovačnú výkonnosť regiónov

The regional policies of the advanced countries are focused on the regional competitiveness enhancement thought four main factors – economical activities structure, the level of innovation, the degree of accessibility of the region and level of labour force education. The innovations are considered to be the key driving factor of the economical growth. The EU countries aim to wider introduction of innovations through the process of creation and implementation of the policies for innovation support. The degree of centralisation or decentralisation of these policies differs in different EU countries. The paper deals with support of innovation at national and regional levels. It researches the influence of the degree of innovation policy decentralisation to regional prosperity in selected EU countries (Spain, Hungary and Slovakia). The paper is built on the 6FP project “Coordination of R&D&I policies and their coherence with other policies in NAC countries” results. The project outputs are supplemented with selected researches in the area of innovation policies in EU mem- ber states. Its enables the mutual comparison between selected countries from the innovation performance point of view and the degree of innovation policies decentralisation. The data about national and regional innovation financial support are supplemented by cluster policies research in order to offer the comprehensive view on the way of innovation policies implementation at national and regional levels and the innovation performance of the selected countries and regions.
International cooperation on western corn rootworm ecology research: state‐of‐the‐art and future research

1 Invasive pest species are challenging partly because the invasion process may be highly dynamic and because of the lack of knowledge of many researchers, professionals and farmers in the newly‐invaded regions. The chrysomelid Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte is such an invasive pest. It has been the main pest of continuous maize in the U.S.A. for more than 60 years and is currently spreading throughout Europe.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF ISM BAND ANTENNAS: A SURVEY

Initially, ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band was being allocated to Industry, Science and Medical fields but later on various applications such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cordless phone etc. have been allowed to use ISM band frequencies. Different types of antennas such as a microstrip patch antenna, helical antenna, dielectric resonator antenna etc are used for the above mentioned devices. However, due to small size and weight microstrip patch antenna become dominant in this field from last few years. In this paper various antenna designs for ISM band application have been discussed with their performance analyses from various papers on which this survey is conducted. The main aim of this survey paper is to provide a background on the researches of ISM band antenna design used for different application which would help researcher in their work.
Factors Limiting the Efficacy of Hydrogen Peroxide Washes for Decontamination of Apples Containing Escherichia coli

Factors limiting efficacy of H 2 O 2 washes and alternative decontamination strategies were investigated with Golden Delicious apples, inoculated with nonpathogenic Escherichia coli. Post-treatment rinsing decreased efficacy by eliminating residual H 2 O 2 A 2-stage wash incorporating a rinse to remove surfactant residues prior to H 2 O 2 application was developed. Rapid attachment of E. coli to apples prevented effective removal by washing with water. Surviving E. coli following a 5% H 2 O 2 wash were concentrated in stem and calyx areas. Survival was independent of the time Interval between inoculation and washing. E. colt inoculation of punctured apple surfaces resulted in growth at 20 °C and greater survival after washing with 5% H 2 O 2 . improved decontamination methods are needed.
French Renaissance printing types : a conspectus

"A survey of all Roman, Italic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic typefaces made in France during the sixteenth century, describing the evolution of type-casting and letter-engraving and the methodology used. Illustrated with facsimiles of 409 typefaces with detailed descriptions including their first appearance in books or type specimens"--Provided by publisher.
Correlation of interleukin-17 with disease activity and hand joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease involving various types of cytokines. One of them is interleukin-17 (IL-17), which is known to have a pleiotropic effect on various of cells and is thought to be a cytokine effector contributing to the pathogeniccondition in RA.Methods: The study was conducted on 46 RA patients at rheumatology clinic at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital who were diagnosed based on the 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria. Sample selection was done using consecutive sampling. Tests on patients were conducted to collect data needed to obtain the scores for 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28), global health visual analogue scale, swollen joint count, tender joint count, sedimentation rate, Sharp score (radiograph of both hands), and the IL-17 level.The correlation between IL-17 level and DAS28 wasÂ calculated using the Pearsonâ€™s correlation test while the correlation between IL-17 level and Sharp score was calculated using the Spearmanâ€™s test.Results: The majority of patients (87%) were women. The largest percentage was in the 51- to 60-year-old group (39.1%). Most patients (43.1%) had moderate disease activity. There were 27 patients (58.69%) with positive rheumatoid factor. The mean IL-17 level was17.28 pg/mL with a standard deviation of 11.43 pg/mL. There was no correlation of IL-17 level with disease activity (p = 0.446, r = 0.021) and Sharp score (p = 0.304, r = 0.077) in subjects of this study.Conclusion: There was no signifi cant correlation of IL-17 with disease activity and joint damage.
Structural studies on the H3 influenza A virus haemagglutinin : Receptor binding and membrane fusion.

In this project, the receptor binding and membrane fusion activities of the membrane-anchored glycoprotein haemagglutinin (HA), H3 subtype, of the influenza A virus were studied. Influenza viruses from different hosts can distinguish between a.2-3 and a2-6 linkages that sialic acid (Sia) forms with the penultimate saccharide residue of the receptor. Human viruses prefer a2-6 linkages and avian viruses ct2-3 linkages. The side chain of residue 226 of the HA receptor binding site (RBS) is involved in the specific recognition of those linkages. The HA of the 1968 Hong Kong (HK) pandemic virus (H3 subtype), contained in the recombinant X-31 virus, has a 226-leucine and prefers binding to a2-6 linkages. The L226Q HA of the variant virus X-31/horse serum (X-31/HS), corresponding to a single-site mutant of the X-31 HA having 226-glutamine, prefers a2-3 linkages. To define the molecular interactions of the L226Q HA with the virus receptor, the crystal structures of L226Q HA in complex with the receptor analogues lactoseries tetrasaccharide a (LSTa), a2-3-terminated, and lactoseries tetrasaccharide c (LSTc), a2-6-terminated, were determined. The structures show the saccharide residues Sia and galactose (Gal) of LSTa and only the Sia of LSTc bound on the L226Q HA RBS, which correlates with the higher affinity of L226Q HA for the ct2-3 linkage. However, the L226Q HA binds both the trans and cis configurations of the Sia-Gal glycosidic bond of LSTa, which has never been observed before. These results are discussed in comparison with data from binding assays and the available crystal structures of the X-31 HA, the H3 avian HA of the influenza virus A/duck/Ukraine/63, a potential precursor of the 1968 HK pandemic virus, and other HAs, of different subtypes and hosts of origin, in complex with LSTa and LSTc. Upon endocytosis, at the low endosomal pH, the HA undergoes an irreversible conformational change associated with the fusion of the viral and endosomal membranes, a process by which the virus enters the target cell. To gain further insights into the membrane fusion mechanism catalysed by the influenza HA, the purification and crystallisation trials of three different X-31 HA forms representative of the neutral pH and fusion pH-induced conformations, containing the membrane-interacting segments fusion peptide and transmembrane anchor, were carried out with the future aim of their crystal structure determination. The procedures for the purification and crystallisation trials of the X-31 HA proteins in different conformations are discussed in the context of the general purification and crystallisation of membrane proteins. No promising hint has yet been obtained in the crystallisation trials.
Different patterns of resource use between two coexisting freshwater calanoid species

Patterns of resource use (i.e. dietary richness, breadth and overlap) for the coexisting but differently sized species Calamoecia lucasi and Boeckella minuta were examined in specimens collected from Wallerawang Reservoir between April 1986 and September 1987. Significant differences in the dietary richness and dietary breadth were found between the species. Dietary overlap, as measured by Schoener's index, fluctuated within a relatively low range throughout the time interval. The effective resource partitioning may account for the perennial coexistence of these species. Since the degree of resource overlap cannot be directly related to the extent of competition, further experimental studies are necessary to determine how important the resource partitioning is in processes structuring associations of calanoid species.
Development of error reduction model using Bayesian filter for AUV navigating under moving ice

Doppler Velocity Logs (DVL) can provide a simple under water navigation aid for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) by measuring relative velocities with respect to the speed over ground. A valid reference velocity is difficult to calculate when this approach is applied under a moving frame of reference such as drifting ice. The primary challenge of under-ice localization is to accurately estimate the AUV location and its trajectory in the global coordinate system when DVL measurements are being made relative to a constantly drifting ice surface. In this paper, the author introduces and compares two types of error sources, scale factor error of DVL and navigation error due to ice drift. An error reduction model using a Bayesian filter algorithm is developed for improved estimations, in conjunction with a novel correction method for accurate AUV navigation under ice. The concept of shift factor is introduced in this paper as the key to solve both error sources. Having the knowledge of the true beacon location, shift factors in vector quantity are extracted based on the collected relative velocity profiles by DVL. The shift factors are directly applied to update the final AUV location. The result presents approximately 70.8% of maximum error reduction. The impact of survey pattern, bearing angle to the beacon, pinging frequency on the accuracy of the vehicle localisation are discussed.