Forecasting demand in the clothing industry

For many clothing companies the range of goods sold is renewed twice a year. Each new collection includes a large number of new items which have a short and well defined selling period corresponding to one selling season (20-30 weeks). The absence of past sales data, changes in fashion and product design causes difficulties in forecasting demand accurately. Thus, the predominant factors in this environment are the difficulty in obtaining accurate demand forecasts and the short selling season for goods. An inventory management system designed to operate in this context is therefore constrained by the fact that demand for many goods will not generally continue into the future. Using data for one particular company, the accuracy of demand forecasts obtained by traditional profile methods is analysed and a new approach to demand forecasting using artificial neural networks is presented. Some of the main questions concerning the implementation of neural network models are discussed.Fundos FEDER através do Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE e por Fundos Nacionais através da FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, no âmbito do Projecto: FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022674

A Method Based on Naming Similarity to Identify Reuse Opportunities

Software reuse is a development strategy in which existing software components are used to implement new software systems. There are many advantages of applying software reuse, such as minimization of development efforts and improvement of software quality. Few methods have been proposed in the literature for recommendation of reuse opportunities. In this paper, we propose a method for identification and recommendation of reuse opportunities based on the similarity of the names of classes. Our method, called JReuse, computes a similarity function to identify similarly named classes from a set of software systems from a specific domain. The identified classes compose a repository with reuse opportunities. We also present a prototype tool to support the proposed method. We applied our method, through the tool, to 72 software systems mined from GitHub, in 4 different domains: accounting, restaurant, hospital, and e-commerce. In total, these systems have 1,567,337 lines of code, 57,017 methods, and 12,598 classes. As a result, we observe that JReuse is able to identify the main classes that are frequent in each selected domain

Silences in media coverage of the World Cup in Pernambuco, Brazil

The 2014 World Cup occurred in Brazil at a time of great political turbulence and change in communications markets. From the standpoint of a person involved in media coverage of this championship, the MA thesis titled Os silêncios, os silenciamentos e a cobertura midiática da Copa do Mundo em Pernambuco (Silences, silencing and media coverage of the World Cup in Pernambuco), by Eduardo Baptista Amorim, analyzed the forms of silencing employed by the traditional mess media today.

Equity research - Adidas AG

Mestrado em FinançasEste relatório centra-se na avaliação da Adidas AG, que foi elaborado de acordo com o Trabalho Final de Mestrado do Master in Finance. Este Equity Research segue a estrutura de um reporte de research recomendado pelo CFA Institute. Esta nota de research foi preparada com base na informação pública disponibilizada pela Adidas com referência a 31 de Dezembro de 2018. Assim, este reporte não comtempla eventos que possam ter ocorrido após essa data. Para chegar ao preço alvo para a empresa, o método escolhido foi o Discounted Cash Flow e a Avaliação Relativa, através de múltiplos de empresas concorrentes. O Price target obtido foi de 284.61€. Esta avaliação resulta numa recomendação de Manter. É considerada de risco médio uma vez que apesar da Adidas ser uma das duas grandes empresas desta indústria, o desaceleramento da economia surge como um potencial risco.This report is about a valuation of Adidas AG, elaborated in according with ISEG's Finance Master's Final Work. This Equity Research follows the structure of a research report recommend by the CFA Institute. The research note was prepared based on the information publicly disclosed by Adidas AG with reference to December 31st, 2018. Therefore, this report does not contemplate any events that may have occurred after this date. To obtain the Target price of the company, the method chosen was the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and the Relative Valuation through the multiples of peer companies. The price target reached was 284.61€. This valuation results in a Hold recommendation. It is considered of medium risk since, despite Adidas being one of the two big companies in this industry, the deceleration of the economy appears as a potential risk.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Treating speaking in its own right: an exploratory study

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.The present study investigates the implications of the treatment of speaking in its own right (mainly based on McCarthy, 1998) to the speaking performance of Brazilian learners of English as a foreign language. This was done through the comparison of the speaking performance of two groups of students (one that received the treatment of speaking in its own right for forty-five hours, and another one that did not receive the treatment) on a pre-test/post-test basis. The group that received treatment consisted of fourteen participants, whilst the control group had ten participants. Speaking performance was operationalized in terms of fluency, accuracy, complexity and weighed lexical density. Results were analyzed statistically with paired-sample and independent-sample t-tests. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of the treatment of speaking in its own right in the EFL classroom is not as linear as it might be expected, as none of the groups analyzed showed an overall consistently significant increase or decrease from the pre-test to the post-test, and the groups did not present significantly different gains after the period of treatment. These results are important in the sense that they imply the need for implementations to the treatment of speaking in its own right, such as more time for treatment, specific material that addresses such treatment, and more empirical research to have a better understanding of the results that the treatment may bring to the speaking performance of L2 learners. O presente estudo investiga as implicações do tratamento da fala como habilidade específica (baseado principalmente em McCarthy, 1998) para a performance da fala de aprendizes brasileiros de inglês como língua estrangeira. A pesquisa foi conduzida atraves da comparação entre a performance de fala de dois grupos (um que recebeu o tratamento específico de fala, e outro que não recebeu o mesmo tratamento), usando a abordagem de pré- e pós-teste. O grupo que recebeu o tratamento tinha quatorze participantes, enquanto que o grupo controle tinha dez. A performance de fala foi operacionalizada em termos de fluência, acurácia, complexidade e densidade lexical. Os resultados foram analizados estatisticamente através de t-testes. As descobertas sugerem que a eficácia do tratamento da fala como habilidade específica não é tao linear como pode parecer a princípio, pois nenhum dos grupos apresentou ganho ou perda significante na performance da fala depois do período de tratamento, além de que os grupos nao apresentaram ganhos significamente diferentes entre si. Esses resultados são importantes devido ao fato de que eles indicam a necessidade de implementações para o tratamento da fala como habilidade específica, tais quais mais tempo, e um material didático específico para o tratamento, além da necessidade de mais estudos empíricos que permitam um melhor entendimento dos resultados que o tratamnto pode trazer para aprendizes de língua estrangeira

Co-Occurrence of Design Patterns and Bad Smells in Software Systems: An Exploratory Study

A design pattern is a general reusable solution to a recurring problem in software design. Bad smells are symptoms that may indicate something wrong in the system design or code. Therefore, design patterns and bad smells represent antagonistic structures. They are subject of recurring research and typically appear in software systems. Although design patterns represent good design, their use is often inadequate because their implementation is not always trivial or they may be unnecessarily employed. The inadequate use of design patterns may lead to a bad smell. Therefore, this paper performs an exploratory study in order to identify instances of co-occurrences of design patterns and bad smells. This study is performed over five systems and discovers some co-occurrences between design patterns and bad smells. For instance, we observed the co-occurrences of Command with God Class and Template Method with Duplicated Code. The results of this study make it possible to understand in which situations design patterns are misused or overused and establish guidelines for their better use

Sensibility and taste alterations after impacted lower third molar extractions. A prospective cohort study

Objectives: To determine the incidence, severity and duration of lingual tactile and gustatory function impairments after lower third molar removal. Study Design: Prospective cohort study with intra-subject measures of 16 patients undergoing lower third molar extractions. Sensibility and gustatory functions were evaluated in each subject preoperatively, one week and one month after the extraction, using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments and 5 different concentrations of NaCl, respectively. Additionally, all patients filled a questionnaire to assess subjective perceptions. Results: Although patients did not perceive any sensibility impairments, a statistically significant decrease was detected when Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments. This alteration was present at one week after the surgical procedure and fully recovered one month after the extraction. There were no variations regarding the gustatory function. Conclusions: Lower third molar removal under local anesthesia may cause light lingual sensibility impairment. Most of these alterations remain undetected to patients. These lingual nerve injuries are present one week after the extraction and recover one month after surgery. The taste seems to remain unaffected after these procedures

A AGROECOLOGIA E OS DESAFIOS DAS TRANSIÇÕES AGROALIMENTARES NO CENÁRIO DE CRISE AMBIENTAL. UM ESTUDO DE CASO NO ASSENTAMENTO TRÊS NA ZONA RURAL DE ARARAS SP.

One of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic was the breakdown of the supply chain that deteriorated due to logistical problems, the world fertilizer market, and extreme weather events play an important role in drought and desertification due to erosion and contamination of conventional agricultural procedures. Based on this premise, agroecology that works with methods of space use, with diversified production and use of natural insums that mitigate the environmental impact, in addition to including family workers and a logistics of short commercialization chains, emerges as a viable project that feeds the small property. The theoretical-methodological discussion will use bibliography of the main debates on this issue and the methodology of Latour's actor-network. In this context, this article intends a case study on the reality of a family involving its family agricultural production, agroecological transient management and socioeconomic development in Settlement Três in the rural area of the municipality of Araras, State of São Paulo.Una de las consecuencias de la pandemia de Covid-19 fue la ruptura de la cadena de suministro que se deterioró debido a problemas logísticos, el mercado mundial de fertilizantes y los fenómenos meteorológicos extremos juegan un papel importante en la sequía y la desertificación debido a la erosión y contaminación de los procedimientos agrícolas convencionales. A partir de esta premisa, la agroecología que trabaja con métodos de uso del espacio, con producción diversificada y uso de insumos naturales que mitigan el impacto ambiental, además de incluir trabajadores familiares y una logística de cadenas cortas de comercialización, emerge como un proyecto viable que alimenta la pequeña propiedad. La discusión teórico-metodológica utilizará bibliografía de los principales debates sobre este tema y la metodología de la red de actores de Latour. En este contexto, este artículo pretende un estudio de caso sobre la realidad de una familia que involucra su producción agrícola familiar, manejo transitorio agroecológico y desarrollo socioeconómico en el Asentamiento Três en el área rural del municipio de Araras, Estado de São Paulo.Uma das consequências da pandemia de Covid-19 foi a quebra da cadeia de suprimentos que se deterioraram devido aos problemas logísticos, mercado mundial de fertilizantes, e os eventos climáticos extremos desempenham um papel importante na seca e desertificação, devido à erosão e contaminação dos procedimentos agricultáveis convencionais. A partir dessa premissa, a agroecologia que trabalha com métodos de aproveitamento do espaço, com produção diversificada e utilização de insumos naturais que mitigam o impacto ambiental, além de  incluir trabalhadores familiares e uma logística de cadeias curtas de comercialização, surge como um projeto viável que alimenta a pequena propriedade. A discussão teórico-metodológica utilizará bibliografia dos principais debates sobre essa questão e a metodologia do ator-rede de Latour. Nesse contexto, o presente artigo pretende um estudo de caso sobre a realidade de uma família envolvendo suas produções agrícolas familiares, manejos transitórios agroecológicos e o desenvolvimento socioeconômico no Assentamento Três na zona rural do município de Araras, estado de São Paulo.Uma das consequências da pandemia de Covid-19 foi à quebra da cadeia de suprimentos, que se deterioraram devido aos problemas logísticos, mercado mundial de fertilizantes, e os eventos climáticos extremos desempenham um papel importante na seca e desertificação, devido à erosão e contaminação dos procedimentos agricultáveis convencionais. A partir dessa premissa, a agroecologia que trabalha com métodos de aproveitamento do espaço, com produção diversificada, e utilização de insumos naturais e que mitigam o impacto ambiental, além  incluir trabalhadores familiares e uma logística de cadeias curtas de comercialização surge como um projeto viável, que alimenta a pequena propriedade. A discussão teórico-metodológica utilizará bibliografia dos principais debates sobre essa questão e a metodologia do ator-rede de Latour. Nesse contexto, o presente artigo pretende um estudo de caso sobre a realidade de uma família envolvendo suas produções agrícolas familiares, manejos transitórios agroecológicos e o desenvolvimento socioeconômico no Assentamento Três na zona rural do município de Araras, estado de São Paul