An evaluation study of research efficiency of the Guangzhou institute of respiratory diseases based on malmquist index.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Jian-Feng; Wang, Juan; Liang, Liang; Wu, Yong-Ding; Huang, Mei-Juan; Liu, Tian-Qiang; Zhou, Lin; Wang, Xin-Wang

2016-10-01

This study aimed to analyze the dynamic changes of the scientific research innovation efficiency of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases (GIRD) during the year 2009-2013 to explore the reason for these changes and give some suggestions on how to improve the overall efficiency of the Institute. The panel data used in this study were taken from 19 research teams of GIRD during 2009 to 2013. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on Malmquist index (MI) was used to analyze the performance of each research team in terms of productivity changes over time. Data were analyzed using DEAP 2.1 software. The annual average increase rate of total factor productivity (TFP), technological progress, technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency was 30.4%, 22.5%, 6.4%, 0.9%, and 5.4%, respectively from 2009 to 2013. The scientific research innovation efficiency of the GIRD was generally high and kept on growing. The increase of TFP was mainly caused by the progress of tech, the descending of TFP in some teams should be mainly attributable to the declining pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency on the whole, maintaining a stable growth at a low speed. To achieve higher scientific research innovation, GIRD not only needs to further improve the management level and introduce advanced management mode, but also needs to focus on optimization of resource allocation, as well as to strengthen the talent introduction, and continue to maintain the absorption of new technologies and innovation.

DEA environmental assessment in a time horizon: Malmquist index on fuel mix, electricity and CO2 of industrial nations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki; Goto, Mika

2013-01-01

Climate change and global warming become a major policy issue in the world. Economic activities produce not only desirable outputs (e.g., electricity) but also undesirable outputs (e.g., CO 2 emission). The important policy issue is how each nation can balance between economic development and environmental protection to attain a sustainable society. In attaining the sustainable society, environmental assessment is increasingly important because it can serve as an initial step toward the green growth of each nation. For the purpose, this study proposes a new use of DEA (Data Environment Analysis) for environmental assessment in a time horizon. The proposed use of DEA incorporates Malmquist index to examine the degree of a frontier shift among multiple periods. The frontier shift indicates a technology progress and/or managerial innovation during an observed period. The index is conceptually separated into six subcomponents, which are further divided into twelve different subcomponents (six subcomponents × two disposability concepts) under the natural and managerial disposability. In the index measurement, it is necessary for us to consider a frontier crossover among different periods because technology innovation usually has a time lag until it really appears. As an empirical application, this study utilizes the proposed approach to identify the relationship among fuel mix, electricity and CO 2 of ten industrial nations. This study finds three important empirical findings. First, there is a time lag in technology innovation on electricity generation and CO 2 emission reduction. Consequently, it is necessary to consider the existence of a frontier crossover in assessing the electric power industry. Second, nuclear generation, as found in France, as well as hydro and renewable energy, as found in Netherlands, are important for the development of a sustainable society although the former is associated with a very high level of risk and the latter has a limited

Effect of Malmquist bias on correlation studies with IRAS data base

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Verter, Frances

1993-01-01

The relationships between galaxy properties in the sample of Trinchieri et al. (1989) are reexamined with corrections for Malmquist bias. The linear correlations are tested and linear regressions are fit for log-log plots of L(FIR), L(H-alpha), and L(B) as well as ratios of these quantities. The linear correlations for Malmquist bias are corrected using the method of Verter (1988), in which each galaxy observation is weighted by the inverse of its sampling volume. The linear regressions are corrected for Malmquist bias by a new method invented here in which each galaxy observation is weighted by its sampling volume. The results of correlation and regressions among the sample are significantly changed in the anticipated sense that the corrected correlation confidences are lower and the corrected slopes of the linear regressions are lower. The elimination of Malmquist bias eliminates the nonlinear rise in luminosity that has caused some authors to hypothesize additional components of FIR emission.

Productivity Growth-Accounting for Undesirable Outputs and Its Influencing Factors: The Case of China

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Junfeng Zhang

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Presently, China’s social development is facing the dilemma of supporting economic growth and reducing emissions. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse productivity growth and examine its relationship with influencing factors in China. This study evaluated the total factor productivity (TFP growth of 30 provinces in China by adopting the Malmquist-Luenberger (ML productivity index and incorporating undesirable outputs from 2011–2014. Then, a Tobit regression model was employed to explore the factors that influence China’s TFP growth. The results show that the average annual growth of the Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index was lower than that of the traditional Malmquist (M productivity index growth during the research period. The findings reveal several key conclusions: First, the true TFP growth in China will be overestimated if undesirable outputs are ignored. Second, technical changes are the main contributor to TFP growth. Third, there are huge regional disparities of productivity growth in China. Fourth, coal intensity, environmental regulations, and industrial structure have significantly negative effects on productivity growth, while real per capita gross domestic product (GDP and foreign direct investment (FDI have strongly positive effects on productivity growth.

Assessing Green Development Efficiency of Municipalities and Provinces in China Integrating Models of Super-Efficiency DEA and Malmquist Index

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Qing Yang

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In order to realize economic and social green development, to pave a pathway towards China’s green regional development and develop effective scientific policy to assist in building green cities and countries, it is necessary to put forward a relatively accurate, scientific and concise green assessment method. The research uses the CCR (A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper & E. Rhodes Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA model to obtain the green development frontier surface based on 31 regions’ annual cross-section data from 2008–2012. Furthermore, in order to classify the regions whereby assessment values equal to 1 in the CCR model, we chose the Super-Efficiency DEA model for further sorting. Meanwhile, according to the five-year panel data, the green development efficiency changes of 31 regions can be manifested by the Malmquist index. Finally, the study assesses the reasons for regional differences; while analyzing and discussing the results may allude to a superior green development pathway for China.

Measurement and decomposition of energy efficiency of Northeast China-based on super efficiency DEA model and Malmquist index.

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Ma, Xiaojun; Liu, Yan; Wei, Xiaoxue; Li, Yifan; Zheng, Mengchen; Li, Yudong; Cheng, Chaochao; Wu, Yumei; Liu, Zhaonan; Yu, Yuanbo

2017-08-01

Nowadays, environment problem has become the international hot issue. Experts and scholars pay more and more attention to the energy efficiency. Unlike most studies, which analyze the changes of TFEE in inter-provincial or regional cities, TFEE is calculated with the ratio of target energy value and actual energy input based on data in cities of prefecture levels, which would be more accurate. Many researches regard TFP as TFEE to do analysis from the provincial perspective. This paper is intended to calculate more reliably by super efficiency DEA, observe the changes of TFEE, and analyze its relation with TFP, and it proves that TFP is not equal to TFEE. Additionally, the internal influences of the TFEE are obtained via the Malmquist index decomposition. The external influences of the TFFE are analyzed afterward based on the Tobit models. Analysis results demonstrate that Heilongjiang has the highest TFEE followed by Jilin, and Liaoning has the lowest TFEE. Eventually, some policy suggestions are proposed for the influences of energy efficiency and study results.

Multi-directional productivity change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Asmild, Mette; Balezentis, Tomas; Hougaard, Jens Leth

2016-01-01

In this paper we introduce an extension of the Malmquist total factor productivity index, which utilizes the Multi-directional Efficiency Analysis approach. This enables variable-specific analysis of productivity change as well as its components (efficiency change and technical change). The new...

Shadow Price Approach to Total Factor Productivity Measurement: With an Application to Finnish Grass-Silage Production

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuosmanen, T.K.; Post, T.; Sipiläinen, T.

2004-01-01

This paper explores an intermediate route between the Fisher and the Malmquist productivity indexes so as to minimize data requirements and assumptions about economic behavior of production units and their production technology. Assuming quantity data of inputs and outputs and the behavioral

The impact of economic crisis on the Greek hospitals' productivity.

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Mitropoulos, Panagiotis; Mitropoulos, Ioannis; Karanikas, Haralampos; Polyzos, Nikolaos

2018-01-01

During the recent economic crisis, Greece implemented a comprehensive reform in the health care system. The 2010 health reform occurred under the constraints imposed by the memorandum of understanding that the Greek Government signed with its EU/International Monetary Fund creditors to control its deficit. The objective of the study is to examine the impact of the reform on the efficiency and productivity of public hospitals in Greece. We use the Malmquist productivity index to comparatively examine the potential changes before and after the reform years. We compare productivity, efficiency, and technological changes using panel data of 111 public acute hospitals operating in Greece throughout the recession period of 2009 to 2012. Bootstrapping methods are applied to allow for uncertainty owing to sampling error and for statistical inference for the Malmquist productivity index and its decompositions. The analysis indicates that the productivity has been increased following the policy changes. It appears that the expected benefits from the reform in general have been achieved, at least in the short-term. This result is examined in the light of management and operations activities, which are related with the reform process. Therefore, at a second stage, the Malmquist index is regressed on variables that may potentially be statistically associated with productivity growth. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Productivity change of surgeons in an academic year.

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Nakata, Yoshinori; Watanabe, Yuichi; Otake, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Toshihito; Oiso, Giichiro; Sawa, Tomohiro

2015-01-01

The goal of this study was to calculate total factor productivity of surgeons in an academic year and to evaluate the effect of surgical trainees on their productivity. We analyzed all the surgical procedures performed from April 1 through September 30, 2013 in the Teikyo University Hospital. The nonradial and nonoriented Malmquist model under the variable returns-to-scale assumptions was employed. A decision-making unit is defined as a surgeon with the highest academic rank in the surgery. Inputs were defined as the number of physicians who assisted in surgery, and the time of surgical operation from skin incision to skin closure. The output was defined as the surgical fee for each surgery. April is the beginning month of a new academic year in Japan, and we divided the study period into April to June and July to September 2013. We computed each surgeon's Malmquist index, efficiency change, and technical change. We analyzed 2789 surgical procedures that were performed by 105 surgeons. The Malmquist index of all surgeons was significantly greater than 1 (p = 0.0033). The technical change was significantly greater than 1 (p productive in the beginning months of a new academic year. The main factor of this productivity loss is considered to be surgical training. Copyright © 2014 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

CO_2 emissions reduction of Chinese light manufacturing industries: A novel RAM-based global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Emrouznejad, Ali; Yang, Guo-liang

2016-01-01

Climate change has become one of the most challenging issues facing the world. Chinese government has realized the importance of energy conservation and prevention of the climate changes for sustainable development of China's economy and set targets for CO_2 emissions reduction in China. In China industry contributes 84.2% of the total CO_2 emissions, especially manufacturing industries. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist productivity (MP) index are the widely used mathematical techniques to address the relative efficiency and productivity of a group of homogenous decision making units, e.g. industries or countries. However, in many real applications, especially those related to energy efficiency, there are often undesirable outputs, e.g. the pollutions, waste and CO_2 emissions, which are produced inevitably with desirable outputs in the production. This paper introduces a novel Malmquist–Luenberger productivity (MLP) index based on directional distance function (DDF) to address the issue of productivity evolution of DMUs in the presence of undesirable outputs. The new RAM (Range-adjusted measure)-based global MLP index has been applied to evaluate CO_2 emissions reduction in Chinese light manufacturing industries. Recommendations for policy makers have been discussed. - Highlights: •CO_2 emissions reduction in Chinese light manufacturing industries are measured. •A novel RAM based Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index has been developed. •Recommendation to policy makers for reducing CO_2 reduction in China are given.

Measuring the Productivity of Energy Consumption of Major Industries in China: A DEA-Based Method

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Xishuang Han

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Data envelopment analysis can be applied to measure the productivity of multiple input and output decision-making units. In addition, the data envelopment analysis-based Malmquist productivity index can be used as a tool for measuring the productivity change during different time periods. In this paper, we use an input-oriented model to measure the energy consumption productivity change from 1999 to 2008 of fourteen industry sectors in China as decision-making units. The results show that there are only four sectors that experienced effective energy consumption throughout the whole reference period. It also shows that these sectors always lie on the efficiency frontier of energy consumption as benchmarks. The other ten sectors experienced inefficiency in some two-year time periods and the productivity changes were not steady. The data envelopment analysis-based Malmquist productivity index provides a good way to measure the energy consumption and can give China's policy makers the information to promote their strategy of sustainable development.

Productivity in Swedish electricity retail distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hjalmarsson, L.; Veiderpass, A.

1992-01-01

This paper examines productivity growth in electricity retail distribution in Sweden in a multiple output-multiple input framework. The approach used is nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Productivity is measured by means of the Malmquist index. Productivity comparisons are made between different types of ownership and between different service areas. The study indicates a high rate of productivity growth, due to economics of density, when measured over a period of 17 years. The results show no significant differences in productivity growth between different types of ownership or economic organization. (20 refs., 1 fig., 4 tabs.)

Productivity assessment of Angola's oil blocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barros, Carlos Pestana; Managi, Shunsuke

2009-01-01

This paper analyzes the change in productivity as a result of Angola oil policy from 2001 to 2007. Angola oil blocks are the main source of tax receipts and, therefore, strategically important for public finances. A Malmquist index with the input technological bias is applied to measure productivity change. Oil blocks on average became both more efficient and experienced technological progress. Our results indicate that the traditional growth accounting method, which assumes Hicks neutral technological change, is not appropriate for analyzing changes in productivity for Angola oil blocks. Policy implications are derived. (author)

Análise da variação da produtividade dos serviços de água portugueses entre 1994 e 2001 usando a abordagem de malmquist

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Rui Cunha Marques

2006-04-01

Full Text Available A produtividade de uma organização pode ser definida como a relação entre os produtos (outputs e os factores de produção consumidos (inputs. Este artigo discute e aplica uma técnica fronteira de natureza não paramétrica de cálculo da produtividade baseada no índice de produtividade de Malmquist (IPM. Pretende-se, através de um caso prático de aplicação ao sector da água em Portugal, evidenciar as potencialidades dos IPM, que assumem um relevo particular na regulação económica das indústrias de rede. O estudo da produtividade envolve 45 entidades gestoras, abrangendo cerca de 48 % da população portuguesa, e é efectuado para o período 1994-2001. Verifica-se que a evolução da produtividade foi negativa neste período, sobretudo devido à variação da tecnologia de produção e, em menor dimensão, à variação da eficiência de escala. Pelo contrário, a variação da eficiência técnica foi positiva e a variação da eficiência de sobreutilização apresentou um contributo insignificante.A decision-making unit productivity can be defined as the relationship between the products (outputs and the production factors consumed (inputs. This article discusses and applies a non-parametric frontier technique to measure productivity based on the Malmquist productivity index (MPI. By means of a case-study applied to the water sector in Portugal, we intend to stress the MPI strengths which are particularly relevant to the economic regulation of the network industries. The productivity study consists of 45 water services comprising around 48 % of the Portuguese population and it covers the period 1994-2001. We noticed that the productivity change was negative during this period, particularly due to the production technology change and to the scale efficiency change to a less extent. Conversely, the technical efficiency change was positive and the congestion efficiency change presented an insignificant value.

Assessing the productivity change of water companies in England and Wales: A dynamic metafrontier approach.

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Molinos-Senante, María; Maziotis, Alexandros; Sala-Garrido, Ramon

2017-07-15

The assessment of productivity change and its drivers across water companies and over time is a powerful tool for both regulators and companies when setting water tariffs. Water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) and water only companies (WoCs) provide different services. Hence, their productivity change cannot directly be evaluated jointly. In this paper and for the first time, we provide a pioneering approach to assess and compare the dynamics of productivity change of WaSCs and WoCs. To achieve this, both the traditional Malmquist productivity index and the metafrontier Malmquist productivity index and its components are computed to assess the productivity change for a sample of English and Welsh water companies over the period 2001-2014. The findings from both indices indicate that productivity for both WaSCs and WoCs did not improve during this period, mainly due to the negative shift in the production frontier which offset the positive effect of efficiency change. It is also reported that the performance of the WoCs over time was slightly better than that of the WaSCs. Finally, our study provides some insights into the relationship between productivity change and the regulatory cycle. This information is essential to improve the regulation of water and sewerage services, contributing to the long-term sustainability of the urban water cycle. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surgeons' efficiency change is a major determinant of their productivity change.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakata, Yoshinori; Watanabe, Yuichi; Narimatsu, Hiroto; Yoshimura, Tatsuya; Otake, Hiroshi; Sawa, Tomohiro

2016-05-09

Purpose - The sustainability of the Japanese healthcare system is in question because the government has had a huge fiscal debt. Despite an enormous effort to cut the deficit, our healthcare expenditure is increasing every year because of the rapidly aging population. One of the solutions for this problem is to improve the productivity of healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that change surgeons' productivity in one year. Design/methodology/approach - The authors collected data of all surgical procedures performed at Teikyo University Hospital from April 1 through September 30 in 2014 and 2015, and computed the surgeons' Malmquist index (MI), efficiency change (EC) and technical change (TC) using non-radial and non-oriented Malmquist model under the constant returns-to-scale assumptions. The authors then divided the surgeons into two groups; one whose productivity progressed and the other whose productivity regressed. These two groups were compared to identify factors that may influence their MI. Findings - The only significant difference between the two groups was ECs (p productivity change. The best way to improve surgeons' productivity may be to enhance their efficiency regardless of their surgical volume and personal backgrounds.

Total-Factor Energy Efficiency (TFEE Evaluation on Thermal Power Industry with DEA, Malmquist and Multiple Regression Techniques

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Jin-Peng Liu

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Under the background of a new round of power market reform, realizing the goals of energy saving and emission reduction, reducing the coal consumption and ensuring the sustainable development are the key issues for thermal power industry. With the biggest economy and energy consumption scales in the world, China should promote the energy efficiency of thermal power industry to solve these problems. Therefore, from multiple perspectives, the factors influential to the energy efficiency of thermal power industry were identified. Based on the economic, social and environmental factors, a combination model with Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA and Malmquist index was constructed to evaluate the total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE in thermal power industry. With the empirical studies from national and provincial levels, the TFEE index can be factorized into the technical efficiency index (TECH, the technical progress index (TPCH, the pure efficiency index (PECH and the scale efficiency index (SECH. The analysis showed that the TFEE was mainly determined by TECH and PECH. Meanwhile, by panel data regression model, unit coal consumption, talents and government supervision were selected as important indexes to have positive effects on TFEE in thermal power industry. In addition, the negative indexes, such as energy price and installed capacity, were also analyzed to control their undesired effects. Finally, considering the analysis results, measures for improving energy efficiency of thermal power industry were discussed widely, such as strengthening technology research and design (R&D, enforcing pollutant and emission reduction, distributing capital and labor rationally and improving the government supervision. Relative study results and suggestions can provide references for Chinese government and enterprises to enhance the energy efficiency level.

Robust Estimation of Productivity Changes in Japanese Shinkin Banks

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Jianzhong DAI

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper estimates productivity changes in Japanese shinkin banks during the fiscal years 2001 to 2008 using the Malmquist index as the measure of productivity change. Data envelopment analysis (DEA is used to estimate the index. We also apply a smoothed bootstrapping approach to set up confidence intervals for estimates and study their statistical characteristics. By analyzing estimated scores, we identify trends in productivity changes in Japanese shinkin banks during the study period and investigate the sources of these trends. We find that in the latter half of the study period, productivity has significantly declined, primarily because of deterioration in technical efficiency, but scale efficiency has been significantly improved. Grouping the total sample according to the levels of competition reveals more details of productivity changes in shinkin banks.

Profit Malmquist Index and Its Global Form in the Presence of the Negative Data in DEA

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Ghasem Tohidi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper first introduces the allocative and profit efficiency in the presence of the negative data and then presents a new circular index to measure the productivity change of decision making units (DMUs for the case that the dataset contains the inputs and/or outputs with the negative values in data envelopment analysis (DEA. The proposed index is decomposed into four components in the two stages. The range directional model (RDM and the proposed efficiencies are used to compute the proposed index and its components. The interpretations of the components are presented. Finally, a numerical example is organized to illustrate the proposed index and its components at three successive periods of time.

Regulatory reforms and productivity: An empirical analysis of the Japanese electricity industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakano, Makiko; Managi, Shunsuke

2008-01-01

The Japanese electricity industry has experienced regulatory reforms since the mid-1990s. This article measures productivity in Japan's steam power-generation sector and examines the effect of reforms on the productivity of this industry over the period 1978-2003. We estimate the Luenberger productivity indicator, which is a generalization of the commonly used Malmquist productivity index, using a data envelopment analysis approach. Factors associated with productivity change are investigated through dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation of panel data. Our empirical analysis shows that the regulatory reforms have contributed to productivity growth in the steam power-generation sector in Japan

The impact of reliability on the productivity of railroad companies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abate, Megersa Abera; Lijesen, Mark; Pels, Eric

2013-01-01

This paper studies the relationship between reliability (proxied by punctuality) and productivity in passenger railroad services. Increasing reliability may lower productivity, as it requires inputs, that can’t be used to produce outputs. The relationship between reliability and productivity also...... runs through other factors, in which case a positive relationship may be expected. We apply data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist index approach to a panel of seven European railway systems to explore this relationship. Our empirical results suggest that increasing reliability does not harm...... the productivity of railway operations and aiming to improve both may be a feasible strategy. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

The Impact of the Subsidy Policy on Total Factor Productivity: An Empirical Analysis of China's Cotton Production

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Yanwen Tan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper develops one model to explore the relationship between the subsidy policy and the agricultural total factor productivity (TFP. It indicates that the agricultural TFP will be lower after the subsidy policy is implemented and there exists a negative relation between the subsidy and TFP, if subsidies are associated with the acreage. Using Malmquist index, this paper measures the changes of TFP in China's cotton production before and after the subsidy policy is implemented. The results verify that the subsidy policy could not increase but decrease the TFP of China's cotton production, not only in the whole country but also in major provinces of China. Based on the positive study, some policy implications are provided in the end of this paper.

The development of environmental productivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henningsen, Geraldine; Henningsen, Arne; Schröder, Sascha T.

the environmental productivity of individual generator units based on a panel data set for the period 1998 to 2011 that includes virtually all fuel-fired generator units in Denmark. We further decompose total productivity into technical efficiency, best practice ratio, and scale efficiency and use a global...... Malmquist index to calculate the yearly changes. By applying time series clustering, we can identify high, middle, and low performance groups of generator units in a dynamic setting. Our results indicate that the sectoral productivity only slightly increased over the fourteen years. Furthermore, we find...... that there is no overall high achiever group, but that the ranking, although time consistent, varies between the different productivity measures. However, we identify steam turbines and combustion engines for combined heat and power production as potential high performers, while combustion engines that only produce...

Recent productivity developments and technical change in Danish organic farming - stagnation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sauer, Johannes; Graversen, Jesper Tranbjerg; Park, Tim

This paper attempts to quantitatively measure the change in the productivity of Dan-ish organic farming in recent years by using panel data on 56 organic farms mainly engaged in milk production for the period 2002 to 2004. Based on a translog pro-duction frontier framework the technical and scale...... efficiency on farm level is ana-lysed by considering also curvature consistency. The total change in productivity for the reference period is measured by using the Malmquist total factor productivity in-dex approach based on a time trends as well as a general index model specification. Input specific bias...... in technical change as well elasticities of input substitution are analyzed. Fators for the development of technical change and the change in effi-ciency over time are investigated by applying a bootstrapped ITSUR technique. Fi-nally we try to conclude on the significance of subsidies for promoting long term...

Measuring highway efficiency : A DEA approach and the Malquist index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sarmento, Joaquim Miranda; Renneboog, Luc; Verga-Matos, Pedro

A growing concern exists regarding the efficiency of public resources spent in transport infrastructures. In this paper, we measure the efficiency of seven highway projects in Portugal over the past decade by means of a data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity and efficiency indices.

The comparison analysis of total factor productivity and eco-efficiency in China's cement manufactures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, Xingle; Zhao, Xicang; Cheng, Faxin

2015-01-01

This paper mainly compares total factor productivity and eco-efficiency in China's cement manufactures from 2005 to 2010. First, we evaluate total factor productivity and eco-efficiency of China's cement manufactures through distance function and directional slack-based measure (DSBM) respectively. Furthermore, we also explore the difference of total factor productivity and eco-efficiency. Last, we investigate the determinants of Malmquist, Mamlquist–Luenberger of China's cement manufactures through random-effect Tobit and bootstrap truncated econometric methods. We find that there are some gaps between Malmquist and Mamlquist–Luenberger of China's cement manufactures. Per labor cement industry value has U-shape relationship with both Malmquist and Malmquist–Luenberger. It is necessary to adopt advanced technology to reduce pollutant emissions. -- Highlights: •Eco-efficiency of cement manufactures is evaluated through slack-based measure. •Eco-efficiency of China's cement manufactures has biases with total factor productivity. •Environmental Kuznets curve is existed for China's cement manufactures

The Development of Environmental Productivity: the Case of Danish Energy Plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henningsen, Geraldine; Henningsen, Arne; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten

2015-01-01

the environmental productivity of individual generator units based on a paneldata set for the period 1998 to 2011 that includes virtually all fuel-fired generator units in Denmark. We further decompose total environmental energy conversion productivity into conversion efficiency, best conversion practice ratio......, and conversion scale efficiency and use a global Malmquist index to calculate the yearly changes. By applying time series clustering, we can identify high, middle, and low performance groups of generator units in a dynamic setting. Our results indicate that the sectoral productivity only slightly increased over...... the fourteen years. Furthermore, we find that there is no overall high achiever group, but that the ranking, although time consistent, varies between the different productivity measures. However, we identify steam turbines and combustion engines for combined heat and power production as potential high...

Ecological efficiency in China and its influencing factors-a super-efficient SBM metafrontier-Malmquist-Tobit model study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Xiaojun; Wang, Changxin; Yu, Yuanbo; Li, Yudong; Dong, Biying; Zhang, Xinyu; Niu, Xueqi; Yang, Qian; Chen, Ruimin; Li, Yifan; Gu, Yihan

2018-05-15

Ecological problem is one of the core issues that restrain China's economic development at present, and it is urgently needed to be solved properly and effectively. Based on panel data from 30 regions, this paper uses a super efficiency slack-based measure (SBM) model that introduces the undesirable output to calculate the ecological efficiency, and then uses traditional and metafrontier-Malmquist index method to study regional change trends and technology gap ratios (TGRs). Finally, the Tobit regression and principal component analysis methods are used to analysis the main factors affecting eco-efficiency and impact degree. The results show that about 60% of China's provinces have effective eco-efficiency, and the overall ecological efficiency of China is at the superior middling level, but there is a serious imbalance among different provinces and regions. Ecological efficiency has an obvious spatial cluster effect. There are differences among regional TGR values. Most regions show a downward trend and the phenomenon of focusing on economic development at the expense of ecological protection still exists. Expansion of opening to the outside, increases in R&D spending, and improvement of population urbanization rate have positive effects on eco-efficiency. Blind economic expansion, increases of industrial structure, and proportion of energy consumption have negative effects on eco-efficiency.

The Development of Environmental Productivity: the Case of Danish Energy Plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henningsen, Geraldine; Henningsen, Arne; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten

the environmental productivity of individual generator units based on a panel data set for the period 1998 to 2011 that includes virtually all fuel-fired generator units in Denmark. We further decompose total productivity into technical efficiency, best practice ratio, and scale efficiency and use a global...... Malmquist index to calculate the yearly changes. By applying time series clustering, we can identify high, middle, and low performance groups of generator units in a dynamic setting. Our results indicate that the sectoral productivity only slightly increased over the fourteen years. Furthermore, we find...... that there is no overall high achiever group, but that the ranking, although time consistent, varies between the different productivity measures. However, we identify steam turbines and combustion engines for combined heat and power production as potential high performers, while combustion engines that only produce...

Efficiency and productivity of hospitals in Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Thuy Linh

2011-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative efficiency and productivity of hospitals during the health reform process. Data envelopment analyses method (DEA) with the input-oriented variable-returns-to-scale model was used to calculate efficiency scores. Malmquist total factor productivity index approach was then employed to calculate productivity of hospitals. Data of 101 hospitals was extracted from databases of the Ministry of Health, Vietnam from the years 1998 to 2006. There was evidence of improvement in overall technical efficiency from 65 per cent in 1998 to 76 per cent in 2006. Hospitals' productivity progressed around 1.4 per cent per year, which was mainly due to the technical efficiency improvement. Furthermore, provincial hospitals were more technically efficient than their central counterparts and hospitals located in different regions performed differently. The paper provides an insight in the performance of Vietnamese public hospitals that has been rarely examined before and contributes to the existing literature of hospital performance in developing countries

Measuring efficiency and productivity growth of new technology-based firms in business incubators: the Portuguese case study of Madan Parque.

Science.gov (United States)

Grilo, A; Santos, J

2015-01-01

Business incubators can play a major role in helping to turn a business idea into a technology-based organization that is economically efficient. However, there is a shortage in the literature regarding the efficiency evaluation and productivity evolution of the new technology-based firms (NTBFs) in the incubation scope. This study develops a model based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology, which allows the incubated NTBFs to evaluate and improve the efficiency of their management. Moreover, the Malmquist index is used to examine productivity change. The index is decomposed into multiple components to give insights into the root sources of productivity change. The proposed model was applied in a case study with 13 NTBFs incubated. From that study, we conclude that inefficient firms invest excessively in research and development (R&D), and, on average, firms have a productivity growth in the period of study.

Measuring Efficiency and Productivity Growth of New Technology-Based Firms in Business Incubators: The Portuguese Case Study of Madan Parque

Science.gov (United States)

Grilo, A.; Santos, J.

2015-01-01

Business incubators can play a major role in helping to turn a business idea into a technology-based organization that is economically efficient. However, there is a shortage in the literature regarding the efficiency evaluation and productivity evolution of the new technology-based firms (NTBFs) in the incubation scope. This study develops a model based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology, which allows the incubated NTBFs to evaluate and improve the efficiency of their management. Moreover, the Malmquist index is used to examine productivity change. The index is decomposed into multiple components to give insights into the root sources of productivity change. The proposed model was applied in a case study with 13 NTBFs incubated. From that study, we conclude that inefficient firms invest excessively in research and development (R&D), and, on average, firms have a productivity growth in the period of study. PMID:25874266

Measuring Efficiency and Productivity Growth of New Technology-Based Firms in Business Incubators: The Portuguese Case Study of Madan Parque

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Grilo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Business incubators can play a major role in helping to turn a business idea into a technology-based organization that is economically efficient. However, there is a shortage in the literature regarding the efficiency evaluation and productivity evolution of the new technology-based firms (NTBFs in the incubation scope. This study develops a model based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA methodology, which allows the incubated NTBFs to evaluate and improve the efficiency of their management. Moreover, the Malmquist index is used to examine productivity change. The index is decomposed into multiple components to give insights into the root sources of productivity change. The proposed model was applied in a case study with 13 NTBFs incubated. From that study, we conclude that inefficient firms invest excessively in research and development (R&D, and, on average, firms have a productivity growth in the period of study.

Productivity growth and technological progress in the Brazilian agricultural sector

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Marcelo Farid Pereira

2002-12-01

Full Text Available Starting in the 1970's, the Brazilian agricultural sector has experienced an important process of modernization, whose principal effects include advances in technological progress and gains in productivity. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze technological progress and total productivity growth in the Brazilian agricultural sector during the period from 1970 to 1996. The methodology used here is based on the Malmquist productivity index and techniques in mathematical programming called Data Envelopment Analysis. The results show that significant progress was made in this sector of the economy but concentrated in only some regions of the country.O setor agropecuário brasileiro passou por um processo de modernização a partir dos anos 70, conseqüentemente, espera-se que exista uma contrapartida de progresso tecnológico e de ganhos de produtividade para o setor. Diante de tal fato tem-se como objetivo, neste estudo, avaliar o progresso tecnológico e o crescimento da produtividade total dos fatores (PTF do setor agropecuário brasileiro ao longo do período de 1970 a 1996. A metodologia utilizada foi baseada no índice Malmquist de produtividade e nas técnicas de programação matemática denominadas de Análise de Envoltória de Dados (DEA. Os resultados alcançados foram condizentes com estudos prévios e apontam para progresso técnico e ganhos de produtividade para o setor, porém concentrados em algumas regiões.

The role of safe practices in hospitals’ total factor productivity

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Timothy R Huerta

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Timothy R Huerta1, Mark A Thompson2, Eric W Ford31Center for Health Innovation, Education, and Research, 2Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA; 3Forsyth Medical Center Distinguished Professor of Health Care, The University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USAAbstract: The dual aims of improving safety and productivity are a major part of the health care reform movement hospital leaders must manage. Studies exploring the two phenomena conjointly and over time are critical to understanding how change in one dimension influences the other over time. A Malmquist approach is used to assess hospitals’ relative productivity levels over time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA algorithms were executed to assess whether or not the Malmquist Indices (MIs correlate with the safe practices measure. The American Hospital Association’s annual survey and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Case Mix Index for fiscal years 2002–2006, along with Leapfrog Group’s annual survey for 2006 were used for this study. Leapfrog Group respondents have significantly higher technological change (TC and total factor productivity (TFP than nonrespondents without sacrificing technical efficiency changes. Of the three MIs, TC (P < 0.10 and TFP (P < 0.05 had significant relationships with the National Quality Forum’s Safe Practices score. The ANOVA also indicates that the mean differences of TFP measures progressed in a monotonic fashion up the Safe Practices scale. Adherence to the National Quality Forum’s Safe Practices recommendations had a major impact on hospitals’ operating processes and productivity. Specifically, there is evidence that hospitals reporting higher Safe Practices scores had above average levels of TC and TFP gains over the period assessed. Leaders should strive for increased transparency to promote both quality improvement and increased productivity.Keywords: safety, productivity, quality, safe

An international comparison of productivity change in the textile and clothing industry: a bootstrapped Malmquist index approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kapelko, M.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.

2015-01-01

Firms in the textile and clothing industry operate in competitive international markets characterized by the liberalized trade after the removal of multi-fiber agreement quotas in 2005, and have to address rapid changes in consumer preferences and production technology. Hence, improving

Multiple Criteria and Multiple Periods Performance Analysis: The Comparison of North African Railways

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Sabri, Karim; Colson, Gérard E.; Mbangala, Augustin M.

2008-10-01

Multi-period differences of technical and financial performances are analysed by comparing five North African railways over the period (1990-2004). A first approach is based on the Malmquist DEA TFP index for measuring the total factors productivity change, decomposed into technical efficiency change and technological changes. A multiple criteria analysis is also performed using the PROMETHEE II method and the software ARGOS. These methods provide complementary detailed information, especially by discriminating the technological and management progresses by Malmquist and the two dimensions of performance by Promethee: that are the service to the community and the enterprises performances, often in conflict.

DETERMINANTS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN SUB-SAHARA AFRICA: 1961-2003

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Olajide Abraham Ajao

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This study examined changes in agricultural productivity in Sub-Sahara Africa countries in the context of diverse institutional arrangements using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA. From a time series which consists of information on agricultural production and means of production were obtained from FAO AGROSTAT and rainfall data from Steve O’Connell data base. The information was for a 43-year period (1961-2003; DEA method was used to measure Malmquist index of total factor productivity. A decomposition of TFP measures revealed that the observed increase in the TFP in the sub–Sahara Africa agriculture is due to technological change rather than efficiency change which is the main constrained of achieving higher level of TFP during the reference period. The study further examined the effect of land quality, malaria, education and selected governance indicators such as, control of corruption and government effectiveness on productivity growth. All the variables included in the model are significant with the exception of government effectiveness

Hong Kong Hospital Authority resource efficiency evaluation: Via a novel DEA-Malmquist model and Tobit regression model.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Hainan; Zhao, Yang; Niu, Tie; Tsui, Kwok-Leung

2017-01-01

The Hospital Authority (HA) is a statutory body managing all the public hospitals and institutes in Hong Kong (HK). In recent decades, Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HKHA) has been making efforts to improve the healthcare services, but there still exist some problems like unfair resource allocation and poor management, as reported by the Hong Kong medical legislative committee. One critical consequence of these problems is low healthcare efficiency of hospitals, leading to low satisfaction among patients. Moreover, HKHA also suffers from the conflict between limited resource and growing demand. An effective evaluation of HA is important for resource planning and healthcare decision making. In this paper, we propose a two-phase method to evaluate HA efficiency for reducing healthcare expenditure and improving healthcare service. Specifically, in Phase I, we measure the HKHA efficiency changes from 2000 to 2013 by applying a novel DEA-Malmquist index with undesirable factors. In Phase II, we further explore the impact of some exogenous factors (e.g., population density) on HKHA efficiency by Tobit regression model. Empirical results show that there are significant differences between the efficiencies of different hospitals and clusters. In particular, it is found that the public hospital serving in a richer district has a relatively lower efficiency. To a certain extent, this reflects the socioeconomic reality in HK that people with better economic condition prefers receiving higher quality service from the private hospitals.

An analysis of Spain's global and environmental efficiency from a European Union perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanz-Díaz, María Teresa; Velasco-Morente, Francisco; Yñiguez, Rocío; Díaz-Calleja, Emilio

2017-01-01

Sustainable economic growth from the environmental point of view is one of the commitments of the EU-28. Different measures have been implemented to deal with this issue. This work analyses Spain’s natural efficiency and management efficiency, in their static and dynamic sense, for the years 2005–2012, in comparison EU-28. The analysis has been carried out using the Malmquist Index and natural and managerial efficiency. Three variables have been considered as inputs: work, gross fixed capital formation and final energy consumption. Two variables are the outputs: the GDP as a desirable output and greenhouse effect gas emissions as an undesirable output. The result is that Spain’s managerial efficiency and natural efficiency are, though their values are lower, evolving in a similar manner to those of the countries which have been at the heart of the EU longer. These levels of efficiency are higher than those of the block of countries which have joined the EU-28 more recently. The natural Malmquist Index results indicate that these are the countries which have had a greater growth in productivity, above Spain’s and the average of the more “veteran” countries. - Highlights: • Analyze the environmental efficiency of Spain with DEA methodology. • The Spain’s natural efficiency and management efficiency, (2005–2012) are studied in comparison EU-28. • Spain’s managerial efficiency and natural efficiency are evolving in a similar manner to the western EU. • Natural Malmquist Index indicate that these are the countries which have had a greater growth in productivity, above Spain’s.

Techno-economical efficiency and productivity change of wastewater treatment plants: the role of internal and external factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández-Sancho, F; Molinos-Senante, M; Sala-Garrido, R

2011-12-01

Efficiency and productivity are important measures for identifying best practice in businesses and optimising resource-use. This study analyses how these two measures change across the period 2003-2008 for 196 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Spain, by using the benchmarking methods of Data Envelopment Analysis and the Malmquist Productivity Index. To identify which variables contribute to the sustainability of the WWTPs, differences in efficiency scores and productivity indices for external factors are also investigated. Our results indicate that both efficiency and productivity decreased over the five years. We verify that the productivity drop is primarily explained by technical change. Furthermore, certain external variables affected WWTP efficiency, including plant size, treatment technology and energy consumption. However, plants with low energy consumption are the only ones which improve their productivity. Finally, the benchmarking analyses proved to be useful as management tools in the wastewater sector, by providing vital information for improving the sustainability of plants.

Hospitals Productivity Measurement Using Data Envelopment Analysis Technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Torabipour, Amin; Najarzadeh, Maryam; Arab, Mohammad; Farzianpour, Freshteh; Ghasemzadeh, Roya

2014-11-01

This study aimed to measure the hospital productivity using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique and Malmquist indices. This is a cross sectional study in which the panel data were used in a 4 year period from 2007 to 2010. The research was implemented in 12 teaching and non-teaching hospitals of Ahvaz County. Data envelopment analysis technique and the Malmquist indices with an input-orientation approach, was used to analyze the data and estimation of productivity. Data were analyzed using the SPSS.18 and DEAP.2 software. Six hospitals (50%) had a value lower than 1, which represents an increase in total productivity and other hospitals were non-productive. the average of total productivity factor (TPF) was 1.024 for all hospitals, which represents a decrease in efficiency by 2.4% from 2007 to 2010. The average technical, technologic, scale and managerial efficiency change was 0.989, 1.008, 1.028, and 0.996 respectively. There was not a significant difference in mean productivity changes among teaching and non-teaching hospitals (P>0.05) (except in 2009 years). Productivity rate of hospitals had an increasing trend generally. However, the total average of productivity was decreased in hospitals. Besides, between the several components of total productivity, variation of technological efficiency had the highest impact on reduce of total average of productivity.

Productivity in using school's resources: A case study of secondary school in Dumai, Riau Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Rozamuri, Arif Murti; Suradi, Nur Riza Mohd

2015-09-01

Definition of good school's differs for every individual. The performance of the school's has always been an interesting discussion topic. This situation requires parents to be more selective for choosing the best school's for their child, especially in the efficient management of resources. This study evaluated changes in total productivity, technology, technical efficiency, and scale efficiency among 12 school of Dumai City in Riau Indonesia using DEA Malmquist Index. The inputs include number of teacher's, number of students, and number of classrooms while output is the number of students that passed the national examination. The results show that average efficiency of secondary school in Dumai City from 2011 to 2013 recorded good changes in terms of technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. However, technological and total factor productivity change do not show a positive change.

DATA ISSUES IN TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY BENCHMARKING: A CENTRAL EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE

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Machek Ondrej

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Total factor productivity is a method of measuring overall productivity of businesses, industries or economies. It is an approach which is recently becoming popular among government regulatory agencies when applying the so-called performance-based regulation. This principle induces regulated companies (for instance, electricity or natural gas distributors to behave efficiently even if their industries are not exposed to competitive pressures, since they are rewarded for being more productive than other firms in the industry, and penalized in the opposite case. The aim of this article is to deal with the question what are the main data issues when comparing total factor productivity among firms or industries with focus on the Central European region, which is very heterogeneous in terms of geographic, social, economic and historic conditions. In the first part, we introduce total factor productivity and the most common methods of its measurement � Malmquist and T�rnqvist indexes. Consequently, we divide the data issues into separate categories and discuss them more in detail. The first category of issues is related to defining the set of comparable firms. Many factors, such as the degree of competition in the market, the extent of government regulation, economies of scale, firm size, geographical conditions and historic development have to be taken into consideration. The second category is associated with specifying the time period. TFP estimates should be based on long time series and the period should include the whole business cycle and be representative and exclude extraordinary events. The third group of issues is related to defining and measuring the inputs and outputs. Since a number of difficulties are associated with labor input measurement, it is often included into operating expenditures along with materials and services. The measurement of capital is even more contentious. The outputs should reflect performance

The source of productivity growth in Dutch agriculture: a perspective from finance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhengfei, G.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.

2006-01-01

In corporate finance, the impact of capital structure on firm performance has been widely studied. This article extends the capital structure study to the situation in agriculture, explicitly addressing the difference between family farms and corporate firms. We use the Malmquist productivity growth

For which option is credit risk more representative on China banks' total factor productivity Efficiency change or technological progress?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Fadzlan Sufian

2012-01-01

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to provide new empirical evidence on the impact of credit risk on China banks' total factor productivity.Design/methodology/approach-The paper employs the Malmquist Productivity Index (MP1) which allows for the examination of five different indices:total factor productivity change (TFPCH);technological change (TECHCH);efficiency change (EFFCH);pure technical efficiency change (PEFFCH);and scale efficiency change (SECH) indices.Findings-The empirical findings indicate that the State Owned Commercial Banks (SOCB),Joint Stock Commercial Banks (JSCB),and City Commercial Banks (CCB) have exhibited lower TFPCH levels with the inclusion of risk factor.It was found that the JSCB and CCB have exhibited lower TFPCH due to TECHCH,while the SOCB have exhibited lower TFPCH due to EFFCH.The empirical findings suggest that the inclusion of credit risk factor has resulted in a higher JSCB EFFCH levels.On the other hand,the SOCB and CCB have exhibited a lower EFFCH levels due to SECH and PEFFCH,respectively.Research limitations/implications-The results clearly highlight the importance of credit risk and lending quality in determining the total factor productivity change of banks operating in the China banking sector.The author demonstrates that the inclusion of credit risk factor has resulted in a lower TFPCH level of all banks operating in the China banking sector.Thus,excluding the credit risk factor from the analysis on the China banking sector may potentially bias the result upwards.Practical impIications-In an environment of heavy government influence over the lending process,a large proportion of loans extended by Chinese banks over the years have gone bad.Policymakers should prevent the flow of new non-performing loans by separating bad clients from banks that are being restructured and recapitalized in the reform of the banking sector.Originality/value-By employing the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI),the present paper contributes to

Efficiency and productivity assessment of public hospitals in Greece during the crisis period 2009-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Xenos, P; Yfantopoulos, J; Nektarios, M; Polyzos, N; Tinios, P; Constantopoulos, A

2017-01-01

This study is an initial effort to examine the dynamics of efficiency and productivity in Greek public hospitals during the first phase of the crisis 2009-2012. Data were collected by the Ministry of Health after several quality controls ensuring comparability and validity of hospital inputs and outputs. Productivity is estimated using the Malmquist Indicator, decomposing the estimated values into efficiency and technological change. Hospital efficiency and productivity growth are calculated by bootstrapping the non-parametric Malmquist analysis. The advantage of this method is the estimation efficiency and productivity through the corresponding confidence intervals. Additionally, a Random-effects Tobit model is explored to investigate the impact of contextual factors on the magnitude of efficiency. Findings reveal substantial variations in hospital productivity over the period from 2009 to 2012. The economic crisis of 2009 had a negative impact in productivity. The average Malmquist Productivity Indicator (MPI) score is 0.72 with unity signifying stable production. Approximately 91% of the hospitals score lower than unity. Substantial increase is observed between 2010 and 2011, as indicated by the average MPI score which fluctuates to 1.52. Moreover, technology change scored more than unity in more than 75% of hospitals. The last period (2011-2012) has shown stabilization in the expansionary process of productivity. The main factors contributing to overall productivity gains are increases in occupancy rates, type and size of the hospital. This paper attempts to offer insights in efficiency and productivity growth for public hospitals in Greece. The results suggest that the average hospital experienced substantial productivity growth between 2009 and 2012 as indicated by variations in MPI. Almost all of the productivity increase was due to technology change which could be explained by the concurrent managerial and financing healthcare reforms. Hospitals operating

Eficiencia técnica y ambiental de la camaronicultura en Nayarit aplicando el índice de Malmquist

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco Javier Martínez-Cordero

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A partir de una base de datos no homogénea de 32 granjas de camarón en Nayarit para el periodo 2008-2011, el presente estudio aplica el índice de Malmquist para analizar su eficiencia técnica ET y ambientalmente ajustada EAA de una empresa o industria acuícola sostenible. Los resultados indican que los niveles de ET y EAA se han mantenido arriba de 0.80 y 0.75 en promedio, respectivamente. En general, los resultados confirman estudios regionales previos del cultivo de camarón, en función de que los rendimientos (kg/ha/año pueden ser decrecientes por causa de las enfermedades virales. Se recomienda aplicar estos indicadores de manera continua para asistir la planificación y toma de decisión tanto a nivel empresa como industria.

Industrial policy, production efficiency improvement and the Chinese county economic growth

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Wang Zhenhua

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aims at analyzing the difference in the level of economic development between China’s counties from the two perspectives of industrial policy and production efficiency. Based on panel data of 1830 Chinese counties, this study employs the new classical economic growth theory framework to analyze the counties’ economic growth by the perpetual inventory method, Malmquist index, among others. The results show that the economy of the counties exhibits δ convergence since 2004, and the absolute differences in the different counties are expanding. Industrial policy ensures the additional deepening of the level of capital in the county. Additionally, a substantial difference was observed between the agricultural sector and the non-agricultural sector, whereby the total factor productivity and the technical efficiency are on the rise, resulting in the phenomenon of dual paths of technological progress. In summary, the capital deepening difference between the sectors, production efficiency, and dual paths of technological progress owing to the counties’ industrial policy are the basic reasons for the regional differences in the level of economic development in China.

75 FR 33312 - Indexing Structured Product Labeling for Human Prescription Drug and Biological Products; Request...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-11

...] Indexing Structured Product Labeling for Human Prescription Drug and Biological Products; Request for... Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) are indexing certain categories of information in product labeling for use as terms to search repositories of approved prescription medical product structured product...

Did the corporatization of Portuguese hospitals significantly change their productivity?

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Diogo; Marques, Rui Cunha

2015-04-01

This paper aims to investigate if the market structure reforms in the Portuguese health system have improved hospital performance and productivity. A robust non-parametric Malmquist index is applied to measure group performance. The significance of the results achieved is examined using a conditional and non-conditional subsampling bootstrapped-based methodology, enhanced by the likelihood cross validation criterion based on the k-nearest neighbors method. The sample contains information about 216 non-corporatized and 176 corporatized Portuguese hospitals for the period 2002–2009. Five models were applied, based on three study dimensions (internment, emergencies and doctor visits). The results show that although corporatized hospitals presented the highest efficiency consistency, they had also the lowest levels of productivity, while the hospitals under the traditional administrative public management system were the ones with the best average performance. However, several best practices were also found in all groups, being the limited companies were often dominated by both noncorporatized and public enterprise entities. Consistent output ranges where all groups present dominance over the others were also identified. It was possible to conclude that the more autonomy the hospital had from the Ministry of Health, the lower was its productivity.

WHAT IS BEHIND BIASED TECHNICAL CHANGE IN PRODUCTION OF CEREAL AND OILSEED CROPS IN SLOVAKIA?

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Peter FANDEL

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the productivity change in the production of cereal and oilseed crops in Slovakia with special emphasis on technical change analysis. It employs a non-parametric distance function approach to measure Malmquist productivity index which is decomposed into technical efficiency change and technical change. Technical change is further decomposed into technical change magnitude and input- and output-bias indices. The productivity change components provide more detailed information about character of productivity change itself and its sources. Our results indicate that productivity in the analysed sector decreased approximately by 20% within the examined period of 1998-2007. The decrease was caused mostly by worsening the technical change (-41,6%. Indices of input- and output bias of technical change were various from unity what suggests that technical change was not Hicks’- neutral. Results of further analysis of the direction of technical change bias indicate that farms in average tend to apply fertilizers-using/seed-saving, seed-using/labour-saving, and fertilizers-using/labour-saving technical change bias over the whole sample period, as well as in the EU pre-accession and EU post-accession periods.

CHANGES IN PRODUCTIVITY OF SELECTED BRANCHES OF THE POLISH FOOD SECTOR IN THE YEARS 2004–2013

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Joanna Baran

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to specify changes in productivity of the Polish food sector as a whole and its selected branches in the years 2004–2013. Analyses were conducted based on the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI. In the MPI model the following variables were adopted: the output – sold production (million PLN, inputs – average number of employees (thous and gross value of fi xed assets (million PLN. It was confi rmed that productivity of the Polish food sector improved in the years 2004–2013. Results of analyses showed that changes in technical effi ciency had a greater eff ect on changes in food sector productivity in Poland – particularly in the fi rst period following Poland’s accession to the EU and starting from 2009, i.e. the outbreak of the economic crisis. Technical change had a considerable eff ect on the improvement of productivity in the food sector only in the years 2006– 2008. The greatest mean annual improvement in productivity in the analysed period was observed in meat and milk processing and beverage production

Productivity, the Malmquist index and the empirical study of banks in Estonia / Ly Kirikal

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Kirikal, Ly

2005-01-01

Pankade tegevus hõlmab mitmeid sisendeid ja väljundeid ning lihtne tulu-kuluanalüüs ei pruugi alati anda piisavat tulemust muutuste hindamiseks. Tootlikkus ja Malmquisti indeks Eesti pankade näitel. Tabelid. Skeem. Graafikud

Regulatory Changes and Productivity of the Banking Sector in the Indian Sub-Continent

OpenAIRE

Shabbar Jaffry; Yaseen Ghulam; Sean Pascoe; Joe Cox

2005-01-01

This study seeks to measure changes in technical efficiency levels within the banking sectors of the Indian sub-continent: specifically India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, over the period 1993–2002. This study is done in the context of a number of sweeping deregulations across the sub-continent in the early 1990s, and the possible effect these may have had upon efficiency levels. A Malmquist Index of TFP change over the time-period in question is employed, along with a Tobit regression, in order...

The development of Environmental Productivity: the Case of Danish Energy Plants

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Geraldine Henningsen

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The Danish “Klima 2020” plan sets an ambitious target for the complete phasing-out of fossil fuels by 2050. The Danish energy sector currently accounts for 40% of national CO 2 emissions. Based on an extended Farrell input distance function that accounts for CO 2 as an undesirable output, we estimate the environmental productivity of individual generator units based on a panel data set for the period 1998 to 2011 that includes virtually all fuel-fired generator units in Denmark. We further decompose total environmental energy conversion productivity into conversion efficiency, best conversion practice ratio, and conversion scale efficiency and use a global Malmquist index to calculate the yearly changes. By applying time series clustering, we can identify high, middle, and low performance groups of generator units in a dynamic setting. Our results indicate that the sectoral productivity only slightly increased over the fourteen years. Furthermore, we find that there is no overall high achiever group, but that the ranking, although time consistent, varies between the different productivity measures. However, we identify steam turbines and combustion engines for combined heat and power production as potential high performers, while combustion engines that only produce electricity are clearly low performers.

An environmental generalised Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator and an environmental generalised Hicks-Moorsteen productivity index.

Science.gov (United States)

Abad, A

2015-09-15

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an environmental generalised productivity indicator and its ratio-based counterpart. The innovative environmental generalised total factor productivity measures inherit the basic structure of both Hicks-Moorsteen productivity index and Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen productivity indicator. This methodological contribution shows that these new environmental generalised total factor productivity measures yield the earlier standard Hicks-Moorsteen index and Luenberger-Hicks-Moorsteen indicator, as well as environmental performance index, as special cases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proposal of a production and management index (PMI) for tilapia farms.

Science.gov (United States)

Muniesa, A; Rey-Castaño, A L; Ruiz-Zarzuela, I; Guarín, M; Iregui, C; de Blas, I

2016-11-01

Tilapia is one of the most important species in aquaculture; however, there is no available index to show the performance of a production unit. It is desirable to assess the productivity using indexes, such as the production and management index for shrimps and the European production efficacy factor for broilers. These indexes are based on data production: growth, survival, and feed conversion of a full production cycle. Taking into account these parameters, we propose a production and management index (PMI) for tilapia that is applicable for a specific period of the production cycle. For the construction and validation of the PMI we have used production data from 8,614 monthly records of 2 tilapia farms in Huila Department (Colombia), and because of the complexity of tilapia management, different anomalous situations have been detected and then defined as exceptions. As a result, 419 records were considered extreme values because 1 or more exceptions were met. The value of the PMI varies from 0 (the worst situation) to 3.55, which reflects high variability. We have constructed a PMI for tilapia as the product of 3 elements to obtain a positive value index. Instead of classic parameters, we had to calculate an adapted version of them: the relative average daily growth, the survival (as a complementary value of the estimated monthly mortality), and a feed conversion ratio index. To assess the utility of the PMI, some comparisons were performed using records from black and red tilapia. We observed significant differences depending on tilapia strain (PMI = 1.0248 vs. PMI = 1.1661; tilapia farmers, despite the complexity of the calculation.

The productivity and its barriers in public hospitals: case study of Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Nabilou, Bahram; Yusefzadeh, Hassan; Rezapour, Aziz; Ebadi Fard Azar, Farbod; Salem Safi, Parviz; Sarabi Asiabar, Ali; Ahmadzadeh, Nahal

2016-01-01

Background: Due to the increasing health care costs, the issue of productivity in hospitals must be taken into great consideration in order to provide, preserve and promote public health services. Thus, increasing the level of productivity must become the main aim of any hospital. Objective of this study is to determine the total factor productivity and its components over the period under the study. Methods: In this cross sectional study, total factor productivity changes of hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences were measured according to Malmquist index over the period 2009-2014. To estimate total productivity changes using Data Envelopment Analysis method, inputoriented and variable return to scale assumptions were applied and Deap2.1 software was used. Results: The mean value of total productivity changes was 1.013. It means that during the study period the productivity experienced a 1.3% decrease. Technological efficiency changes have the greatest influence on productivity decrease than the other factors. Scale efficiency, managerial efficiency and technical efficiency changes were ranked. Conclusion: Lack of knowledge of hospital personnel on proper application of technology in patient treatment is the main factor leading to productivity decrease resulting from technological changes in the studied hospitals. Therefore, holding courses for personnel in order to teach them the proper use of technology in diagnosis and patient care can be helpful. PMID:27390686

Transient productivity index for numerical well test simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blanc, G.; Ding, D.Y.; Ene, A. [Institut Francais du Petrole, Pau (France)] [and others

1997-08-01

The most difficult aspect of numerical simulation of well tests is the treatment of the Bottom Hole Flowing (BHF) Pressure. In full field simulations, this pressure is derived from the Well-block Pressure (WBP) using a numerical productivity index which accounts for the grid size and permeability, and for the well completion. This productivity index is calculated assuming a pseudo-steady state flow regime in the vicinity of the well and is therefore constant during the well production period. Such a pseudo-steady state assumption is no longer valid for the early time of a well test simulation as long as the pressure perturbation has not reached several grid-blocks around the well. This paper offers two different solutions to this problem: (1) The first one is based on the derivation of a Numerical Transient Productivity Index (NTPI) to be applied to Cartesian grids; (2) The second one is based on the use of a Corrected Transmissibility and Accumulation Term (CTAT) in the flow equation. The representation of the pressure behavior given by both solutions is far more accurate than the conventional one as shown by several validation examples which are presented in the following pages.

Technical efficiency of selected hospitals in Eastern Ethiopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Murad; Debela, Megersa; Bamud, Tewfik

2017-12-01

This study examines the relative technical efficiency of 12 hospitals in Eastern Ethiopia. Using six-year-round panel data for the period between 2007/08 and 2012/13, this study examines the technical efficiency, total factor productivity, and determinants of the technical inefficiency of hospitals. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and DEA- based Malmquist productivity index used to estimate relative technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and total factor productivity index of hospitals. Tobit model used to examine the determinants of the technical inefficiency of hospitals. The DEA Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) estimate indicated that 6 (50%), 5 (42%), 3 (25%), 3 (25%), 4 (33%), and 3 (25%) of the hospitals were technically inefficient while 9 (75%), 9 (75%), 7 (58%), 7 (58%), 7 (58%) and 8 (67%) of hospitals were scale inefficient between 2007/08 and 2012/13, respectively. On average, Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (MTFP) of the hospitals decreased by 3.6% over the panel period. The Tobit model shows that teaching hospital is less efficiency than other hospitals. The Tobit regression model further shows that medical doctor to total staff ratio, the proportion of outpatient visit to inpatient days, and the proportion of inpatients treated per medical doctor were negatively related with technical inefficiency of hospitals. Hence, policy interventions that help utilize excess capacity of hospitals, increase doctor to other staff ratio, and standardize number of inpatients treated per doctor would contribute to the improvement of the technical efficiency of hospitals.

Efficiency and Productivity of County-level Public Hospitals Based on the Data Envelopment Analysis Model and Malmquist Index in Anhui, China

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Nian-Nian Li

2017-01-01

Conclusions: In 2010–2015, the relative service efficiency of 12 county-level public hospitals in Anhui Province showed a decreasing trend, and the service efficiency of each hospital changed. In the past 6 years, although some hospitals have been effective, the efficiency of the county-level public hospitals in Anhui Province has not improved significantly, and the total factor productivity has not been effectively improved. County-level public hospitals need to combine their own reality to find their own deficiencies.

Comparison of Lipid Accumulation Product Index with Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference as a Predictor of Metabolic Syndrome in Indian Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Lopamudra; Ravichandran, Kandasamy; Nanda, Sunil Kumar

2018-06-01

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), which confers a high risk for cardiovascular diseases, needs early diagnosis and treatment to reduce morbidity and mortality. Lipid accumulation product index has been reported to be an inexpensive marker of visceral fat and metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to evaluate lipid accumulation product index as a marker for metabolic syndrome in the Indian population where the prevalence of the condition is steadily increasing. A hospital-based, case-control study was conducted with 72 diagnosed cases of metabolic syndrome and 79 control subjects. In all the participants, body mass index (BMI) and lipid accumulation product index were calculated. The difference between cases and controls in BMI, waist circumference (WC), and lipid accumulation product index was assessed by Mann-Whitney U test/unpaired t-test. Associations of BMI, WC, and lipid accumulation product index with metabolic syndrome were compared by multiple logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic analysis. BMI, WC, and lipid accumulation product index were significantly higher in metabolic syndrome (P product index had the highest prediction accuracy. The parameter also had a high area under curve of 0.901 (95% confidence interval 0.85-0.95) and a high sensitivity (76.4%), specificity (91.1%), positive predictive value (88.7%), and negative predictive value (80.9%) for detection of metabolic syndrome. In the Indian population, lipid accumulation product index is a better predictor of metabolic syndrome compared to BMI and WC and should be incorporated in laboratory reports as early, accurate, and inexpensive indicator of metabolic syndrome.

Technical progress and efficiency changes in football teams participating in the UEFA Champions League

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Lucía Isabel García Cebrián

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper commits to calculate and analyze productivy levels and its components for teams that participated in the UEFA Champions League between 2003 and 2012. It will pursue three objectives: 1 evaluate resources usage, 2 analyze the productivity levels of the football teams and the sports results, and 3 see the influence of participation experience in reference to productivity and sports results. Using Malmquist Productivity Index, the results reflect a lack of consistent progression of efficiency, productivity, and technical change. This competition does not reward the efficient usage of resources and there is not a conclusive relationshop between permanence in the competition and productivity.

EVALUATING THE EFFICIENCY PROGRESS WITH TECHNOLOGY IN A SPANISH HOTEL CHAIN

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Maria del Rosario González-Rodriguez

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the changes in the total factor productivity index of a Spanish hotel chain in the period from 2007 to 2010 with the purpose of identifying efficiency patterns for the chain in a period of financial crisis. The Data envelopment analysis (DEA Malmquist productivity index was used to estimate productivity change in 38 hotels of the AC chain. Results reveal AC hotels’ efficiency trends and, therefore, their competitiveness in the recession period; they also show the changes experienced in these hotels’ total productivity and its components: technological and efficiency changes. Positive efficiency changes were due to positive technical efficiency rather than technological efficiency. The recession period certainly influenced the performance of AC Hotels, which focused on organizational changes rather than investing in technology.

Developing an Emergency Physician Productivity Index Using Descriptive Health Analytics.

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Khalifa, Mohamed

2015-01-01

Emergency department (ED) crowding became a major barrier to receiving timely emergency care. At King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Saudi Arabia, we identified variables and factors affecting crowding and performance to develop indicators to help evaluation and improvement. Measuring efficiency of work and activity of throughput processes; it was important to develop an ED physician productivity index. Data on all ED patients' encounters over the last six months of 2014 were retrieved and descriptive health analytics methods were used. Three variables were identified for their influence on productivity and performance; Number of Treated Patients per Physician, Patient Acuity Level and Treatment Time. The study suggested a formula to calculate the productivity index of each physician through dividing the Number of Treated Patients by Patient Acuity Level squared and Treatment Time to identify physicians with low productivity index and investigate causes and factors.

Measuring Scholastic Production by Dermatopathologists Using the H-Index: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fraga, Garth R

2018-06-01

Academic advancement in dermatopathology requires evidence of scientific production. The H-index is a useful bibliometric for measuring scientific production because it weights both volume and impact of an individual's scholastic production. The H-index distribution among academic dermatopathologists is unknown. In this cross-sectional study of 299 dermatopathologists with academic appointments in North America, H-index, publication counts, and citation counts were retrieved from Thomas Reuters Web of Science. Analytic statistics were performed to identify best predictors of academic rank and cutoff points between academic ranks. The H-index was a superior predictor of overall academic rank than publication or citation counts. The median H-index for assistant, associate, and full professors was 4, 6, and 11, respectively. H-index cutoff scores of 8 and 10 favored associate and full professor rank, respectively. These data provide benchmarks for dermatopathologists to gauge their scientific productivity against that of their peers. Although advancement decisions will depend on a careful examination of the scope and impact of a candidate's work, assistant professors of dermatopathology with H-index scores of >7 and associate professors of dermatopathology with H-index scores of >9 may wish to consider application for promotion.

A window-DEA based efficiency evaluation of the public hospital sector in Greece during the 5-year economic crisis.

Science.gov (United States)

Flokou, Angeliki; Aletras, Vassilis; Niakas, Dimitris

2017-01-01

The main objective of this study was to apply the non-parametric method of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure the efficiency of Greek NHS hospitals between 2009-2013. Hospitals were divided into four separate groups with common characteristics which allowed comparisons to be carried out in the context of increased homogeneity. The window-DEA method was chosen since it leads to increased discrimination on the results especially when applied to small samples and it enables year-by-year comparisons of the results. Three inputs -hospital beds, physicians and other health professionals- and three outputs-hospitalized cases, surgeries and outpatient visits- were chosen as production variables in an input-oriented 2-year window DEA model for the assessment of technical and scale efficiency as well as for the identification of returns to scale. The Malmquist productivity index together with its components (i.e. pure technical efficiency change, scale efficiency change and technological scale) were also calculated in order to analyze the sources of productivity change between the first and last year of the study period. In the context of window analysis, the study identified the individual efficiency trends together with "all-windows" best and worst performers and revealed that a high level of technical and scale efficiency was maintained over the entire 5-year period. Similarly, the relevant findings of Malmquist productivity index analysis showed that both scale and pure technical efficiency were improved in 2013 whilst technological change was found to be in favor of the two groups with the largest hospitals.

DEVELOPING AN INDEX FOR FOREST PRODUCTIVITY MAPPING - A CASE STUDY FOR MARITIME PINE PRODUCTION REGULATION IN PORTUGAL

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Susana Mestre

2018-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Productivity is very dependent on the environmental and biotic factors present at the site where the forest species of interest is present. Forest site productivity is usually assessed using empirical models applied to inventory data providing discrete predictions. While the use of GIS-based models enables building a site productivity distribution map. Therefore, the aim of this study was to derive a productivity index using multivariate statistics and coupled GIS-geostatistics to obtain a forest productivity map. To that end, a study area vastly covered by naturally regenerated forests of maritime pine in central Portugal was used. First, a productivity index (PI was built based on Factorial Correspondence Analysis (FCA by incorporating a classical site index for the species and region (Sh25 - height index model and GIS-derived environmental variables (slope and aspect. After, the PI map was obtained by multi-Gaussian kriging and used as a GIS layer to evaluate maritime pine areas by productivity class (e.g., low, intermediate and high. In the end, the area control method was applied to assess the size and the number of compartments to establish by productivity class. The management compartments of equal productivity were digitized as GIS layer and organized in a temporal progression of stands’ age regularly available for cutting each year during a 50-year schedule. The methodological approach developed in this study proved that can be used to build forest productivity maps which are crucial tools to support forest production regulation.

[Analysis of the technical efficiency of hospitals in the Spanish National Health Service].

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Romero, Carmen; Ortega-Díaz, M Isabel; Ocaña-Riola, Ricardo; Martín-Martín, José Jesús

To analyse the technical efficiency and productivity of general hospitals in the Spanish National Health Service (NHS) (2010-2012) and identify explanatory hospital and regional variables. 230 NHS hospitals were analysed by data envelopment analysis for overall, technical and scale efficiency, and Malmquist index. The robustness of the analysis is contrasted with alternative input-output models. A fixed effects multilevel cross-sectional linear model was used to analyse the explanatory efficiency variables. The average rate of overall technical efficiency (OTE) was 0.736 in 2012; there was considerable variability by region. Malmquist index (2010-2012) is 1.013. A 23% variability in OTE is attributable to the region in question. Statistically significant exogenous variables (residents per 100 physicians, aging index, average annual income per household, essential public service expenditure and public health expenditure per capita) explain 42% of the OTE variability between hospitals and 64% between regions. The number of residents showed a statistically significant relationship. As regards regions, there is a statistically significant direct linear association between OTE and annual income per capita and essential public service expenditure, and an indirect association with the aging index and annual public health expenditure per capita. The significant room for improvement in the efficiency of hospitals is conditioned by region-specific characteristics, specifically aging, wealth and the public expenditure policies of each one. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The impact of hydraulic flow unit & reservoir quality index on pressure profile and productivity index in multi-segments reservoirs

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Salam Al-Rbeawi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is studying the impact of the hydraulic flow unit and reservoir quality index (RQI on pressure profile and productivity index of horizontal wells acting in finite reservoirs. Several mathematical models have been developed to investigate this impact. These models have been built based on the pressure distribution in porous media, depleted by a horizontal well, consist of multi hydraulic flow units and different reservoir quality index. The porous media are assumed to be finite rectangular reservoirs having different configurations and the wellbores may have different lengths. Several analytical models describing flow regimes have been derived wherein hydraulic flow units and reservoir quality index have been included in addition to rock and fluid properties. The impact of these two parameters on reservoir performance has also been studied using steady state productivity index.It has been found that both pressure responses and flow regimes are highly affected by the existence of multiple hydraulic flow units in the porous media and the change in reservoir quality index for these units. Positive change in the RQI could lead to positive change in both pressure drop required for reservoir fluids to move towards the wellbore and hence the productivity index.

Study on the green total factor productivity in main cities of China

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Zhang Jiansheng

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to investigate China’s urban green total factor productivity (TFP under the background of progressing urbanization and intensifying environmental pollution, and found out its main influencing factors. In this paper, green TFP of 285 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2012 was estimated through Malmquist productivity index. Results showed that the annual growth of green TFP in main cities in China is 3.5% and the overall growth declines gradually. Viewed from decomposition of green TFP, technical progress is the main contributor of green TFP growth. Furthermore, the northern coastal region has achieved the highest annual growth of green TFP (4.5% and the northwest region achieved the lowest growth of green TFP (1.24%, indicating the great regional differences of green TFP and economic growth quality in China. According to analysis on influencing factors of green TFP in main cities, it has been concluded that per-capita urban road area, number of Internet users, proportion of fiscal expenditures, environmental regulation level and technical input are significantly positively correlated with green TFP, while industrial structure and foreign direct investment (FDI are significantly negatively correlated. Finally, policy suggestions to improve urban green TFP in China were proposed.

Impact of the Local Public Hospital Reform on the Efficiency of Medium-Sized Hospitals in Japan: An Improved Slacks-Based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xing; Tone, Kaoru; Lu, Yingzhe

2018-04-01

To assess the change in efficiency and total factor productivity (TFP) of the local public hospitals in Japan after the local public hospital reform launched in late 2007, which was aimed at improving the financial capability and operational efficiency of hospitals. Secondary data were collected from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on 213 eligible medium-sized hospitals, each operating 100-400 beds from FY2006 to FY2011. The improved slacks-based measure nonoriented data envelopment analysis models (Quasi-Max SBM nonoriented DEA models) were used to estimate dynamic efficiency score and Malmquist Index. The dynamic efficiency measure indicated an efficiency gain in the first several years of the reform and then was followed by a decrease. Malmquist Index analysis showed a significant decline in the TFP between 2006 and 2011. The financial improvement of medium-sized hospitals was not associated with enhancement of efficiency. Hospital efficiency was not significantly different among ownership structure and law-application system groups, but it was significantly affected by hospital location. The results indicate a need for region-tailored health care policies and for a more comprehensive reform to overcome the systemic constraints that might contribute to the decline of the TFP. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

A new productivity index to measure economic sustainability of the mining industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez, Xose A

2010-01-01

This document aims to introduce a total productivity index to measure the economic sustainability of the mining industry. This index will take into account any technical developments, means of use of productive factors (i.e. inefficiencies and scale effects) and the effects on the growth of the geological properties in the resources to be exploited (particularly the effects of resource reduction or reserves depletion). This new index will then be applied to the example of the Spanish mining industry, with some interesting findings regarding the configuration of sustainable mining policies.

PHOBINS: an index file of photon production cross section data and its utility code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasegawa, Akira; Koyama, Kinji; Ido, Masaru; Hotta, Masakazu; Miyasaka, Shun-ichi

1978-08-01

The code System PHOBINS developed for reference of photon production cross sections is described in detail. The system is intended to grasp the present status of photon production data and present the information of available data. It consists of four utility routines, CREA, UP-DT, REF and BACK, and data files. These utility routines are used for making an index file of the photon production cross sections, updating the index file, searching the index file and producing a back-up file of the index file. In the index file of the photon production cross sections, a data base system is employed for efficient data management in economical storage, ease of updating and efficient reference. The present report is a reference manual of PHOBINS. (author)

Regional R&D efficiency in Korea from static and dynamic perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Han, Ungkyu; Asmild, Mette; Kunc, Martin

2016-01-01

Research and development (R&D) efficiency has gained great attention in regional innovation research. This study examines the R&D efficiency patterns of 15 Korean regions for 2005–09. It employs data envelopment analysis to identify the regions' R&D performances relative to the best practices from...... the static perspective, and the Malmquist productivity index to evaluate their changes in performance within a given timeframe, providing a dynamic perspective. The results classify the Korean regions into deteriorating, lagging and improving groups, and indicate that most regions suffer from declining R...

Risk management in crop production based on the regional index

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Kokot Željko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Regional index insurance is one of the newer instruments for reducing losses in crop production. The regional index indicates the average yield or average production value in a region, representing the basis for the premium calculation and insurance benefits. The main advantage of this insurance model is that it does not require the damage assessment, which is one of major problems in the relationship between the insured and insurer. In the case of corn, wheat and sunflower production as the most important crops in the region of Ada municipality, the authors describe the methodology of application of the analysed insurance system. Implementation of this contemporary form of insurance in Serbia would reduce the negative financial consequences in agricultural production. The abovementioned model of insurance can be seen as a significant alternative to conventional insurance, which can increase insured area and number of insured, and trust and confidence in insurance companies would also be restored.

Science dynamics and research production indicators, indexes, statistical laws and mathematical models

CERN Document Server

Vitanov, Nikolay K

2016-01-01

This book deals with methods to evaluate scientific productivity. In the book statistical methods, deterministic and stochastic models and numerous indexes are discussed that will help the reader to understand the nonlinear science dynamics and to be able to develop or construct systems for appropriate evaluation of research productivity and management of research groups and organizations. The dynamics of science structures and systems is complex, and the evaluation of research productivity requires a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and measures. The book has three parts. The first part is devoted to mathematical models describing the importance of science for economic growth and systems for the evaluation of research organizations of different size. The second part contains descriptions and discussions of numerous indexes for the evaluation of the productivity of researchers and groups of researchers of different size (up to the comparison of research productivities of research communiti...

Applying Data Envelopment Analysis and Grey Model for the Productivity Evaluation of Vietnamese Agroforestry Industry

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Chia-Nan Wang

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Agriculture and forestry play important roles in Vietnam, particularly as they contribute to the creation of food, conservation of forest resources, and improvement of soil fertility. Therefore, understanding the performances of relevant enterprises in this field contributes to the sustainable development of this country’s agroforestry industry. This research proposes a hybrid model, which includes a grey model (GM and a Malmquist productivity index (MPI, to assess the performances of Vietnamese agroforestry enterprises over several time periods. After collecting the data of selected input and output variables for 10 Vietnam agroforestry enterprises in the period of 2011–2014, GM is used to forecast the future values of these input and output variables for the 10 agroforestry enterprises in 2015 and 2016. Following the results of GM, the MPI is used to measure the performance of these enterprises. The MPI scores showed some enterprises will become more efficient, while others will become less efficient. The proposed model gives past–present–future insights in order for decision-makers to sustain agroforestry development in Vietnam. This hybrid approach can be applied to performance analysis of other industries as well.

Are Private Providers more Productive and Efficient than Public Providers of International Education? Evidence from New Zealand

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Dayal TALUKDER

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This study has investigated the productivity growth and efficiency of private and public providers of international education in New Zealand. It has used secondary data to calculate the DEA-based Malmquist productivity index for measuring Total Factor Productivity (TFP-growth and efficiency of both public and private providers of international education during 1999-2010. The study has found that private providers experienced a larger TFP-growth than that of public providers during 1999-2004. However, they experienced a sharp decline in TFP-growth since 2005 through to 2010 and experienced a much smaller TFP-growth than that of public providers during this period. Conversely, public providers experienced a positive TFP-growth during 1999-2004 but they experienced a negative TFP-growth since 2005 through to 2010. Considering efficiency, both private and public providers experienced almost a constant Technical Efficiency Change (TEC having a same level of efficiency of one. Both private and public providers exhibited a constant return to scale during 1999-2010. This study argues that on an average, private providers are more productive than public providers of international education. However, they are not more efficient than public providers as both types of providers exhibited a constant return to scale during 1999-2010. This study also argues that TFP-growth of New Zealand’s international education was determined by Technological Change (TC, not by TEC during this period.

Dynamics of productivity change in the Australian electricity industry: Assessing the impacts of electricity reform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aghdam, Reza Fathollahzadeh, E-mail: reza_f_a@yahoo.com [Department of Finance and Economics, College of Industrial Management, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, PO Box 257, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia)

2011-06-15

The Australian electricity industry has undergone a significant reform, since the mid-1990s. Key changes comprised functional unbundling, market restructuring, regulatory reform, public corporatisation and privatisation. Technological development has been another indisputable constituent of these changes, in the wake of ICT revolution. The principle rationale behind these changes has been that they would improve productivity of the industry and social well-being of people. This paper examines the dynamics of productivity changes in the Australian electricity industry and conducts several hypotheses-testings to identify whether industry's efficiency measures are truly improved as a result of the reform-driven changes. Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index approach and ANOVA are used for this purpose. The results reveal that the productivity gains in the industry have been largely driven by technological improvements and, to a lesser extent, by reform-induced comparative efficiency gains. On average at national level and for the entire industry, there are efficiency gains that, to large extents, can be attributed to functional unbundling and public corporatisation and, to a lesser extent, to market restructuring and privatisation. The results, however, reveal that the reform-driven changes have made insignificant contribution to comparative efficiency, at the level of thermal generation. - Highlights: > Dynamics of productivity changes in Australian electricity industry are examined. > Several hypotheses are also tested against reform-driven changes. > Technology impact is proved to be far larger than reform-induced impacts. > Unbundling and corporatisation had larger impacts than market restructuring and privatisation. > At thermal generation level, no reform-induced impact is encountered.

Dynamics of productivity change in the Australian electricity industry: Assessing the impacts of electricity reform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aghdam, Reza Fathollahzadeh

2011-01-01

The Australian electricity industry has undergone a significant reform, since the mid-1990s. Key changes comprised functional unbundling, market restructuring, regulatory reform, public corporatisation and privatisation. Technological development has been another indisputable constituent of these changes, in the wake of ICT revolution. The principle rationale behind these changes has been that they would improve productivity of the industry and social well-being of people. This paper examines the dynamics of productivity changes in the Australian electricity industry and conducts several hypotheses-testings to identify whether industry's efficiency measures are truly improved as a result of the reform-driven changes. Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index approach and ANOVA are used for this purpose. The results reveal that the productivity gains in the industry have been largely driven by technological improvements and, to a lesser extent, by reform-induced comparative efficiency gains. On average at national level and for the entire industry, there are efficiency gains that, to large extents, can be attributed to functional unbundling and public corporatisation and, to a lesser extent, to market restructuring and privatisation. The results, however, reveal that the reform-driven changes have made insignificant contribution to comparative efficiency, at the level of thermal generation. - Highlights: → Dynamics of productivity changes in Australian electricity industry are examined. → Several hypotheses are also tested against reform-driven changes. → Technology impact is proved to be far larger than reform-induced impacts. → Unbundling and corporatisation had larger impacts than market restructuring and privatisation. → At thermal generation level, no reform-induced impact is encountered.

An Evaluation of h-Index as a Measure of Research Productivity Among Canadian Academic Plastic Surgeons.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jiayi; Gholami, Arian; Stone, Nicholas; Bartoszko, Justyna; Thoma, Achilleas

2018-02-01

Evaluation of research productivity among plastic surgeons can be complex. The Hirsch index (h-index) was recently introduced to evaluate both the quality and quantity of one's research activity. It has been proposed to be valuable in assessing promotions and grant funding within academic medicine, including plastic surgery. Our objective is to evaluate research productivity among Canadian academic plastic surgeons using the h-index. A list of Canadian academic plastic surgeons was obtained from websites of academic training programs. The h-index was retrieved using the Scopus database. Relevant demographic and academic factors were collected and their effects on the h-index were analyzed using the t test and Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney U test. Nominal and categorical variables were analyzed using χ 2 test and 1-way analysis of variance. Univariate and multivariate models were built a priori. All P values were 2 sided, and P h-index of 7.6. Over 80% of the surgeons were male. Both univariable and multivariable analysis showed that graduate degree ( P h-index. Limitations of the study include that the Scopus database and the websites of training programs were not always up-to-date. The h-index is a novel tool for evaluating research productivity in academic medicine, and this study shows that the h-index can also serve as a useful metric for measuring research productivity in the Canadian plastic surgery community. Plastic surgeons would be wise to familiarize themselves with the h-index concept and should consider using it as an adjunct to existing metrics such as total publication number.

Academic Productivity of US Neurosurgery Residents as Measured by H-Index: Program Ranking with Correlation to Faculty Productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkiss, Christopher A; Riley, Kyle J; Hernandez, Christopher M; Oermann, Eric K; Ladner, Travis R; Bederson, Joshua B; Shrivastava, Raj K

2017-06-01

Engagement in research and academic productivity are crucial components in the training of a neurosurgeon. This process typically begins in residency training. In this study, we analyzed individual resident productivity as it correlated to publications across all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited neurosurgery training programs in an attempt to identify how programs have developed and fostered a research culture and environment. We obtained a list of current neurosurgery residents in ACGME-accredited programs from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons database. An expanded PubMed and Scopus search was conducted for each resident through the present time. We tabulated all articles attributed to each resident. We then categorized the publications based on each neurosurgical subspecialty while in residency. A spreadsheet-based statistical analysis was performed. This formulated the average number of resident articles, h-indices, and most common subspecialty categories by training program. We analyzed 1352 current neurosurgery residents in 105 programs. There were a total of 10 645 publications, of which 3985 were resident first-author publications during the period of study. The most common subspecialties among all resident publications were vascular (24.9%), spine (16.9%), oncology (16.1%), pediatric (5.6%), functional (4.9%), and trauma (3.8%). The average resident published 2.9 first-author papers with average of 38.0 first-author publications by total residents at each program (range 0-241). The average h-index per resident is 2.47 ± 3.25. When comparing previously published faculty h-index program rankings against our resident h-index rankings, there is a strong correlation between the 2 datasets with a clear delineation between Top-20 productivity and that of other programs (average h-index 4.2 vs 1.7, respectively, P productivity on both the resident and faculty level (average h-index 1.6, 1.9, 3.9 for 1, 2, and

Index selection of beef cattle for growth and milk production using ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Index selection of beef cattle for growth and milk production using computer simulation modelling. ... South African Journal of Animal Science ... into the model allowed for the introduction of variation between individuals and generations.

Road safety development in Europe: a decade of changes (2001-2010).

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Yongjun; Hermans, Elke; Bao, Qiong; Brijs, Tom; Wets, Geert

2013-11-01

To evaluate the road safety development of a country over time, the percentage change in the number of road fatalities is traditionally the main indicator. However, simply considering the reduction in the road fatalities may not correctly reflect the real improvement in road safety because the transport circumstances of a country underlying the road fatalities also change every year. In this study, we present a new way for measuring the road safety performance change over time, which is to use the technique of data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist productivity index. In doing so, we can not only focus on the evolution of road safety final outcomes within a given period, but also take the changes of different measures of exposure in the same period into account. In the application, the DEA-based Malmquist productivity index (DEA-MI) is used to measure the extent to which the EU countries have improved their road safety performance over the period 2001-2010. More objective and insightful results are obtained compared to the ones based on the traditional indicator. The results show considerable road safety progress in most of the Member States during these ten years, and the fatality risk rather than the fatality number on Europe's roads has actually been reduced by approximately half. However, the situation differed considerably from country to country. The decomposition of the DEA-MI into 'efficiency change' and 'technical change' further reveals that the bulk of the improvement during the last decade was attained through the adoption of productivity-enhancing new technologies throughout the road transport sector in Europe, rather than through the relatively underperforming countries catching up with those best-performing ones. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of productivity of hospitals in Botswana: a DEA application.

Science.gov (United States)

Tlotlego, Naomi; Nonvignon, Justice; Sambo, Luis G; Asbu, Eyob Z; Kirigia, Joses M

2010-11-05

Botswana national health policy states that the Ministry of Health shall from time to time review and revise its organization and management structures to respond to new developments and challenges in order to achieve and sustain a high level of efficiency in the provision of health care. Even though the government clearly views assuring efficiency in the health sector as one of its leadership and governance responsibilities, to date no study has been undertaken to measure the technical efficiency of hospitals which consume the majority of health sector resources. The specific objectives of this study were to quantify the technical and scale efficiency of hospitals in Botswana, and to evaluate changes in productivity over a three year period in order to analyze changes in efficiency and technology use. DEAP software was used to analyze technical efficiency along with the DEA-based Malmquist productivity index which was applied to a sample of 21 non-teaching hospitals in the Republic of Botswana over a period of three years (2006 to 2008). The analysis revealed that 16 (76.2 percent), 16 (76.2 percent) and 13 (61.9 percent) of the 21 hospitals were run inefficiently in 2006, 2007 and 2008, with average variable returns to scale (VRS) technical efficiency scores of 70.4 percent, 74.2 percent and 76.3 percent respectively. On average, Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (MTFP) decreased by 1.5 percent. Whilst hospital efficiency increased by 3.1 percent, technical change (innovation) regressed by 4.5 percent. Efficiency change was thus attributed to an improvement in pure efficiency of 4.2 percent and a decline in scale efficiency of 1 percent. The MTFP change was the highest in 2008 (MTFP = 1.008) and the lowest in 2007 (MTFP = 0.963). The results indicate significant inefficiencies within the sample for the years under study. In 2008, taken together, the inefficient hospitals would have needed to increase the number of outpatient visits by 117627 (18 percent) and

Air emissions perspective on energy efficiency: An empirical analysis of China’s coastal areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin, Quande; Li, Xin; Li, Li; Zhen, Wei; Wei, Yi-Ming

2017-01-01

Highlights: • We investigate the static and dynamic energy efficiency in China’s coastal areas. • Both environmental pollutants and greenhouse gas are considered. • Global benchmark technology is incorporated into the related DEA models. • China’s coastal areas have great potential of air emissions reduction. • Technological progress is main driven factor to improve energy efficiency. - Abstract: Improving energy efficiency has been recognized as the most effective way to reduce the greenhouse effect and achieve sustainable development. From the perspective of air emissions, this paper adopts data envelopment analysis approach to evaluate the energy efficiency in China’s coastal areas over the period of 2000–2012. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are treated as undesirable outputs of energy consumptions. The proposed global Epsilon-based measure is used to estimate the static energy efficiency with an annual cross-section of data. The weights of the three undesirable outputs are determined according to their treatment costs. A global Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index based on directional distance function is employed to dynamically evaluate the energy efficiency. The results indicate the following in China’s coastal areas: (1) the level of economic development is positively related to energy efficiency scores; (2) energy efficiency scores decrease when considering undesirable outputs except Beijing and Hainan; (3) the Circum-Bohai Sea Economic Region greatly improves energy efficiency and has great potential of air emission; (4) the annual growth rate of Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index change is overestimated; (5) energy efficiency improvement is mainly driven by technological improvement, and scale efficiency and management level are the main obstacles.

Efficiency and productivity measurement of rural township hospitals in China: a bootstrapping data envelopment analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhaohui; Cai, Miao; Tao, Hongbing; He, Zhifei; Lin, Xiaojun; Lin, Haifeng; Zuo, Yuling

2016-01-01

Objective Township hospitals (THs) are important components of the three-tier rural healthcare system of China. However, the efficiency and productivity of THs have been questioned since the healthcare reform was implemented in 2009. The objective of this study is to analyse the efficiency and productivity changes in THs before and after the reform process. Setting and participants A total of 48 sample THs were selected from the Xiaogan Prefecture in Hubei Province from 2008 to 2014. Outcome measures First, bootstrapping data envelopment analysis (DEA) was performed to estimate the technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE) and scale efficiency (SE) of the sample THs during the period. Second, the bootstrapping Malmquist productivity index was used to calculate the productivity changes over time. Results The average TE, PTE and SE of the sample THs over the 7-year period were 0.5147, 0.6373 and 0.7080, respectively. The average TE and PTE increased from 2008 to 2012 but declined considerably after 2012. In general, the sample THs experienced a negative shift in productivity from 2008 to 2014. The negative change was 2.14%, which was attributed to a 23.89% decrease in technological changes (TC). The sample THs experienced a positive productivity shift from 2008 to 2012 but experienced deterioration from 2012 to 2014. Conclusions There was considerable space for TE improvement in the sample THs since the average TE was relatively low. From 2008 to 2014, the sample THs experienced a decrease in productivity, and the adverse alteration in TC should be emphasised. In the context of healthcare reform, the factors that influence TE and productivity of THs are complex. Results suggest that numerous quantitative and qualitative studies are necessary to explore the reasons for the changes in TE and productivity. PMID:27836870

Body mass index and economic productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, E; Garcia, M

1994-11-01

The paper reviews the evidence to date on the nutritional links with productivity and then goes on to provide results from a multi-country study on the effects of increasing body mass index (BMI) on productivity. The research relating nutritional status to work capacity is more consistent than the research linking nutritional status to productivity. None of the studies to date elucidate the pathways through which improved nutrition improves economic productivity. In addition, many of the studies that have been conducted on the nutrition/wage links have been based on samples that contained a disproportionate number of male subjects. The few studies that have disaggregated data by gender report different results for men and women. Research conducted at IFPRI is presented to examine the trends in BMI for men and women across countries and for Kenya to examine the relationships between various measures of nutritional status--BMI and height--and energy expenditures in women. BMIs of men show a more consistent relationship with increasing household income than do the BMIs of women. In the case of the Gambia and Kenya, the mean BMI of women decreases with increasing household income. One reason for the apparently low response of BMI to increasing household income in Kenya is the time allocation patterns of women. Women in the Kenya sample spend the largest proportion of their day in home production activities which are energy intensive. In examining the relationship between nutritional indicators and the time devoted to work, the results suggest a significant, positive association between both BMI and height and the amount of time devoted to work. In the models presented, both BMI and height appear to increase the capacity to carry out work. It is difficult to value much of this work time since a disproportionate share is devoted to home production activities. Some of the more classic methods of measuring economic productivity, such as measuring wage rates, are not

On the integration of products of Whittaker functions with respect to the second index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Peter A.

2004-01-01

Several new formulas are developed that enable the evaluation of a family of definite integrals containing the product of two Whittaker W κ,μ (x)-functions. The integration is performed with respect to the second index μ, and the first index κ is permitted to have any complex value, within certain restrictions required for convergence. The method utilizes complex contour integration along with various symmetry relations satisfied by the Whittaker functions. The new results derived in this article are complementary to the previously known integrals of products of Whittaker functions, which generally treat integration with respect to either the first index κ or the primary argument x. A physical application involving radiative transport is discussed

Estimation of Resource Productivity and Efficiency: An Extended Evaluation of Sustainability Related to Material Flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pin-Chih Wang

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This study is intended to conduct an extended evaluation of sustainability based on the material flow analysis of resource productivity. We first present updated information on the material flow analysis (MFA database in Taiwan. Essential indicators are selected to quantify resource productivity associated with the economy-wide MFA of Taiwan. The study also applies the IPAT (impact-population-affluence-technology master equation to measure trends of material use efficiency in Taiwan and to compare them with those of other Asia-Pacific countries. An extended evaluation of efficiency, in comparison with selected economies by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA, is conducted accordingly. The Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI is thereby adopted to quantify the patterns and the associated changes of efficiency. Observations and summaries can be described as follows. Based on the MFA of the Taiwanese economy, the average growth rates of domestic material input (DMI; 2.83% and domestic material consumption (DMC; 2.13% in the past two decades were both less than that of gross domestic product (GDP; 4.95%. The decoupling of environmental pressures from economic growth can be observed. In terms of the decomposition analysis of the IPAT equation and in comparison with 38 other economies, the material use efficiency of Taiwan did not perform as well as its economic growth. The DEA comparisons of resource productivity show that Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Japan performed the best in 2008. Since the MPI consists of technological change (frontier-shift or innovation and efficiency change (catch-up, the change in efficiency (catch-up of Taiwan has not been accomplished as expected in spite of the increase in its technological efficiency.

Economic values and selection index in different Angus-Nellore cross-bred production systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, G M; Savegnago, R P; El Faro, L; Mosaquatro Roso, V; de Paz, C C P

2018-06-01

Bioeconomic models were developed to calculate economic values (EV) for economically important traits in beef cattle, to evaluate the impact of these traits on production profitability, to assess possible market changes with a payment system and to develop economic selection indexes for Angus cattle for two production systems. Two beef cattle production systems were simulated as follows: a cow-calf cycle (CC) and a complete cycle (CoC). Following selection, positive changes in the EV were observed. In the CC, each 1.0% increment in weaning weight (WW), weaning rate (WR) and pregnancy rate (PR) resulted in increases in US$ 1.30, US$ 3.68 and US$ 3.55 per cow/year in profit, respectively. In the CoC, EV of US$ 1.01, US$ 1.79, US$ 1.19, US$ 1.34, US$ 6.84 and US$ 7.86 per cow/year were obtained for WW, year weight, yearling weight, final weight, WR and PR, respectively. The payment system for carcass quality showed that the scenario considering that 100% of the animals displayed uniform carcasses exhibited the highest EV and was considered optimal. Considering the sensitivity analysis, the price paid per animal was the factor that most affected the EV in both systems. The selection indexes obtained may be used in similar production systems, and the use of EV and selection indexes are important tools for any production system with positive change in profit after selection. © 2018 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Rainfall Intensity and Frequency Explain Production Basis Risk in Cumulative Rain Index Insurance

Science.gov (United States)

Muneepeerakul, Chitsomanus P.; Muneepeerakul, Rachata; Huffaker, Ray G.

2017-12-01

With minimal moral hazard and adverse selection, weather index insurance promises financial resilience to farmers struck by harsh weather conditions through swift compensation at affordable premium. Despite these advantages, the very nature of indexing gives rise to production basis risk as the selected weather indexes do not sufficiently correspond to actual damages. To address this problem, we develop a stochastic yield model, built upon a stochastic soil moisture model driven by marked Poisson rainfall. Our analysis shows that even under similar temperature and rainfall amount yields can differ significantly; this was empirically supported by a 2-year field experiment in which rain-fed maize was grown under very similar total rainfall. Here, the year with more intense, less-frequent rainfall produces a better yield—a rare counter evidence to most climate change projections. Through a stochastic yield model, we demonstrate the crucial roles of rainfall intensity and frequency in determining the yield. Importantly, the model allows us to compute rainfall pattern-related basis risk inherent in cumulative rain index insurance. The model results and a case study herein clearly show that total rainfall is a poor indicator of yield, imposing unnecessary production basis risk on farmers and false-positive payouts on insurers. Incorporating rainfall intensity and frequency in the design of rain index insurance can offer farmers better protection, while maintaining the attractive features of the weather index insurance and thus fulfilling its promise of financial resilience.

Measuring Credit Capacity on Danish Farms Using DEA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friis Pedersen, Michael; Vesterlund Olsen, Jakob

2013-01-01

have important implications for risk management practice, investment and technology adoption and related policy issues. The method is limited by the possibility of strategic behavior of lenders during credit cycle busts. In credit cycle booms, the method gives a good basis for the estimates of change...... in credit reserves. Practical implications: In a period of increasing credit reserves, risk management institutions are unlikely to develop. Like agricultural policy, access to credit may crowd out market-based risk management. Originality/value: The study represents a novel application and interpretation......Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel measure of access to credit suited to estimate the relative change in credit reserves. Design/methodology/approach: A debt possibility frontier is estimated using data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist index is calculated. The Malmquist...

Eggshells as an index of aedine mosquito production. 2: Relationship of Aedes taeniorhynchus eggshell density to larval production.

Science.gov (United States)

Addison, D S; Ritchie, S A; Webber, L A; Van Essen, F

1992-03-01

To test if eggshell density could be used as an index of aedine mosquito production, we compared eggshell density with the larval production of Aedes taeniorhynchus in Florida mangrove basin forests. Quantitative (n = 7) and categorical (n = 34) estimates of annual larval production were regressed against the number of eggshells per cc of soil. Significant regressions were obtained in both instances. Larval production was concentrated in zones with the highest eggshell density. We suggest that eggshell density and distribution can be used to identify oviposition sites and the sequence of larval appearance.

Nature is the best source of anti-inflammatory drugs: indexing natural products for their anti-inflammatory bioactivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Aswad, Miran; Rayan, Mahmoud; Abu-Lafi, Saleh; Falah, Mizied; Raiyn, Jamal; Abdallah, Ziyad; Rayan, Anwar

2018-01-01

The aim was to index natural products for less expensive preventive or curative anti-inflammatory therapeutic drugs. A set of 441 anti-inflammatory drugs representing the active domain and 2892 natural products representing the inactive domain was used to construct a predictive model for bioactivity-indexing purposes. The model for indexing the natural products for potential anti-inflammatory activity was constructed using the iterative stochastic elimination algorithm (ISE). ISE is capable of differentiating between active and inactive anti-inflammatory molecules. By applying the prediction model to a mix set of (active/inactive) substances, we managed to capture 38% of the anti-inflammatory drugs in the top 1% of the screened set of chemicals, yielding enrichment factor of 38. Ten natural products that scored highly as potential anti-inflammatory drug candidates are disclosed. Searching the PubMed revealed that only three molecules (Moupinamide, Capsaicin, and Hypaphorine) out of the ten were tested and reported as anti-inflammatory. The other seven phytochemicals await evaluation for their anti-inflammatory activity in wet lab. The proposed anti-inflammatory model can be utilized for the virtual screening of large chemical databases and for indexing natural products for potential anti-inflammatory activity.

Linking climate, gross primary productivity, and site index across forests of the western United States

Science.gov (United States)

Aaron R. Weiskittel; Nicholas L. Crookston; Philip J. Radtke

2011-01-01

Assessing forest productivity is important for developing effective management regimes and predicting future growth. Despite some important limitations, the most common means for quantifying forest stand-level potential productivity is site index (SI). Another measure of productivity is gross primary production (GPP). In this paper, SI is compared with GPP estimates...

Water Use Efficiency Improvement against a Backdrop of Expanding City Agglomeration in Developing Countries—A Case Study on Industrial and Agricultural Water Use in the Bohai Bay Region of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minghao Bai

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Most city agglomerations of developing countries face water shortages and pollution due to population growth and industrial aggregation. To meet such water security challenges, policy makers need to evaluate water use efficiency at the regional or basin level because the prosperity of city agglomerations is indispensable to the sustainable development of the region or basin. To solve the issue, this paper adopts a non-directional distance function within the framework of environmental production technology to measure water use efficiency. Based on the distance between actual water use efficiency and the ideal efficiency, it calculates the potential reduction space of water input and pollutants by slack adjustment. Added to the Malmquist index, it forms a non-radial Malmquist water use performance index, which can be divided into technological change and technical efficiency change, to measure dynamic water use efficiency. Further, water use efficiency change is analyzed from the perspectives of technological improvement and institutional construction. Bohai Bay city agglomeration, a typical water-deficient city agglomeration in China, is taken as a case study, and data on water resource, environment, and economy from 2011 to 2014 have been used. In conclusion, there is much space for water use efficiency improvement on the whole. However, even having considered potential reduction space of water input and pollutant discharge under current environmental production technology, it is still not enough to support the city agglomeration’s sustainable development. To relieve current potential water safety hazards, not only technical improvement but also institution innovation for highly efficient water use should be kept accelerating in Bohai Bay region. In terms of urban water management in developing countries, the research conclusion is of theoretical and practical significance.

Assessment of productivity of hospitals in Botswana: a DEA application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tlotlego Naomi

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Botswana national health policy states that the Ministry of Health shall from time to time review and revise its organization and management structures to respond to new developments and challenges in order to achieve and sustain a high level of efficiency in the provision of health care. Even though the government clearly views assuring efficiency in the health sector as one of its leadership and governance responsibilities, to date no study has been undertaken to measure the technical efficiency of hospitals which consume the majority of health sector resources. The specific objectives of this study were to quantify the technical and scale efficiency of hospitals in Botswana, and to evaluate changes in productivity over a three year period in order to analyze changes in efficiency and technology use. Methods DEAP software was used to analyze technical efficiency along with the DEA-based Malmquist productivity index which was applied to a sample of 21 non-teaching hospitals in the Republic of Botswana over a period of three years (2006 to 2008. Results The analysis revealed that 16 (76.2 percent, 16 (76.2 percent and 13 (61.9 percent of the 21 hospitals were run inefficiently in 2006, 2007 and 2008, with average variable returns to scale (VRS technical efficiency scores of 70.4 percent, 74.2 percent and 76.3 percent respectively. On average, Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (MTFP decreased by 1.5 percent. Whilst hospital efficiency increased by 3.1 percent, technical change (innovation regressed by 4.5 percent. Efficiency change was thus attributed to an improvement in pure efficiency of 4.2 percent and a decline in scale efficiency of 1 percent. The MTFP change was the highest in 2008 (MTFP = 1.008 and the lowest in 2007 (MTFP = 0.963. Conclusions The results indicate significant inefficiencies within the sample for the years under study. In 2008, taken together, the inefficient hospitals would have needed to increase

Study on environmental impact assessment index system of uranium production base construction plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Xiaochao; Song Liquan

2008-01-01

The index system on planning environmental impact assessment of uranium mining base construction is discussed by using the hiberarchy method according to characteristics of uranium production and environmental protection object of planning assessment. The suggested index system is in favor of persistent exploitation of uranium resource and environmental protection in the uranium mining area, and can provide a reference for planning environmental impact assessment of uranium mining base construction in China. (authors)

Health information technology vendor selection strategies and total factor productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Eric W; Huerta, Timothy R; Menachemi, Nir; Thompson, Mark A; Yu, Feliciano

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare health information technology (HIT) adoption strategies' relative performance on hospital-level productivity measures. The American Hospital Association's Annual Survey and Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics for fiscal years 2002 through 2007 were used for this study. A two-stage approach is employed. First, a Malmquist model is specified to calculate hospital-level productivity measures. A logistic regression model is then estimated to compare the three HIT adoption strategies' relative performance on the newly constructed productivity measures. The HIT vendor selection strategy impacts the amount of technological change required of an organization but does not appear to have either a positive or adverse impact on technical efficiency or total factor productivity. The higher levels in technological change experienced by hospitals using the best of breed and best of suite HIT vendor selection strategies may have a more direct impact on the organization early on in the process. However, these gains did not appear to translate into either increased technical efficiency or total factor productivity during the period studied. Over a longer period, one HIT vendor selection strategy may yet prove to be more effective at improving efficiency and productivity.

Level of the farm intensity organisation as the index of environmental sustainable agricultural production

OpenAIRE

Józef Sawa

2009-01-01

Intensity of the farm production organisation in relation to soil organic matter balance in different degree of mechanization process of work for 42 farms situated in different regions of Poland was analysed. Coefficients agricultural production process in ecological, economic and social aspects were presented also. It was shown that indexes; intensity farm production organisation and soil organic matter balance are correlated.

The changing trend and influencing factors of energy efficiency: The case of nine countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui, Qiang; Kuang, Hai-bo; Wu, Chun-you; Li, Ye

2014-01-01

Energy shortage is exacerbated by energy wastage and low efficiency, so energy efficiency has become a popular research topic. However, in most studies, the inputs and outputs of energy efficiency are selected through qualitative analysis and literature review, the rationality is not convincing. In this paper, the inputs and outputs of energy efficiency are calculated by EVA (Economic Value Added method). Number of employees in energy industry, energy consumption amount and energy services amount are chosen as the inputs while CO 2 emissions per capita and industrial profit amount are chosen as the outputs. DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and Malmquist index are applied to calculate the energy efficiencies of nine countries during 2008–2012. Each country has different reasons to explain the change of energy efficiency index and more flexible energy development plans should be implemented according to the changing reasons. Then the important influencing factors of energy efficiency are analyzed by Panel Regression Model. The results indicate that technology indices and management indices are the main factors of energy efficiency. Management indices' effect on energy efficiency index is occurred mainly through pure technical efficiency change index. Technology indices' effect on energy efficiency index is occurred mainly through technical progress change index. - Highlights: • The inputs and outputs of energy efficiency are calculated by Economic Value Added method. • Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist index are used to calculate energy efficiency. • Panel Regression Model is used to identify the important influencing factors of energy efficiency. • Most important task is to upgrade energy technology and enhance management

MATHEMATICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE WELL PRODUCTIVITY INDEX FOR FAST FORCHHEIMER (NON-DARCY) FLOWS IN POROUS MEDIA

KAUST Repository

AULISA, EUGENIO

2009-08-01

Motivated by the reservoir engineering concept of the well Productivity Index, we introduced and analyzed a functional, denoted as "diffusive capacity", for the solution of the initial-boundary value problem (IBVP) for a linear parabolic equation.21 This IBVP described laminar (linear) Darcy flow in porous media; the considered boundary conditions corresponded to different regimes of the well production. The diffusive capacities were then computed as steady state invariants of the solutions to the corresponding time-dependent boundary value problem. Here similar features for fast or turbulent nonlinear flows subjected to the Forchheimer equations are analyzed. It is shown that under some hydrodynamic and thermodynamic constraints, there exists a so-called pseudo steady state regime for the Forchheimer flows in porous media. In other words, under some assumptions there exists a steady state invariant over a certain class of solutions to the transient IBVP modeling the Forchheimer flow for slightly compressible fluid. This invariant is the diffusive capacity, which serves as the mathematical representation of the so-called well Productivity Index. The obtained results enable computation of the well Productivity Index by resolving a single steady state boundary value problem for a second-order quasilinear elliptic equation. Analytical and numerical studies highlight some new relations for the well Productivity Index in linear and nonlinear cases. The obtained analytical formulas can be potentially used for the numerical well block model as an analog of Piecemann. © 2009 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Evaluation of a reproductive index for estimating productivity of grassland breeding birds

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, M.R.; Norment, C.; Runge, M.C.

2010-01-01

Declining populations of grassland breeding birds have led to increased efforts to assess habitat quality, typically by estimating density or relative abundance. Because some grassland habitats may function as ecological traps, a more appropriate metric for determining quality is breeding success, which is challenging to determine for many cryptic-nesting grassland birds. This difficulty led Vickery et al. (1992) to propose a reproductive index based on behavioral observations rather than nest fate. We rigorously evaluated the index for 2 years using a Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) population in western New York and found a weak correlation in classification of the breeding stages of monitored territories among multiple observers (r = 0.398). We also discovered a large difference between overall territory and nest success rates independently estimated with the index (9.8% over the entire breeding cycle) and with nest searching and monitoring (41.7% of nests successfully fledged young). Most importantly, we made territory-level comparisons of index estimates with actual nest fate and found that the index correctly predicted fates for only 43% of the monitored nests. A Mayfield logistic regression analysis demonstrated that only index rank 4 (eggs hatched, but young failed to fledge) showed a strong positive correlation with nest success. Although the reproductive index may function as a coarse indicator of habitat suitability (e.g., documenting production in potential ecological traps), in our study the index exhibited neither internal consistency nor the ability to predict nest fate at the plot or territory level and functioned poorly as a substitute for nest searching and monitoring. ?? 2010 The American Ornithologists' Union.

Level of the farm intensity organisation as the index of environmental sustainable agricultural production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Józef Sawa

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Intensity of the farm production organisation in relation to soil organic matter balance in different degree of mechanization process of work for 42 farms situated in different regions of Poland was analysed. Coefficients agricultural production process in ecological, economic and social aspects were presented also. It was shown that indexes; intensity farm production organisation and soil organic matter balance are correlated.

Index of Real Sector Returns as Price Benchmarking for Islamic Banking Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Researchers of Islamic Banking Department

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Objective – Islamic Banking is closely related to the real sector. Then, its operation should reflect the real sector which is expected to contribute to the sustainable economic growth. Nevertheless, Islamic banks are still benchmarking the price of their products (profit sharing and sales on interest rate. This is as an implication of the implementation of the dual banking system. Moreover, the small portion of Islamic banking compared to the total national banks causes the competitiveness of Islamic banking product in terms of pricing has a high correlation with the interest rate of conventional counterpart. This phenomenon indicates the need to find.Method – This research employed library research method since this paper relies on secondary data by thoroughly reviewing the most relevant literature. The paper attempt to propose a pricing indicator which is based on the real sector activities as the root of Islamic banking operations.Result – Theoretically, this indicator can reflect the real rate of return of every industry sector. In addition, it can help Bank Indonesia to monitor the real sector performance and analyze the possible gap between real sector activities and financial sector. Furthermore, when the benchmark of real rate of real sector return is available, the return index of Islamic banking reflecting the profit sharing performance of the whole Islamic banking industry can be formulated. This concept is different with other indexes which are corresponding to the price of financial assets.Conclusion – In general, return index of real sector as a reference for Islamic banking product pricing is expected to define the way of non-interest return analysis, to calculate the non-interest return of selected sectors that becomes the focus of analysis using Cash Recovery Rates (CRR, forming an index of industry by sector in the second stage, by doing a certain weighting of those companies, to analyze the relationship between macro

Academic Productivity of Neurosurgeons Working in the United Kingdom: Insights from the H-Index and Its Variants.

Science.gov (United States)

Jamjoom, Aimun A B; Wiggins, A N; Loan, J J M; Emelifeoneu, J; Fouyas, I P; Brennan, P M

2016-02-01

Academic metrics can be used to compare the productivity of researchers. We aimed to use a variety of bibliometric parameters to assess the productivity of neurosurgeons working in the United Kingdom. Neurosurgical consultants working in the United Kingdom were identified using the Society of British Neurosurgeons' Audit Programme website. Baseline data collected included year of entry to specialist register, academic position and award of higher degree. Google Scholar was used to compute a range of academic metrics for each consultant including the h-index, hi-norm, e-index and g-index. Non-parametric tests were used to compare median results. Median metrics for the whole cohort were: h-index (5), hi-norm (3), g-index (10.4) and e-index (9). The top 3 units based on h-index were Addenbrookes (13), Great Ormond Street (12.5) and Queen's Square (11.5). The h-index correlated with academic position [Prof (17.5), Senior Lecturer (10.5) and non-academic (5); P 10 year (7), neurosurgeons through the analysis of a number of citation metrics. It provides a benchmark bibliometric profile and we advocate future comparative assessments as a means to assess impact of and guide academic policy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Technical efficiency and productivity of Chinese county hospitals: an exploratory study in Henan province, China

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhaohui; Tao, Hongbing; Cai, Miao; Lin, Haifeng; Lin, Xiaojun; Shu, Qin; Zhang, Ru-ning

2015-01-01

Objectives Chinese county hospitals have been excessively enlarging their scale during the healthcare reform since 2009. The purpose of this paper is to examine the technical efficiency and productivity of county hospitals during the reform process, and to determine whether, and how, efficiency is affected by various factors. Setting and participants 114 sample county hospitals were selected from Henan province, China, from 2010 to 2012. Outcome measures Data envelopment analysis was employed to estimate the technical and scale efficiency of sample hospitals. The Malmquist index was used to calculate productivity changes over time. Tobit regression was used to regress against 4 environmental factors and 5 institutional factors that affected the technical efficiency. Results (1) 112 (98.2%), 112 (98.2%) and 104 (91.2%) of the 114 sample hospitals ran inefficiently in 2010, 2011 and 2012, with average technical efficiency of 0.697, 0.748 and 0.790, respectively. (2) On average, during 2010–2012, productivity of sample county hospitals increased by 7.8%, which was produced by the progress in technical efficiency changes and technological changes of 0.9% and 6.8%, respectively. (3) Tobit regression analysis indicated that government subsidy, hospital size with above 618 beds and average length of stay assumed a negative sign with technical efficiency; bed occupancy rate, ratio of beds to nurses and ratio of nurses to physicians assumed a positive sign with technical efficiency. Conclusions There was considerable space for technical efficiency improvement in Henan county hospitals. During 2010–2012, sample hospitals experienced productivity progress; however, the adverse change in pure technical efficiency should be emphasised. Moreover, according to the Tobit results, policy interventions that strictly supervise hospital bed scale, shorten the average length of stay and coordinate the proportion among physicians, nurses and beds, would benefit hospital efficiency

How indexes have changed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farrar, G.L.

1993-01-01

The accompanying table compares refinery construction and operating wages monthly for the years 1990 and 1991. The Nelson-Farrar refinery construction cost indexes are inflation indexes, while the operating indexes incorporate a productivity which shows improvement with experience and the increasing size of operations. The refinery construction wage indexes in the table show a steady advance over the 2-year period. Common labor indexes moved up faster than skilled indexes. Refinery operating wages showed a steady increase, while productivities averaged higher near the end of the period. Net result is that labor costs remained steady for the period

Bibliometric analysis of scientific production indexed in MEDLINE, about hospital based home care services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier Sanz-Valero

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: A thematic and bibliometric analysis was done for the available scientific production about the home care services based in the hospital. Methods: Bibliometric analysis. Data was obtained from MEDLINE database using MeSH “Home Care Services, Hospital-Based” as Major Topic. Search date: July 2016. The study sample was calculated by estimating population parameters for an infinite population and the selection was a simple random without replacement. Results: A total of 386 references were analysed. The number of original articles was of 204 (52,85%, identifying 243 institutions, with an index of cooperation of 3,75±1,16 authors/article. English was the predominant language in 279 (72,28% articles. The obsolescence was of 13 years according to the Burton-Kebler Index and the Price Index was of 14,40%. Bradford nucleon was constituted by 23 journals. The thematic classification determines a relevance of 70.73%. Conclusions: There was a high obsolescence and an anglophone orientation. Also, there was a weak relation between institutions and corporation index. Over the time there was an improvement of the access to the primary source, in line with the Open Access initiative. The production was collected in a high number of journals (in a very dispersed form. The thematic classification meets the studied issue.

Estimating the Fractional Vegetation Cover from GLASS Leaf Area Index Product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiqiang Xiao

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The fractional vegetation cover (FCover is an essential biophysical variable and plays a critical role in the carbon cycle studies. Existing FCover products from satellite observations are spatially incomplete and temporally discontinuous, and also inaccurate for some vegetation types to meet the requirements of various applications. In this study, an operational method is proposed to calculate high-quality, accurate FCover from the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS leaf area index (LAI product to ensure physical consistency between LAI and FCover retrievals. As a result, a global FCover product (denoted by TRAGL were generated from the GLASS LAI product from 2000 to present. With no missing values, the TRAGL FCover product is spatially complete. A comparison of the TRAGL FCover product with the Geoland2/BioPar version 1 (GEOV1 FCover product indicates that these FCover products exhibit similar spatial distribution pattern. However, there were relatively large discrepancies between these FCover products over equatorial rainforests, broadleaf crops in East-central United States, and needleleaf forests in Europe and Siberia. Temporal consistency analysis indicates that TRAGL FCover product has continuous trajectories. Direct validation with ground-based FCover estimates demonstrated that TRAGL FCover values were more accurate (RMSE = 0.0865, and R2 = 0.8848 than GEOV1 (RMSE = 0.1541, and R2 = 0.7621.

Indexing Natural Products for Their Potential Anti-Diabetic Activity: Filtering and Mapping Discriminative Physicochemical Properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeidan, Mouhammad; Rayan, Mahmoud; Zeidan, Nuha; Falah, Mizied; Rayan, Anwar

2017-09-17

Diabetes mellitus (DM) poses a major health problem, for which there is an unmet need to develop novel drugs. The application of in silico techniques and optimization algorithms is instrumental to achieving this goal. A set of 97 approved anti-diabetic drugs, representing the active domain, and a set of 2892 natural products, representing the inactive domain, were used to construct predictive models and to index anti-diabetic bioactivity. Our recently-developed approach of 'iterative stochastic elimination' was utilized. This article describes a highly discriminative and robust model, with an area under the curve above 0.96. Using the indexing model and a mix ratio of 1:1000 (active/inactive), 65% of the anti-diabetic drugs in the sample were captured in the top 1% of the screened compounds, compared to 1% in the random model. Some of the natural products that scored highly as potential anti-diabetic drug candidates are disclosed. One of those natural products is caffeine, which is noted in the scientific literature as having the capability to decrease blood glucose levels. The other nine phytochemicals await evaluation in a wet lab for their anti-diabetic activity. The indexing model proposed herein is useful for the virtual screening of large chemical databases and for the construction of anti-diabetes focused libraries.

Indexing of gas prices with respect to those of petroleum products: problem and perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Percebois, J.; Sauvage, E.; Valette, M.; Liens, G.; Lu, L.

2009-01-01

A debate was organized by the French gas association (AFG) on December 2, 2008 around the question of: is it opportune to maintain the present day system of indexing of gas prices with respect to petroleum product prices? Even if the basic reasons justifying this indexing system have changed with time, and despite the recent hostility of the European Commission, this practice remains the standard for the huge majority of gas transactions. Does this indexing system favour the producers? In spite of their apparent interest, do the consumers really wish to replace indexed prices by market prices in a context where strong uncertainties and tensions on gas markets cannot be excluded? Is the present day status quo the result of the situation imposed by producers or is it the consequences of contradictory anticipations between sellers and buyers? Will gas prices remain indexed on petroleum prices in the future and if not, what would be the possible alternatives? These are the questions debated by the participants and reported in this paper with the questions from the audience. (J.S.)

Satellite remote sensing for estimating leaf area index, FPAR and primary production. A literature review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boresjoe Bronge, Laine

2004-03-01

Land vegetation is a critical component of several biogeochemical cycles that have become the focus of concerted international research effort. Most ecosystem productivity models, carbon budget models, and global models of climate, hydrology and biogeochemistry require vegetation parameters to calculate land surface photosynthesis, evapotranspiration and net primary production. Therefore, accurate estimates of vegetation parameters are increasingly important in the carbon cycle, the energy balance and in environmental impact assessment studies. The possibility of quantitatively estimating vegetation parameters of importance in this context using satellite data has been explored by numerous papers dealing with the subject. This report gives a summary of the present status and applicability of satellite remote sensing for estimating vegetation productivity by using vegetation index for calculating leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR). Some possible approaches for use of satellite data for estimating LAI, FPAR and net primary production (NPP) on a local scale are suggested. Recommendations for continued work in the Forsmark and Oskarshamn investigation areas, where vegetation data and NDVI-images based on satellite data have been produced, are also given

Satellite remote sensing for estimating leaf area index, FPAR and primary production. A literature review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boresjoe Bronge, Laine [SwedPower AB, Stockholm (Sweden)

2004-03-01

Land vegetation is a critical component of several biogeochemical cycles that have become the focus of concerted international research effort. Most ecosystem productivity models, carbon budget models, and global models of climate, hydrology and biogeochemistry require vegetation parameters to calculate land surface photosynthesis, evapotranspiration and net primary production. Therefore, accurate estimates of vegetation parameters are increasingly important in the carbon cycle, the energy balance and in environmental impact assessment studies. The possibility of quantitatively estimating vegetation parameters of importance in this context using satellite data has been explored by numerous papers dealing with the subject. This report gives a summary of the present status and applicability of satellite remote sensing for estimating vegetation productivity by using vegetation index for calculating leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR). Some possible approaches for use of satellite data for estimating LAI, FPAR and net primary production (NPP) on a local scale are suggested. Recommendations for continued work in the Forsmark and Oskarshamn investigation areas, where vegetation data and NDVI-images based on satellite data have been produced, are also given.

Virginia ESI: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Indexing Natural Products for Their Potential Anti-Diabetic Activity: Filtering and Mapping Discriminative Physicochemical Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mouhammad Zeidan

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Diabetes mellitus (DM poses a major health problem, for which there is an unmet need to develop novel drugs. The application of in silico techniques and optimization algorithms is instrumental to achieving this goal. A set of 97 approved anti-diabetic drugs, representing the active domain, and a set of 2892 natural products, representing the inactive domain, were used to construct predictive models and to index anti-diabetic bioactivity. Our recently-developed approach of ‘iterative stochastic elimination’ was utilized. This article describes a highly discriminative and robust model, with an area under the curve above 0.96. Using the indexing model and a mix ratio of 1:1000 (active/inactive, 65% of the anti-diabetic drugs in the sample were captured in the top 1% of the screened compounds, compared to 1% in the random model. Some of the natural products that scored highly as potential anti-diabetic drug candidates are disclosed. One of those natural products is caffeine, which is noted in the scientific literature as having the capability to decrease blood glucose levels. The other nine phytochemicals await evaluation in a wet lab for their anti-diabetic activity. The indexing model proposed herein is useful for the virtual screening of large chemical databases and for the construction of anti-diabetes focused libraries.

Lipid accumulation product and triglycerides/glucose index are useful predictors of insulin resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazidi, Mohsen; Kengne, Andre-Pascal; Katsiki, Niki; Mikhailidis, Dimitri P; Banach, Maciej

2018-03-01

To investigate the association of triglycerides/glucose index (TyG index), anthropometrically predicted visceral adipose tissue (apVAT), lipid accumulation product (LAP), visceral adiposity index (VAI) and triglycerides (TG):high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio with insulin resistance (IR) in adult Americans. This study was based on data from three NHANES cycles (2005 to 2010). The TyG index was calculated as ln [TG×fasting glucose/2]. VAI was calculated using gender-specific formulas: men [waist circumference (WC)/39.68+(1.88×body mass index (BMI)]×(TG/1.03)×(1.31/HDL-C); women: [WC/36.58+(1.89×BMI)]×(TG/0.81)×(1.52/HDL-C). LAP index was calculated as [WC-65]×[TG] in men, and [WC-58]×[TG] in women. Correlation and regression analyses accounted for the complex sampling of database. A total of 18,318 subjects was included in this analysis [mean age 47.6Years]; 48.7% (n=8918) men]. The homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) had a significant positive correlation with the TyG index (r=0.502), LAP (r=0.551), apVAT (r=0.454), TG:HDL-C ratio (r=0.441) and VAI (r=451) (pindex is a simple, cheap and accurate although not perfect, surrogate marker of HOMA-diagnosed IR among adult Americans. Moreover, it has higher predictability than other screening tools which traditionally applied. Among the markers, apVAT had the highest specificity and the TG:HDL-C ratio had the highest sensitivity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some bibliometric indexes for members of the Scientific Association of Animal Production (ASPA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Pulina

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This study calculated several bibliometric indexes to analyze the scientific output of 363 members of the Scientific Association of Animal Production (ASPA in Italy, based on their publications listed by ISIThompson, Web of Science database (search period from 1989 until 2006. Five main research areas were considered: AGR/17 (Animal genetics and breeding, AGR/18 (Animal nutrition and feeding, AGR/19 (Animal husbandry, AGR/20 (Poultry, rabbits and fish production and External researcher (Ere. Position groups were: FP (Full Professor, AP (Associate Professor, Re (Researcher, EReUni (scientists working temporarily at the University or professors of an area different from AGR/17-20, and EReInst (scientists working at other institutions. Each institution was classified according to three geographical areas of Italy: North, Centre and South. Main calculated bibliometric indexes were: Ni = total number of papers published by member i over yi years; yi = number of years publishing of member i; Ci. = total number of citations of member i; IFpersonal. = Ci./Ni, Personal Impact factor of member i; Total IFjournal. = Sum of impact factor reported by the ISI-Thompson database of the journal in which a paper of member i was published (Journal Citation Reports Science Edition, 2004; Mean IFjournal. = Mean impact factor of all papers published in journals having a recognized IFjournal. by the ISI-Thompson database for member i; h = number of papers with at least h citations; m = h/y, i.e. average increase of h over the yi years publishing; and a = Ci./h2. Among the studied bibliometric indexes, Ni, Ci., Total IFjournal. and h are reliable, while IFpersonal. and Mean IFjournal. are not, to evaluate the scientific career of Animal Scientists in Italy. FP and members of AGR/17 tend to show the highest values of bibliometric indexes. Most ASPA members work in the North of Italy, which shows the highest median and highest percentage of scientists with maximum values

Effect of Anoxia on Respiration Rate (Fermentative Index and Ethanol Production of Onion Bulbs (Allium cepa L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Benkeblia

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The physiological behavior, including carbon dioxide production, fermentative index (FI and ethanolic production of onion bulbs kept under total anoxia (l00% N2 was investigated. During the first 24 hours, carbon dioxide production increased from 0.01 to 1.56 kPa Co2, and the average rate of the increase in CO2; production between 0 and 24 hours was 0.09 kPa/h. The Q10, of the fermentative index was l.9. Ethanol produced by onion bulbs kept under anoxia during 6 hours was temperature dependent, and was 0.563 and 0.760 pmol kg-1h-1 at 10 and 20°C respectively, while at 4°C the quantity produced was not detected. It is concluded that onion seems to be less tolerant to anoxia than other vegetables such as artichoke, cauliflower, tomato, potato and asparagus.

Planting spacing and NK fertilizing on physiological indexes and fruit production of papaya under semiarid climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Monteiro Santos

2015-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The nutritional requirements of papaya (Carica papaya L. increase continuously throughout the crop cycle, especially for potassium and nitrogen, which are the most required nutrients and act on plant vital functions such as photosynthetic activity, respiration, transpiration and stomatal regulation. An experiment was conducted from November 2010 to December 2012 to evaluate physiological indexes and fruit production of papaya cv. Caliman-01 as a function of planting spacing and NK fertilizing. The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks, with treatments distributed in a factorial arrangement (2 × 4 × 4, using 2 planting spacing [simple rows (3.8 × 2.0 m and double rows (3.8 × 2.0 × 1.8 m], 4 nitrogen doses (320, 400, 480 and 560 g of N per plant-1 and 4 potassium doses (380, 475, 570 and 665 g of K2O per plant-1 with 4 replications of 3 plants each. The following variables were evaluated: leaf area index (LAI, leaf chlorophyll index (a, b and total index, intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (Int.PAR, in µmol∙m-2∙s-1, efficiency use of photosynthetically active radiation (Ef.PAR and fruit yield. The fruit production and physiological characteristics of papaya cv. Caliman-01 depend on planting spacing. Under the soil, climate and plant conditions of this study, 665 g of K2O and 320 g of N per plant under double spacing could be recommended for the production of papaya cv. Caliman-01.

Voluntary medical male circumcision scale-up in Nyanza, Kenya: evaluating technical efficiency and productivity of service delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Omondi Aduda, Dickens S; Ouma, Collins; Onyango, Rosebella; Onyango, Mathews; Bertrand, Jane

2015-01-01

Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) service delivery is complex and resource-intensive. In Kenya's context there is still paucity of information on resource use vis-à-vis outputs as programs scale up. Knowledge of technical efficiency, productivity and potential sources of constraints is desirable to improve decision-making. To evaluate technical efficiency and productivity of VMMC service delivery in Nyanza in 2011/2012 using data envelopment analysis. Comparative process evaluation of facilities providing VMMC in Nyanza in 2011/2012 using output orientated data envelopment analysis. Twenty one facilities were evaluated. Only 1 of 7 variables considered (total elapsed operation time) significantly improved from 32.8 minutes (SD 8.8) in 2011 to 30 minutes (SD 6.6) in 2012 (95%CI = 0.0350-5.2488; p = 0.047). Mean scale technical efficiency significantly improved from 91% (SD 19.8) in 2011 to 99% (SD 4.0) in 2012 particularly among outreach compared to fixed service delivery facilities (CI -31.47959-4.698508; p = 0.005). Increase in mean VRS technical efficiency from 84% (SD 25.3) in 2011 and 89% (SD 25.1) in 2012 was not statistically significant. Benchmark facilities were #119 and #125 in 2011 and #103 in 2012. Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) at fixed facilities declined by 2.5% but gained by 4.9% at outreach ones by 2012. Total factor productivity improved by 83% (p = 0.032) in 2012, largely due to progress in technological efficiency by 79% (p = 0.008). Significant improvement in scale technical efficiency among outreach facilities in 2012 was attributable to accelerated activities. However, ongoing pure technical inefficiency requires concerted attention. Technological progress was the key driver of service productivity growth in Nyanza. Incorporating service-quality dimensions and using stepwise-multiple criteria in performance evaluation enhances comprehensiveness and validity. These findings highlight site-level resource use and sources of

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Scale-Up in Nyanza, Kenya: Evaluating Technical Efficiency and Productivity of Service Delivery

Science.gov (United States)

Omondi Aduda, Dickens S.; Ouma, Collins; Onyango, Rosebella; Onyango, Mathews; Bertrand, Jane

2015-01-01

Background Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) service delivery is complex and resource-intensive. In Kenya’s context there is still paucity of information on resource use vis-à-vis outputs as programs scale up. Knowledge of technical efficiency, productivity and potential sources of constraints is desirable to improve decision-making. Objective To evaluate technical efficiency and productivity of VMMC service delivery in Nyanza in 2011/2012 using data envelopment analysis. Design Comparative process evaluation of facilities providing VMMC in Nyanza in 2011/2012 using output orientated data envelopment analysis. Results Twenty one facilities were evaluated. Only 1 of 7 variables considered (total elapsed operation time) significantly improved from 32.8 minutes (SD 8.8) in 2011 to 30 minutes (SD 6.6) in 2012 (95%CI = 0.0350–5.2488; p = 0.047). Mean scale technical efficiency significantly improved from 91% (SD 19.8) in 2011 to 99% (SD 4.0) in 2012 particularly among outreach compared to fixed service delivery facilities (CI -31.47959–4.698508; p = 0.005). Increase in mean VRS technical efficiency from 84% (SD 25.3) in 2011 and 89% (SD 25.1) in 2012 was not statistically significant. Benchmark facilities were #119 and #125 in 2011 and #103 in 2012. Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) at fixed facilities declined by 2.5% but gained by 4.9% at outreach ones by 2012. Total factor productivity improved by 83% (p = 0.032) in 2012, largely due to progress in technological efficiency by 79% (p = 0.008). Conclusions Significant improvement in scale technical efficiency among outreach facilities in 2012 was attributable to accelerated activities. However, ongoing pure technical inefficiency requires concerted attention. Technological progress was the key driver of service productivity growth in Nyanza. Incorporating service-quality dimensions and using stepwise-multiple criteria in performance evaluation enhances comprehensiveness and validity. These findings

Do forwarders improve sustainability efficiency? : Evidence from a European DEA Malmquist index calculation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klumpp, Matthias

2017-01-01

Sustainability performance and efficiency is an important topic in transportation and for forwarders. This is shown, for example, by the fact that major logistics service providers LSP publish sustainability reports, often within the annual legal business report. However, in depth research is

Whole-body CO2 production as an index of the metabolic response to sepsis

Science.gov (United States)

Whole-body carbon dioxide (CO2) production (RaCO2) is an index of substrate oxidation and energy expenditure; therefore, it may provide information about the metabolic response to sepsis. Using stable isotope techniques, we determined RaCO2 and its relationship to protein and glucose metabolism in m...

Climate Risk and Production Shocks: Using Index Insurance to Link Climate Science to Policy for Sustainable Development

Science.gov (United States)

McCarney, G. R.; Osgood, D. E.

2011-12-01

Smallholder farmers in developing countries are often severely impacted by droughts and other climate related events. However, agricultural insurance programs are largely unavailable in lower-income countries because of limitations in traditional loss-based indemnity insurance. As a result, it is often the case that farmers who are the most vulnerable to climate shocks lack access to the insurance tools that could help to reduce their production risk. Index insurance, a recent financial innovation, has the potential to increase access to insurance for smallholder farmers (Barrett et al. 2007). Index insurance allows farmers to insure their production risk based on a weather index (such as total seasonal rainfall) rather than on crop yields. The use of a weather index addresses many of the perverse incentive problems found in traditional crop insurance, and greatly reduces the costs of insuring smallholder farmers. The trade-off in index insurance, however, is limited accuracy in calibrating payouts to actual losses, a phenomenon commonly known as basis risk. While index insurance has promise as a risk-smoothing instrument, many argue it has greater promise as a mechanism for improving access to credit for smallholder farmers in developing countries (e.g. Barnett, Barrett & Skees 2008). In these areas, farmers are often fully exposed to climate shocks, which greatly affect their willingness to borrow. By smoothing the uncertainty in climate shocks, insurance may allow farmers to take credit for productive risks. There has been much discussion as to the optimal strategy for combining index insurance with credit, specifically if the financial institutions or the individual farmers themselves should hold the insurance policy. Many existing insurance implementations insure the farmer directly. However, since a weather index is a proxy for yield loss based on regional data, there is basis risk due to uninsured idiosyncratic differences between farmers. As a response to

Western Alaska ESI: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all the hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

An Integrated Approach for Estimating the Energy Efficiency of Seventeen Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chia-Nan Wang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Increased energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to achieve climate change mitigation. This study aims to evaluate the energy efficiency of seventeen countries. The evaluation is based on an integrated method that combines the super slack-based (super SBM model and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI to investigate the energy efficiency of seventeen countries during the period of 2010–2015. The results in this study are that the United States, Columbia, Japan, China, and Saudi Arabia perform the best in energy efficiency, whereas Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, and India perform the worst during the entire sample period. The energy efficiency of these countries arrived mainly from technological improvement. The study provides suggestions for the seventeen countries’ government to control the energy consumption and contribute to environmental protection.

Registering, indexing and digitally preserving RDBCI: Production indicators of 2003 to 2016

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gildenir Carolino Santos

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The question of explosion and digital preservation issues are totally in vogue today. In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze bibliographically the typeset production and published the “RDBCI: Revista Digital de Biblioteconomia e Ciência da Informação” in these its thirteen years of existence, in order to disclose the analysis of published scientific production, featuring the themes of articles and the most representative authors, contributing to the community area in question as well as enhance the importance of the magazine to the field of Library and Information Science. The journal is entirely digital, born and incubated on free platform OJS/SEER, provided by IBICT since 2004. Moreover, in these years of experience the magazine is effective information vehicle of the area and its existence confirms that electronic publications born in this format, survive in the digital world. From 2013, the RDBCI began to integrate Cariniana Network (IBICT, digitally preserving your entire collection through the LOCKSS software, and other institutions aggregated to the network, and in March 2016 began to integrate The Keepers Registry, making If the first Brazilian publication to be part of this international digital preservation network. The methodology adopted was through a survey of articles published from 2003 to 2016, collecting data such as access numbers, downloads, and other statistical and qualitative indicators, making use of tools such as Google Analytics, Altmetrics, Index h and alternative metrics as well as databases, directories, portals and indexes where the journal is indexed. We believe the result of this work serves as a qualitative analysis model for other periodicals and promotes growth of more national and international scientific publications with open access.

A GIS-derived integrated moisture index to predict forest composition and productivity of Ohio forests (U.S.A.)

Science.gov (United States)

Louis R. Iverson; Martin E. Dale; Charles T. Scott; Anantha Prasad; Anantha Prasad

1997-01-01

A geographic information system (GIS) approach was used in conjunction with forest-plot data to develop an integrated moisture index (IMI), which was then used to predict forest productivity (site index) and species composition for forests in Ohio. In this region, typical of eastern hardwoods across the Midwest and southern Appalachians, topographic aspect and position...

The Equity Indexed Annuity: A Monte Carlo Forensic Investigation into a Controversial Financial Product

Science.gov (United States)

Carver, Andrew B.

2013-01-01

Equity Indexed Annuities (EIAs) are controversial financial products because the payoffs to investors are based on formulas that are supposedly too complex for average investors to understand. This brief describes how Monte Carlo simulation can provide insight into the true risk and return of an EIA. This approach can be used as a project…

Estimating and interpreting a common stochastic component for the Brazilian industrial production index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paulo Picchetti

2002-03-01

Full Text Available This paper employs a state-space formulation to model a common stochastic component in four different series that constitute the aggregate index of industrial production in Brazil. This estimated common component is then interpreted as a measurement of behavior of fundamentals in the brazilian economy and compared to the actual aggregate index.A partir de uma formulação em espaço de estado, modelamos um componente estocástico comum para quatro séries distintas que compõem o índice agregado de produção industrial calculado pelo IBGE para o Brasil. Esse componente estocástico comum estimado é então interpretado como uma medida do comportamento de fundamentos da economia brasileira, e comparado com o índice agregado efetivo.

Adiposity indicators lipid accumulation product and triglyceride-glucose index as alternate criteria for the diagnosis of metabolic obesity in adult

OpenAIRE

Mariya Tabassum; Md. Matiur Rahman; Miliva Mozaffor

2018-01-01

Metabolic obesity refers to the state of having metabolic syndrome irrespective of one’s BMI. This study was aimed to elucidate the lipid accumulation product and triglyceride-glucose index as simple and alternate criteria for the detecting metabolic obesity in adult. The study was conducted in 200 adult (age range: 19-45 years). According to lipid accumulation product and Triglyceride-glucose index, the prevalence of metabolic obesity was 54.0% and 53.5% respectively. With a cutoff value of ...

Technical efficiency and productivity of Chinese county hospitals: an exploratory study in Henan province, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhaohui; Tao, Hongbing; Cai, Miao; Lin, Haifeng; Lin, Xiaojun; Shu, Qin; Zhang, Ru-Ning

2015-09-09

Chinese county hospitals have been excessively enlarging their scale during the healthcare reform since 2009. The purpose of this paper is to examine the technical efficiency and productivity of county hospitals during the reform process, and to determine whether, and how, efficiency is affected by various factors. 114 sample county hospitals were selected from Henan province, China, from 2010 to 2012. Data envelopment analysis was employed to estimate the technical and scale efficiency of sample hospitals. The Malmquist index was used to calculate productivity changes over time. Tobit regression was used to regress against 4 environmental factors and 5 institutional factors that affected the technical efficiency. (1) 112 (98.2%), 112 (98.2%) and 104 (91.2%) of the 114 sample hospitals ran inefficiently in 2010, 2011 and 2012, with average technical efficiency of 0.697, 0.748 and 0.790, respectively. (2) On average, during 2010-2012, productivity of sample county hospitals increased by 7.8%, which was produced by the progress in technical efficiency changes and technological changes of 0.9% and 6.8%, respectively. (3) Tobit regression analysis indicated that government subsidy, hospital size with above 618 beds and average length of stay assumed a negative sign with technical efficiency; bed occupancy rate, ratio of beds to nurses and ratio of nurses to physicians assumed a positive sign with technical efficiency. There was considerable space for technical efficiency improvement in Henan county hospitals. During 2010-2012, sample hospitals experienced productivity progress; however, the adverse change in pure technical efficiency should be emphasised. Moreover, according to the Tobit results, policy interventions that strictly supervise hospital bed scale, shorten the average length of stay and coordinate the proportion among physicians, nurses and beds, would benefit hospital efficiency. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where

[Impact of the funding reform of teaching hospitals in Brazil].

Science.gov (United States)

Lobo, M S C; Silva, A C M; Lins, M P E; Fiszman, R

2009-06-01

To assess the impact of funding reform on the productivity of teaching hospitals. Based on the Information System of Federal University Hospitals of Brazil, 2003 and 2006 efficiency and productivity were measured using frontier methods with a linear programming technique, data envelopment analysis, and input-oriented variable returns to scale model. The Malmquist index was calculated to detect changes during the study period: 'technical efficiency change,' or the relative variation of the efficiency of each unit; and 'technological change' after frontier shift. There was 51% mean budget increase and improvement of technical efficiency of teaching hospitals (previously 11, 17 hospitals reached the empirical efficiency frontier) but the same was not seen for the technology frontier. Data envelopment analysis set benchmark scores for each inefficient unit (before and after reform) and there was a positive correlation between technical efficiency and teaching intensity and dedication. The reform promoted management improvements but there is a need of further follow-up to assess the effectiveness of funding changes.

Louisiana ESI: LG_INDEX (Large Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all the hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

In vitro and in vivo assessment of the glycemic index of bakery products: influence of the reformulation of ingredients.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrer-Mairal, A; Peñalva-Lapuente, C; Iglesia, I; Urtasun, L; De Miguel-Etayo, P; Remón, S; Cortés, E; Moreno, L A

2012-12-01

To evaluate whether the modification of ingredients of two bakery products, muffins and bread, reduces their glycemic index, by means of in vitro and in vivo procedures. In vitro and in vivo glycemic index were evaluated for two types of bread and two types of muffins including one standard product for each category. For the in vitro determination, kinetics of starch digestion method was used. For the in vivo procedure, postprandial glucose measured as IAUC was obtained in a group of eighteen healthy volunteers (ten did the test with muffins and eight with breads). In in vitro, a reduction in the expected glycemic index regarding the control muffin was achieved with the partial substitution of wheat flour by a mixture of resistant starch, dextrin and lentil flour. In breads, with the partial substitution of wheat flour by a mixture of resistant starch and dextrins, a decrease in the expected glycemic index was also observed. In in vivo, a reduction in GI was also achieved both in muffin and in bread. All the obtained GI was higher in in vitro method. Despite the fact that in vitro overestimate in vivo method, the trend in the reduction in GI seems to be similar in both methods. With the substitution assayed, a reduction in the expected glycemic index and the glycemic index were obtained both in muffins and in breads.

Work productivity among adults with varied Body Mass Index: Results from a Canadian population-based survey

OpenAIRE

Arnaldo Sanchez Bustillos; Kris Gregory Vargas, III; Raul Gomero-Cuadra

2015-01-01

Background: The relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and work productivity, including absenteeism and presenteeism remains unclear. The objective of this study was to examine work productivity among adults with varied BMI using population-based data. Methods: Data source was the 2009–2010 Canadian Community Health Survey. The outcomes reflected work absence (absenteeism) and reduced activities at work (presenteeism). The key explanatory variable was BMI in six categories. Logistic re...

Reliability measures for indexed semi-Markov chains applied to wind energy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Amico, Guglielmo; Petroni, Filippo; Prattico, Flavio

2015-01-01

The computation of the dependability measures is a crucial point in many engineering problems as well as in the planning and development of a wind farm. In this paper we address the issue of energy production by wind turbines by using an indexed semi-Markov chain as a model of wind speed. We present the mathematical model, the data and technical characteristics of a commercial wind turbine (Aircon HAWT-10kW). We show how to compute some of the main dependability measures such as reliability, availability and maintainability functions. We compare the results of the model with real energy production obtained from data available in the Lastem station (Italy) and sampled every 10 min. - Highlights: • Semi-Markov models. • Time series generation of wind speed. • Computation of availability, reliability and maintainability.

Analysis, improvement and application of the MODIS leaf area index products

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wenze

Green leaf area governs the exchanges of energy, mass and momentum between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere. Therefore, leaf area index (LAI) and fraction of incident photosynthetically active radiation (0.4-0.7 mum) absorbed by the vegetation canopy (FPAR) are widely used in vegetation monitoring and modeling. The launch of Terra and Aqua satellites with the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard provided the first global products of LAI and FPAR, derived mainly from an algorithm based on radiative transfer. The objective of this research is to comprehensively evaluate the Terra and Aqua MODIS LAI/FPAR products. Large volumes of these products have been analyzed with the goal of understanding product quality with respect to version (Collection 3 versus 4), algorithm (main versus back-up), snow (snow-free versus snow on the ground) and cloud (cloud-free versus cloudy) conditions. Field validation efforts identified several key factors that influence the accuracy of algorithm retrievals. The strategy of validation efforts guiding algorithm refinements has led to progressively more accurate LAI/FPAR products. The combination of products derived from the Terra and Aqua MODIS sensors increases the success rate of the main radiative transfer algorithm by 10-20 percent over woody vegetation. The Terra Collection 4 LAI data reveal seasonal swings in green leaf area of about 25 percent in a majority of the Amazon rainforests caused by variability in cloud cover and light. The timing and the influence of this seasonal cycle are critical to understanding tropical plant adaptation patterns and ecological processes. The results presented in this dissertation suggest how the product quality has gradually improved largely through the efforts of validation activities. The Amazon case study highlights the utility of these data sets for monitoring global vegetation dynamics. Thus, these results can be seen as a benchmark for evaluation of

Walkability Index

Science.gov (United States)

The Walkability Index dataset characterizes every Census 2010 block group in the U.S. based on its relative walkability. Walkability depends upon characteristics of the built environment that influence the likelihood of walking being used as a mode of travel. The Walkability Index is based on the EPA's previous data product, the Smart Location Database (SLD). Block group data from the SLD was the only input into the Walkability Index, and consisted of four variables from the SLD weighted in a formula to create the new Walkability Index. This dataset shares the SLD's block group boundary definitions from Census 2010. The methodology describing the process of creating the Walkability Index can be found in the documents located at ftp://newftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/OP/WalkabilityIndex.zip. You can also learn more about the Smart Location Database at https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/OP/Smart_Location_DB_v02b.zip.

ECONOMETRIC INEFFICIENCY ESTIMATES IN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT doi: 10.5329/RECADM.20080701001

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Bernard Bastiaan Rivera Rivera

2008-05-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to apply a Cobb-Douglas, Translog Stochastic Production Function and Data Envelopment Analysis – particularly the Malmquist index - in order to estimate increases or decreases of inefficiencies over time as well as the sources of TFP changes for the main Brazilian grain crops - namely, rice, beans, maize, soybeans and wheat - throughout the most recent data available comprising the period 2001-2006. According to the Cobb Douglas model, the greatest elasticity presented is that of harvested area, followed by agricultural credit and limestone. The Translog production function presents an amelioration of aggregate productivity over time and, in a decreasing order, the Brazilian regions that have presented the greatest relative degree of efficiency are the Northeast, North, Southeast, South and Center-West regions. The results indicate that, although there have been positive changes in TFP for the sample analyzed, a decline in the use of technology has been evidenced for all the principal Brazilian grain crops between 2005/2007 – period in which we observe a remarkable downfall in the use of inputs in Brazilian agriculture.

Rising methods and leavening agents used in the production of bread do not impact the glycaemic index.

Science.gov (United States)

Fredensborg, Monica Hardman; Perry, Tracy; Mann, Jim; Chisholm, Alex; Rose, Meredith

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to compare the glycaemic index of breads produced using different rising methods and leavening agents. Eleven bread varieties were selected based on method of production, and divided between three groups of ten participants (mean +/- SD age 30.0 +/- 10.7 years and BMI 22.9 +/- 2.8). Standard glycaemic index testing protocol was implemented after an overnight fast, using glucose as the reference food, and collecting blood samples over a two-hour period. Glycemic index was calculated using the usual method. Additionally, incremental area under the curve data were log transformed and glycaemic index was calculated using regression analysis. Mean glycaemic index values of the breads in ascending order were as follows: Swiss Rye; 60, Long oat; 68, Sourdough+oats; 71, Long rye; 76, Short oat; 77, Short whole meal; 78, Long whole meal; 80, Sourdough; 82, Short rye; 82, Yeast; 88, and Desem; 92. There were significant differences in mean glycaemic index values between Swiss Rye and Yeast (p = 0.010), Swiss Rye and Desem (p = 0.007) and Sourdough+oats and Desem (p = 0.043). The rising method and leavening agents used in this study did not impact on the glycaemic index of the breads tested. Other factors, such as increased bread density, and the addition of whole grains may be required to produce bread with a low glycaemic index.

Reducing Production Basis Risk through Rainfall Intensity Frequency (RIF) Indexes: Global Sensitivity Analysis' Implication on Policy Design

Science.gov (United States)

Muneepeerakul, Chitsomanus; Huffaker, Ray; Munoz-Carpena, Rafael

2016-04-01

The weather index insurance promises financial resilience to farmers struck by harsh weather conditions with swift compensation at affordable premium thanks to its minimal adverse selection and moral hazard. Despite these advantages, the very nature of indexing causes the presence of "production basis risk" that the selected weather indexes and their thresholds do not correspond to actual damages. To reduce basis risk without additional data collection cost, we propose the use of rain intensity and frequency as indexes as it could offer better protection at the lower premium by avoiding basis risk-strike trade-off inherent in the total rainfall index. We present empirical evidences and modeling results that even under the similar cumulative rainfall and temperature environment, yield can significantly differ especially for drought sensitive crops. We further show that deriving the trigger level and payoff function from regression between historical yield and total rainfall data may pose significant basis risk owing to their non-unique relationship in the insured range of rainfall. Lastly, we discuss the design of index insurance in terms of contract specifications based on the results from global sensitivity analysis.

Bristol Bay, Alaska Subarea ESI: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all the hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Energy index decomposition methodology at the plant level

Science.gov (United States)

Kumphai, Wisit

Scope and method of study. The dissertation explores the use of a high level energy intensity index as a facility-level energy performance monitoring indicator with a goal of developing a methodology for an economically based energy performance monitoring system that incorporates production information. The performance measure closely monitors energy usage, production quantity, and product mix and determines the production efficiency as a part of an ongoing process that would enable facility managers to keep track of and, in the future, be able to predict when to perform a recommissioning process. The study focuses on the use of the index decomposition methodology and explored several high level (industry, sector, and country levels) energy utilization indexes, namely, Additive Log Mean Divisia, Multiplicative Log Mean Divisia, and Additive Refined Laspeyres. One level of index decomposition is performed. The indexes are decomposed into Intensity and Product mix effects. These indexes are tested on a flow shop brick manufacturing plant model in three different climates in the United States. The indexes obtained are analyzed by fitting an ARIMA model and testing for dependency between the two decomposed indexes. Findings and conclusions. The results concluded that the Additive Refined Laspeyres index decomposition methodology is suitable to use on a flow shop, non air conditioned production environment as an energy performance monitoring indicator. It is likely that this research can be further expanded in to predicting when to perform a recommissioning process.

Green Economy Performance and Green Productivity Growth in China’s Cities: Measures and Policy Implication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianglong Li

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Resource depletion and environmental degradation have become serious challenges for China’s sustainable development. This paper constructs indicators to assess China’s green economy performance and green productivity growth, in which economic expansion, resource conservation and environmental protection need to be incorporated simultaneously. For this purpose, we combine non-radial directional distance function and meta-frontier Malmquist productivity to develop the indicators. The methodology also allows for the decomposition of driving forces of China’s green economy. Moreover, the dataset employed in this paper allows for the evaluation of 275 cities in China during the period 2003–2012. The main findings are as follows. First, most of China’s cities did not perform efficiently in terms of the green economy, with an average score of only 0.233. Second, the growth rate of green productivity is slower than real GDP, and the green productivity growth in China is only moderate. Third, innovation is the main driving force of China’s green productivity growth, but the central region lags behind when it comes to green innovation. Fourth, artificial local protectionism and transport limitations impede the progress of cities that perform ineffectively in the green economy. Based on our empirical findings, we provide policy implications and suggestions for enhancing China’s green economy performance and productivity growth.

Evaluating the Welfare of Index Insurance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrison, Glenn W.; Martínez-Correa, Jimmy; Ng, Jia Min

affects both the demand for the product and the welfare of individuals making take-up decisions. We study the impact of basis risk on insurance take-up and on expected welfare in a laboratory experiment with an insurance frame. We measure the expected welfare of index insurance to individuals while......Index insurance was conceived to be a product that would simplify the claim settlement process and make it more objective, reducing transaction costs and moral hazard. However, index insurance also exposes the insured to basis risk, which arises because there can be a mismatch between the index...... risks that are different from preferences exhibited for their actuarially-equivalent counterparts. We study the potential link between index insurance demand and attitudes towards compound risks. We test the hypothesis that the compound risk nature of index insurance induced by basis risk negatively...

What is the Optimal Water Productivity Index for Irrigated Grapevines? Case of 'Godello' and 'Albariño' cultivars

Science.gov (United States)

Fandiño, María; Martínez, Emma M.; Rey, Benjamín J.; Cancela, Javier J.

2015-04-01

Different studies have tackled the conceptual and terminological study of crop water use indicators, mainly water use efficiency (WUE) and water productivity (WP) (Pereira et al., 2012; Scheierling et al., 2014). The high number of stakeholders, working about agricultural water use (hydrology and hydrogeology, civil and irrigation engineering, agronomy and crop physiology, economics), has hindered the real improvement thereof, from a multidisciplinary perspective. For example, Flexas et al. (2010) reviewed the future improvements in water use efficiency in grapevines, from a physiological approach. In this study, two grapevine cultivars, priority in Galicia (Spain): 'Godello' (DO Valdeorras) and 'Albariño' (DO Rías Baixas, two locations), was assessed in relation to four water productivity index, focus on irrigation systems, agronomy and crop physiology aspects, during a wet year (2012). All WP index was referred to farm yield level (kg ha-1); where the denominator applied to WPTWU, include all components of soil water balance; to WPTWUfarm, introduced rainfall and irrigation depth; to WPIrrig, only irrigation depth applied; and to WPT, crop transpiration was used. In the last index, SIMDualKc model was used to partitioning crop evapotranspiration and cover crop transpiration. Different ranges of values was obtained for both cultivars, WPTWUfarm was higher in cv 'Godello' than in cv 'Albariño', 3.8 and 0.9 kg m-3 respectively. Average value to WPIrrig has showed: 17.6 kg m-3 for cv 'Albariño' and 15.5 kg m-3 for cv 'Godello', due to a reduction of 60% of irrigation depth in DO Rías Baixas. However, for both locations, higher WPIrrig was obtained to drip irrigation system versus subsurface drip irrigation. WPT showed a different tendency, rain-fed 'Godello' and surface drip irrigation 'Albariño' treatments obtained higher values (6.8 and 3.6 kg m-3), with higher WPT to cv 'Godello' for all treatments versus 'Albariño'. Results had showed that water

[Scientific production and cancer-related collaboration networks in Peru 2000-2011: a bibliometric study in Scopus and Science Citation Index].

Science.gov (United States)

Mayta-Tristán, Percy; Huamaní, Charles; Montenegro-Idrogo, Juan José; Samanez-Figari, César; González-Alcaide, Gregorio

2013-03-01

A bibliometric study was carried out to describe the scientific production on cancer written by Peruvians and published in international health journals, as well as to assess the scientific collaboration networks. It included articles on cancer written in Peru between the years 2000 and 2011 and published in health journals indexed in SCOPUS or Science Citation Index Expanded. In the 358 articles identified, an increase in the production was seen, from 4 articles in 2000 to 57 in 2011.The most studied types were cervical cancer (77 publications); breast cancer (53), and gastric cancer (37). The National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases (INEN) was the most productive institution (121 articles) and had the highest number of collaborations (180 different institutions). 52 clinical trials were identified, 29 of which had at least one author from INEN. We can conclude that, cancer research is increasing in Peru, the INEN being the most productive institution, with an important participation in clinical trials.

Slow and stopped light in active gain composite materials of metal nanoparticles. Ultralarge group index-bandwidth product predicted

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Kwang-Hyon; Choe, Song-Hyok [Institute of Lasers, State Academy of Sciences, Unjong District, Pyongyang (Korea, Democratic People' s Republic of)

2017-08-15

Chip-compatible slow light devices with large group index-bandwidth products and low losses are of great interest in the community of modern photonics. In this work, active gain materials containing metal nanoparticles are proposed as the slow and stopped light materials. Gain-assisted high field enhancement in metal nanoparticles and the resultant strong dispersion lead to such phenomena. From the Maxwell-Garnett model, it is revealed that the metal nanocomposite exhibits the infinitely large group index when the gain of the host medium and the filling factor of metal nanoparticles satisfy a critical condition. For the gain of the host above the critical value, one can observe slowing down effect with amplification of light pulses. Significantly large group index-bandwidth products, which vary from a few to several thousand or even infinity depending on the gain value of the host medium, have been numerically predicted in active silica glasses containing spheroidal metal nanoparticles, as examples. The proposed scheme inherently provides the widely varying operating spectral range by changing the aspect ratio of metal nanoparticles and chip-compatibility with low cost. (copyright 2017 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Automatic generation of the index of productive syntax for child language transcripts.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassanali, Khairun-nisa; Liu, Yang; Iglesias, Aquiles; Solorio, Thamar; Dollaghan, Christine

2014-03-01

The index of productive syntax (IPSyn; Scarborough (Applied Psycholinguistics 11:1-22, 1990) is a measure of syntactic development in child language that has been used in research and clinical settings to investigate the grammatical development of various groups of children. However, IPSyn is mostly calculated manually, which is an extremely laborious process. In this article, we describe the AC-IPSyn system, which automatically calculates the IPSyn score for child language transcripts using natural language processing techniques. Our results show that the AC-IPSyn system performs at levels comparable to scores computed manually. The AC-IPSyn system can be downloaded from www.hlt.utdallas.edu/~nisa/ipsyn.html .

Increasing urban community empowerment through changing of poverty rate index on the productive zakat impact

Science.gov (United States)

Zaenal, M. H.; Astuti, A. D.; Sadariyah, A. S.

2018-01-01

We show how changes in poverty measures can be applied into growth of islamic philanthropy distribution via zakat, and we use the methodology to zakat community development (ZCD) program in Bantul during the 2016. The purpose of the present paper is to prove zakat is able to be a solution part for the community empowerment. The result is the number of productive zakat program beneficiaries whose income is below the poverty line (poor category) before the program are 244 people (H = 0.171) and after the program change to 168 (H = 0.118), which means the program has succeeded in reducing the number of poor people by 76 people (5.34 percent). The poverty gap (P1) of beneficiaries of productive zakat program in Bantul also decrease. The gap between poverty line and average income of beneficiaries is Rp 63,763 before the program, while the gap after the program is Rp 56,992. The income gap (I) is also decline from 0.197 to 0.169. Poverty severity of beneficiaries of productive zakat program in Bantul seen by Sen Index (P2) decrease from 0.093 to 0.062, while using Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Index (P3), the poverty severity decrease from 0.010 to 0.004. The analysis revealed the zakat community empowerment was significant economically in suppressing the poverty rate, and possible for reducing inequality and ending poverty in Indonesia.

1999 who's who category index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

A classified index and alphabetical directory of Canadian corporate entities involved in the production, manufacturing, conversion, service, retail sales, research and development, transportation, insurance, legal and communications aspects of propane in Canada is provided. The alphabetical directory section provides the usual business information (name, postal address, phone, fax, e-mail and Internet addresses), names of principal officers, affiliations, products or services produced or marketed, and the category under which the company is listed in the classified index

CubeIndexer: Indexer for regions of interest in data cubes

Science.gov (United States)

Chilean Virtual Observatory; Araya, Mauricio; Candia, Gabriel; Gregorio, Rodrigo; Mendoza, Marcelo; Solar, Mauricio

2015-12-01

CubeIndexer indexes regions of interest (ROIs) in data cubes reducing the necessary storage space. The software can process data cubes containing megabytes of data in fractions of a second without human supervision, thus allowing it to be incorporated into a production line for displaying objects in a virtual observatory. The software forms part of the Chilean Virtual Observatory (ChiVO) and provides the capability of content-based searches on data cubes to the astronomical community.

Photon Recollision Probability: a Useful Concept for Cross Scale Consistency Check between Leaf Area Index and Foliage Clumping Products

Science.gov (United States)

Pisek, J.

2017-12-01

Clumping index (CI) is the measure of foliage aggregation relative to a random distribution of leaves in space. CI is an important factor for the correct quantification of true leaf area index (LAI). Global and regional scale CI maps have been generated from various multi-angle sensors based on an empirical relationship with the normalized difference between hotspot and darkspot (NDHD) index (Chen et al., 2005). Ryu et al. (2011) suggested that accurate calculation of radiative transfer in a canopy, important for controlling gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) (Baldocchi and Harley, 1995), should be possible by integrating CI with incoming solar irradiance and LAI from MODIS land and atmosphere products. It should be noted that MODIS LAI/FPAR product uses internal non-empirical, stochastic equations for parameterization of foliage clumping. This raises a question if integration of the MODIS LAI product with empirically-based CI maps does not introduce any inconsistencies. Here, the consistency is examined independently through the `recollision probability theory' or `p-theory' (Knyazikhin et al., 1998) along with raw LAI-2000/2200 Plant Canopy Analyzer (PCA) data from > 30 sites, surveyed across a range of vegetation types. The theory predicts that the amount of radiation scattered by a canopy should depend only on the wavelength and the spectrally invariant canopy structural parameter p. The parameter p is linked to the foliage clumping (Stenberg et al., 2016). Results indicate that integration of the MODIS LAI product with empirically-based CI maps is feasible. Importantly, for the first time it is shown that it is possible to obtain p values for any location solely from Earth Observation data. This is very relevant for future applications of photon recollision probability concept for global and local monitoring of vegetation using Earth Observation data.

A lesson from Japan: research and development efficiency is a key element of pharmaceutical industry consolidation process.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimura, Hirohisa; Masuda, Sachiko; Kimura, Hiromichi

2014-02-01

Scholarly attention to pharmaceutical companies' ability to sustain research and development (R&D) productivity has increased as they increasingly handle business challenges. Furthermore, the deterioration of R&D productivity has long been considered a major cause of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). This study attempts to investigate quantitatively the possible causes of the deterioration and the relationship between the deterioration and M&As by examining the Japanese pharmaceutical industry. Japan from 1980 to 1997 is an ideal case because of the availability of official data, but more importantly the significant changes in its business environment at the time. Using the Malmquist Index and data envelopment analysis, we measured the deterioration of R&D productivity from 1980 to 1997 based on a sample of 15 Japanese companies. Two lessons can be learned from Japan's case. First, to sustain R&D productivity over the long term, companies should use licensing activities and focus on the dominant therapeutic franchises. Second, if a company fails significantly to catch up with the benchmark, it is likely to pursue an M&A or seek an alternative way to improve R&D productivity. These findings appear similar to the current situation of the global pharmaceutical industry, although Japan pursued more licensing activities than M&A to improve R&D productivity.

Management model of productive capacity: integrating theory of constraints and the global operational efficiency index (IROG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Augusto Pacheco

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a model of management capacity in productive systems integrating the concepts of the Theory of Constraints and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM. The main objective of this study is to discuss and propose a model of management capacity, able to answer the following key questions: i capacity indicators which should be considered and how to measure them to measure the productive capacity of manufacturing systems? ii what is the real productive capacity of the system analyzed under a determined relationship between capacity and demand? The discussion of the proposed model is relevant because the definition of productive capacity system enables better management of resources and capabilities, improve production scheduling on the factory floor and meeting the demands imposed by the market. This paper presents the proposition of using the Operating Income Index Global (IROG with a different approach from traditional literature dealing with the theme, presented by Nakajima (1988. The results of this paper enable to develop a model to determine the capacity of the production system and the impact on the productive capacity of the entire system, not to consider the quality conformances that occur after the bottleneck resource of the production flow.

Forest fire danger index based on modifying Nesterov Index, fuel, and anthropogenic activities using MODIS TERRA, AQUA and TRMM satellite datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Suresh Babu, K. V.; Roy, Arijit; Ramachandra Prasad, P.

2016-05-01

Forest fire has been regarded as one of the major causes of degradation of Himalayan forests in Uttarakhand. Forest fires occur annually in more than 50% of forests in Uttarakhand state, mostly due to anthropogenic activities and spreads due to moisture conditions and type of forest fuels. Empirical drought indices such as Keetch-Byram drought index, the Nesterov index, Modified Nesterov index, the Zhdanko index which belongs to the cumulative type and the Angstrom Index which belongs to the daily type have been used throughout the world to assess the potential fire danger. In this study, the forest fire danger index has been developed from slightly modified Nesterov index, fuel and anthropogenic activities. Datasets such as MODIS TERRA Land Surface Temperature and emissivity (MOD11A1), MODIS AQUA Atmospheric profile product (MYD07) have been used to determine the dew point temperature and land surface temperature. Precipitation coefficient has been computed from Tropical Rainfall measuring Mission (TRMM) product (3B42RT). Nesterov index has been slightly modified according to the Indian context and computed using land surface temperature, dew point temperature and precipitation coefficient. Fuel type danger index has been derived from forest type map of ISRO based on historical fire location information and disturbance danger index has been derived from disturbance map of ISRO. Finally, forest fire danger index has been developed from the above mentioned indices and MODIS Thermal anomaly product (MOD14) has been used for validating the forest fire danger index.

Academic Productivity in Psychiatry: Benchmarks for the H-Index.

Science.gov (United States)

MacMaster, Frank P; Swansburg, Rose; Rittenbach, Katherine

2017-08-01

Bibliometrics play an increasingly critical role in the assessment of faculty for promotion and merit increases. Bibliometrics is the statistical analysis of publications, aimed at evaluating their impact. The objective of this study is to describe h-index and citation benchmarks in academic psychiatry. Faculty lists were acquired from online resources for all academic departments of psychiatry listed as having residency training programs in Canada (as of June 2016). Potential authors were then searched on Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) for their corresponding h-index and total number of citations. The sample included 1683 faculty members in academic psychiatry departments. Restricted to those with a rank of assistant, associate, or full professor resulted in 1601 faculty members (assistant = 911, associate = 387, full = 303). h-index and total citations differed significantly by academic rank. Both were highest in the full professor rank, followed by associate, then assistant. The range in each, however, was large. This study provides the initial benchmarks for the h-index and total citations in academic psychiatry. Regardless of any controversies or criticisms of bibliometrics, they are increasingly influencing promotion, merit increases, and grant support. As such, benchmarking by specialties is needed in order to provide needed context.

The Carbon City Index (CCI)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyd, Britta; Straatman, Bas; Mangalagiu, Diana

This paper presents a consumption-based Carbon City Index for CO2 emissions in a city. The index is derived from regional consumption and not from regional production. It includes imports and exports of emissions, factual emission developments, green investments as well as low carbon city...

The Integrated Approach for Sustainable Performance Evaluation in Value Chain of Vietnam Textile and Apparel Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thi-Nham Le

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The impressive growth of the Vietnam textile and apparel industry has led to some concerns due to its insufficient value chain and fierce competition within the industry. Thus, performance evaluation is significant issue to estimate the values of companies over time. Firstly, the grey prediction is used to forecast future data for 20 largest enterprises in six years (2016–2021 based on actual indicators. Then, the paper uses Malmquist productivity index and its decomposition into efficiency and technical change to measure the past productivity growth. Finally, window analysis is applied to significantly detect the trends of performance in 12 years (2010–2021 from large number of inputs and outputs. The results are found that how technology changes is the determinant for productivity growth and undeveloped technology causes a huge barrier to industry. In addition, the results are illustrated that textile companies are predicted to be more stable due to the importance of supplying materials for the entire industry. This paper aims to prove in-depth analysis can be conducted through combined models and also provide some recommendations for enhancing the sustainability performance of the industry.

Firm performance and the role of environmental management.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundgren, Tommy; Zhou, Wenchao

2017-12-01

This paper analyzes the interactions between three dimensions of firm performance - productivity, energy efficiency, and environmental performance - and especially sheds light on the role of environmental management. In this context, environmental management is investments to reduce environmental impact, which may also affect firm competitiveness, in terms of change in productivity, and spur more (or less) efficient use of energy. We apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique to calculate the Malmquist firm performance indexes, and a panel vector auto-regression (VAR) methodology is utilized to investigate the dynamic and causal relationship between the three dimensions of firm performance and environmental investment. Main results show that energy efficiency and environmental performance are integrated, and energy efficiency and productivity positively reinforce each other, signifying the cost saving property of more efficient use of energy. Hence, increasing energy efficiency, as advocated in many of today's energy policies, could capture multiple benefits. The results also show that improved environmental performance and environmental investments constrain next period productivity, a result that would be in contrast with the Porter hypothesis and strategic corporate social responsibility; both concepts conveying the notion that pro-environmental management can boost productivity and competitiveness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Domestic Banks in Bangladesh Could Ensure Efficiency by Improving Human Resource Management Practices.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum

Full Text Available The paper aims to examine the influence of human resource management (HRM practices on bank efficiency using Malmquist index of total factor productivity. The model comprises HRM index that represents the quality of HRM practices. The results are decomposed into three efficiency scores, namely, technical efficiency, pure efficiency, and scale efficiency. In this study, panel data for 44 banks in Bangladesh are used for the period 2008-2013. This paper reveals that foreign banks are ahead in converting the influence of HRM practices into efficiency scores (0.946>0.833. On the other hand, domestic banks performed better than foreign banks in terms of pure efficiency and scale efficiency. But, in terms of technical efficiency, the domestic banks are regressed by 6.7% annually whereas foreign banks are progressed with a yearly value of 5.8%. The results are robust, because the Mann-Whitney test and Kruskall-Wallis test (non-parametric tests also confirm the same results. This study emphasizes HRM practices in the banking industry to ensure efficiency in the long-term scenario. Domestic banks are suggested to ensure continuous development in HRM practices in order to compete with foreign banks.

Domestic Banks in Bangladesh Could Ensure Efficiency by Improving Human Resource Management Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Muhammad Masum, Abdul Kadar; Azad, Md. Abul Kalam; Hoque, Kazi Enamul; Beh, Loo-See

2015-01-01

The paper aims to examine the influence of human resource management (HRM) practices on bank efficiency using Malmquist index of total factor productivity. The model comprises HRM index that represents the quality of HRM practices. The results are decomposed into three efficiency scores, namely, technical efficiency, pure efficiency, and scale efficiency. In this study, panel data for 44 banks in Bangladesh are used for the period 2008-2013. This paper reveals that foreign banks are ahead in converting the influence of HRM practices into efficiency scores (0.946>0.833). On the other hand, domestic banks performed better than foreign banks in terms of pure efficiency and scale efficiency. But, in terms of technical efficiency, the domestic banks are regressed by 6.7% annually whereas foreign banks are progressed with a yearly value of 5.8%. The results are robust, because the Mann-Whitney test and Kruskall-Wallis test (non-parametric tests) also confirm the same results. This study emphasizes HRM practices in the banking industry to ensure efficiency in the long-term scenario. Domestic banks are suggested to ensure continuous development in HRM practices in order to compete with foreign banks. PMID:26221727

Domestic Banks in Bangladesh Could Ensure Efficiency by Improving Human Resource Management Practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Masum, Abdul Kadar Muhammad; Azad, Md Abul Kalam; Hoque, Kazi Enamul; Beh, Loo-See

2015-01-01

The paper aims to examine the influence of human resource management (HRM) practices on bank efficiency using Malmquist index of total factor productivity. The model comprises HRM index that represents the quality of HRM practices. The results are decomposed into three efficiency scores, namely, technical efficiency, pure efficiency, and scale efficiency. In this study, panel data for 44 banks in Bangladesh are used for the period 2008-2013. This paper reveals that foreign banks are ahead in converting the influence of HRM practices into efficiency scores (0.946>0.833). On the other hand, domestic banks performed better than foreign banks in terms of pure efficiency and scale efficiency. But, in terms of technical efficiency, the domestic banks are regressed by 6.7% annually whereas foreign banks are progressed with a yearly value of 5.8%. The results are robust, because the Mann-Whitney test and Kruskall-Wallis test (non-parametric tests) also confirm the same results. This study emphasizes HRM practices in the banking industry to ensure efficiency in the long-term scenario. Domestic banks are suggested to ensure continuous development in HRM practices in order to compete with foreign banks.

¿El cambio de entrenador de fútbol durante la temporada mejora el rendimiento del equipo?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sala, Ramon

2009-01-01

trainer goes away by them to have reached and to look for new challenges in his race. Many teams in which the development of the season is not agreed with the initial expectations, comes to make some change in the sport slope, in order to be able to print a new impulse to the present trajectory. Most of the teams resort to change to the trainer (dismissing the present one to half of season, looking for the necessary chance to be able to change the tendency. When the wished objective is not obtained short term, it changes to the trainer again, and thus some teams can even finish the season with three and four trainers. In the present work, we are going to deepen in this fact for the case of Spanish League of First Division, in two seasons successive, using the Index of Malmquist. In the study the 17 teams only takes part that is common to the two analyzed seasons (2007/08 and 2008/09, since between both there are three teams that has descended to lower Division (Second Division and other 3 teams has ascended, occupying its place in the First Division. The Malmquist index allows to disturb the changes of technological productivity change or change in efficiency.

Browse Title Index

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Items 101 - 150 of 414 ... Journal Home > Advanced Search > Browse Title Index. Log in or ... of an algebraic function for the permutation of truth table columns, Abstract ... appraisal and productivity levels in selected Nigerian universities, Abstract.

Eficiência dos estados brasileiros e do Distrito Federal no sistema público de transplante renal: uma análise usando método DEA (Análise Envoltória de Dados e índice de Malmquist

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cassia Kely Favoretto Costa

2014-08-01

Full Text Available O objetivo foi avaliar a eficiência dos estados brasileiros e do Distrito Federal no sistema público de transplante renal e a mudança de produtividade deles entre 2006 e 2011. Utilizou-se a Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA baseada em folgas e o índice de Malmquist com folgas. Os inputs usados foram os gastos dos serviços hospitalares e dos profissionais no sistema. Como output, o número de transplantes renais realizados por cada estado. Existe uma discrepância significativa em relação à captação e ao número de transplantes renais entre os estados. Evidencia-se uma ineficiência nesse sistema, que poder ser causada por sua gestão inadequada; não seguimento de regras nacionais; comissões intra-hospitalares não ativas e equipes hospitalares sobrecarregadas. As mudanças institucionais promovidas pelo Ministério da Saúde (aperfeiçoamento e padronização dos processos não geraram aumento de produtividade na maioria dos estados nesse período.

Fatty Liver Index and Lipid Accumulation Product Can Predict Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects without Fatty Liver Disease

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Yuan-Lung Cheng

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Fatty liver index (FLI and lipid accumulation product (LAP are indexes originally designed to assess the risk of fatty liver and cardiovascular disease, respectively. Both indexes have been proven to be reliable markers of subsequent metabolic syndrome; however, their ability to predict metabolic syndrome in subjects without fatty liver disease has not been clarified. Methods. We enrolled consecutive subjects who received health check-up services at Taipei Veterans General Hospital from 2002 to 2009. Fatty liver disease was diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography. The ability of the FLI and LAP to predict metabolic syndrome was assessed by analyzing the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC curve. Results. Male sex was strongly associated with metabolic syndrome, and the LAP and FLI were better than other variables to predict metabolic syndrome among the 29,797 subjects. Both indexes were also better than other variables to detect metabolic syndrome in subjects without fatty liver disease (AUROC: 0.871 and 0.879, resp., and the predictive power was greater among women. Conclusion. Metabolic syndrome increases the cardiovascular disease risk. The FLI and LAP could be used to recognize the syndrome in both subjects with and without fatty liver disease who require lifestyle modifications and counseling.

Customer Satisfaction Index Model on Three Level Of Socioeconomic Status In Bogor Case Study: Customer Satisfaction on Branded Cooking Oil Product

OpenAIRE

Budi Setiawan

2014-01-01

Customer satisfaction index models have been developed in many countries, including Indonesia. Those models were commonly not focused on the socioeconomic status (SES) of the customer, sothis condition could be a research gap. The aims of this research is to analyze the customer satisfaction index model of branded cooking oil product in Bogor, Indonesia based on SES established from the household monthly routine consumption. Questionnaires were used as primary data collection instrument in th...

Nelson-Farrar cost indexes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper discusses the Nelson-Farrar Cost Indexs. Topics covered include: economic analysis, petroleum refineries, petroleum industry, pumps, compressors, beat exchangers, cost estimation, productivity and wages

Heart rate index

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haedersdal, C; Pedersen, F H; Svendsen, J H

1992-01-01

after the myocardial infarction. A significant correlation (Spearman's correlation coefficient rs, p less than 0.05) was found between LVEF at rest and the following variables assessed at exercise test: 1) the heart rate at rest, 2) rise in heart rate, 3) ratio between maximal heart rate and heart rate...... at rest, 4) rise in systolic blood pressure, 5) rate pressure product at rest, 6) rise in rate pressure product, 7) ratio (rHR) between maximal rate pressure product and rate pressure product at rest, 8) total exercise time. The heart rate was corrected for effects caused by age (heart index (HR...

Research Productivity and Rankings of Anesthesiology Departments in Canada and the United States: The Relationship Between the h-Index and Other Common Metrics [RETRACTED].

Science.gov (United States)

Bunting, Alexandra C; Alavifard, Sepand; Walker, Benjamin; Miller, Donald R; Ramsay, Tim; Boet, Sylvain

2018-03-05

To evaluate the relative research productivity and ranking of anesthesiology departments in Canada and the United States, using the Hirsch index (h-index) and 4 other previously validated metrics. We identified 150 anesthesiology departments in Canada and the United States with an accredited residency program. Publications for each of the 150 departments were identified using Thomson's Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science, and the citation report for each department was exported. The bibliometric data were used to calculate publication metrics for 3 time periods: cumulative (1945-2014), 10 years (2005-2014), and 5 years (2010-2014). The following group metrics were then used to determine the publication impact and relative ranking of all 150 departments: h-index, m-index, total number of publications, sum of citations, and average number of citations per article. Ranking for each metric were also stratified by using a proxy for departmental size. The most common journals in which US and Canadian anesthesiology departments publish their work were identified. The majority (23 of the top 25) of top-ranked anesthesiology departments are in the United States, and 2 of the top 25 departments (University of Toronto; McGill University) are in Canada. There was a strong positive relationship between each of h-index, total number of publications, and the sum of citations (0.91-0.97; P productivity on most metrics. The most frequent journals in which US and Canadian anesthesiology departments publish are Anesthesiology, Anesthesia and Analgesia, and the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia. Our study ranked the Canadian and US anesthesiology departmental research productivity using the h-index applied to each department, total number of publications, total number of citations, and average number of citations. The strong relationship between the h-index and both the number of publications and number of citations of anesthesiology departments shows that the departments

Single-phase Near-well Permeability Upscaling and Productivity Index Calculation Methods

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Seyed Shamsollah Noorbakhsh

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Reservoir models with many grid blocks suffer from long run time; it is hence important to deliberate a method to remedy this drawback. Usual upscaling methods are proved to fail to reproduce fine grid model behaviors in coarse grid models in well proximity. This is attributed to rapid pressure changes in the near-well region. Standard permeability upscaling methods are limited to systems with linear pressure changes; therefore, special near-well upscaling approaches based on the well index concept are proposed for these regions with non-linear pressure profile. No general rule is available to calculate the proper well index in different heterogeneity patterns and coarsening levels. In this paper, the available near-well upscaling methods are investigated for homogeneous and heterogeneous permeability models at different coarsening levels. It is observed that the existing well index methods have limited success in reproducing the well flow and pressure behavior of the reference fine grid models as the heterogeneity or coarsening level increases. Coarse-scale well indexes are determined such that fine and coarse scale results for pressure are in agreement. Both vertical and horizontal wells are investigated and, for the case of vertical homogeneous wells, a linear relationship between the default (Peaceman well index and the true (matched well index is obtained, which considerably reduces the error of the Peaceman well index. For the case of heterogeneous vertical wells, a multiplier remedies the error. Similar results are obtained for horizontal wells (both heterogeneous and homogeneous models.

Spring fasting behavior in a marine apex predator provides an index of ecosystem productivity

Science.gov (United States)

Rode, Karyn D.; Wilson, Ryan R.; Douglas, David C.; Muhlenbruch, Vanessa L; Atwood, Todd C.; Regehr, Eric V.; Richardson, Evan; Pilfold, Nicholas; Derocher, Andrew E.; Durner, George M.; Stirling, Ian; Amstrup, Steven C.; St Martin, Michelle; Pagano, Anthony M.; Simac, Kristin

2018-01-01

The effects of declining Arctic sea ice on local ecosystem productivity are not well understood but have been shown to vary inter-specifically, spatially, and temporally. Because marine mammals occupy upper trophic levels in Arctic food webs, they may be useful indicators for understanding variation in ecosystem productivity. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are apex predators that primarily consume benthic and pelagic-feeding ice-associated seals. As such, their productivity integrates sea ice conditions and the ecosystem supporting them. Declining sea ice availability has been linked to negative population effects for polar bears but does not fully explain observed population changes. We examined relationships between spring foraging success of polar bears and sea ice conditions, prey productivity, and general patterns of ecosystem productivity in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (CSs). Fasting status (≥7 days) was estimated using serum urea and creatinine levels of 1,448 samples collected from 1,177 adult and subadult bears across three subpopulations. Fasting increased in the Beaufort Sea between 1983–1999 and 2000–2016 and was related to an index of ringed seal body condition. This change was concurrent with declines in body condition of polar bears and observed changes in the diet, condition and/or reproduction of four other vertebrate consumers within the food chain. In contrast, fasting declined in CS polar bears between periods and was less common than in the two Beaufort Sea subpopulations consistent with studies demonstrating higher primary productivity and maintenance or improved body condition in polar bears, ringed seals, and bearded seals despite recent sea ice loss in this region. Consistency between regional and temporal variation in spring polar bear fasting and food web productivity suggests that polar bears may be a useful indicator species. Furthermore, our results suggest that spatial and temporal ecological variation is important in

Productivity of public hospitals in Nepal: a data envelopment analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Silwal, Pushkar Raj; Ashton, Toni

2017-07-20

Public hospitals in Nepal account for a major share of the total health budget. Therefore, questions are often asked about the performance of these hospitals. Existing measures of performance are limited to historical ratio analyses without any benchmarks. The objective of this study is to explore the trends in inputs, outputs and productivity changes in Nepalese public hospitals from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014. The study was conducted among 32 Nepalese public hospitals (23 district level and 9 higher level) for the three fiscal years from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014. First, basic ratio analyses were conducted for the input and output measures over the study years. Then, Malmquist productivity change scores were obtained using data envelopment analysis. Aggregated as well as separate analyses were conducted for district level and higher level hospitals. Real expenditures of the sampled hospitals declined over the 3-year period from an average of US$ 371 000 in year 1 to US$ 368 730 in year 2 and US$ 328680 in year 3. The average aggregated hospital outputs increased marginally from 8276 in 2011-2012 to 8613 in 2013-2014. The total factor productivity of the study hospitals declined by 6.9% annually from 2011-2012 to 2013-2014. Of the total 32 hospitals, productivity increased in only 12 (37.5%) hospitals and declined in the remaining 20 hospitals. The total factor productivity loss was influenced by a decline in technology change, despite an increase in efficiency. In general, productivity of the study hospitals declined over the study period. Availability and accessibility of accurate, detailed and consistent measures of hospital inputs and outputs is a major challenge for this type of analysis. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Productivity of public hospitals in Nepal: a data envelopment analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Ashton, Toni

2017-01-01

Objectives Public hospitals in Nepal account for a major share of the total health budget. Therefore, questions are often asked about the performance of these hospitals. Existing measures of performance are limited to historical ratio analyses without any benchmarks. The objective of this study is to explore the trends in inputs, outputs and productivity changes in Nepalese public hospitals from 2011–2012 to 2013–2014. Setting and participants The study was conducted among 32 Nepalese public hospitals (23 district level and 9 higher level) for the three fiscal years from 2011–2012 to 2013–2014. Outcome measures First, basic ratio analyses were conducted for the input and output measures over the study years. Then, Malmquist productivity change scores were obtained using data envelopment analysis. Aggregated as well as separate analyses were conducted for district level and higher level hospitals. Results Real expenditures of the sampled hospitals declined over the 3-year period from an average of US$ 371 000 in year 1 to US$ 368 730 in year 2 and US$ 328680 in year 3. The average aggregated hospital outputs increased marginally from 8276 in 2011–2012 to 8613 in 2013–2014. The total factor productivity of the study hospitals declined by 6.9% annually from 2011–2012 to 2013–2014. Of the total 32 hospitals, productivity increased in only 12 (37.5%) hospitals and declined in the remaining 20 hospitals. The total factor productivity loss was influenced by a decline in technology change, despite an increase in efficiency. Conclusions In general, productivity of the study hospitals declined over the study period. Availability and accessibility of accurate, detailed and consistent measures of hospital inputs and outputs is a major challenge for this type of analysis. PMID:28729314

Effektmåling ved implementering af The Balanced Scorecard på kvægsbedrifter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Jakob Vesterlund; Lund, Mogens

The Balanced Scorecard is used in many firms all over the world. Literature on cre-ating a Balanced Scorecard is overwhelming. The actual benefits of implementing the Balanced Scorecard are though not that well described. In Danish Dairy farming three Balanced Scorecards have been implemented...... during 2003 through a research project running from 2003 to the end of 2007. Measuring whether these dairy farms have better bottom line results is the focus of this Working Paper. The effects have been evaluated with the use of the Malmquist index. Data Envelopment Analysis is the tool that has been...

Nature is the best source of anticancer drugs: Indexing natural products for their anticancer bioactivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rayan, Anwar; Raiyn, Jamal; Falah, Mizied

2017-01-01

Cancer is considered one of the primary diseases that cause morbidity and mortality in millions of people worldwide and due to its prevalence, there is undoubtedly an unmet need to discover novel anticancer drugs. However, the traditional process of drug discovery and development is lengthy and expensive, so the application of in silico techniques and optimization algorithms in drug discovery projects can provide a solution, saving time and costs. A set of 617 approved anticancer drugs, constituting the active domain, and a set of 2,892 natural products, constituting the inactive domain, were employed to build predictive models and to index natural products for their anticancer bioactivity. Using the iterative stochastic elimination optimization technique, we obtained a highly discriminative and robust model, with an area under the curve of 0.95. Twelve natural products that scored highly as potential anticancer drug candidates are disclosed. Searching the scientific literature revealed that few of those molecules (Neoechinulin, Colchicine, and Piperolactam) have already been experimentally screened for their anticancer activity and found active. The other phytochemicals await evaluation for their anticancerous activity in wet lab.

Ranking of concern, based on environmental indexes, for pharmaceutical and personal care products: an application to the Spanish case.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz de García, Sheyla; Pinto, Gilberto Pinto; García-Encina, Pedro A; Irusta Mata, Rubén I

2013-11-15

A wide range of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) are present in the environment, and many of their adverse effects are unknown. The emergence of new compounds or changes in regulations have led to dynamical studies of occurrence, impact and treatment, which consider geographical areas and trends in consumption and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. A Quantitative study of Structure-Activity Relationship ((Q)SAR) was performed to assess the possible adverse effects of ninety six PPCPs and metabolites with negligible experimental data and establish a ranking of concern, which was supported by the EPA EPI Suite™ interface. The environmental and toxicological indexes, the persistence (P), the bioaccumulation (B), the toxicity (T) (extensive) and the occurrence in Spanish aquatic environments (O) (intensive) were evaluated. The most hazardous characteristics in the largest number of compounds were generated by the P index, followed by the T and B indexes. A high number of metabolites has a concern score equal to or greater than their parent compounds. Three PBT and OPBT rankings of concern were proposed using the total and partial ranking method (supported by a Hasse diagram) by the Decision Analysis by Ranking Techniques (DART) tool, which was recently recommended by the European Commission. An analysis of the sensibility of the relative weights of these indexes has been conducted. Hormones, antidepressants (and their metabolites), blood lipid regulators and all of the personal care products considered in this study were at the highest levels of risk according to the PBT and OPBT total rankings. Furthermore, when the OPBT partial ranking was performed, X-ray contrast media, H2 blockers and some antibiotics were included at the highest level of concern. It is important to improve and incorporate useful indexes for the predicted environmental impact of PPCPs and metabolites and thus focus experimental analysis on the compounds that require

Measuring Government Expenditure Efficiencies Towards Peace and Human Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Danu Prasetyo

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we investigate the efficiency level of government expenditure in 82 countries towards the human development and peace index of the respective countries by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA approach during 2007-2011. We found that only few countries that always being positioned in the efficient frontier during the sample period, namely: Japan, Nigeria, and Norway.  By using Malmquist index approach, we also found that Cyprus has the largest government expenditure efficiency improvement.Keywords: Government Expenditure Efficiencies, Human Development Index, Global Peace Indexdoi:10.12695/ajtm.2013.6.2.3 How to cite this article:Prasetyo, A.D., and Pudjono, A.N.S. (2013. Measuring Government Expenditure Efficiencies Towards Peace and Human Development. The Asian Journal of Technology Management 6 (2: 82-91. Print ISSN: 1978-6956; Online ISSN: 2089-791X. doi:10.12695/ajtm.2013.6.2.3

Identification of refined petroleum products in contaminated soils using an identification index for GC chromatograms.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Dongwook; Ko, Myoung-Soo; Yang, Jung-Seok; Kwon, Man Jae; Lee, Seung-Woo; Lee, Seunghak

2015-08-01

Hydrocarbons found in the environment are typically characterized by gas chromatography (GC). The shape of the GC chromatogram has been used to identify the source of petroleum contamination. However, the conventional practice of simply comparing the peak patterns of source products to those of environmental samples is dependent on the subjective decisions of individual analysts. We have developed and verified a quantitative analytical method for interpreting GC chromatograms to distinguish refined petroleum products in contaminated soils. We found that chromatograms for gasoline, kerosene, and diesel could be divided into three ranges with boundaries at C6, C8, C16, and C26. In addition, the relative peak area (RPA(GC)) of each range, a dimensionless ratio of the peak area within each range to that of the total range (C6-C26), had a unique value for each petroleum product. An identification index for GC chromatograms (ID(GC)), defined as the ratio of RPA(GC) of C8-C16 to that of C16-C26, was able to identify diesel and kerosene sources in samples extracted from artificially contaminated soils even after weathering. Thus, the ID(GC) can be used to effectively distinguish between refined petroleum products in contaminated soils.

Lower Mitochondrial Energy Production of the Thigh Muscles in Patients With Low-Normal Ankle-Brachial Index.

Science.gov (United States)

AlGhatrif, Majd; Zane, Ariel; Oberdier, Matt; Canepa, Marco; Studenski, Stephanie; Simonsick, Eleanor; Spencer, Richard G; Fishbein, Kenneth; Reiter, David; Lakatta, Edward G; McDermott, Mary M; Ferrucci, Luigi

2017-08-30

Lower muscle mitochondrial energy production may contribute to impaired walking endurance in patients with peripheral arterial disease. A borderline ankle-brachial index (ABI) of 0.91 to 1.10 is associated with poorer walking endurance compared with higher ABI. We hypothesized that in the absence of peripheral arterial disease, lower ABI is associated with lower mitochondrial energy production. We examined 363 men and women participating in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging with an ABI between 0.90 and 1.40. Muscle mitochondrial energy production was assessed by post-exercise phosphocreatine recovery rate constant ( k PCr) measured by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the left thigh. A lower post-exercise phosphocreatine recovery rate constant reflects decreased mitochondria energy production.The mean age of the participants was 71±12 years. A total of 18.4% had diabetes mellitus and 4% were current and 40% were former smokers. Compared with participants with an ABI of 1.11 to 1.40, those with an ABI of 0.90 to 1.10 had significantly lower post-exercise phosphocreatine recovery rate constant (19.3 versus 20.8 ms -1 , P =0.015). This difference remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking status, diabetes mellitus, body mass index, and cholesterol levels ( P =0.028). Similarly, post-exercise phosphocreatine recovery rate constant was linearly associated with ABI as a continuous variable, both in the ABI ranges of 0.90 to 1.40 (standardized coefficient=0.15, P =0.003) and 1.1 to 1.4 (standardized coefficient=0.12, P =0.0405). An ABI of 0.90 to 1.10 is associated with lower mitochondrial energy production compared with an ABI of 1.11 to 1.40. These data demonstrate adverse associations of lower ABI values with impaired mitochondrial activity even within the range of a clinically accepted definition of a normal ABI. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions in persons with ABIs of 0.90 to 1.10 can prevent

Visceral Adiposity Index and Lipid Accumulation Product Index: Two Alternate Body Indices to Identify Chronic Kidney Disease among the Rural Population in Northeast China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dongxue Dai

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We aimed to compare the relative strength of the association between anthropometric obesity indices and chronic kidney disease (CKD. Another objective was to examine whether the visceral adiposity index (VAI and lipid accumulation product index (LAPI can identify CKD in the rural population of China. There were 5168 males and 6024 females involved in this cross-sectional study, and 237 participants (2.12% suffered from CKD. Obesity indices included body mass index (BMI, waist circumference (WC, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR, VAI and LAPI. VAI and LAPI were calculated with triglyceride (TG, high-density lipoprotein (HDL, BMI and WC. VAI = [WC/39.68 + (1.88 × BMI] × (TG /1.03 × (1.31/ HDL for males; VAI = [WC/36.58 + (1.89 × BMI] × (TG/0.81 × (1.52/HDL for females. LAPI = (WC-65 × TG for males, LAPI = (WC-58 × TG for females. CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR of less than 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2. The prevalence of CKD increased across quartiles for WHtR, VAI and LAPI. A multivariate logistic regression analysis of the presence of CKD for the highest quartile vs. the lowest quartile of each anthropometric measure showed that the VAI was the best predictor of CKD in females (OR: 4.21, 95% CI: 2.09–8.47, p < 0.001. VAI showed the highest AUC for CKD (AUC: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.65–0.72 and LAPI came second (AUC: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.61–0.70 in females compared with BMI (both p-values < 0.001. However, compared with the traditional index of the BMI, the anthropometric measures VAI, LAPI, WC, and WHtR had no statistically significant capacity to predict CKD in males. Our results showed that both VAI and LAPI were significantly associated with CKD in the rural population of northeast China. Furthermore, VAI and LAPI were superior to BMI, WC and WHtR for predicting CKD only in females.

A Semi-Analytical Methodology for Multiwell Productivity Index of Well-Industry-Production-Scheme in Tight Oil Reservoirs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guangfeng Liu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Recently, the well-industry-production-scheme (WIPS has attracted more and more attention to improve tight oil recovery. However, multi-well pressure interference (MWPI induced by well-industry-production-scheme (WIPS strongly challenges the traditional transient pressure analysis methods, which focus on single multi-fractured horizontal wells (SMFHWs without MWPI. Therefore, a semi-analytical methodology for multiwell productivity index (MPI was proposed to study well performance of WIPS scheme in tight reservoir. To facilitate methodology development, the conceptual models of tight formation and WIPS scheme were firstly described. Secondly, seepage models of tight reservoir and hydraulic fractures (HFs were sequentially established and then dynamically coupled. Numerical simulation was utilized to validate our model. Finally, identification of flow regimes and sensitivity analysis were conducted. Our results showed that there was good agreement between our proposed model and numerical simulation; moreover, our approach also gave promising calculation speed over numerical simulation. Some expected flow regimes were significantly distorted due to WIPS. The slope of type curves which characterize the linear or bi-linear flow regime is bigger than 0.5 or 0.25. The horizontal line which characterize radial flow regime is also bigger 0.5. The smaller the oil rate, the more severely flow regimes were distorted. Well rate mainly determines the distortion of MPI curves, while fracture length, well spacing, fracture spacing mainly determine when the distortion of the MPI curves occurs. The bigger the well rate, the more severely the MPI curves are distorted. While as the well spacing decreases, fracture length increases, fracture spacing increases, occurrence of MWPI become earlier. Stress sensitivity coefficient mainly affects the MPI at the formation pseudo-radial flow stage, almost has no influence on the occurrence of MWPI. This work gains some

Price and Availability of Sugar-Free, Sugar-Reduced and Low Glycemic Index Cereal Products in Northwestern México.

Science.gov (United States)

Arámburo-Gálvez, Jesús G; Ontiveros, Noé; Vergara-Jiménez, Marcela J; Magaña-Ordorica, Dalia; Gracia-Valenzuela, Martina H; Cabrera-Chávez, Francisco

2017-12-18

Sugar-free (SF), sugar-reduced (SR), or low-glycemic-index (low GI) cereal products could be helpful for the dietary treatment of disorders related to glucose homeostasis. However, access and economic aspects are barriers that could hamper their consumption. Thus, the availability and price of such cereal products were evaluated in Northwestern México. The products were categorized in 10 groups. The data were collected in five cities by store visitation (from November 2015 to April 2016). The availability in specialized stores and supermarkets was expressed as availability rates based on the total number of products. The price of the SF, SR, and low GI products were compared with their conventional counterparts. Availability rates were higher in supermarkets than in specialized stores by product numbers (14.29% versus 3.76%, respectively; p snacks, and tostadas/totopos) had higher prices than their conventional counterparts ( p < 0.05). In conclusion, in Northwestern Mexico, the availability of SF, SR, and low GI cereal-based foods is relatively low, and these foods are more expensive than their conventional counterparts.

[Eco-efficiency change and its driving factors in Tongling City of Anhui Province].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi-Chen; Wang, Yuan; Zhu, Xiao-Dong; Wu, Xiao-Qing; Wang, Ke; Ren, Ke-Xiu; Lu, Gen-Fa

2011-02-01

This paper first applied material flow analysis (MFA) to construct three levels of regional eco-efficiency indicators, i.e., regional direct eco-efficiency (RDE), regional total eco-efficiency (RTE), and holistic eco-efficiency (HE), and adopted the newly developed data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the eco-efficiency of Tongling City during the period of 1990-2008. We also applied Malmquist productivity index (MPI) to explore the eco-efficiency change between two following years and its driving factors. The main results were summarized as 1) though the RDE of Tongling City in 1990-2008 kept an increasing trend, its mean eco-efficiency was not high (close to 0.8 in 80% of the years), being lower than that of the RTE and HE, and 2) the RDE change was closely relevant to the improvement in resource management and the technical input in environmental protection in recent years. In order to further improve the RDE of the City, it would be necessary to raise its eco-efficiency via expanding raw material input, reducing domestic extraction, promoting resources productivity, and taking more measures on environmental protection facilities construction.

Eficiencia productiva y externalidades territoriales en la pyme industrial: Un análisis dinámico del efecto distrito

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soler i Marco, Vicent

2009-01-01

Full Text Available En anteriores trabajos han sido analizados los comportamientos diferenciales, en cuanto a la eficiencia en los procesos de producción, entre las empresas ubicadas dentro de un hipotético distrito industrial y las situadas fuera del mismo. A su vez, este objetivo ha sido abordado haciendo uso de medidas no radiales de eficiencia técnica. Los resultados alcanzados aportan una valiosa información que permite cuantificar el llamado efecto distrito en un momento dado del tiempo. Sin embargo, los conocidos cambios en el mercado y en el propio comportamiento de las empresas aconsejan estudiar este efecto distrito desde un punto de vista dinámico. En este trabajo se aporta esta nueva visión mediante el uso de Índices Malmquist de productividad. Esta metodología nos permite analizar cómo han evolucionado las diferencias de comportamiento en términos de eficiencia productiva entre las empresas de dentro y las de fuera de un distrito a lo largo de un período de tiempo. Se lleva a cabo una aplicación empírica para un conjunto de pymes industriales del sector cerámico ubicadas en España durante el periodo de expansión económica, 1996-2007. ABSTRACT In previous works have been analyzed differential, behaviours in efficiency in the production processes, between enterprises located within a hypothetical industrial district and located outside. In turn, this objective has been addressed by making use of technical efficiency measures. The achieved results provide valuable information that allows quantifying the effect called district in a given moment in time. However, known changes in the market and own behaviour of companies advice study this district effect from a dynamic point of view. This work provides this new vision using indexes Malmquist productivity. This methodology allows us to analyse how evolved behaviour differences in terms of productive efficiency between companies within and outside of a district over a period of time. Carries

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Central California: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Florida Panhandle: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: South Florida: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Hudson River: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Camera derived vegetation greenness index as proxy for gross primary production in a low Arctic wetland area

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westergaard-Nielsen, Andreas; Lund, Magnus; Hansen, Birger Ulf

2013-01-01

vegetation index (NDVI) product derived from the WorldView-2 satellite. An object-based classification based on a bi-temporal image composite was used to classify the study area into heath, copse, fen, and bedrock. Temporal evolution of vegetation greenness was evaluated and modeled with double sigmoid...... and GPP (R-2 = 0.85, p remote Arctic regions....... (C) 2013 International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Inc. (ISPRS) Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved....

21 CFR 516.167 - Removal from the index.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Removal from the index. 516.167 Section 516.167... DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS NEW ANIMAL DRUGS FOR MINOR USE AND MINOR SPECIES Index of Legally Marketed Unapproved New Animal Drugs for Minor Species § 516.167 Removal from the index. (a) After due...

Nature is the best source of anticancer drugs: Indexing natural products for their anticancer bioactivity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anwar Rayan

Full Text Available Cancer is considered one of the primary diseases that cause morbidity and mortality in millions of people worldwide and due to its prevalence, there is undoubtedly an unmet need to discover novel anticancer drugs. However, the traditional process of drug discovery and development is lengthy and expensive, so the application of in silico techniques and optimization algorithms in drug discovery projects can provide a solution, saving time and costs. A set of 617 approved anticancer drugs, constituting the active domain, and a set of 2,892 natural products, constituting the inactive domain, were employed to build predictive models and to index natural products for their anticancer bioactivity. Using the iterative stochastic elimination optimization technique, we obtained a highly discriminative and robust model, with an area under the curve of 0.95. Twelve natural products that scored highly as potential anticancer drug candidates are disclosed. Searching the scientific literature revealed that few of those molecules (Neoechinulin, Colchicine, and Piperolactam have already been experimentally screened for their anticancer activity and found active. The other phytochemicals await evaluation for their anticancerous activity in wet lab.

X - FACTOR EVALUATION UNDER RPI-X REGULATION FOR INDIAN ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES

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PAVAN KHETRAPAL

2017-07-01

Full Text Available With regulators’ growing interest in improving operational efficiency and quality supply, the time is nearing when performance based regulation will become norm for regulating the distribution tariff in Indian electricity distribution sector. In this context, the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions proposed replacing rate-of-return regulation with most commonly used performance based regulatory regime, i.e., Price Cap regulation also known as RPI-X (Retail Price Index - Productivity Offset regulatory framework. However, the potential problem associated with applying price cap regulation scheme in practice is the determination of productivity offset or X factor used in price caps setting. This paper proposed an approach to calculate the X-factor for 58 government-owned and privately-owned electricity distribution utilities in India during a five year period from 2007/08 to 2011/12. A Stochastic Frontier model through an input distance function is first applied to compute the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity (TFP and the estimated TFP is then used to calculate the utility-specific X-factor. With rely on calculated X-factor, the distribution utilities would be able to cap either on prices or revenues thus accounting the inflation in the tariff determination. This will be more realistic approach as compared to cost plus approach.

Efficiency of the Ethiopian Health Extension Program: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis

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Yibrah Hagos GEBRESILASSIE

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This study aims at evaluating the relative technical efficiency and productivity of the Ethiopian rural health extension program, with an emphasis on rural health posts, using Data Envelopment Analysis and the Malmquist index for data obtained from regional health bureaus in Ethiopia, covering 1,552 health posts for the period 2013-2014. We also examine factors associated with technical inefficiency variations across health posts using the Tobit regression model. Our findings indicate that about 5.67 percent of health posts are technically efficient. Estimated technical and scale efficiency levels of health posts vary across regions and most of them exhibit decreasing returns to scale. The examined health posts improved their productivity by 22.9 percent because of technological progress. Furthermore, supportive supervision, the average distance from health posts to households’ residence, the religion and region of residence of health extension workers, were the major determinants of technical inefficiency variations across health posts. Hence, this study confirms the existence of variations in technical and scale efficiencies of health posts across and within regions, suggesting potential for improving efficiency. We, therefore recommend that the Ethiopian health posts need to augment their scale size and improve their managerial practices to enhance their overall efficiency and productivity.

[Carbohydrates and mental performance--the role of glycemic index of food products].

Science.gov (United States)

Ciok, Janusz; Dolna, Agnieszka

2006-03-01

The role of carbohydrates in proper functioning of central nervous system measured by parameters of cognitive performance was described. The only source of energy for the brain is glucose, which stimulates the production and secretion of acetylocholine. Important are also enough high blood level of insulin and the level of insulin growth factor (IGF). Many studies had showed that breakfast intake improves the ability of concentration, reaction time, learning ability, mood and memory. Not sufficient amount of nutritional carbohydrates may in opposite be negative for the results of some tests measuring cognitive performance. The results of studies showing that the disturbances in utilization of carbohydrates, present in the patients with diabetes, increase the risk of abnormalities of cognitive performance. There is some evidence that the kind of ingested carbohydrates is important. Several studies suggest that the intake of carbohydrates characterized by low glycemic index (GI) may be favorable for some parameters of cognitive performance, because of prolonged time of stable glicaemia after food ingestion.

Antimicrobial Pesticide Use Site Index

Science.gov (United States)

This Use Site Index provides guidance to assist applicants for antimicrobial pesticide registration by helping them identify the data requirements necessary to register a pesticide or support their product registrations.

Index Grids - MDC_STLIndex_poly

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Local Govt | GIS Inventory — A polygon coverage of Miami-Dade County Single Tile Library (STL) Index layer, which indicates allowable data extent house in the production environment. Boundaries...

Life quality time allocation index-an equilibrium economy consistent version of the current life quality index

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ditlevsen, Ove; Friis-Hansen, Peter

2005-01-01

The definition the Life Quality Index for a country as originally suggested by Nathwani, Lind and Pandey is based on the gross domestic product (GDP), the expected life in good health at birth, and the fraction of life time the anonymous citizen of the country is occupied with money making work...... a further development casting the definition into dimensionless quantities that make the index get a pure unit of time and not the somewhat obscure unit as a power product of a money unit and a time unit. To avoid confusion, this new variant of the LQI is called the Life Quality Time Allocation Index (LQTAI...... of the variables themselves, the relative increment of the LQI becomes defined as a convex combination of the two relative increments. The combination parameter is obtained by an optimality argument about the anonymous citizen’s distribution of his or her time between free time and work time. In the original...

Index-based Crop Insurance for Climate Adaptation in the Developing World

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, M. E.; Osgood, D. E.; Carriquiry, M. A.

2011-12-01

Weather has always presented a challenge to small-scale farmers, particularly in regions where poverty and lack of infrastructure has restricted the development of financial instruments to limit risk. New 'index' insurance innovations in agriculture are beginning to enable even the poorest farmers to unlock major productivity gains (e.g. insuring loans for improved seeds). Although index insurance has the potential to greatly improve productivity in developing country agriculture, the principal technical challenge to up-scaling this product is "data poverty," the absence of weather data in low-income areas needed to design robust and affordable insurance products. Earth science, particularly remote sensing, has the potential to ameliorate data poverty. However, raw use of earth science model output leads to non-optimal indexes and many obstacles remain to transform earth science products into insurance solutions. Estimation uncertainty, limited availability of consistent time series, and difficulties of predicting loses based on remote observations are reviewed in this article. The importance of multidisciplinary approaches addressing the needs of stakeholders in simple to understand indexes is highlighted. The successful use of Earth science data to support the index insurance industry in currently poor and isolated communities in the developing world would transform the ability of small farmers to increase yields, household incomes and regional economies, if the growing gap between earth science and index insurance can be closed.

Price and Availability of Sugar-Free, Sugar-Reduced and Low Glycemic Index Cereal Products in Northwestern México

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Jesús G. Arámburo-Gálvez

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Sugar-free (SF, sugar-reduced (SR, or low-glycemic-index (low GI cereal products could be helpful for the dietary treatment of disorders related to glucose homeostasis. However, access and economic aspects are barriers that could hamper their consumption. Thus, the availability and price of such cereal products were evaluated in Northwestern México. The products were categorized in 10 groups. The data were collected in five cities by store visitation (from November 2015 to April 2016. The availability in specialized stores and supermarkets was expressed as availability rates based on the total number of products. The price of the SF, SR, and low GI products were compared with their conventional counterparts. Availability rates were higher in supermarkets than in specialized stores by product numbers (14.29% versus 3.76%, respectively; p < 0.001 and by product categories (53.57% versus 26.92%, respectively; p < 0.001. Five categories of products labeled as SF, SR, and low GI (oats, cookies and crackers, flours, snacks, and tostadas/totopos had higher prices than their conventional counterparts (p < 0.05. In conclusion, in Northwestern Mexico, the availability of SF, SR, and low GI cereal-based foods is relatively low, and these foods are more expensive than their conventional counterparts.

The ZJU index is a powerful index for identifying NAFLD in the general Chinese population.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Linman; You, Wenyi; Ren, Wei

2017-10-01

The ZJU index is a novel model for detecting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that it is calculated based on combination of the body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and the serum alanine aminotransferase-to-aspartate transaminase ratio. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the ZJU index in detecting NAFLD in the Chinese population. This was a cross-sectional study. Anthropometric measurements, laboratory data, and ultrasonography features were collected through a standard protocol. The ZJU index, fatty liver index, hepatic steatosis index, lipid accumulation product, and visceral adiposity index were calculated. Then the predictive values of the five indices were compared according to the area under receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUROC) values. A total of 19,804 participants were recruited, of whom 7324 participants were diagnosed with NFALD and 12,480 subjects were regarded as controls. The AUROC value for NAFLD identification by the ZJU index was 0.925 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.919-0.931), which was significantly higher than the values for the other four models (P 60 years, the AUROC for the ZJU increased from 87.1 to 95.4%, values which were also greater than those for the other four indices. Analysis by sex also showed that the performance of the ZJU index in males and females was better than that of the other four indices. The ZJU index is an accurate and easy to employ tool for identifying NAFLD in the general Chinese population.

First direct landscape-scale measurement of tropical rain forest Leaf Area Index, a key driver of global primary productivity

Science.gov (United States)

David B. Clark; Paulo C. Olivas; Steven F. Oberbauer; Deborah A. Clark; Michael G. Ryan

2008-01-01

Leaf Area Index (leaf area per unit ground area, LAI) is a key driver of forest productivity but has never previously been measured directly at the landscape scale in tropical rain forest (TRF). We used a modular tower and stratified random sampling to harvest all foliage from forest floor to canopy top in 55 vertical transects (4.6 m2) across 500 ha of old growth in...

On the Additively Weighted Harary Index of Some Composite Graphs

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Behrooz Khosravi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Harary index is defined as the sum of reciprocals of distances between all pairs of vertices of a connected graph. The additively weighted Harary index H A ( G is a modification of the Harary index in which the contributions of vertex pairs are weighted by the sum of their degrees. This new invariant was introduced in (Alizadeh, Iranmanesh and Došlić. Additively weighted Harary index of some composite graphs, Discrete Math, 2013 and they posed the following question: What is the behavior of H A ( G when G is a composite graph resulting for example by: splice, link, corona and rooted product? We investigate the additively weighted Harary index for these standard graph products. Then we obtain lower and upper bounds for some of them.

Productivity growth in outpatient child and adolescent mental health services: the impact of case-mix adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

Halsteinli, Vidar; Kittelsen, Sverre A; Magnussen, Jon

2010-02-01

The performance of health service providers may be monitored by measuring productivity. However, the policy value of such measures may depend crucially on the accuracy of input and output measures. In particular, an important question is how to adjust adequately for case-mix in the production of health care. In this study, we assess productivity growth in Norwegian outpatient child and adolescent mental health service units (CAMHS) over a period characterized by governmental utilization of simple productivity indices, a substantial increase in capacity and a concurrent change in case-mix. We analyze the sensitivity of the productivity growth estimates using different specifications of output to adjust for case-mix differences. Case-mix adjustment is achieved by distributing patients into eight groups depending on reason for referral, age and gender, as well as correcting for the number of consultations. We utilize the nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method to implicitly calculate weights that maximize each unit's efficiency. Malmquist indices of technical productivity growth are estimated and bootstrap procedures are performed to calculate confidence intervals and to test alternative specifications of outputs. The dataset consist of an unbalanced panel of 48-60 CAMHS in the period 1998-2006. The mean productivity growth estimate from a simple unadjusted patient model (one single output) is 35%; adjusting for case-mix (eight outputs) reduces the growth estimate to 15%. Adding consultations increases the estimate to 28%. The latter reflects an increase in number of consultations per patient. We find that the governmental productivity indices strongly tend to overestimate productivity growth. Case-mix adjustment is of major importance and governmental utilization of performance indicators necessitates careful considerations of output specifications. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pricing Equity-Indexed Annuities under Stochastic Interest Rates Using Copulas

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Patrice Gaillardetz

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We develop a consistent evaluation approach for equity-linked insurance products under stochastic interest rates. This pricing approach requires that the premium information of standard insurance products is given exogenously. In order to evaluate equity-linked products, we derive three martingale probability measures that reproduce the information from standard insurance products, interest rates, and equity index. These risk adjusted martingale probability measures are determined using copula theory and evolve with the stochastic interest rate process. A detailed numerical analysis is performed for existing equity-indexed annuities in the North American market.

Influence of the revision of surgical fee schedule on surgeons' productivity in Japan: A cohort analysis of 7602 surgical procedures in 2013-2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakata, Yoshinori; Watanabe, Yuichi; Narimatsu, Hiroto; Yoshimura, Tatsuya; Otake, Hiroshi; Sawa, Tomohiro

2018-02-01

The goal of this study is to evaluate the pure impact of the revision of surgical fee schedule on surgeons' productivity. We collected data from the surgical procedures performed by the surgeons working in Teikyo University Hospital from 1 April through 30 September in 2013-2016. We employed non-radial and non-oriented Malmquist model. We defined the decision-making unit as a surgeon with the highest academic rank in surgery. Inputs were defined as (1) the number of doctors who assisted surgery and (2) the time of surgical operation. The output was defined as the surgical fee for each surgery. We focused on the revisions in 2014 and 2016. We first calculated each surgeon's natural logarithms of the changes in productivity, technique and efficiency in 2013-2014, in 2014-2015 and in 2015-2016. Then, we subtracted the changes in 2014-2015 from the changes in 2013-2014 and in 2015-2016. We analyzed 62 surgeons who performed 7602 surgical procedures. The productivity changes were not significantly different from 0. Their efficiency change was significantly greater than 0, while their technical change was smaller than 0 in revision 2014. Their efficiency change was significantly smaller than 0, while their technical change was greater than 0 in revision 2016 (p increase overall productivity through revision if we could increase both efficiency and technique.

Do America's Schools Need a "Dow Jones Index"?

Science.gov (United States)

Guthrie, James W.

1994-01-01

Discusses America's fascination with measuring education. Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of a single composite indicator, akin to the Dow Jones Index, to measure educational productivity. Describes progress in the California State Education Department in developing a composite index to measure student performance. (SR)

Growing Degree Vegetation Production Index (GDVPI): A Novel and Data-Driven Approach to Delimit Season Cycles

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, W. D.; Spruce, J.; Ross, K. W.; Gasser, J.; Grulke, N.

2014-12-01

Growing Degree Vegetation Production Index (GDVPI) is a parametric approach to delimiting vegetation seasonal growth and decline cycles using incremental growing degree days (GDD), and NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) 8-day composite cumulative integral data. We obtain a specific location's daily minimum and maximum temperatures from the nearest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather stations posted on the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) Climate Data Online (CDO) archive and compute GDD. The date range for this study is January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2012. We employ a novel process, a repeating logistic product (RLP), to compensate for short-term weather variability and data drops from the recording stations and fit a curve to the median daily GDD values, adjusting for asymmetry, amplitude, and phase shift that minimize the sum of squared errors when comparing the observed and predicted GDD. The resulting curve, here referred to as the surrogate GDD, is the time-temperature phasing parameter used to convert Cartesian NDVI values into polar coordinate pairs, multiplying the NDVI values as the radial by the cosine and sine of the surrogate GDD as the angular. Depending on the vegetation type and the original NDVI curve, the polar NDVI curve may be nearly circular, kidney-shaped, or pear-shaped in the case of conifers, deciduous, or agriculture, respectively. We examine the points of tangency about the polar coordinate NDVI curve, identifying values of 1, 0, -1, or infinity, as each of these represent natural inflection points. Lines connecting the origin to each tangent point illustrate and quantify the parametrically segmentation of the growing season based on the GDD and NDVI ostensible dependency. Furthermore, the area contained by each segment represents the apparent vegetation production. A particular benefit is that the inflection points are determined

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Upper Coast of Texas: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Application of preference selection index method for decision making over the design stage of production system life cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesh Attri

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The life cycle of production system shows the progress of production system from the inception to the termination of the system. During each stage, mainly in the design stage, certain strategic decisions have to be taken. These decisions are more complex as the decision makers have to assess a wide range of alternatives based on a set of conflicting criteria. As the decision making process is found to be unstructured, characterized by domain dependent knowledge, there is a need to apply an efficient multi-criteria decision making (MCDM tool to help the decision makers in making correct decisions. This paper explores the application of a novel MCDM method i.e. Preference selection index (PSI method to solve various decision-making problems that are generally encountered in the design stage of production system life cycle. To prove the potentiality, applicability and accuracy of PSI method in solving decision making problem during the design stage of production system life cycle, five examples are cited from the literature and are compared with the results obtained by the past researchers.

INDEXING AND INDEX FUNDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HAKAN SARITAŞ

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Proponents of the efficient market hypothesis believe that active portfolio management is largely wasted effort and unlikely to justify the expenses incurred. Therefore, they advocate a passive investment strategy that makes no attempt to outsmart the market. One common strategy for passive management is indexing where a fund is designed to replicate the performance of a broad-based index of stocks and bonds. Traditionally, indexing was used by institutional investors, but today, the use of index funds proliferated among individual investors. Over the years, both international and domestic index funds have disproportionately outperformed the market more than the actively managed funds have.

Producción científica sobre Educación Multicultural contenida en las bases de datos Social Sciences Citation Index y Arts & Humanities Citation Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vallejo Ruiz, Mónica

2005-06-01

Full Text Available This paper is an inquiry into the productivity on multicultural education using a list of documents retrieved from two databases of Institute for Scientific Information (ISI, Philadelphia, Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index during the period 1956 to 2003.
Scientometrics indicators relative to longitudinal production, authors and institutional productivity, journal and citations patterns are offered, which allowed a description of the international production in this educational field and to establish evaluative inferences.

Este estudio indaga la productividad en educación multicultural en base a una lista de documentos incluidos en dos bases del Institute for Scientific Information (ISI de Filadelfia: Social Sciences Citation Index y Arts & Humanities Citation Index, durante el periodo 1956-2003.
Se ofrecen una serie de indicadores cienciométricos relativos a diacronía, productividad personal e institucional, revistas editoras y patrones de citación, los cuales permiten describir la producción internacional en este campo educativo y establecer inferencias evaluativas sobre el mismo.

21 CFR 516.161 - Modifications to indexed drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Modifications to indexed drugs. 516.161 Section 516.161 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS NEW ANIMAL DRUGS FOR MINOR USE AND MINOR SPECIES Index...

Estimation of rice situation index in Japan using remotely sensed and meteorological data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaneko, D.

2006-01-01

This research aims to develop a remote sensing method for monitoring rice production in Japan. A photosynthesis-based crop production index CPI for rice is proposed that takes into consideration the solar radiation, the effective air temperature, and normalized vegetation index NDVI as a factor representing vegetation biomass. The CPI index incorporates temperature influences such as the effect of temperature on photosynthesis by grain plant leaves, low-temperature effects of sterility, cool summer damage due to delayed growth, and high-temperature injury. These latter factors are significant at around the heading period of rice. The CPI index for rice was modeled at ten monitoring sites in the Kanto, Tohoku, and Hokkaido districts, which occasionally tend to suffer poor harvests as a result of low temperatures. The photosynthesis-based crop production index CPI proposed here can predict the crop situation index of rice by using NDVI, solar radiation at meteorological observatories and air temperature at AMeDAS sites. The method is based on routine observation data, allowing automated monitoring of rice situation index at arbitrary sites in Japan. However, it is possible to further refine the estimation formula for the rice situation index for early monitoring

21 CFR 516.155 - Labeling of indexed drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Labeling of indexed drugs. 516.155 Section 516.155 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS NEW ANIMAL DRUGS FOR MINOR USE AND MINOR SPECIES Index of Legally...

Study of Scientific Production of Community Medicines' Department Indexed in ISI Citation Databases.

Science.gov (United States)

Khademloo, Mohammad; Khaseh, Ali Akbar; Siamian, Hasan; Aligolbandi, Kobra; Latifi, Mahsoomeh; Yaminfirooz, Mousa

2016-10-01

In the scientometric, the main criterion in determining the scientific position and ranking of the scientific centers, particularly the universities, is the rate of scientific production and innovation, and in all participations in the global scientific development. One of the subjects more involved in repeatedly dealt with science and technology and effective on the improvement of health is medical science fields. In this research using scientometric and citation analysis, we studied the rate of scientific productions in the field of community medicine, which is the numbers of articles published and indexed in ISI database from 2000 to 2010. This study is scientometric using the survey and analytical citation. The study samples included all of the articles in the ISI database from 2000 to 2010. For the data collection, the advance method of searching was used at the ISI database. The ISI analyses software and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Results showed that among the five top universities in producing documents, Tehran University of Medical Sciences with 88 (22.22%) documents are allocated to the first rank of scientific products. M. Askarian with 36 (90/9%) published documents; most of the scientific outputs in Community medicine, in the international arena is the most active author in this field. In collaboration with other writers, Iranian departments of Community Medicine with 27 published articles have the greatest participation with scholars of English authors. In the process of scientific outputs, the results showed that the scientific process was in its lowest in the years 2000 to 2004, and while the department of Community medicine in 2009 allocated most of the production process to itself. Iranian Journal of Public Health and Saudi Medical Journal each of them had 16 articles which had most participation rate in the publishing of community medicine's department. On the type of carrier, community medicine's department by

Scientometric Dilemma: Is H-index Adequate for Scientific Validity of Academic's Work?

Science.gov (United States)

Masic, Izet; Begic, Edin

2016-07-16

H-index is an index that attempts to measure the productivity and impact of published work of scientists. H-index has several advantages - it combines productivity with echo, is not sensitive to extreme values in terms of articles without citation or to articles with above-average number of citations and directly enables the identification of the most relevant articles with regard to the number of citations received. H-index has great potential in the academic community, but it still has not realistic indicator of the quality of work of one author. Authors described most used indices for scientific assessment.

Sustainable Product Indexing: Navigating the Challenge of Ecolabeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jay S. Golden

2010-09-01

Full Text Available There is growing scientific evidence that improving the sustainability of consumer products can lead to significant gains in global sustainability. Historically, environmental policy has been managed by bureaucracies and institutions in a mechanistic manner; this had led to many early successes. However, we believe that if policy concerning product sustainability is also managed in this way, negative unintended consequences are likely to occur. Thus, we propose a social-ecological systems approach to policy making concerning product sustainability that will lead to more rapid and meaningful progress toward improving the environmental and social impacts of consumer products.

Efficiency analysis of the designations of origin in the Spanish wine sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Vidal

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The wine Common Market Organisation has established two concepts for recognizing the quality of wines in the European Union (EU. The first corresponds to the so-called Protected Designation of Origin (PDO, and the second to the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI. The set of Spanish PDOs includes the subset of Spanish DOs (Designation of Origin, which have been recognized as quality wines by Spanish authorities since 1932. Spain accounts for 67 DOs but, due to a lack of data, only 34 of them are suitable for carrying out our analysis. We will analyze the efficiency of this subset for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons resorting to Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA and using a new additive based efficiency measure known as BAM (Bounded Adjusted Measure. Since we are using panel data, we will also evaluate the productivity associated with this data set resorting to Malmquist indexes. Our results show that the efficiency behavior of the subset of Spanish DOs is uniform over the time periods analyzed and that productivity experiments only minor and irrelevant changes. They also show that three DOs are in a very good competitive position while another three DOs are in a very bad position. We end up suggesting some economic reasons for explaining these results.

Site index determination techniques for southern bottomland hardwoods

Science.gov (United States)

Brian Roy Lockhart

2013-01-01

Site index is a species-specific indirect measure of forest productivity expressed as the average height of dominant and codominant trees in a stand of a specified base age. It is widely used by forest managers to make informed decisions regarding forest management practices. Unfortunately, forest managers have difficulty in determining site index for southern US...

Bibliometric Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine Scientific Production between 1982 and 2016 Indexed in PubMed.

Science.gov (United States)

Consentino, Ricardo; Santos, Maria João; Matos, Luís Carlos; Machado, Jorge Pereira

2018-05-03

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may be understood as a system of sensations and findings designed to establish the functional vegetative state of the body. This state may be treated by several therapeutic methods such as acupuncture, Chinese pharmacotherapy, dietetics, Tuina , and Qigong . Nowadays, as a result of several evidence-based reported beneficial effects over specific pathological conditions, there is an increasing tendency to integrate some of these practices in Western medicine. The main goal of this study was to perform a bibliometric analysis of TCM scientific production between 1982 and 2016 indexed in PubMed, by analyzing several parameters including time and location distribution, publication quality, experimental design, and treatment methods. Methods: The methodology was based on the quantitative inventory of published scientific research indexed in PubMed medical subject headings (MeSH), sorted within the broad term “Traditional Chinese Medicine” and integrating the following criteria as limit filters: “Species: Humans”, “Article Type: Clinical Trial”. In addition, the articles’ triage was ruled by temporal limitations set between 1945 and 2016. Results: The overall analysis of data allowed observation of an average annual growth of approximately 33%, with a productive peak of 122 articles in 2007. The scientific production was distributed in 27 countries, led by China (76.1%), followed by the United States of America (3.0%) and South Korea (2.1%). A significant amount of references were published in Chinese journals: more than 50%; however, these journals had a low impact factor. The most cited treatments in the keywords section of the articles were phytotherapy (55%) and acupuncture (40%). Conclusion: The increasing demand for TCM seems to be due to factors such as lower side effects and greater efficacy in some patients not responding well to conventional therapy. As a result, a considerable amount of TCM science

Índice de previsão de produção de leite para vacas Jersey Index for predicting milk production in Jersey cows

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Luiz A. Laloni

2004-08-01

Full Text Available No Brasil, o uso de vários modelos de criação intensiva e semi-extensiva desfavorece a adoção generalizada de métodos de manejo do gado bovino, principalmente do gado leiteiro. Mesmo assim, a produção leiteira pode ser melhorada a partir do uso de tecnologias que possam garantir o manejo adequado do rebanho. O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver um índice de previsão de produção de leite para vacas Jersey em lactação, de genética de alta produtividade, em regime semi-estabulado, nas condições tropicais. Para a obtenção do índice, consideraram-se a temperatura e a umidade relativa do ambiente e a velocidade do ar, assim como valores de precipitação pluviométrica, temperatura do solo do pasto e a radiação solar como agentes estressores, os quais podem alterar a produção de leite. O experimento considerou dois tratamentos: A - as vacas permaneceram em sala de espera guarnecida com chuveiro e ventiladores, por um período 30 min antes da ordenha; B - as vacas não tiveram acesso a essa sala de espera (controle. Fora do período de ordenha, as vacas tiveram acesso ao pasto. Observou-se que as diferenças de médias de produção entre os tratamentos não foram estatisticamente significativas. Foram procedidas as análises para efeito de elaboração do modelo e chegou-se a um modelo factível, considerando a relação entre produção e a precipitação, assim como a temperatura máxima do solo do pasto.In Brazil the adoption of several models of cattle confinement leads to special conditions for management methods in dairy production, which can be improved by the use of technology that assures better herd management. Indexes relating environmental variables to production are applied for the prediction of milk production. The values of temperature and relative humidity, rain index, solar radiation and pasture soil temperature are generally considered potential stress agents for cows. The objective of this research was

Bibliometric indexes, databases and impact factors in cardiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor R C Bienert

2015-04-01

Full Text Available AbstractBibliometry is a quantitative statistical technique to measure levels of production and dissemination of knowledge, as well as a useful tool to track the development of an scientific area. The valuation of production required for recognition of researchers and magazines is accomplished through tools called bibliometricindexes, divided into quality indicators and scientific impact. Initially developed for monographs of statistical measures especially in libraries, today bibliometrics is mainly used to evaluate productivity of authors and citation repercussion. However, these tools have limitations and sometimes provoke controversies about indiscriminate application, leading to the development of newer indexes. It is important to know the most common search indexes and use it properly even acknowledging its limitations as it has a direct impact in their daily practice, reputation and funds achievement.

EPP Energy Efficiency Calculation and Influencing Factor Analysis: Cases in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jingmin Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Efficiency power plant (EPP promotes the use of energy efficiency power plant technology and energy efficient equipment, coupled with its low-input, zero pollution, zero emissions, and other advantages, having an important role in the control of energy consumption and energy saving. In order to carry out scientific EPP investment decisions, the level of energy efficiency is an important basis for investment decisions. This paper introduces total factor energy efficiency (TFEE in energy efficiency calculation of EPP, constructs energy efficiency calculation model considering environmental benefits, and takes the micro and macro cases in China for analysis; the results show that the TFEE of both single energy efficiency project and EPP are at a relatively high level (above 0.7, and there is a huge gap between calculation results considering and without considering the environmental benefit. In order to discuss energy efficiency influencing factors, the paper analyzes generalized technological advances variation feature of China typical provinces implementing EPP based on generalized technological advances decomposition model by Malmquist index, finding that the steady growth of M index in these provinces is derived from the management level of implementation of EPP and the large-scale production capacity of formation and management. We hope the models and conclusions could provide some references on EPP energy efficiency calculation and decision.

The relationship between lipid accumulation product, visceral adiposity index and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in healthy adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan ZHANG

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Objective 　To investigate the correlation between lipid accumulation product (LAP, visceral adiposity index (VAI and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP in adults, and explore whether to use such correlation as indications is superior to the traditional body fat index based on body mass index (BMI, waist circumference (WC, waist-hip ratio (WHR and waist-height ratio (WHtR. Methods 　The present work was a cross-sectional study involving 501 healthy adults (321 males and 180 females from the community of Chongqing Municipality. Anthropometric indexes [height, weight, WC, hip circumference (HC], blood pressure (BP, fasting lipid profile and levels of fasting and post-load glucose, insulin and hs-CRP were measured, and BMI, WHR, WHtR, fasting insulin resistant homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR, LAP and VAI were calculated. The correlations between hs-CRP and other variables were analyzed. Results 　Following the elevation of titer of the hs-CRP, LAP, VAI, BMI, WC, WHR, WHtR, BP, glucose level, HOMA-IR, insulin, triglyceride (TG, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C and apolipoprotein B (ApoB increased (P<0.05, while high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1 levels declined (P<0.0001. Pearson's correlation analysis demonstrated that hs-CRP was correlated with all variances (P<0.01 except for total cholesterol (TC (P=0.181 and LDL -C (P=0.325. According to forward stepwise multiple regression analysis with hs-CRP as the dependent variance, WC was the only variance entering the regression model. Conclusion 　LAP, VAI levels are correlated with hs-CRP level but not the major determinant factors of hs-CRP. WC is stronger than other variances in the association with hs-CRP in adults, and is still an independent predictor of inflammation.

Importance of the Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) and Dose Length Product (DLP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasolomboahanginjatovo, L.M.

2014-01-01

This work is under the auspice of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) projects (RAF/9/053) untitled S trengthening of the technical capacity for the protection patients and worker . The goal of this work is to highlight the importance of the Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) and the Dose Length product (DLP). Measures were done at Polyclinic of Ilafy and CRDT Anosivavaka, Antananarivo, Madagascar. Doses were evaluated by use of pencil ionization chamber model 6000-10 connected with an electrometer RAD-CHECK model 06-256. Knowledge of dose indicator and Diagnostic Reference Level (DRL) allow the monitoring of scanner within the appropriate average dosimeter. It also insures the progressive determination for the most adapted dose requirements by choice of parameters available on scanner device. Measurements confirmed that doses from scanner devices of the two centers were under DRL requirements proposed by the IAEA, the European Commission (EC) and the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB). The present results confirm that the patient delivered doses for the two centers are optimized. [fr

Evolution of the PI - Productivity Index; Evolucao do IP - Indice de Produtividade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feitosa, Gilvan Soares [Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRAS), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2012-07-01

The productivity index (PI), the most direct and widely used measure of a well productivity, is defined as the ratio of oil-well rate to the associated pressure drawdown - from average reservoir pressure to bottom hole-flowing-well pressure. It is known that the actual value of PI can only be attained at pseudosteady-state condition, which requires a lot of time (days, or even months), what is not practical for most well tests. For this reason, PI is often obtained from short transient flow test, which gives usually an overestimate of the actual PI. How larger than the actual value is the transient PI? This paper investigates the PI evolution, from the earlier transient well's production period up to the pseudosteady-state flow establishment, under single-phase flow, and later on, as pressure drops below saturation pressure and then oil and gas flow through the reservoir to the well. For analysis of PI during the transient period is defined a dimensionless PI (IP{sub D}), as the ratio of the time-dependent transient PI (IP{sub t}), to the constant pseudosteady-state PI (IP{sub pss}). For transient radial flow, IP{sub D} is developed as a function of dimensionless time, t{sub DA}, and depends on the stabilized drainage area, the Dietz shape factor, the skin factor and the well radius. It is shown that transient PI (IP{sub t}) is always greater than the actual PI (IP{sub pss}) and decreases monotonically with time. At the infinite-acting end IPt reaches the smallest value, which is the closest to the actual pseudosteady-state PI, in the range of 1 to 60% higher, for a broad range of shape factors. The more eccentric the well in the drainage area the more IP{sub t} departs from the actual PI. It is presented a couple of reservoir-limit well test field-cases, where the well was produced long enough until a pseudosteady-state flow was established. Its results, among others, illustrate and substantiate the main theoretical developments of this work. (author)

Measurements and simulation of forest leaf area index and net primary productivity in Northern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, P; Sun, R; Hu, J; Zhu, Q; Zhou, Y; Li, L; Chen, J M

2007-11-01

Large scale process-based modeling is a useful approach to estimate distributions of global net primary productivity (NPP). In this paper, in order to validate an existing NPP model with observed data at site level, field experiments were conducted at three sites in northern China. One site is located in Qilian Mountain in Gansu Province, and the other two sites are in Changbaishan Natural Reserve and Dunhua County in Jilin Province. Detailed field experiments are discussed and field data are used to validate the simulated NPP. Remotely sensed images including Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+, 30 m spatial resolution in visible and near infrared bands) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER, 15m spatial resolution in visible and near infrared bands) are used to derive maps of land cover, leaf area index, and biomass. Based on these maps, field measured data, soil texture and daily meteorological data, NPP of these sites are simulated for year 2001 with the boreal ecosystem productivity simulator (BEPS). The NPP in these sites ranges from 80 to 800 gCm(-2)a(-1). The observed NPP agrees well with the modeled NPP. This study suggests that BEPS can be used to estimate NPP in northern China if remotely sensed images of high spatial resolution are available.

EIA data index: an abstract journal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-12-01

The individual tables, graphs, and formatted data presented in the statistical publications of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) are abstracted and indexed. Included are a complete subject index and a report number listing for all EIA publications as well as complete ordering information for these publications. The abstracts of the tables and graphs are arranged by broad subject categories (e.g., coal, petroleum, natural gas, energy analysis and modeling) with further division occurring by subcategories (e.g., reserves, drilling and production, processing). Included here are those publications and their statistical contents which were released by the EIA from its formation in October 1977 through approximately the first half of 1980. Updates will be on a semiannual basis. The EIA Data Index is a companion volume to the EIA Publications Directory: A User's Guide (DOE/EIA-0149), which provides abstracts and indexes to all EIA publications at the document level. Both of these publications are generated from the Federal Energy Data Index (FEDEX) data base which has been developed by the EIA in cooperation with the Technical Information Center of the US Department of Energy

A Novel Index Using Soluble CD36 Is Associated with the Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Comparison Study with Triglyceride-Glucose Index

OpenAIRE

Kim, Ho Jin; Moon, Jun Sung; Park, Il Rae; Kim, Joong Hee; Yoon, Ji Sung; Won, Kyu Chang; Lee, Hyoung Woo

2017-01-01

Background Plasma soluble cluster determinant 36 (sCD36) level is closely related with insulin resistance and atherosclerosis, but little is known whether it could be a surrogate for estimating risk of developing diabetes or not. To address this, we evaluated association between sCD36 index, the product of sCD36 and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and then compared with triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index which has been suggested simple index ...

Wind erosion risk in the southwest of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and its relationship to the productivity index

Science.gov (United States)

Silenzi, Juan C.; Echeverría, Nora E.; Vallejos, Adrián G.; Bouza, Mariana E.; De Lucia, Martín P.

2012-01-01

Wind erosion risk (WER) for soils of each municipality in the southwest (SW) of Buenos Aires Province (10,491,172 ha) was determined using the wind erosion equation (WEQ) model. WER results from multiplying the soil erodibility index (" I") of the soil by the climatic factor ( C). WER (Mg ha -1 year -1) of each municipality was: Bahía Blanca: 22.4, Coronel Dorrego: 18.6, Coronel Pringles: 4.5, Coronel Rosales: 48.2, Coronel Suárez: 4.5, Guaminí: 3.0, Patagones: 104.6, Puan: 12.2, Saavedra: 3.0, Tornquist: 6.8, and Villarino: 31.7. The maximum weighted average of " I" (Mg ha -1 year -1) corresponded to Coronel Rosales (87.6), Patagones (87.2), Villarino (85.7), Puan (67.9); Guaminí (59.6), Coronel Dorrego (53.1), and Bahía Blanca (39.3); the remaining municipalities ranged between 34.9 and 32.1 Mg ha -1 year -1. The highest C (%) corresponded to Patagones (120), Bahía Blanca (57), Coronel Rosales (55), Villarino (37), Coronel Dorrego (35), Tornquist (21), and Puan (18); for the remaining municipalities it was 14%. The productivity index (PI) is known to establish a numerical value of the productive capacity of lands. The relationship between WER and PI, weighted averages, in all the studied municipalities was fitted by means of a linear model, WER (Mg ha -1 year -1) = 95.23 - 2.09 * PI (%) ( R2 = 66%), and a second-order polynomial model, WER (Mg ha -1 year -1) = 139.41 - 5.86 * PI (%) + 0.07 * PI 2 (%) ( R2 = 74%). No statistically significant relationship was found between WER and PI for each municipality.

Productivity of Veterans Health Administration laboratories: a College of American Pathologists Laboratory Management Index Program (LMIP) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Valenstein, Paul N; Wang, Edward; O'Donohue, Tom

2003-12-01

The Veterans Health Administration (VA) operates the largest integrated laboratory network in the United States. To assess whether the unique characteristics of VA laboratories impact efficiency of operations, we compared the productivity of VA and non-VA facilities. Financial and activity data were prospectively collected from 124 VA and 131 non-VA laboratories enrolled in the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Management Index Program (LMIP) during 2002. In addition, secular trends in 5 productivity ratios were calculated for VA and non-VA laboratories enrolled in LMIP from 1997 through 2002. Veterans Health Administration and non-VA facilities did not differ significantly in size. Inpatients accounted for a lower percentage of testing at VA facilities than non-VA facilities (21.7% vs 37.3%; P benefits; P depreciation, and maintenance than their non-VA counterparts (all P <.001), resulting in lower overall cost per on-site test result (2.64 dollars vs 3.40 dollars; P <.001). Cost per referred (sent-out) test did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Analysis of 6-year trends showed significant increases in both VA (P <.001) and non-VA (P =.02) labor productivity (on-site tests/total FTE). Expenses at VA laboratories for labor per test, consumables per test, overall expense per test, and overall laboratory expense per discharge decreased significantly during the 6-year period (P <.001), while in non-VA facilities the corresponding ratios showed no significant change. Overall productivity of VA laboratories is superior to that of non-VA facilities enrolled in LMIP. The principal advantages enjoyed by the VA are higher-than-average labor productivity (tests/FTE) and lower-than-average consumable expenses.

An index of financial safety of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojun Jia

2015-04-01

indexes rose, which indicates the external environment improved so did China’s financial safety status; from 2012 to 2013 indexes declined because due to the rapid development of banks’ financial products and trust products, banks’ off-balance-sheet assets and liquidity risks increased. The changes of financial safety indexes are generally identical with those of China’s financial safety status.Research limitations/implications: In the empirical analysis part, this article tries to selective 24 indicators synthetic index of China's financial security, but due to some of the indicators data acquisition is relatively difficult, can only Selective 10 of 25 indicators and gather the annual data of 10 indicators from 2003 to 2013 to synthetic index. The information of eliminated indicators cannot be reflected in the index. Index change also does not reflect of the risk from these indicators. In order to make up for the above limitations, this paper is mainly to introduce and analysis our latest financial institutions business trends associated with these eliminated indicators to get the conclusions more reliable.Originality/value: The aim of this research is to estimate financial safety of China with the application of the index of financial safety of a country using the annual data of 2003-2013. Through synthetic index of financial security measure the risks of China's financial system, provide the basis for the government macro financial policy. The Originality of the paper is mainly manifested in incorporating factors which have made important impacts on China’s financial safety in recent years, but have not been taken into consideration in the existing studies into the newly constructed financial safety index system. For example, some factors that cannot be controlled easily might have huge hidden risk hazards. To be more specific, factors such as off-balance-sheet business, interbank business and shadow banking might trigger liquidity risks. In this way, the

Complexity index indicates refinery capability, value

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnston, D.

1996-01-01

Refinery size usually is measured in terms of distillation capacity. Relative size, however, can be measured using refinery complexity--a concept developed by W.L. Nelson in the 1960s. Nelson developed the complexity index to quantify the relative cost of components that make up a refinery. It is a pure cost index that provides a relative measure of the construction costs of a particular refinery based on its crude and upgrading capacity. The Nelson index compares the costs of various upgrading units--such as a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit or a catalytic reformer--to the cost of a crude distillation unit. Computation of the index is an attempt to quantify the relative cost of a refinery based on the added cost of various upgrading units and the relative upgrading capacity. A review of complexity calculations, and an explanation of how indices have changed, provide a simple means of determining the complexity of single refineries or refining regions. The impact of complexity on product slate is also examined in this paper

Economic selection indexes for Hereford and Braford cattle raised in southern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, R F; Teixeira, B B M; Yokoo, M J; Cardoso, F F

2017-07-01

Economic selection indexes (EI) are considered the best way to select the most profitable animals for specific production systems. Nevertheless, in Brazil, few genetic evaluation programs deliver such indexes to their breeders. The aims of this study were to determine the breeding goals (BG) and economic values (EV, in US$) for typical beef cattle production systems in southern Brazil, to propose EI aimed to maximize profitability, and to compare the proposed EI with the currently used empirical index. Bioeconomic models were developed to characterize 3 typical production systems, identifying traits of economic impact and their respective EV. The first was called the calf-crop system and included the birth rate (BR), direct weaning weight (WWd), and mature cow weight (MCW) as selection goals. The second system was called the full-cycle system, and its breeding goals were BR, WWd, MCW, and carcass weight (CW). Finally, the third was called the stocking and finishing system, which had WWd and CW as breeding goals. To generate the EI, we adopted the selection criteria currently measured and used in the empirical index of PampaPlus, which is the genetic evaluation program of the Brazilian Hereford and Braford Association. The comparison between the EI and the current PampaPlus index was made by the aggregated genetic-economic gain per generation (Δ). Therefore, for each production system an index was developed using the derived economic weights, and it was compared with the current empirical index. The relative importance (RI) for BR, WWd, and MCW for the calf-crop system was 68.03%, 19.35%, and 12.62%, respectively. For the full-cycle system, the RI for BR, WWd, MCW, and CW were 69.63%, 7.31%, 5.01%, and 18.06%, respectively. For the stocking and finishing production system, the RI for WWd and CW was 34.20% and 65.80%, respectively. The Δ for the calf-crop system were US$6.12 and US$4.36, using the proposed economic and empirical indexes, respectively. Respective

Efficiency performance of China's health care delivery system.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Luyu; Cheng, Gang; Song, Suhang; Yuan, Beibei; Zhu, Weiming; He, Li; Ma, Xiaochen; Meng, Qingyue

2017-07-01

Improving efficiency performance of the health care delivery system has been on the agenda for the health system reform that China initiated in 2009. This study examines the changes in efficiency performance and determinants of efficiency after the reform to provide evidence to assess the progress of the reform from the perspective of efficiency. Descriptive analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis, the Malmquist Index, and multilevel regressions are used with data from multiple sources, including the World Bank, the China Health Statistical Yearbook, and routine reports. The results indicate that over the last decade, health outcomes compared with health investment were relatively higher in China than in most other countries worldwide, and the trend was stable. The overall efficiency and total factor productivity increased after the reform, indicating that the reform was likely to have had a positive impact on the efficiency performance of the health care delivery system. However, the health care delivery structure showed low system efficiency, mainly attributed to the weakened primary health care system. Strengthening the primary health care system is central to enhancing the future performance of China's health care delivery system. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Efficiency scale and technological change in credit unions and multiple banks using the COSIF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wanderson Rocha Bittencourt

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The modernization of the financial intermediation process and adapting to new technologies, brought adjustments to operational processes, providing the reduction of information borrowing costs, allowing generate greater customer satisfaction, due to increased competitiveness in addition to making gains with long efficiency period. In this context, this research aims to analyze the evolution in scale and technological efficiency of credit and multiple cooperative banks from 2009 to 2013. We used the method of Data Envelopment Analysis - DEA, which allows to calculate the change in efficiency of institutions through the Malmquist Index. The results indicated that institutions that employ larger volumes of assets in the composition of its resources presented evolution in scale and technological efficiency, influencing the change in total factor productivity. It should be noticed that cooperatives had, in some years, advances in technology and scale efficiency higher than banks. However, this result can be explained by the fact that the average efficiency of credit unions have been lower than that of banks in the analyzed sample, indicating that there is greater need to improve internal processes by cooperatives, compared to multiple banks surveyed.

Index of cyber integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Gustave

2014-05-01

Unfortunately, there is no metric, nor set of metrics, that are both general enough to encompass all possible types of applications yet specific enough to capture the application and attack specific details. As a result we are left with ad-hoc methods for generating evaluations of the security of our systems. Current state of the art methods for evaluating the security of systems include penetration testing and cyber evaluation tests. For these evaluations, security professionals simulate an attack from malicious outsiders and malicious insiders. These evaluations are very productive and are able to discover potential vulnerabilities resulting from improper system configuration, hardware and software flaws, or operational weaknesses. We therefore propose the index of cyber integrity (ICI), which is modeled after the index of biological integrity (IBI) to provide a holistic measure of the health of a system under test in a cyber-environment. The ICI provides a broad base measure through a collection of application and system specific metrics. In this paper, following the example of the IBI, we demonstrate how a multi-metric index may be used as a holistic measure of the health of a system under test in a cyber-environment.

Scientometrics, International Special Indexes, scientific productivity evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdolreza Noroozi Chakoli

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This research aims at identifying and validating of indicators used to evaluate research productivity of Iranian researchers. In order to achieve this aim survey and documentary methods are used. Research society consists of a 80 person sample and members of this sample were selected among top researchers of country during recent years (1389-1390 from 4 subject areas of humanities, medical sciences, technology and engineering and basic sciences. Instrument for collecting data is a questionnaire including 47 items focusing on indicators used to evaluate research productivity of researchers. The Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was applied to confirm it’s variability and coefficient equal to 96% was obtained. In order to confirm its validity, formal validity method was used. Responding to questions and testing research hypotheses was conducted at two levels of descriptive and inferential statistics. At the descriptive statistics level, standard deviation, average and frequency and at the inferential statistic’s level, variance analysis, least significant difference and Friedman tests were used. Results of research show that for researchers of humanities, the indicators related to book have high importance while for researchers of basic and medical sciences, indicators related to article have more importance and from point of view of technology and engineering researchers, indicators related to innovations and research plans in comparison to other indicators are more credit at evaluating research productivity of researchers.

Urbanization Alters the Influence of Weather and an Index of Forest Productivity on Avian Community Richness and Guild Abundance in the Seattle Metropolitan Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Shryock

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Fluctuations in weather and forest productivity influence the abundance and richness of bird populations, however in a rapidly urbanizing landscape the relative importance of each factor may vary. We assessed this possibility in the Seattle, WA, USA region by correlating 10 years of bird richness and relative abundance of nine guilds indicative of their tolerance of human development, migration, diet and use of human food subsidies with an annual index of forest productivity (vegetation greenness derived from a 250 m resolution Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI product from the MODIS satellite and weather (variation in the Oceanic Niño Index, which estimates the strength of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, a major driver of local temperature and precipitation. We found that variation in NDVI exerted a strong influence on the richness of the avian community and the abundance of guilds in landscapes undergoing active development, but was less influential in areas of established housing development or forested reserves. Relative to NDVI, weather was much less influential on the abundance of guilds at actively changing sites, and slightly more influential in forest reserves and established developments. Following the warm winter and during the dry summer associated with a strong El Niño, migrants and herbivores declined in changing landscapes, insectivores declined in established developments, and herbivores declined while synanthropic species increased in reserves. These changes may presage the effects of climate change in the Pacific Northwest, which are expected to be similar to El Niño conditions. To buffer these changes in native bird communities, planners, developers, regulators, and home owners should minimize the loss of vegetation during development and attempt to quickly achieve mature landscaping that preferably provides food and shelter for birds.

Customer Satisfaction Index Model on Three Level Of Socioeconomic Status In Bogor Case Study: Customer Satisfaction on Branded Cooking Oil Product

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Budi Setiawan

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Customer satisfaction index models have been developed in many countries, including Indonesia. Those models were commonly not focused on the socioeconomic status (SES of the customer, sothis condition could be a research gap. The aims of this research is to analyze the customer satisfaction index model of branded cooking oil product in Bogor, Indonesia based on SES established from the household monthly routine consumption. Questionnaires were used as primary data collection instrument in this study, while data analysis was carried out with variance based structural equation modeling (SEM which is also known as Partial Least Square (PLS model, and Kruskall Wallis nonparametric test. Perceived quality, perceived value and customer expectation as were significantly influencing the customer satisfaction construct in the structural model. This study also concluded that there is different level of overall customer satisfaction on the three levels of customer’s SES

The Chemistry Scoring Index (CSI: A Hazard-Based Scoring and Ranking Tool for Chemicals and Products Used in the Oil and Gas Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Verslycke

2014-06-01

Full Text Available A large portfolio of chemicals and products is needed to meet the wide range of performance requirements of the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry is under increased scrutiny from regulators, environmental groups, the public, and other stakeholders for use of their chemicals. In response, industry is increasingly incorporating “greener” products and practices but is struggling to define and quantify what exactly constitutes “green” in the absence of a universally accepted definition. We recently developed the Chemistry Scoring Index (CSI which is ultimately intended to be a globally implementable tool that comprehensively scores and ranks hazards to human health, safety, and the environment for products used in oil and gas operations. CSI scores are assigned to products designed for the same use (e.g., surfactants, catalysts on the basis of product composition as well as intrinsic hazard properties and data availability for each product component. As such, products with a lower CSI score within a product use group are considered to have a lower intrinsic hazard compared to other products within the same use group. The CSI provides a powerful tool to evaluate relative product hazards; to review and assess product portfolios; and to aid in the formulation of products.

Oil vulnerability index of oil-importing countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Eshita

2008-01-01

This paper assesses the relative oil vulnerability of 26 net oil-importing countries for the year 2004 on the basis of various indicators - the ratio of value of oil imports to gross domestic product (GDP), oil consumption per unit of GDP, GDP per capita and oil share in total energy supply, ratio of domestic reserves to oil consumption, exposure to geopolitical oil market concentration risks as measured by net oil import dependence, diversification of supply sources, political risk in oil-supplying countries, and market liquidity. The approach using the principal component technique has been adopted to combine these individual indicators into a composite index of oil vulnerability. Such an index captures the relative sensitivity of various economies towards developments of the international oil market, with a higher index indicating higher vulnerability. The results show that there are considerable differences in the values of individual indicators of oil vulnerability and overall oil vulnerability index among the countries (both inter and intraregional). (author)

Oil vulnerability index of oil-importing countries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Eshita [The Energy and Resources Institute, Darbari Seth Block, Habitat Place, New Delhi 110 003 (India)

2008-03-15

This paper assesses the relative oil vulnerability of 26 net oil-importing countries for the year 2004 on the basis of various indicators - the ratio of value of oil imports to gross domestic product (GDP), oil consumption per unit of GDP, GDP per capita and oil share in total energy supply, ratio of domestic reserves to oil consumption, exposure to geopolitical oil market concentration risks as measured by net oil import dependence, diversification of supply sources, political risk in oil-supplying countries, and market liquidity. The approach using the principal component technique has been adopted to combine these individual indicators into a composite index of oil vulnerability. Such an index captures the relative sensitivity of various economies towards developments of the international oil market, with a higher index indicating higher vulnerability. The results show that there are considerable differences in the values of individual indicators of oil vulnerability and overall oil vulnerability index among the countries (both inter and intraregional). (author)

Sensitivity of Coastal Environments and Wildlife to Spilled Oil: Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

[Peruvian scientific production in medicine and collaboration networks, analysis of the Science Citation Index 2000-2009].

Science.gov (United States)

Huamaní, Charles; Mayta-Tristán, Percy

2010-09-01

To describe the Peruvian scientific production in indexed journals in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and the characteristics of the institutional collaborative networks. All papers published in the ISI database (Clinical Medicine collection) were included during 2000 to 2009 with at least one author with a Peruvian affiliation. The publication trend, address of corresponding author, type of article, institution, city (only for Peru), and country were evaluated. The collaborative networks were analized using the Pajek® software. 1210 papers were found, increasing from 61 in 2000 to 200 in 2009 (average of 121 articles/year). 30.4% articles included a corresponding author from a Peruvian institution. The average of authors per article was 8.3. Original articles represented 82.1% of total articles. Infectious diseases-related journals concentrated most of the articles. The main countries that collaborate with Peru are: USA (60.4%), England (12.9%), and Brazil (8.0%). Lima concentrated 94.7% of the publications and three regions (Huancavelica, Moquegua and Tacna) did not register any publication. Only two universities published more than one article/year and four institutions published more than 10 articles/year. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia published 45% of the total number of articles, being the most productive institution and which concentrated the most number of collaborations with foreign institutions. The ministry of Health--including all dependencies--published 37.3% of the total number of publications. There is a higher level of collaboration with foreign institutions rather than local institutions. The Peruvian scientific production in medicine represented in the ISI database is very low but growing, and is concentrated in Lima and in a few institutions. The most productive Peruvian institutions collaborate more intensively with foreign journals rather than local institutions.

Body mass index predicts aldosterone production in normotensive adults on a high-salt diet.

Science.gov (United States)

Bentley-Lewis, Rhonda; Adler, Gail K; Perlstein, Todd; Seely, Ellen W; Hopkins, Paul N; Williams, Gordon H; Garg, Rajesh

2007-11-01

The mechanisms underlying obesity-mediated cardiovascular disease are not fully understood. Aldosterone and insulin resistance both are associated with obesity and cardiovascular disease. The objectives of this study were to test the hypotheses that aldosterone production is elevated and associated with insulin resistance in overweight adults on a high-sodium diet. Healthy normotensive adults were categorized as lean body mass index (BMI) less than 25 kg/m(2) (n = 63) or overweight BMI 25 kg/m(2) or greater (n = 57). After 7 d of a high-sodium diet, participants fasted overnight and remained supine throughout hemodynamic and laboratory assessments and angiotensin II (AngII) stimulation. The overweight group, compared with the lean group, had higher 24-h urinary aldosterone (9.0 +/- 0.8 vs. 6.6 +/- 0.5 microg per 24 h; P = 0.003) and higher AngII-stimulated serum aldosterone (11.4 +/- 1.0 vs. 9.0 +/- 0.6 ng/dl; P = 0.04). There were no differences in 24-h urinary cortisol or sodium or supine measurements of plasma renin activity, serum aldosterone, or serum potassium. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance was predicted by urinary aldosterone excretion (r = 0.32, P = 0.03) and serum aldosterone response to AngII stimulation (r = 0.28, P = 0.02) independent of age and BMI. Urinary aldosterone excretion and AngII-stimulated aldosterone are increased in overweight, compared with lean, normotensive adults. The correlation of these measures of aldosterone production with insulin resistance suggests a potential role for aldosterone in the pathophysiology of obesity-mediated insulin resistance.

Production physiology and morphology of Populus species and their hybrids grown under short rotation. II. Biomass components and harvest index of hybrid and parental species clones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scarascia-Mugnozza, G. E. [Univ. of Tuscia, Viterbo, (Italy); Ceulemans, R. [Antwerp Univ., Wilrijk (Belgium); Heilman, P. E. [Washington State Univ., Olympia, WA (United States); Isebrands, J. G.; Stettler, R. F.; Hinckley, T. M. [Forest Service, Rhinelander, WI (United States). North Central Forest Experiment Station

1997-03-01

Growth and biomass components of four poplar clones were studied during four consecutive years of short-rotation culture in western Washington, U.S.A. Results confirmed previous observations indicating the high productive potential of hybrid clones. In two of the hybrid clones tested, large differences in biomass distribution among tree components and in the pattern of growth were evident, as indicated by harvest index and root/shoot ratios. Results suggest that the clonal differences shown in total biomass, in allocation to different tree components, and in harvest index, have important implications for future poplar breeding programs. 39 refs., 4 tabs., 4 figs.

Assimilation of Soil Wetness Index and Leaf Area Index into the ISBA-A-gs land surface model: grassland case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. L. Barbu

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The performance of the joint assimilation in a land surface model of a Soil Wetness Index (SWI product provided by an exponential filter together with Leaf Area Index (LAI is investigated. The data assimilation is evaluated with different setups using the SURFEX modeling platform, for a period of seven years (2001–2007, at the SMOSREX grassland site in southwestern France. The results obtained with a Simplified Extended Kalman Filter demonstrate the effectiveness of a joint data assimilation scheme when both SWI and Leaf Area Index are merged into the ISBA-A-gs land surface model. The assimilation of a retrieved Soil Wetness Index product presents several challenges that are investigated in this study. A significant improvement of around 13 % of the root-zone soil water content is obtained by assimilating dimensionless root-zone SWI data. For comparison, the assimilation of in situ surface soil moisture is considered as well. A lower impact on the root zone is noticed. Under specific conditions, the transfer of the information from the surface to the root zone was found not accurate. Also, our results indicate that the assimilation of in situ LAI data may correct a number of deficiencies in the model, such as low LAI values in the senescence phase by using a seasonal-dependent error definition for background and observations. In order to verify the specification of the errors for SWI and LAI products, a posteriori diagnostics are employed. This approach highlights the importance of the assimilation design on the quality of the analysis. The impact of data assimilation scheme on CO₂ fluxes is also quantified by using measurements of net CO₂ fluxes gathered at the SMOSREX site from 2005 to 2007. An improvement of about 5 % in terms of rms error is obtained.

The influence of gender and product design on farmers' preferences for weather-indexed crop insurance.

Science.gov (United States)

Akter, Sonia; Krupnik, Timothy J; Rossi, Frederick; Khanam, Fahmida

2016-05-01

Theoretically, weather-index insurance is an effective risk reduction option for small-scale farmers in low income countries. Renewed policy and donor emphasis on bridging gender gaps in development also emphasizes the potential social safety net benefits that weather-index insurance could bring to women farmers who are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change risk and have low adaptive capacity. To date, no quantitative studies have experimentally explored weather-index insurance preferences through a gender lens, and little information exists regarding gender-specific preferences for (and constraints to) smallholder investment in agricultural weather-index insurance. This study responds to this gap, and advances the understanding of preference heterogeneity for weather-index insurance by analysing data collected from 433 male and female farmers living on a climate change vulnerable coastal island in Bangladesh, where an increasing number of farmers are adopting maize as a potentially remunerative, but high-risk cash crop. We implemented a choice experiment designed to investigate farmers' valuations for, and trade-offs among, the key attributes of a hypothetical maize crop weather-index insurance program that offered different options for bundling insurance with financial saving mechanisms. Our results reveal significant insurance aversion among female farmers, irrespective of the attributes of the insurance scheme. Heterogeneity in insurance choices could however not be explained by differences in men's and women's risk and time preferences, or agency in making agriculturally related decisions. Rather, gendered differences in farmers' level of trust in insurance institutions and financial literacy were the key factors driving the heterogeneous preferences observed between men and women. Efforts to fulfill gender equity mandates in climate-smart agricultural development programs that rely on weather-index insurance as a risk-abatement tool are therefore

Method for Developing Descriptions of Hard-to-Price Products: Results of the Telecommunications Product Study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conrad, F.; Tonn, B.

1999-05-01

This report presents the results of a study to test a new method for developing descriptions of hard-to-price products. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is responsible for collecting data to estimate price indices such as the Consumers Price Index (BLS) is responsible for collecting data to estimate price indices such as the Consumers Price Index (CPI). BLS accomplishes this task by sending field staff to places of business to price actual products. The field staff are given product checklists to help them determine whether products found today are comparable to products priced the previous month. Prices for non-comparable products are not included in the current month's price index calculations. A serious problem facing BLS is developing product checklists for dynamic product areas, new industries, and the service sector. It is difficult to keep checklists up-to-date and quite often simply to develop checklists for service industry products. Some people estimates that upwards of 50 % of US economic activity is not accounted for in the CPI

Applying the energy productivity index that considers maximized energy reduction on SADC (Southern Africa Development Community) members

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Ming-Chung

2016-01-01

Under the trend of global energy prices continuously going up, this paper considers the concept of maximized energy reduction to model the energy productivity index by decomposing it into energy technical change and energy efficiency change. The paper takes the eight SADC (Southern Africa Development Community ) members as an example to estimate their energy efficiency, energy productivity change, energy technical change, energy efficiency change, and rebound effect on energy use, as well as to test the Jevons Paradox. The time period of the data spans 2005 to 2009. The empirical result shows large energy performance differences among the eight SADC members. Not one country among the eight members is an energy technology innovator. After calculating the rebound effect and testing the Jevons Paradox, the result shows that there seems to be no obvious Jevons Paradox in this economic region. - Highlights: • This paper discusses the concept of maximized energy reduction. • The method is applied towards the Southern Africa Development Community members. • This paper also investigates the rebound effect of energy use. • We offer suggestions on energy use and CO 2 emission reductions.

An assessment of energy efficiency based on environmental constraints and its influencing factors in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yao; Xu, Jing-Ting

2018-05-03

The super-efficiency directional distance function (DDF) with data envelopment analysis (DEA) model (SEDDF-DEA) is more facilitative than to increase traditional method as a rise of energy efficiency in China, which is currently important energy development from Asia-pacific region countries. SEDDF-DEA is promoted as sustained total-factor energy efficiency (TFEE), value added outputs, and Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index (MLPI) to otherwise thorny environmental energy productivity problems with environmental constraint to concrete the means of regression model. This paper assesses the energy efficiency under environmental constraints using panel data covering the years of 2000-2015 in China. Considering the environmental constraints, the results showed that the average TFEE of the whole country followed an upward trend after 2006. The average MLPI score for the whole country increased by 10.57% during 2005-2010, which was mainly due to the progress made in developing and applying environmental technologies. The TFEE of the whole nation was promoted by the accumulation of capital stock, while it was suppressed by excessive production in secondary industries and foreign investment. The primary challenge for the northeast of China is to strengthen industrial transformation and upgrade traditional industries, as well as adjusting the economy and energy structure. The eastern and central regions of the country need to exploit clean- or low-energy industry to improve inefficiencies due to excessive consumption. The western region of China needs to implement renewable energy strategies to promote regional development.

ECONOMETRIC INEFFICIENCY ESTIMATES IN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Bernard Bastiaan Rivera Rivera

2008-05-01

Full Text Available

The objective of this paper is to apply a Cobb-Douglas, Translog Stochastic Production Function and Data Envelopment Analysis – particularly the Malmquist index - in order to estimate increases or decreases of inefficiencies over time as well as the sources of TFP changes for the main Brazilian grain crops - namely, rice, beans, maize, soybeans and wheat - throughout the most recent data available comprising the period 2001-2006. According to the Cobb Douglas model, the greatest elasticity presented is that of harvested area, followed by agricultural credit and limestone. The Translog production function presents an amelioration of aggregate productivity over time and, in a decreasing order, the Brazilian regions that have presented the greatest relative degree of efficiency are the Northeast, North, Southeast, South and Center-West regions. The results indicate that, although there have been positive changes in TFP for the sample analyzed, a decline in the use of technology has been evidenced for all the principal Brazilian grain crops between 2005/2007 – period in which we observe a remarkable downfall in the use of inputs in Brazilian agriculture.

The 5/95 gap in the indexation of psychiatric journals of low- and middle-income countries

Science.gov (United States)

Mari, J J; Patel, V; Kieling, C; Razzouk, D; Tyrer, P; Herrman, H

2010-01-01

Mari JJ, Patel V, Kieling C, Razzouk D, Tyrer P, Herrman H. The 5/95 gap in the indexation of psychiatric journals of low- and middle-income countries. Objective: To investigate the relationship between science production and the indexation level of low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC) journals in international databases. Method: Indicators of productivity in research were based on the number of articles produced over the 1994–2004 period. A survey in both Medline and ISI/Thomson was conducted to identify journals according to their country of origin. A WPA Task Force designed a collaborative process to assess distribution and quality of non-indexed LAMIC journals. Results: Twenty LAMIC were found to present more than 100 publications and a total of 222 indexed psychiatric journals were found, but only nine were from LAMIC. The Task Force received 26 questionnaires from editors of non-indexed journals, and concluded that five journals would meet criteria for indexation. Conclusion: Barriers to indexation of journals contribute to the difficulties in achieving fair representation in the main literature databases for the scientific production in these countries. PMID:19764927

Spatiotemporal trends in mean temperatures and aridity index over Rwanda

Science.gov (United States)

Muhire, I.; Ahmed, F.

2016-01-01

This study aims at quantifying the trends in mean temperatures and aridity index over Rwanda for the period of 1961-1992, based on analysis of climatic data (temperatures, precipitations, and potential evapotranspiration). The analysis of magnitude and significance of trends in temperatures and aridity index show the degree of climate change and mark the level of vulnerability to extreme events (e.g., droughts) in different areas of the country. The study reveals that mean temperatures increased in most parts of the country, with a significant increase observed in the eastern lowlands and in the southwestern parts. The highlands located in the northwest and the Congo-Nile crest showed a nonsignificant increase in mean temperatures. Aridity index increased only in March, April, October, and November, corresponding with the rainy seasons. The remaining months of the year showed a decreasing trend. At an annual resolution, the highlands and the western region showed a rise in aridity index with a decreasing pattern over the eastern lowlands and the central plateau. Generally, the highlands presented a nonsignificant increase in mean temperatures and aridity index especially during the rainy seasons. The eastern lowlands showed a significant increase in mean temperatures and decreasing trends in aridity index. Therefore, these areas are bound to experience more droughts, leading to reduced water and consequent decline in agricultural production. On the other hand, the north highlands and southwest region will continue to be more productive.

Analysis on the Influence of Stock Index Futures on Chinese Stock Market

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王钊

2014-01-01

As the first product of financial futures in China, CSI 300 Stock Index Futures is a symbol of the continual improvement and development of Chinese capital market system. So it would be bound to generate immeasurable influence on Chinese capital market and financial system. Starting from introducing the relevant summaries of stock index futures, this paper analyzes the influence of the stock index futures on the fluctuation in the international stock market;then, it analyzes influence of the stock index futures on the fluctuation in Chinese stock market, in order to propose some suggestions to the policies for developing Chinese stock index futures.

Water-food-energy nexus index: analysis of water-energy-food nexus of crop's production system applying the indicators approach

Science.gov (United States)

El-Gafy, Inas

2017-10-01

Analysis the water-food-energy nexus is the first step to assess the decision maker in developing and evaluating national strategies that take into account the nexus. The main objective of the current research is providing a method for the decision makers to analysis the water-food-energy nexus of the crop production system at the national level and carrying out a quantitative assessment of it. Through the proposed method, indicators considering the water and energy consumption, mass productivity, and economic productivity were suggested. Based on these indicators a water-food-energy nexus index (WFENI) was performed. The study showed that the calculated WFENI of the Egyptian summer crops have scores that range from 0.21 to 0.79. Comparing to onion (the highest scoring WFENI,i.e., the best score), rice has the lowest WFENI among the summer food crops. Analysis of the water-food-energy nexus of forty-two Egyptian crops in year 2010 was caried out (energy consumed for irrigation represent 7.4% of the total energy footprint). WFENI can be applied to developed strategies for the optimal cropping pattern that minimizing the water and energy consumption and maximizing their productivity. It can be applied as a holistic tool to evaluate the progress in the water and agricultural national strategies. Moreover, WFENI could be applied yearly to evaluate the performance of the water-food-energy nexus managmant.

Gulf of Mexico IFR Aeronautical Chart Index - Aeronautical Information Services Digital Products

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — The IFR Enroute Aeronautical Chart series is designed to meet the needs of users who require a digital version chart. This is the visual index to the charts for the...

Work index determination with changing of control screen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noaparast, M.; Delavarian, M.

2001-01-01

Work index is a measure to define ores/minerals grind ability which is significantly used in Bond (1952) to calculate the required energy of ores' comminution. Work index for any material is experimentally calculated under specific conditions and it is a certain value. To understand the effect of changing control screen in work index calculation, three different ores Alam-Kuh Pb-Zn ore, Sarcheshmeh Cu Ore, and Abe-Garm Region Dolomite were tested, using 425, 212,150 and 100 micron screens (totally 12 sets of tests). Results showed that the work index values increase with the increases of screen size. The relation between root of screen size and fines produced per revolution of mill and also, screen size and size of products out of which 80% passes through this size appeared to be linear for all three different ores. The constants of these linear equations were estimated using regression technique

Index method for analyzing cost effectiveness of drilling rigs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batura, N P; Bocharov, V V

1978-01-01

The method for a complete analysis of the factors determining cost effectiveness of a drilling rig fleet is examined. The system of calculating production indexes from statistical reports is relatively simple and is not difficult to use for production organizations. The analytical results may be used to develop actual measures used to increase cost effectiveness of drilling operations.

ATLAS EventIndex Data Collection Supervisor and Web Interface

CERN Document Server

Garcia Montoro, Carlos; The ATLAS collaboration; Sanchez, Javier

2016-01-01

The EventIndex project consists in the development and deployment of a complete catalogue of events for the ATLAS experiment [1][2] at the LHC accelerator at CERN. In 2015 the ATLAS experiment has produced 12 billion real events in 1 million files, and 5 billion simulated events in 8 million files. The ATLAS EventIndex is running in production since mid-2015, reliably collecting information worldwide about all produced events and storing them in a central Hadoop infrastructure. A subset of this information is copied to an Oracle relational database. This paper presents two components of the ATLAS EventIndex [3]: its data collection supervisor and its web interface partner.

ATLAS EventIndex Data Collection Supervisor and Web Interface

CERN Document Server

Garcia Montoro, Carlos; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

The EventIndex project consists in the development and deployment of a complete catalogue of events for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC accelerator at CERN. In 2015 the ATLAS experiment has produced 12 billion real events in 1 million files, and 5 billion simulated events in 8 million files. The ATLAS EventIndex is running in production since mid- 2015, reliably collecting information worldwide about all produced events and storing them in a central Hadoop infrastructure. A subset of this information is copied to an Oracle relational database. These slides present two components of the ATLAS EventIndex: its data collection supervisor and its web interface partner.

Medium-Index Mixed-Oxide Layers for Use in AR-Coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Ganner, Peter

1986-10-01

Ttedesign philosophy of MC-AR-Coatings can be divided into two categories: a) Restriction to two film materials, namely one high-index and one low-index material and b) Use of medium-index layers in addition to high- and low-index layers. Both philosophies have advan-tages and drawbacks. In case a) the total number of layers necessary to obtain a required reflectance curve has to be higher. Thus in case of production errors it can be a problem to find out which layer was responsible for a deviation of the measured reflectance from the nominal one. In case b) using more than two materials reduces the total number of layers and consequently, pinpointing the cause of even small production errors is made simpler. Unfortunately there are not many materials commercially available which can be used to make hard, durable and robust films in the medium-index range namely between n=1.65 and n=2.00. In this paper the results of homogeneous mixtures of Alumina (Al203) and Tantala (Ta205) used for EB-gun evaporated medium-index films in AR-coatings is presented. It is shown that by proper adjustment of the weight percentages of the oxide mixture one can get homogeneous films in this index range. A number of design examples show the favourable application of such layers in AR-coatings. Among the most important ones is the well known QHQ-design for BBAR-coatings as well as AR-designs of the multiple half wave type with extended bandwidth. Further applications of the mixed-oxide layers are AR-coatings for cemented optical elements and beam splitters.

The predictive effect of inflammatory markers and lipid accumulation product index on clinical symptoms associated with polycystic ovary syndrome in nonobese adolescents and younger aged women.

Science.gov (United States)

Tola, Esra Nur; Yalcin, Serenat Eris; Dugan, Nadiye

2017-07-01

The aim of our study is to analyse the inflammatory markers and lipid accumulation product (LAP) index in nonobese adolescents and younger aged women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared with age and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy controls and to determine whether the investigated parameters are potential markers for the etiopathogenesis of PCOS. We also aim to determine whether these inflammatory markers are predictive for developing some clinical implications, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and insulin resistance (IR), associated with PCOS. A total of 34 adolescents and younger aged females with PCOS, and 33 age and BMI-matched healthy controls were recruited for our study. All participants were nonobese (BMIpredictive effect of investigated inflammatory markers and LAP index on CVD risk among PCOS patients after adjustment for abdominal obesity. We also found a positive predictive effect of WBC and a negative predictive effect of lymphocytes on IR in PCOS patients after adjustment for abdominal obesity. We did not find any predictor effect of NEO on IR, but it was a positive predictive marker for an elevated HOMA-IR index. Elevated NEO, CRP levels and LAP index could have potential roles in the etiopathogenesis of PCOS in nonobese adolescents and younger aged females,NEO could be a predictive marker for elevated HOMA-IR index, and WBC and lymphocytes could be predictive for the development of IR among nonobese adolescents and younger aged females with PCOS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A heat kernel proof of the index theorem for deformation quantization

Science.gov (United States)

Karabegov, Alexander

2017-11-01

We give a heat kernel proof of the algebraic index theorem for deformation quantization with separation of variables on a pseudo-Kähler manifold. We use normalizations of the canonical trace density of a star product and of the characteristic classes involved in the index formula for which this formula contains no extra constant factors.

A heat kernel proof of the index theorem for deformation quantization

OpenAIRE

Karabegov, Alexander

2017-01-01

We give a heat kernel proof of the algebraic index theorem for deformation quantization with separation of variables on a pseudo-Kahler manifold. We use normalizations of the canonical trace density of a star product and of the characteristic classes involved in the index formula for which this formula contains no extra constant factors.

21 CFR 516.163 - Change in ownership of an index file.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS NEW ANIMAL DRUGS FOR MINOR USE AND MINOR SPECIES Index of Legally Marketed Unapproved New Animal Drugs for Minor Species § 516.163 Change in ownership of an... owner shall submit in writing to FDA a statement that all rights in the index file have been transferred...

In vitro starch digestibility and expected glycemic index of pound cakes baked in two-cycle microwave-toaster and conventional oven.

Science.gov (United States)

García-zaragoza, Francisco J; Sánchez-Pardo, María E; Ortiz-Moreno, Alicia; Bello-Pérez, Luis A

2010-11-01

Bread baking technology has an important effect on starch digestibility measured as its predicted glycemic index tested in vitro. The aim of this work was to evaluate the changes in predicted glycemic index of pound cake baked in a two-cycle microwave toaster and a conventional oven. The glycemic index was calculated from hydrolysis index values by the Granfeldt method. Non-significant differences (P > 0.05) were found in hydrolysis index (60.67 ± 3.96 for the product baked in microwave oven and 65.94 ± 4.09 for the product baked in conventional oven) and predicted glycemic index content (60.5 for product baked in microwave oven and 65 for the product baked in conventional oven) in freshly-baked samples. Results clearly demonstrate that the baking pound cake conventional process could be replicated using a two-cycle multifunction microwave oven, reducing the traditional baking time. Further research is required in order to achieve pound cake crumb uniformity.

ENSO-Based Index Insurance: Approach and Peru Flood Risk Management Application

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, A. F.; Kwon, H.; Lall, U.; Miranda, M. J.; Skees, J. R.

2006-12-01

Index insurance has recently been advocated as a useful risk transfer tool for disaster management situations where rapid fiscal relief is desirable, and where estimating insured losses may be difficult, time consuming, or subject to manipulation and falsification. For climate related hazards, a rainfall or temperature index may be proposed. However, rainfall may be highly spatially variable relative to the gauge network, and in many locations data are inadequate to develop an index due to short time-series and the spatial dispersion of stations. In such cases, it may be helpful to consider a climate proxy index as a regional rainfall index. This is particularly useful if a long record is available for the climate index through an independent source and it is well correlated with the regional rainfall hazard. Here, ENSO related climate indices are explored for use as a proxy to extreme rainfall in one of the departments of Peru -- Piura. The ENSO index insurance product may be purchased by banks or microfinance institutions (MFIs) to aid agricultural damage relief in Peru. Crop losses in the region are highly correlated with floods, but are difficult to assess directly. Beyond agriculture, many other sectors suffer as well. Basic infrastructure is destroyed during the most severe events. This disrupts trade for many micro-enterprises. The reliability and quality of the local rainfall data is variable. Averaging the financial risk across the region is desirable. Some issues with the implementation of the proxy ENSO index are identified and discussed. Specifically, we explore (a) the reliability of the index at different levels of probability of exceedance of maximum seasonal rainfall; (b) the potential for clustering of payoffs; (c) the potential that the index could be predicted with some lead time prior to the flood season; and (d) evidence for climate change or non-stationarity in the flood exceedance probability from the long ENSO record. Finally, prospects for

Environmental variability and its relationship to site index in Mediterranean maritine pine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bravo-Oviedo, A.; Roig, S.; Bravo, F.; Montero, G.; Rio, M. del

2011-07-01

Environmental variability and site productivity relationships, estimated by means of soil-site equations, are considered a milestone in decision making of forest management. The adequacy of silviculture systems is related to tree response to environmental conditions. The objectives of this paper are to study climatic and edaphic variability in Mediterranean Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) forests in Spain, and the practical use of such variability in determining forest productivity by means of site index estimation. Principal component analysis was used to describe environmental conditions and patterns. Site index predictive models were fitted using partial least squares and parsimoniously by ordinary least square. Climatic variables along with parent material defined an ecological regionalization from warm and humid to cold and dry sites. Results showed that temperature and precipitation in autumn and winter, along with longitudinal gradient define extreme site qualities. The best qualities are located in warm and humid sites whereas the poorest ones are found in cold and dry regions. Site index values are poorly explained by soil properties. However, clay content in the first mineral horizon improved the soil-site model considerably. Climate is the main driver of productivity of Mediterranean Maritime pine in a broad scale. Site index differences within a homogenous climatic region are associated to soil properties. (Author) 47 refs.

Wobbe index control system in gas industry processes; Systeme de controle de l'index de Wobbe du gaz naturel dans les processus industriels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cassibba, M.; Bertani, M. [SNAM, (Italy)

2000-07-01

Natural gas supplied to industry for process utilizations originates from different sources and that can cause fluctuations in gas composition. Changing gas composition may lead to production problems in industry with sensitive thermal processes (particularly glass industry and thermal metal treatments), such as efficiency and product quality. An equipment suitable to control and adjust such variations has been developed. Experimental tests in laboratory were carried out in order to investigate the control system accuracy and reliability. In particular five different settings were tested: at a preset thermal input by adjusting the natural gas flow rate in respect to Wobbe Index variations; at a set furnace temperature and stack oxygen level with variable thermal input by monitoring the Wobbe Index value; at constant Wobbe Index value by adding air to natural gas; at constant thermal input and prefixed Wobbe Index value by adding air to natural gas and varying the air and gas mixture flow rate; gross calorific value control by adding air or LPG to natural gas. All the tested settings gave good results. This report illustrates these results and the main features of the control system. The control and regulation system was installed in two glass factories for field tests. (authors)

Creating energy security indexes with decision matrices and quantitative criteria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hughes, Larry; Shupe, Darren

2010-09-15

Energy security is becoming an important policy issue in a growing number of jurisdictions because of volatile energy markets and production challenges faced by many producers. As a result, policymakers and politicians are looking for tools or methods that can create an energy security index with results that are justifiable, understandable, and reproducible. This paper describes a method which employs a decision matrix to produce an energy security index using quantitative criteria and metrics. The method allows a range of indexes to be produced, thereby offering further insight into the state of a jurisdiction's energy security.

Glycemic Index Biscuits Formulation of Pedada Flour (Sonneratia caseolaris) with Tubers Starch

Science.gov (United States)

Jariyah; Susiloningsih, E. K. B.; Nilasari, K.

2018-01-01

The glycemic index of food is the level of food according to its effect on blood glucose levels. Foods with low glycemic index have been shown to improve glucose and fat levels in people with diabetes mellitus and improve insulin resistance. Pedada Fruits (Sonneratia caseolaris) is the one of mangrove fruits has a high fiber content, so it can be used as a raw material in biscuits production. The aim of this research to evaluate the glycemic index on the formula biscuit from the pedada flour and starch from white sweet potato, arrowroot, taro, potato and cassava mixed. This research used completely randomized design in factorial patern with one factor and five levels on formulation biscuit of pedada flour with tubers starch (20% : 80%). The biscuits product were measured of the proximate, crude fiber, glycemic index and glycemic load on wistar rats. The best treatment was 20% of pedada flour with 80% of taro starch which produced biscuit with 76.24% of yield, 2.58% of protein, 15.55% of fat, 2.72% of crude fiber, 48.83 of glycemic index and 7.39 of glycemic load.

NASA Indexing Benchmarks: Evaluating Text Search Engines

Science.gov (United States)

Esler, Sandra L.; Nelson, Michael L.

1997-01-01

The current proliferation of on-line information resources underscores the requirement for the ability to index collections of information and search and retrieve them in a convenient manner. This study develops criteria for analytically comparing the index and search engines and presents results for a number of freely available search engines. A product of this research is a toolkit capable of automatically indexing, searching, and extracting performance statistics from each of the focused search engines. This toolkit is highly configurable and has the ability to run these benchmark tests against other engines as well. Results demonstrate that the tested search engines can be grouped into two levels. Level one engines are efficient on small to medium sized data collections, but show weaknesses when used for collections 100MB or larger. Level two search engines are recommended for data collections up to and beyond 100MB.

Developing a financial inclusion index and inclusive growth in India

OpenAIRE

Susanta Kumar SETHY

2016-01-01

Financial inclusion is one of the systems through which Inclusive Growth can be achieved in developing countries like India where large sections are unable or hopeless to contribute in the financial system. An inclusive financial system mobilizes more resources for productive purposes leading to higher economic growth, better opportunities and reduction of poverty. This study, proposed an Index of financial inclusion – a multidimensional measure. The Financial Inclusion Index c...

State intervention causing inefficiency: an empirical analysis of the Norwegian Continental Shelf

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kashani, Hossein A.

2005-01-01

State intervention in the Norwegian Continental Shelf started with the establishment of Statoil as the medium of state ownership over the found petroleum and as a tool to monitor oil companies' procurement behaviour. This paper tests the extent to which the state intervention created inefficiencies in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) activities, as measured by data envelopment analysis, stochastic frontier analysis, Malmquist Indices, and standard regression analysis. Our results confirm such inefficiencies. Accordingly, the results provide an important insight into NCS production techniques and, more generally, into governments' abilities to influence private sector behaviour through contracts and tendering

Institutional Change and Governance Indexes in Transition Economies: the case of Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pasquale Tridico

2006-12-01

Full Text Available In the former communist countries, institutional change, i.e. transition towards market economy, is affected not only by introduction of law and formal institutions (change "by design", but also by social norms, old values and habits (informal institutions. I present an empirical paper focusing on transition of the Polish Economy. I used a questionnaire which was administered to a sample of about 1000 Polish firms in order to verify the impact of economic institutions on the "residual productivity". Throughout the questionnaire I built six governance indexes. Then I tested the impact of the governance indexes on the productivity of firms. I observed that the economic performance of the eastern regions of Poland, where governance indexes are worse than western, are poorer than that of the western regions of Poland

Starch digestibility and predicted glycemic index of fried sweet potato cultivars

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Amaka Odenigbo

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. is a very rich source of starch. There is increased interest in starch digestibility and the prevention and management of metabolic diseases.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of starch fractions and predicted glycemic index of different cultivars of sweet potato. Material and Method: French fries produced from five cultivars of sweet potato (‘Ginseng Red’, ‘Beauregard’, ‘White Travis’, ‘Georgia Jet clone #2010’ and ‘Georgia Jet’ were used. The level of total starch (TS, resistant starch (RS, digestible starch (DS, and starch digestion index starch digestion index in the samples were evaluated. In vitro starch hydrolysis at 30, 90, and 120 min were determined enzymatically for calculation of rapidly digestible starch (RDS, predicted glycemic index (pGI and slowly digestible starch (SDS respectively. Results: The RS content in all samples had an inversely significant correlation with pGI (-0.52; P<0.05 while RDS had positive and significant influence on both pGI (r=0.55; P<0.05 and SDI (r= 0.94; P<0.01. ‘White Travis’ and ‘Ginseng Red’ had higher levels of beneficial starch fractions (RS and SDS with low pGI and starch digestion Index (SDI, despite their higher TS content. Generally, all the cultivars had products with low to moderate GI values. Conclusion: The glycemic index of these food products highlights the health promoting characteristics of sweet potato cultivars.

Production Efficiency of Cocoon Shell of Silkworm, Bombyx mori L. (Bombycidae: Lepidoptera, as an Index for Evaluating the Nutritive Value of Mulberry, Morus sp. (Moraceae, Varieties

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Jalaja Suresh Kumar

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The nutritional efficiency of mulberry leaves consumed by silkworms, Bombyx mori L., is usually evaluated in terms of the proportion of cocoon shell weight to the amount of food ingested. The production efficiency of cocoon shell is generally used to identify the superiority of a mulberry variety for silkworm rearing. In this study the production efficiency of cocoon shell was used as an index for evaluating the nutritive value of different mulberry varieties of India. Among the varieties, V-1, having highest production efficiency of cocoon shell with less amount of food ingested and highest digestibility, is regarded as the best suitable variety with nutritive values ideal for silkworm rearing.

Sensitivity of fire weather index to different reanalysis products in the Iberian Peninsula

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J. Bedia

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Wildfires are a major concern on the Iberian Peninsula, and the establishment of effective prevention and early warning systems are crucial to reduce impacts and losses. Fire weather indices are daily indicators of fire danger based upon meteorological information. However, their application in many studies is conditioned to the availability of sufficiently large climatological time series over extensive geographical areas and of sufficient quality. Furthermore, wind and relative humidity, important for the calculation of fire spread and fuel flammability parameters, are relatively scarce data. For these reasons, different reanalysis products are often used for the calculation of surrogate fire danger indices, although the agreement with those derived from observations remains as an open question to be addressed.

In this study, we analyze this problem focusing on the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI – and the associated Seasonal Severity Rating (SSR – and considering three different reanalysis products of varying resolutions on the Iberian Peninsula: NCEP, ERA-40 and ERA-Interim. Besides the inter-comparison of the resulting FWI/SSR values, we also study their correspondence with observational data from 7 weather stations in Spain and their sensitivity to the input parameters (precipitation, temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity.

As a general result, ERA-Interim reproduces the observed FWI magnitudes with better accuracy than NCEP, with lower/higher correlations in the coast/inland locations. For instance, ERA-Interim summer correlations are above 0.5 in inland locations – where higher FWI magnitudes are attained – whereas the corresponding values for NCEP are below this threshold. Nevertheless, departures from the observed distributions are generally found in all reanalysis, with a general tendency to underestimation, more pronounced in the case of NCEP. In spite of these limitations, ERA-Interim may still

Emergy sustainability index of a milk producing unit

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Edmar Eduardo Bassan Mendes

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Although small, the impacts caused by agriculture and livestock productive activities change the environment, which in turn reflects the stress conditions it is under. Some authors these environmental changes occur for countless reasons, many so-called natural while others are due to anthropogenic interventions. This study aims to assess milk production sustainability using the emergy analysis of indicators, considering the annual cycles of production to help decision making. A conceptual model of the milk production system using the Emergy flow chart was built at the Livestock and Agricultural Production Unit (UPA of the Alto da Arauna Farm, located in Guzolândia, SP. After data processing, the emergy calculation table was elaborated. Several emergy sustainability indices were calculated and analyzed (indicators Renewability of Emergy Used Total, Index of Environmental Load Ratio of Investment Ratio Emergia beyond the calculations Tranformidades among others including the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI. The results showed that the UPA has a high impact per unit of energy source used to produce milk for the general public. The agricultural production systems with ESI value less than one (1 can be considered unsustainable in the long term. The studied UPA has good working conditions and soil conservation, but has a highly disproportionate use of economy inputs in relation to natural resources, which results in low ESI value. The analysis of this ratio indicated low system efficiency. Several management practices and interventions were proposed aiming at improving sustainability indicators of the production system.  Furthermore, strategies were formulated for more sustainable management of this UPA, thus reducing the impacts of the production system in use. The adoption of methods similar to organic production, agroecological systems, integration between farming and livestock, and/or adoption of silvopastoral system are recommended to improve

The Association Between NIMH Funding and h-index in Psychiatry.

Science.gov (United States)

Saraykar, Smita; Saleh, Ayman; Selek, Salih

2017-08-01

Academic productivity is measured under many domains: number of high impact publications, objective bibliometrics, securing extra-mural funding, etc. Citation impact is measured by an objective bibliometric called h-index. Securing funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is considered prestigious in the field of psychiatry. It is unknown if NIMH takes into consideration the author's h-index during the grant review process. The goal of this study was to determine the correlation between a principal investigator's (PI's) h-index and the NIMH funding. Correlational analysis was conducted on publicly available 2012 NIMH funding data to assess the relationship between NIMH funding and a PI's h-index. A simple linear regression was calculated to predict the h-index based on the amount of funding offered to the PI. A total of 139 PIs and their corresponding h-index and NIMH funding (direct, indirect, and total cost) were included. A strong correlation was found between h-index and NIMH funding: direct cost (r = 0.632, p h-index, β = 0.821, t (2.599), p h-index, R 2  = 0.410, F (3, 119) = 27.59, p h-index and securing NIMH funding. Thus, h-index stands out as a reliable measure for assessing the impact of scholarly contributions in academic psychiatry and can be used as an adjunct for performance evaluations, appointment, and promotions in academia.

Part II: Should the h-index be modified? An analysis of the m-quotient, contemporary h-index, authorship value, and impact factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Nickalus R; Thompson, Clinton J; Taylor, Douglas R; Gabrick, Kyle S; Choudhri, Asim F; Boop, Frederick R; Klimo, Paul

2013-12-01

The widely accepted h-index depends on the citation analysis source and does not consider the authorship position, the journal's impact factor (IF), or the age of the paper or author. We investigated these factors in citation statistics of academic neurosurgeons. An uncorrected h-index and the m-quotient, which corrects for career length, were calculated by the use of Scopus and Google Scholar. In a subset of neurosurgeons, we computed the contemporary h-index (hc), which accounts for the age of the publications; the authorship value (AV), weighted by author position; and the journal IF. An "overall' average for AV and IF including most of an author's publications and an average for publications comprising the h-index ("h-index core") were calculated. When we used Google Scholar, the mean h-index was significantly greater than that calculated when we used Scopus (P = 0.0030). m-quotient and hc-index increased with academic rank, with an m-quotient >1 achieved by 69% of chairmen and 48% of professors. The effect of AV was greatest on the greater h-indices. The average IF for the h-index core was greater than the overall IF, which did not correlate with academic rank. Few neurosurgeons consistently publish in high-impact journals. Google Scholar tends to inflate the h-index. The m-quotient and hc-index allow comparisons of researchers across time. Although average journal IF did not differ significantly among neurosurgeons academic ranks, it should be noted for individuals who consistently publish in high-impact journals. We recommend the creation of individual bibliometric profiles to better compare the academic productivity of neurosurgeons. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Associations between high prepregnancy body mass index, breast-milk expression, and breast-milk production and feeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Stephanie A; Labiner-Wolfe, Judith; Geraghty, Sheela R; Rasmussen, Kathleen M

2011-03-01

Breast-milk expression is widely practiced by American mothers, but little is known about who expresses milk, how expression affects breastfeeding, or whether overweight or obese women, who have less breastfeeding success than do normal-weight women, express milk differently. We investigated 1) whether breast-milk expression behavior differed by body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) category and 2) whether the different breastfeeding behaviors of overweight (BMI: ≥25 and obese (BMI: ≥30) women resulted in different breastfeeding outcomes. The subjects (n = 2288) provided information on BMI and breast-milk production, feeding, and expression in mail-in questionnaires as part of the Infant Feeding Practices Study II. Longitudinal and cross-sectional data were analyzed by using regression procedures adjusted for confounding. Women of different BMI categories overall did not differ in whether, when, or why they expressed breast milk. Before 2 mo postpartum, however, obese women were more likely (P = 0.04, unadjusted) to try milk expression and were less likely (P = 0.01, unadjusted) to express milk successfully. In addition, overweight or obesity was associated (P milk production only in women who never expressed milk. In overweight or obese women, those who ever expressed milk had longer durations of breastfeeding (P milk. Breast-milk expression behaviors may differ by maternal BMI category only in the early postpartum period. In addition, breast-milk expression may reduce differences between BMI categories in the duration of breastfeeding and support longer durations of breastfeeding.

Advanced scoring method of eco-efficiency in European cities.

Science.gov (United States)

Moutinho, Victor; Madaleno, Mara; Robaina, Margarita; Villar, José

2018-01-01

This paper analyzes a set of selected German and French cities' performance in terms of the relative behavior of their eco-efficiencies, computed as the ratio of their gross domestic product (GDP) over their CO 2 emissions. For this analysis, eco-efficiency scores of the selected cities are computed using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique, taking the eco-efficiencies as outputs, and the inputs being the energy consumption, the population density, the labor productivity, the resource productivity, and the patents per inhabitant. Once DEA results are analyzed, the Malmquist productivity indexes (MPI) are used to assess the time evolution of the technical efficiency, technological efficiency, and productivity of the cities over the window periods 2000 to 2005 and 2005 to 2008. Some of the main conclusions are that (1) most of the analyzed cities seem to have suboptimal scales, being one of the causes of their inefficiency; (2) there is evidence that high GDP over CO 2 emissions does not imply high eco-efficiency scores, meaning that DEA like approaches are useful to complement more simplistic ranking procedures, pointing out potential inefficiencies at the input levels; (3) efficiencies performed worse during the period 2000-2005 than during the period 2005-2008, suggesting the possibility of corrective actions taken during or at the end of the first period but impacting only on the second period, probably due to an increasing environmental awareness of policymakers and governors; and (4) MPI analysis shows a positive technological evolution of all cities, according to the general technological evolution of the reference cities, reflecting a generalized convergence of most cities to their technological frontier and therefore an evolution in the right direction.

[Assessment and comparison of hospital operating efficiency under different management systems].

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-18

To assess and analyze the operation efficiency of 8 commission general public hospitals managed directly by National Health and Family Planning Commission and 8 municipal general hospitals managed directly by Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals in Beijing and to provide suggestions on improving service capacity and designing relevant health policy. Input and output data of 8 commission hospitals and 8 municipal hospitals were obtained from Beijing Direct-Reported Health Statistics data from 2011 to 2014. Data envelopment analysis was used as the hospital operation efficiency measurement tool. The CCR and BCC models were built to calculate technical efficiency (TE), pure technical efficiency (PTE), scale efficiency (SE) and the status of scale efficiency of 16 hospitals in 2011 and 2014; the Malmquist index model was built to analyze the total factor productivity change (TFPC), technological change (TC), technical efficiency change, pure technical efficiency change and scale efficiency change of the 16 hospitals from 2011 to 2014. In 2011, the TE, PTE and SE of the commission hospitals were higher than those of the municipal hospitals, and the TEs of the commission hospitals and the municipal hospitals were 0.918 and 0.873 respectively. In 2014, the TE, PTE and SE of commission hospitals were lower than those of the municipal hospitals, and the TE of the commission hospitals and the municipal hospitals were 0.906 and 0.951, respectively, which was contrary to the results in 2011. According to the Malmquist index model, the average of TFPC of the municipal hospitals was larger than that of the commission hospitals, the former increased 5.9% and the latter increased 2.8% per year; the average of TC was greater than the one in both the municipal hospitals and the commission hospitals, with a growth of 3.2% and 2.9% per year, respectively; the average growth of PTE in the commission hospitals was lower than that of the municipal hospitals, and the average

Quantification of sensory and food quality: the R-index analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hye-Seong; van Hout, Danielle

2009-08-01

The accurate quantification of sensory difference/similarity between foods, as well as consumer acceptance/preference and concepts, is greatly needed to optimize and maintain food quality. The R-Index is one class of measures of the degree of difference/similarity, and was originally developed for sensory difference tests for food quality control, product development, and so on. The index is based on signal detection theory and is free of the response bias that can invalidate difference testing protocols, including categorization and same-different and A-Not A tests. It is also a nonparametric analysis, making no assumptions about sensory distributions, and is simple to compute and understand. The R-Index is also flexible in its application. Methods based on R-Index analysis have been used as detection and sensory difference tests, as simple alternatives to hedonic scaling, and for the measurement of consumer concepts. This review indicates the various computational strategies for the R-Index and its practical applications to consumer and sensory measurements in food science.

Mitigation Index Insurance for Developing Countries: Insure the Loss or Insure the Signal?

OpenAIRE

Li, Yiting; Miranda, Mario J.

2015-01-01

Conventional agricultural index insurance indemnifies based on the observed value of a specified variable, such as rainfall, that is correlated with agricultural production losses. Typically, indemnities are paid to the policyholder after the losses have been experienced. This paper explores alternate timing for index insurance payouts. In particular, we explore the potential benefits of what we call “mitigation index insurance” in which the payouts of the insurance contract arrive before los...

Karl Schwarzschild Lecture: The Ups and Downs of the Hubble Constant (With 12 Figures)

Science.gov (United States)

Tammann, G. Andreas

2006-01-01

A brief history of the determination of the Hubble constant H_0 is given. Early attempts following Lemaitre (1927) gave much too high values due to errors of the magnitude scale, Malmquist bias and calibration problems. By 1962 most authors agreed that 75< H_0 <130. After 1975 a dichotomy arose with values near 100 and others around 55. The former came from apparent-magnitude-limited samples and were affected by Malmquist bias. New distance indicators were introduced; they were sometimes claimed to yield high values of H_0, but the most recent data lead to H_0 in the 60's, yet with remaining difficulties as to the zero-point of the respective distance indicators. SNe Ia with their large range and very small luminosity dispersion (avoiding Malmquist bias) offer a unique opportunity to determine the large-scale value of H_0. Their maximum luminosity can be well calibrated from 10 SNe Ia in local parent galaxies whose Cepheids have been observed with HST. An unforeseen difficulty - affecting all Cepheid distances - is that their P-L relation varies from galaxy to galaxy, presumably in function of metallicity. A proposed solution is summarized here. The conclusion is that H_0 = 63.2 +/- 1.3 (random) +/- 5.3 (systematic) on all scales. The expansion age becomes then (with Omega_m=0.3, Omega_Lambda=0.7) 15.1 Gyr.

Empirical Examination of Fundamental Indexation in the German Market

Science.gov (United States)

Mihm, Max; Locarek-Junge, Hermann

Index Funds, Exchange Traded Funds and Derivatives give investors easy access to well diversified index portfolios. These index-based investment products exhibit low fees, which make them an attractive alternative to actively managed funds. Against this background, a new class of stock indices has been established based on the concept of “Fundamental Indexation”. The selection and weighting of index constituents is conducted by means of fundamental criteria like total assets, book value or number of employees. This paper examines the performance of fundamental indices in the German equity market. For this purpose, a backtest of five fundamental indices is conducted over the last 20 years. Furthermore the index returns are analysed under the assumption of an efficient as well as an inefficient market. Index returns in efficient markets are explained by applying the three factor model for stock returns of Fama and French (J Financ Econ 33(1):3-56, 1993). The results show that the outperformance of fundamental indices is partly due to a higher risk exposure, particularly to companies with a low price to book ratio. By relaxing the assumption of market efficiency, a return drag of capitalisation weighted indices can be deduced. Given a mean-reverting movement of prices, a direct connection between market capitalisation and index weighting leads to inferior returns.

An index to quantify an individual's scientific research valid across disciplines

OpenAIRE

Batista, Pablo Diniz; Campiteli, Monica Guimaraes; Kinouchi, Osame; Martinez, Alexandre Souto

2005-01-01

The number h of papers with at least h citations has been proposed to evaluate individual's scientific research production. This index is robust in several ways but yet strongly dependent on the research field. We propose a complementary index hI = h^2/N_t, with N_t being the total number of authors in the considered h papers. A researcher with index hI has hI papers with at least hI citation if he/she had published alone. We have obtained the rank plots of h and hI for four Brazilian scienti...

Measuring the efficiency of energy-intensive industries across European countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makridou, Georgia; Andriosopoulos, Kostas; Doumpos, Michael; Zopounidis, Constantin

2016-01-01

This study evaluates the energy efficiency trends of five energy-intensive industries in 23 European Union (EU) countries over the period 2000–2009. In particular, the performance of the construction, electricity, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, and transport sectors is examined. The analysis is based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) combined with the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI), which allows for distinctions between efficiency and technology changes over time. At the second stage of the analysis, cross-classified multilevel modelling is applied to analyse the main drivers behind efficiency performance using a number of sector and country characteristics. Based on DEA results, an overall improvement in efficiency is observed in all sectors over the period. The decomposition of the MPI indicates that technology change is primarily responsible for the improvements achieved in most sectors. The results obtained by the cross-classified model show, among other things, that the high electricity prices, energy taxes, and market share of the largest generator in the electricity market have a negative effect on industrial energy efficiency. - Highlights: • Analysis of energy efficiency and trends of industrial sectors in EU. • Combination of non-parametric frontier models and multilevel explanatory analysis. • Examination of the drivers of energy efficiency. • Industrial energy efficiency performance is mainly driven by technological improvement.

Modification of Low Refractive Index Polycarbonate for High Refractive Index Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunjan Suri

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Polycarbonates and polythiourethanes are the most popular materials in use today, for optical applications. Polycarbonates are of two types which fall in the category of low refractive index and medium refractive index. The present paper describes the conversion of low refractive index polycarbonates into high refractive index material by the use of a high refractive index monomer, polythiol, as an additive. Novel polycarbonates, where the properties of refractive index and Abbe number can be tailor made, have been obtained. Thermal studies and refractive index determination indicate the formation of a new polymer with improved properties and suitable for optical applications.

The natural resources supply indexes study of the pig breeding scale in China

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, Bi-Bin; Zhang, Qi-Zhen; Ji, Xue-Qiang; Xu, Yue-Feng

2017-08-01

For the pollution problem of the pig breeding scale, we took three indexes as evaluation criterion, including arable land per capita, the water resource per capita and per capita share of grain. Then SPSS was used to synthesized the natural resources supply indexes of the pig breeding scale. The results show that with the fast development of technology and the steadily rising of grain production, the natural resources supply indexes of the pig breeding scale are raising constantly.

Measuring economic performance, social progress and sustainability using an index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

de Carvalho, Joaquim Francisco

2011-01-01

The energy crisis and a greater awareness among the general public regarding the issue of climate change have, between them, led to a notable increase in the interest shown by governments in relation to the problem of environmental sustainability. An example has been the initiative taken by the President of France to set up a commission, known as the Sarkozy Commission, named after the President, bringing together renowned economists to study and propose forms of economic performance measurement related to social progress. This article aims to propose a methodology to establish a quantitative definition of sustainability structured on the principles of minimum and maximum entropy production, and, based on this, outline a way of organizing the many sources of, and kinds of energy, we have available to us in order of the intensity of their respective environmental impacts. Based on this, we could produce an Environmental Sustainability Index, linked to existing statistical indicators of human development, and thereby arrive at a Sustainable Human Development Index, which would be positively or negatively influenced by parameters linked to environmental sustainability and quality of life. In order to ensure that this index can produce practical results, the WTO (World Trade Organization) would have to establish a scale of increments, to be applied to export tariffs on products originating in countries with different indexes. (author)

An index for drought induced financial risk in the mining industry

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnafous, L.; Lall, U.; Siegel, J.

2017-02-01

Water scarcity has emerged as a potential risk for mining operations. High capital spending for desalination and water conflicts leading to asset stranding have recently occurred. Investors in mining companies are interested in the exposure to such risks across portfolios of mining assets (whether the practical at-site consequences are foregone production, higher OPEX and CAPEX and ensuing lost revenues, or asset-stranding). In this paper, an index of the potential financial exposure of a portfolio is developed and its application is illustrated. Since the likely loss at each mine is hard to estimate a priori, one needs a proxy for potential loss. The index considers drought duration, severity and frequency (defined by a return-level in years) at each mining asset, and provides a measure of financial exposure through weighing of production or Net Asset Value. Changes in human needs are not considered, but are relevant, and could be incorporated if global data on mine and other water use were available at the appropriate resolution. Potential for contemporaneous drought incidence across sites in a portfolio is considered specifically. Through an appropriate choice of drought thresholds, an analyst can customize a scenario to assess potential losses in production value or profits, or whether conflicts could emerge that would lead to stranded assets or capital expenditure to secure alternate water supplies. Global climate data sets that allow a customized development of such an index are identified, and selected mining company portfolios are scored as to the risk associated with one publicly available drought index.

A Novel Index Using Soluble CD36 Is Associated with the Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Comparison Study with Triglyceride-Glucose Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ho Jin; Moon, Jun Sung; Park, Il Rae; Kim, Joong Hee; Yoon, Ji Sung; Won, Kyu Chang; Lee, Hyoung Woo

2017-09-01

Plasma soluble cluster determinant 36 (sCD36) level is closely related with insulin resistance and atherosclerosis, but little is known whether it could be a surrogate for estimating risk of developing diabetes or not. To address this, we evaluated association between sCD36 index, the product of sCD36 and fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and then compared with triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index which has been suggested simple index for insulin resistance. This was cross-sectional study, and participants were classified as normal glucose tolerance (NGT), prediabetes, and T2DM according to glucose tolerance. The formula of TyG index was 'ln [FPG (mg/dL)×triglyceride (mg/dL)/2],' and the sCD36 index was 'ln [sCD36 (pg/mL)×FPG (mg/dL)/2].' One hundred and fifty-five subjects (mean age, 55.2 years) were enrolled, and patients with T2DM were 75. Both indexes were significantly increased in prediabetes and T2DM rather than NGT, and sCD36 index was positively correlated with both glycosylated hemoglobin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (r=0.767 and r=0.453, respectively; Pindex for T2DM was 4.39 (95% confidential interval, 1.51 to 12.77) after adjusting age, gender, blood pressure, smoking, alcohol, non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. However, OR of TyG index did not remained significance after adjustment. sCD36 index has an independent association with the risk of T2DM, and showed better correlation than TyG index. These results suggest sCD36 index might be useful surrogate marker for the risk of diabetes. Copyright © 2017 Korean Endocrine Society

An initial ULF wave index derived from 2 years of Swarm observations

Science.gov (United States)

Papadimitriou, Constantinos; Balasis, Georgios; Daglis, Ioannis A.; Giannakis, Omiros

2018-03-01

The ongoing Swarm satellite mission provides an opportunity for better knowledge of the near-Earth electromagnetic environment. Herein, we use a new methodological approach for the detection and classification of ultra low-frequency (ULF) wave events observed by Swarm based on an existing time-frequency analysis (TFA) tool and utilizing a state-of-the-art high-resolution magnetic field model and Swarm Level 2 products (i.e., field-aligned currents - FACs - and the Ionospheric Bubble Index - IBI). We present maps of the dependence of ULF wave power with magnetic latitude and magnetic local time (MLT) as well as geographic latitude and longitude from the three satellites at their different locations in low-Earth orbit (LEO) for a period spanning 2 years after the constellation's final configuration. We show that the inclusion of the Swarm single-spacecraft FAC product in our analysis eliminates all the wave activity at high altitudes, which is physically unrealistic. Moreover, we derive a Swarm orbit-by-orbit Pc3 wave (20-100 MHz) index for the topside ionosphere and compare its values with the corresponding variations of solar wind variables and geomagnetic activity indices. This is the first attempt, to our knowledge, to derive a ULF wave index from LEO satellite data. The technique can be potentially used to define a new Level 2 product from the mission, the Swarm ULF wave index, which would be suitable for space weather applications.

The e-index, complementing the h-index for excess citations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Ting Zhang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The h-index has already been used by major citation databases to evaluate the academic performance of individual scientists. Although effective and simple, the h-index suffers from some drawbacks that limit its use in accurately and fairly comparing the scientific output of different researchers. These drawbacks include information loss and low resolution: the former refers to the fact that in addition to h(2 citations for papers in the h-core, excess citations are completely ignored, whereas the latter means that it is common for a group of researchers to have an identical h-index. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To solve these problems, I here propose the e-index, where e(2 represents the ignored excess citations, in addition to the h(2 citations for h-core papers. Citation information can be completely depicted by using the h-index together with the e-index, which are independent of each other. Some other h-type indices, such as a and R, are h-dependent, have information redundancy with h, and therefore, when used together with h, mask the real differences in excess citations of different researchers. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although simple, the e-index is a necessary h-index complement, especially for evaluating highly cited scientists or for precisely comparing the scientific output of a group of scientists having an identical h-index.

Analysis of internationalization process of Bric countries with the Grubel and Lloyd index

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Pedro Raffy Vartanian

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This research aims to show the internationalization of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China through the application of the Grubel and Lloyd index in the period 1994-2009. The hypothesis is that the BRIC countries have shown a growth in the internationalization process, as reflected by increased levels of productive investment in other countries. The research is the application method of the Grubel and Lloyd index in the flows of foreign direct investment and foreign investment by residents abroad in the period 1994-2009, in the BRIC countries. The results showed an increase in the Grubel and Lloyd index related to foreign investment flows, which suggests that companies from the BRIC countries have been increasing productive investment in other countries by the same way that the companies from the advanced economies in order to maximize profits through internationalization.

30 CFR 206.172 - How do I value gas produced from leases in an index zone?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... gas production that is not sold under an arm's-length dedicated contract is the index-based value... safety net prices calculated at § 206.172(e)(4)(i) exceeds the index-based value that applies to the gas... contract is the higher of the index-based value under paragraph (d) of this section or the value of that...

How to Achieve Supply Chain Sustainability Efficiently? Taming the Triple Bottom Line Split Business Cycle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Klumpp

2018-02-01

Full Text Available For sustainable supply chains, specific concepts regarding how to efficiently improve sustainability are needed in a global comprehensive triple bottom line (TBL approach, especially for forwarders as central actors in supply chain design. Such specific advice is provided by reporting empirical DEA Malmquist index findings from seven large European forwarders regarding a TBL sustainability analysis from 2006 to 2016. A major obstacle in improving sustainability consists in the newly discovered fact that with the business cycle, the three TBL areas of economic, ecologic and social objectives for logistics are undergoing different up- and down-ward trends, making it very hard to improve all three simultaneously. Additional factors are identified in the characteristics of size and government influence regarding the sustainability efficiency of forwarders. This has important impacts on supply chain design like e.g., with selection criteria.

The use of the Hirsch index in benchmarking hepatic surgery research.

Science.gov (United States)

Cucchetti, Alessandro; Mazzotti, Federico; Pellegrini, Sara; Cescon, Matteo; Maroni, Lorenzo; Ercolani, Giorgio; Pinna, Antonio Daniele

2013-10-01

The Hirsch index (h-index) is recognized as an effective way to summarize an individual's scientific research output. However, a benchmark for evaluating surgeon scientists in the field of hepatic surgery is still not available. A total of 3,251 authors who published between 1949 and 2011 were identified using the Scopus identification number. The h-index, the total number of cited document, the total number of citations, and the scientific age were calculated for each author using both Scopus and Google Scholar. The median h-index was 6 and the median scientific age, assessed with Google Scholar, was 19 years. The numbers of cited documents, numbers of citations, and h-indexes obtained from Scopus and Google Scholar showed good correlation with one another; however, the results from the 2 databases were modified in different ways by scientific age. By plotting scientific age against h-index percentiles an h-index growth chart for both Scopus database and Google Scholar was provided. This analysis provides a first benchmark to assess surgeon scientists' productivity in the field of liver surgery. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The ATLAS EventIndex: data flow and inclusion of other metadata

CERN Document Server

Prokoshin, Fedor; The ATLAS collaboration; Cardenas Zarate, Simon Ernesto; Favareto, Andrea; Fernandez Casani, Alvaro; Gallas, Elizabeth; Garcia Montoro, Carlos; Gonzalez de la Hoz, Santiago; Hrivnac, Julius; Malon, David; Salt, Jose; Sanchez, Javier; Toebbicke, Rainer; Yuan, Ruijun

2016-01-01

The ATLAS EventIndex is the catalogue of the event-related metadata for the information obtained from the ATLAS detector. The basic unit of this information is event record, containing the event identification parameters, pointers to the files containing this event as well as trigger decision information. The main use case for the EventIndex are the event picking, providing information for the Event Service and data consistency checks for large production campaigns. The EventIndex employs the Hadoop platform for data storage and handling, as well as a messaging system for the collection of information. The information for the EventIndex is collected both at Tier-0, when the data are first produced, and from the GRID, when various types of derived data are produced. The EventIndex uses various types of auxiliary information from other ATLAS sources for data collection and processing: trigger tables from the condition metadata database (COMA), dataset information from the data catalog AMI and the Rucio data man...

The ATLAS EventIndex: data flow and inclusion of other metadata

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00064378; Cardenas Zarate, Simon Ernesto; Favareto, Andrea; Fernandez Casani, Alvaro; Gallas, Elizabeth; Garcia Montoro, Carlos; Gonzalez de la Hoz, Santiago; Hrivnac, Julius; Malon, David; Prokoshin, Fedor; Salt, Jose; Sanchez, Javier; Toebbicke, Rainer; Yuan, Ruijun

2016-01-01

The ATLAS EventIndex is the catalogue of the event-related metadata for the information collected from the ATLAS detector. The basic unit of this information is the event record, containing the event identification parameters, pointers to the files containing this event as well as trigger decision information. The main use case for the EventIndex is event picking, as well as data consistency checks for large production campaigns. The EventIndex employs the Hadoop platform for data storage and handling, as well as a messaging system for the collection of information. The information for the EventIndex is collected both at Tier-0, when the data are first produced, and from the Grid, when various types of derived data are produced. The EventIndex uses various types of auxiliary information from other ATLAS sources for data collection and processing: trigger tables from the condition metadata database (COMA), dataset information from the data catalogue AMI and the Rucio data management system and information on p...

Index-in-retrospect and breeding objectives characterizing genetic ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

RV

2014-06-14

Jun 14, 2014 ... Condition of use: The user may copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the work, but .... weights for the index may have been unknown at the time of .... The simulated milk production of cows <5 yr old was adjusted ... between the probability of conception and calving (as shown above) and the weaning rate.

Productivity studies of the nuclear waste programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundberg, Haakan

2002-08-01

The Swedish Nuclear Inspectorate reviews and supplements the SKB proposal for cost estimations for the nuclear waste programme. These estimations are of great importance for the determination of annual fees to the Nuclear Waste Fund and guarantee amounts in accordance with the Financing Act. The majority of the Nuclear Waste Fund's assets are invested in real interest bonds, issued by the Swedish state. The average duration for the Nuclear Waste Fund investments was 12.8 years at the end of December 2001. From July 1, 2002 on the Nuclear waste Fund investments will consist of nominal and real bonds on the official market. The Fund is increased in line with the Consumer Price Index (KPI). If real costs within the nuclear waste programme increase at a faster rate than the KPI, there is a risk that the Nuclear Waste Fund will be 'under balanced'. SKI has developed a weighted index, the KBS-3-index, to compare the SKB cost re-estimate with. Productivity changes have however no impact on these indices. The KBS-3-index indicates that there might be a risk that the de facto, cost increases will exceed KPI. An improved productivity might however balance the cost escalations. Productivity is normally defined as production divided by the input of production factors. The production can be a quantity measurement or the value added. A common approach is calculation of the labour productivity. The productivity development within different industries in Sweden and in EU varies, and is not only positive. The so called DEA method is used for productivity and efficiency measurements in public and private operations. Efficiency evaluations based on known norms are not made with the DEA models. Instead the evaluation is performed in relation to an empirically based reference technology, a relative efficiency. A selection or an optimisation of output is difficult for the nuclear waste programme. It is not possible to change parts of the nuclear waste programme to something else

Derivation of the Radioactivity Index for Consumer Goods Containing NORM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jang, Mee; Chung, Kun Ho; Ji, Young Yong; Kim, Chang Jong; Kang, Mun Ja [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

Some consumer goods to promote health such as anion bracelets, necklace and mats contain naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). Some of them can cause problems because of high radioactivity. In the regulations, there is an annual effective dose limit of 1mSv for products, but the activity concentration limits and radioactivity index for products is not established yet. Although there are few researches for consumer goods containing NORM in foreign countries, in Japan, for the consumer goods. To regulate the NORM in consumer goods, it is necessary to derive activity concentration limits corresponding to the annual limits of 1mSv. In this research, we calculated the activity concentration limits according to the usage quantities of consumer goods. Using these results, it is possible to suggest several radioactivity indexes to apply to a lot of consumer goods.

Derivation of the Radioactivity Index for Consumer Goods Containing NORM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Mee; Chung, Kun Ho; Ji, Young Yong; Kim, Chang Jong; Kang, Mun Ja

2016-01-01

Some consumer goods to promote health such as anion bracelets, necklace and mats contain naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). Some of them can cause problems because of high radioactivity. In the regulations, there is an annual effective dose limit of 1mSv for products, but the activity concentration limits and radioactivity index for products is not established yet. Although there are few researches for consumer goods containing NORM in foreign countries, in Japan, for the consumer goods. To regulate the NORM in consumer goods, it is necessary to derive activity concentration limits corresponding to the annual limits of 1mSv. In this research, we calculated the activity concentration limits according to the usage quantities of consumer goods. Using these results, it is possible to suggest several radioactivity indexes to apply to a lot of consumer goods

Bounds and inequalities relating h-index, g-index, e-index and generalized impact factor: an improvement over existing models.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbas, Ash Mohammad

2012-01-01

In this paper, we describe some bounds and inequalities relating h-index, g-index, e-index, and generalized impact factor. We derive the bounds and inequalities relating these indexing parameters from their basic definitions and without assuming any continuous model to be followed by any of them. We verify the theorems using citation data for five Price Medalists. We observe that the lower bound for h-index given by Theorem 2, [formula: see text], g ≥ 1, comes out to be more accurate as compared to Schubert-Glanzel relation h is proportional to C(2/3)P(-1/3) for a proportionality constant of 1, where C is the number of citations and P is the number of papers referenced. Also, the values of h-index obtained using Theorem 2 outperform those obtained using Egghe-Liang-Rousseau power law model for the given citation data of Price Medalists. Further, we computed the values of upper bound on g-index given by Theorem 3, g ≤ (h + e), where e denotes the value of e-index. We observe that the upper bound on g-index given by Theorem 3 is reasonably tight for the given citation record of Price Medalists.

Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) Atlas: Upper Texas Coast (NODC Accession 0046089)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This CD-ROM product from the NOAA National Ocean Service Hazardous Materials Response and Assessment Division contains the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data...

GLUCOSE-FRUCTOSE INDEX IN THE GRAPES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. V. Gnilomedova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Results summarize literature and experimental data on the content of glucose and fructose of different varieties in grapes belonging to different botanical species of Vitis. The ratio of glucose and fructose indicator can be used for fermentation control and prevention of under fermentation in the production of dry wines, as well as an identification parameter to assess the authenticity of grape juice and concentratedmust. The object of the study were grapes of red and white winemaking European and autochthonous varieties, belonging to Vitis, as well as varieties of new selection (Aligote, Albilio, Verdelho, Sersial, Rkatsiteli, White Muscat, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Bastardo of Magarach, Kephesiya, Ekim kara, Golubok. Sugar content in grape samples was inthe range of 180-260 g/l. Total hexoses were determined by HPLC method according to a modified methodology developed by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of Wine of "FSBSI "Magarach ". It was established that the value range of the glucose-fructose index in the grapes cultivated in different viniviticultural regions of the world makes 0.74-1.19. It has been revealed that the glucose-fructose index decreases with the ripening of berries. Low index values are characteristic for the grape that ripens at high temperatures and was cultivated in regions with hot climate. High index valuesare characteristic of table grapes and winemaking grape varieties of the species Vitis labrusca, Vitis amurensis and interspecific hybrids. Within the botanical species we canidentify varieties that tend to accumulate higher volumes of either glucose or fructose. These patterns are equally characteristic of white and red grape varieties. The analytical analyzes of the Crimean winemaking grape varieties resulted in the establishment of the glucose-fructose index for the first time, varying within the range of 0.9-1.06.

Developing an operational rangeland water requirement satisfaction index

Science.gov (United States)

Senay, Gabriel B.; Verdin, James P.; Rowland, James

2011-01-01

Developing an operational water requirement satisfaction index (WRSI) for rangeland monitoring is an important goal of the famine early warning systems network. An operational WRSI has been developed for crop monitoring, but until recently a comparable WRSI for rangeland was not successful because of the extremely poor performance of the index when based on published crop coefficients (K c) for rangelands. To improve the rangeland WRSI, we developed a simple calibration technique that adjusts the K c values for rangeland monitoring using long-term rainfall distribution and reference evapotranspiration data. The premise for adjusting the K c values is based on the assumption that a viable rangeland should exhibit above-average WRSI (values >80%) during a normal year. The normal year was represented by a median dekadal rainfall distribution (satellite rainfall estimate from 1996 to 2006). Similarly, a long-term average for potential evapotranspiration was used as input to the famine early warning systems network WRSI model in combination with soil-water-holding capacity data. A dekadal rangeland WRSI has been operational for east and west Africa since 2005. User feedback has been encouraging, especially with regard to the end-of-season WRSI anomaly products that compare the index's performance to ‘normal’ years. Currently, rangeland WRSI products are generated on a dekadal basis and posted for free distribution on the US Geological Survey early warning website at http://earlywarning.usgs.gov/adds/

Significance of saturation index of certain clay minerals in shallow ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Significance of saturation index of certain clay minerals in shallow ... The value of ionic activity product (IAP) for a mineral ... where γi is the activity coefficient of ionic species ...... Domenico P A and Schwartz W 1990 Physical and Chemical.

Hedging effectiveness of weather index-based insurance in China

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pelka, N.; Musshoff, O.; Finger, R.

2014-01-01

Purpose - Maize production in China is exposed to pronounced yield risks, in particular weather risk, which is one of the most important and least controllable sources of risk in agriculture. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which weather index-based insurance can contribute to

Nontargeted, Rapid Screening of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Products for Authenticity Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Combination with Conformity Index and Multivariate Statistical Analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Karunathilaka, Sanjeewa R; Kia, Ali-Reza Fardin; Srigley, Cynthia; Chung, Jin Kyu; Mossoba, Magdi M

2016-10-01

A rapid tool for evaluating authenticity was developed and applied to the screening of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) retail products by using Fourier-transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy in combination with univariate and multivariate data analysis methods. Using disposable glass tubes, spectra for 62 reference EVOO, 10 edible oil adulterants, 20 blends consisting of EVOO spiked with adulterants, 88 retail EVOO products and other test samples were rapidly measured in the transmission mode without any sample preparation. The univariate conformity index (CI) and the multivariate supervised soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) classification tool were used to analyze the various olive oil products which were tested for authenticity against a library of reference EVOO. Better discrimination between the authentic EVOO and some commercial EVOO products was observed with SIMCA than with CI analysis. Approximately 61% of all EVOO commercial products were flagged by SIMCA analysis, suggesting that further analysis be performed to identify quality issues and/or potential adulterants. Due to its simplicity and speed, FT-NIR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate data analysis can be used as a complementary tool to conventional official methods of analysis to rapidly flag EVOO products that may not belong to the class of authentic EVOO. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Construction and Application of Enhanced Remote Sensing Ecological Index

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X.; Liu, C.; Fu, Q.; Yin, B.

2018-04-01

In order to monitor the change of regional ecological environment quality, this paper use MODIS and DMSP / OLS remote sensing data, from the production capacity, external disturbance changes and human socio-economic development of the three main factors affecting the quality of ecosystems, select the net primary productivity, vegetation index and light index, using the principal component analysis method to automatically determine the weight coefficient, construction of the formation of enhanced remote sensing ecological index, and the ecological environment quality of Hainan Island from 2001 to 2013 was monitored and analyzed. The enhanced remote sensing ecological index combines the effects of the natural environment and human activities on ecosystems, and according to the contribution of each principal component automatically determine the weight coefficient, avoid the design of the weight of the parameters caused by the calculation of the human error, which provides a new method for the operational operation of regional macro ecological environment quality monitoring. During the period from 2001 to 2013, the ecological environment quality of Hainan Island showed the characteristics of decend first and then rise, the ecological environment in 2005 was affected by severe natural disasters, and the quality of ecological environment dropped sharply. Compared with 2001, in 2013 about 20000 square kilometers regional ecological environmental quality has improved, about 8760 square kilometers regional ecological environment quality is relatively stable, about 5272 square kilometers regional ecological environment quality has decreased. On the whole, the quality of ecological environment in the study area is good, the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, on the quality of the ecological environment to a certain extent.

Exploring the influence of context and policy on health district productivity in Cambodia.

Science.gov (United States)

Ensor, Tim; So, Sovannarith; Witter, Sophie

2016-01-01

Cambodia has been reconstructing its economy and health sector since the end of conflict in the 1990s. There have been gains in life expectancy and increased health expenditure, but Cambodia still lags behind neighbours One factor which may contribute is the efficiency of public health services. This article aims to understand variations in efficiency and the extent to which changes in efficiency are associated with key health policies that have been introduced to strengthen access to health services over the past decade. The analysis makes use of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure relative efficiency and changes in productivity and regression analysis to assess the association with the implementation of health policies. Data on 28 operational districts were obtained for 2008-11, focussing on the five provinces selected to represent a range of conditions in Cambodia. DEA was used to calculate efficiency scores assuming constant and variable returns to scale and Malmquist indices to measure productivity changes over time. This analysis was combined with qualitative findings from 17 key informant interviews and 19 in-depth interviews with managers and staff in the same provinces. The DEA results suggest great variation in the efficiency scores and trends of scores of public health services in the five provinces. Starting points were significantly different, but three of the five provinces have improved efficiency considerably over the period. Higher efficiency is associated with more densely populated areas. Areas with health equity funds in Special Operating Agency (SOA) and non-SOA areas are associated with higher efficiency. The same effect is not found in areas only operating voucher schemes. We find that the efficiency score increased by 0.12 the year any of the policies was introduced. This is the first study published on health district productivity in Cambodia. It is one of the few studies in the region to consider the impact of health policy changes

Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) variation among cultivars and environments

Science.gov (United States)

Although Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient for crop production, large preplant applications of fertilizer N can result in off-field loss that causes environmental concerns. Canopy reflectance is being investigated for use in variable rate (VR) N management. Normalized difference vegetation index...

Glycaemic index of different coconut (Cocos nucifera)-flour products in normal and diabetic subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Trinidad, Trinidad P; Valdez, Divinagracia H; Loyola, Anacleta S; Mallillin, Aida C; Askali, Faridah C; Castillo, Joan C; Masa, Dina B

2003-09-01

The glycaemic index (GI) of commonly consumed bakery products supplemented with increasing levels of coconut (Cocos nucifera) flour was determined in ten normal and ten diabetic subjects. Using a randomized crossover design, the control and test foods were fed in random order on separate occasions after an overnight fast. Blood samples were collected through finger prick before and after feeding and were analysed for glucose levels using a clinical chemistry analyser. The significantly low-GI (cake (GI 51.8 (sem 3.3)), with 200-250 g coconut flour/kg (Pflour/kg had GI ranging from 61.3 to 71.4. Among the test foods, pan de sal (GI 87.2 (sem 5.5)) and multigrain loaf (GI 85.2 (sem 6.8)) gave significantly higher GI with 50 and 100 g coconut flour/kg respectively (Pflour/kg respectively gave a GI ranging from 62.7 to 71.6 and did not differ significantly from the test foods with 150 g coconut flour/kg (Pflour. In conclusion, the GI of coconut flour-supplemented foods decreased with increasing levels of coconut flour and this may be due to its high dietary fibre content. The results of the present study may form a scientific basis for the development of coconut flour as a functional food. However, the fat content of coconut flour-supplemented food should always be considered to optimize the functionality of coconut fibre in the proper control and management of diabetes mellitus.

Complete cumulative index (1963-1983)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

This complete cumulative index covers all regular and special issues and supplements published by Atomic Energy Review (AER) during its lifetime (1963-1983). The complete cumulative index consists of six Indexes: the Index of Abstracts, the Subject Index, the Title Index, the Author Index, the Country Index and the Table of Elements Index. The complete cumulative index supersedes the Cumulative Indexes for Volumes 1-7: 1963-1969 (1970), and for Volumes 1-10: 1963-1972 (1972); this Index also finalizes Atomic Energy Review, the publication of which has recently been terminated by the IAEA

Bootstrapping data envelopment analysis of efficiency and productivity of county public hospitals in Eastern, Central, and Western China after the public hospital reform.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Man-Li; Fang, Hai-Qing; Tao, Hong-Bing; Cheng, Zhao-Hui; Lin, Xiao-Jun; Cai, Miao; Xu, Chang; Jiang, Shuai

2017-10-01

China implemented the public hospital reform in 2012. This study utilized bootstrapping data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the technical efficiency (TE) and productivity of county public hospitals in Eastern, Central, and Western China after the 2012 public hospital reform. Data from 127 county public hospitals (39, 45, and 43 in Eastern, Central, and Western China, respectively) were collected during 2012-2015. Changes of TE and productivity over time were estimated by bootstrapping DEA and bootstrapping Malmquist. The disparities in TE and productivity among public hospitals in the three regions of China were compared by Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U test. The average bias-corrected TE values for the four-year period were 0.6442, 0.5785, 0.6099, and 0.6094 in Eastern, Central, and Western China, and the entire country respectively, with average non-technical efficiency, low pure technical efficiency (PTE), and high scale efficiency found. Productivity increased by 8.12%, 0.25%, 12.11%, and 11.58% in China and its three regions during 2012-2015, and such increase in productivity resulted from progressive technological changes by 16.42%, 6.32%, 21.08%, and 21.42%, respectively. The TE and PTE of the county hospitals significantly differed among the three regions of China. Eastern and Western China showed significantly higher TE and PTE than Central China. More than 60% of county public hospitals in China and its three areas operated at decreasing return scales. There was a considerable space for TE improvement in county hospitals in China and its three regions. During 2012-2015, the hospitals experienced progressive productivity; however, the PTE changed adversely. Moreover, Central China continuously achieved a significantly lower efficiency score than Eastern and Western China. Decision makers and administrators in China should identify the causes of the observed inefficiencies and take appropriate measures to increase the efficiency of county

Negative index effects from a homogeneous positive index prism

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Sherman W.; Epstein, Ariel

2017-12-01

Cellular structured negative index metamaterials in the form of a right triangular prism have often been tested by observing the refraction of a beam across the prism hypotenuse which is serrated in order to conform to the cell walls. We show that not only can this negative index effect be obtained from a homogeneous dielectric prism having a positive index of refraction, but in addition, for sampling at the walls of the cellular structure, the phase in the material has the illusory appearance of moving in a negative direction. Although many previous reports relied on refraction direction and phase velocity of prism structures to verify negative index design, our investigation indicates that to unambiguously demonstrate material negativity additional empirical evidence is required.

Amorphous silicon as high index photonic material

Science.gov (United States)

Lipka, T.; Harke, A.; Horn, O.; Amthor, J.; Müller, J.

2009-05-01

Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) photonics has become an attractive research topic within the area of integrated optics. This paper aims to fabricate SOI-structures for optical communication applications with lower costs compared to standard fabrication processes as well as to provide a higher flexibility with respect to waveguide and substrate material choice. Amorphous silicon is deposited on thermal oxidized silicon wafers with plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The material is optimized in terms of optical light transmission and refractive index. Different a-Si:H waveguides with low propagation losses are presented. The waveguides were processed with CMOS-compatible fabrication technologies and standard DUV-lithography enabling high volume production. To overcome the large mode-field diameter mismatch between incoupling fiber and sub-μm waveguides three dimensional, amorphous silicon tapers were fabricated with a KOH etched shadow mask for patterning. Using ellipsometric and Raman spectroscopic measurements the material properties as refractive index, layer thickness, crystallinity and material composition were analyzed. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) experiments of amorphous thin films and rib waveguides were performed aiming to tune the refractive index of the deposited a-Si:H waveguide core layer after deposition.

Recognition For Index Option Contracts U nder IAS 39 And IFRS 9 – The Case Of Option Contracts Bound To BIST 30 Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nevran Karaca

2014-09-01

Full Text Available There is a limited number of academic studies about accoun ting for derivative products but non of them relating to the accounting for index option contracts. Within the scope of the study, it is aimed to indicate accounting regulations and procedures to be followed under IAS 39 and IFRS 9 for option contracts whi ch traded in Futures and Options Exchange. The BIST 30 index option contracts having the highest volume of transaction and traded in VIOP is the main subject of the study via this objective. It is aimed to make the issue explicit by the help of a fictional ized example about these contracts.

IndexCat

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — IndexCat provides access to the digitized version of the printed Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office; eTK for medieval Latin texts; and...

Detecting changes in rainfall pattern and seasonality index vis-`a-vis ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

index vis-`a-vis increasing water scarcity in Maharashtra ... in the district scale are identified by trend analysis of rainfall time series. ... for better disaster management and water resource ..... productivity and irrigation water supply in the con-.

Beyond Research Productivity: Matching Productivity Measures to Institutional Mission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Bartholomew

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to develop a unified methodology inclusive of the three primary areas of faculty responsibility (teaching, research, and service to calculate departmental productivity that fills the gap in methodological bench-marking tools for overall faculty productivity. Background:\tA disproportionate number of departmental and faculty productivity indices in higher education rely solely on research. Productivity in other areas of faculty workload areas, like teaching and institutional and community service, are either measured separately or ignored all together – even when those activities are institutionally mandated. This does a disservice to those who work in those institutions and skews incentives. Methodology: This paper utilizes a unified methodology inclusive of the three primary areas of faculty responsibility (teaching, research, and service to calculate depart-mental productivity in five disparate departments (English, Biology, Mathematics, Sociology, and Computer Science common to two universities with differing missions (teaching and service. Findings: The results reveal the bias inherent in relying solely on research as a proxy for overall productivity in institutions that have differing missions. Recommendations for Practitioners: Utilizing better metrics informs higher education administrators, promotes better decision-making, and allows incentives to re-align with desired outcomes. Recommendation for Researchers: This paper recommends combing all aspects of faculty workload into a single benchmark index to better measure departmental productivity. Future Research: Further research into improving this simple index is warranted and would include how to account for quality and other facets of productivity.

The "lipid accumulation product" performs better than the body mass index for recognizing cardiovascular risk: a population-based comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kahn Henry S

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Body mass index (BMI, kg/m2 may not be the best marker for estimating the risk of obesity-related disease. Consistent with physiologic observations, an alternative index uses waist circumference (WC and fasting triglycerides (TG concentration to describe lipid overaccumulation. Methods The WC (estimated population minimum 65 cm for men and 58 cm for women and TG concentration from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 9,180, statistically weighted to represent 100.05 million US adults were used to compute a "lipid accumulation product" [LAP = (WC-65 × TG for men and (WC-58 × TG for women] and to describe the population distribution of LAP. LAP and BMI were compared as categorical variables and as log-transformed continuous variables for their ability to identify adverse levels of 11 cardiovascular risk factors. Results Nearly half of the represented population was discordant for their quartile assignments to LAP and BMI. When 23.54 million with ordinal LAP quartile > BMI quartile were compared with 25.36 million with ordinal BMI quartile > LAP quartile (regression models adjusted for race-ethnicity and sex the former had more adverse risk levels than the latter (p 0.1. As continuous variables, LAP provided a consistently more adverse beta coefficient (slope than BMI for nine cardiovascular risk variables (p 0.2. Conclusion LAP (describing lipid overaccumulation performed better than BMI (describing weight overaccumulation for identifying US adults at cardiovascular risk. Compared to BMI, LAP might better predict the incidence of cardiovascular disease, but this hypothesis needs prospective testing.

AP Index

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Planetary Amplitude index - Bartels 1951. The a-index ranges from 0 to 400 and represents a K-value converted to a linear scale in gammas (nanoTeslas)--a scale that...

Higher body mass index and lower intake of dairy products predict poor glycaemic control among Type 2 Diabetes patients in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Shu, Ping Soon; Chan, Yoke Mun; Huang, Soo Lee

2017-01-01

This cross-sectional study was designed to determine factors contributing to glyceamic control in order to provide better understanding of diabetes management among Type 2 Diabetes patients. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic and medical history. As a proxy measure for glycaemic control, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was obtained as secondary data from the medical reports. Perceived self-care barrier on diabetes management, diet knowledge and skills, and diet quality were assessed using pretested instruments. With a response rate of 80.3%, 155 subjects were recruited for the study. Mean HbA1c level of the subjects was 9.02 ± 2.25% with more than 70% not able to achieve acceptable level in accordance to WHO recommendation. Diet quality of the subjects was unsatisfactory especially for vegetables, fruits, fish and legumes as well as from the milk and dairy products group. Higher body mass index (BMI), poorer medication compliance, lower diet knowledge and skill scores and lower intake of milk and dairy products contributed significantly on poor glycaemic control. In conclusion, while perceived self-care barriers and diet quality failed to predict HbA1c, good knowledge and skill ability, together with appropriate BMI and adequate intake of dairy products should be emphasized to optimize glycaemic control among type 2 diabetes patients.

Higher body mass index and lower intake of dairy products predict poor glycaemic control among Type 2 Diabetes patients in Malaysia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Soon Shu

Full Text Available This cross-sectional study was designed to determine factors contributing to glyceamic control in order to provide better understanding of diabetes management among Type 2 Diabetes patients. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic and medical history. As a proxy measure for glycaemic control, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c was obtained as secondary data from the medical reports. Perceived self-care barrier on diabetes management, diet knowledge and skills, and diet quality were assessed using pretested instruments. With a response rate of 80.3%, 155 subjects were recruited for the study. Mean HbA1c level of the subjects was 9.02 ± 2.25% with more than 70% not able to achieve acceptable level in accordance to WHO recommendation. Diet quality of the subjects was unsatisfactory especially for vegetables, fruits, fish and legumes as well as from the milk and dairy products group. Higher body mass index (BMI, poorer medication compliance, lower diet knowledge and skill scores and lower intake of milk and dairy products contributed significantly on poor glycaemic control. In conclusion, while perceived self-care barriers and diet quality failed to predict HbA1c, good knowledge and skill ability, together with appropriate BMI and adequate intake of dairy products should be emphasized to optimize glycaemic control among type 2 diabetes patients.

Construction of the Classification and Grading Index System of Cultivated Land Based on the Viewpoint of Sustainable Development

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2010-01-01

In order to objectively and reasonably evaluate the actual and potential value of cultivated land, both social and ecological values are introduced into the classification and grading index system of cultivated land based on the viewpoint of sustainable development, after considering the natural and economic values of cultivated land. Index system construction of the sustainable utilization of cultivated land should follow the principles of economic viability, social acceptability, and ecological protection. Classification of cultivated land should take into account the soil fertility of cultivated land. Then, grading of cultivated land is carried out from the practical productivity (or potential productivity) of cultivated land. According to the existing classification index system of cultivated land, the soil, natural and environmental factors in plains, mountains and hills are mainly modified in the classification index system of cultivated land. And index systems for the cultivated land classification in plains, mountains and hills are set up. The grading index system of cultivated land is established based on the economic viability (economic value), social acceptability (social value) and protection of cultivated land (ecological value). Quantitative expression of cultivated land grading index is also carried out.

Hold your breath: A new index of air pollution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buehn, Andreas; Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza

2013-01-01

Environmental quality and climate change have been discussed prominently as urgent problems that – due to air pollution – produce severe consequences affecting the everyday life of millions of people. Using a Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model, we calculate a new index of air pollution and provide a ranking for 122 countries for every fifth year between 1985 and 2005. The empirical analysis supports the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis and shows a significant influence of determinants such as energy efficiency, industrial production, the electricity produced from coal sources, and demographic transition on air pollution. According to the index, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Luxembourg, and Iceland are among the top 5 countries in terms of air quality performance. Eritrea, Mozambique, Tajikistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia performed worst in 2005. - Highlights: ► We calculate a new index of air pollution and provide a ranking for 122 countries. ► The empirical analysis supports the EKC hypothesis. ► Country ranking of this air pollution index is comparable across the period 1985 to 2005. ► Definition of the underlying variables does not change and the methodology is consistent

Strategies for the quality assessment of the health care service providers in the treatment of Gastric Cancer in Colombia.

Science.gov (United States)

Villamil, María Del Pilar; Barrera, David; Velasco, Nubia; Bernal, Oscar; Fajardo, Esteban; Urango, Carlos; Buitrago, Sebastian

2017-09-15

While, at its inception in 1993, the health care system in Colombia was publicized as a paradigm to be copied across the developing world, numerous problems in its implementation have led to, what is now, an inefficient and crisis-ridden health system. Furthermore, as a result of inappropriate tools to measure the quality of the health service providers, several corruption scandals have arisen in the country. This study attempts to tackle this situation by proposing a strategy for the quality assessment of the health service providers (Entidades Promotoras de Salud, EPS) in the Colombian health system. In particular, as a case study, the quality of the treatment of stomach cancer is analyzed. The study uses two complementary techniques to address the problem. These techniques are applied based on data of the treatment of gastric cancer collected on a nation-wide scale by the Colombian Ministry of Health and Welfare. First, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Malmquist Index (MI) are used to establish the most efficient EPS's within the system, according to indicators such as opportunity indicators. Second, sequential clustering algorithm, related to process mining a field of data mining, is used to determine the medical history of all patients and to construct typical care pathways of the patients belonging to efficient and inefficient EPS's. Lastly, efforts are made to identify traits and differences between efficient and inefficient EPS's. Efficient and inefficient EPS were identified for the years 2010 and 2011. Additionally, a Malmquist Index was used to calculate the relative changes in the efficiency of the health providers. Using these efficiency rates, the typical treatment path of patients with gastric cancer was found for two EPSs: one efficient and another inefficient. Finally, the typical traits of the care pathways were established. Combining DEA and process mining proved to be a powerful approach understanding the problem and gaining valuable

7 CFR 5.1 - Parity index and index of prices received by farmers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Parity index and index of prices received by farmers... § 5.1 Parity index and index of prices received by farmers. (a) The parity index and related indices... farmers, interest, taxes, and farm wage rates, as revised May 1976 and published in the May 28, 1976, and...

Cointegration analysis of vulnerability index and standardised precipitation index in Mafeteng district, Lesotho

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernard M. Hlalele

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Given the high poverty levels in Africa, with most countries’ economy and populations’ livelihood dependent on rain-fed agriculture, land degradation among other environmental hazards has proven to be a major threat to economic growth and food insecurity, respectively. Drought, which is on the increase at the global level and said to create over 78% of other hazards, has aggravated land degradation. Dry conditions lessen soil particles cohesion force, thereby increasing susceptibility of such soils to be lost by wind and water. The current study aimed at estimating land degradation from drought hazard index, standardised precipitation index (SPI over the drought declared district of Mafeteng Lesotho. Data were provided by Lesotho Meteorological Services for a period of 30 years (1984–2014. All missing values that existed in the collected precipitation data were filled with average values of the months with data. The computation of SPI was performed by using DrinC software in SPI-3 and SPI-Annual time step. The results revealed a constant condition of land degradation vulnerability over a 30-year period, implying a continuous loss of soil fertility, agricultural gross domestic product (GDP, water and bio-energy, malnutrition and increased poverty levels.

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January--June 1995. Volume 41, Index 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-09-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), the directors' Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions for rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case name index; digests and headers; legal citations index; subject index; and facility index

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January-March 1984. Volume 19, Index 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, the Administrative Law Judge, the Directors' Decisions, and the Denials of Petitions of Rulemaking are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. Information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats: Case Name Index, Digests and Headers, Legal Citations Index, Subject Index, and Facility Index

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issuances, July--December 1993. Volume 38, Index 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-04-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), the Directors` Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions for Rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. These information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case Name Index; Digests and Headers; Legal Citations Index; Subject Index, and Facility Index.

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January--June 1995. Volume 41, Index 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-09-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), the directors` Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions for rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case name index; digests and headers; legal citations index; subject index; and facility index.

Analysis of Agricultural Drought in East Java Using Vegetation Health Index

OpenAIRE

Amalo, Luisa Febrina; Hidayat, Rahmat; Sulma, Sayidah

2018-01-01

Drought is a natural hazard indicated by the decreasing of rainfall and water storage and impacting agricultural sector. Agricultural drought assessment has been used to monitor agricultural sustainability, particularly in East Java as national agricultural production center. Identification of drought characteristics –correlated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and agricultural impact on paddy fields and rice production using VHI (Vegetation Health Index) were conducted. VHI is produced by ...

ON THE NON-KOLMOGOROV NATURE OF FLARE-PRODUCTIVE SOLAR ACTIVE REGIONS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mandage, Revati S. [Physics and Astronomy Department, Rice University, 6100 Main MS-61, Houston, TX 77005-1827 (United States); McAteer, R. T. James, E-mail: mcateer@nmsu.edu [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, MSC 4500, Las Cruces, NM 88001 (United States)

2016-12-20

A magnetic power spectral analysis is performed on 53 solar active regions, observed from 2011 August to 2012 July. Magnetic field data obtained from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, inverted as Active Region Patches, are used to study the evolution of the magnetic power index as each region rotates across the solar disk. Active regions are classified based on the numbers and sizes of solar flares they produce in order to study the relationship between flare productivity and the magnetic power index. The choice of window size and inertial range plays a key role in determining the correct magnetic power index. The overall distribution of magnetic power indices has a range of 1.0–2.5. Flare-quiet regions peak at a value of 1.6. However, flare-productive regions peak at a value of 2.2. Overall, the histogram of the distribution of power indices of flare-productive active regions is well separated from flare-quiet active regions. Only 12% of flare-quiet regions exhibit an index greater than 2, whereas 90% of flare-productive regions exhibit an index greater than 2. Flare-quiet regions exhibit a high temporal variance (i.e., the index fluctuates between high and low values), whereas flare-productive regions maintain an index greater than 2 for several days. This shows the importance of including the temporal evolution of active regions in flare prediction studies, and highlights the potential of a 2–3 day prediction window for space weather applications.

Computer-assisted indexing for the INIS database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nevyjel, A.

2006-01-01

INIS has identified computer-assisted indexing as areas where information technology could assist best in maintaining database quality and indexing consistency, while containing production costs. Subject analysis is a very important but also very expensive process in the production of the INIS database. Given the current necessity to process an increased number of records, including subject analysis, without additional staff, INIS as well as the member states need improvements in their processing efficiency. Computer assisted subject analysis is a promising way to achieve this. The quality of the INIS database is defined by its inputting rules. The Thesaurus is a terminological control device used in translating from the natural language of documents, indexers or users into a more constrained system language. It is a controlled and dynamic vocabulary of semantically and generically related terms. It is the essential tool for subject analysis as well as for advanced search engines. To support the identification of descriptors in the free text (title, abstract, free keywords) 'hidden terms' have been introduced as extension of the Thesaurus, which identify phrases or character strings of free text and point to the valid descriptor, which should be suggested. In the process of computer-assisted subject analysis the bibliographic records (including title and abstract) are analyzed by the software, resulting in a list of suggested descriptors. Within the working platform (graphical user interface) the suggested descriptors are sorted by importance (by their relevance for the content of the document) and the subject specialist clearly sees the highlighted context from which the terms were selected. The system allows the subject specialist to accept or reject descriptors from the suggested list and to assign additional descriptors when necessary. First experiences show that a performance enhancement of about 80-100% can be achieved in the subject analysis process. (author)

21 CFR 516.157 - Publication of the index and content of an index listing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Publication of the index and content of an index... MINOR SPECIES Index of Legally Marketed Unapproved New Animal Drugs for Minor Species § 516.157 Publication of the index and content of an index listing. (a) FDA will make the list of indexed drugs...

Extrinsic Motivation Index: A New Tool for Managing Labor Productivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Berumen, S.A.

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to provide a tool of practical significance for HR managers and firm executives. This tool, which is called Extrinsic Motivation Index (EMI, is meant to measure the extrinsic motivation of employees. By measuring employees' extrinsic motivation, managers are able to track job satisfaction and, subsequently, implement measures aiming both to raise job satisfaction and to improve organizational commitment. In order to test the validity of the model, we apply the EMI to Faculty members at Spanish and German universities. We also carry out simulation experiments in order to to address all possible situations an organization most probably will have to deal with. The results point out significant differences in the level of motivation and commitment of Faculty members. Additionally, the analysis shows several ways in which an organization may manage job satisfaction issues according to on its level of resources.

A Sustainability Index of potential co-location of offshore wind farms and open water aquaculture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bennassai, G.; Mariani, Patrizio; Stenberg, Claus

2014-01-01

This paper presents the definition of a Sustainability Index for the co-location in marine areas of offshore wind farms and aquaculture plans. The development of the index is focused on the application of MCE technique based on physical constraints and biological parameters that are directly linked...... to the primary production. The relevant physical factors considered are wind velocity and depth range (which directly governs the choice of the site for energy production and for offshore technology), the relevant biological parameters are SST, SST anomaly and CHL-a concentration (as a measurement...... the computation of the Sustainability Index (SI) was identified in the Danish portion of the Baltic Sea and in the western part of the Danish North Sea. Results on the spatial distribution of the SI underline different responses as a function of the physical and biological main influencing parameters...

Indexes of contamination for characterization of continental waters and discharges. Formulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez, Restrepo R; Cardenosa, M

1999-01-01

Contamination indexes (ICO) for characterization of natural water bodies and industrial discharges have been formulated in previous works by Ramirez, et al, 1997 in this work, complementary indexes not correlated with other ICOS previously developed are established thus resulting in a complementary tool to be applied in the interpretation and characterization on continental surface water bodies. First, a pH index (ICOpH) is obtained to determine ph incidence on water quality interpretation. A temperature index (ICOTEM) is also obtained to evaluate effluent incidence on receiving water bodies. ICOTEM is based on temperature difference of the wastewater discharge and the water body. Finally, indexes for the evaluation of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons are also developed based on data collected on sediments and fish tissue samples. These hydrocarbon compounds are highly viable to accumulate and produce long-term detrimental effects on living organisms. These latter indexes have been developed based on data of nearly 130 samples collected during monitoring campaigns in streams and water bodies affected by discharges of the petroleum industry or by accidental spills of crude oil or hydrocarbon by-products in Colombian streams; its also possible that anthropic influence other than petroleum discharges might be affecting the streams included in the monitoring campaigns

Forecast Icing Product

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Forecast Icing Product (FIP) is an automatically-generated index suitable for depicting areas of potentially hazardous airframe icing. The FIP algorithm uses...

Current Icing Product

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Current Icing Product (CIP) is an automatically-generated index suitable for depicting areas of potentially hazardous airframe icing. The CIP algorithm combines...

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January-June 1986. Volume 23, Index 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, the Administrative Law Judge, the Directors' Decisions, and the Denials of Petitions of Rulemaking are presented in this document. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats. These formats are case name index, digests and headers, legal citations index, subject index, and facility index

INSPIA project: European Index for Sustainable and Productive Agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Triviño-Tarradas, Paula; Jesús González-Sánchez, Emilio; Gómez-Ariza, Manuel; Rass, Gerard; Gardette, Sophie; Whitmore, Gavin; Dyson, Jeremy

2017-04-01

The concept of sustainable development has evolved from a mere perception for the protection of the environment, to a holistic approach, seeking to preserve not only the environment, but also to achieve sustainability in economics and social wellbeing. Globally, there is a major challenge to face in the agricultural sector: to produce more food, feed and other raw materials to satisfy the increasing demand of a growing population, whilst also contributing to economic prosperity, climate change mitigation / adaptation, social wellbeing and preserving natural capital such as soil, water, biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Nowadays, conventional approaches to agriculture are under threat. A more productive and resource efficient agriculture that integrates natural resource protection into its approach will help to meet all these challenges, enabling us to have more of everything - more food, more feed, more non-food crops, more biodiversity and natural habitats - while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, INSPIA is an innovative approach that has worked since 2013 towards demonstration that sustainable productive agriculture is possible thanks to the implementation of a host of best management practices (BMPs) capable of delivering the above achievements. The purpose on INSPIA is to make visible with European decision makers that a sustainable and productive agricultural model exists in a small scale in Europe and that wider dissemination is possible with enabling legislation. INSPIA is demonstrating sustainable agriculture through the implementation of BMPs and the measurement and monitoring of a set of defined indicators (economic, social and environmental ones). INSPIA promotes sustainable practices that protect biodiversity, soils and water and contribute towards maintaining ecosystems services. This holistic sustainable system of productive agriculture is based on the combination of Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Integrated Pest

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January-June 1984. Vol. 19, Index 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-11-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel (ALAB), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), the Directors' Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions of Rulemaking are presented in this document. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats: case name index, digests and headers, legal citations index, subject index, and facility index

Flood Victims Quality of Life Index 2017 (FVQoL-Index'17: scale ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Flood Victims Quality of Life Index 2017 (FVQoL-Index'17: scale development ... constructed (adapted and modified) based on the previous standardized instruments. The findings from this study reveal that FVQoL-Index'17 allowed to measure ...

Predicting fiber refractive index from a measured preform index profile

Science.gov (United States)

Kiiveri, P.; Koponen, J.; Harra, J.; Novotny, S.; Husu, H.; Ihalainen, H.; Kokki, T.; Aallos, V.; Kimmelma, O.; Paul, J.

2018-02-01

When producing fiber lasers and amplifiers, silica glass compositions consisting of three to six different materials are needed. Due to the varying needs of different applications, substantial number of different glass compositions are used in the active fiber structures. Often it is not possible to find material parameters for theoretical models to estimate thermal and mechanical properties of those glass compositions. This makes it challenging to predict accurately fiber core refractive index values, even if the preform index profile is measured. Usually the desired fiber refractive index value is achieved experimentally, which is expensive. To overcome this problem, we analyzed statistically the changes between the measured preform and fiber index values. We searched for correlations that would help to predict the Δn-value change from preform to fiber in a situation where we don't know the values of the glass material parameters that define the change. Our index change models were built using the data collected from preforms and fibers made by the Direct Nanoparticle Deposition (DND) technology.

Development of a new heat tolerance index for selecting productive goats for the tropics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamal, T.H.; Mostafa, S.I.; Habib, A.A.; Elmasry, A.M.; Abdelsamee, A.M.; Abolnaga, A.I.; Kassab, F.A.; Abdelhamid, A.M.

1988-01-01

A heat tolerance index previously developed in cattle was verified in two breeds of goats to identify young heat tolerant animals capable of maintaining liveweight and milk yield on exposure to high environmental temperatures. Twelve Baladi and Bedouin goats were divided into two equal groups and offered either river or salt water (1.8% Mediterranean sea salt). The animals were maintained in climatic chambers at 18 deg. C and 70% RH for an initial four day period followed by another four days at 38 deg. C and 50% RH for seven hours per day. On the second day of each period, each animal was injected intravenously with tritiated water and total body water (TBW) determined. The percentage increase in TBW induced by the high temperature treatment was subtracted from 100 and the TBW heat tolerance index (HTI) was calculated. TBW-HTI correlated significantly with the percentage increase in live body weight (LBW) in goats over a three month exposure to heat stress and with the percentage decrease in daily milk yield over a seven day heat exposure period. TBW-HTI averages of Baladi and Bedouin goats drinking river water were 81 and 88 respectively while those drinking salt water were 86 and 92 respectively. The equations for the predicted percentage increase in liveweight (Y) in a hot environment for Baladi and Bedouin goats were Y = -38.56 + 0.728X and Y = -45.27 + 0.622X respectively, where X is the TBW-HTI index; the predicted percentage decrease in milk yield in a hot environment Y for all goats was Y = 142.28-1.339X. (author). 9 refs, 1 fig., 5 tabs

Proposal of an environmental performance index to assess solid waste treatment technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goulart Coelho, Hosmanny Mauro; Lange, Liséte Celina; Coelho, Lineker Max Goulart

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Proposal of a new concept in waste management: Cleaner Treatment. ► Development of an index to assess quantitatively waste treatment technologies. ► Delphi Method was carried out so as to define environmental indicators. ► Environmental performance evaluation of waste-to-energy plants. - Abstract: Although the concern with sustainable development and environment protection has considerably grown in the last years it is noted that the majority of decision making models and tools are still either excessively tied to economic aspects or geared to the production process. Moreover, existing models focus on the priority steps of solid waste management, beyond waste energy recovery and disposal. So, in order to help the lack of models and tools aiming at the waste treatment and final disposal, a new concept is proposed: the Cleaner Treatment, which is based on the Cleaner Production principles. This paper focuses on the development and validation of the Cleaner Treatment Index (CTI), to assess environmental performance of waste treatment technologies based on the Cleaner Treatment concept. The index is formed by aggregation (summation or product) of several indicators that consists in operational parameters. The weights of the indicator were established by Delphi Method and Brazilian Environmental Laws. In addition, sensitivity analyses were carried out comparing both aggregation methods. Finally, index validation was carried out by applying the CTI to 10 waste-to-energy plants data. From sensitivity analysis and validation results it is possible to infer that summation model is the most suitable aggregation method. For summation method, CTI results were superior to 0.5 (in a scale from 0 to 1) for most facilities evaluated. So, this study demonstrates that CTI is a simple and robust tool to assess and compare the environmental performance of different treatment plants being an excellent quantitative tool to support Cleaner Treatment implementation.

Determination of polyphenol content and colour index in wines through PEDOT-modified electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pigani, Laura; Rioli, Cristina; Foca, Giorgia; Ulrici, Alessandro; Seeber, Renato; Terzi, Fabio; Zanardi, Chiara

2016-10-01

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-modified electrodes have been used for the estimation of the polyphenolic content and of the colour index of different samples of wines. Synthetic wine solutions, prepared with different amount of oenocyanins, have been analysed spectrophotometrically and electrochemically in order to find a correlation between the total polyphenolic content or colour index and the current peak. The regression curves obtained have been used as external calibration lines for the analysis of several commercial wines, ranging from white to dark red wines. In this way, a rapid estimation of the total polyphenolic content and of the colour index may be accomplished from a single voltammetric measurement. Furthermore, principal component analysis has also been used to evaluate the effect of total polyphenolic content and colour index on the whole voltammetric signals within a selected potential range, both for the synthetic solutions and for the commercial products. Graphical abstract Electrochemical sensors for the rapid determination of colour index and polyphenol content in wines.

Quality Indexes and Feasibility Analysis of Traditional Dried Anchovy From Buru Island

Science.gov (United States)

Krisanta Enda Savitri, Imelda; Sormin, R. B. D.; Silaban, Bernita

2017-10-01

Dried anchovy is a prominent fishery product in Buru Island Maluku. It is produce traditionally in villages Batuboi and Siahoni at Kayeli bay. Drying process was done in open air under the sun directly during two days to produce dried anchovy with a prospective marketable. This preliminary research was aimed to investigated the quality indexes and business feasibility of dried anchovy produced by processor comunity. The quality index was found by laboratory analysis of sample dried anchovy referring to Indonesian National Standard. The data for feasibility analysis was found by interview and by using quesioner list. The average Quality indexes of dried anchovy as follows: Water 14.22 grams percent; Protein 55.68 grams percent; Fat 2.29 grams percent; Ash 9.02 grams percent; Total Bacteri (TPC) 3,5 × 102-; organoleptic value 7.79; E. coli, Salmonella and Mold were unidentified. Total cost of dried anchovy production is 37,050,720 Rupiahs/year with the income was 224,000,000 Rupiahs/year. Total profit is 217,824,880 Rupiahs/year and the Revenue Cost ratio was 6.05. Dried anchovy from Buru Island has a good quality and also has a good business feasibility.

Viva the h-index

OpenAIRE

Waaijers, Leo

2011-01-01

In their article 'The inconsistency of the h-index' Ludo Waltman and Nees Jan van Neck give three examples to demonstrate the inconsistency of the h-index. As will be explained, a little extension of their examples just illustrate the opposite, a stable feature of the h-index. For starting authors it, the h-index that is, focusses on the number of articles; for experienced authors its focus shifts towards the citation scores. This feature may be liked or not but does not make the h-index an i...

JOB SATISFACTION INDEX FOR ISTANBUL LABOR MARKET

OpenAIRE

BOZ, Cigdem

2010-01-01

There has been a general concensus about the role of motivation on the productivity and effectiveness. And it is commonly accepted that individual and organizational succes depends on the willingness of people. The motivation or willingness to work can be seen as the job satisfaction which depends on some variables such as physical conditions of work, income, leisure and the benefits of job. In this paper, an index of job satisfaction which includes these variables will be presented and discu...

Sprache und Sozio-Oekonomischer Index (Speech and Socioeconomic Index)

Science.gov (United States)

Bluhme, Hermann

1976-01-01

A comparison of the socioeconomic index of 77 speakers of Dutch, recorded in 40 places, revealed certain correlations between index and individual linguistic behavior, particularly in regard to the speed of articulation, quantity quotient (low vowels/short vowels), pitch modulation, number of relative clauses and passive construction. (Text is in…

EJSCREEN Indexes 2015 Public

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — There is an EJ Index for each environmental indicator. There are eight EJ Indexes in EJSCREEN reflecting the 8 environmental indicators. The EJ Index names are:...

EJSCREEN Indexes 2016 Public

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — There is an EJ Index for each environmental indicator. There are eleven EJ Indexes in EJSCREEN reflecting the 11 environmental indicators. The EJ Index names are:...

Developing and Validating a Santa Ana Wildfire Threat Index

Science.gov (United States)

Capps, S. B.; Rolinski, T.; DAgostino, B.; Vanderburg, S.; Fovell, R. G.; Cao, Y.

2014-12-01

Santa Ana winds, common to southern California during the fall through spring, are a type of katabatic wind that originates from a direction generally ranging from 360°/0° to 100° and is usually accompanied by very low humidity. Since fuel conditions tend to be driest from late September through the middle of November, Santa Ana winds occurring during this period have the greatest potential to produce large, devastating fires when an ignition occurs. Such catastrophic fires occurred in 1993, 2003, 2007, and 2008. Because of the destructive nature of these fires, there has been a growing desire to categorize Santa Ana wind events in much the same way that tropical cyclones have been categorized. The Santa Ana Wildfire Threat index (SAWT) is an attempt to categorize such events with respect to fire activity, based on surface wind velocity, dew point depression, and forecasted fuel conditions. The index, a USDA Forest Service product, was developed by the Forest Service in collaboration with San Diego Gas and Electric Utility (SDG&E), the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA, The Desert Research Institute (DRI), and Vertum Partners. The methodology behind the SAWT index, along with the index itself will be presented in detail. Also, there will be a discussion on the construction of a 30-year climatology of the index, which includes various meteorological and fuel parameters. We will demonstrate the usefulness of the index as another decision support tool for fire agencies and first responders, and how it could assist the general public and private industry in the preparation of critical Santa Ana wind events.

Hold Your Breath. A New Index of Air Quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buehn, A.; Reza Farzanega, M.

2011-01-01

Environmental quality and climate change have long attracted attention in policy debates. Recently, air quality has emerged on the policy agenda. We calculate a new index of air quality using CO2 and SO2 emissions per capita as indicators and provide a ranking for 122 countries from 1985 to 2005.The empirical analysis supports the EKC hypothesis (Environmental Kuznets Curve) and shows a significant influence of determinants such as energy efficiency, industrial production, electricity produced from coal sources, and urbanization on air quality. According to our index, Luxemburg, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Japan are among the top 5 countries in terms of air quality performance. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Togo, and Nepal performed worst in 2005.

Hold Your Breath. A New Index of Air Quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buehn, A. [Utrecht School of Economics, Utrecht University, Utrecht (Netherlands); Reza Farzanega, M. [Dresden University of Technology and ZEW Mannheim, Mannheim (Germany)

2011-12-15

Environmental quality and climate change have long attracted attention in policy debates. Recently, air quality has emerged on the policy agenda. We calculate a new index of air quality using CO2 and SO2 emissions per capita as indicators and provide a ranking for 122 countries from 1985 to 2005.The empirical analysis supports the EKC hypothesis (Environmental Kuznets Curve) and shows a significant influence of determinants such as energy efficiency, industrial production, electricity produced from coal sources, and urbanization on air quality. According to our index, Luxemburg, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, and Japan are among the top 5 countries in terms of air quality performance. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Togo, and Nepal performed worst in 2005.

Special Ferroalloy Production Projects of Clean Production Evaluation%特种铁合金生产项目的清洁生产评价

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王长征; 郭小芳; 王兴峰

2014-01-01

文章参照《清洁生产标准—钢铁行业（铁合金）》（ HJ470-2009），对特种铁合金如镍铁、钼铁、钨铁的生产从生产工艺与装备、资源能源利用指标、原辅材料的选取及来源、产品指标、废物回收利用指标、环境管理要求等六个方面进行分析，通过与同行业单位产品物耗指标、主元素回收率等指标的对照，对镍铁、钼铁和钨铁生产的清洁生产进行评价。%According to “cleaner production standard-ferroalloy industry"( HJ470-2009) , aiming at the special iron alloys such as nickel-iron alloy , ferro-molybdenum , ferro-tungsten production , from the point of the producing technology , re-quirement of equipment, resources and energy utilization index, raw and auxiliary materials selection and the source, prod-ucts index , pollution index, waste recycling targets, and the requirement of environmental management to analysis. Through the comparison and analysis of the unit products with the industry material consumption index and the main ele-ments of recovery rate index, evaluation of cleaner production of nickel, molybdenum and tungsten iron production.

Climate risk index for Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Mysiak, Jaroslav; Torresan, Silvia; Bosello, Francesco; Mistry, Malcolm; Amadio, Mattia; Marzi, Sepehr; Furlan, Elisa; Sperotto, Anna

2018-06-01

We describe a climate risk index that has been developed to inform national climate adaptation planning in Italy and that is further elaborated in this paper. The index supports national authorities in designing adaptation policies and plans, guides the initial problem formulation phase, and identifies administrative areas with higher propensity to being adversely affected by climate change. The index combines (i) climate change-amplified hazards; (ii) high-resolution indicators of exposure of chosen economic, social, natural and built- or manufactured capital (MC) assets and (iii) vulnerability, which comprises both present sensitivity to climate-induced hazards and adaptive capacity. We use standardized anomalies of selected extreme climate indices derived from high-resolution regional climate model simulations of the EURO-CORDEX initiative as proxies of climate change-altered weather and climate-related hazards. The exposure and sensitivity assessment is based on indicators of manufactured, natural, social and economic capital assets exposed to and adversely affected by climate-related hazards. The MC refers to material goods or fixed assets which support the production process (e.g. industrial machines and buildings); Natural Capital comprises natural resources and processes (renewable and non-renewable) producing goods and services for well-being; Social Capital (SC) addressed factors at the individual (people's health, knowledge, skills) and collective (institutional) level (e.g. families, communities, organizations and schools); and Economic Capital (EC) includes owned and traded goods and services. The results of the climate risk analysis are used to rank the subnational administrative and statistical units according to the climate risk challenges, and possibly for financial resource allocation for climate adaptation. This article is part of the theme issue `Advances in risk assessment for climate change adaptation policy'.

PR-Index: Using the h-Index and PageRank for Determining True Impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Chao; Wang, Zhen; Li, Xianghua; Zhang, Zili; Zeng, Wei

2016-01-01

Several technical indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of authors and institutions. Here, we combine the h-index and the PageRank algorithm to do away with some of the individual limitations of these two indices. Most importantly, we aim to take into account value differences between citations-evaluating the citation sources by defining the h-index using the PageRank score rather than with citations. The resulting PR-index is then constructed by evaluating source popularity as well as the source publication authority. Extensive tests on available collections data (i.e., Microsoft Academic Search and benchmarks on the SIGKDD innovation award) show that the PR-index provides a more balanced impact measure than many existing indices. Due to its simplicity and similarity to the popular h-index, the PR-index may thus become a welcome addition to the technical indices already in use. Moreover, growth dynamics prior to the SIGKDD innovation award indicate that the PR-index might have notable predictive power.

The Impact of Agricultural Policy Distortions on the Productivity Gap: Evidence from the Rice Production

OpenAIRE

Rakotoarisoa, Manitra A.

2008-01-01

This study determines how production and trade policy distortions affected rice productivity in thirty-three rice-producing countries. A rice-productivity index for each country is constructed, and a model linking the productivity gap with policy distortions is presented. After controlling for the differences in infrastructure, openness, and human capital, this article shows that high subsidies and protection in developed countries combined with taxation of rice farming in poor countries have...

Integrated study of biomass index in La Herreria (Sierra de Guadarrama)

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez Díaz-Ambrona, Carlos G.

2016-04-01

. Selection of vegetation indices to estimate pasture production in Dehesas. PASTOS, 44(2), 6-18, 2014. Kogan, F. N., 1990. Remote sensing of weather impacts on vegetation in non-homogeneous areas. Int. J. Remote Sensing, 11(8), pp. 1405-1419. Kogan, F. N., Gitelson, A., Edige, Z., Spivak, l., and Lebed, L., 2003. AVHRR-Based Spectral Vegetation Index for Quantitative Assessment of Vegetation State and Productivity: Calibration and Validation. Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, 69(8), pp. 899-906. Niemeyer, S., 2008. New drought indices. First Int. Conf. on Drought Management: Scientific and Technological Innovations, Zaragoza, Spain, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Palmer, W.C., 1968. Keeping track of crop moisture conditions, nationwide: The new Crop Moisture Index. Weatherwise 21, 156-161. Rao, K.N. 2010. Index based Crop Insurance. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia 1, 193-203. Santolaria-Canales, Edmundo and the GuMNet Consortium Team (2015). GuMNet - Guadarrama Monitoring Network. Installation and set up of a high altitude monitoring network, north of Madrid. Spain. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 17, EGU2015-13989-2 Web: http://www.ucm.es/gumnet/

The Sea Ice Index: A Resource for Cryospheric Knowledge Mobilization

Science.gov (United States)

Windnagel, A. K.; Fetterer, F. M.

2017-12-01

The Sea Ice Index is a popular source of information about Arctic and Antarctic sea ice data and trends created at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in 2002. It has been used by cryospheric scientists, cross-discipline scientists, the press, policy makers, and the public for the past 15 years. The Index started as a prototype sea ice extent product in 2001 and was envisioned as a website that would meet a need for readily accessible, easy-to-use information on sea ice trends and anomalies, with products that would assist in monitoring and diagnosing the ice extent minima that were gaining increasing attention in the research community in the late 1990s. The goal was to easily share these valuable data with everyone that needed them, which is the essence of knowledge mobilization. As time has progressed, we have found new ways of disseminating the information carried by the data by providing simple pictures on a website, animating those images, creating Google Earth animations that show the data on a globe, providing simple text files of data values that do not require special software to read, writing a monthly blog about the data that has over 1.7 million readers annually, providing the data to NOAA's Science on Sphere to be seen in museums and classrooms across 23 countries, and creating geo-registered images for use in geospatial software. The Index helps to bridge the gap between sea ice science and the public. Through NSIDC's User Services Office, we receive feedback on the Index and have endeavored to meet the changing needs of our stakeholder communities to best mobilize this knowledge in their direction. We have learned through trial-by-fire the best practices for delivering these data and data services. This tells the tale of managing an unassuming data set as it has journeyed from a simple product consisting of images of sea ice to one that is robust enough to be used in the IPCC Climate Change Report but easy enough to be understood by K-12

Distributed Data Collection For Next Generation ATLAS EventIndex Project

CERN Document Server

Fernandez Casani, Alvaro; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

The ATLAS EventIndex currently runs in production in order to build a complete catalogue of events for experiments with large amounts of data. The current approach is to index all final produced data files at CERN Tier0, and at hundreds of grid sites, with a distributed data collection architecture using Object Stores to temporary maintain the conveyed information, with references to them sent with a Messaging System. The final backend of all the indexed data is a central Hadoop infrastructure at CERN; an Oracle relational database is used for faster access to a subset of this information. In the future of ATLAS, instead of files, the event should be the atomic information unit for metadata. This motivation arises in order to accommodate future data processing and storage technologies. Files will no longer be static quantities, possibly dynamically aggregating data, and also allowing event-level granularity processing in heavily parallel computing environments. It also simplifies the handling of loss and or e...

EJSCREEN Supplementary Indexes 2015 Public

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — There are 40 supplementary EJSCREEN indexes that are divided into 5 categories: EJ Index with supplementary demographic index, Supplementary EJ Index 1 with...

Upgrading uncompetitive products economically

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, Hua; Jensen, Christian Søndergaard

2012-01-01

for upgrading an uncompetitive product, and combine the solutions into a single solution. We also propose a spatial join-based solution that assumes P and T are indexed by an R-tree. Given a set of products in the same R-tree node, we derive three lower bounds on their upgrading costs. These bounds are employed...

In vitro starch digestibility and predicted glycemic index of microwaved and conventionally baked pound cake.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez-Pardo, María Elena; Ortiz-Moreno, Alicia; Mora-Escobedo, Rosalva; Necoechea-Mondragón, Hugo

2007-09-01

The present study compares the effect of baking process (microwave vs conventional oven) on starch bioavailability in fresh pound cake crumbs and in crumbs from pound cake stored for 8 days. Proximal chemical analysis, resistant starch (RS), retrograded starch (RS3) and starch hydrolysis index (HI) were evaluated. The empirical formula suggested by Granfeldt was used to determine the predicted glycemic index (pGI). Pound cake, one of Mexico's major bread products, was selected for analysis because the quality defects often associated with microwave baking might be reduced with the use of high-fat, high-moisture, batted dough. Differences in product moisture, RS and RS3 were observed in fresh microwave-baked and conventionally baked pound cake. RS3 increased significantly in conventionally baked products stored for 8 days at room temperature, whereas no significantly changes in RS3 were observed in the microwaved product. HI values for freshly baked and stored microwaved product were 59 and 62%, respectively (P > 0.05), whereas the HI value for the conventionally baked product decreased significantly after 8 days of storage. A pound cake with the desired HI and GI characteristics might be obtained by adjusting the microwave baking process.

Design of negative refractive index metamaterial with water droplets using 3D-printing

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Zhaoyang; Yang, Helin; Huang, Xiaojun; Yu, Zetai

2017-11-01

We numerically and experimentally demonstrate a negative refractive index (NRI) behavior in combined water droplets and photosensitive resin materials operating in the microwave regime. The NRI is achieved over a very wide frequency range in 10.27-15 GHz with bandwidth of 4.63 GHz. The simulated results approximately agree with the experimental results. The negative index band can be controlled by water droplet radius. The proposed metamaterial production process is simple and may have potential applications in broadband tunable devices.

Research on the Selection Strategy of Green Building Parts Supplier Based on the Catastrophe Theory and Kent Index Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenhua Luo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available At present, the green building and housing industrialization are two mainstream directions in the real estate industry. The production of green building parts which combines green building and housing industrialization, two concepts, is to be vigorously developed. The key of quality assurance in the assembly project is choosing reliable and proper green building parts suppliers. This paper analyzes the inherent requirements of the green building, combined with the characteristics of the housing industrialization, and puts forward an evaluation index system of supplier selection for green building parts, which includes product index, enterprise index, green development index, and cooperation ability index. To reduce the influence of subjective factors, the improved method which merges Kent index method and catastrophe theory is applied to the green building parts supplier selection and evaluation. This paper takes the selection of the unit bathroom suppliers as an example, uses the improved model to calculate and analyze the data of each supplier, and finally selects the optimal supplier. With combination of the Kent index and the catastrophe theory, the result shows that it can effectively reduce the subjectivity of the evaluation and provide a basis for the selection of the green building parts suppliers.

Academic Productivity of Faculty Associated With Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruan, Qing Zhao; Ricci, Joseph A; Silvestre, Jason; Ho, Olivia A; Ganor, Oren; Lee, Bernard T

2017-11-01

The H-index is increasingly being used as a measure of academic productivity and has been applied to various surgical disciplines. Here the authors calculate the H-index of craniofacial surgery fellowship faculty in North America in order to determine its utility for academic productivity among craniofacial surgeons. A list of fellowship programs was obtained from the website of the American Society of Craniofacial Surgery. Faculty demographics and institution characteristics were obtained from official program websites and the H-index was calculated using Scopus (Elsevier, USA). Data were assessed using bivariate analysis tools (Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests) to determine the relationship between independent variables and career publications, H-index and 5-year H-index (H5-index) of faculty. Dunn test for multiple comparisons was also calculated. A total of 102 faculty members from 29 craniofacial surgery fellowship programs were identified and included. Faculty demographics reflected a median age of 48 (interquartile range [IQR] 13), a predominantly male sample (88/102, 89.7%), and the rank of assistant professor being the most common among faculty members (41/102, 40.2%). Median of career publications per faculty was 37 (IQR 52.5) and medians of H-index and H5-index were 10.0 (IQR 13.75) and 3.5 (IQR 3.25), respectively. Greater age, male gender, Fellow of the American College of Surgeons membership, higher academic rank, and program affiliation with ranked research medical schools were significantly associated with higher H-indices. Variables associated with seniority were positively associated with the H-index. These results suggest that the H-index may be used as an adjunct in determining academic productivity for promotions among craniofacial surgeons.

Assessment of productivity loss in air-conditioned buildings using PMV index

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kosonen, R. [Halton OY, Kausala (Finland); Tan, F. [CapitaLand Commercial Limited, Singapore (Singapore)

2004-07-01

This theoretical study reports on the assessment of productivity loss in air-conditioned office buildings using the PMV approach and makes use of Wyon's reviews [D.P. Wyon, P.O. Fanger, B.W. Olesen, C.J.K. Pedersen, The mental performance of subjects clothed for comfort at two different air temperatures, Ergonomics 18 (1975) 358-374; D.P. Wyon, Individual microclimate control: required range, probable benefits and current feasibility, in: Proceedings of Indoor Air '96, Institute of Public Health, Tokyo, 1996; D.P. Wyon, Indoor environmental effects on productivity. IAQ 96 Paths to better building environments/Keynote address. Y. Kevin. Atlanta, ASHRAE, pp. 5-15] as the basis to compare and to relate how the productivity loss could be minimised through improved thermal comfort design criteria. The finding shows that task-related performance is significantly correlated with the human perception of thermal environment that in turn is dependent on temperatures. Different combinations of thermal criteria (air velocity, clo, metabolic, etc.) can lead to similar PMV value and the PMV equation is useful to predict productivity loss that is due to the rate of change in thermal conditions. The study also highlights the issues that remain to be resolved in future research. (author)

Human Use Index

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Human land uses may have major impacts on ecosystems, affecting biodiversity, habitat, air and water quality. The human use index (also known as U-index) is the...

Drought characterisation based on an agriculture-oriented standardised precipitation index

Science.gov (United States)

Tigkas, Dimitris; Vangelis, Harris; Tsakiris, George

2018-03-01

Drought is a major natural hazard with significant effects in the agricultural sector, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The accurate and timely characterisation of agricultural drought is crucial for devising contingency plans, including the necessary mitigation measures. Many drought indices have been developed during the last decades for drought characterisation and analysis. One of the most widely used indices worldwide is the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI). Although other comprehensive indices have been introduced over the years, SPI remains the most broadly accepted index due to a number of reasons, the most important of which are its simple structure and the fact that it uses only precipitation data. In this paper, a modified version of SPI is proposed, namely the Agricultural Standardised Precipitation Index (aSPI), based on the substitution of the total precipitation by the effective precipitation, which describes more accurately the amount of water that can be used productively by the plants. Further, the selection of the most suitable reference periods and time steps for agricultural drought identification using aSPI is discussed. This conceptual enhancement of SPI aims at improving the suitability of the index for agricultural drought characterisation, while retaining the advantages of the original index, including its dependence only on precipitation data. The evaluation of the performance of both SPI and aSPI in terms of correlating drought magnitude with crop yield response in four regions of Greece under Mediterranean conditions indicated that aSPI is more robust than the original index in identifying agricultural drought.

Australian Mining's product register 1992-93

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-01-01

This annual product register contains an assessment of resources in Australia; statistical information on mine production of principal minerals; mineral industry statistics; directory of exploration and mining companies; buyers' guide; directory of consultants; list of services and a company index.

Flour production from shrimp by-products and sensory evaluation of flour-based products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thiago Mendes Fernandes

2013-08-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to evaluate the production of flour using by-products (cephalothorax obtained from the shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei industry, and to perform a sensory analysis of shrimp flour-based products. Physicochemical and microbiological analyses on fresh cephalothorax and on manufactured flour were performed, as well as the determination of cholesterol content of this flour, and the sensorial evaluation of soup and pastry made with this flour. By the microbiological analyses, no pathogenic microorganism was detected in the samples. Physicochemical analyses of flour showed high levels of protein (50.05% and minerals (20.97%. Shrimp cephalothorax flour showed high levels of cholesterol. The sensory evaluation indicated a good acceptance of the products, with satisfactory acceptability index (81% for soup, and 83% for pastry, which indicates that shrimp cephalothorax in the form of flour has a potential for developing new products.

A novel structural risk index for primary spontaneous pneumothorax: Ankara Numune Risk Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Akkas, Yucel; Peri, Neslihan Gulay; Kocer, Bulent; Kaplan, Tevfik; Alhan, Aslihan

2017-07-01

In this study, we aimed to reveal a novel risk index as a structural risk marker for primary spontanoeus pneumothorax using body mass index and chest height, structural risk factors for pneumothorax development. Records of 86 cases admitted between February 2014 and January 2015 with or without primary spontaneous pneumothorax were analysed retrospectively. The patients were allocated to two groups as Group I and Group II. The patients were evaluated with regard to age, gender, pneumothorax side, duration of hospital stay, treatment type, recurrence, chest height and transverse diameter on posteroanterior chest graphy and body mass index. Body mass index ratio per cm of chest height was calculated by dividing body mass index with chest height. We named this risk index ratio which is defined first as 'Ankara Numune Risk Index'. Diagnostic value of Ankara Numune Risk Index value for prediction of primary spontaneous pneumothorax development was analysed with Receiver Operating Characteristics curver. Of 86 patients, 69 (80.2%) were male and 17 (19.8%) were female. Each group was composed of 43 (50%) patients. When Receiver Operating Characteristics curve analysis was done for optimal limit value 0.74 of Ankara Numune Risk Index determined for prediction of pneumothorax development risk, area under the curve was 0.925 (95% Cl, 0.872-0.977, p pneumothorax development however it is insufficient for determining recurrence. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Taiwan.

PR-Index: Using the h-Index and PageRank for Determining True Impact.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Gao

Full Text Available Several technical indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of authors and institutions. Here, we combine the h-index and the PageRank algorithm to do away with some of the individual limitations of these two indices. Most importantly, we aim to take into account value differences between citations-evaluating the citation sources by defining the h-index using the PageRank score rather than with citations. The resulting PR-index is then constructed by evaluating source popularity as well as the source publication authority. Extensive tests on available collections data (i.e., Microsoft Academic Search and benchmarks on the SIGKDD innovation award show that the PR-index provides a more balanced impact measure than many existing indices. Due to its simplicity and similarity to the popular h-index, the PR-index may thus become a welcome addition to the technical indices already in use. Moreover, growth dynamics prior to the SIGKDD innovation award indicate that the PR-index might have notable predictive power.

INDEXABILITY AND OPTIMAL INDEX POLICIES FOR A CLASS OF REINITIALISING RESTLESS BANDITS.

Science.gov (United States)

Villar, Sofía S

2016-01-01

Motivated by a class of Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes with application in surveillance systems in which a set of imperfectly observed state processes is to be inferred from a subset of available observations through a Bayesian approach, we formulate and analyze a special family of multi-armed restless bandit problems. We consider the problem of finding an optimal policy for observing the processes that maximizes the total expected net rewards over an infinite time horizon subject to the resource availability. From the Lagrangian relaxation of the original problem, an index policy can be derived, as long as the existence of the Whittle index is ensured. We demonstrate that such a class of reinitializing bandits in which the projects' state deteriorates while active and resets to its initial state when passive until its completion possesses the structural property of indexability and we further show how to compute the index in closed form. In general, the Whittle index rule for restless bandit problems does not achieve optimality. However, we show that the proposed Whittle index rule is optimal for the problem under study in the case of stochastically heterogenous arms under the expected total criterion, and it is further recovered by a simple tractable rule referred to as the 1-limited Round Robin rule. Moreover, we illustrate the significant suboptimality of other widely used heuristic: the Myopic index rule, by computing in closed form its suboptimality gap. We present numerical studies which illustrate for the more general instances the performance advantages of the Whittle index rule over other simple heuristics.

Influence of biogenic gas production on coalbed methane recovery index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongyu Guo

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In investigating the effect of biogenic gas production on the recovery of coalbed methane (CBM, coal samples spanning different ranks were applied in the microbial-functioned simulation experiments for biogenic methane production. Based on the biogenic methane yield, testing of pore structures, and the isothermal adsorption data of coals used before and after the simulation experiments, several key parameters related to the recovery of CBM, including recovery rate, gas saturation and ratio of critical desorption pressure to reservoir pressure, etc., were calculated and the corresponding variations were further analyzed. The results show that one of the significant functions of microbial communities on coal is possibly to weaken its affinity for methane gas, especially with the advance of coal ranks; and that by enhancing the pore system of coal, which can be evidenced by the increase of porosity and permeability, the samples collected from Qianqiu (Yima in Henan and Shaqu (Liulin in Shanxi coal mines all see a notable increase in the critical desorption pressure, gas saturation and recovery rate, as compared to the moderate changes of that of Guandi (Xishan in Shanxi coal sample. It is concluded that the significance of enhanced biogenic gas is not only in the increase of CBM resources and the improvement of CBM recoverability, but in serving as an engineering reference for domestic coalbed biogenic gas production.

Analysis of quality information flows in the product creation process of high-volume consumer products

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sander, P.C.; Brombacher, A.C.

2000-01-01

It is recently realised that Quality and Reliability are not only a function of the product but also of the organisation realising the product. In spite of this very few companies are able to translate this into their business processes. The Maturity Index on Reliability (MIR) was developed to

K-type geomagnetic index nowcast with data quality control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

René Warnant

2011-07-01

Full Text Available

A nowcast system for operational estimation of a proxy K-type geomagnetic index is presented. The system is based on a fully automated computer procedure for real-time digital magnetogram data acquisition that includes screening of the dataset and removal of the outliers, estimation of the solar regular variation (SR of the geomagnetic field, calculation of the index, and issuing of an alert if storm-level activity is indicated. This is a time-controlled (rather than event-driven system that delivers the regular output of: the index value, the estimated quality flag, and eventually, an alert. The novel features provided are first, the strict control of the data input and processing, and second, the increased frequency of production of the index (every 1 h. Such quality control and increased time resolution have been found to be of crucial importance for various applications, e.g. ionospheric monitoring, that are of particular interest to us and to users of our service. The nowcast system operability, accuracy and precision have been tested with instantaneous measurements from recent years. A statistical comparison between the nowcast and the definitive index values shows that the average root-mean-square error is smaller than 1 KU. The system is now operational at the site of the Geophysical Centre of the Royal Meteorological Institute in Dourbes (50.1ºN, 4.6ºE, and it is being used for alerting users when geomagnetic storms take place.

Green productivity analysis at tofu production (case study of UD Gudange Tahu Takwa Kediri)

Science.gov (United States)

Septifani, R.; Deoranto, P.; Jannah, I.

2018-03-01

UD. Gudang Tahu Takwa (GTT) is one of tofu Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In Kediri, there are many tofu SMEs, each of them competes to survive in the market by improving and increasing productivity. The purposes of this study were to determine the most influenced factors towards productivity level and to determine the best wastewater treatment alternatives to be applied. An approach to improve productivity while lowering environmental impacts is known as Green Productivity (GP). The GP approach can be applied by using several tools such as mass balance, causal diagram, Environmental Performance Indicator (EPI), and Net Present Value (NPV). The results show the lowest productivity was washing process with the value of 17%. The EPI index total was -3.94 indicating that the environmental performance was still under the quality standard. The findings further suggested two alternatives to be implemented to improve productivity level, include replacement of suppliers and procurement of filtration equipment. The most influenced factor on productivity level was the volume of wastewater generated. Therefore, the second alternative was selected, due to its implementation could increase the productivity level of washing process by 79%, increase the EPI index to -3,00 and reduce the NPV value to IDR 1,582,204. The suggestion from this research is that UD GTT should buy the filtering equipment, and then applied it to treating the wastewater.

Export Variety and Country Productivity

OpenAIRE

Feenstra, Robert; Looi Kee, Hiau

2004-01-01

The authors study the link between export product variety and country productivity based on data from 34 industrial and developing countries, from 1982 to 1997. They measure export product variety by the share of U.S. imports on the set of goods exported by each sampled country relative to the world. It is a theoretically sound index which is consistent with within-country GDP maximization...

Indexing mergers and acquisitions

OpenAIRE

Gang, Jianhua; Guo, Jie (Michael); Hu, Nan; Li, Xi

2017-01-01

We measure the efficiency of mergers and acquisitions by putting forward an index (the ‘M&A Index’) based on stochastic frontier analysis. The M&A Index is calculated for each takeover deal and is standardized between 0 and 1. An acquisition with a higher index encompasses higher efficiency. We find that takeover bids with higher M&A Indices are more likely to succeed. Moreover, the M&A Index shows a strong and positive relation with the acquirers’ post-acquisition stock perfo...

Research productivity and gender disparities: a look at academic plastic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Paik, Angie M; Mady, Leila J; Villanueva, Nathaniel L; Goljo, Erden; Svider, Peter F; Ciminello, Frank; Eloy, Jean Anderson

2014-01-01

The h-index has utility in examining the contributions of faculty members by quantifying both the amount and the quality of research output and as such is a metric in approximating academic productivity. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the relationship between h-index and academic rank in plastic surgery and (2) to describe the current gender representation in academic plastic surgery to assess whether there are any gender disparities in academic productivity. The h-index was used to evaluate the research contributions of plastic surgeons from academic departments in the United States. There were 426 (84%) men and 79 (16%) women in our sample. Those in higher academic ranks had higher h-index scores (p productivity between men and women in assistant and associate professor positions (6.4 vs 5.1, respectively; p = 0.04). The h-index is able to objectively and reliably quantify academic productivity in plastic surgery. We found that h-indices increased with higher academic rank, and men had overall higher scores than their female colleagues. Adoption of this metric as an adjunct to other objective and subjective measures by promotions committees may provide a more reliable measure of research relevance and academic productivity in academic plastic surgery. Copyright © 2014 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspects Regarding the Scientific Production of a University

OpenAIRE

Ionela DUMITRU

2008-01-01

The analysis of the scientific production of a university is a very complex process and it usually refers to the number of articles published in scientific journals. For most analyses, only a small number of journals is taken into consideration. Usually, there are considered the journals indexed in databases like Science Citation Index (Thompson ISI). However, we consider that for a more complex image of the scientific production of a university, we need to take into consideration several asp...

Fiscal 1999 technological survey report. Part 1. Applied technology for measuring human sense (Human sense measuring manual - human sense evaluation index guideline); Ningen kankaku keisoku manual. 1. Ningen kankaku hyoka shihyo guide line

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

A method of measuring/evaluating a mental and physical state by means of physiological information developed by a project was compiled into a 'guide book', as was a method of evaluating adaptability to the environment or products; and, this manual was prepared for the purpose of improving the adaptability of human beings to products by making use of the guide book widely in the field of industrial manufacturing. Described in the part 1 are a method of evaluating human mind and body by the measurement of physiological quantity, a method of evaluating mental and physical adaptability from the element of environmental physics such as vision, sound and warmth, and a method of evaluating adaptability concerning utilization of machines and equipment, as 'human sense evaluation indexes'. The chapter 1 is the index of physiological/psychological state (stress evaluation index, fatigue/awakening evaluation index), the chapter 2 is an environmental/psychological index (overall environmental evaluation index, visual environmental effect index, sound/vibration environmental evaluation index, thermal environmental evaluation index), the chapter 3 is an adaptability evaluation index of products and the like (adaptability evaluation index by form and movement, evaluation index for operability of equipment for example), and the chapter 4 is the guideline (of environmental design and of product design). (NEDO)

Cerebral state index during propofol anesthesia : A Comparison with the Bispectral Index and the A-Line ARX Index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jensen, EW; Litvan, H; Revuelta, M; Rodriguez, BE; Caminal, P; Martinez, P; Vereecke, H; Struys, Michel MRF

Background: The objective of this study was to prospectively test the Cerebral State Index designed for measuring the depth of anesthesia. The Cerebral State Index is calculated using a fuzzy logic combination of four subparameters of the electroencephalographic signal. The performance of the

Prediction of massive bleeding. Shock index and modified shock index.

Science.gov (United States)

Terceros-Almanza, L J; García-Fuentes, C; Bermejo-Aznárez, S; Prieto-Del Portillo, I J; Mudarra-Reche, C; Sáez-de la Fuente, I; Chico-Fernández, M

2017-12-01

To determine the predictive value of the Shock Index and Modified Shock Index in patients with massive bleeding due to severe trauma. Retrospective cohort. Severe trauma patient's initial attention at the intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital. Patients older than 14 years that were admitted to the hospital with severe trauma (Injury Severity Score >15) form January 2014 to December 2015. We studied the sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive and negative predictive value (PV+ and PV-), positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR+ and LR-), ROC curves (Receiver Operating Characteristics) and the area under the same (AUROC) for prediction of massive hemorrhage. 287 patients were included, 76.31% (219) were male, mean age was 43,36 (±17.71) years and ISS was 26 (interquartile range [IQR]: 21-34). The overall frequency of massive bleeding was 8.71% (25). For Shock Index: AUROC was 0.89 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.84 to 0.94), with an optimal cutoff at 1.11, Se was 91.3% (95% CI: 73.2 to 97.58) and Sp was 79.69% (95% CI: 74.34 to 84.16). For the Modified Shock Index: AUROC was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86 to 0.95), with an optimal cutoff at 1.46, Se was 95.65% (95% CI: 79.01 to 99.23) and Sp was 75.78% (95% CI: 70.18 to 80.62). Shock Index and Modified Shock Index are good predictors of massive bleeding and could be easily incorporated to the initial workup of patients with severe trauma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

Efficiency analysis of wood processing industry in China during 2006-2015

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Kun; Yuan, Baolong; Li, Yanxuan

2018-03-01

The wood processing industry is an important industry which affects the national economy and social development. The data envelopment analysis model (DEA) is a quantitative evaluation method for studying industrial efficiency. In this paper, the wood processing industry of 8 provinces in southern China is taken as the study object, and the efficiency of each province in 2006 to 2015 was measured and calculated with the DEA method, and the efficiency changes, technological changes and Malmquist index were analyzed dynamically. The empirical results show that there is a widening gap in the efficiency of wood processing industry of the 8 provinces, and the technological progress has shown a lag in the promotion of wood processing industry. According to the research conclusion, along with the situation of domestic and foreign wood processing industry development, the government must introduce relevant policies to strengthen the construction of the wood processing industry technology innovation policy system and the industrial coordinated development system.

Hydroxylamine electrochemistry at low-index single-crystal platinum electrodes in acidic media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rosca, V.; Beltramo, G.L.; Koper, M.T.M.

2004-01-01

The electrochemistry of hydroxylamine at low-index single-crystal platinum electrodes in acidic media has been studied by voltammetry and in-situ FTIRRAS. Hydroxylamine (HAM) reactivity at platinum is largely controlled by interaction of the other components of the solution or products of the HAM

Malaysian Education Index (MEI): An Online Indexing and Repository System

Science.gov (United States)

Kabilan, Muhammad Kamarul; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Yaakub, Rohizani; Yusof, Najeemah Mohd; Idros, Sharifah Noraidah Syed; Umar, Irfan Naufal; Arshad, Muhammad Rafie Mohd.; Idrus, Rosnah; Rahman, Habsah Abdul

2010-01-01

This "Project Sheet" describes an on-going project that is being carried out by a group of educational researchers, computer science researchers and librarians from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. The Malaysian Education Index (MEI) has two main functions--(1) Online Indexing System, and (2) Online Repository System. In this brief…

Regional income inequality model based on theil index decomposition and weighted variance coeficient

Science.gov (United States)

Sitepu, H. R.; Darnius, O.; Tambunan, W. N.

2018-03-01

Regional income inequality is an important issue in the study on economic development of a certain region. Rapid economic development may not in accordance with people’s per capita income. The method of measuring the regional income inequality has been suggested by many experts. This research used Theil index and weighted variance coefficient in order to measure the regional income inequality. Regional income decomposition which becomes the productivity of work force and their participation in regional income inequality, based on Theil index, can be presented in linear relation. When the economic assumption in j sector, sectoral income value, and the rate of work force are used, the work force productivity imbalance can be decomposed to become the component in sectors and in intra-sectors. Next, weighted variation coefficient is defined in the revenue and productivity of the work force. From the quadrate of the weighted variation coefficient result, it was found that decomposition of regional revenue imbalance could be analyzed by finding out how far each component contribute to regional imbalance which, in this research, was analyzed in nine sectors of economic business.

Predicting pavement condition index using international roughness index in Washington DC.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-01

A number of pavement condition indices are used to conduct pavement management assessments, two of which are the : International Roughness Index (IRI) and Pavement Condition Index (PCI). The IRI is typically measured using specialized : equipment tha...

Intelligent indexing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farkas, J.

1992-01-01

In this paper we discuss the relevance of artificial intelligence to the automatic indexing of natural language text. We describe the use of domain-specific semantically-based thesauruses and address the problem of creating adequate knowledge bases for intelligent indexing systems. We also discuss the relevance of the Hilbert space ι 2 to the compact representation of documents and to the definition of the similarity of natural language texts. (author). 17 refs., 2 figs

Intelligent indexing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farkas, J

1993-12-31

In this paper we discuss the relevance of artificial intelligence to the automatic indexing of natural language text. We describe the use of domain-specific semantically-based thesauruses and address the problem of creating adequate knowledge bases for intelligent indexing systems. We also discuss the relevance of the Hilbert space {iota}{sup 2} to the compact representation of documents and to the definition of the similarity of natural language texts. (author). 17 refs., 2 figs.

Life quality index revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager

2004-01-01

The derivation of the life quality index (LQI) is revisited for a revision. This revision takes into account the unpaid but necessary work time needed to stay alive in clean and healthy conditions to be fit for effective wealth producing work and to enjoyable free time. Dimension analysis...... at birth should not vary between countries. Finally the distributional assumptions are relaxed as compared to the assumptions made in an earlier work by the author. These assumptions concern the calculation of the life expectancy change due to the removal of an accident source. Moreover a simple public...... consistency problems with the standard power function expression of the LQI are pointed out. It is emphasized that the combination coefficient in the convex differential combination between the relative differential of the gross domestic product per capita and the relative differential of the expected life...

The existence of solutions of q-difference-differential equations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xin-Li; Wang, Hua; Xu, Hong-Yan

2016-01-01

By using the Nevanlinna theory of value distribution, we investigate the existence of solutions of some types of non-linear q-difference differential equations. In particular, we generalize the Rellich-Wittich-type theorem and Malmquist-type theorem about differential equations to the case of q-difference differential equations (system).

Gender-specific contribution of cardiometabolic index and lipid accumulation product to left ventricular geometry change in general population of rural China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Haoyu; Sun, Yingxian; Li, Zhao; Guo, Xiaofan; Chen, Shuang; Ye, Ning; Tian, Yichen; Zhang, Lijun

2018-04-10

Despite current interest in the unfavorable impact of cardiometabolic index (CMI) and lipid accumulation product (LAP) on diabetes and cardiovascular risk, information regarding the relation of CMI and LAP to left ventricular (LV) geometry has not been specifically addressed. We aimed to examine the hypothesis: (1) CMI and LAP represent an independent determinant of LV remodeling in general population of rural China; (2) there are gender differences in obesity-related alterations in terms of LV morphology. The sample for this cross-sectional analysis included 11,258 participants (mean age 53.9 years; 54.0% females) who underwent assessment of basic metabolic and anthropometric parameters in rural areas of northeast China. Comprehensive echocardiography-defined LV geometric pattern was determined according to left ventricular mass index and relative wall thickness. The prevalence rate of eccentric and concentric LV hypertrophy (LVH) presented a proportional increase with elevated quartiles of CMI and LAP in a dose-response manner (all P factor of 3.552 and 1.768 in females and males, respectively. In contrast to females, where LAP fourth quartile and concentric LVH were positively associated (OR:2.544, 95%CI:1.537-4.209), higher LAP did not correlate with concentric LVH in males (OR:1.234, 95%CI:0.824-1.849). CMI and LAP give rise to a new paradigm of accounting for gender difference in obesity-related abnormal LV geometry, an effect that was substantially greater in females. These two indices, acting in concert, may also be advantageous prognostically for refining cardiovascular risk stratification in individuals with LV remodeling.

Estimating foliar nitrogen in Eucalyptus using vegetation indexes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiz Felipe Ramalho de Oliveira

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Nitrogen (N has commonly been applied in Eucalyptus stands in Brazil and it has a direct relation with biomass production and chlorophyll content. Foliar N concentrations are used to diagnose soil and plant fertility levels and to develop N fertilizer application rates. Normally, foliar N is obtained using destructive methods, but indirect analyses using Vegetation Indexes (VIs may be possible. The aim of this work was to evaluate VIs to estimate foliar N concentration in three Eucalyptus clones. Lower crown leaves of three clonal Eucalyptus plantations (25 months old were classified into five color patterns using the Munsell Plant Tissue Color Chart. For each color, N concentration was determined by the Kjeldahl method and foliar reflectance was measured using a CI-710 Miniature Leaf Spectrometer. Foliar reflectance data were used to obtain the VIs and the VIs were used to estimate N concentrations. In the visible region, the relationship between N concentration and reflectance percentage was negative. The highest correlations between VIs and N concentrations were obtained by the Inflection Point Position (IPP, r = 0.97, Normalized Difference Red-Edge (reNDVI, r = 0.97 and Modified Red-Edge Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (mNDI, r = 0.97. Vegetation indexes on the red edge region provided the most accurate estimates of foliar N concentration. The reNDVI index provided the best N concentration estimates in leaves of different colors of Eucalyptus urophylla × grandis and Eucalyptus urophylla × urophylla (R2 = 0.97 and RMSE = 0.91 g kg−1.

CLUSTERING OF THE COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX AND EVALUATING WITH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seda BAĞDATLI KALKAN

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Consumer confidence index is a national indicator that suggest about current and future expectations of the economic conditions. With consumer confidence index, it is aimed to determine the trends and expectations of consumers according to their general economic situation, employment opportunities, their financial situations and developments in the markets. Another parameter is also the Human Development Index (HDI. This index is an indicator that examines the development of countries both economically and socially. Countries are sorted by these two indices and are considered as basic parameters in international platforms. The purpose of this study is to group the selected countries according to the consumer confidence index and reveal the features of the groups and then determine the position of the grouped countries with the Human Development Index. According to the results of cluster analysis, it is shown that India, China, Sweden and USA have the highest total consumer confidence index, employment, expectation and investment index

Benchmarking and incentive regulation of quality of service: an application to the UK electricity distribution networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giannakis, Dimitrios [Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago (United States); Jamasb, Tooraj [Department of Applied Economics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Austin Robinson Building, Cambridge, CB3 9DE (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: tooraj.jamasb@econ.cam.ac.uk; Pollitt, Michael [Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (United Kingdom)

2005-11-01

Quality of service has emerged as an important issue in post-reform regulation of electricity distribution networks. Regulators have employed partial incentive schemes to promote cost saving, investment efficiency, and service quality. This paper presents a quality-incorporated benchmarking study of the electricity distribution utilities in the UK between 1991/92 and 1998/99. We calculate technical efficiency of the utilities using Data Envelopment Analysis technique and productivity change over time using quality-incorporated Malmquist indices. We find that cost-efficient firms do not necessarily exhibit high service quality and that efficiency scores of cost-only models do not show high correlation with those of quality-based models. The results also show that improvements in service quality have made a significant contribution to the sector's total productivity change. In addition, we show that integrating quality of service in regulatory benchmarking is preferable to cost-only approaches.

Benchmarking and incentive regulation of quality of service: an application to the UK electricity distribution networks