Competitive Tendering In The Netherlands: Central Planning Or Functional Specifications?

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Advances in understanding and treating ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurocognitive behavioral developmental disorder most commonly seen in childhood and adolescence, which often extends to the adult years. Relative to a decade ago, there has been extensive research into understanding the factors underlying ADHD, leading to far more treatment options available for both adolescents and adults with this disorder. Novel stimulant formulations have made it possible to tailor treatment to the duration of efficacy required by patients, and to help mitigate the potential for abuse, misuse and diversion. Several new non-stimulant options have also emerged in the past few years. Among these, cognitive behavioral interventions have proven popular in the treatment of adult ADHD, especially within the adult population who cannot or will not use medications, along with the many medication-treated patients who continue to show residual disability

Single chamber Mg/Ca analyses of Globigerinoides ruber for paleo-proxy calibration using femtosecond LA-ICP-MS

Mg/Ca is an independent proxy in paleoceanography to reconstruct past seawater temperature. Femtosecond Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (fs-LA-ICP-MS) was employed to determine the Mg/Ca composition of tests (shells) of the planktic foraminifer species Globigerinoides ruber albus (white chromotype) and G. ruber ruber (red/pink chromotype) sampled alive from the temperate to subtropical eastern North Atlantic with the research sailing yacht Eugen Seibold. Mg/Ca data are compared to (i) the measured in-situ temperature of ambient seawater, (ii) average mixed layer temperature, and (iii) sea surface temperature (SST). The pooled mean chamber Mg/Ca from each plankton tow site exhibits a positive relationship with SST. Two chamber-specific calibrations are derived, which are consistent with previous calibration equations for comparable paleo-archives. The results confirm fs-LA-ICP-MS as reliable method for determining Mg/Ca in G. ruber, and both the penultimate and antepenultimate chambers of adult specimens may provide comprehensible Mg/Ca temperatures of the surface ocean.ISSN:2052-446

Proposal for a strategic planning for the replacement of products in stores based on sales forecast

This paper presents a proposal for strategic planning for the replacement of products in stores of a supermarket network. A quantitative method for forecasting time series is used for this, the Artificial Radial Basis Neural Networks (RBFs), and also a qualitative method to interpret the forecasting results and establish limits for each product stock for each store in the network. The purpose with this strategic planning is to reduce the levels of out-of-stock products (lack of products on the shelves), as well as not to produce overstocking, in addition to increase the level of logistics service to customers. The results were highly satisfactory reducing the Distribution Center (DC) to shop out-of-stock levels, in average, from 12% to about 0.7% in hypermarkets and from 15% to about 1.7% in supermarkets, thereby generating numerous competitive advantages for the company. The use of RBFs for forecasting proved to be efficient when used in conjunction with the replacement strategy proposed in this work, making effective the operational processes