Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Delivering Goods in Urban Areas: How to Deal with Urban Policy Restrictions and the Environment

Time-access regulations and vehicle restrictions are increasingly used, especially in western Europe, to improve social sustainability in urban areas. These regulations considerably affect the distribution process of retail chain organizations as well as the environmental burden. This paper studies the impact of governmental time windows, vehicle restrictions, and different retailers' logistical concepts on the financial and environmental performance of retailers. We use a case study with two cases that differ in their drop sizes as input for an experiment. The retailers provided all organizational, flow, and cost data of the distribution process between their distribution centers and their stores. We use these data to calculate the impacts of different scenarios on the retailers' financial and environmental performances based on a fractional factorial design in which urban policies and the retailers' logistical concepts are varied, using vehicle routing software. We test the propositions with a third case. We show that the cost impact of time windows is the largest for retailers who combine many deliveries in one vehicle round-trip. The cost increase due to vehicle restrictions is the largest for retailers whose round-trip lengths are restricted by vehicle capacity. Vehicle restrictions and time windows together do not increase a retailer's cost more than individually. Variations in delivery volume and store dispersion hardly influence the impact of urban policy and the retailer's logistical concept decisions.
ROLE OF ESTROGENS IN HUMAN BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA

The aging process is associated with a progressive decline of plasma testosterone levels, while estrone and estradiol remain unchanged and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) increases, with reduction of bioavailable testosterone in prostatic tissue with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) the most important androgen is dihydrotestosterone: with its receptors it is almost uniformly distributed in the epithelial and stromal compartment and is not supranormal. Intraprostatic estrogens and their receptors are elevated and concentrated in the stroma. Androgens may act on the prostate indirectly through the production of growth factors; in human BPH no clear evidence exists on the modulatory effect of estrogens on bFGF, KGF and TGFbeta formation. A western diet, characterized by high fat consumption, predisposes men to BPH, while a diet rich in flavonoids and lignanes, containing phyto-estrogens, lowers this risk. These data suggest that in the medical treatment of BPH, antiestrogens or aromatase inhibitors may be used: however, up to now the clinical results of this treatment are not promising and the improvement of the obstructive symptoms does not exceed that of placebo. A possible explanation of this unsatisfactory result could be that the estrogen reduction secondary to the use of aromatase inhibitors is counterbalanced by the rise of androgen precursors.
Tilburg University Premium differentiation in social insurance

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Multiple brand alliances: a portfolio diversification perspective

In this paper, we contribute to the growing body of brand alliance research by investigating the risk reduction hypothesis as a process explanation in the context of multiple brand alliances using a portfolio diversification approach. Most of published brand alliance research have focused either on alliances between one unknown brand and one established brand or on alliances between two well-known brands (e.g., Simonin and Ruth 1998; Rao, Qu, and Ruekert 1999). However, a common observation is brand alliance partnerships consisting of one focal brand with multiple brand allies. We call this latter type a multiple brand alliance and the former a single brand alliance.
Environmental Reporting by the Fortune Global 250: Exploring the Influence of Sector and Nationality

While research on environmental reporting frequently includes large multinational enterprises, the number of surveys that systematically analyses a whole set of such firms, including the non-reporters, is limited - and mainly focuses on the United States. This article presents the state of environmental reporting by the Fortune global 250, all large multinationals with a potentially large impact on other firms. Of these 250 firms, 35% have a recent environmental report, with another 32% publishing other types of environmental information. Reporting frequencies between the financial and non-financial sector differed considerably with 15% and 44% respectively. Besides an analysis of the number and contents of environmental reports, the importance of sectorial differences and firms' nationality is also considered. A framework is developed which posits the existence of reporting legislation in firms' home countries (some in place/pending, or none) against the direct environmental impact of the sector (large or small). The results of the analysis fit partially in this framework. Only a small number of reporting firms originates from countries with some kind of legislation (particularly the Netherlands), but national societal pressure seems to play a large role (especially in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany). Many operate in sectors with a substantial direct environmental impact (chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil, and motor vehicles and parts); reporting in sectors with more indirect effects is getting off the ground.
Scares and the British Food System: Problems and Policies in Relation to Food‐related Health Issues

Of the many warnings of dangerous food given by the Government between 1988 and 1992, it is only with listeriosis that there is any evidence of improvement. The whole basis of Government action on BSE has now been shown to be flawed in that the extraordinarily optimistic hope that cattle would prove to be a dead‐end for the infection has been discredited. The chance of a large number of people succumbing from a BSE‐like illness next century is about 70 per cent. The salmonella in eggs problem is not solved because contaminated infected laying flocks have been replaced by further infected flocks. Intensive farming is beset by problems additional to that of microbial safety. These include evidence of reduced nutritional quality of the food, particularly of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Moist food processing and retailing still provide major risks to consumers because new legislation is too lax. Thus most cooked food can be kept indefinitely at temperatures of 50°C or 8°C. One bacterium which can grow at low .
Entrepreneurial Growth Through Privatization: The Upside of Management Buyouts

The authors examine the upside potential of privatization of both publicly traded firms and state-owned enterprises through the lens of agency and entrepreneurial cognition theory. In addition to managerial incentives, they argue that significant entrepreneurial progress is made through a cognitive shift from a managerial to an entrepreneurial mindset. The two perspectives provide a framework for understanding buyouts and how managerial incentives and individual cognition, considered in tandem, effectively expand managerial discretion and thereby stimulate upside growth.
A Survey on Corporate Investment Practices in Nepal

Investment and capital accumulation have traditionally been accorded a prime place in the development literature. Over the last couple of decades, economic liberalization and deregulation policies have been widely adopted by developing countries that assign a central role to the private sector. The emphasis on the private sector as the engine of economic growth and development has brought the focus on the behavior of private investment in developing countries. This paper attempts to explore and describe the behavior of private investment in Nepal especially with reference to the role of financial factors. The survey result shows that retained earnings and bank loan are the preferred sources of funds to finance their new projects. The result also indicates that the major factors causal to the limitations of fixed investment in Nepal were identified as the finance and labor related problems.
Synergistic Transcriptional and Post-Transcriptional Regulation of ESC Characteristics by Core Pluripotency Transcription Factors in Protein-Protein Interaction Networks

The molecular mechanism that maintains the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is not well understood but may be reflected in complex biological networks. However, there have been few studies on the effects of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation during the development of ESCs from the perspective of computational systems biology. In this study, we analyzed the topological properties of the “core” pluripotency transcription factors (TFs) OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG in protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs). Further, we identified synergistic interactions between these TFs and microRNAs (miRNAs) in PPINs during ESC development. Results show that there were significant differences in centrality characters between TF-targets and non-TF-targets in PPINs. We also found that there was consistent regulation of multiple “core” pluripotency TFs. Based on the analysis of shortest path length, we found that the module properties were not only within the targets regulated by common or multiple “core” pluripotency TFs but also between the groups of targets regulated by different TFs. Finally, we identified synergistic regulation of these TFs and miRNAs. In summary, the synergistic effects of “core” pluripotency TFs and miRNAs were analyzed using computational methods in both human and mouse PPINs.
Increasing Intrusion Tolerance via Scalable Redundancy

Abstract : This final technical report presents a novel protocol to achieve invariability of nested method invocations. This protocol tolerates Byzantine faulty clients, as is necessary when methods are invoked from other distributed objects that themselves must withstand Byzantine faults. This final report further presents a detail of this protocol, an argument about its correctness and a description of its implementation and performance in a distributed object system.
Managing Maintenance Resources for Better Asset Utilisation

Abstract Asset utilisation is concerned with how an asset is efficiently and effectively deployed and used. Essentially the asset utilisation is driven (broadly) by the asset design in particular reliability and maintenance considerations. Asset maintenance involves determination of maintenance strategy to manage failures and maintenance resources. This paper discusses the policies for managing integrated maintenance resources (human resource and supporting material) to perform maintenance activities for a complex asset. Good asset utilisation can be achieved by attaining a better performance of the asset using the same amount of maintenance resources or by reducing the amount of maintenance resources used for the same asset performance. A maintenance department may not manage each kind of resources and may have its own policy to achieve better asset performance. Thus, an integrated policy with all related departments is required. This research aims at developing a model to determine an integrated optimum policy with associated departments. It consists of three sub models representing three different departments in an organisation including Maintenance, Human Resource, and Inventory & Purchasing. Through the model, some combinations of the policies are made and tested to find the best combined policy that, in turn, can help to generate better asset performance.
Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Efficacy of Trazodone in Alcohol Post-Withdrawal Syndrome: Polysomnographic and Clinical Evaluations

Alcohol detoxification is accompanied by sustained difficulties in sleep initiation and maintenance. These difficulties are thought to be an important cause of relapse to alcohol use. However, the treatment of sleep problems with hypnotic drug is made difficult by cross-tolerance between benzodiazepines and alcohol. In this report, we evaluated the capacity of trazodone (TRZ), a second-generation antidepressant with anxiolytic and sedative properties, to increase the sleep efficiency in alcohol-dependent patients after detoxification. Sixteen patients completed the TRZ (n = 8) or the placebo (PL; n = 8) treatment arms. Polysomnographies were performed at baseline, after the 1st drug dose, and after 4 weeks of treatment. The main outcome was sleep efficiency. Secondary outcomes included changes in other sleep parameters, Hamilton Depression Rating and Clinical Global Impression scales. Sleep efficiency was increased in the TRZ group when it was computed after sleep onset, both immediately after 1st administration of the drug and after 4 weeks of treatment. No benefit was observed in the PL group. Sleep improvement under TRZ also included the number of awakenings, intermittent wake sleep time, and non—rapid eye movement sleep. Hamilton and Clinical Global scales were better for the TRZ group. TRZ is thus a potential option in the treatment of alcohol post-withdrawal insomnia.
Impedance loaded SAW-sensors offer a wide range of measurement opportunities

SAW ID-tags can be employed as passive transponders for conventional sensors of capacitive, inductive and resistive type. An interdigital transducer (IDT) is used as a loadable reflector, other fixed reflectors are used as reference bits. The load of the programmable reflector influences both the phase and amplitude of the reflected wave. The principle is discussed, applications for the measurement of light, pressure and temperature are presented.
The use of Fuzzy expert system in robots decision-making

The main issue that is investigated in this paper, is a method for decision making of mobile robots in different conditions for this purpose, we have used expert system. In this way, that the conditions of the robot are analyzed by on expert person a special issue (like following a ball) using knowledge base and suitable decisions will be mode. Then, using this information fuzzy rules well be built, and using its rules, robots decisions can be implemented like an expert person. In this study, we have used delta3d base for implementing expert systems and CLIPS and also we have used NAO for simulation rcssserver3d robot and 3d football simulation have been used for implementing operation program.
REGIONAL BRAIN ATROPHY AND REDUCTIONS IN GLUTAMATE RELEASE AND UPTAKE AFTER INTRASTRIATAL KAINIC ACID

1 Neurochemical changes and tissue weights were measured following intrastriatal injection of 2.5 μg of kainic acid in 2 μl of 0.9% w/v NaCl solution (saline) in the rat. 2 After kainic acid the striatum and neocortex on the injected side showed a progressive reduction in weight, the neocortex showing the greatest absolute weight loss and the striatum the greatest percentage change. 3 Large (80–90%) reductions in choline acetyltransferase (CAT) and l‐glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activities in the striatum occurred within 2–4 days of the injection and persisted at least 10 weeks. At 10 weeks CAT and GAD activities were unaltered in the neocortex. 4 The absolute content of dopamine in the striatum was not different from control 5 days after the injection of kainic acid but was reduced at 2 and 10 weeks. At 2 weeks the concentration (μg/g wet weight) of dopamine also was reduced but at 10 weeks it was near normal due to atrophy of the striatum. 5 The high affinity glutamate uptake into a crude synaptosomal preparation of the striatum was reduced by 64% 5 days after kainic acid and was still reduced by 67% at 10 weeks. 6 The efflux of glutamate from slices of the striatum in the presence of 52 mm K+ was reduced by approximately 75% 5 days and 15 weeks after kainic acid. 7 In vitro kainic acid (10−4m) neither altered the high affinity uptake of radiolabelled glutamate into a homogenate of the striatum, nor released endogenous glutamate from slices of striatum.
Fragmented Selves: Temporality and Identity in Borderline Personality Disorder

The concept of narrative identity implies a continuity of the personal past, present and future. This concept is essentially based on the capacity of persons to integrate contradictory aspects and tendencies into a coherent, overarching sense and view of themselves. In ‘mature’ neurotic disorders, this is only possible at the price of repression of important wishes and possibilities for personal development. Patients with borderline personality disorder lack the capacity to establish a coherent self-concept. Instead, they adopt what could be called a ‘post-modernist’ stance towards their life, switching from one present to the next and being totally identified with their present state of affect. Instead of repression, their means of defence consists in a temporal splitting of the self that excludes past and future as dimensions of object constancy, bonding, commitment, responsibility and guilt. The temporal fragmentation of the self avoids the necessity of tolerating the threatening ambiguity and uncertainty of interpersonal relationships. The price, however, consists in a chronic feeling of inner emptiness caused by the inability to integrate past and future into the present and thus to establish a coherent sense of identity. The paper outlines the concept of narrative identity and explores its disturbances in borderline personality disorder. Finally, the increasing prevalence of these disorders is linked to the development of a mainly externally driven, fragmented character in post-modern society.
Renormalized field theory of driven lattice gases under infinitely fast drive

We use field theoretic renormalization group methods to study the critical behavior of a recently proposed Langevin equation for driven lattice gases under infinitely fast drive. We perform an expansion around the upper critical dimension, d(c)=4, and obtain the critical exponents to one-loop order. The main features of the two-loop calculation are also outlined. The renormalized theory is shown to exhibit a behavior different from the standard field theory for the driven lattice gas with finite driving, i.e., it is not mean-field-like.
POST-THERMAL TREATMENT OF ORIENTED STRANDBOARD (OSB) MADE FROM CYPRESS (CUPRESSUS GLAUCA LAM.)

The objective of this research was to determine the physical and mechanical properties of oriented strandboard (OSB) using strands of Cupressus glauca Lam. , before and after a thermal treatment, as well as to evaluate the susceptibility of the boards to fungi attack. Boards with nominal density of 0.70 g/cm 3 were produced with 5% and 8% of urea-formaldehyde (UF) resin. Physical and mechanical properties were evaluated according to ASTM D 1037 (1991) standard and compared with CSA O437.0 and ANSI A.208. 1 standards. All mechanical properties were higher than those values required by both standards, except the modulus of elasticity in parallel axis. The thermal treatment slightly reduced the modulus of elasticity and stress at proportional limit, both in perpendicular axis, however improved significantly dimensional stability. Dimensional stability of the treated OSB was improved at the lower resin level but did not reach the maximum value required by the Canadian standard. Biological assay showed that heat-treated cypress OSB exposed to P. sanguineus reduced mass loss from 39% to 50%, while for G. trabeum the reduction was from 40% to 49%. Post thermal treatment of manufactured OSB (190oC, 720 s) can be the recommended method to reduce the hygroscopicity without great effect on mechanical properties and to protect panels against these fungi.
The Economic Leverage of the Virtual Community

The virtual community represents one of the most interesting developments of the information age. There has been much popular discussion of the economic potential of virtual communities, but little empirical evidence of successful economic leverage. Beginning with some background on virtual communities, this article reviews theoretical perspectives applicable to their management and economic leverage, presents an appropriate conceptual framework to support such leverage, and concludes with some managerial guidelines for successful implementation. The article's primary thesis is that economic activities associated with the virtual community must not merely concide with its social interactions, but be embedded within them.
What Drives the Dynamics of Bank Loan Renegotiation in Europe?

I investigate the determinants of the duration between bank loan renegotiations using a sample of 1 600 amendments to private debt contracts in Europe. The median duration between loan amendments equals one year, although frequently renegotiated contracts are amended every five months. Employing a stratified Cox-type hazard model, I find that initial loan terms, banking pool features, amendments’ characteristics and legal environment significantly influence the duration time between renegotiations. Contract complexity, informational frictions in the borrower-lender relationship, uncertainty of the economic environment and legal protection of creditors play a major role in shaping the dynamics of bank loan renegotiation.
Adaptive control of a class of non-linear systems preceded by backlash-like hysteresis

We consider a class of uncertain non-linear systems preceded by unknown backlash-like hysteresis, which is modelled by a differential equation. We propose a new state feedback robust adaptive control scheme using a backstepping technique and properties of the differential equation. In this control scheme, we construct a new continuous function to design an estimator to estimate the unknown constant parameters and the unknown bound of a ‘disturbance-like’ term. The transient performance of the output tracking error can be guaranteed by the introduction of pre-estimates of the unknown parameters in our controller together with update laws. We do not require bounds on the ‘disturbance-like’ term or unknown system parameters in this scheme. The global stability of the closed-loop system can be proved.
Sensor fault identification based on kernel principal component analysis

We propose a sensor fault identification method for process monitoring using kernel principal component analysis (kernel PCA). Although it has been proved that kernel PCA shows the outstanding fault detection performance for nonlinear process, the fault identification method has rarely been found. Using the gradient of kernel function, we define two new statistics which stand for the contribution of each variable to the monitoring statistics, Hotelting's T/sup 2/ and squared prediction error (SPE) of kernel PCA model. The proposed statistics have similar concept to the contributions in linear PCA and they are directly derived from the mathematical formulation of kernel PCA. Since the proposed fault identification method does not require any approximation or reconstruction procedure, it is easy to understand and it can significantly reduce the loss of information. To demonstrate the performance, the proposed method is applied to a simulated non-isothermal CSTR process. The simulation results show that the proposed method effectively identifies the source of various types of sensor faults.