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 Such a pseudo-steady state assumption is no longer valid for the early time of a well test simulation as long as the pressure perturbation has not reached several grid-blocks around the well.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.

A general exergy-based environmental impact index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diaz-Mendez, Sosimo E.; Rodriguez-Lelis, Jose Maria; Hernandez-Guerrero, Abel

2011-01-01

An ecosystem is a complex system in which biotic and abiotic factors interact and influence each other both directly and indirectly. Each of these factors has to comply with a specific function in the different processes that occur inside the ecosystem, whether transporting or transforming energy or both. When anthropogenic emissions are produced, part of the useful energy of the ecosystem is used to assimilate or absorb those emissions, and the energy spent, loses its function and becomes lost work in accordance with the Gouy-Stodola theorem. Thus, the work that an ecosystem can carry out varies as a function of the lost work produced by anthropogenic sources. The permanency or loss of the ecosystem depends on how many irreversibilities it can support. The second law of thermodynamics through a systematic use of the exergy and lost work is the basis of this paper where a general environmental impact index, based on exergy, is proposed. For the purpose of this work, the ecosystem is divided in subsystems--water, soil, atmosphere, organisms and society- -all of them inter-related. The ideal work variation can be obtained from each subsystem within the selected ecosystem, and a global index can be determined by adding the partial lost work of each subsystem. This global index is then used to determine the trend followed by the ecosystem from its pristine, original or environmental line base state. This environmental impact index applicability is presented for a simple combustion example

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.

Developing an Emergency Physician Productivity Index Using Descriptive Health Analytics.

Science.gov (United States)

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.

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.

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

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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

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.

Accurate Computation of Periodic Regions' Centers in the General M-Set with Integer Index Number

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Wang Xingyuan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents two methods for accurately computing the periodic regions' centers. One method fits for the general M-sets with integer index number, the other fits for the general M-sets with negative integer index number. Both methods improve the precision of computation by transforming the polynomial equations which determine the periodic regions' centers. We primarily discuss the general M-sets with negative integer index, and analyze the relationship between the number of periodic regions' centers on the principal symmetric axis and in the principal symmetric interior. We can get the centers' coordinates with at least 48 significant digits after the decimal point in both real and imaginary parts by applying the Newton's method to the transformed polynomial equation which determine the periodic regions' centers. In this paper, we list some centers' coordinates of general M-sets' k-periodic regions (k=3,4,5,6 for the index numbers α=−25,−24,…,−1 , all of which have highly numerical accuracy.

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.

Entropy maximization under the constraints on the generalized Gini index and its application in modeling income distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Khosravi Tanak, A.; Mohtashami Borzadaran, G. R.; Ahmadi, J.

2015-11-01

In economics and social sciences, the inequality measures such as Gini index, Pietra index etc., are commonly used to measure the statistical dispersion. There is a generalization of Gini index which includes it as special case. In this paper, we use principle of maximum entropy to approximate the model of income distribution with a given mean and generalized Gini index. Many distributions have been used as descriptive models for the distribution of income. The most widely known of these models are the generalized beta of second kind and its subclass distributions. The obtained maximum entropy distributions are fitted to the US family total money income in 2009, 2011 and 2013 and their relative performances with respect to generalized beta of second kind family are compared.

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.

A general index of inherent risk

OpenAIRE

Schnytzer, Adi; Westreich, Sara

2009-01-01

We extend the pioneering work of Aumann and Serrano by presenting an index of inherent riskiness of a gamble having the desirable properties of their index, while being applicable to gambles with either positive or negative expectations. As such, our index provides a measure of riskiness which is of use for both risk lovers and risk aversive gamblers, and is defined for all discrete and a large class of continuous gambles. We analyze abstract properties of our index, and present in addition t...

[The Italian deprivation index at census block level: definition, description and association with general mortality].

Science.gov (United States)

Caranci, Nicola; Biggeri, Annibale; Grisotto, Laura; Pacelli, Barbara; Spadea, Teresa; Costa, Giuseppe

2010-01-01

the study is aimed at developing a nationwide deprivation index at municipality and census block level, based on the 2001 Census data, and meeting epidemiological needs. The study uses data drawn from the 2001 General Census of Population and Housing. From the 280 variables defined at census block level (352,605 census tracts with average number of inhabitants 169, standard deviation 225; and average area 0.6 km², sd 2.4 km²) five traits that operationally combine to represent the multidimensionality of the social and material deprivation concept have been selected; these are: low level of education, unemployment, non-home ownership, one parent family and overcrowding. The index is calculated by summing standardized indicators and it is also available as categorical by quintiles of population. The same procedure is applied to aggregate frequency data at municipality level. The correlation between mortality and deprivation has been evaluated using 2000-2004 general mortality. considering national data, a strong north-south gradient in deprivation was observed. The municipality deprivation index 2001 is highly correlated to the index likewise calculated on the basis of the previous 1991 Census (r=0.91). General mortality was positively correlated to the index (in particular in population up to 64 years and in larger size municipalities). the pattern described by the deprivation index was coherent with what is already known about geographic distribution of poverty and its impact on mortality. Such outcome bears out the index use for epidemiological purposes.

Construction of road network vulnerability evaluation index based on general travel cost

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, Jun-qiang; Zhai, Jing; Li, Qian-wen; Zhao, Lin

2018-03-01

With the development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of her urban road network, the vulnerability of the urban road network has attracted increasing attention. Based on general travel cost, this work constructs the vulnerability evaluation index for the urban road network, and evaluates the vulnerability of the urban road network from the perspective of user generalised travel cost. Firstly, the generalised travel cost model is constructed based on vehicle cost, travel time, and traveller comfort. Then, the network efficiency index is selected as an evaluation index of vulnerability: the network efficiency index is composed of the traffic volume and the generalised travel cost, which are obtained from the equilibrium state of the network. In addition, the research analyses the influence of traffic capacity decrease, road section attribute value, and location of road section, on vulnerability. Finally, the vulnerability index is used to analyse the local area network of Harbin and verify its applicability.

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)

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.

Improving generalized inverted index lock wait times

Science.gov (United States)

Borodin, A.; Mirvoda, S.; Porshnev, S.; Ponomareva, O.

2018-01-01

Concurrent operations on tree like data structures is a cornerstone of any database system. Concurrent operations intended for improving read\\write performance and usually implemented via some way of locking. Deadlock-free methods of concurrency control are known as tree locking protocols. These protocols provide basic operations(verbs) and algorithm (ways of operation invocations) for applying it to any tree-like data structure. These algorithms operate on data, managed by storage engine which are very different among RDBMS implementations. In this paper, we discuss tree locking protocol implementation for General inverted index (Gin) applied to multiversion concurrency control (MVCC) storage engine inside PostgreSQL RDBMS. After that we introduce improvements to locking protocol and provide usage statistics about evaluation of our improvement in very high load environment in one of the world’s largest IT company.

A novel multivariate STeady-state index during general ANesthesia (STAN).

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, Ana; de Almeida, Fernando Gomes; Amorim, Pedro; Nunes, Catarina S

2017-08-01

The assessment of the adequacy of general anesthesia for surgery, namely the nociception/anti-nociception balance, has received wide attention from the scientific community. Monitoring systems based on the frontal EEG/EMG, or autonomic state reactions (e.g. heart rate and blood pressure) have been developed aiming to objectively assess this balance. In this study a new multivariate indicator of patients' steady-state during anesthesia (STAN) is proposed, based on wavelet analysis of signals linked to noxious activation. A clinical protocol was designed to analyze precise noxious stimuli (laryngoscopy/intubation, tetanic, and incision), under three different analgesic doses; patients were randomized to receive either remifentanil 2.0, 3.0 or 4.0 ng/ml. ECG, PPG, BP, BIS, EMG and [Formula: see text] were continuously recorded. ECG, PPG and BP were processed to extract beat-to-beat information, and [Formula: see text] curve used to estimate the respiration rate. A combined steady-state index based on wavelet analysis of these variables, was applied and compared between the three study groups and stimuli (Wilcoxon signed ranks, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests). Following institutional approval and signing the informed consent thirty four patients were enrolled in this study (3 excluded due to signal loss during data collection). The BIS index of the EEG, frontal EMG, heart rate, BP, and PPG wave amplitude changed in response to different noxious stimuli. Laryngoscopy/intubation was the stimulus with the more pronounced response [Formula: see text]. These variables were used in the construction of the combined index STAN; STAN responded adequately to noxious stimuli, with a more pronounced response to laryngoscopy/intubation (18.5-43.1 %, [Formula: see text]), and the attenuation provided by the analgesic, detecting steady-state periods in the different physiological signals analyzed (approximately 50 % of the total study time). A new multivariate approach for

Refractive index in generalized superconductors with Born-Infeld electrodynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Jun; Pan, Qiyuan; Yu, Hongwei; Jing, Jiliang

2018-03-01

We investigate, in the probe limit, the negative refraction in the generalized superconductors with the Born-Infeld electrodynamics. We observe that the system has a negative Depine-Lakhtakia index in the superconducting phase at small frequencies and the greater the Born-Infeld corrections the larger the range of frequencies or the range of temperatures for which the negative refraction occurs. Furthermore, we find that the tunable Born-Infeld parameter can be used to improve the propagation of light in the holographic setup. Our analysis indicates that the Born-Infeld electrodynamics plays an important role in determining the optical properties of the boundary theory.

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...

The sharp bounds on general sum-connectivity index of four operations on graphs

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Shehnaz Akhter

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract The general sum-connectivity index χ α ( G $\\chi_{\\alpha}(G$ , for a (molecular graph G, is defined as the sum of the weights ( d G ( a 1 + d G ( a 2 α $(d_{G}(a_{1}+d_{G}(a_{2}^{\\alpha}$ of all a 1 a 2 ∈ E ( G $a_{1}a_{2}\\in E(G$ , where d G ( a 1 $d_{G}(a_{1}$ (or d G ( a 2 $d_{G}(a_{2}$ denotes the degree of a vertex a 1 $a_{1}$ (or a 2 $a_{2}$ in the graph G; E ( G $E(G$ denotes the set of edges of G, and α is an arbitrary real number. Eliasi and Taeri (Discrete Appl. Math. 157:794-803, 2009 introduced four new operations based on the graphs S ( G $S(G$ , R ( G $R(G$ , Q ( G $Q(G$ , and T ( G $T(G$ , and they also computed the Wiener index of these graph operations in terms of W ( F ( G $W(F(G$ and W ( H $W(H$ , where F is one of the symbols S, R, Q, T. The aim of this paper is to obtain sharp bounds on the general sum-connectivity index of the four operations on graphs.

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

Drought assessment in the Dongliao River basin: traditional approaches vs. generalized drought assessment index based on water resources systems

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, B. S.; Yan, D. H.; Wang, H.; Liu, J. H.; Yang, Z. Y.; Qin, T. L.; Yin, J.

2015-08-01

Drought is firstly a resource issue, and with its development it evolves into a disaster issue. Drought events usually occur in a determinate but a random manner. Drought has become one of the major factors to affect sustainable socioeconomic development. In this paper, we propose the generalized drought assessment index (GDAI) based on water resources systems for assessing drought events. The GDAI considers water supply and water demand using a distributed hydrological model. We demonstrate the use of the proposed index in the Dongliao River basin in northeastern China. The results simulated by the GDAI are compared to observed drought disaster records in the Dongliao River basin. In addition, the temporal distribution of drought events and the spatial distribution of drought frequency from the GDAI are compared with the traditional approaches in general (i.e., standard precipitation index, Palmer drought severity index and rate of water deficit index). Then, generalized drought times, generalized drought duration, and generalized drought severity were calculated by theory of runs. Application of said runs at various drought levels (i.e., mild drought, moderate drought, severe drought, and extreme drought) during the period 1960-2010 shows that the centers of gravity of them all distribute in the middle reaches of Dongliao River basin, and change with time. The proposed methodology may help water managers in water-stressed regions to quantify the impact of drought, and consequently, to make decisions for coping with drought.

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.

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.

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

Some remarks on a generalized vector product

OpenAIRE

ACOSTA-HUMÁNEZ, PRIMITIVO; ARANDA, MOISÉS; NÚÑEZ, REINALDO

2011-01-01

Abstract. In this paper we use a generalized vector product to construct an exterior form ⊥ : , where Finally, for n = k - 1 we introduce the reversing operation to study this generalized vector product over palindromic and antipalindromic vectors. Resumen. En este art&íacute;culo usamos un producto vectorial generalizado para construir una forma exterior ⊥ : , en donde como es natural, Finalmente, para n = k - 1 introducimos la operación reversar para estudiar este producto vectorial gene...

Measuring and improving productivity in general radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilt, Michelle A; Miranda, Rafael; Johnson, C Daniel; Love, Peggy Sue

2010-10-01

The aim of this study was to determine a method of measuring productivity among general radiographers in a moderate-sized hospital and to improve and sustain productivity within that work area. The average times needed to perform the 13 most common examinations were measured. Performance of the various examinations was tracked and multiplied by the time allocated per procedure; this measure was divided by the length of the work shift to determine productivity. Productivity measures were shared among the work group, and decisions to improve productivity (eg, whether to fill open positions) were made by group members. Average time spent per examination type was calculated (range, 10 minutes to 1 hour 16 minutes). At baseline (February 2008), group productivity was 50%. Productivity increased during the first year of monitoring and was sustained through November 2009 (productivity range, 57%-63%). Yearly savings from not filling open positions were estimated to be $174,000. Productivity in a general radiology work area can be measured. Consensus among the work group helped increase productivity and assess progress. This methodology, if widely adopted, could be standardized and used to compare productivity across departments and institutions. Copyright © 2010 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intercommunications of indexes of general physical training of fencer on swords different qualifying groups.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hohla A.I.

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose of work - to find out the presence of cross-correlation intercommunications between the indexes of general physical preparedness and dependence of their structure from the level of sporting qualification of sportsmen. 66 sportsmen took part in research. From them 35 are sportsmen of I-II of digits, 31 are highly skilled sportsmen. Sportsmen executed 14 tests which characterize the level of general physical preparedness. For the sportsmen of spark-gaps found out 15 reliable cross-correlation intercommunications of direct (10 and reverse (5 character. For skilled sportsmen - 18: (9 direct and (9 reverse character. For the sportsmen of spark-gaps the most of reliable intercommunications is set between spray force (6 and explosive force of feet (5. At skilled - between figure (7 and spray (6 force and other indexes. The presence of direct cross-correlation intercommunications between physical qualities testifies about expedience of their complex development in one training employment. Reverse - about the necessity of the differentiated development of such physical qualities.

Malmquist Index, an Alternative Technique for Measuring Credit Institutions Productivity

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Nicolae Dardac

2008-03-01

Full Text Available The present study tackles the banking system’s productivity in a more complex manner, that integrates multiple input, multiple output variables, abdicating from the reductionist perspective of clasical methods, which imposed limits in the number of variables, in the process of productivity measurement and interpretation. The advantage of Malmquist productivity indexes consists both in a quantitative evaluation of the global productivity of a credit institution over a specified period of time, and in the decomposition of productivity, in order to underline how much of its change is due to the catch-up effect, and, respectively, to the implementation of new technologies. The results obtained revealed that credit institutions placed on the first three places in the banking system, according to assets value, maintained constant their productivity level during the analysed period, meanwhile the other institutions in our sample registered a slowly improvement in productivity, determined, mainly, by technological changes.

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.

The Mehler-Fock transform of general order and arbitrary index and its inversion

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Cyril Nasim

1984-01-01

Full Text Available An integral transform involving the associated Legendre function of zero order, P−12+iτ(x, x∈[1,∞, as the kernel (considered as a function of τ, is called Mehler-Fock transform. Some generalizations, involving the function P−12+iτμ(x, where the order μ is an arbitrary complex number, including the case when μ=0,1,2,… have been known for some time. In this present note, we define a general Mehler-Fock transform involving, as the kernel, the Legendre function P−12+tμ(x, of general order μ and an arbitrary index −12+t, t=σ+iτ, −∞<τ<∞. Then we develop a symmetric inversion formulae for these transforms. Many well-known results are derived as special cases of this general form. These transforms are widely used for solving many axisymmetric potential problems.

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.

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.

The impact of ownership structure on bank productivity and efficiency: Evidence from semi-parametric Malmquist Productivity Index

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Fadzlan Sufian

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The present study employs the state of the art bias-corrected Malmquist Productivity Index method to examine the sources of efficiency and productivity of the foreign and domestic banks operating in the Malaysian banking sector. The preferred methodology enables us to isolate efforts to catch up to the frontier (efficiency change from shifts in the frontier (technological change [TECHCH]. The results indicate that the Malaysian banking sector has exhibited productivity progress mainly attributed to technological progress. The empirical findings suggest that both the domestic and foreign banks have exhibited productivity progress albeit at different quantum attributed mainly to progress in TECHCH.

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...

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)

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

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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.

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

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.

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.

Generalized least squares and empirical Bayes estimation in regional partial duration series index-flood modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Henrik; Rosbjerg, Dan

1997-01-01

parameters is inferred from regional data using generalized least squares (GLS) regression. Two different Bayesian T-year event estimators are introduced: a linear estimator that requires only some moments of the prior distributions to be specified and a parametric estimator that is based on specified......A regional estimation procedure that combines the index-flood concept with an empirical Bayes method for inferring regional information is introduced. The model is based on the partial duration series approach with generalized Pareto (GP) distributed exceedances. The prior information of the model...

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

Malmquist Productivity Index by Extended VIKOR Method Using Interval Numbers

OpenAIRE

Fallah, Mohammad; Mohajeri, Amir; Najafi, Esmaeil

2013-01-01

The VIKOR method was developed for multicriteria optimization of complex systems. It determines the compromise ranking list and the compromise solution obtained with the given weights. This method focuses on ranking and selecting from a set of alternatives in the presence of conflicting criteria. Here, the VIKOR method is used for two times $t$ and $t+1$ . In order to calculate the progress or regression via Malmquist productivity index, the positive and negative ideals at ...

Allocation base of general production costs as optimization of prime costs

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Levytska I.O.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Qualified management aimed at optimizing financial results is the key factor in today's society. Effective management decisions depend on the necessary information about the costs of production process in all its aspects – their structure, types, accounting policies of reflecting costs. General production costs, the so-called indirect costs that are not directly related to the production process, but provide its functioning in terms of supporting structural divisions and create the necessary conditions of production, play a significant role in calculating prime costs of goods (works, services. However, the accurate estimate of prime costs of goods (works, services should be determined with the value of indirect costs (in other words, general production costs, and properly determined with the base of their allocation. The choice of allocation base of general production costs is the significant moment, depending on the nature of business, which must guarantee fair distribution regarding to the largest share of direct expenses in the total structure of production costs. The study finds the essence of general production costs based on the analysis of key definitions of leading Ukrainian economists. The optimal allocation approach of general production costs is to calculate these costs as direct production costs within each subsidiary division (department separately without selecting a base as the main one to the their total amount.

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.

General productivity code: productivity optimization of gaseous diffusion cascades. The programmer's guide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tunstall, J.N.

1975-05-01

The General Productivity Code is a FORTRAN IV computer program for the IBM System 360. With its model of the productivity of gaseous diffusion cascades, the program is used to determine optimum cascade performance based on specified operating conditions and to aid in the calculation of optimum operating conditions for a complex of diffusion cascades. This documentation of the program is directed primarily to programmers who will be responsible for updating the code as requested by the users. It is also intended to be an aid in training new Productivity Code users and to serve as a general reference manual. Elements of the mathematical model, the input data requirements, the definitions of the various tasks (Instructions) that can be performed, and a detailed description of most FORTRAN variables and program subroutines are presented. A sample problem is also included. (auth)

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.

Benefit of general anesthesia monitored by bispectral index compared with monitoring guided only by clinical parameters. Systematic review and meta-analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Rogério Degrandi Oliveira

Full Text Available Abstract Background: The bispectral index parameter is used to guide the titration of general anesthesia; however, many studies have shown conflicting results regarding the benefits of bispectral index monitoring. The objective of this systematic review with meta-analysis is to evaluate the clinical impact of monitoring with the bispectral index parameter. Methods: The search for evidence in scientific information sources was conducted during December 2013 to January 2015, the following primary databases: Medline/PubMed, LILACS, Cochrane, CINAHL, Ovid, SCOPUS and TESES. The criteria for inclusion in the study were randomized controlled trials, comparing general anesthesia monitored, with bispectral index parameter with anesthesia guided solely by clinical parameters, and patients aged over 18 years. The criteria for exclusion were studies involving anesthesia or sedation for diagnostic procedures, and intraoperative wake-up test for surgery of the spine. Results: The use of monitoring with the bispectral index has shown benefits reducing time to extubation, orientation in time and place, and discharge from both the operating room and post anesthetic care unit. The risk of nausea and vomiting after surgery was reduced by 12% in patients monitored with bispectral index. Occurred a reduction of 3% in the risk of cognitive impairment postoperatively at 3 months postoperatively and 6% reduction in the risk of postoperative delirium in patients monitored with bispectral index. Furthermore, the risk of intraoperative memory has been reduced by 1%. Conclusion: Clinically, anesthesia monitoring with the BIS can be justified because it allows advantages from reducing the recovery time after waking, mainly by reducing the administration of general anesthetics as well as the risk of adverse events.

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...

Polymorphic Uncertain Linear Programming for Generalized Production Planning Problems

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Xinbo Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A polymorphic uncertain linear programming (PULP model is constructed to formulate a class of generalized production planning problems. In accordance with the practical environment, some factors such as the consumption of raw material, the limitation of resource and the demand of product are incorporated into the model as parameters of interval and fuzzy subsets, respectively. Based on the theory of fuzzy interval program and the modified possibility degree for the order of interval numbers, a deterministic equivalent formulation for this model is derived such that a robust solution for the uncertain optimization problem is obtained. Case study indicates that the constructed model and the proposed solution are useful to search for an optimal production plan for the polymorphic uncertain generalized production planning problems.

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.

Benchmarking road safety of U.S. states: a DEA-based Malmquist productivity index approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Egilmez, Gokhan; McAvoy, Deborah

2013-04-01

In this study, a DEA based Malmquist index model was developed to assess the relative efficiency and productivity of U.S. states in decreasing the number of road fatalities. Even though the national trend in fatal crashes has reached to the lowest level since 1949 (Traffic Safety Annual Assessment Highlights, 2010), a state-by-state analysis and comparison has not been studied considering other characteristics of the holistic national road safety assessment problem in any work in the literature or organizational reports. In this study, a DEA based Malmquist index model was developed to assess the relative efficiency and productivity of 50 U.S. states in reducing the number of fatal crashes. The single output, fatal crashes, and five inputs were aggregated into single road safety score and utilized in the DEA-based Malmquist index mathematical model. The period of 2002-2008 was considered due to data availability for the inputs and the output considered. According to the results, there is a slight negative productivity (an average of -0.2 percent productivity) observed in the U.S. on minimizing the number of fatal crashes along with an average of 2.1 percent efficiency decline and 1.8 percent technological improvement. The productivity in reducing the fatal crashes can only be attributed to the technological growth since there is a negative efficiency growth is occurred. It can be concluded that even though there is a declining trend observed in the fatality rates, the efficiency of states in utilizing societal and economical resources towards the goal of zero fatality is not still efficient. More effective policy making towards increasing safety belt usage and better utilization of safety expenditures to improve road condition are derived as the key areas to focus on for state highway safety agencies from the scope of current research. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Linguistic Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of Tamil Version of General Oral Health Assessment Index-Tml.

Science.gov (United States)

Appukuttan, D P; Vinayagavel, M; Balasundaram, A; Damodaran, L K; Shivaraman, P; Gunasshegaran, K

2015-01-01

Oral health has an impact on quality of life hence for research purpose validation of a Tamil version of General Oral Health Assessment Index would enable it to be used as a valuable tool among Tamil speaking population. In this study, we aimed to assess the psychometric properties of translated Tamil version of General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI-Tml). Linguistic adaptation involved forward and backward blind translation process. Reliability was analyzed using test-retest, Cronbach alpha, and split half reliability. Inter-item and item-total correlation were evaluated using Spearman rank correlation. Convenience sampling was done, and 265 consecutive patients aged 20-70 years attending the outpatient department were recruited. Subjects were requested to fill a self-reporting questionnaire along with Tamil GOHAI version. Clinical examination was done on the same visit. Concurrent validity was measured by assessing the relationship between GOHAI scores and self-perceived oral health and general health status, satisfaction with oral health, need for dental treatment and esthetic satisfaction. Discriminant validity was evaluated by comparing the GOHAI scores with the objectively assessed clinical parameters. Exploratory factor analysis was done to examine the factor structure. Mean GOHAI-Tml was 52.7 (6.8, range 22-60, median 54). The mean number of negative impacts was 2 (2.4, range 0-11, median 1). The Spearman rank correlation for test-retest ranged from 0.8 to 0.9 (P Tamil speaking population.

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.)

Generality in nanotechnologies and its relationship to economic performance

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez Baquero, Fernando

In the history if economic analysis there is perhaps no more important question than the one of how economic development is achieved. For more than a century, economists have explored the role of technology in economic growth but there is still much to be learned about the effect that technologies, in particular emerging ones, have on economic growth and productivity. The objective of this research is to understand the relationship between nanotechnologies and economic growth and productivity, using the theory of General Purpose Technology (GPT)-driven economic growth. To do so, the Generality Index (calculated from patent data) was used to understand the relative pervasiveness of nanotechnologies. The analysis of trends and patterns of Generality Index, using the largest group of patents since the publication of the NBER Patent Database, indicates that nanotechnologies possess a higher average Generality than other technological groups. Next, the relationship between the Generality Index and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) was studied using econometric analysis. Model estimates indicate that the variation in Generality for the group of nanotechnologies can explain a large proportion of the variation in TFP. However, the explanatory power of the entire set of patents (not just nanotechnologies) is larger and corresponds better to the expected theoretical models. Additionally, there is a negative short-run relationship between Generality and TFP, conflicting with part of the theoretical GPT-models. Finally, the relationship between the Generality of nanotechnologies and policy-driven investment events, such as R&D investments and grant awards, was studied using econometric methods. The statistical evidence suggests that NSF awards are related to technologies with higher Generality, while NIH awards and NNI investments are related to a lower average Generality. Overall, results of this research work indicate that the introduction of pervasive technologies into an

The Nature Index: A General Framework for Synthesizing Knowledge on the State of Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Certain, Grégoire; Skarpaas, Olav; Bjerke, Jarle-Werner; Framstad, Erik; Lindholm, Markus; Nilsen, Jan-Erik; Norderhaug, Ann; Oug, Eivind; Pedersen, Hans-Christian; Schartau, Ann-Kristin; van der Meeren, Gro I.; Aslaksen, Iulie; Engen, Steinar; Garnåsjordet, Per-Arild; Kvaløy, Pål; Lillegård, Magnar; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Nybø, Signe

2011-01-01

The magnitude and urgency of the biodiversity crisis is widely recognized within scientific and political organizations. However, a lack of integrated measures for biodiversity has greatly constrained the national and international response to the biodiversity crisis. Thus, integrated biodiversity indexes will greatly facilitate information transfer from science toward other areas of human society. The Nature Index framework samples scientific information on biodiversity from a variety of sources, synthesizes this information, and then transmits it in a simplified form to environmental managers, policymakers, and the public. The Nature Index optimizes information use by incorporating expert judgment, monitoring-based estimates, and model-based estimates. The index relies on a network of scientific experts, each of whom is responsible for one or more biodiversity indicators. The resulting set of indicators is supposed to represent the best available knowledge on the state of biodiversity and ecosystems in any given area. The value of each indicator is scaled relative to a reference state, i.e., a predicted value assessed by each expert for a hypothetical undisturbed or sustainably managed ecosystem. Scaled indicator values can be aggregated or disaggregated over different axes representing spatiotemporal dimensions or thematic groups. A range of scaling models can be applied to allow for different ways of interpreting the reference states, e.g., optimal situations or minimum sustainable levels. Statistical testing for differences in space or time can be implemented using Monte-Carlo simulations. This study presents the Nature Index framework and details its implementation in Norway. The results suggest that the framework is a functional, efficient, and pragmatic approach for gathering and synthesizing scientific knowledge on the state of biodiversity in any marine or terrestrial ecosystem and has general applicability worldwide. PMID:21526118

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.

Electroconvulsive Therapy Under General Anesthesia With Cisatracurium, Laryngeal Mask Airways, and Bispectral Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Cai-Cai; Qian, Xiao-Yan; An, Jian-Xiong; Yu, Zeng-Lei; Wu, Jian-Ping; Wen, Hui; Cao, Zong-Xin; Wang, Yong; Fang, Qi-Wu; Williams, John P

2016-03-01

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has dramatically reduced musculoskeletal complications when carried out with muscle relaxants under general anesthesia. However, seizure quality can be affected by the depth of anesthesia and choice of anesthetic agent. The purpose of this study was to describe a general anesthetic technique for ECT by using laryngeal mask, bispectral index (BIS), and muscle relaxant monitoring. Twenty-one patients, between ages 18 and 70 years (American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I-III), who underwent a total of 89 sessions of ECT were examined in a retrospective study. Anesthesia was induced by use of propofol (1.0 mg/kg) followed by cisatracurium (0.2 mg/kg). The BIS, train-of-four, and end-tidal carbon dioxide were all monitored continuously. A laryngeal mask airway was used to maintain and protect the airway during the procedure. Electroconvulsive therapy stimuli were applied bilaterally when the train-of-four was assessed as being zero and BIS scores were 70. All patients then received 5 μg sufentanil and 2 mg midazolam, while titrated to maintain the BIS value at 40 to 50, before the muscle relaxation exhibited complete recovery. The mean duration of treatment process takes approximately 82.5 minutes. Mean (SD) seizure length was 58.8 (28.3) seconds, with 4.5% incidence of restimulation per treatment. Incidence of awareness was 0%. No patients exhibited delirium, nausea, vomiting, or myalgia in the postseizure phase. Bispectral index monitoring of the depth of anesthesia may have improved seizure quality, and awareness did not occur.

Generalized Functional Linear Models With Semiparametric Single-Index Interactions

KAUST Repository

Li, Yehua

2010-06-01

We introduce a new class of functional generalized linear models, where the response is a scalar and some of the covariates are functional. We assume that the response depends on multiple covariates, a finite number of latent features in the functional predictor, and interaction between the two. To achieve parsimony, the interaction between the multiple covariates and the functional predictor is modeled semiparametrically with a single-index structure. We propose a two step estimation procedure based on local estimating equations, and investigate two situations: (a) when the basis functions are pre-determined, e.g., Fourier or wavelet basis functions and the functional features of interest are known; and (b) when the basis functions are data driven, such as with functional principal components. Asymptotic properties are developed. Notably, we show that when the functional features are data driven, the parameter estimates have an increased asymptotic variance, due to the estimation error of the basis functions. Our methods are illustrated with a simulation study and applied to an empirical data set, where a previously unknown interaction is detected. Technical proofs of our theoretical results are provided in the online supplemental materials.

Generalized Functional Linear Models With Semiparametric Single-Index Interactions

KAUST Repository

Li, Yehua; Wang, Naisyin; Carroll, Raymond J.

2010-01-01

We introduce a new class of functional generalized linear models, where the response is a scalar and some of the covariates are functional. We assume that the response depends on multiple covariates, a finite number of latent features in the functional predictor, and interaction between the two. To achieve parsimony, the interaction between the multiple covariates and the functional predictor is modeled semiparametrically with a single-index structure. We propose a two step estimation procedure based on local estimating equations, and investigate two situations: (a) when the basis functions are pre-determined, e.g., Fourier or wavelet basis functions and the functional features of interest are known; and (b) when the basis functions are data driven, such as with functional principal components. Asymptotic properties are developed. Notably, we show that when the functional features are data driven, the parameter estimates have an increased asymptotic variance, due to the estimation error of the basis functions. Our methods are illustrated with a simulation study and applied to an empirical data set, where a previously unknown interaction is detected. Technical proofs of our theoretical results are provided in the online supplemental materials.

Ankle brachial index, C-reactive protein, and central augmentation index to identify individuals with severe atherosclerosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eldrup, Nikolaj; Sillesen, Henrik; Prescott, Eva

2006-01-01

We examined the ability of ankle brachial index, C-reactive protein and central augmentation index to identify individuals in the general population with severe atherosclerosis, diagnosed as those with ischaemic cardiovascular disease.......We examined the ability of ankle brachial index, C-reactive protein and central augmentation index to identify individuals in the general population with severe atherosclerosis, diagnosed as those with ischaemic cardiovascular disease....

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...

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Body Mass Index and Western Ontario & McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis in Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital, Bandung in November 2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ainna Binti Mohamad Dat

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Osteoarthritis is one of the major disabilities among elderly. One of its well-recognized potent risk factors is obesity. The aim of this study was to identify the body mass index and severity of knee osteoarthritis patients who were treated in Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung. Methods: A descriptive study was carried out to 9 patients of the Medical Rehabilitation Policlinic at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung in November 2012. Patients were diagnosed as having knee Osteoarthritis based on American College of Rheumatology clinical classification. Exclusion criteria were patient having previous trauma in spine and lower limb, having bleeding disorder like hemophilia, incomplete data in medical records and incomplete data in questionnaire. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC was used to measure the intensity of pain, stiffness, and functional difficulty. The weight (kg and height (cm of the patients were measured and the Body Mass Index was calculated by Weight (kg/Height² (m. The data were analyzed using frequency distribution. Results: The patients who came to the Medical Rehabilitation Policlinic had ranged in age from 57 to78 years, mostly female with knee Osteoarthritis bilateral. Out of 9 patients, 5 patients were overweight, followed by normal BMI and obese type I. Patient with obese type 1 had the highest WOMAC score. Conclusions: Most of the patients with knee osteoarthritis bilateral are overweight and the patient with obese type 1 has the highest WOMAC score.

29 CFR 780.216 - Nursery activities generally and Christmas tree production.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Nursery activities generally and Christmas tree production... Nursery activities generally and Christmas tree production. (a) The employees of a nursery who are engaged... horticultural commodities such as the following are employed in agriculture: (1) Planting seedlings in a nursery...

An Estimator of Heavy Tail Index through the Generalized Jackknife Methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiqi Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In practice, sometimes the data can be divided into several blocks but only a few of the largest observations within each block are available to estimate the heavy tail index. To address this problem, we propose a new class of estimators through the Generalized Jackknife methodology based on Qi’s estimator (2010. These estimators are proved to be asymptotically normal under suitable conditions. Compared to Hill’s estimator and Qi’s estimator, our new estimator has better asymptotic efficiency in terms of the minimum mean squared error, for a wide range of the second order shape parameters. For the finite samples, our new estimator still compares favorably to Hill’s estimator and Qi’s estimator, providing stable sample paths as a function of the number of dividing the sample into blocks, smaller estimation bias, and MSE.

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.

Generalized production planning problem under interval uncertainty

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samir A. Abass

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Data in many real life engineering and economical problems suffer from inexactness. Herein we assume that we are given some intervals in which the data can simultaneously and independently perturb. We consider the generalized production planning problem with interval data. The interval data are in both of the objective function and constraints. The existing results concerning the qualitative and quantitative analysis of basic notions in parametric production planning problem. These notions are the set of feasible parameters, the solvability set and the stability set of the first kind.

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.

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.

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

Quantum anomalies for generalized Euclidean Taub-NUT metrics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cotaescu, Ion I; Moroianu, Sergiu; Visinescu, Mihai

2005-01-01

The generalized Taub-NUT metrics exhibit in general gravitational anomalies. This is in contrast with the fact that the original Taub-NUT metric does not exhibit gravitational anomalies, which is a consequence of the fact that it admits Killing-Yano tensors forming Staeckel-Killing tensors as products. We have found that for axial anomalies, interpreted as the index of the Dirac operator, the presence of Killing-Yano tensors is irrelevant. In order to evaluate the axial anomalies, we compute the index of the Dirac operator with the APS boundary condition on balls and on annular domains. The result is an explicit number-theoretic quantity depending on the radii of the domain. This quantity is 0 for metrics close to the original Taub-NUT metric but it does not vanish in general

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...

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...

[Contents of general flavonoides in Epimedium acuminatum Franch. and its differently-processed products].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, H L; Wang, J K; Zhang, L L; Wu, Z Y

2000-04-01

Determining and comparing the contents of general flavonoides in four kinds of differently-processed products of Epimedium acuminatum. Determining the contents by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The contents were found in the following seguence: unprocessed product, clearly-fried product, alcohol-broiled product, salt-broiled product, sheep-fat-broiled product. The average recovery rate was 96.01%, with a 0.74% RSD(n = 5). Heating causes the contents of general flavonoides in the processed products to decrease. These processed products are still often used in clinical treatment, for the reason that the adjuvant features certain coordinating and promoting functions. The study is to be pursued further.

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.

1 CFR 6.1 - Index to daily issues.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 1 General Provisions 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Index to daily issues. 6.1 Section 6.1 General Provisions ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER THE FEDERAL REGISTER INDEXES AND ANCILLARIES § 6.1 Index to daily issues. Each daily issue of the Federal Register shall be appropriately indexed. ...

Application of Generalized Student’s T-Distribution In Modeling The Distribution of Empirical Return Rates on Selected Stock Exchange Indexes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Purczyńskiz Jan

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the application of the so called generalized Student’s t-distribution in modeling the distribution of empirical return rates on selected Warsaw stock exchange indexes. It deals with distribution parameters by means of the method of logarithmic moments, the maximum likelihood method and the method of moments. Generalized Student’s t-distribution ensures better fitting to empirical data than the classical Student’s t-distribution.

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...

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 ...

Generalized Kutta–Joukowski theorem for multi-vortex and multi-airfoil flow with vortex production — A general model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bai Chenyuan

2014-10-01

Full Text Available By using a special momentum approach and with the help of interchange between singularity velocity and induced flow velocity, we derive in a physical way explicit force formulas for two-dimensional inviscid flow involving multiple bound and free vortices, multiple airfoils, and vortex production. These force formulas hold individually for each airfoil thus allowing for force decomposition, and the contributions to forces from singularities (such as bound and image vortices, sources, and doublets and bodies out of an airfoil are related to their induced velocities at the locations of singularities inside this airfoil. The force contribution due to vortex production is related to the vortex production rate and the distance between each pair of vortices in production, thus frame-independent. The formulas are validated against a number of standard problems. These force formulas, which generalize the classic Kutta–Joukowski theorem (for a single bound vortex and the recent generalized Lagally theorem (for problems without a bound vortex and vortex production to more general cases, can be used to identify or understand the roles of outside vortices and bodies on the forces of the actual body, optimize arrangement of outside vortices and bodies for force enhancement or reduction, and derive analytical force formulas once the flow field is given or known.

Effects of a general practice-based intervention on diet, body mass index and blood lipids in patients at cardiovascular risk

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Woollard, J.; Burke, V.; Beilin, L.J.; Verheijden, M.W.; Bulsara, M.K.

2003-01-01

Background General practice-based health-promotion programmes implemented by nurse-counsellors may reduce cardiovascular risk factors, particularly in patients at increased risk. Neither change in fat intake nor serum cholesterol differed significantly between groups. Body mass index increased in

Open Wilson lines and generalized star product in noncommutative scalar field theories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiem, Youngjai; Sato, Haru-Tada; Rey, Soo-Jong; Yee, Jung-Tay

2002-01-01

Open Wilson line operators and a generalized star product have been studied extensively in noncommutative gauge theories. We show that they also show up in noncommutative scalar field theories as universal structures. We first point out that the dipole picture of noncommutative geometry provides an intuitive argument for the robustness of the open Wilson lines and generalized star products therein. We calculate the one-loop effective action of noncommutative scalar field theory with a cubic self-interaction and show explicitly that the generalized star products arise in the nonplanar part. It is shown that, at the low-energy, large noncommutativity limit, the nonplanar part is expressible solely in terms of the scalar open Wilson line operator and descendants

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...

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

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...

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.

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.

12 CFR 34.22 - Index.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... an index or combination of indices to which changes in the interest rate will be linked. This index... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Index. 34.22 Section 34.22 Banks and Banking... Mortgages § 34.22 Index. (a) In general. If a national bank makes an ARM loan to which 12 CFR 226.19(b...

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

Six-term exact sequences for smooth generalized crossed products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gabriel, Olivier; Grensing, Martin

2013-01-01

We define smooth generalized crossed products and prove six-term exact sequences of Pimsner–Voiculescu type. This sequence may, in particular, be applied to smooth subalgebras of the quantum Heisenberg manifolds in order to compute the generators of their cyclic cohomology. Further, our results...... include the known results for smooth crossed products. Our proof is based on a combination of arguments from the setting of (Cuntz–)Pimsner algebras and the Toeplitz proof of Bott periodicity....

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Starch digestibility and predicted glycemic index of fried sweet potato cultivars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Comparing the dynamic performance of wastewater treatment systems: A metafrontier Malmquist productivity index approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Molinos-Senante, María; Hernández-Sancho, Francesc; Sala-Garrido, Ramón

2015-09-15

The assessment of productivity change of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is essential to improve the performance over time of the facilities evaluated. This study assessed and compared the productivity growth of WWTPs operating with non-homogeneous technologies. The metafrontier Malmquist productivity index (MMPI) was computed for a sample of 99 WWTPs encompassing 4 alternative technologies: activated sludge (AS), aerated lagoon (AL), trickling filter (TF) and rotating biological contactor (BD). The results indicated that, on average, WWTPs with AS and BD exhibited better performance over time than WWTPs with AL and TF. The MMPI indicates that, over the period 2007-2009, the productivity rose by 0.9% and 0.3% for AS and BD technologies, respectively, whilst for the AL and TF processes, the productivity decreased by 0.5% and 2.2%, respectively. The decomposition of the MMPI into efficiency change (EC) and technical change (TC) illustrated that EC was a positive driver of productivity change for WWTPs that use AS, whilst TC contributed positively to the productivity growth of WWTPs using AL and BD. Several policy implications to help managers make informed decisions were drawn from our empirical analysis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Arithmetical and geometrical means of generalized logarithmic and exponential functions: Generalized sum and product operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arruda, Tiago Jose; Silva Gonzalez, Rodrigo; Sangaletti Tercariol, Cesar Augusto; Souto Martinez, Alexandre

2008-01-01

One-parameter generalizations of the logarithmic and exponential functions have been obtained as well as algebraic operators to retrieve extensivity. Analytical expressions for the successive applications of the sum or product operators on several values of a variable are obtained here. Applications of the above formalism are considered

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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

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)

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...

Energy taxes and wages in a general equilibrium model of production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, H.

2000-01-01

Energy taxes are responsible for a good deal of observed differences in energy prices across states and countries. They alter patterns of production and income distribution. The present paper examines the potential of energy taxes to lower wages in a general equilibrium model of production with capital, labour and energy inputs. (Author)

47 CFR 42.4 - Index of records.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Index of records. 42.4 Section 42.4... RECORDS OF COMMUNICATION COMMON CARRIERS General Instructions § 42.4 Index of records. Each carrier shall maintain at its operating company headquarters a master index of records. The master index shall identify...

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)

Emergy sustainability index of a milk producing unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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

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.

Entropy Production and Equilibrium Conditions of General-Covariant Spin Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolfgang Muschik

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In generalizing the special-relativistic one-component version of Eckart’s continuum thermodynamics to general-relativistic space-times with Riemannian or post-Riemannian geometry as presented by Schouten (Schouten, J.A. Ricci-Calculus, 1954 and Blagojevic (Blagojevic, M. Gauge Theories of Gravitation, 2013 we consider the entropy production and other thermodynamical quantities, such as the entropy flux and the Gibbs fundamental equation. We discuss equilibrium conditions in gravitational theories, which are based on such geometries. In particular, thermodynamic implications of the non-symmetry of the energy-momentum tensor and the related spin balance equations are investigated, also for the special case of general relativity.

Asset pricing with index investing

OpenAIRE

Georgy Chabakauri; Oleg Rytchkov

2014-01-01

We provide a novel theoretical analysis of how index investing affects capital market equilibrium. We consider a dynamic exchange economy with heterogeneous investors and two Lucas trees and find that indexing can either increase or decrease the correlation between stock returns and in general increases (decreases) volatilities and betas of stocks with larger (smaller) market capitalizations. Indexing also decreases market volatility and interest rates, although those effects are weak. The im...

Index Selection in Relational Databases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Choenni, R.S.; Blanken, Henk; Chang, S.C.

Intending to develop a tool which aims to support the physical design of relational databases can not be done without considering the problem of index selection. Generally the problem is split into a primary and secondary index selection problem and the selection is done per table. Whereas much

Simulating the effects of site index variation within loblolly pine plantations using an individual tree growth and yield model

Science.gov (United States)

Ralph L. Amateis; Harold E. Burkhart

2016-01-01

Site index is the most common metric of site productivity in loblolly pine plantations. Generally applied as a constant for a particular stand, it provides an overall measure of a site’s ability to grow trees. It is well known, however, that even the most uniform stands can have considerable variation in site index due to soil factors that influence microsite,...

Certain fractional integral formulas involving the product of generalized Bessel functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Baleanu, D; Agarwal, P; Purohit, S D

2013-01-01

We apply generalized operators of fractional integration involving Appell's function F 3(·) due to Marichev-Saigo-Maeda, to the product of the generalized Bessel function of the first kind due to Baricz. The results are expressed in terms of the multivariable generalized Lauricella functions. Corresponding assertions in terms of Saigo, Erdélyi-Kober, Riemann-Liouville, and Weyl type of fractional integrals are also presented. Some interesting special cases of our two main results are presented. We also point out that the results presented here, being of general character, are easily reducible to yield many diverse new and known integral formulas involving simpler functions.

Certain Fractional Integral Formulas Involving the Product of Generalized Bessel Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Baleanu, D.; Agarwal, P.; Purohit, S. D.

2013-01-01

We apply generalized operators of fractional integration involving Appell's function F 3(·) due to Marichev-Saigo-Maeda, to the product of the generalized Bessel function of the first kind due to Baricz. The results are expressed in terms of the multivariable generalized Lauricella functions. Corresponding assertions in terms of Saigo, Erdélyi-Kober, Riemann-Liouville, and Weyl type of fractional integrals are also presented. Some interesting special cases of our two main results are presented. We also point out that the results presented here, being of general character, are easily reducible to yield many diverse new and known integral formulas involving simpler functions. PMID:24379745

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.

Factors related to positive and negative outcomes in psychiatric inpatients in a General Hospital Psychiatric Unit: a proposal for an outcomes index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HUGO KARLING MORESCHI

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Background General Hospital Psychiatric Units have a fundamental importance in the mental health care systems. However, there is a lack of studies regarding the level of improvement of patients in this type of facility. Objective To assess factors related to good and poor outcomes in psychiatric inpatients using an index composed by clinical parameters easily measured. Methods Length of stay (LOS, Global Assessment of Functioning (variation and at discharge and Clinical Global Impression (severity and improvement were used to build a ten-point improvement index (I-Index. Records of psychiatric inpatients of a general hospital during an 18-month period were analyzed. Three groups (poor, intermediate and good outcomes were compared by univariate and multivariate models according to clinical and sociodemographic variables. Results Two hundred and fifty patients were included, with a percentage in the groups with poor, regular and good outcomes of 16.4%, 59,6% and 24.0% respectively. Poor outcome at the discharge was associated mainly with lower education, transient disability, antipsychotics use, chief complaint “behavioral change/aggressiveness” and psychotic features. Multivariate analysis found a higher OR for diagnoses of “psychotic disorders” and “personality disorders” and others variables in relation to protective categories in the poor outcome group compared to the good outcome group. Discussion Our I-Index proved to be an indicator of that allows an easy and more comprehensive evaluation to assess outcomes of inpatients than just LOS. Different interventions addressed to conditions such as psychotic disorders and disruptive chief complaints are necessary.

General Nuclear Medicine

Science.gov (United States)

... Resources Professions Site Index A-Z General Nuclear Medicine Nuclear medicine imaging uses small amounts of radioactive ... of General Nuclear Medicine? What is General Nuclear Medicine? Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging ...

Generalized infimum and sequential product of quantum effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yuan; Sun Xiuhong; Chen Zhengli

2007-01-01

The quantum effects for a physical system can be described by the set E(H) of positive operators on a complex Hilbert space H that are bounded above by the identity operator I. For A, B(set-membership sign)E(H), the operation of sequential product A(convolution sign)B=A 1/2 BA 1/2 was proposed as a model for sequential quantum measurements. A nice investigation of properties of the sequential product has been carried over [Gudder, S. and Nagy, G., 'Sequential quantum measurements', J. Math. Phys. 42, 5212 (2001)]. In this note, we extend some results of this reference. In particular, a gap in the proof of Theorem 3.2 in this reference is overcome. In addition, some properties of generalized infimum A sqcap B are studied

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.

Certain new unified integrals associated with the product of generalized Bessel functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Praveen Agarwal

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Our focus to presenting two very general integral formulas whose integrands are the integrand given in the Oberhettinger's integral formula and a finite product of the generalized Bessel function of the first kind, which are expressed in terms of the generalized Lauricella functions. Among a large number of interesting and potentially useful special cases of our main results, some integral formulas involving such elementary functions are also considered.

AUTHOR INDEX

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

automorphic solutions to fractional order abstract integro-differential equations. 323. Afrouzi G A see Ala Samira ... 521. Agarwal Praveen. Certain fractional integral operators and the generalized multi-index Mittag- ... of positive solutions for sys- tems of second order multi-point bound- ary value problems on time scales 353.

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.

Utility of the General Ability Index (GAI) and Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) with Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumors: Comparison to Full Scale IQ and Premorbid IQ Estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Kahalley, Lisa S.; Winter-Greenberg, Amanda; Stancel, Heather; Ris, M. Douglas; Gragert, Marsha

2016-01-01

Introduction Pediatric brain tumor survivors are at risk for working memory and processing speed impairment. The General Ability Index (GAI) provides an estimate of intellectual functioning that is less influenced by working memory and processing speed than a Full Scale IQ (FSIQ). The Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) provides a measure of efficient information processing derived from working memory and processing speed tasks. We examined the utility of the GAI and CPI to quantify neurocognitive outcomes in a sample of pediatric brain tumor survivors. Methods GAI, CPI, and FSIQ scores from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) were examined for 57 pediatric brain tumor survivors (ages 6–16) treated with cranial radiation therapy (RT). Results GAI scores were higher than FSIQ and CPI scores, both p < .001. Lower CPI scores were associated with history of craniospinal irradiation and time since RT. Lower FSIQ and GAI scores were associated with higher RT dose and time since RT. The rate of clinically significant GAI-FSIQ discrepancies in our sample was greater than observed in the WISC-IV standardization sample, p < .001. Estimated premorbid IQ scores were higher than GAI, p < .01, and FSIQ scores, p < .001. Conclusions Pediatric brain tumor survivors exhibit weaker cognitive proficiency than expected for age, while general reasoning ability remains relatively spared. The GAI may be useful to quantify the intellectual potential of a survivor when appropriate accommodations are in place for relative cognitive proficiency weaknesses. The CPI may be a particularly sensitive outcome measure of treatment-related cognitive change in this population. PMID:27295192

36 CFR 902.13 - Indexes of Corporation records.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Indexes of Corporation... CORPORATION FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT General Administration § 902.13 Indexes of Corporation records. (a) The... Corporation. However, earlier materials may be included in the index to the extent practicable. Each index...

1 CFR 11.7 - Federal Register Index.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 1 General Provisions 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Federal Register Index. 11.7 Section 11.7... REGISTER PUBLICATIONS SUBSCRIPTIONS § 11.7 Federal Register Index. The annual subscription price for the monthly Federal Register Index, purchased separately, in paper form, is $29. The price excludes postage...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to produce ... the limitations of General Ultrasound Imaging? What is General Ultrasound Imaging? Ultrasound is safe and painless, and ...

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.

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

Definition of the generalized criterion of estimation of ecological purity of textile products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gintibidze, N.; Valishvili, T.

2009-01-01

One of actual problems is the estimation of hygienic and ecological properties of fabrics on the basis of the data on the properties of initial fiber. In the present article, the definition of generalized criterion of the estimation of ecological purity of textile products is discussed. The estimation is based on the International Standard EKO-TEX-100, regulating the contents of inorganic and organic compounds in textile production. The determination of all listed substances is made according to appropriate techniques for each parameter. The quantity of substances is determined and compared with norms. The judgement about ecological purity is made by separate parameters. There is no uniform parameter which could estimate the degree of ecological purity of textile products. For calculating the generalized criterion of estimation of ecological purity of textile products, it is offered to estimate each criterion by the points corresponding to each factor. The textile product is recognized as ecologically pure (environment friendly) if the total estimate is more than 1. (author)

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...

18 CFR 3a.91 - Data index system.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Data index system. 3a..., DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY GENERAL RULES NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION Data Index System § 3a.91 Data index system. A data index system shall be established for Top Secret, Secret, and Confidential information in...

Kronecker product of Sp(2n) representations using generalized Young tableaux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girardi, G.; Sciarrino, A.; Sorba, P.

1981-09-01

Using generalized Young tableaux, we obtain an explicit formula for the reduction of the Kronecker product of irreducible representation of the symplectic groups. This extends a previous work devoted to the case of orthogonal groups

Organisational determinants of production and efficiency in general practice: a population-based study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose Olsen, Kim; Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte; Sørensen, Torben Højmark

2013-01-01

Shortage of general practitioners (GPs) and an increased political focus on primary care have enforced the interest in efficiency analysis in the Danish primary care sector. This paper assesses the association between organisational factors of general practices and production and efficiency. We a...

Fundamentals of negative refractive index optical trapping: forces and radiation pressures exerted by focused Gaussian beams using the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambrosio, Leonardo A; Hernández-Figueroa, Hugo E

2010-11-04

Based on the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory (GLMT), this paper reveals, for the first time in the literature, the principal characteristics of the optical forces and radiation pressure cross-sections exerted on homogeneous, linear, isotropic and spherical hypothetical negative refractive index (NRI) particles under the influence of focused Gaussian beams in the Mie regime. Starting with ray optics considerations, the analysis is then extended through calculating the Mie coefficients and the beam-shape coefficients for incident focused Gaussian beams. Results reveal new and interesting trapping properties which are not observed for commonly positive refractive index particles and, in this way, new potential applications in biomedical optics can be devised.

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

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

Generalized Enhanced Multivariance Product Representation for Data Partitioning: Constancy Level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tunga, M. Alper; Demiralp, Metin

2011-01-01

Enhanced Multivariance Product Representation (EMPR) method is used to represent multivariate functions in terms of less-variate structures. The EMPR method extends the HDMR expansion by inserting some additional support functions to increase the quality of the approximants obtained for dominantly or purely multiplicative analytical structures. This work aims to develop the generalized form of the EMPR method to be used in multivariate data partitioning approaches. For this purpose, the Generalized HDMR philosophy is taken into consideration to construct the details of the Generalized EMPR at constancy level as the introductory steps and encouraging results are obtained in data partitioning problems by using our new method. In addition, to examine this performance, a number of numerical implementations with concluding remarks are given at the end of this paper.

28 CFR 16.22 - General prohibition of production or disclosure in Federal and State proceedings in which the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false General prohibition of production or... Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PRODUCTION OR DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL OR INFORMATION Production or Disclosure in Federal and State Proceedings § 16.22 General prohibition of production or...

18 CFR 341.9 - Index of tariffs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Index of tariffs. 341.9... SUBJECT TO SECTION 6 OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT § 341.9 Index of tariffs. (a) In general. Each carrier must publish as a separate tariff publication under its FERC Tariff numbering system, a complete index...

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.

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

FISPRO: a simplified computer program for general fission product formation and decay calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiacoletti, R.J.; Bailey, P.G.

1979-08-01

This report describes a computer program that solves a general form of the fission product formation and decay equations over given time steps for arbitrary decay chains composed of up to three nuclides. All fission product data and operational history data are input through user-defined input files. The program is very useful in the calculation of fission product activities of specific nuclides for various reactor operational histories and accident consequence calculations

Nineteenth International Cosmic Ray Conference papers. General index, volume 10

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, F.C.

1986-07-01

These volumes contain papers submitted for presentation at the 19th International Cosmic Ray Conference held on the campus of the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, CA, Aug. 11-23, 1985. The present volume contains a complete author index for volumes 1 through 9 and a list of the names and addresses of all those who attended the conference

Pricing Participating Products under a Generalized Jump-Diffusion Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tak Kuen Siu

2008-01-01

Full Text Available We propose a model for valuing participating life insurance products under a generalized jump-diffusion model with a Markov-switching compensator. It also nests a number of important and popular models in finance, including the classes of jump-diffusion models and Markovian regime-switching models. The Esscher transform is employed to determine an equivalent martingale measure. Simulation experiments are conducted to illustrate the practical implementation of the model and to highlight some features that can be obtained from our model.

Accounting for graduate medical education production of primary care physicians and general surgeons: timing of measurement matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Petterson, Stephen; Burke, Matthew; Phillips, Robert; Teevan, Bridget

2011-05-01

Legislation proposed in 2009 to expand GME set institutional primary care and general surgery production eligibility thresholds at 25% at entry into training. The authors measured institutions' production of primary care physicians and general surgeons on completion of first residency versus two to four years after graduation to inform debate and explore residency expansion and physician workforce implications. Production of primary care physicians and general surgeons was assessed by retrospective analysis of the 2009 American Medical Association Masterfile, which includes physicians' training institution, residency specialty, and year of completion for up to six training experiences. The authors measured production rates for each institution based on physicians completing their first residency during 2005-2007 in family or internal medicine, pediatrics, or general surgery. They then reassessed rates to account for those who completed additional training. They compared these rates with proposed expansion eligibility thresholds and current workforce needs. Of 116,004 physicians completing their first residency, 54,245 (46.8%) were in primary care and general surgery. Of 683 training institutions, 586 met the 25% threshold for expansion eligibility. At two to four years out, only 29,963 physicians (25.8%) remained in primary care or general surgery, and 135 institutions lost eligibility. A 35% threshold eliminated 314 institutions collectively training 93,774 residents (80.8%). Residency expansion thresholds that do not account for production at least two to four years after completion of first residency overestimate eligibility. The overall primary care production rate from GME will not sustain the current physician workforce composition. Copyright © by the Association of American medical Colleges.

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.

Witten index for noncompact dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Seung-Joo [Department of Physics, Robeson Hall, Virginia Tech,Robeson Hall, 0435, 850 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (United States); Yi, Piljin [School of Physics and Quantum Universe Center, Korea Institute for Advanced Study,85 Hoegi-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02455 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-16

Among gauged dynamics motivated by string theory, we find many with gapless asymptotic directions. Although the natural boundary condition for ground states is L{sup 2}, one often turns on chemical potentials or supersymmetric mass terms to regulate the infrared issues, instead, and computes the twisted partition function. We point out how this procedure generically fails to capture physical L{sup 2} Witten index with often misleading results. We also explore how, nevertheless, the Witten index is sometimes intricately embedded in such twisted partition functions. For d=1 theories with gapless continuum sector from gauge multiplets, such as non-primitive quivers and pure Yang-Mills, a further subtlety exists, leading to fractional expressions. Quite unexpectedly, however, the integral L{sup 2} Witten index can be extracted directly and easily from the twisted partition function of such theories. This phenomenon is tied to the notion of the rational invariant that appears naturally in the wall-crossing formulae, and offers a general mechanism of reading off Witten index directly from the twisted partition function. Along the way, we correct early numerical results for some of N=4,8,16 pure Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, and count threshold bound states for general gauge groups beyond SU(N).

Witten index for noncompact dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seung-Joo; Yi, Piljin

2016-06-01

Among gauged dynamics motivated by string theory, we find many with gapless asymptotic directions. Although the natural boundary condition for ground states is L 2, one often turns on chemical potentials or supersymmetric mass terms to regulate the infrared issues, instead, and computes the twisted partition function. We point out how this procedure generically fails to capture physical L 2 Witten index with often misleading results. We also explore how, nevertheless, the Witten index is sometimes intricately embedded in such twisted partition functions. For d = 1 theories with gapless continuum sector from gauge multiplets, such as non-primitive quivers and pure Yang-Mills, a further subtlety exists, leading to fractional expressions. Quite unexpectedly, however, the integral L 2 Witten index can be extracted directly and easily from the twisted partition function of such theories. This phenomenon is tied to the notion of the rational invariant that appears naturally in the wall-crossing formulae, and offers a general mechanism of reading off Witten index directly from the twisted partition function. Along the way, we correct early numerical results for some of mathcal{N} = 4 , 8 , 16 pure Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, and count threshold bound states for general gauge groups beyond SU( N ).

Witten index for noncompact dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung-Joo; Yi, Piljin

2016-01-01

Among gauged dynamics motivated by string theory, we find many with gapless asymptotic directions. Although the natural boundary condition for ground states is L"2, one often turns on chemical potentials or supersymmetric mass terms to regulate the infrared issues, instead, and computes the twisted partition function. We point out how this procedure generically fails to capture physical L"2 Witten index with often misleading results. We also explore how, nevertheless, the Witten index is sometimes intricately embedded in such twisted partition functions. For d=1 theories with gapless continuum sector from gauge multiplets, such as non-primitive quivers and pure Yang-Mills, a further subtlety exists, leading to fractional expressions. Quite unexpectedly, however, the integral L"2 Witten index can be extracted directly and easily from the twisted partition function of such theories. This phenomenon is tied to the notion of the rational invariant that appears naturally in the wall-crossing formulae, and offers a general mechanism of reading off Witten index directly from the twisted partition function. Along the way, we correct early numerical results for some of N=4,8,16 pure Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, and count threshold bound states for general gauge groups beyond SU(N).

The Chiral Index of the Fermionic Signature Operator

OpenAIRE

Finster, Felix

2014-01-01

We define an index of the fermionic signature operator on even-dimensional globally hyperbolic spin manifolds of finite lifetime. The invariance of the index under homotopies is studied. The definition is generalized to causal fermion systems with a chiral grading. We give examples of space-times and Dirac operators thereon for which our index is non-trivial.

Informing General CSCW Product Development through Cooperative Design in Specific Work Domains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønbæk, Kaj; Mogensen, Preben Holst

1997-01-01

sharing of materials in the engineering domain. In our project, a single engineering company (Great Belt Link Ltd.) was chosen as the user organization. The paper summarizes the process from observational studies, over a future workshop and cooperative prototyping activities, to a pilot installation. We...... describe how these activities informed the general hypermedia framework and application design. Use scenarios and prototypes with example data from the users‘ daily work were used as sources both to trigger design ideas and new insights regarding work practice. Common participants in specific activities...... and general development activities supported transfer of work domain knowledge into general features of the product being developed. Mutual challenging characterized the interaction between specific cooperative analysis and design activities and general development activities. Prototypes, scenarios, materials...

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

Synergistic effect of age and body mass index on mortality and morbidity in general surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Yanquez, Federico J; Clements, John M; Grauf, Dawn; Merchant, Aziz M

2013-09-01

The elderly population (aged 65 y and older) is expected to be the dominant age group in the United States by 2030. In addition, the prevalence of obesity in the United States is growing exponentially. Obese elderly patients are increasingly undergoing elective or emergent general surgery. There are few, if any, studies highlighting the combined effect of age and body mass index (BMI) on surgical outcomes. We hypothesize that increasing age and BMI synergistically impact morbidity and mortality in general surgery. We collected individual-level, de-identified patient data from the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative. Subjects underwent general surgery with general anesthetic, were >18 y, and had a BMI between 19 and 60. Primary and secondary outcomes were 30-d "Any morbidity" and mortality (from wound, respiratory, genitourinary, central nervous system, and cardiac systems), respectively. Preoperative risk variables included diabetes, dialysis, steroid use, cardiac risk, wound classification, American Society of Anesthesiology class, emergent cases, and 13 other variables. We conducted binary logistic regression models for 30-d morbidity and mortality to determine independent effects of age, BMI, interaction between both age and BMI, and a saturated model for all independent variables. We identified 149,853 patients. The average age was 54.6 y, and the average BMI was 30.9. Overall 30-d mortality was 2%, and morbidity was 6.7%. Age was a positive predictor for mortality and morbidity, and BMI was negatively associated with mortality and not significantly associated with morbidity. Age combined with higher BMI was positively associated with morbidity and mortality when the higher age groups were analyzed. Saturated models revealed age and American Society of Anesthesiology class as highest predictors of poor outcomes. Although BMI itself was not a major independent factor predicting 30-d major morbidity or mortality, the morbidly obese, elderly (>50 and 70 y

The Effect of the 2007 Financial Crisis on the Information Technologies Sector: Application of Malmquist Productivity Index Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenan Oğuzhan Oruç

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the 2007 financial crisis on the productivity of information technologies sector by applying Malmquist Productivity Index method. In the research, 20 enterprises operating in the information technologies sector in the list of Fortune 500 and their 6 years data are taken between the periods of 2005-2010. In the method, short and long term liabilities and shareholders’ equity are used as inputs while total income and net profit are used as outputs. As a result, it is observed that productivity of information technologies sector decreased, each year in compare to previous year, respectively in 2007, 2008 and 2009 while it increased in 2005 and 2010. It is additionally observed that in those years when the productivity decreased, component of technical change also decreased while component of efficiency change increased.

6 CFR 5.45 - Procedure when testimony or production of documents is sought; general.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 6 Domestic Security 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Procedure when testimony or production of... Procedure when testimony or production of documents is sought; general. (a) If official information is... requiring oral testimony, and identification of potentially relevant documents. (c) The appropriate...

Precision Index in the Multivariate Context

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šiman, Miroslav

2014-01-01

Roč. 43, č. 2 (2014), s. 377-387 ISSN 0361-0926 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1M06047 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : data depth * multivariate quantile * process capability index * precision index * regression quantile Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.274, year: 2014 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2014/SI/siman-0425059.pdf

An integrated production-inventory model for food products adopting a general raw material procurement policy

Science.gov (United States)

Fauza, G.; Prasetyo, H.; Amanto, B. S.

2018-05-01

Studies on an integrated production-inventory model for deteriorating items have been done extensively. Most of the studies define deterioration as physical depletion of some inventories over time. This definition may not represent the deterioration characteristics of food products. The quality of food production decreases over time while the quantity remains the same. Further, in the existing models, the raw material is replenished several times (or at least once) within one production cycle. In food industries, however, a food company, for several reasons (e.g., the seasonal raw materials, discounted price, etc.) sometimes will get more benefit if it orders raw materials in a large quantity. Considering this fact, this research, therefore, is aimed at developing a more representative inventory model by (i) considering the quality losses in food and (ii) adopting a general raw material procurement policy. A mathematical model is established to represent the proposed policy in which the total profit of the system is the objective function. To evaluate the performance of the model, a numerical test was conducted. The numerical test indicates that the developed model has better performance, i.e., the total profit is 2.3% higher compared to the existing model.

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

Variance Function Partially Linear Single-Index Models1.

Science.gov (United States)

Lian, Heng; Liang, Hua; Carroll, Raymond J

2015-01-01

We consider heteroscedastic regression models where the mean function is a partially linear single index model and the variance function depends upon a generalized partially linear single index model. We do not insist that the variance function depend only upon the mean function, as happens in the classical generalized partially linear single index model. We develop efficient and practical estimation methods for the variance function and for the mean function. Asymptotic theory for the parametric and nonparametric parts of the model is developed. Simulations illustrate the results. An empirical example involving ozone levels is used to further illustrate the results, and is shown to be a case where the variance function does not depend upon the mean function.

Generalization of Einstein's gravitational field equations

Science.gov (United States)

Moulin, Frédéric

2017-12-01

The Riemann tensor is the cornerstone of general relativity, but as is well known it does not appear explicitly in Einstein's equation of gravitation. This suggests that the latter may not be the most general equation. We propose here for the first time, following a rigorous mathematical treatment based on the variational principle, that there exists a generalized 4-index gravitational field equation containing the Riemann curvature tensor linearly, and thus the Weyl tensor as well. We show that this equation, written in n dimensions, contains the energy-momentum tensor for matter and that of the gravitational field itself. This new 4-index equation remains completely within the framework of general relativity and emerges as a natural generalization of the familiar 2-index Einstein equation. Due to the presence of the Weyl tensor, we show that this equation contains much more information, which fully justifies the use of a fourth-order theory.

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.

Perfusion index and plethysmographic variability index in patients with interscalene nerve catheters.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebastiani, Anne; Philippi, Larissa; Boehme, Stefan; Closhen, Dorothea; Schmidtmann, Irene; Scherhag, Anton; Markstaller, Klaus; Engelhard, Kristin; Pestel, Gunther

2012-12-01

Interscalene nerve blocks provide adequate analgesia, but there are no objective criteria for early assessment of correct catheter placement. In the present study, pulse oximetry technology was used to evaluate changes in the perfusion index (PI) in both blocked and unblocked arms, and changes in the plethysmographic variability index (PVI) were evaluated once mechanical ventilation was instituted. The PI and PVI values were assessed using a Radical-7™ finger pulse oximetry device (Masimo Corp., Irvine, CA, USA) in both arms of 30 orthopedic patients who received an interscalene catheter at least 25 min before induction of general anesthesia. Data were evaluated at baseline, on application of local anesthetics; five, ten, and 15 min after onset of interscalene nerve blocks; after induction of general anesthesia; before and after a 500 mL colloid fluid challenge; and five minutes thereafter. In the 25 patients with successful blocks, the difference between the PI values in the blocked arm and the PI values in the contralateral arm increased within five minutes of the application of the local anesthetics (P < 0.05) and increased progressively until 15 min. After induction of general anesthesia, the PI increased in the unblocked arm while it remained relatively constant in the blocked arm, thus reducing the difference in the PI. A fluid challenge resulted in a decrease in PVI values in both arms. The perfusion index increases after successful interscalene nerve blockade and may be used as an indicator for successful block placement in awake patients. The PVI values before and after a fluid challenge can be useful to detect changes in preload, and this can be performed in both blocked and unblocked arms.

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...

Asymptomatic aortic stenosis: An assessment of patients' and of their general practitioners' knowledge, after an indexed specialized assessment in community practice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raphaëlle-Ashley Guerbaii

Full Text Available Clinical and echocardiography follow-up is recommended in patients with aortic stenosis to detect symptom onset, thus a watchful waiting approach has to be safe and effective. For both AS patients and their general practitioners, evaluation of valvular heart disease (VHD knowledge, after the indexed specialized assessment has never been measured.To evaluate the knowledge of clinical symptoms of aortic stenosis by both patients and their general practitioner.Sixty-four patients, with moderate to severe and initially asymptomatic AS (median AVA (interquartile range 1.01(0.80-1.15 cm2 previously referred to a tertiary center and medically managed for at least 6 months after the index echocardiogram, and their primary care doctors were interviewed on the phone and asked to answer specific questions related to knowledge of aortic stenosis symptoms.Fifty-six percent of patients quoted shortness of breath as one of the aortic stenosis symptoms, and only 16% knew the 3 aortic stenosis symptoms. Fifty percent of patients reported having received sufficient information regarding aortic stenosis; only 48% remembered receiving information regarding specific symptoms. Only 14% general practitioners quoted the 3 specific symptoms. According to the initial recommendation, only 41 patients (64% benefitted from a 6-to-12 month clinical and echocardiography follow up.GPs are not sufficiently trained to safely manage AS patients in the community and to ensure adequate follow-up and monitoring. AS patients were not properly informed about their diagnosis and symptomatology. Hence, therapeutic education should be improved for patients with asymptomatic AS and continuous medical education on VHD should be reinforced, for GPs.

Scintillation index and performance analysis of wireless optical links over non-Kolmogorov weak turbulence based on generalized atmospheric spectral model.

Science.gov (United States)

Cang, Ji; Liu, Xu

2011-09-26

Based on the generalized spectral model for non-Kolmogorov atmospheric turbulence, analytic expressions of the scintillation index (SI) are derived for plane, spherical optical waves and a partially coherent Gaussian beam propagating through non-Kolmogorov turbulence horizontally in the weak fluctuation regime. The new expressions relate the SI to the finite turbulence inner and outer scales, spatial coherence of the source and spectral power-law and then used to analyze the effects of atmospheric condition and link length on the performance of wireless optical communication links. © 2011 Optical Society of America

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....

Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Caribe General Electric Product in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico

Science.gov (United States)

The Caribe General Electric Product facility (GE Río Piedras) covers approximately 4 acres and is situated on the northern coastal plain in a relatively flat industrial/urban area of Río Piedras with an elevation between 20 and 40 feet above mean sea leve

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.

On the index of G-spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volovikov, A Yu

2000-01-01

With a G-space, where G is a compact Lie group, one can associate an ideal in the cohomology ring of the classifying space for G. It is called the ideal-valued index of the G-space. A filtration of the ideal-valued index that arises in a natural way from the Leray spectral sequence is considered. Properties of the index with filtration are studied and numerical indices are introduced. These indices are convenient for estimates of the G-category and the study of the set of critical points of a G-invariant functional defined on a manifold. A generalization of the Bourgin-Yang theorem for the index with filtration is proved. This result is used for estimates of the index of the space of partial coincidences for a map of a space with p-torus action in a Euclidean space

Estimating Search Engine Index Size Variability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van den Bosch, Antal; Bogers, Toine; De Kunder, Maurice

2016-01-01

One of the determining factors of the quality of Web search engines is the size of their index. In addition to its influence on search result quality, the size of the indexed Web can also tell us something about which parts of the WWW are directly accessible to the everyday user. We propose a novel...... method of estimating the size of a Web search engine’s index by extrapolating from document frequencies of words observed in a large static corpus of Web pages. In addition, we provide a unique longitudinal perspective on the size of Google and Bing’s indices over a nine-year period, from March 2006...... until January 2015. We find that index size estimates of these two search engines tend to vary dramatically over time, with Google generally possessing a larger index than Bing. This result raises doubts about the reliability of previous one-off estimates of the size of the indexed Web. We find...

Multi-band Microwave Antennas and Devices based on Generalized Negative-Refractive-Index Transmission Lines

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Colan Graeme Matthew

Focused on the quad-band generalized negative-refractive-index transmission line (G-NRI-TL), this thesis presents a variety of novel printed G-NRI-TL multi-band microwave device and antenna prototypes. A dual-band coupled-line coupler, an all-pass G-NRI-TL bridged-T circuit, a dual-band metamaterial leaky-wave antenna, and a multi-band G-NRI-TL resonant antenna are all new developments resulting from this research. In addition, to continue the theme of multi-band components, negative-refractive-index transmission lines are used to create a dual-band circularly polarized transparent patch antenna and a two-element wideband decoupled meander antenna system. High coupling over two independently-specified frequency bands is the hallmark of the G-NRI-TL coupler: it is 0.35lambda0 long but achieves approximately -3 dB coupling over both bands with a maximum insertion loss of 1 dB. This represents greater design flexibility than conventional coupled-line couplers and less loss than subsequent G-NRI-TL couplers. The single-ended bridged-T G-NRI-TL offers a metamaterial unit cell with an all-pass magnitude response up to 8 GHz, while still preserving the quad-band phase response of the original circuit. It is shown how the all-pass response leads to wider bandwidths and improved matching in quad-band inverters, power dividers, and hybrid couplers. The dual-band metamaterial leaky-wave antenna presented here was the first to be reported in the literature, and it allows broadside radiation at both 2 GHz and 6 GHz without experiencing the broadside stopband common to conventional periodic antennas. Likewise, the G-NRI-TL resonant antenna is the first reported instance of such a device, achieving quad-band operation between 2.5 GHz and 5.6 GHz, with a minimum radiation efficiency of 80%. Negative-refractive-index transmission line loading is applied to two devices: an NRI-TL meander antenna achieves a measured 52% impedance bandwidth, while a square patch antenna incorporates

RPC Production at General Tecnica: a mass scale production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Della Volpe, D.; Morganti, S.

2006-01-01

The construction of LHC has deeply changed the RPC production. The enormous amount of detector needed and the strong requirements on gas volume quality had a deep impact on the production chain and on the QC and QA at the production site. This basically has brought the RPC from an almost hand-crafted detector to a medium scale mass product. The most critical aspects of the production chain have been modified and/or improved introducing new and more rigorous QC and QA procedures to guarantee the detector quality and improve the management of storage and the procurement on materials. Here it will be presented the work carried on in the last four year at the production site to improve and check the quality and the results achieved. Something like 10000 RPC were produced between 2002 and 2005. Also a preliminary and rough analysis on the efficiencies of the various phases in the chain production based on ATLAS production will be presented

[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...

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...

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...

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

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Nian-Nian; Wang, Cun-Hui; Ni, Hong; Wang, Heng

2017-12-05

China began to implement the national medical and health system and public hospital reforms in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Anhui Province is one of the four pilot provinces, and the medical reform measures received wide attention nationwide. The effectiveness of the above reform needs to get attention. This study aimed to master the efficiency and productivity of county-level public hospitals based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and Malmquist index in Anhui, China, and then provide improvement measures for the future hospital development. We chose 12 country-level hospitals based on geographical distribution and the economic development level in Anhui Province. Relevant data that were collected in the field and then sorted were provided by the administrative departments of the hospitals. DEA models were used to calculate the dynamic efficiency and Malmquist index factors for the 12 institutions. During 2010-2015, the overall average relative service efficiency of 12 county-level public hospitals was 0.926, and the number of hospitals achieved an effective DEA for each year from 2010 to 2015 was 4, 6, 7, 7, 6, and 8, respectively, as measured using DEA. During this same period, the average overall production efficiency was 0.983, and the total productivity factor had declined. The overall production efficiency of five hospitals was >1, and the rest are productivity has not been effectively improved. County-level public hospitals need to combine their own reality to find their own deficiencies.

How good is controlled attenuation parameter and fatty liver index for assessing liver steatosis in general population: correlation with ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Carvalhana, Sofia; Leitão, Jorge; Alves, Ana C; Bourbon, Mafalda; Cortez-Pinto, Helena

2014-07-01

Liver steatosis measurement by controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) is a non-invasive method for diagnosing steatosis, based on transient elastography. Its usefulness as screening procedure for hepatic steatosis in general population has not been previously evaluated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CAP and fatty liver index (FLI) for detection and quantification of steatosis in general population. Recruitment was done from a prospective epidemiological study of the general adult population. Steatosis was evaluated using CAP, FLI and ultrasound (US). Steatosis scored according to Hamaguchi's US scoring, from 0 (S0) to 6 (S6) points. Hepatic steatosis defined by score ≥2 (S≥2) and moderate/severe steatosis by score ≥4 (S≥4). Performance of CAP and FLI for diagnosing steatosis compared with US was assessed using areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC). From 219 consecutive individuals studied, 13 (5.9%) excluded because of failure/unreliable liver stiffness measurements. Steatosis prevalence: S≥2 38.4% and S≥4 12.1%. CAP significantly correlated with steatosis (ρ = 0.73, P steatosis score (ρ = 0.76; P steatosis quantification in the general population. Larger studies are needed for validation. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Is hepatic steatosis associated with left ventricular mass index increase in the general population?

Science.gov (United States)

Piontek, Katharina; Schmidt, Carsten O; Baumeister, Sebastian E; Lerch, Markus M; Mayerle, Julia; Dörr, Marcus; Felix, Stephan B; Völzke, Henry

2017-01-01

AIM To investigate the association between hepatic steatosis and change in left ventricular mass index (LVMI) over five years, and examine whether systolic and diastolic blood pressures are mediators of the association between hepatic steatosis and LVMI using a general population sample. METHODS We analyzed data from the Study of Health in Pomerania. The study population comprised 1298 individuals aged 45 to 81 years. Hepatic steatosis was defined as the presence of a hyperechogenic pattern of the liver together with elevated serum alanine transferase levels. Left ventricular mass was determined echocardiographically and indexed to height2.7. Path analyses were conducted to differentiate direct and indirect paths from hepatic steatosis to LVMI encompassing systolic and diastolic blood pressure as potential mediating variables. RESULTS Hepatic steatosis was a significant predictor for all measured echocardiographic characteristics at baseline. Path analyses revealed that the association of hepatic steatosis with LVMI change after five years was negligibly small (β = -0.12, s.e. = 0.21, P = 0.55). Systolic blood pressure at baseline was inversely associated with LVMI change (β = -0.09, s.e. = 0.03, P < 0.01), while no association between diastolic blood pressure at baseline and LVMI change was evident (β = 0.03, s.e. = 0.05, P = 0.56). The effect of the indirect path from hepatic steatosis to LVMI via systolic baseline blood pressure was small (β = -0.20, s.e. = 0.10, P = 0.07). No indirect effect was observed for the path via diastolic baseline blood pressure (β = 0.03, s.e. = 0.06, P = 0.60). Similar associations were observed in the subgroup of individuals not receiving beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, or drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system. CONCLUSION Baseline associations between hepatic steatosis and LVMI do not extend to associations with LVMI change after five years. More studies are needed to study the longitudinal effects of hepatic

Generalized Polansky Index as an Aromacity Measure in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bultinck, P.; Ponec, Robert; Gallegos, A.; Fias, S.; Van Damme, S.; Carbó-Dorca, R.

2006-01-01

Roč. 79, č. 3 (2006), s. 363-371 ISSN 0011-1643 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA4072403 Grant - others:MCT(BE) BQU2003/7420/C05/01 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : polansky index * quantum similarity * aromaticity Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 0.778, year: 2006

Generalized coherent state approach to star products and applications to the fuzzy sphere

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexanian, G.; Pinzul, A.; Stern, A.

2001-01-01

We construct a star product associated with an arbitrary two-dimensional Poisson structure using generalized coherent states on the complex plane. From our approach one easily recovers the star product for the fuzzy torus, and also one for the fuzzy sphere. For the latter we need to define the 'fuzzy' stereographic projection to the plane and the fuzzy sphere integration measure, which in the commutative limit reduce to the usual formulae for the sphere

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...

Simulation of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument aerosol index using the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System aerosol reanalysis products

Science.gov (United States)

Colarco, Peter R.; Gassó, Santiago; Ahn, Changwoo; Buchard, Virginie; da Silva, Arlindo M.; Torres, Omar

2017-11-01

We provide an analysis of the commonly used Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aerosol index (AI) product for qualitative detection of the presence and loading of absorbing aerosols. In our analysis, simulated top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiances are produced at the OMI footprints from a model atmosphere and aerosol profile provided by the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications aerosol reanalysis (MERRAero). Having established the credibility of the MERRAero simulation of the OMI AI in a previous paper we describe updates in the approach and aerosol optical property assumptions. The OMI TOA radiances are computed in cloud-free conditions from the MERRAero atmospheric state, and the AI is calculated. The simulated TOA radiances are fed to the OMI near-UV aerosol retrieval algorithms (known as OMAERUV) is compared to the MERRAero calculated AI. Two main sources of discrepancy are discussed: one pertaining to the OMI algorithm assumptions of the surface pressure, which are generally different from what the actual surface pressure of an observation is, and the other related to simplifying assumptions in the molecular atmosphere radiative transfer used in the OMI algorithms. Surface pressure assumptions lead to systematic biases in the OMAERUV AI, particularly over the oceans. Simplifications in the molecular radiative transfer lead to biases particularly in regions of topography intermediate to surface pressures of 600 and 1013.25 hPa. Generally, the errors in the OMI AI due to these considerations are less than 0.2 in magnitude, though larger errors are possible, particularly over land. We recommend that future versions of the OMI algorithms use surface pressures from readily available atmospheric analyses combined with high-spatial-resolution topographic maps and include more surface pressure nodal points in their radiative transfer lookup tables.

On the Additively Weighted Harary Index of Some Composite Graphs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Pricing Equity-Indexed Annuities under Stochastic Interest Rates Using Copulas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Generalization of binary tensor product schemes depends upon four parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bashir, R.; Bari, M.; Mustafa, G.

2018-01-01

This article deals with general formulae of parametric and non parametric bivariate subdivision scheme with four parameters. By assigning specific values to those parameters we get some special cases of existing tensor product schemes as well as a new proposed scheme. The behavior of schemes produced by the general formulae is interpolating, approximating and relaxed. Approximating bivariate subdivision schemes produce some other surfaces as compared to interpolating bivariate subdivision schemes. Polynomial reproduction and polynomial generation are desirable properties of subdivision schemes. Capability of polynomial reproduction and polynomial generation is strongly connected with smoothness, sum rules, convergence and approximation order. We also calculate the polynomial generation and polynomial reproduction of 9-point bivariate approximating subdivision scheme. Comparison of polynomial reproduction, polynomial generation and continuity of existing and proposed schemes has also been established. Some numerical examples are also presented to show the behavior of bivariate schemes. (author)

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)

General analysis of the intermediate vector boson production in hadron collisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rekalo, M.P.

1981-01-01

Polarization states of intermediate vector W(Z) bosons produced in inclusive hadron-hadron collisions, a 1 +a 2 →W(Z)+X, where a 1 a 2 are some nonpolarized hadrons, X is a nondetected particle assembly are studied in general. Since spatial parity in these processes is not preserved, polarized W(Z) boson production must be determined by 9 real structural functions, 4 of which characterize the effects of invariance violation in relation to spatial reflections. Three structural functions (P-odd) for pole W(Z) production mechanisms in the quantum chromodynamics should exactly equal zero (with regard to the gluon errors). The relation of the W(Z) matrix elements with the structural functions in different coordinate systems used while discussing the angular distributions of W(Z) boson decay products is established. Decription of the W(Z) polarization properties is analyzed in terms of the 4-vector of spin and tenzor of quadrupole polarization [ru

Environmental/Biomedical Terminology Index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huffstetler, J.K.; Dailey, N.S.; Rickert, L.W.; Chilton, B.D.

1976-12-01

The Information Center Complex (ICC), a centrally administered group of information centers, provides information support to environmental and biomedical research groups and others within and outside Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In-house data base building and development of specialized document collections are important elements of the ongoing activities of these centers. ICC groups must be concerned with language which will adequately classify and insure retrievability of document records. Language control problems are compounded when the complexity of modern scientific problem solving demands an interdisciplinary approach. Although there are several word lists, indexes, and thesauri specific to various scientific disciplines usually grouped as Environmental Sciences, no single generally recognized authority can be used as a guide to the terminology of all environmental science. If biomedical terminology for the description of research on environmental effects is also needed, the problem becomes even more complex. The building of a word list which can be used as a general guide to the environmental/biomedical sciences has been a continuing activity of the Information Center Complex. This activity resulted in the publication of the Environmental Biomedical Terminology Index

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

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

GHGs and air pollutants embodied in China's international trade: Temporal and spatial index decomposition analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhengyan; Mao, Xianqiang; Song, Peng

2017-01-01

Temporal index decomposition analysis and spatial index decomposition analysis were applied to understand the driving forces of the emissions embodied in China's exports and net exports during 2002-2011, respectively. The accumulated emissions embodied in exports accounted for approximately 30% of the total emissions in China; although the contribution of the sectoral total emissions intensity (technique effect) declined, the scale effect was largely responsible for the mounting emissions associated with export, and the composition effect played a largely insignificant role. Calculations of the emissions embodied in net exports suggest that China is generally in an environmentally inferior position compared with its major trade partners. The differences in the economy-wide emission intensities between China and its major trade partners were the biggest contribution to this reality, and the trade balance effect played a less important role. However, a lower degree of specialization in pollution intensive products in exports than in imports helped to reduce slightly the emissions embodied in net exports. The temporal index decomposition analysis results suggest that China should take effective measures to optimize export and supply-side structure and reduce the total emissions intensity. According to spatial index decomposition analysis, it is suggested that a more aggressive import policy was useful for curbing domestic and global emissions, and the transfer of advanced production technologies and emission control technologies from developed to developing countries should be a compulsory global environmental policy option to mitigate the possible leakage of pollution emissions caused by international trade.

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...

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.

TRIGA International - History of Training Research Isotope production General Atomics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

TRIGA conceived at GA in 1956 by a distinguished group of scientists including Edward Teller and Freeman Dyson. First TRIGA reactor Mk-1 was commissioned on 3 may 1958 at G.A. Characteristic feature of TRIGA reactors is inherent safety: Sitting can be confinement or conventional building. TRIGA reactors are the most prevalent in the world: 67 reactors in 24 countries. Steady state powers up to 14 MWt, pulsing up to 22,000 MWt. To enlarge the scope of its manufactured products, CERCA engaged in a Joint Venture with General Atomics, and in July 1995 a new Company was founded: TRIGA INTERNATIONAL SAS (50% GA, 50% CERCA; Head Office: Paris (France); Sales offices: GA San Diego (Ca, USA) and CERCA Lyon (France); Manufacturing plant: CERCA Romans. General Atomics ID: founded in 1955 at San Diego, California, by General Dynamics; status: Privately held corporation; owners: Neal and Linden Blue; business: High technology research, design, manufacturing, and production for industry and Government in the U.S. and overseas; locations: U.S., Germany, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Morocco; employees: 5,000. TRIGA's ID: CERCA is a subsidiary of AREVA, born in November 05, 1957. Activities: fuel manufacture for research reactor, equipment and components for high-energy physics, radioactive sources and reference sources; plants locations: Romans and Pierrelatte (France); total strength: 180. Since the last five years TRIGA has manufactured and delivered more than 800 fuel elements with a door to door service. TRIGA International has the experience to manufacture all types of TRIGA fuel: standard fuel elements, instrumented fuel elements, fuel followed control rods, geometry: 37.3 mm (1.47 in.), 35.8 mm (1.4 in), 13 mm (0.5 in), chemical Composition: U w% 8.5, 12, 20, 30 and 45 w/o, erbium and no erbium. TRIGA International is on INL's approved vendor list (ISO 9000/NQA) and is ready to meet any TRIGA fuel needs either in the US or worldwide

General description and production lines of the Egyptian fuel manufacturing pilot plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zidan, W.I.; Elseaidy, I.M.

1999-01-01

The Egyptian Fuel Manufacturing Pilot Plant, FMPP, is a new facility, producing an MTR-type fuel elements required for the Egyptian Second Research Reactor, ETRR-2, as well as other plates or elements for an external clients with the same type and enrichment percent or lower, (LEU). General description is presented. The production lines in FMPP, which begin from uranium hexaflouride (UF 6 , 19.7±0.2 % U 235 by wt), aluminum powder, and nuclear grade 6061 aluminium alloy in sheets, bars, and rods with the different heat treatments and dimensions as a raw materials, are processed through a series of the manufacturing, inspection, and quality control plan to produce the final specified MTR-type fuel elements. All these processes and the product control in each step are presented. The specifications of the final product are presented. (author)

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...

Risk factors for generally reduced productivity--a prospective cohort study of young adults with neck or upper-extremity musculoskeletal symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Boström, Maria; Dellve, Lotta; Thomée, Sara; Hagberg, Mats

2008-04-01

This study prospectively assessed the importance of individual conditions and computer use during school or work and leisure time as risk factors for self-reported generally reduced productivity due to musculoskeletal complaints among young adults with musculoskeletal symptoms in the neck or upper extremities. A cohort of 2914 young adults (18-25 years, vocational school and college or university students) responded to an internet-based questionnaire concerning musculoskeletal symptoms related to individual conditions and computer use during school or work and leisure time that possibly affected general productivity. Prevalence ratios (PR) were used to assess prospective risk factors for generally reduced productivity. The selected study sample (N=1051) had reported neck or upper-extremity symptoms. At baseline, 280 of them reported reduced productivity. A follow-up of the 771 who reported no reduced productivity was carried out after 1 year. Risk factors for self-reported generally reduced productivity for those followed-up were symptoms in two or three locations or dimensions for the upper back or neck and the shoulders, arms, wrists, or hands [PR 2.30, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.40-3.78], symptoms persisting longer than 90 days in the shoulders, arms, wrists, or hands (PR 2.50, 95% CI 1.12-5.58), current symptoms in the shoulders, arms, wrists, or hands (PR 1.78, 95% CI 1.10-2.90) and computer use 8-14 hours/week during leisure time (PR 2.32, 95% CI 1.20-4.47). A stronger relationship was found if three or four risk factors were present. For women, a relationship was found between generally reduced productivity and widespread and current symptoms in the upper extremities. The main risk factors for generally reduced productivity due to musculoskeletal symptoms among young adults in this study were chronic symptoms in the upper extremities and widespread symptoms in the neck and upper extremities.

A step-defined sedentary lifestyle index: <5000 steps/day.

Science.gov (United States)

Tudor-Locke, Catrine; Craig, Cora L; Thyfault, John P; Spence, John C

2013-02-01

Step counting (using pedometers or accelerometers) is widely accepted by researchers, practitioners, and the general public. Given the mounting evidence of the link between low steps/day and time spent in sedentary behaviours, how few steps/day some populations actually perform, and the growing interest in the potentially deleterious effects of excessive sedentary behaviours on health, an emerging question is "How many steps/day are too few?" This review examines the utility, appropriateness, and limitations of using a reoccurring candidate for a step-defined sedentary lifestyle index: 10 000) to lower (sedentary lifestyle index for adults is appropriate for researchers and practitioners and for communicating with the general public. There is little evidence to advocate any specific value indicative of a step-defined sedentary lifestyle index in children and adolescents.

Generalization of Einstein's gravitational field equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moulin, Frederic

2017-01-01

The Riemann tensor is the cornerstone of general relativity, but as is well known it does not appear explicitly in Einstein's equation of gravitation. This suggests that the latter may not be the most general equation. We propose here for the first time, following a rigorous mathematical treatment based on the variational principle, that there exists a generalized 4-index gravitational field equation containing the Riemann curvature tensor linearly, and thus the Weyl tensor as well. We show that this equation, written in n dimensions, contains the energy-momentum tensor for matter and that of the gravitational field itself. This new 4-index equation remains completely within the framework of general relativity and emerges as a natural generalization of the familiar 2-index Einstein equation. Due to the presence of the Weyl tensor, we show that this equation contains much more information, which fully justifies the use of a fourth-order theory. (orig.)

Generalization of Einstein's gravitational field equations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moulin, Frederic [Ecole Normale Superieure Paris-Saclay, Departement de Physique, Cachan (France)

2017-12-15

The Riemann tensor is the cornerstone of general relativity, but as is well known it does not appear explicitly in Einstein's equation of gravitation. This suggests that the latter may not be the most general equation. We propose here for the first time, following a rigorous mathematical treatment based on the variational principle, that there exists a generalized 4-index gravitational field equation containing the Riemann curvature tensor linearly, and thus the Weyl tensor as well. We show that this equation, written in n dimensions, contains the energy-momentum tensor for matter and that of the gravitational field itself. This new 4-index equation remains completely within the framework of general relativity and emerges as a natural generalization of the familiar 2-index Einstein equation. Due to the presence of the Weyl tensor, we show that this equation contains much more information, which fully justifies the use of a fourth-order theory. (orig.)

A Longitudinal Analysis of Search Engine Index Size

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van den Bosch, Antal; Bogers, Toine; De Kunder, Maurice

2015-01-01

One of the determining factors of the quality of Web search engines is the size of their index. In addition to its influence on search result quality, the size of the indexed Web can also tell us something about which parts of the WWW are directly accessible to the everyday user. We propose a novel...... method of estimating the size of a Web search engine’s index by extrapolating from document frequencies of words observed in a large static corpus of Web pages. In addition, we provide a unique longitudinal perspective on the size of Google and Bing’s indexes over a nine-year period, from March 2006...... until January 2015. We find that index size estimates of these two search engines tend to vary dramatically over time, with Google generally possessing a larger index than Bing. This result raises doubts about the reliability of previous one-off estimates of the size of the indexed Web. We find...

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

Differential modal delay measurements in a graded-index multimode fibre waveguide, using a single-mode fibre pro mode selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sunak, H.R.D.; Soares, S.M.

1981-01-01

Differential model delay (DMD) measurements in graded-index multimode optical fibre waveguides, which are very promising for many types of communication system were carried out. These DMD measurements give a direct indication of the deviation of the refractive index profile, from the optimum value, at a given wavelength. For the first time, by using a single-mode fibre, a few guided modes in the graded-index fibre were selected, in two different ways: launching a few modes at the input end or selecting a few modes at the output end. By doing so important features of propagation in the fibre were revealed, especially the intermodal coupling that may exist. The importance of this determination of intermodal coupling or mode mixing, particularly when many fibres are joined together in a link, and the merits of DMD measurements in general and their importance for the production of high bandwidth graded-index fibres are discussed. (Author) [pt

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...

Safety Performance Index Industri Batik Tulis Berdasarkan Kriteria Majemuk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nachnul Ansori

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Accident generally occurs due to the activities which is done in unsafe conditions or even unsafe behavior. These conditions can influence workers productivity. In batik industries, those workers use toxic material and work in non ergonomic atmosphere. Moreover, they also do not take care of the environment and do not use personal protective equipments (PPE. Workers at Madura batik SMEs have not fully realized the significance of occupational health and safety (OHS in their working areas. The aims of this research is to evaluate OHS performance based on the indicators of safety performance index (SPI, which is multicriteria, in that industri. The safety performance attributes were obtained from factor analysis from the previous study. The index is calculated based on the weighted evaluation results of critical behavior checklist (CBC, integrated with analytical hierarchy process (AHP. As the results, we should give priority to improve the knowledge and experience toward OHS of the workers and also improve the working environment of the Madura’s batik industries. Additionally, the performance of OHS in coloring process is also on the threshold of unsafe condition, further development on the coloring process is needed.

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.

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available Toggle navigation Test/Treatment Patient Type Screening/Wellness Disease/Condition Safety En Español More Info Images/Videos About Us News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound imaging ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to produce pictures of the inside of ... pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound scanning or ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... More Info Images/Videos About Us News Physician Resources Professions Site Index A-Z General Ultrasound Ultrasound ... computer or television monitor. The image is created based on the amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch) and time ...

Environmental/Biomedical Terminology Index

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huffstetler, J.K.; Dailey, N.S.; Rickert, L.W.; Chilton, B.D.

1976-12-01

The Information Center Complex (ICC), a centrally administered group of information centers, provides information support to environmental and biomedical research groups and others within and outside Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In-house data base building and development of specialized document collections are important elements of the ongoing activities of these centers. ICC groups must be concerned with language which will adequately classify and insure retrievability of document records. Language control problems are compounded when the complexity of modern scientific problem solving demands an interdisciplinary approach. Although there are several word lists, indexes, and thesauri specific to various scientific disciplines usually grouped as Environmental Sciences, no single generally recognized authority can be used as a guide to the terminology of all environmental science. If biomedical terminology for the description of research on environmental effects is also needed, the problem becomes even more complex. The building of a word list which can be used as a general guide to the environmental/biomedical sciences has been a continuing activity of the Information Center Complex. This activity resulted in the publication of the Environmental Biomedical Terminology Index (EBTI).

A Proposed Legislative Bill to Economically Index the Small Purchase Thresholds Within the Federal Government Procurement System

Science.gov (United States)

1990-12-01

to others. IF, For example, avocados are two dollars each, a consumer may choose to have cucumber, at twenty-Five cents each, in his salad instead...in 1986, after the revision of the home ownership aspect of the CPI in 1983. The CPI is a Familiar index and despite its overly general market basket...loans by the government to enable producers to continue to produce items whose market price is less than the production price. In other words, commodity

GHGs and air pollutants embodied in China's international trade: Temporal and spatial index decomposition analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengyan Liu

Full Text Available Temporal index decomposition analysis and spatial index decomposition analysis were applied to understand the driving forces of the emissions embodied in China's exports and net exports during 2002-2011, respectively. The accumulated emissions embodied in exports accounted for approximately 30% of the total emissions in China; although the contribution of the sectoral total emissions intensity (technique effect declined, the scale effect was largely responsible for the mounting emissions associated with export, and the composition effect played a largely insignificant role. Calculations of the emissions embodied in net exports suggest that China is generally in an environmentally inferior position compared with its major trade partners. The differences in the economy-wide emission intensities between China and its major trade partners were the biggest contribution to this reality, and the trade balance effect played a less important role. However, a lower degree of specialization in pollution intensive products in exports than in imports helped to reduce slightly the emissions embodied in net exports. The temporal index decomposition analysis results suggest that China should take effective measures to optimize export and supply-side structure and reduce the total emissions intensity. According to spatial index decomposition analysis, it is suggested that a more aggressive import policy was useful for curbing domestic and global emissions, and the transfer of advanced production technologies and emission control technologies from developed to developing countries should be a compulsory global environmental policy option to mitigate the possible leakage of pollution emissions caused by international trade.

Biodiversity influences plant productivity through niche–efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jingjing; Zhou, Mo; Tobin, Patrick C.; McGuire, A. David; Reich, Peter B.

2015-01-01

The loss of biodiversity is threatening ecosystem productivity and services worldwide, spurring efforts to quantify its effects on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Previous research has focused on the positive role of biodiversity on resource acquisition (i.e., niche complementarity), but a lack of study on resource utilization efficiency, a link between resource and productivity, has rendered it difficult to quantify the biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship. Here we demonstrate that biodiversity loss reduces plant productivity, other things held constant, through theory, empirical evidence, and simulations under gradually relaxed assumptions. We developed a theoretical model named niche–efficiency to integrate niche complementarity and a heretofore-ignored mechanism of diminishing marginal productivity in quantifying the effects of biodiversity loss on plant productivity. Based on niche–efficiency, we created a relative productivity metric and a productivity impact index (PII) to assist in biological conservation and resource management. Relative productivity provides a standardized measure of the influence of biodiversity on individual productivity, and PII is a functionally based taxonomic index to assess individual species’ inherent value in maintaining current ecosystem productivity. Empirical evidence from the Alaska boreal forest suggests that every 1% reduction in overall plant diversity could render an average of 0.23% decline in individual tree productivity. Out of the 283 plant species of the region, we found that large woody plants generally have greater PII values than other species. This theoretical model would facilitate the integration of biological conservation in the international campaign against several pressing global issues involving energy use, climate change, and poverty. PMID:25901325

Biodiversity influences plant productivity through niche–efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jingjing; Zhou, Mo; Tobin, Patrick C.; McGuire, A. David; Reich, Peter B.

2015-01-01

The loss of biodiversity is threatening ecosystem productivity and services worldwide, spurring efforts to quantify its effects on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Previous research has focused on the positive role of biodiversity on resource acquisition (i.e., niche complementarity), but a lack of study on resource utilization efficiency, a link between resource and productivity, has rendered it difficult to quantify the biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship. Here we demonstrate that biodiversity loss reduces plant productivity, other things held constant, through theory, empirical evidence, and simulations under gradually relaxed assumptions. We developed a theoretical model named niche–efficiency to integrate niche complementarity and a heretofore-ignored mechanism of diminishing marginal productivity in quantifying the effects of biodiversity loss on plant productivity. Based on niche–efficiency, we created a relative productivity metric and a productivity impact index (PII) to assist in biological conservation and resource management. Relative productivity provides a standardized measure of the influence of biodiversity on individual productivity, and PII is a functionally based taxonomic index to assess individual species’ inherent value in maintaining current ecosystem productivity. Empirical evidence from the Alaska boreal forest suggests that every 1% reduction in overall plant diversity could render an average of 0.23% decline in individual tree productivity. Out of the 283 plant species of the region, we found that large woody plants generally have greater PII values than other species. This theoretical model would facilitate the integration of biological conservation in the international campaign against several pressing global issues involving energy use, climate change, and poverty.

Biodiversity influences plant productivity through niche-efficiency.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Jingjing; Zhou, Mo; Tobin, Patrick C; McGuire, A David; Reich, Peter B

2015-05-05

The loss of biodiversity is threatening ecosystem productivity and services worldwide, spurring efforts to quantify its effects on the functioning of natural ecosystems. Previous research has focused on the positive role of biodiversity on resource acquisition (i.e., niche complementarity), but a lack of study on resource utilization efficiency, a link between resource and productivity, has rendered it difficult to quantify the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship. Here we demonstrate that biodiversity loss reduces plant productivity, other things held constant, through theory, empirical evidence, and simulations under gradually relaxed assumptions. We developed a theoretical model named niche-efficiency to integrate niche complementarity and a heretofore-ignored mechanism of diminishing marginal productivity in quantifying the effects of biodiversity loss on plant productivity. Based on niche-efficiency, we created a relative productivity metric and a productivity impact index (PII) to assist in biological conservation and resource management. Relative productivity provides a standardized measure of the influence of biodiversity on individual productivity, and PII is a functionally based taxonomic index to assess individual species' inherent value in maintaining current ecosystem productivity. Empirical evidence from the Alaska boreal forest suggests that every 1% reduction in overall plant diversity could render an average of 0.23% decline in individual tree productivity. Out of the 283 plant species of the region, we found that large woody plants generally have greater PII values than other species. This theoretical model would facilitate the integration of biological conservation in the international campaign against several pressing global issues involving energy use, climate change, and poverty.

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.

Index to AEC Information Booklets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1978-01-01

The U. S. Atomic Energy Commission publishes a series of information booklets for the general public. These booklets explain many aspects of nuclear science. Because these booklets cover such a variety of scientific fields, this index was prepared to help the reader find quickly those booklets that contain the information he needs.

Measurement of blood pressure, ankle blood pressure and calculation of ankle brachial index in general practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nexøe, Jørgen; Damsbo, Bent; Lund, Jens Otto

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND: Low ankle brachial index (ABI) is a sensitive measure of 'burden' of atherosclerosis, indicating cardiovascular risk of the asymptomatic patient. Conventionally, ABI values......BACKGROUND: Low ankle brachial index (ABI) is a sensitive measure of 'burden' of atherosclerosis, indicating cardiovascular risk of the asymptomatic patient. Conventionally, ABI values...

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...

2d index and surface operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gadde, Abhijit; Gukov, Sergei

2014-01-01

In this paper we compute the superconformal index of 2d (2,2) supersymmetric gauge theories. The 2d superconformal index, a.k.a. flavored elliptic genus, is computed by a unitary matrix integral much like the matrix integral that computes the 4d superconformal index. We compute the 2d index explicitly for a number of examples. In the case of abelian gauge theories we see that the index is invariant under flop transition and under CY-LG correspondence. The index also provides a powerful check of the Seiberg-type duality for non-abelian gauge theories discovered by Hori and Tong. In the later half of the paper, we study half-BPS surface operators in N=2 superconformal gauge theories. They are engineered by coupling the 2d (2,2) supersymmetric gauge theory living on the support of the surface operator to the 4d N=2 theory, so that different realizations of the same surface operator with a given Levi type are related by a 2d analogue of the Seiberg duality. The index of this coupled system is computed by using the tools developed in the first half of the paper. The superconformal index in the presence of surface defect is expected to be invariant under generalized S-duality. We demonstrate that it is indeed the case. In doing so the Seiberg-type duality of the 2d theory plays an important role

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

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez Díaz-Ambrona, Carlos G.

2016-04-01

Drought severity has many implications for society, including its impacts on the water supply, water pollution, reservoir management and ecosystem. There have been many attempts to characterize its severity, resulting in the numerous drought indices that have been developed (Niemeyer 2008). The'biomass index', based on satellite image derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used in several countries for pasture and forage crops for some years (Rao, 2010; Escribano-Rodriguez et al., 2014). NDVI generally provides a broad overview of the vegetation condition and spatial vegetation distribution in a region. Vegetative drought is closely related with weather impacts. However, in NDVI, the weather component gets subdued by the strong ecological component. Another vegetation index is Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) that separates the short-term weather-related NDVI fluctuations from the long-term ecosystem changes (Kogan, 1990). Therefore, while NDVI shows seasonal vegetation dynamics, VCI rescales vegetation dynamics between 0 and 100 to reflect relative changes in the vegetation condition from extremely bad to optimal (Kogan et al., 2003). In this work a pasture area at La Herreria (Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain) has been delimited. Then, NDVI historical data are reconstructed based on remote sensing imaging MODIS, with 500x500m2 resolution. From the closest meteorological station (Santolaria-Canales, 2015) records of weekly precipitation, temperature and evapotranspiration from 2001 till 2012 were obtained. Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), Crop Moisture Index (CMI) (Palmer, 1968) and Evapotranspiration-Precipitation Ratio (EPR) are calculated in an attempt to relate them to several vegetation indexes: NDVI, VCI and NDVI Change Ratio to Median (RMNDVI). The results are discussed in the context of pasture index insurance. References Escribano Rodriguez, J.Agustín, Carlos Gregorio Hernández Díaz-Ambrona and Ana María Tarquis Alfonso

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

Development of the Eating Choices Index (ECI): a four-item index to measure healthiness of diet

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pot, G.K.; Richards, M.; Prynne, C.J.; Stephen, AM

2014-01-01

Objective Current indices of diet quality generally include intakes of specific foods or nutrients. We sought to develop an index that discriminates healthy and unhealthy eating choices for use in large surveys as a short questionnaire and as a measure in existing studies with adequate dietary data.

The Nurses' Well-Being Index and Factors Influencing This Index among Nurses in Central China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Runtang Meng

Full Text Available A discussion and analysis of factors that contribute to nurses' happiness index can be useful in developing effective interventions to improve nurses' enthusiasm, sense of honor and pride and to improve the efficiency and quality of medical services.In this study, 206 registered nurses at the 2011 annual encounter for 12 Hanchuan hospitals completed a questionnaire survey that covered three aspects of the well-being index and thus served as a comprehensive well-being and general information tool.Based on their index score, the nurses' overall happiness level was moderate. The dimensions of the happiness index are listed in descending order of their contribution to the nurses' comprehensive happiness levels: health concerns, friendly relationships, self-worth, altruism, vitality, positive emotions, personality development, life satisfaction and negative emotions. Four variables (positive emotion, life satisfaction, negative emotions, and friendly relationships jointly explained 47.80% of the total variance of the happiness index; positive emotions had the greatest impact on the happiness index.Appropriate nursing interventions can improve nurses' happiness index scores, thereby increasing nurses' motivation and promoting the development of their nursing practice.

The Nurses’ Well-Being Index and Factors Influencing This Index among Nurses in Central China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bing; Hu, Ying; Yu, Chuanhua

2015-01-01

Backgrounds/Objectives A discussion and analysis of factors that contribute to nurses’ happiness index can be useful in developing effective interventions to improve nurses’ enthusiasm, sense of honor and pride and to improve the efficiency and quality of medical services. Methods In this study, 206 registered nurses at the 2011 annual encounter for 12 Hanchuan hospitals completed a questionnaire survey that covered three aspects of the well-being index and thus served as a comprehensive well-being and general information tool. Results Based on their index score, the nurses’ overall happiness level was moderate. The dimensions of the happiness index are listed in descending order of their contribution to the nurses’ comprehensive happiness levels: health concerns, friendly relationships, self-worth, altruism, vitality, positive emotions, personality development, life satisfaction and negative emotions. Four variables (positive emotion, life satisfaction, negative emotions, and friendly relationships) jointly explained 47.80% of the total variance of the happiness index; positive emotions had the greatest impact on the happiness index. Conclusions Appropriate nursing interventions can improve nurses’ happiness index scores, thereby increasing nurses’ motivation and promoting the development of their nursing practice. PMID:26680594

An inter-comparison of the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) and the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scott, Daniel; Rutty, Michelle; Amelung, Bas; Tang, Mantao

2016-01-01

Much research has been devoted to quantifying optimal or unacceptable climate conditionsboth generally and for specific tourism segments or activities over the last 10 years. This knowledge isnot incorporated in the Tourism Climate Index (TCI), which has also been subject to other

Further analysis of scintillation index for a laser beam propagating through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence based on generalized effective atmospheric spectral model

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jing; Fu, Yu-Long; Yu, Si-Yuan; Xie, Xiao-Long; Tan, Li-Ying

2018-03-01

A new expression of the scintillation index (SI) for a Gaussian-beam wave propagating through moderate-to-strong non-Kolmogorov turbulence is derived, using a generalized effective atmospheric spectrum and the extended Rytov approximation theory. Finite inner and outer scale parameters and high wave number “bump” are considered in the spectrum with a generalized spectral power law in the range of 3–4, instead of the fixed classical Kolmogorov power law of 11/3. The obtained SI expression is then used to analyze the effects of the spectral power law and the inner scale and outer scale on SI under various non-Kolmogorov fluctuation conditions. These results will be useful in future investigations of optical wave propagation through atmospheric turbulence.

Oxidation products are increased in patients affected by non-segmental generalized vitiligo.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaccaro, Mario; Bagnato, Gianluca; Cristani, Mariateresa; Borgia, Francesco; Spatari, Giovanna; Tigano, Valeria; Saja, Antonina; Guarneri, Fabrizio; Cannavò, Serafinella P; Gangemi, Sebastiano

2017-08-01

Several lines of evidence support the relevance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vitiligo, but the exact role of glycation and oxidation of macromolecules needs to be better addressed. To investigate the involvement of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) and advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), we performed a case-control association study by spectrofluorimetry and spectrophotometry, in 47 patients with non-segmental generalized vitiligo and 47 age- and sex-matched controls. Significantly higher levels of both AOPPs (p vitiligo patients compared to healthy controls. In vitiligo patients, AGEs and AOPPs serum levels were directly associated with extension, duration of vitiligo, and disease activity. ROS, and in particular AGEs and AOPPs, could represent one of the main biomarkers to assess the onset and progression of vitiligo, due to the potential role as direct inducers of cell damage and also as autoimmunity triggers. Further longitudinal studies involving larger cohorts of patients are required to elucidate the role of oxidation products in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.

A general enantioselective route to the chamigrene natural product family

KAUST Repository

White, David E.; Stewart, Ian C.; Seashore-Ludlow, Brinton A.; Grubbs, Robert H.; Stoltz, Brian M.

2010-01-01

Described in this report is an enantioselective route toward the chamigrene natural product family. The key disconnections in our synthetic approach include sequential enantioselective decarboxylative allylation and ring-closing olefin metathesis to form the all-carbon quaternary stereocenter and spirocyclic core present in all members of this class of compounds. The generality of this strategy is demonstrated by the first total syntheses of elatol and the proposed structure of laurencenone B, as well as the first enantioselective total syntheses of laurencenone C and α-chamigrene. A brief exploration of the substrate scope of the enantioselective decarboxylative allylation/ring-closing metathesis sequence with fully substituted vinyl chlorides is also presented.

A general enantioselective route to the chamigrene natural product family

KAUST Repository

White, David E.

2010-06-01

Described in this report is an enantioselective route toward the chamigrene natural product family. The key disconnections in our synthetic approach include sequential enantioselective decarboxylative allylation and ring-closing olefin metathesis to form the all-carbon quaternary stereocenter and spirocyclic core present in all members of this class of compounds. The generality of this strategy is demonstrated by the first total syntheses of elatol and the proposed structure of laurencenone B, as well as the first enantioselective total syntheses of laurencenone C and α-chamigrene. A brief exploration of the substrate scope of the enantioselective decarboxylative allylation/ring-closing metathesis sequence with fully substituted vinyl chlorides is also presented.

The musicality of non-musicians: an index for assessing musical sophistication in the general population.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Müllensiefen

Full Text Available Musical skills and expertise vary greatly in Western societies. Individuals can differ in their repertoire of musical behaviours as well as in the level of skill they display for any single musical behaviour. The types of musical behaviours we refer to here are broad, ranging from performance on an instrument and listening expertise, to the ability to employ music in functional settings or to communicate about music. In this paper, we first describe the concept of 'musical sophistication' which can be used to describe the multi-faceted nature of musical expertise. Next, we develop a novel measurement instrument, the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI to assess self-reported musical skills and behaviours on multiple dimensions in the general population using a large Internet sample (n = 147,636. Thirdly, we report results from several lab studies, demonstrating that the Gold-MSI possesses good psychometric properties, and that self-reported musical sophistication is associated with performance on two listening tasks. Finally, we identify occupation, occupational status, age, gender, and wealth as the main socio-demographic factors associated with musical sophistication. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical accounts of implicit and statistical music learning and with regard to social conditions of sophisticated musical engagement.

The musicality of non-musicians: an index for assessing musical sophistication in the general population.

Science.gov (United States)

Müllensiefen, Daniel; Gingras, Bruno; Musil, Jason; Stewart, Lauren

2014-01-01

Musical skills and expertise vary greatly in Western societies. Individuals can differ in their repertoire of musical behaviours as well as in the level of skill they display for any single musical behaviour. The types of musical behaviours we refer to here are broad, ranging from performance on an instrument and listening expertise, to the ability to employ music in functional settings or to communicate about music. In this paper, we first describe the concept of 'musical sophistication' which can be used to describe the multi-faceted nature of musical expertise. Next, we develop a novel measurement instrument, the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI) to assess self-reported musical skills and behaviours on multiple dimensions in the general population using a large Internet sample (n = 147,636). Thirdly, we report results from several lab studies, demonstrating that the Gold-MSI possesses good psychometric properties, and that self-reported musical sophistication is associated with performance on two listening tasks. Finally, we identify occupation, occupational status, age, gender, and wealth as the main socio-demographic factors associated with musical sophistication. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical accounts of implicit and statistical music learning and with regard to social conditions of sophisticated musical engagement.

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.

Exploring the Hjif-Index, an Analogue to the H-Like Index for Journal Impact Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Cabos

2018-04-01

Full Text Available We used the Journal Impact Factor (JIF to develop the hjif-index, calculated in a similar way to h-like indices. To this end, we mapped the JIFs of one JCR group to natural numbers, and evaluated the degree of correspondence between the interval from zero to the highest JIF in the group and a set of natural numbers. Next, we plotted the straight line y = x to obtain the group’s hjif-index as the JIF corresponding to the journal immediately above the straight line. We call the set of journals above the straight line the hjif-core. We calculated hjif-indices corresponding to the 2-year JIF (hjif2-index and 5-year JIF (hjif5-index windows for all 176 JCR groups listed in the 2014 Science edition. We also studied derived indicators such as the distribution of journals in JCR groups according to their hjif-indices, the distribution of journals and JIFs in the hjif-core, and other variables and indicators. We found that the hjif2- and hjif5-index behaved in a similar way, and that in general their distribution showed a peak followed by a relatively long tail. The hjif-index can be used as a tool to rank journals in a manner that better reflects the variable number of journals within a given JCR group and in each group’s hjif-core as an alternative to the more arbitrary JCR-based percentile ranking.

How general are general source conditions?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathé, Peter; Hofmann, Bernd

2008-01-01

Error analysis of regularization methods in Hilbert spaces is based on smoothness assumptions in terms of source conditions. In the traditional setup, i.e. when smoothness is in a power scale, we see that not all elements in the underlying Hilbert space possess some smoothness with this scale. Our main result asserts that this can be overcome when turning to general source conditions defined in terms of index functions. We conclude with some consequences

General concept of a gas engine for a hybrid vehicle, operating on methanol dissociation products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tartakovsky, L.; Aleinikov, Y.; Fainberg, V.; Garbar, A.; Gutman, M.; Hetsroni, G.; Schindler, Y.; Zvirin, Y.

1998-01-01

The paper presents a general concept of a hybrid propulsion system, based on an SI internal combustion engine fueled by methanol dissociation products (MDP). The proposed hybrid propulsion scheme is a series hybrid, which allows the engine to be operated in an on-off mode at constant optimal regime. The engine is fed by gaseous products of methanol dissociation (mainly hydrogen and carbon monoxide) emerging from an on-board catalytic reformer. The general scheme and base operation features of the propulsion system are described. The benefits that may be achieved by combining the well-known idea of on-board methanol dissociation with the hybrid vehicle concept are discussed. The proposed scheme is compared with those of systems operating on gasoline, liquid methanol, hydrogen and also with the multi-regime (not hybrid) engine fed by MDP

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

Trans fatty acid isomers and the trans-9/trans-11 index in fat containing foods

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhnt, Katrin; Baehr, Melanie; Rohrer, Carsten; Jahreis, Gerhard

2011-01-01

To determine trans fatty acid (TFA) distribution of contemporary foods, especially regarding individual trans octadecenoic acids (trans C18:1), 339 German foods of six categories (semi-solid fats, deep-fried potato products, bakery products, confectioneries, instant products and butter) were analysed using two GC methods. Results showed a high variation of TFA content between and within the categories containing between 0 and 40.5% of FAME except in butter, which is a source of natural TFA. The mean TFA values were below 2.0% of FAME, however, bakery products contained 4.5% and butter fat 3.2%, respectively. In addition, the distribution of individual trans C18:1 differed. In samples containing ruminant fat (butter and various confectioneries), vaccenic acid (t11-C18:1, t11) predominated, while in foods containing industrially hydrogenated fats, elaidic acid (trans-9, t9-) and t10-C18:1 were the major trans isomers.. This was reflected by a low t9/t11 index of 0.3 and 0.5 in butter and ruminant fat containing confectioneries, respectively, whilst the highest index was observed in shortenings and deep-fried potato products at 5.2 and 6.8, respectively. In conclusion, the TFA content of foods available on the German market is generally declining, but substantial variations are present. The t9/t11 index could be used as an indicator to determine ruminant fat. Practical applications: A number of studies provide evidence that a high TFA intake, particularly of industrial origin, adversely affects human health. The TFA content of foods could be reduced due to the introduction of several mandatory regulations and modifications regarding the hydrogenation process of oils. The most abundant dietary TFA are the isomers of trans C18:1. Unfortunately, the differentiation of these isomers is not yet very common, though the trans C18:1 profile differs depending on its origin (bacterial hydrogenation in the rumen or industrial hydrogenation). To date, data for TFA content

A new casemix adjustment index for hospital mortality among patients with congestive heart failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Polanczyk, C A; Rohde, L E; Philbin, E A; Di Salvo, T G

1998-10-01

Comparative analysis of hospital outcomes requires reliable adjustment for casemix. Although congestive heart failure is one of the most common indications for hospitalization, congestive heart failure casemix adjustment has not been widely studied. The purposes of this study were (1) to describe and validate a new congestive heart failure-specific casemix adjustment index to predict in-hospital mortality and (2) to compare its performance to the Charlson comorbidity index. Data from all 4,608 admissions to the Massachusetts General Hospital from January 1990 to July 1996 with a principal ICD-9-CM discharge diagnosis of congestive heart failure were evaluated. Massachusetts General Hospital patients were randomly divided in a derivation and a validation set. By logistic regression, odds ratios for in-hospital death were computed and weights were assigned to construct a new predictive index in the derivation set. The performance of the index was tested in an internal Massachusetts General Hospital validation set and in a non-Massachusetts General Hospital external validation set incorporating data from all 1995 New York state hospital discharges with a primary discharge diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Overall in-hospital mortality was 6.4%. Based on the new index, patients were assigned to six categories with incrementally increasing hospital mortality rates ranging from 0.5% to 31%. By logistic regression, "c" statistics of the congestive heart failure-specific index (0.83 and 0.78, derivation and validation set) were significantly superior to the Charlson index (0.66). Similar incrementally increasing hospital mortality rates were observed in the New York database with the congestive heart failure-specific index ("c" statistics 0.75). In an administrative database, this congestive heart failure-specific index may be a more adequate casemix adjustment tool to predict hospital mortality in patients hospitalized for congestive heart failure.

GHGs and air pollutants embodied in China’s international trade: Temporal and spatial index decomposition analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhengyan; Mao, Xianqiang; Song, Peng

2017-01-01

Temporal index decomposition analysis and spatial index decomposition analysis were applied to understand the driving forces of the emissions embodied in China’s exports and net exports during 2002–2011, respectively. The accumulated emissions embodied in exports accounted for approximately 30% of the total emissions in China; although the contribution of the sectoral total emissions intensity (technique effect) declined, the scale effect was largely responsible for the mounting emissions associated with export, and the composition effect played a largely insignificant role. Calculations of the emissions embodied in net exports suggest that China is generally in an environmentally inferior position compared with its major trade partners. The differences in the economy-wide emission intensities between China and its major trade partners were the biggest contribution to this reality, and the trade balance effect played a less important role. However, a lower degree of specialization in pollution intensive products in exports than in imports helped to reduce slightly the emissions embodied in net exports. The temporal index decomposition analysis results suggest that China should take effective measures to optimize export and supply-side structure and reduce the total emissions intensity. According to spatial index decomposition analysis, it is suggested that a more aggressive import policy was useful for curbing domestic and global emissions, and the transfer of advanced production technologies and emission control technologies from developed to developing countries should be a compulsory global environmental policy option to mitigate the possible leakage of pollution emissions caused by international trade. PMID:28441399

General decoupling procedure for expectation values of four-operator products in electron–phonon quantum kinetics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teeny, Nicolas; Fähnle, Manfred

2013-01-01

In the density-matrix formalism of electron–phonon quantum kinetics, the hierarchy of infinitely many coupled equations of motion for the expectation values of products of electron and phonon creation and annihilation operators of arbitrary order is usually terminated on the level of the equations of motion for the expectation values of three-operator products by using decoupling procedures for the four-operator products occurring in these equations. In the literature, decoupling procedures are discussed for special types of electron and phonon states. In the present paper, generalized decoupling procedures are derived for arbitrary electron and phonon states. (paper)

Sertoli cell index and spermatic reserves in adult captive African lions (Panthera leo, Linnaeus, 1758).

Science.gov (United States)

de Barros, João Bosco Gonçalves; de Paula, Tarcízio Antônio Rego; da Matta, Sérgio Luis Pinto; Fonseca, Cláudio César; Leite, Flaviana Lima Guião; Rossi, João Luiz; de Oliveira, Priscila Carvalho; da Costa, Eduardo Paulino

2007-12-01

The intrinsic yield of spermatogenesis and the supporting indexes of the Sertoli cells are the best indicators for the spermatic production capacity in a species. The aim of the present study was to quantify the intrinsic yield of the spermatogenetic process, as well as the Sertoli cell index and spermatic reserves. Testicular fragments of five adult African lions was fixed in 4% glutaric aldehyde, dehydrated at increasing alcohol concentrations, included into hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and were cut into 4 microm thickness. In the seminiferous epithelium of the African lions, 10.3 primary spermatocytes at pre-leptotene phase are produced by the type-A spermatogonia. During meiotic divisions, only 2.7 spermatids were produced from the primary spermatocytes. The general spermatogenesis production in the African lions was approximately 22.1 cells, and each Sertoli cell was able to sustain and maintain approximately 14.9 cells of the germinative line, from which 7.9 are round spermatids. A total of 103x10(6) spermatozoa are produced by each testis gram at each cycle of the seminiferous epithelium. The spermatic reserve of lion is below the amplitude observed in mammals.

Body mass index in relation to semen quality and reproductive hormones among 1,558 Danish men

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tina Kold; Andersson, Anne-Maria; Jørgensen, Niels

2004-01-01

To examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and semen quality among young men from the general population.......To examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and semen quality among young men from the general population....

An Indexing Scheme for Case-Based Manufacturing Vision Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Chengbo; Johansen, John; Luxhøj, James T.

2004-01-01

with the competence improvement of an enterprises manufacturing system. There are two types of cases within the CBRM – an event case (EC) and a general supportive case (GSC). We designed one set of indexing vocabulary for the two types of cases, but a different indexing representation structure for each of them......This paper focuses on one critical element, indexing – retaining and representing knowledge in an applied case-based reasoning (CBR) model for supporting strategic manufacturing vision development (CBRM). Manufacturing vision (MV) is a kind of knowledge management concept and process concerned...

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)

Application study of monthly precipitation forecast in Northeast China based on the cold vortex persistence activity index

Science.gov (United States)

Gang, Liu; Meihui, Qu; Guolin, Feng; Qucheng, Chu; Jing, Cao; Jie, Yang; Ling, Cao; Yao, Feng

2018-03-01

This paper introduces three quantitative indicators to conduct research for characterizing Northeast China cold vortex persistence activity: cold vortex persistence, generalized "cold vortex," and cold vortex precipitation. As discussed in the first part of paper, a hindcast is performed by multiple regressions using Northeast China precipitation from 2012 to 2014 combination with the previous winter 144 air-sea system factors. The results show that the mentioned three cold vortex index series can reflect the spatial and temporal distributions of observational precipitation in 2012-2014 and obtain results. The cold vortex factors are then added to the Forecast System on Dynamical and Analogy Skills (FODAS) to carry out dynamic statistical hindcast of precipitation in Northeast China from 2003 to 2012. Based on the characteristics and significance of each index, precipitation hindcast is carried out for Northeast China in May, June, July, August, May-June, and July-August. It turns out that the Northeast Cold Vortex Index Series, as defined in this paper, can make positive corrections to the FODAS forecast system, and most of the index correction results are higher than the system's own correction value. This study provides quantitative index products and supplies a solid technical foundation and support for monthly precipitation forecast in Northeast China.

Guide for preparing annual reports on radiation-safety testing of electronic products (general)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-10-01

For manufacturers of electronic products other than those for which a specific guide has been issued, the guide replaces the Guide for the Filing of Annual Reports (21 CFR Subchapter J, Section 1002.11), HHS Publication FDA 82-8127. The electronic product (general) annual reporting guide is applicable to the following products: products intended to produce x radiation (accelerators, analytical devices, therapy x-ray machines); microwave diathermy machines; cold-cathode discharge tubes; and vacuum switches and tubes operating at or above 15,000 volts. To carry out its responsibilities under Public Law 90-602, the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) has issued a series of regulations contained in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Part 1002 of 21 CFR deals with records and reports. Section 1002.61 categorizes electronic products into Groups A through C. Section 1002.30 requires manufacturers of products in Groups B and C to establish and maintain certain records, while Section 1002.11 requires such manufacturers to submit an Annual Report summarizing the contents of the required records. Section 1002.7 requires that reports conform to reporting guides issued by CDRH unless an acceptable justification for an alternate format is provided

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.

Living with parents or grandparents increases social capital and survival: 2014 General Social Survey-National Death Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Muennig

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: After nearly a century-long trend toward single-family living arrangements, people in wealthy nations are increasingly living in multi-generational households. Multi-generational living arrangements can, in theory, increase psychological, social, and financial capital—factors associated with improvements in health and longevity. Methods: We conducted a survival analysis using the 2014 General Social Survey-National Death Index, a prospective multi-year survey. We explored whether single generational living arrangements were associated with a higher risk of mortality than multi-generational living arrangements. Results: We explored this association for different groups (e.g., the foreign-born and those with high self-reported stress in family relationships. Healthy subjects who live in two-generation households were found to have lower premature mortality (hazard ratio 0.9, 95% confidence interval = 0.82, 0.99. Otherwise, we found little evidence that living arrangements matter for the respondents’ risk of premature mortality. Conclusions: Healthy people living in two-generation households have longer survival than healthy people living on their own. Keywords: Immigrant Health, Survival, Social capital and health

Misery Index Corrected by Informality: Applicable to Venezuela

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josefa Ramoni Perazzi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper suggests a variation of the IMO index (Okun's Misery Index, adapting it to markets with these characteristics, adding the ESI level (Employment in the Informal Sector to the unemployment level. This research compares the evolution of several standard misery indexes in several zones during the last decades, with emphasis on the case of Venezuela, for which the new proposed index is also estimated. Results show improvement in the well-being of groups of countries under study, compared to the deterioration of the indicator in Venezuela. In general terms, the IMO is controlled by unemployment, except in Venezuela. However, preponderance of inflation over unemployment in this country seems to occur by the underestimate that the unemployment rate has on the Venezuelan labor market situation.

Measuring Job Satisfaction in Portuguese Military Sergeants and Officers: Validation of the Job Descriptive Index and the Job in General Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Silvia; Chambel, Maria José; Castanheira, Filipa; Oliveira-Cruz, Fernando

2015-01-01

This article presents the psychometric properties of the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job in General (JIG) instruments with a Portuguese representative sample of military sergeants and officers. Demographic correlates of job satisfaction are also investigated. The sample consists of 413 sergeants and 362 officers in different hierarchical positions, who equally perform different functions. The results show high internal consistency coefficients for the scores on the JDI and JIG subscales, ranging from .76 to .92. The data support a 6-factor structure of job satisfaction. The results offer empirical support for the Portuguese adaptation of the JDI and JIG scales with these militaries. Pay and promotion opportunities emerge as the job satisfaction dimensions more related to the demographic variables.

Combining a popularity-productivity stochastic block model with a discriminative-content model for general structure detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Chai, Bian-fang; Yu, Jian; Jia, Cai-Yan; Yang, Tian-bao; Jiang, Ya-wen

2013-07-01

Latent community discovery that combines links and contents of a text-associated network has drawn more attention with the advance of social media. Most of the previous studies aim at detecting densely connected communities and are not able to identify general structures, e.g., bipartite structure. Several variants based on the stochastic block model are more flexible for exploring general structures by introducing link probabilities between communities. However, these variants cannot identify the degree distributions of real networks due to a lack of modeling of the differences among nodes, and they are not suitable for discovering communities in text-associated networks because they ignore the contents of nodes. In this paper, we propose a popularity-productivity stochastic block (PPSB) model by introducing two random variables, popularity and productivity, to model the differences among nodes in receiving links and producing links, respectively. This model has the flexibility of existing stochastic block models in discovering general community structures and inherits the richness of previous models that also exploit popularity and productivity in modeling the real scale-free networks with power law degree distributions. To incorporate the contents in text-associated networks, we propose a combined model which combines the PPSB model with a discriminative model that models the community memberships of nodes by their contents. We then develop expectation-maximization (EM) algorithms to infer the parameters in the two models. Experiments on synthetic and real networks have demonstrated that the proposed models can yield better performances than previous models, especially on networks with general structures.

Is neighbourhood obesogenicity associated with body mass index in women? Application of an obesogenicity index in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Marilyn; Thornton, Lukar E; Lamb, Karen E; Ball, Kylie; Crawford, David

2014-11-01

An aggregate index is potentially useful to represent neighbourhood obesogenicity. We created a conceptually-based obesogenicity index and examined its association with body mass index (BMI) among 3786 women (age 18-45y) in socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Victoria, Australia. The index included 3 items from each of 3 domains: food resources (supermarkets, green grocers, fast food restaurants), recreational activity resources (gyms, pools, park space), and walkability (4+ leg intersections, neighbourhood walking environment, neighbourhood safety), with a possible range from 0 to 18 reflecting 0-2 for each of the 9 items. Using generalised estimating equations, neighbourhood obesogenicity was not associated with BMI in the overall sample. However, stratified analyses revealed generally positive associations with BMI in urban areas and inverse associations in rural areas (interaction p=0.02). These analyses are a first step towards combining neighbourhood characteristics into an aggregate obesogenicity index that is transparent enough to be adopted elsewhere and to allow examination of the relevance of its specific components in different settings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring growth index in a universe with massive neutrinos: A revisit of the general relativity test with the latest observations

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Ming-Ming; Zhang, Jing-Fei; Zhang, Xin

2018-04-01

We make a consistency test for the general relativity (GR) through measuring the growth index γ in a universe with massive (sterile/active) neutrinos. We employ the redshift space distortion measurements to do the analysis. To constrain other cosmological parameters, we also use other cosmological measurements, including the Planck 2015 cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization data, the baryon acoustic oscillation data, the type Ia supernova JLA data, the weak lensing galaxy shear data, and the Planck 2015 lensing data. In a universe with massive sterile neutrinos, we obtain γ =0.624-0.050+0.055, with the tension with the GR prediction γ = 0.55 at the 1.48σ level, showing that the consideration of sterile neutrinos still cannot make the true measurement of γ be well consistent with the GR prediction. In a universe with massive active neutrinos, we obtain γ = 0.663 ± 0.045 for the normal hierarchy case, γ =0.661-0.050+0.044 for the degenerate hierarchy case, and γ =0.668-0.051+0.045 for the inverted hierarchy case, with the tensions with GR all at beyond the 2σ level. We find that the consideration of massive active neutrinos (no matter what mass hierarchy is considered) almost does not influence the measurement of the growth index γ.

A Step-indexed Semantic Model of Types for the Call-by-Name Lambda Calculus

OpenAIRE

Meurer, Benedikt

2011-01-01

Step-indexed semantic models of types were proposed as an alternative to purely syntactic safety proofs using subject-reduction. Building upon the work by Appel and others, we introduce a generalized step-indexed model for the call-by-name lambda calculus. We also show how to prove type safety of general recursion in our call-by-name model.

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

Intelligent indexing: a semi-automated, trainable system for field labeling

Science.gov (United States)

Clawson, Robert; Barrett, William

2015-01-01

We present Intelligent Indexing: a general, scalable, collaborative approach to indexing and transcription of non-machinereadable documents that exploits visual consensus and group labeling while harnessing human recognition and domain expertise. In our system, indexers work directly on the page, and with minimal context switching can navigate the page, enter labels, and interact with the recognition engine. Interaction with the recognition engine occurs through preview windows that allow the indexer to quickly verify and correct recommendations. This interaction is far superior to conventional, tedious, inefficient post-correction and editing. Intelligent Indexing is a trainable system that improves over time and can provide benefit even without prior knowledge. A user study was performed to compare Intelligent Indexing to a basic, manual indexing system. Volunteers report that using Intelligent Indexing is less mentally fatiguing and more enjoyable than the manual indexing system. Their results also show that it reduces significantly (30.2%) the time required to index census records, while maintaining comparable accuracy. (a video demonstration is available at http://youtube.com/gqdVzEPnBEw)

Reducing the spectral index in supernatural inflation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, C.-M.; Cheung, Kingman

2009-01-01

Supernatural inflation is an attractive model based on just a flat direction with soft supersymmetry breaking mass terms in the framework of supersymmetry. The beauty of the model is that it needs no fine-tuning. However, the prediction of the spectral index is n s > or approx. 1, in contrast to experimental data. In this paper, we discuss supernatural inflation with the spectral index reduced to n s =0.96 without any fine-tuning, considering the general feature that a flat direction is lifted by a nonrenormalizable term with an A-term.

Reducing the spectral index in supernatural inflation

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chia-Min; Cheung, Kingman

2009-04-01

Supernatural inflation is an attractive model based on just a flat direction with soft supersymmetry breaking mass terms in the framework of supersymmetry. The beauty of the model is that it needs no fine-tuning. However, the prediction of the spectral index is ns≳1, in contrast to experimental data. In this paper, we discuss supernatural inflation with the spectral index reduced to ns=0.96 without any fine-tuning, considering the general feature that a flat direction is lifted by a nonrenormalizable term with an A-term.

Boundedness and compactness of a new product-type operator from a general space to Bloch-type spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stevo Stević

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract We characterize the boundedness and compactness of a product-type operator, which, among others, includes all the products of the single composition, multiplication, and differentiation operators, from a general space to Bloch-type spaces. We also give some upper and lower bounds for the norm of the operator.

Prospects and limitations of full-text index structures in genome analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Vyverman, Michaël; De Baets, Bernard; Fack, Veerle; Dawyndt, Peter

2012-01-01

The combination of incessant advances in sequencing technology producing large amounts of data and innovative bioinformatics approaches, designed to cope with this data flood, has led to new interesting results in the life sciences. Given the magnitude of sequence data to be processed, many bioinformatics tools rely on efficient solutions to a variety of complex string problems. These solutions include fast heuristic algorithms and advanced data structures, generally referred to as index structures. Although the importance of index structures is generally known to the bioinformatics community, the design and potency of these data structures, as well as their properties and limitations, are less understood. Moreover, the last decade has seen a boom in the number of variant index structures featuring complex and diverse memory-time trade-offs. This article brings a comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of the most popular index structures and their recently developed variants. Their features, interrelationships, the trade-offs they impose, but also their practical limitations, are explained and compared. PMID:22584621

General characteristics of hadron production at SPEAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lueth, V.

1977-01-01

A discussion is given of what was learned about hadron production since the discovery of the two narrow resonances psi(3095) and psi(3684). In particular, attention is payed to the difficulties related to the model dependence of the detector efficiency and effects of the heavy lepton production. Included are recent results on inclusive production of kaons, protons, and lambda hyperons and their implications for charm particle production. The parton model, the magnetic detector, total cross sections, charged multiplicity, inclusive momentum spectra, and inclusive K 0 and Λ 0 production are discussed. 42 references

Gender Inequality Index Appropriateness for Measuring Inequality.

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Elham; Sabermahani, Asma

2017-01-01

Gender inequality means unequal distribution of wealth, power, and benefits among women and men. The gender inequality index (GII) measures the lost human development in three important dimensions: reproductive health, political empowerment, and economic status. The first purpose of this study was to calculate the index for provinces of Iran, and the second purpose was to survey the appropriateness of that, for comparing different regions, through regression estimations. In this study, GII has been calculated for Iran between the years 2006-2011 and provinces have been ranked based on it. Then, a panel composed of 30 sections was estimated for five years to determine the most important factor affecting level of index. Some changes have been made to analyze values of the index and the ranking of provinces. Based on panel model, share of parliamentary seats was the most effective factor for determination of the index. After applying adjustments, some differences were seen in the ranking of provinces and general level of index. Weighing of dimensions of the index and considering an overall variable, such as life expectancy in the field of health, will give a more accurate comparison of the GII among different regions though concurrent attention to non-discriminatory cultural dimensions of political participation of women; therefore, making more analyses possible for a more correct comparison of the extensive geographical regions, such as countries.

Subset selection from generalized logistic populations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laan, van der M.J.; Laan, van der P.

1997-01-01

We give an introduction to the logistic and generalized logistic distributions. These generalized logistic distributions Type-I, Type-II and Type-III are indexed by a real valued parameter. They have been derived as mixtures with the standard logistic distribution and for discrete values of the

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.

A general product measurability theorem with applications to variational inequalities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth L. Kuttler

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This work establishes the existence of measurable weak solutions to evolution problems with randomness by proving and applying a novel theorem on product measurability of limits of sequences of functions. The measurability theorem is used to show that many important existence theorems within the abstract theory of evolution inclusions or equations have straightforward generalizations to settings that include random processes or coefficients. Moreover, the convex set where the solutions are sought is not fixed but may depend on the random variables. The importance of adding randomness lies in the fact that real world processes invariably involve randomness and variability. Thus, this work expands substantially the range of applications of models with variational inequalities and differential set-inclusions.

Electronic evaluation for video commercials by impression index.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Wanzeng; Zhao, Xinxin; Hu, Sanqing; Vecchiato, Giovanni; Babiloni, Fabio

2013-12-01

How to evaluate the effect of commercials is significantly important in neuromarketing. In this paper, we proposed an electronic way to evaluate the influence of video commercials on consumers by impression index. The impression index combines both the memorization and attention index during consumers observing video commercials by tracking the EEG activity. It extracts features from scalp EEG to evaluate the effectiveness of video commercials in terms of time-frequency-space domain. And, the general global field power was used as an impression index for evaluation of video commercial scenes as time series. Results of experiment demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to track variations of the cerebral activity related to cognitive task such as observing video commercials, and help to judge whether the scene in video commercials is impressive or not by EEG signals.

The association between job satisfaction and general health among employees of Golestan Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Khiavi, Farzad Faraji; Dashti, Rezvan; Zergani, Nadia

2016-04-01

Job satisfaction is one of the most challenging organizational concepts, and it is the basis of management policies to increase productivity and efficiency of the organization. The general health rate may affect job satisfaction in several ways. This study aimed to determine the association between job satisfaction and general health among employees of Golestan Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. The study population of this cross-sectional research included 100 employees of Golestan Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. The data collection instruments were the General Health Questionnaire (28-GHQ) and the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient, independent samples t-test, and ANOVA statistical tests in SPSS software. The mean general health was calculated as 26.19 ± 11.04, which indicated a positive psychiatric condition. Job satisfaction with a mean score of 89.67 ± 23.3 was deemed to be relatively dissatisfied. A medium negative and significant association was observed between job satisfaction and general health and its subscales (physical health, anxiety, social, and depression). General health subscales and job satisfaction are associated. Some actions must be planned to cope with the negative factors in general health in order to increase employees' satisfaction in university educational hospitals.

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.

Time horizons and electricity futures: An application of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's general theory of economic production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farrell, Katharine N. [Department of Economics, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig (Germany); Gibson Institute for Land, Food and Environment, Queen' s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom); Mayumi, Kozo [Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokushima (Japan)

2009-03-15

This paper reports theoretical economic production work and uses electricity futures trading to illustrate its argument. The focus is relationships between time, production and tradition both in Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen's analytical representation of the production process (i.e., flow/fund model) and in his dialectical scheme dealing with the evolutionary changes in the economic process. Our main arguments are (1) the flow/fund model is designed to be employed in conjunction with attention to how the boundaries of a given process are determined and (2) process boundaries are dialectical distinctions - between process and not-process - that are strongly related to time and tradition. We propose that Georgescu-Roegen's The Entropy Law and the Economic Process is best understood as the elaboration of a general theory of economic production and we developed two conceptual tools (time {open_square} and meta-funds), both of which are related to the dialectical distinction between process and not-process, which we use to operationalise this general theory. Finally, we demonstrate that, although trading in electricity futures is surprising if one uses a stock/flow vs services distinction (because electricity supply is classed as a service) it appears perfectly logical under Georgescu-Roegen's general theory: shortening time horizons, combined with a shift in the relationship between raw fuel supplies and power production procedures, lead to a shift in the status of electricity supply, from fund to flow. (author)

General Rytov approximation.

Science.gov (United States)

Potvin, Guy

2015-10-01

We examine how the Rytov approximation describing log-amplitude and phase fluctuations of a wave propagating through weak uniform turbulence can be generalized to the case of turbulence with a large-scale nonuniform component. We show how the large-scale refractive index field creates Fermat rays using the path integral formulation for paraxial propagation. We then show how the second-order derivatives of the Fermat ray action affect the Rytov approximation, and we discuss how a numerical algorithm would model the general Rytov approximation.

Similarities of Water-soluble Vitamin Components among Non-prescription Pharmaceutical Vitamin Products Generally Available on the Domestic Market.

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Keiichiro; Kojina, Moeko; Aiba, Tetsuya

2017-01-01

Similarities among non-prescription pharmaceutical vitamin products generally available in community pharmacies were examined based on their vitamin components, and a chart was constructed to differentiate products to assist in appropriate product choice. In the analysis of the similarities, two hundred and seventy-six data entries on vitamin products were extracted from the database on the package inserts of the pharmaceutical products provided by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, and they were reviewed for the amounts of vitamins they contained, in which the B vitamins, or vitamin B 1 , B 2 , B 6 , B 12 , and niacin, were considered as well as vitamins C and E. Pantothenic acid and L-Cysteine that are frequently used in combination with those vitamins are also taken into consideration. The data entries were then processed by classical multi-dimensional scaling to evaluate the inter-product similarities. As a result, it was shown that the products categorized as pharmaceutical nutrients and tonics containing vitamins (NTcV) are similar to one another, reflecting the fact that they are less characteristic regarding their vitamin components. As for the products in other categories, they were generally found to be featured for their unique content of vitamin components, and thereby, each category includes products with a wide range of variation. It was also indicated that some products categorized as vitamin B 1 , B 2 , and C products are less distinguishable from those categorized as NTcV. These findings will assist pharmacists to decide on an appropriate product for a customer following consultation.

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

G-index: A new metric to describe dynamic refractive index effects in HPLC absorbance detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraiczek, Karsten G; Rozing, Gerard P; Zengerle, Roland

2018-09-01

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a solvent gradient and absorbance detection is one of the most widely used methods in analytical chemistry. The observed absorbance baseline is affected by the changes in the refractive index (RI) of the mobile phase. Near the limited of detection, this complicates peak quantitation. The general aspects of these RI-induced apparent absorbance effects are discussed. Two different detectors with fundamentally different optics and flow cell concepts, a variable-wavelength detector equipped with a conventional flow cell and a diode-array detector equipped with a liquid core waveguide flow cell, are compared with respect to their RI behavior. A simple method to separate static - partly unavoidable - RI effects from dynamic RI effects is presented. It is shown that the dynamic RI behavior of an absorbance detector can be well described using a single, relatively easy-to-determine metric called the G-index. The G-index is typically in the order of a few seconds and its sign depends on the optical flow cell concept. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

Heart rate variability analysis as an index of emotion regulation processes: interest of the Analgesia Nociception Index (ANI).

Science.gov (United States)

De Jonckheere, J; Rommel, D; Nandrino, J L; Jeanne, M; Logier, R

2012-01-01

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) variations are strongly influence by emotion regulation processes. Indeed, emotional stimuli are at the origin of an activation of the ANS and the way an individual pass from a state of alert in the case of emotional situation to a state of calm is closely coupled with the ANS flexibility. We have previously described and developed an Analgesia Nociception Index (ANI) for real time pain measurement during surgical procedure under general anesthesia. This index, based on heart rate variability analysis, constitutes a measure of parasympathetic tone and can be used in several other environments. In this paper, we hypothesized that such an index could be used as a tool to investigate the processes of emotional regulation of a human subject. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed ANI's response to a negative emotional stimulus. This analysis showed that the index decreases during the emotion induction phase and returns to its baseline after 2 minutes. This result confirms that ANI could be a good indicator of parasympathetic changes in emotional situation.

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.

Index to UKAEA, BNFL, MOD(PE) AWRE and recommended external standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-11-01

The principal part of the document consists of an alphabetical index and numerical index to United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, British Nuclear Fuels Limited, and Atomic Weapons Research Establishment standards, engineering and general stores. Also included are: an index to Engineering Equipment Users Association handbooks and documents, members' specifications, codes of practice and handbooks; British Standard Codes of practice (for building, electrical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering); UKAEA Standardisation Committee memoranda and metric guides; and miscellaneous documents. (U.K.)

Developing a Forest Health Index for public engagement and decision support using local climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic data

Science.gov (United States)

Arnott, J. C.; Katzenberger, J.; Cundiff, J.

2013-12-01

Forest health is an oft-used term without a generally accepted definition. Nonetheless, the concept of forest health continues to permeate scientific, resource management, and public discourse, and it is viewed as a helpful communication device for engagement on issues of concern to forests and their surrounding communities. Notwithstanding the challenges associated with defining the concept of 'forest health,' we present a model for assessing forest health at a watershed scale. Utilizing the Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado--a mountain watershed of 640,000 forested acres--as a case study, we have created a Forest Health Index that integrates a range of climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic data into an assessment organized along a series of public goals including, 1) Ecosystem Services, 2) Public Health & Safety, 3) Sustainable Use & Management, and 4) Ecological Integrity. Methods for this index were adopted from an earlier effort called the Ocean Health Index by Halpern et al, 2012. Indicators that represent drivers of change, such as temperature and precipitation, as well as effects of change, such as primary productivity and phenology, were selected. Each indicator is assessed by comparing a current status of that indicator to a reference scenario obtained through one of the following methods: a) statistical analysis of baseline data from the indicator record, b) commonly accepted normals, thresholds, limits, concentrations, etc., and c) subjective expert judgment. The result of this assessment is a presentation of graphical data and accompanying ratings that combine to form an index of health for the watershed forest ecosystem. We find this product to have potential merit for communities working to assess the range of conditions affecting forest health as well as making sense of the outcomes of those affects. Here, we present a description of the index methodology, data results from engagement with forest watershed stakeholders, example results of data

29 CFR 1620.3 - General coverage of employees “engaged in * * * the production of goods for commerce.”

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false General coverage of employees âengaged in * * * the production of goods for commerce.â 1620.3 Section 1620.3 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION THE EQUAL PAY ACT § 1620.3 General coverage of employees...

The future of general classification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mai, Jens Erik

2013-01-01

Discusses problems related to accessing multiple collections using a single retrieval language. Surveys the concepts of interoperability and switching language. Finds that mapping between more indexing languages always will be an approximation. Surveys the issues related to general classification...... and contrasts that to special classifications. Argues for the use of general classifications to provide access to collections nationally and internationally....

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.

Study of the productivity evolution in the operation of CLAB

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundberg, H.

2000-07-01

SKB shall every year, on behalf of the power companies, send SKI a cost calculation for spent fuel handling and dismantling of the Swedish nuclear power plants. SKI has tried to investigate the future impact which the growth of money in the Nuclear Waste Fund might give in relation to the change of consumer price index, CPI. The long term yield of the Fund has been related to the change of CPI, as the bigger part of the fund money has been invested in real interest rate bonds. The cost development has been studied by SKI with an index named 'KBS-3-index', which is a basket of weighted factor price indexes made out of the SKB programme. Since 1986 and up to 1998, the KBS-3-index has increased about 14% more than CPI. If this discrepancy should continue during the whole period when Fund money should be available, the Fund would be insufficient. But the difference between KBS-3-index and CPI might be eliminated due to a future productivity development. At the moment, SKI has no knowledge about future productivity development in the SKB programme. A closer analysis of the facilities operated by SKB is therefore important. Nearest to study is the productivity at the operation of CLAB, Central Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel. The work in CLAB is receiving and storing of spent nuclear fuel and core components and reloading from normal to compact cassettes. The consumption of all production factors can be measured in money. Here the total production factors are defined as the sum of the annual operation costs and the sum of annuities for reinvestments during the year. The development for total productivity is slightly increasing. Normal for a new business is that the productivity rises sharply in the beginning. Here the productivity is slightly decreasing in the beginning, and then rising, sinking and at last a sharp rising. Project compact storing was finished in 1992, and relocation to compact cassettes started in 1993. This is said to be the reason for

On indexes and subject matter of “global competitiveness”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Korotkov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research is to analyze the subject matter of a country’s competitiveness and to characterize statistical indexes of competitiveness known in the international practice from the perspective of a more elaborated theory of market competition. This aim follows from the identified problems. First, there are no generally accepted interpretation and joint understanding of competition and competitiveness at country level. Even the international organizations giving estimations of global competitiveness disagree on definitions of competitiveness. Secondly, there is no relation to the theory of market competition in the available source materials on competitiveness of the country without original methodology. Thirdly, well-known statistical indexes of global competitiveness do not have enough theoretical justification and differ in sets of factors. All this highlights the incompleteness of the methodology and methodological support of studying competitiveness at country level.Materials and methods. The research is based on the methodology of statistics, economic theory and marketing. The authors followed the basic principle of statistical methodology – requirement of continuous combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis, when the research begins and ends with qualitative analysis. A most important section of statistical methodology is widely used – construction of statistical indexes. In the course of the analysis, a method of statistical classifications is applied. A significant role in the present research is given to the method of generalizing and analogue method, realizing that related terms should mean similar and almost similar contents. Modeling of competition and competitiveness is widely used in the present research, which made it possible to develop a logical model of competition following from the competition theory.Results. Based on the definitions’ survey the analysis of the subject matter of global

The Szlenk index of Lp(X)

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hájek, Petr Pavel; Schlumprecht, T.

2014-01-01

Roč. 46, č. 2 (2014), s. 415-424 ISSN 0024-6093 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP201/11/0345; GA MŠk(CZ) 7AMB12FR003 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Szlenk index Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.704, year: 2014 http://blms.oxfordjournals.org/content/46/2/415

Insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) levels in a general adult population: curves percentile by gender and age. The EPIRCE study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gayoso-Diz, Pilar; Otero-Gonzalez, Alfonso; Rodriguez-Alvarez, María Xosé; Gude, Francisco; Cadarso-Suarez, Carmen; García, Fernando; De Francisco, Angel

2011-10-01

To describe the distribution of HOMA-IR levels in a general nondiabetic population and its relationships with metabolic and lifestyles characteristics. Cross-sectional study. Data from 2246 nondiabetic adults in a random Spanish population sample, stratified by age and gender, were analyzed. Assessments included a structured interview, physical examination, and blood sampling. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to assess the effect of lifestyle habits and clinical and demographic measurements on HOMA-IR. Multivariate GAMs and quantile regression analyses of HOMA-IR were carried out separately in men and women. This study shows refined estimations of HOMA-IR levels by age, body mass index, and waist circumference in men and women. HOMA-IR levels were higher in men (2.06) than women (1.95) (P=0.047). In women, but not men, HOMA-IR and age showed a significant nonlinear association (P=0.006), with increased levels above fifty years of age. We estimated HOMA-IR curves percentile in men and women. Age- and gender-adjusted HOMA-IR levels are reported in a representative Spanish adult non-diabetic population. There are gender-specific differences, with increased levels in women over fifty years of age that may be related with changes in body fat distribution after menopause. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

General scheme of research reactor mainly for production of fission 99Mo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen Feng; Liu Xingmin; Wu Xiaochun; Sun Zheng; Guo Chunqiu; Yi Dayong

2012-01-01

On the basis of the analysis for current circumstance and development tendency of research reactor mainly for 99 Mo production in the world, the design idea of this sort of research reactor was proposed. By the optimization and basic design, the general design parameters of the reactor were analyzed and testified. The evaluation of output activities of 99 Mo and the analysis of economics were conducted on the basically assumption. It is argued that the economics of this reactor is improved dramatically while the safety is ensured by the analysis. (authors)

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)

Spectral Index Changes with Brightness for γ-Ray Loud Blazars J. H. ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

spectral index changes depending on γ-ray brightness is obtained. ... the γ-ray band. Key words. Active galactic nuclei (AGN): blazars: γ-ray emission: spectral index. 1. Introduction. Generally, the spectrum of one source changes with its .... Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme (GDUPS) (2009), Yangcheng Scholar Funded.

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...

A General and Intuitive Approach to Understand and Compare the Torque Production Capability of AC Machines

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Dong; Lu, Kaiyuan; Rasmussen, Peter Omand

2014-01-01

Electromagnetic torque analysis is one of the key issues in the analysis of electric machines. It plays an important role in machine design and control. The common method described in most of the textbooks is to calculate the torque in the machine variables and then transform them to the dq......-frame, through complicated mathematical manipulations. This is a more mathematical approach rather than explaining the physics behind torque production, which even brings a lot of difficulties to specialist. This paper introduces a general and intuitive approach to obtain the dq-frame torque equation of various...... AC machines. In this method, torque equation can be obtained based on the intuitive physical understanding of the mechanism behind torque production. It is then approved to be applicable for general case, including rotor saliency and various types of magnetomotive force sources. As an application...

A generalized business cycle model with delays in gross product and capital stock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hattaf, Khalid; Riad, Driss; Yousfi, Noura

2017-01-01

Highlights: • A generalized business cycle model is proposed and rigorously analyzed. • Well-posedness of the model and local stability of the economic equilibrium are investigated. • Direction of the Hopf bifurcation and stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions are determined. • A special case and some numerical simulations are presented. - Abstract: In this work, we propose a delayed business cycle model with general investment function. The time delays are introduced into gross product and capital stock, respectively. We first prove that the model is mathematically and economically well posed. In addition, the stability of the economic equilibrium and the existence of Hopf bifurcation are investigated. Our main results show that both time delays can cause the macro-economic system to fluctuate and the economic equilibrium to lose or gain its stability. Moreover, the direction of the Hopf bifurcation and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions are determined by means of the normal form method and center manifold theory. Furthermore, the models and results presented in many previous studies are improved and generalized.

A planar calculus for infinite index subfactors

OpenAIRE

Penneys, David

2011-01-01

We develop an analog of Jones' planar calculus for II_1-factor bimodules with arbitrary left and right von Neumann dimension. We generalize to bimodules Burns' results on rotations and extremality for infinite index subfactors. These results are obtained without Jones' basic construction and the resulting Jones projections.

A Planar Calculus for Infinite Index Subfactors

Science.gov (United States)

Penneys, David

2013-05-01

We develop an analog of Jones' planar calculus for II 1-factor bimodules with arbitrary left and right von Neumann dimension. We generalize to bimodules Burns' results on rotations and extremality for infinite index subfactors. These results are obtained without Jones' basic construction and the resulting Jones projections.

The production of high load coal-water mixtures on the base of Kansk-Achinsk Coal Basin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Demidov, Y.; Bruer, G.; Kolesnikova, S. [Research and Design Institute for Problems of Development of Kansk-Achinsk Coal Basin (KATEKNilugol), Krasnoyarsk (Russian Federation)

1995-12-01

The results of the {open_quotes}KATEKNIIugol{close_quotes} work on the problems of high load coal-water mixtures are given in this article. General principles of the mixture production, short characteristics of Kansk-Achinsk coals, the experimental results of the coal mixture production on a test-industrial scale, the suspension preparation on the base of coal mixtures, technical-economical indexes of tested coal pipeline variants based on Kansk-Achinsk coals are described.

[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

True Multilateral Indexes for International Comparisons of Purchasing Power and Real Income

OpenAIRE

J.P. Neary

1997-01-01

I consider the problem of choosing index numbers of purchasing power and real income for international comparisons. I show that the desirable properties of methods based on the Fisher "Ideal" index do not extend to multilateral comparisons, except when tastes are homothetic. By contrast, the Geary method, which underlies the Penn World Tables, provides an approximation to a set of "true" exchange rate indexes which have many desirable properties. In particular, if demands exhibit generalized ...

Relational coordination is associated with productivity in general practice: a survey and register based study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundstrøm, Sanne Lykke; Edwards, Kasper; Reventlow, Susanne

2014-01-01

In this paper we investigate the association between relational coordination among the practice team in general practice and number of consultations performed in a general practice per staff, i.e. a proxy of productivity. We measured relational coordination using the Relational Coordination Survey...... and combined the results with register data. We found that relational coordination was statistically significant associated with number of consultation per staff per year. We later divided consultations in to three types: Face-to-face, Email and phone consultations. We found a statistically significant...... associating between relational coordination and with number of face-to-face consultation per staff per year....

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.

The smallest Randic index for trees

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

star is said to be balanced. A comet is a tree composed of a star and a pendant ... having second and third general Randic index are the balanced double star and Sp,q with. |p − q| = 2 or 3, respectively. In the following ..... Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (No. 12B067) and Central. South University ...

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

Generic communications index: User's manual

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dean, R.S.; Steinbrecher, D.H.; Hennick, A.

1987-12-01

This report is a manual for providing information required to use a special computer program developed by the NRC for indexing generic communications. The program is written in a user-friendly menu driven form using dBASE III programming language. It facilitates use of the required dBASE III search and sort capabilities to access records in a database called Generic Communications Index. This index is made up of one record each for all bulletins, circulars, and information notices, including revisions and supplements, from 1971, when such documentation started, through 1986 (or to the latest update). The program is designed for use by anyone modestly acquainted with the general use of IBM-compatible personal computers. The manual contains both a brief overview and a detailed description of the program, as well as detailed instructions for getting started using the program on a personal computer with either a two-floppy disk or a hard disk system. Included at the end are a brief description of how to handle problems which might occur, and notes on the makeup of the program and database files for help in adding records of communications for future years

Equivalence of linear canonical transform domains to fractional Fourier domains and the bicanonical width product: a generalization of the space-bandwidth product.

Science.gov (United States)

Oktem, Figen S; Ozaktas, Haldun M

2010-08-01

Linear canonical transforms (LCTs) form a three-parameter family of integral transforms with wide application in optics. We show that LCT domains correspond to scaled fractional Fourier domains and thus to scaled oblique axes in the space-frequency plane. This allows LCT domains to be labeled and ordered by the corresponding fractional order parameter and provides insight into the evolution of light through an optical system modeled by LCTs. If a set of signals is highly confined to finite intervals in two arbitrary LCT domains, the space-frequency (phase space) support is a parallelogram. The number of degrees of freedom of this set of signals is given by the area of this parallelogram, which is equal to the bicanonical width product but usually smaller than the conventional space-bandwidth product. The bicanonical width product, which is a generalization of the space-bandwidth product, can provide a tighter measure of the actual number of degrees of freedom, and allows us to represent and process signals with fewer samples.

Global impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy: A general equilibrium perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Samuel Garner

The conversion of biomass to energy represents a promising pathway forward in efforts to reduce fossil fuel use in the transportation and electricity sectors. In addition to potential benefits, such as greenhouse gas reductions and increased energy security, bioenergy production also presents a unique set of challenges. These challenges include tradeoffs between food and fuel production, distortions in energy markets, and terrestrial emissions associated with changing land-use patterns. Each of these challenges arises from market-mediated responses to bioenergy production, and are therefore largely economic in nature. This dissertation directly addresses these opportunities and challenges by evaluating the economic impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy, focusing on both existing and future biomass-to-energy pathways. The analysis approaches the issue from a global, economy-wide perspective, reflecting two important facts. First, that large-scale bioenergy production connects multiple sectors of the economy due to the use of agricultural land resources for biomass production, and competition with fossil fuels in energy markets. Second, markets for both agricultural and energy commodities are highly integrated globally, causing domestic policies to have international effects. The reader can think of this work as being comprised of three parts. Part I provides context through an extensive review of the literature on the market-mediated effects of conventional biofuel production (Chapter 2) and develops a general equilibrium modeling framework for assessing the extent to which these phenomenon present a challenge for future bioenergy pathways (Chapter 3). Part II (Chapter 4) explores the economic impacts of the lignocellulosic biofuel production targets set in the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard on global agricultural and energy commodity markets. Part III (Chapter 5) extends the analysis to consider potential inefficiencies associated with policy

Incidence of surgical-site infections and the validity of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System risk index in a general surgical ward in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Science.gov (United States)

Soleto, Lorena; Pirard, Marianne; Boelaert, Marleen; Peredo, Remberto; Vargas, Reinerio; Gianella, Alberto; Van der Stuyft, Patrick

2003-01-01

To estimate the frequency of and risk factors for surgical-site infections (SSIs) in Bolivia, and to study the performance of the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) System risk index in a developing country. A prospective study with patient follow-up until the 30th postoperative day. A general surgical ward of a public hospital in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Patients admitted to the ward between July 1998 and June 1999 on whom surgical procedures were performed. Follow-up was complete for 91.5% of 376 surgical procedures. The overall SSI rate was 12%. Thirty-four (75.6%) of the 45 SSIs were culture positive. A logistic regression model retained an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of more than 1 (odds ratio [OR], 1.87), a not-clean wound class (OR, 2.28), a procedure duration of more than 1 hour (OR, 1.81), and drain (OR, 1.98) as independent risk factors for SSI. There was no significant association between the NNIS System risk index and SSI rates. However, a "local" risk index constructed with the above cutoff points showed a linear trend with SSI (P < .001) and a relative risk of 3.18 for risk class 3 versus a class of less than 3. SSIs cause considerable morbidity in Santa Cruz. Appropriate nosocomial infection surveillance and control should be introduced. The NNIS System risk index did not discriminate between patients at low and high risk for SSI in this hospital setting, but a risk score based on local cutoff points performed substantially better.

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.

Production of a protein-rich extruded snack base using tapioca starch, sorghum flour and casein.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Jiral R; Patel, Ashok A; Singh, Ashish K

2016-01-01

A protein-rich puffed snack was produced using a twin screw extruder and the effects of varying levels of tapioca starch (11 to 40 parts), rennet casein (6 to 20 parts) and sorghum flour (25 to 75 parts) on physico-chemical properties and sensory attributes of the product studied. An increasing level of sorghum flour resulted in a decreasing whiteness (Hunter L* value) of the snack. Although the starch also generally tended to make the product increasingly darker, both starch and casein showed redness parameter (a* value) was not significantly influenced by the ingredients levels, the yellow hue (b* value) generally declined with the increasing sorghum level. Tapioca starch significantly increased the expansion ratio and decreased the bulk density and hardness value of the snack, whereas the opposite effects seen in case of sorghum flour. While the water solubility index was enhanced by starch, water absorption index was appreciably improved by sorghum. Incorporation of casein (up to 25 %) improved the sensory color and texture scores, and so also the overall acceptability rating of the product. Sorghum flour had an adverse impact on all the sensory attributes whereas starch only on the color score. The casein or starch level had no perceivable effect on the product's flavor score. The response surface data enabled optimization of the snack-base formulation for the desired protein level or desired sensory characteristics.

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.

Climate Change and Rainfed Wheat Production in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Koocheki

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This research was conducted to evaluate the impacts of climate change on rainfed wheat growth and yield at country level. Weather data generated by a General Circulation model based on the ICCP scenarios for the target years of 2025 and 2050. Daily weather data including minimum and maximum temperatures, precipitation and radiation were used as the inputs of a growth simulation model for rainfed after calibration and validation for predicting wheat yield under current climatic conditions. Using the model, the impacts of climate change on wheat growth and yield was predicted and compared with the current data. The simulation results indicated that leaf area index and absorbed radiation by wheat canopy was reduced under climatic conditions of the target years. Reduction of absorbed radiation resulted to a lower crop growth rate and consequently drastic reduction in dry matter production. Estimated drought stress index for the future climate conditions showed that reduction of crop growth rate was mainly resulted from water shortage due to increased evapotranspiration. Reduction of the length of growth period together with a considerable decline of harvest index resulted in a significant reduction of rainfed wheat yield despite the positive effects of increased CO2 concentration and this negative impacts on wheat yield was intensified from 2025 towards 2050. Simulation results showed that the potential impact of climate change on rainfed wheat yield was more pronounced in Eastern regions of the country compared to the Western production areas. The overall country level reduction of rainfed wheat yield was estimated in the range of 16 to 25 % and 22 to 32% for the years 2025 and 2050, respectively. Keywords: Climate change, Rainfed wheat, General Circulation models, Simulation, Yield, Iran

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...

Index modulation for 5G wireless communications

CERN Document Server

Wen, Miaowen; Yang, Liuqing

2017-01-01

This book presents a thorough examination of index modulation, an emerging 5G modulation technique. It includes representative transmitter and receiver design, optimization, and performance analysis of index modulation in various domains. First, the basic spatial modulation system for the spatial domain is introduced. Then, the development of a generalized pre-coding aided quadrature spatial modulation system as well as a virtual spatial modulation system are presented. For the space-time domain, a range of differential spatial modulation systems are examined, along with the pre-coding design. Both basic and enhanced index modulated OFDM systems for the frequency domain are discussed, focusing on the verification of their strong capabilities in inter-carrier interference mitigation. Finally, key open problems are highlighted and future research directions are considered. Designed for researchers and professionals, this book is essential for anyone working in communications networking, 5G, and system design. A...

Rapid Scientific Promotion of Scientific Productions in Stem Cells According to The Indexed Papers in The ISI (web of knowledge).

Science.gov (United States)

Alijani, Rahim

2015-01-01

In recent years emphasis has been placed on evaluation studies and the publication of scientific papers in national and international journals. In this regard the publication of scientific papers in journals in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) database is highly recommended. The evaluation of scientific output via articles in journals indexed in the ISI database will enable the Iranian research authorities to allocate and organize research budgets and human resources in a way that maximises efficient science production. The purpose of the present paper is to publish a general and valid view of science production in the field of stem cells. In this research, outputs in the field of stem cell research are evaluated by survey research, the method of science assessment called Scientometrics in this branch of science. A total of 1528 documents was extracted from the ISI database and analysed using descriptive statistics software in Excel. The results of this research showed that 1528 papers in the stem cell field in the Web of Knowledge database were produced by Iranian researchers. The top ten Iranian researchers in this field have produced 936 of these papers, equivalent to 61.3% of the total. Among the top ten, Soleimani M. has occupied the first place with 181 papers. Regarding international scientific participation, Iranian researchers have cooperated to publish papers with researchers from 50 countries. Nearly 32% (452 papers) of the total research output in this field has been published in the top 10 journals. These results show that a small number of researchers have published the majority of papers in the stem cell field. International participation in this field of research unacceptably low. Such participation provides the opportunity to import modern science and international experience into Iran. This not only causes scientific growth, but also improves the research and enhances opportunities for employment and professional development. Iranian

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

Macroeconomic Variables, International Islamic Indices, and The Return Volatility in Jakarta Islamic Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoghi Citra Pratama

2018-01-01

Full Text Available According to understand the behavior of Islamic equity markets the primary objective of this research is to analyze the effect of macroeconomic indicators and International Islamic Index on return volatility of Jakarta Islamic Index. The analysis method used in this study is AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroscedastic-Generalized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (ARCH-GARCH. The result of this research showed that all variables, i.e., BI rate, inflation rate, IDR-USD exchange rate, DJIUS index, DJIUK index, FTSJP index and FTSMY index have a simultaneously significant impact on return volatility of JII. While t-test results show that BI rate, IDR-USD exchange rate, DJIUK index and FTSMY index have a substantial effect on return volatility of JII.DOI: 10.15408/aiq.v10i1.5550

Generalized Probability-Probability Plots

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mushkudiani, N.A.; Einmahl, J.H.J.

2004-01-01

We introduce generalized Probability-Probability (P-P) plots in order to study the one-sample goodness-of-fit problem and the two-sample problem, for real valued data.These plots, that are constructed by indexing with the class of closed intervals, globally preserve the properties of classical P-P

Thermodynamic Product Relations for Generalized Regular Black Hole

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradhan, Parthapratim

2016-01-01

We derive thermodynamic product relations for four-parametric regular black hole (BH) solutions of the Einstein equations coupled with a nonlinear electrodynamics source. The four parameters can be described by the mass (m), charge (q), dipole moment (α), and quadrupole moment (β), respectively. We study its complete thermodynamics. We compute different thermodynamic products, that is, area product, BH temperature product, specific heat product, and Komar energy product, respectively. Furthermore, we show some complicated function of horizon areas that is indeed mass-independent and could turn out to be universal.

39 CFR 3.9 - Establishment of rates and classes of competitive products of general applicability.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 39 Postal Service 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Establishment of rates and classes of competitive products of general applicability. 3.9 Section 3.9 Postal Service UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE THE BOARD OF... demonstrating compliance with the standards of 39 U.S.C. 3633(a). (b) Pursuant to § 6.6(f) of these bylaws, the...

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.

Soil microbial biomass under pine forests in the north-western Spain: influence of stand age, site index and parent material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahia, J.; Perez-Ventura, L.; Cabaneiro, A.; Diaz-Ravina, M.

2006-07-01

The effects of stand age, site index and parent material on soil biochemical properties related to biomass (extractable C, microbial C and metabolic quotient) were examined in the 0-15 cm mineral soil layers of Pinus pinaster and Pinus sylvestris stand from NW Spain. Two productivity levels (low and high site index), two ages (young and old) and two parent soil materials (granite and acid schists) were considered. The data indicated that there were differences in microbial parameters in soils under different species. In general in P. pinaster forest higher values of biochemical parameters expressed on organic C basis, were observed in the stands of high site index as compared with the low ones; in contrast, in P. sylvestris no differences among stand site index were detected. In both species different results were also observed depending on parent material and a significant effect of stand age was detected for extractable C and microbial C in P. pinaster forest developed over granite. The data seem to indicate that measured parameters may have the potential to be used as indicators of the effect of forest management on soil organic matter quality. (Author) 25 refs.

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...

Predictive validity of the Work Ability Index and its individual items in the general population.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundin, Andreas; Leijon, Ola; Vaez, Marjan; Hallgren, Mats; Torgén, Margareta

2017-06-01

This study assesses the predictive ability of the full Work Ability Index (WAI) as well as its individual items in the general population. The Work, Health and Retirement Study (WHRS) is a stratified random national sample of 25-75-year-olds living in Sweden in 2000 that received a postal questionnaire ( n = 6637, response rate = 53%). Current and subsequent sickness absence was obtained from registers. The ability of the WAI to predict long-term sickness absence (LTSA; ⩾ 90 consecutive days) during a period of four years was analysed by logistic regression, from which the Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUC) was computed. There were 313 incident LTSA cases among 1786 employed individuals. The full WAI had acceptable ability to predict LTSA during the 4-year follow-up (AUC = 0.79; 95% CI 0.76 to 0.82). Individual items were less stable in their predictive ability. However, three of the individual items: current work ability compared with lifetime best, estimated work impairment due to diseases, and number of diagnosed current diseases, exceeded AUC > 0.70. Excluding the WAI item on number of days on sickness absence did not result in an inferior predictive ability of the WAI. The full WAI has acceptable predictive validity, and is superior to its individual items. For public health surveys, three items may be suitable proxies of the full WAI; current work ability compared with lifetime best, estimated work impairment due to diseases, and number of current diseases diagnosed by a physician.

5 CFR 1631.4 - Public reference facilities and current index.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... all grants or denials of FOIA requests, appeals, and appeal decisions by the General Counsel. The... the exceptions asserted, and, to the extent feasible, indexed according to the type of records...

Confirmatory factory analysis of the Neck Disability Index in a general problematic neck population indicates a one-factor model.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabel, Charles Philip; Cuesta-Vargas, Antonio I; Osborne, Jason W; Burkett, Brendan; Melloh, Markus

2014-08-01

The Neck Disability Index frequently is used to measure outcomes of the neck. The statistical rigor of the Neck Disability Index has been assessed with conflicting outcomes. To date, Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Neck Disability Index has not been reported for a suitably large population study. Because the Neck Disability Index is not a condition-specific measure of neck function, initial Confirmatory Factor Analysis should consider problematic neck patients as a homogenous group. We sought to analyze the factor structure of the Neck Disability Index through Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a symptomatic, homogeneous, neck population, with respect to pooled populations and gender subgroups. This was a secondary analysis of pooled data. A total of 1,278 symptomatic neck patients (67.5% female, median age 41 years), 803 nonspecific and 475 with whiplash-associated disorder. The Neck Disability Index was used to measure outcomes. We analyzed pooled baseline data from six independent studies of patients with neck problems who completed Neck Disability Index questionnaires at baseline. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis was considered in three scenarios: the full sample and separate sexes. Models were compared empirically for best fit. Two-factor models have good psychometric properties across both the pooled and sex subgroups. However, according to these analyses, the one-factor solution is preferable from both a statistical perspective and parsimony. The two-factor model was close to significant for the male subgroup (pfactor structure when analyzed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a pooled, homogenous sample of neck problem patients. However, a two-factor model did approach significance for male subjects where questions separated into constructs of mental and physical function. Further investigations in different conditions, subgroup and sex-specific populations are warranted. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

Development of a low cost UV index datalogger and comparison between UV index sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, L. M.; Ventura, L.

2018-02-01

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is the part of radiation emitted by the Sun, with range between 280 nm and 400 nm, and that reaches the Earth's surface. The UV rays are essential to the human because it stimulates the production of vitamin D but this radiation may be related to several health problems, including skin cancer and ocular diseases like pterygium, photokeratitis, cataract and more. To inform people about UV radiation, it is adopted the Ultraviolet Index (UVI). This UVI consists in a measure of solar UV radiation level, which contributes to cause sunburn on skin, also known as Erythema, and is indicated as an integer number between 1 and 14, associated to categories from low to extreme respectively. The aim of this work was to develop a low cost UVI datalogger capable of measuring three different UVI sensors simultaneously, record their data with timestamp and serve the measures online through a dedicated server, so general public can access their data and see the current UV radiation conditions. We also compared three different UVI sensors (SGlux UV cosine, Skye SKU440 and SiLabs SI1145) between them and with meteorological models during a period of months to verify their compliance. With five months data, we could verify the sensors working characteristics and decide which among them are the most suitable for research purposes.

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

Conservation Priority Index for Estuarine Fish (COPIEF)

Science.gov (United States)

Branco, Paulo; Costa, José Lino; Raposo de Almeida, Pedro

2008-12-01

Public awareness regarding environmental issues has increased in recent decades. The increasing number of impact assessment studies, management and conservation plans, as well as ecological monitoring studies, demand new and more efficient techniques. Indices are an important tool to aid biologists in these studies and should allow an easier comprehension of the data by managers, decision-makers and the general public. This study presents the first multi-metrical index able to establish a hierarchical ordination of the conservation priority of the estuarine fish species using 72 species from 16 estuarine systems (W and S coasts of Portugal). The index is composed of 10 metrics, comprising species life traits, distribution and population trends. The information needed to score each metric was gathered from the published literature and the index validation was done by external means. This methodology allowed the definition of those fish species most in need of conservation planning, and those less prone to extinction in Portuguese estuarine systems. The proposed index fills a gap in our knowledge and provides a useful tool to the scientific community and to the decision-makers, being a breakthrough in the field of conservation planning of estuarine fish species.

Historical extension of operational NDVI products for livestock insurance in Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Vrieling, Anton; Meroni, Michele; Shee, Apurba; Mude, Andrew G.; Woodard, Joshua; de Bie, C. A. J. M. (Kees); Rembold, Felix

2014-05-01

Droughts induce livestock losses that severely affect Kenyan pastoralists. Recent index insurance schemes have the potential of being a viable tool for insuring pastoralists against drought-related risk. Such schemes require as input a forage scarcity (or drought) index that can be reliably updated in near real-time, and that strongly relates to livestock mortality. Generally, a long record (>25 years) of the index is needed to correctly estimate mortality risk and calculate the related insurance premium. Data from current operational satellites used for large-scale vegetation monitoring span over a maximum of 15 years, a time period that is considered insufficient for accurate premium computation. This study examines how operational NDVI datasets compare to, and could be combined with the non-operational recently constructed 30-year GIMMS AVHRR record (1981-2011) to provide a near-real time drought index with a long term archive for the arid lands of Kenya. We compared six freely available, near-real time NDVI products: five from MODIS and one from SPOT-VEGETATION. Prior to comparison, all datasets were averaged in time for the two vegetative seasons in Kenya, and aggregated spatially at the administrative division level at which the insurance is offered. The feasibility of extending the resulting aggregated drought indices back in time was assessed using jackknifed R2 statistics (leave-one-year-out) for the overlapping period 2002-2011. We found that division-specific models were more effective than a global model for linking the division-level temporal variability of the index between NDVI products. Based on our results, good scope exists for historically extending the aggregated drought index, thus providing a longer operational record for insurance purposes. We showed that this extension may have large effects on the calculated insurance premium. Finally, we discuss several possible improvements to the drought index.

Single Higgs-boson production through γγ scattering within the general 2HDM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernal, Nicolas; Lopez-Val, David; Sola, Joan

2009-01-01

The production of a single neutral Higgs boson h through (loop-induced) γγ collisions is explored in the context of the linear colliders within the general Two-Higgs-Doublet Model (2HDM). Two different mechanisms are analyzed: on the one hand, the scattering γγ→h of two real photons in a γγ collider; on the other, the more traditional mechanism of virtual photon fusion, e + e - →e + e - γ*γ*→e + e - +h. Owing to the peculiar properties of the Higgs boson self-interactions within the general 2HDM, we find that the overall production rates can be boosted up significantly, provided the charged Higgs mass is not too heavy. For example, if M H ± ≥100 GeV and, in addition, M h 0 falls in the ballpark of the LEP bound on the SM Higgs mass up to a few hundred GeV, the cross-sections may typically render γγ→h >∼0.1-1 pb and σ(e + e - →e + e - h 0 )≤0.01 pb - in both cases well above the SM prediction. Although for M H ± >300 GeV the rates become virtually insensitive to the Higgs boson self-couplings, a significant tail of non-SM effects produced by the combined contribution of the Yukawa couplings and gauge bosons could still reveal a smoking gun.

The lipid accumulation product as a useful index for identifying abnormal glucose regulation in young Korean women.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, J-Y; Sung, Y-A; Lee, H J

2013-04-01

The lipid accumulation product, a combination of waist circumference and triglycerides concentration, has been suggested as a better marker for abnormal glucose regulation than BMI. We aimed to compare the lipid accumulation product and BMI as useful markers for abnormal glucose regulation in young Korean women. The lipid accumulation product was calculated using the formula [waist circumference (cm) - 58] × triglycerides (mmol/l). Glucose tolerance status was determined using a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test in 2810 Korean women aged 18-39 years from the general population. The prevalence of abnormal glucose regulation was 6.8% (isolated impaired fasting glucose 1.8%, isolated impaired glucose tolerance 4.0%; impaired fasting glucose + impaired glucose tolerance 0.4% and diabetes mellitus 0.6%). According to the quintile distributions of the lipid accumulation product and BMI, women with a lipid accumulation product quintile greater than their BMI quintile exhibited significantly greater areas under the curve and higher levels of 2-h post-load glucose, insulin, homeostasis model analysis of insulin resistance and lipid profiles than did women with a BMI quintile greater than their lipid accumulation product quintile. Multiple logistic regression revealed that the lipid accumulation product exhibited a higher odds ratio for abnormal glucose regulation than did BMI after adjusting for age, systolic blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, previous history of gestational diabetes and family history of diabetes (odds ratios 3.5 and 2.6 of the highest vs. the lowest quintiles of lipid accumulation product and BMI, respectively). The lipid accumulation product could be useful for identifying the young Korean women with abnormal glucose regulation. © 2012 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2012 Diabetes UK.

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.

On the history of the connectivity index: from the connectivity index to the exact solution of the protein alignment problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Randić, M

2015-01-01

We briefly review the history of the connectivity index from 1975 to date. We hope to throw some light on why this unique, by its design, graph theoretical molecular descriptor continues to be of interest in QSAR, having wide use in applications in structure-property and structure-activity studies. We will elaborate on its generalizations and the insights it offered on applications in Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA). Going beyond the connectivity index we will outline several related developments in the development of molecular descriptors used in MRA, including molecular ID numbers (1986), the variable connectivity index (1991), orthogonal regression (1991), irrelevance of co-linearity of descriptors (1997), anti-connectivity (2006), and high discriminatory descriptors characterizing molecular similarity (2015). We will comment on beauty in QSAR and recent progress in searching for similarity of DNA, proteins and the proteome. This review reports on several results which are little known to the structure-property-activity community, the significance of which may surprise those unfamiliar with the application of discrete mathematics to chemistry. It tells the reader many unknown stories about the connectivity index, which may help the reader to better understand the meaning of this index. Readers are not required to be familiar with graph theory.

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.

Bibliographic index to photonuclear reaction data (1955--1992)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asami, Tetsuo [Data Engineering, Inc., Yokohama (Japan); Nakagawa, Tsuneo [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Dept. of Reactor Engineering

1993-10-01

Japanese Nuclear Data Committee (JNDC) has a plan to compile the evaluated data library for photon-induced nuclear reaction cross sections, and the work on the data evaluation is in progress at the present. In the evaluations for these data a bibliographic index for neutron nuclear data is required. As the bibliographic index to photonuclear reactions, several excellent compilations have been done at some research institutes in the world, and have contributed to various basic and applied researches on the photonuclear reactions. For example, there are the abstract sheets published by US National Bureau of Standards and the data index published regularly in Russia. On the other hand, the four-center network on nuclear data (US National Nuclear Data Center at Brookhaven, Russian Nuclear Data Center at Obninsk, NEA Data Bank at Paris and IAEA Nuclear Data Section at Vienna) compiles and exchanges the numerical data on photonuclear reactions as well as on neutron-induced ones, in the EXFOR format. Those numerical data are available for users. There is, however, no bibliographic index to photonuclear reactions, available for general users. Therefore, the present work to make a photonuclear reaction data index has been done urgently to contribute to the above-mentioned data evaluation. Although these data might be still incomplete and have some defects, we have decided to serve this as the first edition of our photonuclear reaction index.

Assessment of child behavior in dental operatory in relation to sociodemographic factors, general anxiety, body mass index and role of multi media distraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Gyanendra; Thakur, Seema; Singhal, Parul; Ghosh, Shiv Nath; Chauhan, Deepak; Jayam, Cheranjeevi

2016-01-01

Children and adolescents comprise a group of individuals representing a large variation in size, competence, maturity, personality, temperament and emotions experience, oral health, family background, culture, etc. Furthermore, a growing child is in a constant state of flux as he grows up and actively interacts with the environment. Many factors contribute to the dental behavior of the child. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sociodemographic factors, general anxiety, body mass index (BMI), and role of multimedia on the child behavior (CB) in the dental operatory. Three hundred and one children aged 3-14 years and their parents participated in the study. In the first visit, the questionnaire was filled by the parent and general examination was done. During the second visit, the required dental procedure was rendered, and the behavior was recorded by a single examiner. Among sociodemographic factors, increasing age is directly related to child's positive behavior, whereas other factors such as gender and socioeconomic status (SES) are not significantly related. General anxiety significantly affects the child's behavior. BMI of the child is not related to child's behavior in dental operatory. Multimedia was not found to be significantly affecting the behavior of the child in dental operatory. Interpretations and Conclusion: The principle conclusion of this study is that there is a significant association of age and treatment procedure rendered with the CB in the dental operatory whereas gender, SES, general anxiety, BMI, and multimedia do not show any significant association with the CB in the dental operatory.

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.

Atiyah-Patodi-Singer index theorem for domain-wall fermion Dirac operator

Science.gov (United States)

Fukaya, Hidenori; Onogi, Tetsuya; Yamaguchi, Satoshi

2018-03-01

Recently, the Atiyah-Patodi-Singer(APS) index theorem attracts attention for understanding physics on the surface of materials in topological phases. Although it is widely applied to physics, the mathematical set-up in the original APS index theorem is too abstract and general (allowing non-trivial metric and so on) and also the connection between the APS boundary condition and the physical boundary condition on the surface of topological material is unclear. For this reason, in contrast to the Atiyah-Singer index theorem, derivation of the APS index theorem in physics language is still missing. In this talk, we attempt to reformulate the APS index in a "physicist-friendly" way, similar to the Fujikawa method on closed manifolds, for our familiar domain-wall fermion Dirac operator in a flat Euclidean space. We find that the APS index is naturally embedded in the determinant of domain-wall fermions, representing the so-called anomaly descent equations.

A computer program for creating keyword indexes to textual data files

Science.gov (United States)

Moody, David W.

1972-01-01

A keyword-in-context (KWIC) or out-of-context (KWOC) index is a convenient means of organizing information. This keyword index program can be used to create either KWIC or KWOC indexes of bibliographic references or other types of information punched on. cards, typed on optical scanner sheets, or retrieved from various Department of Interior data bases using the Generalized Information Processing System (GIPSY). The index consists of a 'bibliographic' section and a keyword-section based on the permutation of. document titles, project titles, environmental impact statement titles, maps, etc. or lists of descriptors. The program can also create a back-of-the-book index to documents from a list of descriptors. By providing the user with a wide range of input and output options, the program provides the researcher, manager, or librarian with a means of-maintaining a list and index to documents in. a small library, reprint collection, or office file.

Multifractal analysis of implied volatility in index options

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, GabJin

2014-06-01

In this paper, we analyze the statistical and the non-linear properties of the log-variations in implied volatility for the CAC40, DAX and S& P500 daily index options. The price of an index option is generally represented by its implied volatility surface, including its smile and skew properties. We utilize a Lévy process model as the underlying asset to deepen our understanding of the intrinsic property of the implied volatility in the index options and estimate the implied volatility surface. We find that the options pricing models with the exponential Lévy model can reproduce the smile or sneer features of the implied volatility that are observed in real options markets. We study the variation in the implied volatility for at-the-money index call and put options, and we find that the distribution function follows a power-law distribution with an exponent of 3.5 ≤ γ ≤ 4.5. Especially, the variation in the implied volatility exhibits multifractal spectral characteristics, and the global financial crisis has influenced the complexity of the option markets.

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...

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

InDEx: Open Source iOS and Android Software for Self-Reporting and Monitoring of Alcohol Consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Leightley, Daniel; Puddephatt, Jo-Anne; Goodwin, Laura; Rona, Roberto; Fear, Nicola T

2018-03-23

InDEx is a software package for reporting and monitoring alcohol consumption via a smartphone application. Consumption of alcohol is self-reported by the user, and the app provides a visual representation of drinking behaviour and offers feedback on consumption levels compared to the general population. InDEx is intended as an exemplar app, operating as a standalone smartphone application and is highly customisable for a variety of research domains. InDEx is written in JavaScript, using IONIC framework which is cross-platform and is available under the liberal GNU General Public License (v3). The software is available from GitHub (https://github.com/DrDanL/index-app-public).

Factors influencing the selected body parameters and hippometric indexes in donkey’s population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martina Kosťuková

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The main focus of our work was to collect basic body measurements of donkey population in Czech republic and determine the factors that influence these body measurements and hipometric indexes. The following measurements were recorded: height at withers, chest circumference and metacarpus interference. Based on the collected data, we were able to calculate the hipometric indexes: index of boniness, skeleton strength index, body mass index and coup height index. From a total of 331 individuals of donkey species living in Czech republic we managed to collect 50 samples. These were subjected to a general linear model (GLM and multiplex comparison statistical analysis. We managed to prove a statistically significant difference between donkeys born in Czech republic and the ones born abroad for all the measurements. Specifically the metacarpus circumference the gender dependency was also proved, having its impact on the hipometric indexes as well; the boniness index and skeleton strength index were also proved to be gender – dependent.

Fish is food--the FAO's fish price index.

Science.gov (United States)

Tveterås, Sigbjørn; Asche, Frank; Bellemare, Marc F; Smith, Martin D; Guttormsen, Atle G; Lem, Audun; Lien, Kristin; Vannuccini, Stefania

2012-01-01

World food prices hit an all-time high in February 2011 and are still almost two and a half times those of 2000. Although three billion people worldwide use seafood as a key source of animal protein, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations-which compiles prices for other major food categories-has not tracked seafood prices. We fill this gap by developing an index of global seafood prices that can help to understand food crises and may assist in averting them. The fish price index (FPI) relies on trade statistics because seafood is heavily traded internationally, exposing non-traded seafood to price competition from imports and exports. Easily updated trade data can thus proxy for domestic seafood prices that are difficult to observe in many regions and costly to update with global coverage. Calculations of the extent of price competition in different countries support the plausibility of reliance on trade data. Overall, the FPI shows less volatility and fewer price spikes than other food price indices including oils, cereals, and dairy. The FPI generally reflects seafood scarcity, but it can also be separated into indices by production technology, fish species, or region. Splitting FPI into capture fisheries and aquaculture suggests increased scarcity of capture fishery resources in recent years, but also growth in aquaculture that is keeping pace with demand. Regionally, seafood price volatility varies, and some prices are negatively correlated. These patterns hint that regional supply shocks are consequential for seafood prices in spite of the high degree of seafood tradability.

Fish is food--the FAO's fish price index.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sigbjørn Tveterås

Full Text Available World food prices hit an all-time high in February 2011 and are still almost two and a half times those of 2000. Although three billion people worldwide use seafood as a key source of animal protein, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO of the United Nations-which compiles prices for other major food categories-has not tracked seafood prices. We fill this gap by developing an index of global seafood prices that can help to understand food crises and may assist in averting them. The fish price index (FPI relies on trade statistics because seafood is heavily traded internationally, exposing non-traded seafood to price competition from imports and exports. Easily updated trade data can thus proxy for domestic seafood prices that are difficult to observe in many regions and costly to update with global coverage. Calculations of the extent of price competition in different countries support the plausibility of reliance on trade data. Overall, the FPI shows less volatility and fewer price spikes than other food price indices including oils, cereals, and dairy. The FPI generally reflects seafood scarcity, but it can also be separated into indices by production technology, fish species, or region. Splitting FPI into capture fisheries and aquaculture suggests increased scarcity of capture fishery resources in recent years, but also growth in aquaculture that is keeping pace with demand. Regionally, seafood price volatility varies, and some prices are negatively correlated. These patterns hint that regional supply shocks are consequential for seafood prices in spite of the high degree of seafood tradability.

The effect of Malaysia general election on stock market returns

OpenAIRE

Liew, Venus Khim-Sen; Rowland, Racquel

2016-01-01

During the latest episode of general election held in Malaysia, it is observed that the FBMKLCI index was lifted 62.52 points in a day soon after the announcement of election outcome. Moreover, the index registered a highest gain of 96.29 points in the middle of the intra-day trade. This suggests that investors who had got the right direction could make profitable intra-day trading the next trading day of the general election date. Results from statistical analysis uncover significant before-...

Zero-velocity solitons in high-index photonic crystal fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægsgaard, Jesper

2011-01-01

Nonlinear propagation in slow-light states of high-index photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) is studied numerically. To avoid divergencies in dispersion and nonlinear parameters around the zero-velocity mode, a time-propagating generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation is formulated. Calculated slow-...

Studies on generalized kinetic model and Pareto optimization of a product-driven self-cycling bioprocess.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Kaibiao; Kasperski, Andrzej; Tian, Yuan

2014-10-01

The aim of this study is the optimization of a product-driven self-cycling bioprocess and presentation of a way to determine the best possible decision variables out of a set of alternatives based on the designed model. Initially, a product-driven generalized kinetic model, which allows a flexible choice of the most appropriate kinetics is designed and analysed. The optimization problem is given as the bi-objective one, where maximization of biomass productivity and minimization of unproductive loss of substrate are the objective functions. Then, the Pareto fronts are calculated for exemplary kinetics. It is found that in the designed bioprocess, a decrease of emptying/refilling fraction and an increase of substrate feeding concentration cause an increase of the biomass productivity. An increase of emptying/refilling fraction and a decrease of substrate feeding concentration cause a decrease of unproductive loss of substrate. The preferred solutions are calculated using the minimum distance from an ideal solution method, while giving proposals of their modifications derived from a decision maker's reactions to the generated solutions.

Relationship between salivary fluor concentration and caries index in 12–15 years old children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vidyana Pratiwi

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Dental caries is a bacterial infection leading to dissolution and localized damage of hard tissues. The assessment of caries risk is based on several caries indicators including clinical conditions (DMF-T index, environment (fluor, and general health. Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between salivary fluor concentration and caries index in children aging 12–15 years old at SMP Negeri 2 PTPN VIII Pangalengan. Methods: This study is an observational analytical study using crosssectional approach and is conducted in a field trial manner. The study sample consists of 80 students in the age of 12 to 15 years old at SMP Negeri 2 PTPN VIII selected through Probability Sampling manner using simple random sampling method. Results: The result of this study shows a DMF-T index of 4.32 and salivary fluor concentration mean of 0.018. Pearson Product Moment correlation test shows that there is a weak correlation between salivary fluor concentration and DMF-T index. Conclusion: It is concluded that the salivary fluor concentration has an insignificant correlation with the DMF-T index since the fluor concentration in saliva is very low.Latar belakang: Karies gigi adalah penyakit infeksi bakteri yang berakibat pada disolusi dan kerusakan terlokalisasi jaringan keras. Penilaian risiko karies berdasarkan atas beberapa indikator karies yaitu kondisi klinis (indeks DMF-T, lingkungan (fluor, dan kesehatan umum. Tujuan: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan konsentrasi fluor yang terdapat dalam saliva dengan indeks karies pada anak usia 12-15 tahun di SMP Negeri 2 PTPN VIII Pangalengan. Metode: Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian analitik observasional dengan pendekatan cross sectional yang dilakukan di lapangan. Sampel penelitian sebanyak 80 orang siswasiswi usia 12–15 tahun di SMP Negeri 2 PTPN VIII Pangalengan yang dipilih secara Probability Sampling dengan metode simple random sampling. Hasil

A mortality index for postmarketing surveillance of new medications.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, J C; Unis, A S

2000-03-01

The rate of introduction of new pharmaceuticals is growing as a result of advances in molecular pharmacology and targeted drug development. The Fatal Toxicity Index (FTI) has been proposed as a means for monitoring drug toxicity through post-marketing surveillance. The FTI requires data regarding the general availability of a particular agent in the community which, in the US, is proprietary. The authors propose a Mortality Index as an alternative method for calculating relative lethality that does not rely on proprietary information for postmarketing surveillance. Using data from the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System (TESS) a Mortality Index was calculated from the proportion of deaths occurring among all patients who present to a health care facility with an overdose on the same agent or class of agents. The average Mortality Index for various drugs or drug classes for the years 1989 to 1997 is reported. Because the Mortality Index for desipramine appeared much greater than that for the other tricyclics, a chi-squared analysis was performed. The authors conclude, based on this analysis, that desipramine is significantly more likely to lead to death after overdosage than any other tricyclic antidepressant in the study. Also, the Mortality Index appeared to identify the impact of pediatric formulations on overdose lethality. We conclude that the Mortality Index may be a useful tool for determining the safety of agents during the postmarketing surveillance phase.

Multi-Index Monte Carlo (MIMC)

KAUST Repository

Haji Ali, Abdul Lateef; Nobile, Fabio; Tempone, Raul

2015-01-01

We propose and analyze a novel Multi-Index Monte Carlo (MIMC) method for weak approximation of stochastic models that are described in terms of differential equations either driven by random measures or with random coefficients. The MIMC method is both a stochastic version of the combination technique introduced by Zenger, Griebel and collaborators and an extension of the Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method first described by Heinrich and Giles. Inspired by Giles’s seminal work, instead of using first-order differences as in MLMC, we use in MIMC high-order mixed differences to reduce the variance of the hierarchical differences dramatically. Under standard assumptions on the convergence rates of the weak error, variance and work per sample, the optimal index set turns out to be of Total Degree (TD) type. When using such sets, MIMC yields new and improved complexity results, which are natural generalizations of Giles’s MLMC analysis, and which increase the domain of problem parameters for which we achieve the optimal convergence.

Multi-Index Monte Carlo (MIMC)

KAUST Repository

Haji Ali, Abdul Lateef

2015-01-07

We propose and analyze a novel Multi-Index Monte Carlo (MIMC) method for weak approximation of stochastic models that are described in terms of differential equations either driven by random measures or with random coefficients. The MIMC method is both a stochastic version of the combination technique introduced by Zenger, Griebel and collaborators and an extension of the Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) method first described by Heinrich and Giles. Inspired by Giles’s seminal work, instead of using first-order differences as in MLMC, we use in MIMC high-order mixed differences to reduce the variance of the hierarchical differences dramatically. Under standard assumptions on the convergence rates of the weak error, variance and work per sample, the optimal index set turns out to be of Total Degree (TD) type. When using such sets, MIMC yields new and improved complexity results, which are natural generalizations of Giles’s MLMC analysis, and which increase the domain of problem parameters for which we achieve the optimal convergence.

Human-competitive automatic topic indexing

CERN Document Server

Medelyan, Olena

2009-01-01

Topic indexing is the task of identifying the main topics covered by a document. These are useful for many purposes: as subject headings in libraries, as keywords in academic publications and as tags on the web. Knowing a document’s topics helps people judge its relevance quickly. However, assigning topics manually is labor intensive. This thesis shows how to generate them automatically in a way that competes with human performance. Three kinds of indexing are investigated: term assignment, a task commonly performed by librarians, who select topics from a controlled vocabulary; tagging, a popular activity of web users, who choose topics freely; and a new method of keyphrase extraction, where topics are equated to Wikipedia article names. A general two-stage algorithm is introduced that first selects candidate topics and then ranks them by significance based on their properties. These properties draw on statistical, semantic, domain-specific and encyclopedic knowledge. They are combined using a machine learn...

Indexed University presses: overlap and geographical distribution in five book assessment databases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mañana-Rodriguez, J.; Gimenez-Toledo, E

2016-07-01

Scholarly books have been a periphery among the objects of study of bibliometrics until recent developments provided tools for assessment purposes. Among scholarly book publishers, University Presses (UPs hereinafter), subject to specific ends and constrains in their publishing activity, might also remain on a second-level periphery despite their relevance as scholarly book publishers. In this study the authors analyze the absolute and relative presence, overlap and uniquely-indexed cases of 503 UPs by country, among five assessment-oriented databases containing data on scholarly book publishers: Book Citation Index, Scopus, Scholarly Publishers Indicators (Spain), the lists of publishers from the Norwegian System (CRISTIN) and the lists of publishers from the Finnish System (JUFO). The comparison between commercial databases and public, national databases points towards a differential pattern: prestigious UPs in the English Speaking world represent larger shares and there is a higher overall percentage of UPs in the commercial databases, while the richness and diversity is higher in the case of national databases. Explicit or de facto biases towards production in English by commercial databases, as well as diverse indexation criteria might explain the differences observed. The analysis of the presence of UPs in different numbers of databases by country also provides a general picture of the average degree of diffusion of UPs among information systems. The analysis of ‘endemic’ UPs, those indexed only in one of the five databases points out to strongly different compositions of UPs in commercial and non-commercial databases. A combination of commercial and non commercial databases seems to be the optimal option for assessment purposes while the validity and desirability of the ongoing debate on the role of UPs can be also concluded. (Author)

A proposed selection index for feedlot profitability based on estimated breeding values.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Westhuizen, R R; van der Westhuizen, J

2009-04-22

It is generally accepted that feed intake and growth (gain) are the most important economic components when calculating profitability in a growth test or feedlot. We developed a single post-weaning growth (feedlot) index based on the economic values of different components. Variance components, heritabilities and genetic correlations for and between initial weight (IW), final weight (FW), feed intake (FI), and shoulder height (SHD) were estimated by multitrait restricted maximum likelihood procedures. The estimated breeding values (EBVs) and the economic values for IW, FW and FI were used in a selection index to estimate a post-weaning or feedlot profitability value. Heritabilities for IW, FW, FI, and SHD were 0.41, 0.40, 0.33, and 0.51, respectively. The highest genetic correlations were 0.78 (between IW and FW) and 0.70 (between FI and FW). EBVs were used in a selection index to calculate a single economical value for each animal. This economic value is an indication of the gross profitability value or the gross test value (GTV) of the animal in a post-weaning growth test. GTVs varied between -R192.17 and R231.38 with an average of R9.31 and a standard deviation of R39.96. The Pearson correlations between EBVs (for production and efficiency traits) and GTV ranged from -0.51 to 0.68. The lowest correlation (closest to zero) was 0.26 between the Kleiber ratio and GTV. Correlations of 0.68 and -0.51 were estimated between average daily gain and GTV and feed conversion ratio and GTV, respectively. These results showed that it is possible to select for GTV. The selection index can benefit feedlotting in selecting offspring of bulls with high GTVs to maximize profitability.

On the Wiener Polarity Index of Lattice Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lin; Li, Tao; Liu, Jinfeng; Shi, Yongtang; Wang, Hua

2016-01-01

Network structures are everywhere, including but not limited to applications in biological, physical and social sciences, information technology, and optimization. Network robustness is of crucial importance in all such applications. Research on this topic relies on finding a suitable measure and use this measure to quantify network robustness. A number of distance-based graph invariants, also known as topological indices, have recently been incorporated as descriptors of complex networks. Among them the Wiener type indices are the most well known and commonly used such descriptors. As one of the fundamental variants of the original Wiener index, the Wiener polarity index has been introduced for a long time and known to be related to the cluster coefficient of networks. In this paper, we consider the value of the Wiener polarity index of lattice networks, a common network structure known for its simplicity and symmetric structure. We first present a simple general formula for computing the Wiener polarity index of any graph. Using this formula, together with the symmetric and recursive topology of lattice networks, we provide explicit formulas of the Wiener polarity index of the square lattices, the hexagonal lattices, the triangular lattices, and the 33 ⋅ 42 lattices. We also comment on potential future research topics.

An Elementary Treatment of General Inner Products

Science.gov (United States)

Graver, Jack E.

2011-01-01

A typical first course on linear algebra is usually restricted to vector spaces over the real numbers and the usual positive-definite inner product. Hence, the proof that dim(S)+ dim(S[perpendicular]) = dim("V") is not presented in a way that is generalizable to non-positive?definite inner products or to vector spaces over other fields. In this…

Role of Weed Emergence Time for the Relative Seed Production in Maize

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano Benvenuti

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Trials were carried out in 2000 and 2001 to investigate the effect of weed emergence time on weed seed production in a maize field. Datura stramonium L., Solanum nigrum L. and Abutilon theophrasti Medicus were selected for their importance as summer weeds. Emergence time was found to be crucial since delay would involve an unfavourable light environment determined by crop canopy elongation and resulting shade production. Only the early emergence of D. stramonium and A. theophrasti showed the capacity to exposing their leaves over the crop canopy. Generally the weed seed production under shade conditions decreased for the reduction of the fruit per plant since the number of seed per plant showed only a light reduction. However, while D. stramonium and A. theophrasti compete with the crop by increasing height, Solanum nigrum tends to adjust to shade without excessive reduction in number of seeds produced. Thus in D. stramonium and A. theophrasti late emergence reduced seed production to only 15%, while S. nigrum maintained 25% of the seed production level generally observed with greater light exposure. This environmental adaptation was confirmed by the less marked decrease in S. nigrum harvest index. Agroecological involvements are discussed.

Role of Weed Emergence Time for the Relative Seed Production in Maize

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano Benvenuti

Full Text Available Trials were carried out in 2000 and 2001 to investigate the effect of weed emergence time on weed seed production in a maize field. Datura stramonium L., Solanum nigrum L. and Abutilon theophrasti Medicus were selected for their importance as summer weeds. Emergence time was found to be crucial since delay would involve an unfavourable light environment determined by crop canopy elongation and resulting shade production. Only the early emergence of D. stramonium and A. theophrasti showed the capacity to exposing their leaves over the crop canopy. Generally the weed seed production under shade conditions decreased for the reduction of the fruit per plant since the number of seed per plant showed only a light reduction. However, while D. stramonium and A. theophrasti compete with the crop by increasing height, Solanum nigrum tends to adjust to shade without excessive reduction in number of seeds produced. Thus in D. stramonium and A. theophrasti late emergence reduced seed production to only 15%, while S. nigrum maintained 25% of the seed production level generally observed with greater light exposure. This environmental adaptation was confirmed by the less marked decrease in S. nigrum harvest index. Agroecological involvements are discussed.

WEATHER INDEX- THE BASIS OF WEATHER DERIVATIVES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Botos Horia Mircea

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This paper approaches the subject of Weather Derivatives, more exactly their basic element the weather index. The weather index has two forms, the Heating Degree Day (HDD and the Cooling Degree Day (CDD. We will try to explain their origin, use and the relationship between the two forms of the index. In our research we started from the analysis of the weather derivatives and what they are based on. After finding out about weather index, we were interested in understanding exactly how they work and how they influence the value of the contract. On the national level the research in the field is scares, but foreign materials available. The study for this paper was based firstly on reading about Weather Derivative, and then going in the meteorogical field and determining the way by which the indices were determined. After this, we went to the field with interest in the indices, such as the energy and gas industries, and figured out how they determined the weather index. For the examples we obtained data from the weather index database, and calculated the value for the period. The study is made on a period of five years, in 8 cities of the European Union. The result of this research is that we can now understand better the importance of the way the indices work and how they influence the value of the Weather Derivatives. This research has an implication on the field of insurance, because of the fact that weather derivative are at the convergence point of the stock markets and the insurance market. The originality of the paper comes from the personal touch given to the theoretical aspect and through the analysis of the HDD and CDD index in order to show their general behaviour and relationship.