Practical solutions for a dock assignment problem with trailer transportation.

We study a distribution warehouse in which trailers need to be assigned to docks for loading or unloading. A parking lot is used as a buffer zone and transportation between the parking lot and the docks is performed by auxiliary resources called terminal tractors. Each incoming trailer has a known arrival time and each outgoing trailer a desired departure time. The primary objective is to produce a docking schedule such that the weighted sum of the number of late outgoing trailers and the tardiness of these trailers is minimized; the secondary objective is to minimize the weighted completion time of all trailers, both incoming and outgoing. The purpose of this paper is to produce high-quality solutions to large instances that are comparable to a real-life case. We implement several heuristic algorithms: truncated branch and bound, beam search and tabu search. Lagrangian relaxation is embedded in the algorithms for constructing an initial solution and for computing lower bounds. The different solution frameworks are compared via extensive computational experiments.Dock assignment; Multicriteria scheduling; Branch and bound; Beam search; Lagrangian relaxation; Tabu search;

Initial evaluation of novel preparations of Bordetella avium by determination of antibody response titers

The efficacy of killed vaccines generally is not equal to live vaccines. However, due to safety and ease of production, they remain a vital part of controlling and preventing diseases. In this study, the immune response to four different vaccination preparation techniques for the agent of bordetellosis of turkeys, Bordetella avium (BA), was compared. Preparation/inactivation techniques included (1) formalin inactivation, (2) opsonization of formalin-inactivated BA, (3) buffered acetic-acid BA inactivation, or (4) opsonization of buffered acetic-acid-inactivated BA. Nonadjuvated suspensions containing equal antigen mass were administered subcutaneously (0.2 mL) at day-of-hatch in all cases. For each treatment (N=40/treatment), plasma samples were obtained on d 6, 10, and 21. Specific antibody titer was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results were analyzed by percentage of responders, calculated by determination of sample-to-positive (S/P) ratio. At d 6, the formalin-killed vaccination caused the most rapid response with significantly higher S/P ratios than other treatments. At d 10 there were no significant differences between the treatments. By d 21, formalin-inactivated antigen produced the highest percentage of responders. In this preliminary experiment, neither buffered acetic-acid BA inactivation nor opsonization of inactivated BA antigen improved turkey poult responsiveness to this pathogen

A szociálpolitika újragondolása

Néhány hónappal ezelőtt a nyugdíjpolitika vizsgálatára létrehozott belga szakértő bizottság tagjaként egyetértettem a bizottság arra vonatkozó javaslatával, hogy a nyugdíjkorhatárt a meghatározott hosszúságú munkakarrier váltsa fel a nyugdíjazás feltételeként (CP 2014). Ezt figyelembe véve természetesen hiba lenne, ha az emeritus cím elfogadása pillanatában azzal foglalkoznék, hogy elértem a nyugdíjkorhatárt. Éppen ellenkezőleg, nem az életkornak, hanem a munkával töltött életpályának kell a középpontban lennie. És igen, szociálpolitikával foglalkozó tudósként ez a búcsúelőadás lehetőséget ad nekem arra, hogy számba vegyem a szociálpolitika pályafutásom alatti fejlődését

The ‘lonely raver’: music livestreams during COVID-19 as a hotline to collective consciousness?

This paper offers an explorative analysis of the online social practices of livestreamed concerts as one of the most popular cultural outlets during the COVID-19 imposed ‘lockdown’ in Europe. Ritual theory is used to investigate the potential of these virtual concerts in generating a collective consciousness, and the related feelings of social solidarity and resilience, specifically important in times of physical isolation. Through a thematic content analysis of the comments (n = 1501) posted during livestreamed techno concerts in the Netherlands, we find that both old and new ritual actions are used to form online communities. While these ritual activities mark participation and remind members of a previous collective feeling, the omission of visceral elements of a physical audience hampers the establishment of a renewed sense of social solidarity

‘Wear Clogs and just Act Normal’: Defining Collectivity in Dutch Domestic Music Concerts

The last few decades have seen a surge in the consumption of locally produced popular music in the West. Domestic music – music made by national artists and sung in the national language – has gained increasing popularity, specifically within the lower to middle-class segments of the native population. This article uses the Dutch music genre levenslied to explore this growing trend. From a neo-Durkheimian perspective, we can assume the presence of collective effervescence – a shared intensified mood drawn from collective assembly. However, it is less clear how this collectivity is brought about and experienced. In other words, what are the requirements for this state of effervescence to occur? Looking not only at the totems these concertgoers celebrate but also the established symbolic boundaries, can help us understand how the group defines itself, adding to our knowledge of the rise in popularity of domestic music. We interviewed 20 concertgoers about their experience of these concerts. The analysis finds that the establishment of collectivity is influenced by three symbolic boundaries: (1) intercultural, (2) interclass, and (3) intraclass. Through the negative othering of ethnic monitories – those considered socially higher, and those considered morally lower than themselves – the audiences of these concerts glorify a very narrow image of Dutchness, obtaining a sense of self-worth through the celebration of an idealized national image rooted in nostalgia. The increasing popularity of levenslied concerts (and domestic music more generally) can, therefore, be understood in relation to broader societal changes and connected with a ‘squeezed middle’ class, clinging to tradition and their declining social position