Impact of robotic operative efficiency on profitability.

Science.gov (United States)

Geller, Elizabeth J; Matthews, Catherine A

2013-07-01

We sought to determine the impact of robotic operative efficiency on profitability and assess the impact of secondary variables. Financial data were collected for all robotic cases performed for fiscal years 2010 (FY10) and 2011 (FY11) at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and included 9 surgical subspecialties. Profitability was defined as a positive operating income. From July 2009 through June 2011, 1295 robotic cases were performed. Robotic surgery was profitable in both fiscal years, with an operating income of $386,735 in FY10 and $822,996 in FY11. In FY10, urogynecology and pediatric surgery were the only nonprofitable subspecialties. In FY11, all subspecialties were profitable. Profitability was associated with case time, payor mix, and procedure type (all P profitability regardless of surgical specialty. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS OF BANK PROFITABILITY LEVELS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ante Rozga

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Discriminant analysis has been employed in this paper in order to identify and explain key features of bank profitability levels. Bank profitability is set up in the form of two categorical variables: profit or loss recorded and above or below average return on equity. Predictor variables are selected from various groups of financial indicators usually included in the empirical work on microeconomic determinants of bank profitability. The data from the Croatian banking sector is analyzed using the Enter method. General recommendations for a more profitable business of banking found in the bank management literature and existing empirical framework such as rationalization of overhead costs, asset growth, increase of non-interest income by expanding scale and scope of financial products proved to be important for classification of banks in different profitability levels. A higher market share may bring additional advantages. Classification results, canonical correlation and Wilks’ Lambda test confirm statistical significance of research results. Altogether, discriminant analysis turns out to be a suitable statistical method for solving presented research problem and moving forward from the bankruptcy, credit rating or default issues in finance.

PROFIT SENSITIVITY IN THE DECISION - MAKING PROCESS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimi Ofilean

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Projections on the profitability of an entity is a prerequisite impact assessment of implementing various management strategies. The literature did not include a model sensitivity analysis in terms of profit margin of safety modification and safety coefficient. This article aims to explicit solutions for identifying the factors that influence the sensitivity of profit, the proposed analytical models to change the margin of safety (physical and value and coefficient of safety. The model allows the determination of limits that can increase or decrease sales costs so that the company remains profitable, ie to be able to maintain an adequate level of profit. This analysis allows knowing the influence of each factor in the evolution of the profitability of the entity, allowing managers to adopt the right decisions based on the importance of the influence of the analysis results of the entity. To facilitate understanding of the proposed analytical model is presented a case study.

Forsmark Bedrock mapping. Stage 1 (2002) - Outcrop data including fracture data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stephens, M.B.; Bergman, T.; Andersson, J.; Hermansson, T.; Wahlgren, C.H.; Albrecht, L.; Mikko, H.

2003-02-01

Infra-red aerial photographs over the study area, taken at a height of 2700 m, were interpreted in order to locate either the position of outcrops where the bedrock is exposed at the Earth's surface or sites where the bedrock lies beneath a thin (< 50 cm) cover of Quaternary deposits. These data were critical for the planning and execution of the field activities. It was aimed to map all the outcrops in the mainland part of the study area during stage 1 of the project. These data will be integrated with both bedrock analytical data and the interpretations obtained from the study of airborne geophysical data in order to produce a bedrock map over the study area. In order to gain some information on the regional variation in the frequency and orientation of fractures over the candidate area, a documentation of the position and strike and dip of fractures longer than 100 cm was carried out at 44 outcrops. This work will also help in the selection of outcrops where detailed fracture analysis will be carried out during a later stage of the site investigation programme. Field work associated with stage 1 of the project initiated in the candidate area during June 2002. Field activities then continued in the coastal area to the northeast, in the area north of 6700000 N to the northwest of the candidate area and in the inland area to the southwest. Field activities ceased during September 2002. Both descriptive and numerical data from the 1054 observation points have been included in an outcrop database. Primarily on account of the complexity of the outcrops visited and, as a consequence, the longer time required for the field activities, a large part of the area south of road 76 was not mapped during 2002

Forsmark Bedrock mapping. Stage 1 (2002) - Outcrop data including fracture data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stephens, M.B.; Bergman, T.; Andersson, J.; Hermansson, T.; Wahlgren, C.H.; Albrecht, L.; Mikko, H. [Geological Survey of Sweden, Uppsala (Sweden)

2003-02-01

Infra-red aerial photographs over the study area, taken at a height of 2700 m, were interpreted in order to locate either the position of outcrops where the bedrock is exposed at the Earth's surface or sites where the bedrock lies beneath a thin (< 50 cm) cover of Quaternary deposits. These data were critical for the planning and execution of the field activities. It was aimed to map all the outcrops in the mainland part of the study area during stage 1 of the project. These data will be integrated with both bedrock analytical data and the interpretations obtained from the study of airborne geophysical data in order to produce a bedrock map over the study area. In order to gain some information on the regional variation in the frequency and orientation of fractures over the candidate area, a documentation of the position and strike and dip of fractures longer than 100 cm was carried out at 44 outcrops. This work will also help in the selection of outcrops where detailed fracture analysis will be carried out during a later stage of the site investigation programme. Field work associated with stage 1 of the project initiated in the candidate area during June 2002. Field activities then continued in the coastal area to the northeast, in the area north of 6700000 N to the northwest of the candidate area and in the inland area to the southwest. Field activities ceased during September 2002. Both descriptive and numerical data from the 1054 observation points have been included in an outcrop database. Primarily on account of the complexity of the outcrops visited and, as a consequence, the longer time required for the field activities, a large part of the area south of road 76 was not mapped during 2002.

Naturally fractured reservoirs-yet an unsolved mystery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zahoor, M.K.

2013-01-01

Some of the world's most profitable reservoirs are assumed to be naturally fractured reservoirs (NFR). Effective evaluation, prediction and planning of these reservoirs require an early recognition of the role of natural fractures and then a comprehensive study of factors which affect the flowing performance through these fractures is necessary. As NFRs are the combination of matrix and fractures mediums so their analysis varies from non-fractured reservoirs. Matrix acts as a storage medium while mostly fluid flow takes place from fracture network. Many authors adopted different approaches to understand the flow behavior in such reservoirs. In this paper a broad review about the previous work done in naturally fractured reservoirs area is outlined and a different idea is initiated for the NFR simulation studies. The role of capillary pressure in natural fractures is always been a key factor for accurate recovery estimations. Also recovery through these reservoirs is dependent upon grid block shape while doing NFR simulation. Some authors studied above mentioned factors in combination with other rock properties to understand the flow behavior in such reservoirs but less emphasis was given for checking the effects on recovery estimations by the variations of only fracture capillary pressures and grid block shapes. So there is need to analyze the behavior of NFR for the mentioned conditions. (author)

Not-for-profits trek into for-profit accounting: goodwill impairments.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

Acquisitions may be integral and strategic drivers for successfully executing the business objectives of an entity or fulfilling its mission. The new guidance creates accounting and valuation challenges for not-for-profit entities that for-profit entities have been dealing with for years. Now that not-for-profit entities apply the same principles, the fair value concepts and accounting complexities are more pervasive. By brining to bear the rights complement of accounting, finance, and valuation resources, not-for-profit entities can successfully navigate these challenges and gain an understanding of the full magnitude of acquisition decisions on financial results.

The Service-profit Chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grønholdt, Lars; Martensen, Anne

2016-01-01

This paper examines the links between employee attitudes, customer loyalty and company profitability. From a conceptual point of view, this employee-customer-profit chain, also known as the service-profit chain, is well founded and generally accepted. But for many companies, it seems difficult...... to demonstrate such links, and several issues must be addressed to uncover the links. To investigate these links empirically, a hotel chain provided data matching employee and customer measures with measures of profitability. We have successfully employed a modeling approach, and the paper reports empirical...... evidence of the employee-customer-profit chain. As it is possible to estimate the links, we have demonstrated their effect on company profitability. The research findings provide a better understanding of the service-profit chain and may help practitioners in improving company financial performance....

DataProfit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2016-01-01

DataProfit er et værktøj til at kortlægge og analysere din virksomheds evne til datadreven forretningsudvikling.......DataProfit er et værktøj til at kortlægge og analysere din virksomheds evne til datadreven forretningsudvikling....

Profit maximization mitigates competition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dierker, Egbert; Grodal, Birgit

1996-01-01

We consider oligopolistic markets in which the notion of shareholders' utility is well-defined and compare the Bertrand-Nash equilibria in case of utility maximization with those under the usual profit maximization hypothesis. Our main result states that profit maximization leads to less price...... competition than utility maximization. Since profit maximization tends to raise prices, it may be regarded as beneficial for the owners as a whole. Moreover, if profit maximization is a good proxy for utility maximization, then there is no need for a general equilibrium analysis that takes the distribution...... of profits among consumers fully into account and partial equilibrium analysis suffices...

Mapping the Profit Motive: The Distinct Geography and Demography of For-Profit Charter Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, W. Brett

2015-01-01

For-profit charter schools represent a controversial new market-based education reform (Garcia, Barber, & Molnar, 2009; Conn, 2002). This essay explores how schools operated by for-profit corporations differ from those operated by non-profit organizations. Specifically, do for-profit charter schools locate in demographically distinct areas and…

Does outsourcing affect hospital profitability?

Science.gov (United States)

Danvers, Kreag; Nikolov, Pavel

2010-01-01

Organizations outsource non-core service functions to achieve cost reductions and strategic benefits, both of which can impact profitability performance. This article examines relations between managerial outsourcing decisions and profitability for a multi-state sample of non-profit hospitals, across 16 states and four regions of the United States. Overall regression results indicate that outsourcing does not necessarily improve hospital profitability. In addition, we identify no profitability impact from outsourcing for urban hospitals, but somewhat positive effects for teaching hospitals. Our regional analysis suggests that hospitals located in the Midwest maintain positive profitability effects with outsourcing, but those located in the South realize negative effects. These findings have implications for cost reduction efforts and the financial viability of non-profit hospitals.

Factorial Analysis of Profitability

OpenAIRE

Georgeta VINTILA; Ilie GHEORGHE; Ioana Mihaela POCAN; Madalina Gabriela ANGHEL

2012-01-01

The DuPont analysis system is based on decomposing the profitability ratio in factors of influence. This paper describes the factorial analysis of profitability based on the DuPont system. Significant importance is given to the impact on various indicators on the shares value and profitability.

Proximal femoral fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Lawrence X

2002-01-01

Fractures of the proximal femur include fractures of the head, neck, intertrochanteric, and subtrochanteric regions. Head fractures commonly accompany dislocations. Neck fractures and intertrochanteric fractures occur with greatest frequency in elderly patients with a low bone mineral density and are produced by low-energy mechanisms. Subtrochanteric fractures occur in a predominantly strong cortical osseous region which is exposed to large compressive stresses. Implants used to address these fractures must be able to accommodate significant loads while the fractures consolidate. Complications secondary to these injuries produce significant morbidity and include infection, nonunion, malunion, decubitus ulcers, fat emboli, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, pneumonia, myocardial infarction, stroke, and death.

For-profit colleges.

Science.gov (United States)

Deming, David; Goldin, Claudia; Katz, Lawrence

2013-01-01

For-profit, or proprietary, colleges are the fastest-growing postsecondary schools in the nation, enrolling a disproportionately high share of disadvantaged and minority students and those ill-prepared for college. Because these schools, many of them big national chains, derive most of their revenue from taxpayer-funded student financial aid, they are of interest to policy makers not only for the role they play in the higher education spectrum but also for the value they provide their students. In this article, David Deming, Claudia Goldin, and Lawrence Katz look at the students who attend for-profits, the reasons they choose these schools, and student outcomes on a number of broad measures and draw several conclusions. First, the authors write, the evidence shows that public community colleges may provide an equal or better education at lower cost than for-profits. But budget pressures mean that community colleges and other nonselective public institutions may not be able to meet the demand for higher education. Some students unable to get into desired courses and programs at public institutions may face only two alternatives: attendance at a for-profit or no postsecondary education at all. Second, for-profits appear to be at their best with well-defined programs of short duration that prepare students for a specific occupation. But for-profit completion rates, default rates, and labor market outcomes for students seeking associate's or higher degrees compare unfavorably with those of public postsecondary institutions. In principle, taxpayer investment in student aid should be accompanied by scrutiny concerning whether students complete their course of study and subsequently earn enough to justify the investment and pay back their student loans. Designing appropriate regulations to help students navigate the market for higher education has proven to be a challenge because of the great variation in student goals and types of programs. Ensuring that potential

Effect of Random Natural Fractures on Hydraulic Fracture Propagation Geometry in Fractured Carbonate Rocks

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhiyuan; Wang, Shijie; Zhao, Haiyang; Wang, Lei; Li, Wei; Geng, Yudi; Tao, Shan; Zhang, Guangqing; Chen, Mian

2018-02-01

Natural fractures have a significant influence on the propagation geometry of hydraulic fractures in fractured reservoirs. True triaxial volumetric fracturing experiments, in which random natural fractures are created by placing cement blocks of different dimensions in a cuboid mold and filling the mold with additional cement to create the final test specimen, were used to study the factors that influence the hydraulic fracture propagation geometry. These factors include the presence of natural fractures around the wellbore, the dimension and volumetric density of random natural fractures and the horizontal differential stress. The results show that volumetric fractures preferentially formed when natural fractures occurred around the wellbore, the natural fractures are medium to long and have a volumetric density of 6-9%, and the stress difference is less than 11 MPa. The volumetric fracture geometries are mainly major multi-branch fractures with fracture networks or major multi-branch fractures (2-4 fractures). The angles between the major fractures and the maximum horizontal in situ stress are 30°-45°, and fracture networks are located at the intersections of major multi-branch fractures. Short natural fractures rarely led to the formation of fracture networks. Thus, the interaction between hydraulic fractures and short natural fractures has little engineering significance. The conclusions are important for field applications and for gaining a deeper understanding of the formation process of volumetric fractures.

Converting MEMS technology into profits

Science.gov (United States)

Bryzek, Janusz

1998-08-01

This paper discusses issues related to transitioning a company from the advanced technology development phase (with a particular focus on MEMS) to a profitable business, with emphasis on start-up companies. It includes several case studies from (primarily) NovaSensor MEMS development history. These case studies illustrate strategic problems with which advanced MEMS technology developers have to be concerned. Conclusions from these case studies could be used as checkpoints for future MEMS developers to increase probability of profitable operations. The objective for this paper is to share the author's experience from multiple MEMS start-ups to accelerate development of the MEMS market by focusing state- of-the-art technologists on marketing issues.

Foal Fractures: Osteochondral Fragmentation, Proximal Sesamoid Bone Fractures/Sesamoiditis, and Distal Phalanx Fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Reesink, Heidi L

2017-08-01

Foals are susceptible to many of the same types of fractures as adult horses, often secondary to external sources of trauma. In addition, some types of fractures are specific to foals and occur routinely in horses under 1 year of age. These foal-specific fractures may be due to the unique musculoskeletal properties of the developing animal and may present with distinct clinical signs. Treatment plans and prognoses are tailored specifically to young animals. Common fractures not affecting the long bones in foals are discussed in this article, including osteochondral fragmentation, proximal sesamoid bone fractures/sesamoiditis, and distal phalanx fractures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Amazon: Is Profitability a Possibility?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brett DENNIS

2014-06-01

Full Text Available In today’s society, companies seem to all be following the same trend; growth in profitability at all cost. Higher profits, for the most part, leads to more investors and more potential financing. Amazon.com appears to be breaking that trend, however. Their strategy seems to be growth, but not in profits. We would like to look into how and why Amazon is growing at such a fast pace, while their profits are staying steady at a very low level. Is profitability a possibility for Amazon? We believe that a marginal increase in price could accomplish just that, with a minimal impact to consumers.

48 CFR 1415.404-4 - Profit.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... CONTRACT TYPES CONTRACTING BY NEGOTIATION Contract Pricing 1415.404-4 Profit. (a) DOI's policy is to use a... also refer to the Armed Services Pricing Manual (ASPM No. 1). The “Other Costs” factor shall include...

Profit vs. Purpose

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strand, Robert

2017-01-01

Money helps us meet our basic needs, but what about our need for meaning? Businesses will profit — not just financially — by finding their souls.......Money helps us meet our basic needs, but what about our need for meaning? Businesses will profit — not just financially — by finding their souls....

Patient experience and hospital profitability: Is there a link?

Science.gov (United States)

Richter, Jason P; Muhlestein, David B

Patient experience has had a direct financial impact on hospitals since value-based purchasing was instituted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2013 as a method to reward or punish hospitals based on performance on various measures, including patient experience. Although other industries have shown an indirect impact of customer experience on overall profitability, that link has not been well established in the health care industry. Return-to-provider rate and perceptions of health quality have been associated with profitability in the health care industry. Our aims were to assess whether, independent of a direct financial impact, a more positive patient experience is associated with increased profitability and whether a more negative patient experience is associated with decreased profitability. We used a sample of 19,792 observations from 3767 hospitals over the 6-year period 2007-2012. The data were sourced from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. Using generalized estimating equations to account for repeated measures, we fit four separate models for three dependent variables: net patient revenue, net income, and operating margin. Each model included one of the following independent variables of interest: percentage of patients who definitely recommend the hospital, percentage of patients who definitely would not recommend the hospital, percentage of patients who rated the hospital 9 or 10, and percentage of patients who rated the hospital 6 or lower. We identified that a positive patient experience is associated with increased profitability and a negative patient experience is even more strongly associated with decreased profitability. Management should have greater justification for incurring costs associated with bolstering patient experience programs. Improvements in training, technology, and staffing can be justified as a way to improve not only quality but now

The profitability of low-volatility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blitz, David; Vidojevic, Milan

2017-01-01

Low-risk stocks exhibit higher returns than predicted by established asset pricing models, but this anomaly seems to be explained by the new Fama-French five-factor model, which includes a profitability factor. We argue that this conclusion is premature given the lack of empirical evidence for a

Comparison of efficiency and profitability of investor-owned multihospital systems with not-for-profit hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Sear, A M

1991-01-01

It is often assumed that investor-owned hospitals are more market driven than are not-for-profit hospitals, and that they will maximize output and minimize inputs, to the exclusion of other management strategies. To resolve the conflicting research evidence, this study analyzed efficiency and profitability measures for approximately 50 investor-owned and 60 not-for-profit hospitals in Florida for the period from 1982 through 1988. The results indicate that the investor-owned hospitals used significantly fewer FTE staff per bed, had significantly fewer manhours per adjusted patient day, and paid significantly less in wages and had significantly higher operating margins (profit) than did the not-for-profit institutions.

Civil society: beyond non profit / Sociedad civil: más allá del non profit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel de Haro Serrano

2013-10-01

Full Text Available For a numerous group of recognized and proved authority authors, the Civil Society is limited to the Non Profit organizations. Non Profit is the great limit, the rigid and static border. The limes on the Roman Empire were less overwhelming than the non profit of certain academics. Dura lex and unfair law that keeps aside from the civil society scope the entities on the social economy and the whole market around mercantile enterprises and businesses. Nevertheless, the new changes in the today’s society and the new concept of businesses oriented to the society without forsaking the quest for economic profit, poses a Civil Society beyond non profit.

Fracture of the styloid process associated with the mandible fracture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K N Dubey

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Fracture of the styloid process (SP of temporal bone is an uncommon injuries. Fracture of the SP can be associated with the facial injuries including mandible fracture. However, injury to the SP may be concealed and missed diagnosis may lead to the improper or various unnecessary treatments. A rare case of SP fracture associated with the ipsilateral mandibular fracture and also the diagnostic and management considerations of the SP fracture are discussed.

Jogger's fracture and other stress fractures of the lumbo-sacral spine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abel, M.S.

1985-01-01

The posterior rings of the lower lumbo-sacral vertebrae are subject to stress fractures at any part - pedicle, pars, or lamina. The site of fracture is apparently determined by the axis of weight bearing. The three illustrative clinical examples cited include a jogger with a laminar fracture, a ballet dancer with pedicle fractures, and a nine-year-old boy with fractures of pars and lamina. Chronic low back pain is the typical complaint with stress fractures of the lower lumbo-sacral spine. Special imaging techniques are usually needed to demonstrate these lesions, including vertebral arch views, multi-directional tomography, and computed tomography (CT). (orig.)

Evaluating Banking Profit Performance in Ghana during and post Profit Decline: A five Step Du-Pont Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baah Aye Kusi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available In this study we aimed at three objectives. First, identify and rank banks based on a composite score comprising of all five du-pont variables. Second, we identify variables in the five step du-pont set up that are most likely to influence bank ROE during and post profit declining periods. And third, we estimate a model to capture the variables that drive bank ROE during and post profit declining periods. We first establish from our rankings that, foreign banks in Ghana performed better during profit declining periods while the local banks performed better in post profit decline periods using the top ten banks as a benchmark in both periods. Employing Pearson correlation coefficients matrix, we recognized that operating profit margin, asset turnover and leverage were most likely to influence bank ROE in both time periods. We further employ OLS regression and find that bank ROE was impacted by operating profit margin and leverage during profit declining periods and post profit decline while tax effect added up in post profit declining periods.

Profit-Sharing – A Tool for Improving Productivity, Profitability and Competitiveness of Firms?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fibirova Jana

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The importance of appropriate utilization of rewards for performance is still growing and therefore this type of rewards can be seen as a significant part of a total rewards package. Companies that are able to appropriately implement rewards for performance may gain competitive advantage over their competitors, but successful implementation requires a good knowledge of these rewards. The main aim of this paper is to contribute to the growth of this knowledge by identifying possible positive and negative impacts of profit-sharing on various areas that are important for the performance of a company, nevertheless, addressed are also macroeconomic consequences of profit-sharing. Furthermore, a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the relevant literature is provided, under-researched areas are identified and suggestions for further research are given. To accomplish these goals, we applied methods of bibliometric analysis to the articles indexed in ISI Web of Knowledge to identify the most important articles, authors and topics. According to our findings, the majority of studies report a neutral or positive impact of profit-sharing on productivity and profitability. This impact may be achieved by direct influence of profit-sharing on productivity of employees (due to the dependence of their pay on profit, but it seems that yet more important are various mediating mechanisms, especially effects on employment stability, absenteeism, quits and related issues, as well as effects on attitudes of employees and on relationships between employees. We argue that a well-designed profit-sharing plan is crucial for its success, but it is a relatively under-researched problem.

Home loan profitability optimisation in the financial industry / by Sias Heyns

OpenAIRE

Heyns, Sias

2007-01-01

Product profitability needs to remain a competitive advantage to a bank's home loan product. Ever changing customer needs and even more demanding customers today enforce reasons to investigate the profitability of home loans. Other aspects to consider includes transfer pricing, ROA, cost to deliver product to market areas (marketing and distribution cost) and break-even period. Banks are facing immense challenges to achieve sustainable profitability. Historically low interest rates are compre...

Fracture mechanics

CERN Document Server

Perez, Nestor

2017-01-01

The second edition of this textbook includes a refined presentation of concepts in each chapter, additional examples; new problems and sections, such as conformal mapping and mechanical behavior of wood; while retaining all the features of the original book. The material included in this book is based upon the development of analytical and numerical procedures pertinent to particular fields of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and plastic fracture mechanics (PFM), including mixed-mode-loading interaction. The mathematical approach undertaken herein is coupled with a brief review of several fracture theories available in cited references, along with many color images and figures. Dynamic fracture mechanics is included through the field of fatigue and Charpy impact testing. Explains computational and engineering approaches for solving crack-related problems using straightforward mathematics that facilitate comprehension of the physical meaning of crack growth processes; Expands computational understandin...

Determinants of profitability according to groups of banks in Albania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dr.Sc. Arjeta Hallunovi

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzed the determinants of profitability of all the commercial banks in Albania, where the banks were analyzed by dividing into groups[1]. These determinants are categorized into two groups, internal and external factors. The objective of the study is to determine the factors that affect the profitability in commercial banks, to show how they differ according to groups of the banks and making some recommendations which can help the management. A panel data with all the commercial banks that operate in Albania is analyzed for the period 2009-2014. To measure the profitability is used the independent variable return on assets. Banking specific factors that are used in this study include variables such as bank size, asset management, credit risk, liquidity of assets, capital adequacy, operational efficiency and cost of financing. On the other hand is taken into consideration only one industry specific factor, which is the concentration and some macroeconomic factors as GDP, exchange rate and inflation. The quantitative data are obtained from the financial statements of commercial banks, INSTAT, Bank of Albania, World Bank and Bankscope, in order to make empirical analysis needed to identify and measure the determinants of bank profitability. In particular, the multiple regression analysis is used to measure the impact of determinants in bank profitability and to realize empirical analysis is used Eviews 7. The results of the study showed a positive relationship between bank size and profitability, statistically important in the group 2, with 1% level of significance. The credit risk had an inverse relation with profitability in the model, statistically significant at 1% level of significance for the group 2 and 5% for the group 1 and 3. While, in terms of macroeconomic factors, GDP had a positive relationship with profitability and it is statistically significant in the group 3. On the other hand, inflation and exchange rate showed a

Windfalls and other profits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verbruggen, Aviel

2008-01-01

'Windfall profits' again is a popular term, but mostly the term is used inappropriately. This short article discusses why, and proposes a more complete taxonomy of profits. There exists little ground and need for policy to act against genuine windfalls, while the contrary holds for other excessive earnings. Very few windfalls, freely fallen down from winds in the sky, occur after observed excessive profits are stripped from deliberate man-made interventions. That is why clear identification and correct language are needed

[Trochanteric femoral fractures: anatomy, biomechanics and choice of implants].

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnaire, F; Lein, T; Bula, P

2011-06-01

The objective of any surgical care of a trochanteric femoral fracture should be the achievement of a stable osteosynthesis that allows early full weight-bearing mobilisation of the patient, because long-term immobilisation soon becomes a vital threat to the affected patients who are usually elderly with correlating comorbidities. The anatomical references of the proximal femur and the structure of the hip joint contain some specifics that play an essential role in the incurrence of a trochanteric femoral fracture and the planning of the osteosynthesis as well. With reposition and fracture stabilisation particular importance must be attached to the collo-diaphyseal and the antetorsion angle so that they do not interfere with the functional interaction of the hip and knee joint. Uncomplex trochanteric fractures ordinarily stabilise sufficiently after reposition so that even an extramedullary implant can ensure full weight-bearing stability. With evermore distal fracture course and intertrochanteric comminution zone, rotational instability and pivot transfer of the fracture area to lateral and caudal are followed by an increase of the dislocating forces. These kinds of fractures (A2 and A3 according to the AO/ASIF classification) profit from an intramedullary and rotationally stable osteosynthesis. Basically primary total hip arthroplasty is a potential option for surgical care of a trochanteric fracture in elderly patients with relevant coxarthrosis. However this procedure can only be recommended in cases of a stable uncomplex fracture. The more the medial interlocking of the proximal femur is destroyed the more difficult it will be to primarily implant a total hip prosthesis with good offset and without a varus and rotational failure in the fracture zone.The current studies in the main show disadvantages due to increased complications in these patients, so that in cases of an unstable trochanteric fracture a primary osteosynthesis should be performed followed by

Paratrooper's ankle fracture: posterior malleolar fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Ki Won; Kim, Jin-su; Cho, Jae Ho; Kim, Hyung Seuk; Cho, Hun Ki; Lee, Kyung Tai

2015-03-01

We assessed the frequency and types of ankle fractures that frequently occur during parachute landings of special operation unit personnel and analyzed the causes. Fifty-six members of the special force brigade of the military who had sustained ankle fractures during parachute landings between January 2005 and April 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. The injury sites and fracture sites were identified and the fracture types were categorized by the Lauge-Hansen and Weber classifications. Follow-up surveys were performed with respect to the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle-hindfoot score, patient satisfaction, and return to preinjury activity. The patients were all males with a mean age of 23.6 years. There were 28 right and 28 left ankle fractures. Twenty-two patients had simple fractures and 34 patients had comminuted fractures. The average number of injury and fractures sites per person was 2.07 (116 injuries including a syndesmosis injury and a deltoid injury) and 1.75 (98 fracture sites), respectively. Twenty-three cases (41.07%) were accompanied by posterior malleolar fractures. Fifty-five patients underwent surgery; of these, 30 had plate internal fixations. Weber type A, B, and C fractures were found in 4, 38, and 14 cases, respectively. Based on the Lauge-Hansen classification, supination-external rotation injuries were found in 20 cases, supination-adduction injuries in 22 cases, pronation-external rotation injuries in 11 cases, tibiofibular fractures in 2 cases, and simple medial malleolar fractures in 2 cases. The mean follow-up period was 23.8 months, and the average follow-up American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle-hindfoot score was 85.42. Forty-five patients (80.36%) reported excellent or good satisfaction with the outcome. Posterior malleolar fractures occurred in 41.07% of ankle fractures sustained in parachute landings. Because most of the ankle fractures in parachute injuries were compound fractures, most cases had to

Profitables Food & Beverage Management

OpenAIRE

Studer, Adrian; Blatter, Martin; Glenz-Mounir, Chantal

2008-01-01

Die Diplomarbeit befasst sich mit dem Thema „Profitables Food & Beverage Management“, es geht darum, wie Restaurationsstätten, Beherbergungsbetriebe und Campingbetreiber ihren Umsatz innerhalb kürzester Zeit um 6 bis 8 % und den Gewinn um 8 bis 10 % steigern können. Grundlage für die Diplomarbeit ist das Buch „Profitables Food & Beverage Management“ von Urs Schaffer1 und die angebotenen Kurse von ritzy*2. Mit dem Buch und dem Module Profit Management auf dem ritzycampus3 haben die Wirte, Hote...

Multivariate Analysis of Profitability Indicators for Selected Companies of Croatian Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Perisa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the profitability indicators are analysed for the first hundred companies of the Croatian market, which are classified according to the net profit. The profitability indicators included in the analysis are the following: EBIT margin, EBITDA margin, net profit margin, return on assets (ROA, return on invested capital (ROI and return on capital employed (ROCE. By implementing the factor analysis, six chosen profitability indicators have been reduced to two factors, thus solving the multicollinearity problem, which is one of the prerequisites for the cluster analysis. For two extracted factors, the factor scores are calculated and used in the following cluster analysis. By implementing the cluster analysis, selected companies are grouped into clusters according to their similarity in accomplished results that are measured by profitability indicators. The hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses are conducted and resulted into two clusters where ten companies were in the first cluster, while the other ninety were in the second cluster

Profitability primer: a guide to profitability analysis in the electric power industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woo, C.K.; Lloyd-Zannetti, D.; Martin, J.; Price, S.

1996-06-01

As the electric power industry is opened to forces of competition, increased attention must be focused to develop products and services that deliver good value to customers and to identify customer segments that are profitable to serve. This primer introduces the concept of profitability analysis and its application to the electric power industry. The primer recognizes that some segments of the business will remain monopolistic and subject to regulations, while other segments will become competitive. The primer also recognizes that customer profitability is critically dependent on a host of related issues such as how internal costs are allocated to various functions and how revenues are collected and allocated

Measuring Customer Profitability in Complex Environments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holm, Morten; Kumar, V.; Rohde, Carsten

2012-01-01

Customer profitability measurement is an important element in customer relationship management and a lever for enhanced marketing accountability. Two distinct measurement approaches have emerged in the marketing literature: Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer Profitability Analysis (CPA...... propositions. Additionally, the framework provides design and implementation guidance for managers seeking to implement customer profitability measurement models for resource allocation purposes....... that the degree of sophistication deployed when implementing customer profitability measurement models is determined by the type of complexity encountered in firms’ customer environments. This gives rise to a contingency framework for customer profitability measurement model selection and five research...

Profitability analysis in the hospital industry.

Science.gov (United States)

Cleverley, W O

1978-01-01

Measures of marginal profit are derived for the two payment classes--cost payers and charge payers--that the hospital industry must consider in profitability analysis, i.e., prediction of the excess of revenue over expenses. Two indexes of profitability, use when payment mix is constant and when it is nonconstant, respectively, are derived from the two marginal profit measures, and one of them is shown to be a modification of the contribution margin, the conventional measure of profitability used in general industry. All three measures--the contribution margin and the two new indexes of profitability--are used to estimate changes in net income resulting from changes in patient volume with and without accompanying changes in payment mix. The conventional measure yields large overestimates of expected excess revenue. PMID:632101

Profitability of wood harvesting enterprises

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penttinen, M. email: markku.penttinen@metla.fi; Mikkola, J. email: jarmo.mikkola@metla.fi; Rummukainen, A. email: arto.rummukainen@metla.fi

2009-07-01

The forest machine business is about 50 years old. The rapid technical development of machinery increased productivity up to the end of last century. In 2007, the total value of round and energy wood harvesting and silvicultural work operated by forest machine enterprises exceeded 570 mill. euro. According to the materials of the Vehicle Administration Finland and Statistics Finland there are about 1 600 active harvesting enterprises in the personal and business taxation system. Beside this, there are according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry about 1 300 farmers who do harvesting as side business. About 1 000 enterprises working in June 2007 were studied with their retrospective economic analyses from 2001. The data includes all enterprises that had supplied closing of the accounts data. One-machine entrepreneurs represent more than a third of the number of enterprises, but only 13 percent of the turnover. Enterprises with seven or more machines represent less than ten percent of the number, but over twenty percent of the turnover. Enterprises are largest in eastern and northern Finland, where the average number of machines per enterprise exceeds three. Small enterprises are mostly singleowner business enterprises with a median turnover of 125 000 euros per annum. Partnerships and limited enterprises have double the median turnover of single-owner businesss. Limited companies turn over a median of 450 000 euro/y, representing 67 percent of total turnover. Median net profit varied between 6 and 10 percent of turnover in 2001-2007, but only between 2 and 4 percent where the wage adjustment is deducted from the profit. The wage adjustment is estimated as if the owners of single-owner businesses earn an operator's salary. Profit was highest in 2002 and lowest 2006. In the smallest enterprise class with a turnover of less than 75 000 euro/y, profit was lowest and negative in 2006 and 2007. The variation in profits between enterprises was also biggest in

La maximisation du taux de profit

OpenAIRE

De Mesnard, Louis

1991-01-01

On the traditional micro-economic theory, firms are supposed to maximise pure profit. We study what happened when we take into consideration shareholders and the financial profit remunerating the financial capital. We show that it is necessary to surrender the financial profit maximisation to use the rate of financial profit maximisation. The cases of concurrence with fix coefficient of capital, monopoly with fix coefficient of capital, monopoly with variable coefficient of capital are studie...

A study on relationship between working capital and profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Ghodrati

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the relationship between working capital management and profitability of accepted corporations in Tehran Stock Exchange over the period 2008-2012. The study selected 66 firms as a statistical sample based on Cochran formula and simple random selection. In this study, variables including the average period of collecting accordance, periods of circulation of inventories, the average period of debt payment, and cycle of cash conversion on the factories operating profits are studied. The research method is applied and collection of data is solidarity, the Pierson and Regression solidarity are used. Results show that variables of capital investment management and profitability were in opposite direction. If the period of collecting accordance, period of debt payment, period of circulation of inventories and the cycle of cash conversion increase, it decreases the period profitability and the manager can decrease the period of debt payment, period of cash conversion to the least amount of positive value for affiliate.

Personnel Policy and Profit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bingley, Paul; Westergård-Nielsen, Niels Chr.

2004-01-01

personnel structure variation. It is found that personnel policy is strongly related to economic performance. At the margin, more hires are associated with lower profit, and more separations with higher profit. For the average firm, one new job, all else equal, is associated with ?2680 (2000 prices) lower...

Combining purpose with profits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Birkinshaw, J.; Foss, N.J.; Lindenberg, S.M.

2014-01-01

Is it possible for a company to strive for a higher purpose while also delivering solid profits? Some have argued that pursuing goals other than making money means, by definition, spending on things that aren't profit-maximizing. Others have countered that by investing in worthwhile causes the

Leadership Strategies for Maintaining Profitability in a Volatile Crude Oil Market

Science.gov (United States)

Braimoh, Lucky Anderson

Volatile crude oil prices significantly affect the profitability of crude oil firms. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies some crude oil and gas business leaders used to remain profitable during periods of crude oil price volatility. The target population comprised 8 crude oil and gas business leaders located in Calgary, Canada, whose company remained profitable despite crude oil price volatility. The transformational leadership theory formed the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected through the use of semistructured face-to-face interviews, company reports, and field notes. Data analysis involved a modified Van Kamm method, which included descriptive coding, a sequential review of the interview transcripts, and member checking. Based on methodological triangulation and thematic analysis, 5 themes emerged from the study, including communication and engagement; motivation and empowerment; measurement, monitoring, and control; self-awareness and humility; and efficiency and optimization. The implications for social change include the potential for crude oil and gas companies in Calgary, Canada to manage production costs, ensure earnings and profitability, and thus improve the socioeconomic well-being of Calgary indigenes through improved employment opportunities.

40 CFR 35.937-7 - Profit.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... performance and not merely the application of a predetermined percentage factor. For the purpose of... ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.937-7 Profit. The objective of negotiations shall be the exercise of sound business judgment and good administrative practice including the...

Fracture Mechanics

CERN Document Server

Zehnder, Alan T

2012-01-01

Fracture mechanics is a vast and growing field. This book develops the basic elements needed for both fracture research and engineering practice. The emphasis is on continuum mechanics models for energy flows and crack-tip stress- and deformation fields in elastic and elastic-plastic materials. In addition to a brief discussion of computational fracture methods, the text includes practical sections on fracture criteria, fracture toughness testing, and methods for measuring stress intensity factors and energy release rates. Class-tested at Cornell, this book is designed for students, researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and contributing to a diverse and vital field of knowledge. Alan Zehnder joined the faculty at Cornell University in 1988. Since then he has served in a number of leadership roles including Chair of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and Director of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.  He teaches applied mechanics and his research t...

Profitability analysis of KINGLONG nearly 5 years

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Mei; Wen, Jinghua

2017-08-01

Profitability analysis for measuring business performance and forecast its prospects play an important role. In this paper, the research instance King Long Motor in understanding the basic theory on the basis of financial management, to take a combination of theory and data analysis methods, combined with a measure of profitability related indicators of King Long Motor company’s profitability do a specific analysis to identify factors constraining the profitability of Kinglong company exists and the motivation to improve profitability, which made recommendations to improve the profitability of Kinglong car company to promote the company’s future can be better and faster development.)

An ethical justification of profit maximization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Carsten Allan

2010-01-01

In much of the literature on business ethics and corporate social responsibility, it is more or less taken for granted that attempts to maximize profits are inherently unethical. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether an ethical argument can be given in support of profit maximizing...... behaviour. It is argued that some form of consequential ethics must be applied, and that both profit seeking and profit maximization can be defended from a rule-consequential point of view. It is noted, however, that the result does not apply unconditionally, but requires that certain form of profit (and...... utility) maximizing actions are ruled out, e.g., by behavioural norms or formal institutions....

Correlation of Hip Fracture with Other Fracture Types: Toward a Rational Composite Hip Fracture Endpoint

Science.gov (United States)

Colón-Emeric, Cathleen; Pieper, Carl F.; Grubber, Janet; Van Scoyoc, Lynn; Schnell, Merritt L; Van Houtven, Courtney Harold; Pearson, Megan; Lafleur, Joanne; Lyles, Kenneth W.; Adler, Robert A.

2016-01-01

Purpose With ethical requirements to the enrollment of lower risk subjects, osteoporosis trials are underpowered to detect reduction in hip fractures. Different skeletal sites have different levels of fracture risk and response to treatment. We sought to identify fracture sites which cluster with hip fracture at higher than expected frequency; if these sites respond to treatment similarly, then a composite fracture endpoint could provide a better estimate of hip fracture reduction. Methods Cohort study using Veterans Affairs and Medicare administrative data. Male Veterans (n=5,036,536) aged 50-99 years receiving VA primary care between1999-2009 were included. Fractures were ascertained using ICD9 and CPT codes and classified by skeletal site. Pearson correlation coefficients, logistic regression and kappa statistics, were used to describe the correlation between each fracture type and hip fracture within individuals, without regards to the timing of the events. Results 595,579 (11.8%) men suffered 1 or more fractures and 179,597 (3.6%) suffered 2 or more fractures during the time under study. Of those with one or more fractures, rib was the most common site (29%), followed by spine (22%), hip (21%) and femur (20%). The fracture types most highly correlated with hip fracture were pelvic/acetabular (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.25, p<0.0001), femur (0.15, p<0.0001), and shoulder (0.11, p<0.0001). Conclusions Pelvic, acetabular, femur, and shoulder fractures cluster with hip fractures within individuals at greater than expected frequency. If we observe similar treatment risk reductions within that cluster, subsequent trials could consider use of a composite endpoint to better estimate hip fracture risk. PMID:26151123

Maximizing profitability in a hospital outpatient pharmacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgenson, J A; Kilarski, J W; Malatestinic, W N; Rudy, T A

1989-07-01

This paper describes the strategies employed to increase the profitability of an existing ambulatory pharmacy operated by the hospital. Methods to generate new revenue including implementation of a home parenteral therapy program, a home enteral therapy program, a durable medical equipment service, and home care disposable sales are described. Programs to maximize existing revenue sources such as increasing the capture rate on discharge prescriptions, increasing "walk-in" prescription traffic and increasing HMO prescription volumes are discussed. A method utilized to reduce drug expenditures is also presented. By minimizing expenses and increasing the revenues for the ambulatory pharmacy operation, net profit increased from +26,000 to over +140,000 in one year.

Quality of care in investor-owned vs not-for-profit HMOs.

Science.gov (United States)

Himmelstein, D U; Woolhandler, S; Hellander, I; Wolfe, S M

1999-07-14

The proportion of health maintenance organization (HMO) members enrolled in investor-owned plans has increased sharply, yet little is known about the quality of these plans compared with not-for-profit HMOs. To compare quality-of-care measures for investor-owned and not-for-profit HMOs. Analysis of the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) Version 3.0 from the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass 1997, which included 1996 quality-of-care data for 329 HMO plans (248 investor-owned and 81 not-for-profit), representing 56% of the total HMO enrollment in the United States. Rates for 14 HEDIS quality-of-care indicators. Compared with not-for-profit HMOs, investor-owned plans had lower rates for all 14 quality-of-care indicators. Among patients discharged from the hospital after myocardial infarction, 59.2% of members in investor-owned HMOs vs 70.6% in not-for-profit plans received a beta-blocker (Pinvestor-owned plans vs 47.9% in not-for-profit plans had annual eye examinations (PInvestor-owned plans had lower rates than not-for-profit plans of immunization (63.9% vs 72.3%; Pinvestor ownership was consistently associated with lower quality after controlling for model type, geographic region, and the method each HMO used to collect data. Investor-owned HMOs deliver lower quality of care than not-for-profit plans.

Effective application of improved profit-mining algorithm for the interday trading model.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Yu-Lung; Yang, Don-Lin; Wu, Jungpin

2014-01-01

Many real world applications of association rule mining from large databases help users make better decisions. However, they do not work well in financial markets at this time. In addition to a high profit, an investor also looks for a low risk trading with a better rate of winning. The traditional approach of using minimum confidence and support thresholds needs to be changed. Based on an interday model of trading, we proposed effective profit-mining algorithms which provide investors with profit rules including information about profit, risk, and winning rate. Since profit-mining in the financial market is still in its infant stage, it is important to detail the inner working of mining algorithms and illustrate the best way to apply them. In this paper we go into details of our improved profit-mining algorithm and showcase effective applications with experiments using real world trading data. The results show that our approach is practical and effective with good performance for various datasets.

Effective Application of Improved Profit-Mining Algorithm for the Interday Trading Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Lung Hsieh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Many real world applications of association rule mining from large databases help users make better decisions. However, they do not work well in financial markets at this time. In addition to a high profit, an investor also looks for a low risk trading with a better rate of winning. The traditional approach of using minimum confidence and support thresholds needs to be changed. Based on an interday model of trading, we proposed effective profit-mining algorithms which provide investors with profit rules including information about profit, risk, and winning rate. Since profit-mining in the financial market is still in its infant stage, it is important to detail the inner working of mining algorithms and illustrate the best way to apply them. In this paper we go into details of our improved profit-mining algorithm and showcase effective applications with experiments using real world trading data. The results show that our approach is practical and effective with good performance for various datasets.

The impact of profitability of hospital admissions on mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindrooth, Richard C; Konetzka, R Tamara; Navathe, Amol S; Zhu, Jingsan; Chen, Wei; Volpp, Kevin

2013-04-01

Fiscal constraints faced by Medicare are leading to policies designed to reduce expenditures. Evidence of the effect of reduced reimbursement on the mortality of Medicare patients discharged from all major hospital service lines is limited. We modeled risk-adjusted 30-day mortality of patients discharged from 21 hospital service lines as a function of service line profitability, service line time trends, and hospital service line and year-fixed effects. We simulated the effect of alternative revenue-neutral reimbursement policies on mortality. Our sample included all Medicare discharges from PPS-eligible hospitals (1997, 2001, and 2005). The results reveal a statistically significant inverse relationship between changes in profitability and mortality. A $0.19 average reduction in profit per $1.00 of costs led to a 0.010-0.020 percentage-point increase in mortality rates (p profitable. Policy simulations that target service line inequities in payment generosity result in lower mortality rates, roughly 700-13,000 fewer deaths nationally. The policy simulations raise questions about the trade-offs implicit in universal reductions in reimbursement. The effect of reduced payment generosity on mortality could be mitigated by targeting highly profitable services only for lower reimbursement. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

The Impact of Profitability of Hospital Admissions on Mortality

Science.gov (United States)

Lindrooth, Richard C; Konetzka, R Tamara; Navathe, Amol S; Zhu, Jingsan; Chen, Wei; Volpp, Kevin

2013-01-01

Background Fiscal constraints faced by Medicare are leading to policies designed to reduce expenditures. Evidence of the effect of reduced reimbursement on the mortality of Medicare patients discharged from all major hospital service lines is limited. Methods We modeled risk-adjusted 30-day mortality of patients discharged from 21 hospital service lines as a function of service line profitability, service line time trends, and hospital service line and year-fixed effects. We simulated the effect of alternative revenue-neutral reimbursement policies on mortality. Our sample included all Medicare discharges from PPS-eligible hospitals (1997, 2001, and 2005). Results The results reveal a statistically significant inverse relationship between changes in profitability and mortality. A $0.19 average reduction in profit per $1.00 of costs led to a 0.010–0.020 percentage-point increase in mortality rates (p payment generosity than in service lines that remain profitable. Policy simulations that target service line inequities in payment generosity result in lower mortality rates, roughly 700–13,000 fewer deaths nationally. Conclusions The policy simulations raise questions about the trade-offs implicit in universal reductions in reimbursement. The effect of reduced payment generosity on mortality could be mitigated by targeting highly profitable services only for lower reimbursement. PMID:23346946

Distinguishing stress fractures from pathologic fractures: a multimodality approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fayad, Laura M.; Kamel, Ihab R.; Kawamoto, Satomi; Bluemke, David A.; Fishman, Elliot K.; Frassica, Frank J.

2005-01-01

Whereas stress fractures occur in normal or metabolically weakened bones, pathologic fractures occur at the site of a bone tumor. Unfortunately, stress fractures may share imaging features with pathologic fractures on plain radiography, and therefore other modalities are commonly utilized to distinguish these entities. Additional cross-sectional imaging with CT or MRI as well as scintigraphy and PET scanning is often performed for further evaluation. For the detailed assessment of a fracture site, CT offers a high-resolution view of the bone cortex and periosteum which aids the diagnosis of a pathologic fracture. The character of underlying bone marrow patterns of destruction can also be ascertained along with evidence of a soft tissue mass. MRI, however, is a more sensitive technique for the detection of underlying bone marrow lesions at a fracture site. In addition, the surrounding soft tissues, including possible involvement of adjacent muscle, can be well evaluated with MRI. While bone scintigraphy and FDG-PET are not specific, they offer a whole-body screen for metastases in the case of a suspected malignant pathologic fracture. In this review, we present select examples of fractures that underscore imaging features that help distinguish stress fractures from pathologic fractures, since accurate differentiation of these entities is paramount. (orig.)

The profitability of Norwegian salmon farming companies : a study of profitability variation

OpenAIRE

Eilertsen, Bendik Foss; Hui, Erik

2015-01-01

The conditions in the Norwegian salmon farming industry are constantly changing. Locally and globally, regulations, consolidation and technological advancements are some of the factors having a deep impact on the current industry. To ensure competitiveness, it is essential to emphasise on profitability and taking the correct strategic decisions. The objective of this thesis is to indicate what may cause variation in profitability in the current Norwegian salmon farming industry...

Rib fractures predict incident limb fractures: results from the European prospective osteoporosis study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, A A; Silman, A J; Reeve, J; Kaptoge, S; O'Neill, T W

2006-01-01

Population studies suggest that rib fractures are associated with a reduction in bone mass. While much is known about the predictive risk of hip, spine and distal forearm fracture on the risk of future fracture, little is known about the impact of rib fracture. The aim of this study was to determine whether a recalled history of rib fracture was associated with an increased risk of future limb fracture. Men and women aged 50 years and over were recruited from population registers in 31 European centres for participation in a screening survey of osteoporosis (European Prospective Osteoporosis Study). Subjects were invited to complete an interviewer-administered questionnaire that included questions about previous fractures including rib fracture, the age of their first fracture and also the level of trauma. Lateral spine radiographs were performed and the presence of vertebral deformity was determined morphometrically. Following the baseline survey, subjects were followed prospectively by annual postal questionnaire to determine the occurrence of clinical fractures. The subjects included 6,344 men, with a mean age of 64.2 years, and 6,788 women, with a mean age of 63.6 years, who were followed for a median of 3 years (range 0.4-5.9 years), of whom 135 men (2.3%) and 101 women (1.6%) reported a previous low trauma rib fracture. In total, 138 men and 391 women sustained a limb fracture during follow-up. In women, after age adjustment, those with a recalled history of low trauma rib fracture had an increased risk of sustaining 'any' limb fracture [relative hazard (RH)=2.3; 95% CI 1.3, 4.0]. When stratified by fracture type the predictive risk was more marked for hip (RH=7.7; 95% CI 2.3, 25.9) and humerus fracture (RH=4.5; 95% CI 1.4, 14.6) than other sites (RH=1.6; 95% CI 0.6, 4.3). Additional adjustment for prevalent vertebral deformity and previous (non-rib) low trauma fractures at other sites slightly reduced the strength of the association between rib fracture and

Does Capital Structure Influence Company Profitability?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herciu Mihaela

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Every company has a different structure of balance sheet. Some of the companies have more liabilities than equity. Considering the industry or debt-to-equity ratio, the balance sheet structure affects the company profitability measured by DuPont system. The main objective of the paper is to analyze the structure of balance sheet and to identify some optimal levels in order to increase company profitability. The DuPont returns like ROA (return on assets and ROE (return on equity will be used to measure the company profitability, while the debt-to-equity ratio will be used as a measure (reflection of capital structure. The samples consist on the most profitable non-financial companies ranked in Fortune Global 500. The companies will be grouped in clusters (based on industry or debt-to-equity ratio in order to identify the signification of the correlation between the profit and the balance sheet structure. The main results of the paper refer to the company profitability that can be increased by using an optimal structure of liabilities and equity.

«Neutral» Profit Taxation, Risk Taking and Optimal Profit Taxation

OpenAIRE

Jack M. MINTZ

1982-01-01

The object of this study is to answer two questions related to the design of profit taxes when taking into account riskiness of firms. The first question is the following: leaving aside general equilibrium effects of taxation on the interest rate and risk premia faced by firms, would a cash flow tax be neutral with respect to the investment decisions made by firms. The second question to be considered is whether profit tax rates should vary across industries because of different degrees of ri...

Profits in reverse? An examination of the decisive factors for reverse supply chain profitability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Samuel; Jacobsen, Peter

2015-01-01

Although the concept of the reverse supply chain (RSC) is not unknown in industry, an inhibitor for its successful use is low (or no) profitability. A research challenge is investigating ways to establish the RSC as a profit-creating center in the organization. This paper contributes...

Do Emotional Appeal and Media-context Influence the Effectiveness of TV Commercials for Profit and Non-profit Brands?

OpenAIRE

Roozen, Irene; Claeys, Christel

2009-01-01

This study investigates the impact of emotions, both ad- and context-evoked, on the effectiveness of commercials for non-profit vs. profit brands. Effectiveness is made operational by rational measures, recall and recognition, and by emotional measures, ad likeability and brand attitude. Four different experimental groups were exposed to a sequence of warm and sad commercials for non-profit and profit brands, embedded either in a warm film fragment or a sad one. The results indicate that, ove...

Short Run Profit Maximization in a Convex Analysis Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilko Vrankic

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In this article we analyse the short run profit maximization problem in a convex analysis framework. The goal is to apply the results of convex analysis due to unique structure of microeconomic phenomena on the known short run profit maximization problem where the results from convex analysis are deductively applied. In the primal optimization model the technology in the short run is represented by the short run production function and the normalized profit function, which expresses profit in the output units, is derived. In this approach the choice variable is the labour quantity. Alternatively, technology is represented by the real variable cost function, where costs are expressed in the labour units, and the normalized profit function is derived, this time expressing profit in the labour units. The choice variable in this approach is the quantity of production. The emphasis in these two perspectives of the primal approach is given to the first order necessary conditions of both models which are the consequence of enveloping the closed convex set describing technology with its tangents. The dual model includes starting from the normalized profit function and recovering the production function, and alternatively the real variable cost function. In the first perspective of the dual approach the choice variable is the real wage, and in the second it is the real product price expressed in the labour units. It is shown that the change of variables into parameters and parameters into variables leads to both optimization models which give the same system of labour demand and product supply functions and their inverses. By deductively applying the results of convex analysis the comparative statics results are derived describing the firm's behaviour in the short run.

TRANSPARENCY IN ITALIAN NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrizia Gazzola

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to evaluate the accountability and transparency of Italian non profits organizations. The main goal is to understand if a general accountability or transparency problem, or a systematic publicity deficit, exist in the third sector in Italy. Non profit organizations have an ethical obligation to their stakeholder and to the public to conduct their activities with accountability and transparency. Non profit organizations should regularly and openly convey information to the stakeholder about their vision, mission, objectives, activities, accomplishments, decision-making processes and organizational structure. Information from a non profit organization should be easily accessible to the stakeholder and should create external visibility, public understanding and trust in the organization, conditions necessary to find donors. Non profit organizations work with communities and community donors need to know how their money is used. In the first part the analysis of the definition of transparency and accountability is made and the sustainability report like an important instrument of communication is considered. In the second part an empirical research is presented. The Italian law allows taxpayers to devote 5 per thousand of their income tax to non profit organizations, choosing between charities, social promotion associations, recognized associations, entities dedicated to scientific research and health care, universities, municipal social services and other non profit organizations. The present study present a quantitative research and it’s based on an empirical analysis of non-profit organizations that receive this donation in Italy in the year 2010 and 2011. In the paper we analyze the transparency and the accountability of the top 100 non profit organizations that have received the contribution of 5 per thousand, checking whether they prepare their Sustainability Report or any other kind of report for communicate the use

Not for the Profit, but for the Training? Gender Differences in Training in the For-Profit and Non-Profit Sectors

OpenAIRE

Dostie, Benoît; Javdani, Mohsen

2017-01-01

We use Canadian linked employer-employee data to examine gender differences in probability, duration, and intensity of firm-sponsored training. We find that women in the for-profit sector are less likely to receive classroom training, and receive shorter classroom training courses. However, we find the reverse in the non-profit sector, with women being more likely to receive both classroom and on-the-job training, and also receiving longer classroom training courses. Our results suggest that ...

Public ownership helps boost HMOs' profits.

Science.gov (United States)

Kenkel, P J

1992-05-04

Health maintenance organizations have found that the route to faster growth and better profitability may be turning into a for-profit business and issuing stock. For the past five years, such organizations have generally outperformed their older, not-for-profit counterparts that rely on debt to fuel growth. Since 1988, HMOs have completed 48 stock and debt offerings, raising $3.6 billion.

Financial performance, employee well-being, and client well-being in for-profit and not-for-profit nursing homes: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bos, Aline; Boselie, Paul; Trappenburg, Margo

Expanding the opportunities for for-profit nursing home care is a central theme in the debate on the sustainable organization of the growing nursing home sector in Western countries. We conducted a systematic review of the literature over the last 10 years in order to determine the broad impact of nursing home ownership in the United States. Our review has two main goals: (a) to find out which topics have been studied with regard to financial performance, employee well-being, and client well-being in relation to nursing home ownership and (b) to assess the conclusions related to these topics. The review results in two propositions on the interactions between financial performance, employee well-being, and client well-being as they relate to nursing home ownership. Five search strategies plus inclusion and quality assessment criteria were applied to identify and select eligible studies. As a result, 50 studies were included in the review. Relevant findings were categorized as related to financial performance (profit margins, efficiency), employee well-being (staffing levels, turnover rates, job satisfaction, job benefits), or client well-being (care quality, hospitalization rates, lawsuits/complaints) and then analyzed based on common characteristics. For-profit nursing homes tend to have better financial performance, but worse results with regard to employee well-being and client well-being, compared to not-for-profit sector homes. We argue that the better financial performance of for-profit nursing homes seems to be associated with worse employee and client well-being. For policy makers considering the expansion of the for-profit sector in the nursing home industry, our findings suggest the need for a broad perspective, simultaneously weighing the potential benefits and drawbacks for the organization, its employees, and its clients.

The importance of working capital management for hospital profitability: evidence from bond-issuing, not-for-profit U.S. hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Rauscher, Simone; Wheeler, John R C

2012-01-01

Increased financial pressures on hospitals have elevated the importance of working capital management, that is, the management of current assets and current liabilities, for hospitals' profitability. Efficient working capital management allows hospitals to reduce their holdings of current assets, such as inventory and accounts receivable, which earn no interest income and require financing with short-term debt. The resulting cash inflows can be reinvested in interest-bearing financial instruments or used to reduce short-term borrowing, thus improving the profitability of the organization. This study examines the relationship between hospitals' profitability and their performance at managing two components of working capital: accounts receivable, measured in terms of hospitals' average collection periods, and accounts payable, measured in terms of hospitals' average payment periods. Panel data derived from audited financial statements for 1,397 bond-issuing, not-for-profit U.S. hospitals for 2000-2007 were analyzed using hospital-level fixed-effects regression analysis. The results show a negative relationship between hospitals' average collection period and profitability. That is, hospitals that collected on their patient revenue faster reported higher profit margins than did hospitals that have larger balances of accounts receivable outstanding. We also found a negative relationship between hospitals' average payment period and their profitability. Hospital managers did not appear to delay paying their vendors. Rather, the findings indicated that more profitable hospitals paid their suppliers faster, possibly to avoid high effective interest rates on outstanding accounts payable, whereas less profitable hospitals waited longer to pay their bills. The findings of this study suggest that working capital management indeed matters for hospitals' profitability. Efforts aimed at reducing large balances in both accounts receivable and accounts payable may frequently be

Relationships between fractures

Science.gov (United States)

Peacock, D. C. P.; Sanderson, D. J.; Rotevatn, A.

2018-01-01

Fracture systems comprise many fractures that may be grouped into sets based on their orientation, type and relative age. The fractures are often arranged in a network that involves fracture branches that interact with one another. Interacting fractures are termed geometrically coupled when they share an intersection line and/or kinematically coupled when the displacements, stresses and strains of one fracture influences those of the other. Fracture interactions are characterised in terms of the following. 1) Fracture type: for example, whether they have opening (e.g., joints, veins, dykes), closing (stylolites, compaction bands), shearing (e.g., faults, deformation bands) or mixed-mode displacements. 2) Geometry (e.g., relative orientations) and topology (the arrangement of the fractures, including their connectivity). 3) Chronology: the relative ages of the fractures. 4) Kinematics: the displacement distributions of the interacting fractures. It is also suggested that interaction can be characterised in terms of mechanics, e.g., the effects of the interaction on the stress field. It is insufficient to describe only the components of a fracture network, with fuller understanding coming from determining the interactions between the different components of the network.

Profitability Analysis of Soybean Oil Processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Ming-Hsun; Rosentrater, Kurt A

2017-10-07

Soybean oil production is the basic process for soybean applications. Cash flow analysis is used to estimate the profitability of a manufacturing venture. Besides capital investments, operating costs, and revenues, the interest rate is the factor to estimate the net present value (NPV), break-even points, and payback time; which are benchmarks for profitability evaluation. The positive NPV and reasonable payback time represent a profitable process, and provide an acceptable projection for real operating. Additionally, the capacity of the process is another critical factor. The extruding-expelling process and hexane extraction are the two typical approaches used in industry. When the capacities of annual oil production are larger than 12 and 173 million kg respectively, these two processes are profitable. The solvent free approach, known as enzyme assisted aqueous extraction process (EAEP), is profitable when the capacity is larger than 17 million kg of annual oil production.

Profitability Analysis of Soybean Oil Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Hsun Cheng

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Soybean oil production is the basic process for soybean applications. Cash flow analysis is used to estimate the profitability of a manufacturing venture. Besides capital investments, operating costs, and revenues, the interest rate is the factor to estimate the net present value (NPV, break-even points, and payback time; which are benchmarks for profitability evaluation. The positive NPV and reasonable payback time represent a profitable process, and provide an acceptable projection for real operating. Additionally, the capacity of the process is another critical factor. The extruding-expelling process and hexane extraction are the two typical approaches used in industry. When the capacities of annual oil production are larger than 12 and 173 million kg respectively, these two processes are profitable. The solvent free approach, known as enzyme assisted aqueous extraction process (EAEP, is profitable when the capacity is larger than 17 million kg of annual oil production.

Assessment of fracture risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanis, John A.; Johansson, Helena; Oden, Anders; McCloskey, Eugene V.

2009-01-01

Fractures are a common complication of osteoporosis. Although osteoporosis is defined by bone mineral density at the femoral neck, other sites and validated techniques can be used for fracture prediction. Several clinical risk factors contribute to fracture risk independently of BMD. These include age, prior fragility fracture, smoking, excess alcohol, family history of hip fracture, rheumatoid arthritis and the use of oral glucocorticoids. These risk factors in conjunction with BMD can be integrated to provide estimates of fracture probability using the FRAX tool. Fracture probability rather than BMD alone can be used to fashion strategies for the assessment and treatment of osteoporosis.

Ankle fractures have features of an osteoporotic fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, K M; Chung, C Y; Kwon, S S; Won, S H; Lee, S Y; Chung, M K; Park, M S

2013-11-01

We report the bone attenuation of ankle joint measured on computed tomography (CT) and the cause of injury in patients with ankle fractures. The results showed age- and gender-dependent low bone attenuation and low-energy trauma in elderly females, which suggest the osteoporotic features of ankle fractures. This study was performed to investigate the osteoporotic features of ankle fracture in terms of bone attenuation and cause of injury. One hundred ninety-four patients (mean age 51.0 years, standard deviation 15.8 years; 98 males and 96 females) with ankle fracture were included. All patients underwent CT examination, and causes of injury (high/low-energy trauma) were recorded. Mean bone attenuations of the talus, medial malleolus, lateral malleolus, and distal tibial metaphysis were measured on CT images. Patients were divided into younger age (fractures than the younger age group. With increasing age, bone attenuations tended to decrease and the difference of bone attenuation between the genders tended to increase in the talus, medial malleolus, lateral malleolus, and distal tibial metaphysis. Ankle fracture had features of osteoporotic fracture that is characterized by age- and gender-dependent low bone attenuation. Ankle fracture should not be excluded from the clinical and research interest as well as from the benefit of osteoporosis management.

Improving profitability in a grassroots refinery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coombs, T. [Star Petroleum Refining Co. Ltd. (Thailand); Kennedy, P.; Bhargava, S. [KBC Process Technology Ltd. (United Kingdom)

1999-05-01

Actions taken to maximise profit at the Star Refinery in Thailand are described. The company made good use of the Profit Improvement Programme (PIP) (which specialises in refinery economics) and the way in which PIP addressed the problem and the benefits derived therefrom is the nub of this paper. The efforts appear to have been more than satisfactory from the aspect of increasing profit margins. (UK)

Ankle fracture spur sign is pathognomonic for a variant ankle fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinds, Richard M; Garner, Matthew R; Lazaro, Lionel E; Warner, Stephen J; Loftus, Michael L; Birnbaum, Jacqueline F; Burket, Jayme C; Lorich, Dean G

2015-02-01

The hyperplantarflexion variant ankle fracture is composed of a posterior tibial lip fracture with posterolateral and posteromedial fracture fragments separated by a vertical fracture line. This infrequently reported injury pattern often includes an associated "spur sign" or double cortical density at the inferomedial tibial metaphysis. The objective of this study was to quantitatively establish the association of the ankle fracture spur sign with the hyperplantarflexion variant ankle fracture. Our clinical database of operative ankle fractures was retrospectively reviewed for the incidence of hyperplantarflexion variant and nonvariant ankle fractures as determined by assessment of injury radiographs, preoperative advanced imaging, and intraoperative observation. Injury radiographs were then evaluated for the presence of the spur sign, and association between the spur sign and variant fractures was analyzed. The incidence of the hyperplantarflexion variant fracture among all ankle fractures was 6.7% (43/640). The spur sign was present in 79% (34/43) of variant fractures and absent in all nonvariant fractures, conferring a specificity of 100% in identifying variant fractures. Positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100% and 99%, respectively. The ankle fracture spur sign was pathognomonic for the hyperplantarflexion variant ankle fracture. It is important to identify variant fractures preoperatively as patient positioning, operative approach, and fixation construct of variant fractures often differ from those employed for osteosynthesis of nonvariant fractures. Identification of the spur sign should prompt acquisition of advanced imaging to formulate an appropriate operative plan to address the variant fracture pattern. Level III, retrospective comparative study. © The Author(s) 2014.

Profitability diagnosis of refinery and improvement proposal; Seiyusho no shueki shindan to kaizen teian

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aoyama, H.

2000-07-01

Based on consulting service RPS-J under joint operation of Nikki, UOP LLC of U.S.A. and Nikki Universal, approaching ways applied for profitability improvement and improvement proposal for refineries and analyzing techniques used for resolution of process bottlenecks were described. In RPS-J, themes of (1) energy saving, (2) quality upgrading, (3) improvement of disintegrating ratio, (4) reduction of give-away, (5) improvement of equipment operation ratio, (6) reduction of maintenance cost, (7) effective utilization of catalysts, are considered for profitability improvement fields. Procedures from idea excavation for profitability improvement to realization of profitability improvement are carried out in the order of, (1) Grasping of the present state, (2) Excavation of improving items and selection, (3) Quantitative evaluation of draft profitability improvement plan and focusing, (4) Profitability improvement by operation improvement, (5) Profitability improvement by minor improvement, (6) Profitability improvement in middle- and long-term vision, (7) Final focusing by feasibility study. Afterwards, examination to economically solve bottlenecks of critical facilities, examination on bottlenecks of distillation tower and refining tower and utility analysis are carried out. RPS-J was already applied to 4 refineries including Muroran Refinery and Negishi Refinery of Nisseki Mitsubishi, and profitability improvement themes were found to improve profitability of 50 to 150 cents per barrel. (NEDO)

78 FR 11164 - Policy on Contractor Profits

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-15

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Acquisition Regulations System Policy on Contractor Profits AGENCY... Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. Section 804, Department of Defense Policy on Contractor Profits... modifications to such guidelines that are necessary to ensure an appropriate link between contractor profit and...

The strategic value of customer profitability analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Raaij, van E.M.

2005-01-01

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to show how intelligence emanating from customer profitability analysis (CPA) can help improve strategic marketing planning. Insights into the profitability of individual customers, as well as the distribution of profitability across the customer base, can lead to

Innovations in the management of hip fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Teasdall, Robert D; Webb, Lawrence X

2003-08-01

Hip fractures include fractures of the head, neck, intertrochanteric, and subtrochanteric regions. Head fractures commonly accompany dislocations. Neck fractures and intertrochanteric fractures occur with greatest frequency in elderly patients with a low bone mineral density and are produced by low-energy mechanisms. Subtrochanteric fractures occur in a predominantly strong cortical osseous region that is exposed to large compressive stresses. Implants used to address these fractures must accommodate significant loads while the fractures consolidate. Complications secondary to hip fractures produce significant morbidity and include infection, nonunion, malunion, decubitus ulcers, fat emboli, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, pneumonia, myocardial infarction, stroke, and death.

Alternative profit rate shariah-compliant for islamic banking

Science.gov (United States)

Gazali, Nadhirah; Halim, Nurfadhlina Abdul; Ghazali, Puspa Liza

2017-09-01

Profit is the aims for Islamic banking and conventional banking. Determination of profit in Islamic banking in Malaysia depends on the profit rate, whereas profit rate is essentially from reference rate which is known as the base rate (BR). However, the determination of the components contained in the BR such as benchmark cost of funds and the statutory reserve requirement (SRR) is non-compliance with the Shariah because its directly proportional to the overnight policy rate (OPR). Therefore, an alternative formula for the profit rate are proposed which is known as the base profit rate (BPR). Construction of BPR formula is based on the principle that are more Shariah-compliant.

Comparative Corporate Governance of Non-Profit Organizations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Steen

2014-01-01

Based on the impressive work of Hopt and von Hippel (2010), I review the comparative corporate governance of non-profit organizations and propose topics for future research. There is evidence of agency problems in non-profit as well as for-profit organizations, but the governance mechanisms...

Interactions between the Design and Operation of Shale Gas Networks, Including CO2 Sequestration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharifzadeh Mahdi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available As the demand for energy continues to increase, shale gas, as an unconventional source of methane (CH4, shows great potential for commercialization. However, due to the ultra-low permeability of shale gas reservoirs, special procedures such as horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, periodic well shut-in, and carbon dioxide (CO2 injection may be required in order to boost gas production, maximize economic benefits, and ensure safe and environmentally sound operation. Although intensive research is devoted to this emerging technology, many researchers have studied shale gas design and operational decisions only in isolation. In fact, these decisions are highly interactive and should be considered simultaneously. Therefore, the research question addressed in this study includes interactions between design and operational decisions. In this paper, we first establish a full-physics model for a shale gas reservoir. Next, we conduct a sensitivity analysis of important design and operational decisions such as well length, well arrangement, number of fractures, fracture distance, CO2 injection rate, and shut-in scheduling in order to gain in-depth insights into the complex behavior of shale gas networks. The results suggest that the case with the highest shale gas production may not necessarily be the most profitable design; and that drilling, fracturing, and CO2 injection have great impacts on the economic viability of this technology. In particular, due to the high costs, enhanced gas recovery (EGR using CO2 does not appear to be commercially competitive, unless tax abatements or subsidies are available for CO2 sequestration. It was also found that the interactions between design and operational decisions are significant and that these decisions should be optimized simultaneously.

DETERMINANTS OF BANK PROFITABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM US

OpenAIRE

Cheng, Yinglin; Huang, Yating

2017-01-01

This paper examines the variables that affect bank profitability. We construct a sample of US banks from 2003 to 2015, and use return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) to measure bank profitability. We find that banks with higher profitability are the banks that have: (1) a higher deposits to total asset ratio, (2) a higher diversification ratio, and (3) higher operational efficiency. We also find that better-capitalized banks tend to be more profitable only when we use ROA as the me...

Profitability expertise of rural methanization projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-02-01

The main objectives of this study were to analyze the profitability of projects of methanization, and to identify factors which curb or favour their profitability. It is based on a detailed analysis of the investment and of the profitability of 50 sites of different sizes and at different stages of progress (from the feasibility study to few months of operation), and also of experiences in three neighbour countries (Germany, Switzerland and Belgium). First, the study highlights the importance of investment costs in the biogas production global cost, notably with respect to current German prices. Then, it comments the impact of subsidies on facility profitability. It proposes ways to improve public support to the different energetic vectors produced from biogas: electricity, biomethane, and heat

The association between disease and profitability in individual finishing boars at a test station

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Tina Birk; Baadsgaard, Niels Peter; Houe, Hans

2008-01-01

Endemic diseases in finisher herds are considered to be costly for the pig producer. We investigated the effect of diseases on the profit margin using data from a Danish boar test station (n = 5777) collected from July 2002 to December 2004. Boars reaching a target slaughter weight of at least 80...... kg were included in the study. Oral and parenteral treatments were used as indicator of disease in the finishing period and, pathological lesions were used as indicator of disease at slaughter. Profit margin was calculated individually for each boar as the difference between the total revenue......: profit margin. The results showed that treatment in the finishing period had a negative effect on the profit margin. According to the least square means estimates, boars that were treated parenterally had a reduction in the profit margin of 2.24 €. This corresponded to a reduction in the profit margin...

Financialization and financial profit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arturo Guillén

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This article starts from the critical review of the concept of financial capital. I consider it is necessary not to confuse this category with of financialization, which has acquired a certificate of naturalization from the rise of neoliberalism. Although financial monopoly-financial capital is the hegemonic segment of the bourgeoisie in the major capitalist countries, their dominance does not imply, a fortiori, financialization of economic activity, since it depends of the conditions of the process reproduction of capital. The emergence of joint stock companies modified the formation of the average rate of profit. The "promoter profit" becomes one of the main forms of income of monopoly-financial capital. It is postulated that financial profit is a kind of "extraordinary surplus-value" which is appropriated by monopoly-financial capital by means of the monopolistic control it exerts on the issue and circulation of fictitious capital.

Profitability of Residential Battery Energy Storage Combined with Solar Photovoltaics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Goebel

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Lithium-ion (Li-Ion batteries are increasingly being considered as bulk energy storage in grid applications. One such application is residential energy storage combined with solar photovoltaic (PV panels to enable higher self-consumption rates, which has become financially more attractive recently due to decreasing feed-in subsidies. Although residential energy storage solutions are commercially mature, it remains unclear which system configurations and circumstances, including aggregator-based applications such as the provision of ancillary services, lead to profitable consumer investments. Therefore, we conduct an extensive simulation study that is able to jointly capture these aspects. Our results show that, at current battery module prices, even optimal system configurations still do not lead to profitable investments into Li-Ion batteries if they are merely used as a buffer for solar energy. The first settings in which they will become profitable, as prices are further declining, will be larger households at locations with higher average levels of solar irradiance. If the batteries can be remote-controlled by an aggregator to provide overnight negative reserve, their profitability increases significantly.

Mechanics of Hydraulic Fractures

Science.gov (United States)

Detournay, Emmanuel

2016-01-01

Hydraulic fractures represent a particular class of tensile fractures that propagate in solid media under pre-existing compressive stresses as a result of internal pressurization by an injected viscous fluid. The main application of engineered hydraulic fractures is the stimulation of oil and gas wells to increase production. Several physical processes affect the propagation of these fractures, including the flow of viscous fluid, creation of solid surfaces, and leak-off of fracturing fluid. The interplay and the competition between these processes lead to multiple length scales and timescales in the system, which reveal the shifting influence of the far-field stress, viscous dissipation, fracture energy, and leak-off as the fracture propagates.

Hydraulic fracture propagation modeling and data-based fracture identification

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jing

Successful shale gas and tight oil production is enabled by the engineering innovation of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulically induced fractures will most likely deviate from the bi-wing planar pattern and generate complex fracture networks due to mechanical interactions and reservoir heterogeneity, both of which render the conventional fracture simulators insufficient to characterize the fractured reservoir. Moreover, in reservoirs with ultra-low permeability, the natural fractures are widely distributed, which will result in hydraulic fractures branching and merging at the interface and consequently lead to the creation of more complex fracture networks. Thus, developing a reliable hydraulic fracturing simulator, including both mechanical interaction and fluid flow, is critical in maximizing hydrocarbon recovery and optimizing fracture/well design and completion strategy in multistage horizontal wells. A novel fully coupled reservoir flow and geomechanics model based on the dual-lattice system is developed to simulate multiple nonplanar fractures' propagation in both homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoirs with or without pre-existing natural fractures. Initiation, growth, and coalescence of the microcracks will lead to the generation of macroscopic fractures, which is explicitly mimicked by failure and removal of bonds between particles from the discrete element network. This physics-based modeling approach leads to realistic fracture patterns without using the empirical rock failure and fracture propagation criteria required in conventional continuum methods. Based on this model, a sensitivity study is performed to investigate the effects of perforation spacing, in-situ stress anisotropy, rock properties (Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and compressive strength), fluid properties, and natural fracture properties on hydraulic fracture propagation. In addition, since reservoirs are buried thousands of feet below the surface, the

Competition and Profitability in European Financial Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balling, Morten; Lierman, F.; Mullineux, A.

Financial services firms play a key role in the European economy. The efficiency and profitability of these firms and the competition among them have an impact on allocation of savings, financing of investment, economic growth, the stability of the financial system and the transmission of monetary...... policy. This collection of research contributions includes evaluations of trends in the European financial service industry and examinations of the driving forces of efficiency, competition and profitability of financial firms and institutions in Europe. The papers have been written by leading academics...... and researchers in the field, who specialize in strategic, systematic and policy issues related to the European financial services industry. This edited collection will be will be essential reading for students and academics but will also be of interest to financial practitioners and government officials...

Osteoporotic fractures in older adults

OpenAIRE

Colón-Emeric, Cathleen S.; Saag, Kenneth G.

2006-01-01

Osteoporotic fractures are emerging as a major public health problem in the aging population. Fractures result in increased morbidity, mortality and health expenditures. This article reviews current evidence for the management of common issues following osteoporotic fractures in older adults including: (1) thromboembolism prevention; (2) delirium prevention; (3) pain management; (4) rehabilitation; (5) assessing the cause of fracture; and (6) prevention of subsequent fractures. Areas for prac...

Scaphoid Fracture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Kim, BS

2018-04-01

Full Text Available History of present illness: A 25-year-old, right-handed male presented to the emergency department with left wrist pain after falling from a skateboard onto an outstretched hand two-weeks prior. He otherwise had no additional concerns, including no complaints of weakness or loss of sensation. On physical exam, there was tenderness to palpation within the anatomical snuff box. The neurovascular exam was intact. Plain films of the left wrist and hand were obtained. Significant findings: The anteroposterior (AP plain film of this patient demonstrates a full thickness fracture through the middle third of the scaphoid (red arrow, with some apparent displacement (yellow lines and subtle angulation of the fracture fragments (blue line. Discussion: The scaphoid bone is the most commonly fractured carpal bone accounting for 70%-80% of carpal fractures.1 Classically, it is sustained following a fall onto an outstretched hand (FOOSH. Patients should be evaluated for tenderness with palpation over the anatomical snuffbox, which has a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 40%.2 Plain films are the initial diagnostic modality of choice and have a sensitivity of 70%, but are commonly falsely negative in the first two to six weeks of injury (false negative of 20%.3 The Mayo classification organizes scaphoid fractures as involving the proximal, mid, and distal portions of the scaphoid bone with mid-fractures being the most common.3 The proximal scaphoid is highly susceptible to vascular compromise because it depends on retrograde blood flow from the radial artery. Therefore, disruption can lead to serious sequelae including osteonecrosis, arthrosis, and functional impairment. Thus, a low threshold should be maintained for neurovascular evaluation and surgical referral. Patients with non-displaced scaphoid fractures should be placed in a thumb spica splint.3 Patients with even suspected scaphoid fractures should be placed in a thumb spica splint and re

Hydro-Quebec is profitable

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poirier, M.

1997-01-01

The pros and cons of the potential privatisation of Hydro-Quebec were discussed. A brief review of charges of less than competent management, low profitability and the corporation's recent administrative restructuring was presented. The general thrust of the argument was that Hydro-Quebec plays a crucial role in the economic development of Quebec, it can be made to be more profitable and that for the good of Quebec it should continue as a public corporation under the control of the provincial government

Fractal profit landscape of the stock market.

Science.gov (United States)

Grönlund, Andreas; Yi, Il Gu; Kim, Beom Jun

2012-01-01

We investigate the structure of the profit landscape obtained from the most basic, fluctuation based, trading strategy applied for the daily stock price data. The strategy is parameterized by only two variables, p and q Stocks are sold and bought if the log return is bigger than p and less than -q, respectively. Repetition of this simple strategy for a long time gives the profit defined in the underlying two-dimensional parameter space of p and q. It is revealed that the local maxima in the profit landscape are spread in the form of a fractal structure. The fractal structure implies that successful strategies are not localized to any region of the profit landscape and are neither spaced evenly throughout the profit landscape, which makes the optimization notoriously hard and hypersensitive for partial or limited information. The concrete implication of this property is demonstrated by showing that optimization of one stock for future values or other stocks renders worse profit than a strategy that ignores fluctuations, i.e., a long-term buy-and-hold strategy.

Macroeconomic and industry-specific determinants of Greek bank profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zampara, K.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the external factors that influence the profitability of a typical Greek systemic bank over the period 2001 – 2014. Design/Methodology/Approach: A conceptual framework incorporating two fundamental groups of const ructs, namely, macroeconomic forces and industry related factors, was developed. Two constructs were examined in the former: GDP growth rate and unemployment rate, whilst two attributes were explored in the latter; the bank's market share, both in terms of deposits and in terms of assets, and the banking market growth, also both in terms of the market's total assets and total deposits. In order to isolate the effects of the ongoing financial crisis, the research was undertaken for two periods, firstly 2001 to 2014 and secondly, the period 2001 - 2011, which excluded the deep recession. Consequently, multiple regression analysis was conducted and linear models were specified by means of OLS. Findings: The empirical analysis revealed that both macroeconomic forces and industry-related factors affect bank profitability. As far as the macroeconomic factors are concerned, unemployment rate has a negative impact, whereas the GDP growth rate has a positive impact on bank profitability. The industry -related factors, rate of growth of the industry's deposits and bank's assets market share have a positive impact on the financial performance of the bank. Finally, the rate of growth of the industry's assets and the bank's deposits market share have a negative effect on bank profitability. Originality/Value: This study reveals the mechanism determining bank profitability over a recent period that includes the financial crisis. Moreover, understanding the impact of macroeconomic forces as well as industry related attributes on bank profitability may enable banks to focus on the most critical factors in their decision process.

The epidemiology of wrist fractures in older men: the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, N C; Hooker, E R; Nielson, C M; Ensrud, K E; Harrison, S L; Orwoll, E S; Barrett-Connor, E

2018-04-01

There is limited wrist fracture information on men. Our goal was to calculate frequency and identify risk factors for wrist fracture in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study. We confirmed that fracture history and certain medications are predictors, and identified novel predictors including markers of kidney function and physical performance. To calculate the incidence of wrist fractures and their risk factors in older community-dwelling men from the US Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study. Using triannual postcards, we identified incident wrist fractures (centrally confirmed by radiology) in men aged ≥ 65. Potential risk factors included the following: demographics, lifestyle, bone mineral density (BMD), selected medications, biomarkers, and physical function and performance measures. Both baseline and time-varying models were adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, MrOS geographic location, and competing mortality risks. We observed 97 incident wrist fractures among 5875 men followed for an average of 10.8 years. The incidence of wrist fracture was 1.6 per 1000 person-years overall and ranged from 1.0 among men aged 65-69 to 2.4 among men age ≥ 80. Significant predictors included the following: fracture history after age 50 [hazard ratio (95% CI): 2.48 (1.65, 3.73)], high serum phosphate [1.25 (1.02, 1.53)], use of selective serotonin receptor inhibitor (SSRI) [3.60 (1.96, 6.63), decreased right arm BMD [0.49 (0.37, 0.65) per SD increase], and inability to perform the grip strength test [3.38 (1.24, 9.25)]. We did not find associations with factors commonly associated with wrist and other osteoporosis fractures like falls, diabetes, calcium and vitamin D intake, and alcohol intake. Among these older, community-dwelling men, we confirmed that fracture history is a strong predictor of wrist fractures in men. Medications such as SSRIs and corticosteroids also play a role in wrist fracture risk. We identified novel risk factors including kidney

Radiological classification of mandibular fractures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mihailova, H.

2009-01-01

Mandibular fractures present the biggest part (up to 97%) of the facial bone fractures. Method of choice for diagnosing of mandibular fractures is conventional radiography. The aim of the issue is to present an unified radiological classification of mandibular fractures for the clinical practice. This classification includes only those clinical symptoms of mandibular fracture which could be radiologically objectified: exact anatomical localization (F1-F6), teeth in fracture line (Ta,Tb), grade of dislocation (D I, D II), occlusal disturbances (O(+), O(-)). Radiological symptoms expressed by letter and number symbols are systematized in a formula - FTDO of mandibular fractures similar to TNM formula for tumours. FTDO formula expresses radiological diagnose of each mandibular fracture but it doesn't include neither the site (left or right) of the fracture, nor the kind and number of fractures. In order to express topography and number of fractures the radiological formula is transformed into a decimal fraction. The symbols (FTD) of right mandible fracture are written in the numerator and those of the left site - in the denominator. For double and multiple fractures between the symbols for each fracture we put '+'. Symbols for occlusal disturbances are put down opposite, the fractional line. So topographo-anatomical formula (FTD/FTD)xO is formed. In this way the whole radiological information for unilateral, bilateral, single or multiple fractures of the mandible is expressed. The information in the radiological topography anatomic formula, resp. from the unified topography-anatomic classification ensures a quick and exact X-ray diagnose of mandibular fracture. In this way contributes to get better, make easier and faster X-ray diagnostic process concerning mandibular fractures. And all these is a precondition for prevention of retardation of the diagnosis mandibular fracture. (author)

[Hip Fracture--Epidemiology, Management and Liaison Service. Risk factor for hip fracture].

Science.gov (United States)

Fujiwara, Saeko

2015-04-01

Many risk factors have been identified for hip fracture, including female, advanced age, osteoporosis, previous fractures, low body weight or low body mass index, alcohol drinking, smoking, family history of fractures, use of glucocorticoid, factors related to falls, and bone strength. The factors related to falls are number of fall, frail, post stroke, paralysis, muscle weakness, anti-anxiety drugs, anti-depression drugs, and sedatives. Dementia and respiratory disease and others have been reported to be risk factors for secondary hip fracture.

Radiological diagnosis of fractures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finlay, D.B.L.; Allen, M.J.

1984-01-01

This book is about radiology of fractures. While it contains sections of clinical features it is not intended that readers should rely entirely upon these for the diagnosis and management of the injured patient. As in the diagnosis and treatment of all medical problems, fracture management must be carried out in a logical step-by-step fashion - namely, history, examination, investigation, differential diagnosis, diagnosis and then treatment. Each section deals with a specific anatomical area and begins with line drawings of the normal radiographs demonstrating the anatomy. Accessory views that may be requested, and the indications for these, are included. Any radiological pitfalls for the area in general are then described. The fractures in adults are then examined in turn, their radiological features described, and any pitfalls in their diagnosis discussed. A brief note of important clinical findings is included. A brief mention is made of pediatric fractures which are of significance and their differences to the adult pattern indicated. Although fractures can be classified into types with different characteristics, in life every fracture is individual. Fractures by and large follow common patterns, but many have variations

Price and Profit Optimization for Financial Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catalina Bolancé

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Prospective customers of financial and insurance products can be targeted based on the profit the provider expects to earn from them. We present a model for individual expected profit and two alternatives for calculating optimal personalized prices that maximize the expected profit. For one of these alternatives, we obtain a closed-form expression for the price offered to each prospective customer; for the other, we need to use a numerical approximation. In both approaches, the profits generated by prospective customers are not immediately observed, given that the products sold by these companies have a risk component. We assume that willingness to pay is heterogeneous and apply our methodology using real data from a European insurance company. Our study indicates that a substantial boost in profits can be expected when applying the simplest optimal pricing method proposed.

Imaging of insufficiency fractures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krestan, Christian [Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna General Hospital, Waehringerstr. 18-20, 1090 Vienna (Austria)], E-mail: christian.krestan@meduniwien.ac.at; Hojreh, Azadeh [Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna General Hospital, Waehringerstr. 18-20, 1090 Vienna (Austria)

2009-09-15

This review focuses on the occurrence, imaging and differential diagnosis of insufficiency fractures. Prevalence, the most common sites of insufficiency fractures and their clinical implications are discussed. Insufficiency fractures occur with normal stress exerted on weakened bone. Postmenopausal osteoporosis is the most common cause of insufficiency fractures. Other conditions which affect bone turnover include osteomalacia, hyperparathyroidism, chronic renal failure and high-dose glucocorticoid therapy. It is a challenge for the radiologist to detect and diagnose insufficiency fractures, and to differentiate them from other bone lesions. Radiographs are still the most widely used imaging method for identification of insufficiency fractures, but sensitivity is limited, depending on the location of the fractures. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a very sensitive tool to visualize bone marrow abnormalities associated with insufficiency fractures. Thin section, multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) depicts subtle fracture lines allowing direct visualization of cortical and trabecular bone. Bone scintigraphy still plays a role in detecting fractures, with good sensitivity but limited specificity. The most important differential diagnosis is underlying malignant disease leading to pathologic fractures. Bone densitometry and clinical history may also be helpful in confirming the diagnosis of insufficiency fractures.

Fractures and fracture infillings of the Eye-Dashwa Lakes pluton, Atikokan, Ontario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stone, Denver; Kamineni, D.C.

1982-01-01

Fractures in the Eye-Dashwa pluton near Atikokan, Ontario can be subdivided on the basis of their filling materials. These materials include aplite, epidote, chlorite, and gypsum-carbonate-clay, listed in order of decreasing age established from crosscutting relations. Textues indicate that infilling occurred during fracture growth. Continuous cooling of the pluton during fracturing is inferred from the expected crystallization temperatures of fillings. Fracturing began before the pluton was completely solidified (650-600 0 C) and continued to temperatures below 100 0 C. Many fractures appear to have been sealed by the filling materials after initiation but were subsequently sheared and filled by lower temperatue materials. Apparently the majority of fractures formed during or immediately after pluton solidification and new fractures became smaller and more restricted in location as cooling progressed. Fractures and filling materials are seen as important features in assessing the possibility of movement of radionuclides in aqueous solutions away from a nuclear fuel waste repository

Study notes separability of oil company profitability, efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thompson, R.G.

1993-01-01

In recent years, the large publicly traded oil companies have been restructuring and downsizing to improve efficiency. Newly developed decision theory forces one to question the widely held singular focus on efficiency because improving efficiency will not necessarily improve profits. This is especially likely in the oil industry, where price volatility is the norm. Because its products are so basic, its price volatility typically ripples widely throughout the economy. In light of this, efficiency and profitability in the oil industry require separate treatment. More specifically, the efficient are not necessarily the most profitable; conversely, the most profitable are not necessarily the most efficient. Such a decoupling of efficiency and profitability requires a totally new look at business strategy. In the face of highly variable prices, firms can no longer depend on the long-accepted duality norm between profits and efficiency

Meet the New For-Profit: The Low-Profit

Science.gov (United States)

Blumenstyk, Goldie

2012-01-01

"Doing well by doing good" is the business mantra of the for-profit-college industry. But one does not have to look far to find people who question the slogan's sincerity or the very legitimacy of that model. And that was even before reports of some companies' abusive student-recruiting practices and questionable educational standards fed a public…

Decomposing dynamic profit inefficiency of Belgian dairy farms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ang, Frederic; Lansink, Alfons Oude

2018-01-01

This paper introduces a nonparametric framework for analysing dynamic profit inefficiency and applies this to a sample of Belgian, specialised dairy farms from 1996 to 2008. Profit inefficiency is decomposed into technical and allocative inefficiency. The paper also decomposes profit inefficiency

Profit sharing for increased training investments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gielen, A. C.

2011-01-01

This article investigates whether paying a profit-related wage stimulates training investments. The results point to increased worker effort and wage flexibility as two channels through which profit sharing enhances investments in training. While both effects are found for young workers, for older

Drivers of supplier-customer relationship profitability in China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dawson, Bonnie; Young, Louise; Murray, John M.

2017-01-01

has implications for the ongoing management of international supplier-customer relationships, Chinese government policy with regard to SOEs as well as the inclusion of organization types as a consideration for business marketing relationship and value creation theory.......Business relationship performance depends on the context(s) in which the relationship is being conducted, including the cultural context and the nature of the organizations participating in them. Here, we examine the drivers of performance in Chinese supplier-customer relationships for two types...... of Chinese suppliers - International Joint Ventures (IJVs) and State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The results indicate there are marked differences in the links between relationship drivers and perceived relationship profitability for these different types of suppliers. The profitability of SOEs' customer...

Danwei Profitability and Earnings Inequality in Urban China*

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yu; Wu, Xiaogang

2009-01-01

Prior research has debated the relative importance of such factors as human capital, political capital and region in determining workers’ earnings in reform-era urban China. This article argues that a main agent of social stratification in contemporary China continues to be the danwei, the work unit. Using data from a 1999 survey we conducted in three large Chinese cities, Wuhan, Shanghai and Xi’an, we assess the extent to which workers’ earnings (including regular wages, bonuses and subsidies) depend on the profitability of their danwei. Results show that the financial situation of the danwei is one of the most important determinants of earnings in today’s urban China. Furthermore, the importance of danwei profitability does not vary by city or by employment sector. PMID:20445771

Management of osteoporotic vertebral fractures

OpenAIRE

Dionyssiotis, Yannis

2010-01-01

Yannis DionyssiotisRhodes General Hospital, Rhodes, GreeceAbstract: Osteoporotic vertebral fractures are associated with considerable reduction of quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. The management of patients with vertebral fractures should include treatment for osteoporosis and measures to reduce pain and improve mobility. This article provides information for management and rehabilitation of vertebral fractures based on clinical experience and literature.Keywords: vertebral fracture...

DataProfit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ritter, Thomas; Lund Pedersen, Carsten; Eibe Sørensen, Hans

sammen for at udnytte mulighederne for datadreven profitabel vækst. Denne guide giver en anvendelsesorienteret gennemgang af de ni kompetencer i vores kort, som vi kalder for DataProfit. I guiden beskrives hver kompetence – og du inviteres til at analysere din virksomhed. Til sidst sætter vi hele...

Creating Societal Benefits and Corporate Profits

OpenAIRE

Raisch, Sebastian; Probst, Gilbert; Gomez, Peter; Zimmermann, Alexander

2014-01-01

The odds of launching a new business that creates value for both the company and the public can be improved with good planning. An in-depth analysis of how four companies created for-profit initiatives that also have high societal value suggests that each followed a similar step-by-step process to achieve what the researchers call synergistic value creation. Those steps include establishing cross-business incubators and installing multi-perspective monitoring systems.

Tariff regulation and profitability of energy networks. A model analysis for TenneT TSO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulder, M.

2010-12-01

In this paper we analyse the impact of the regulatory framework for the new regulatory period (2011-2013) on the long-term profitability of TenneT TSO, the operator of the high-voltage electricity network in the Netherlands. Long-term profitability is a key component of the financeability of a firm. In the long run, the return on capital should be at least equal to the opportunity costs of capital in order to finance investments. As the ultimate indicator for the long-term profitability, we use the net present value of economic profit, which is the difference between total revenues and total costs, including a normal return on capital. In order to simulate the future financial development of the TSO, we developed a model. On the basis of the model analysis, making a number of methodological assumptions, we conclude that the tariff regulation results in a positive long-term profitability, implying that the regulatory framework enables TenneT TSO to finance its investments in replacement and network expansion. In the long run all costs, including the normal costs of capital, will be fully compensated by the revenues, resulting in a (slightly) positive net present value of economic profit. This conclusion is subject to the condition that the TSO eliminates the existing inefficiencies in the network and that it is able to annually improve its overall efficiency. If this condition is not met, the shareholder might face a loss of more than one hundred million Euros.

26 CFR 1.312-6 - Earnings and profits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... exclude from earnings and profits that portion of any premium which is unearned under the provisions of section 832(b)(4) and which is segregated accordingly in the unearned premium reserve. (b) Among the items... items includible in gross income under section 61 or corresponding provisions of prior revenue acts...

Profit rates in the developed capitalist economies: a time series investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan D. Trofimov

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines whether there is empirical evidence to support the hypothesis of a secular decline in the economy-wide profit rates, as predicted by classical economic theories. We specifically consider profit rates in the OECD economies based on the national accounts data contained in the Extended Penn World Table database. We use linear trend, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF tests, and allow for structural breaks and instabilities in the series. Our results suggest that profit rates in OECD economies exhibited a variety of patterns, including stochastic and deterministic trends, random walk, reversals, as well as stability. The secular decline (fluctuation around a falling deterministic trend hypothesis is supported for Canada, Portugal and the USA, while secular rise is witnessed for Greece and Norway. JEL Classification: B5, C22, P17

Traditions and Management Perspectives of Community and Non-Profit Organizations in Lithuania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrius Stasiukynas

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose – To overview the traditions and management perspectives of community and non-profit organizations in Lithuania.Methodology – For the purpose of this research a literature analysis on community and non-profit organization case studies was conducted. The case studies describing stories of success were singled out and leaders of these organizations were interviewed.Findings – The research has showed the growth of the number of community and nonprofit organizations during the last twenty years and the difficulties of collecting the statistical data. This study presupposes the possibility to identify the tendencies of management in community and non-profit organizations, including the following: increasing use of the social networks for communication; proliferation of strategic planning; greater emphasis on educating and empowering new generation of leaders.Research implications – Prior studies in this area in Lithuania have not exhaustively analyzed the components of human resource management of non-profit organizations. An important follow up on this study would be to analyze the human resource management in community organizations.Practical implications – This study covered the management aspects important for the improvement of how community and non-profit organizations work.Originality/Value – This study expands the knowledge on Lithuanian community and non-profit organization development and management.Research type – literature review, research paper.

Sprains, Strains and Fractures

Science.gov (United States)

... fractures. Many fractures and sprains occur during sports. Football players are particularly vulnerable to foot and ankle ... feet and ankles and take a complete medical history. He or she will also order tests, including ...

Simulation of complex fracture networks influenced by natural fractures in shale gas reservoir

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Jinzhou

2014-10-01

Full Text Available When hydraulic fractures intersect with natural fractures, the geometry and complexity of a fracture network are determined by the initiation and propagation pattern which is affected by a number of factors. Based on the fracture mechanics, the criterion for initiation and propagation of a fracture was introduced to analyze the tendency of a propagating angle and factors affecting propagating pressure. On this basis, a mathematic model with a complex fracture network was established to investigate how the fracture network form changes with different parameters, including rock mechanics, in-situ stress distribution, fracture properties, and frac treatment parameters. The solving process of this model was accelerated by classifying the calculation nodes on the extending direction of the fracture by equal pressure gradients, and solving the geometrical parameters prior to the iteration fitting flow distribution. With the initiation and propagation criterion as the bases for the propagation of branch fractures, this method decreased the iteration times through eliminating the fitting of the fracture length in conventional 3D fracture simulation. The simulation results indicated that the formation with abundant natural fractures and smaller in-situ stress difference is sufficient conditions for fracture network development. If the pressure in the hydraulic fractures can be kept at a high level by temporary sealing or diversion, the branch fractures will propagate further with minor curvature radius, thus enlarging the reservoir stimulation area. The simulated shape of fracture network can be well matched with the field microseismic mapping in data point range and distribution density, validating the accuracy of this model.

Fracture mechanisms and fracture control in composite structures

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Wone-Chul

Four basic failure modes--delamination, delamination buckling of composite sandwich panels, first-ply failure in cross-ply laminates, and compression failure--are analyzed using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and the J-integral method. Structural failures, including those at the micromechanical level, are investigated with the aid of the models developed, and the critical strains for crack propagation for each mode are obtained. In the structural fracture analyses area, the fracture control schemes for delamination in a composite rib stiffener and delamination buckling in composite sandwich panels subjected to in-plane compression are determined. The critical fracture strains were predicted with the aid of LEFM for delamination and the J-integral method for delamination buckling. The use of toughened matrix systems has been recommended for improved damage tolerant design for delamination crack propagation. An experimental study was conducted to determine the onset of delamination buckling in composite sandwich panel containing flaws. The critical fracture loads computed using the proposed theoretical model and a numerical computational scheme closely followed the experimental measurements made on sandwich panel specimens of graphite/epoxy faceskins and aluminum honeycomb core with varying faceskin thicknesses and core sizes. Micromechanical models of fracture in composites are explored to predict transverse cracking of cross-ply laminates and compression fracture of unidirectional composites. A modified shear lag model which takes into account the important role of interlaminar shear zones between the 0 degree and 90 degree piles in cross-ply laminate is proposed and criteria for transverse cracking have been developed. For compressive failure of unidirectional composites, pre-existing defects play an important role. Using anisotropic elasticity, the stress state around a defect under a remotely applied compressive load is obtained. The experimentally

Analysis of the financial factors governing the profitability of lunar helium-3

Science.gov (United States)

Kulcinski, G. L.; Thompson, H.; Ott, S.

1989-01-01

Financial factors influencing the profitability of the mining and utilization of lunar helium-3 are examined. The analysis addressed the following questions: (1) which financial factors have the greatest leverage on the profitability of He-3; (2) over what range can these factors be varied to keep the He-3 option profitable; and (3) what ultimate effect could this energy source have on the price of electricity for U.S. consumers. Two complementary methods of analysis were used in the assessment: rate of return on incremental investment required and reduction revenue requirements (total cost to customers) achieved. Some of the factors addressed include energy demand, power generation costs with and without fusion, profitability for D-He(3) fusion, annual capital and operating costs, launch mass and costs, He-3 price, and government funding. Specific conclusions are made with respect to each of the companies considered: utilities, lunar mining company, and integrated energy company.

Treatment of mandibular symphyseal fracture combined with dislocated intracapsular condylar fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiaofeng; Shi, Jun; Xu, Bing; Dai, Jiewen; Zhang, Shilei

2015-03-01

To evaluate the treatment methods of mandibular symphyseal fracture combined with dislocated intracapsular condylar fractures (MSF&DICF) and to compare the effect of different treatment methods of condylar fractures. Twenty-eight patients with MSF&DICF were included in this study. Twenty-two sites were treated by open reduction, and all the medial condylar fragments were fixed with titanium screws; whereas the other 22 sites underwent close treatment. The surgical effect between these 2 groups was compared based on clinical examination and radiographic examination results. Seventeen of 22 condyle fractures were repositioned in the surgery group, whereas 4 of 22 condyle fractures were repositioned in the close treatment group. Statistical difference was observed between these 2 groups (P condyle fractures should be treated by surgical reduction with the maintenance of the attachment of lateral pterygoid muscle, which is beneficial to repositioning the dislocated condyle to its original physiological position, to closure of the mandibular lingual gap, to restore the mandibular width.

Siemens IT solutions for power sector. PROFIT solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lunter, P.

2004-01-01

The cost reduction, flexibility and revenue increase, potential exploitation, productivity increase, and business opportunities exploitation - that is all what can be required in the races for the promonent positioning on the electricity power market. These requirements can be realized by the sophisticated IT solutions hand-tailored to the special requirements of the electric power producers and tradesmen. This approach makes it possible to achieve greater profit. Our solutions 'PROFIT Solutions', that are symbiosis of the most progressive information technologies and the power plant techniques of the company Siemens, satisfy submitted specifications in substantial measure. The system solutions 'PROFIT Solutions' comprise three solution groups: process, operation a business. The solutions of the group 'IT Process Solutions' increase flexibility and manoeuvrability of equipment, improve the efficiency and contribute to more economical operation of the power generation. Solutions 'IT Process Solutions' simplify and shorten the period of power cycles and conduce to higher labour productivity. Solutions group 'IT Process Solutions' approaches equipment to the market - supports the profit strategies, helps quickly and expertly to determine and predict hazards. The extension PROFIT Cockpit means the nuance to the solutions world 'PROFIT Solutions'. The survey about the whole installation is within reach at the simple touch of a button. It is possible to compile the total system part by part from single solutions 'PROFIT Solutions'. As a matter of fact all single parts can be interconnected with already existing solutions. Routines 'PROFIT Solutions' cooperate with all modern control systems. (author)

For-Profit Schools: They Get IT

Science.gov (United States)

Waters, John K.

2011-01-01

The for-profit sector of higher education has generated some disturbing headlines recently. Widely publicized charges of predatory recruiting practices have prompted new regulations and provided fuel for scorching criticism of the entire business model. But while the spotlight is focused on what for-profits are doing wrong, are people overlooking…

Evaluation of maintenance strategies for steam generator tubes in pressurized waster reactors. 2. Cost and profitability analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isobe, Y.; Sagisaka, M.; Yoshimura, S.; Yagawa, G.

2000-01-01

As an application of probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM), risk-benefit analysis was carried out to evaluate maintenance activities of steam generator (SG) tubes used in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). The analysis was conducted for SG tubes made of Inconel 600, and Inconel 690 as well assuming its crack initiation and crack propagation law based on Inconel 600 data. The following results were drawn from the analysis. Improvement of inspection accuracy reduces the maintenance costs significantly and is preferable from the viewpoint of profitability due to reduction of SG tube leakage and rupture. There is a certain region of SCC properties of SG tubes where sampling inspection is effective. (author)

26 CFR 1.312-1 - Adjustment to earnings and profits reflecting distributions by corporations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... profits of the issuing corporation upon a disposition of section 306 stock unless such disposition is a... distribution of property by a corporation with respect to its stock, its earnings, and profits (to the extent... distribution of stock or rights to acquire stock a portion of which is includible in income by reason of...

Paediatric talus fracture.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Byrne, Ann-Maria

2012-01-01

Paediatric talus fractures are rare injuries resulting from axial loading of the talus against the anterior tibia with the foot in dorsiflexion. Skeletally immature bone is less brittle, with higher elastic resistance than adult bone, thus the paediatric talus can sustain higher forces before fractures occur. However, displaced paediatric talus fractures and those associated with high-energy trauma have been associated with complications including avascular necrosis, arthrosis, delayed union, neurapraxia and the need for revision surgery. The authors present the rare case of a talar neck fracture in a skeletally immature young girl, initially missed on radiological review. However, clinical suspicion on the part of the emergency physician, repeat examination and further radiographic imaging revealed this rare paediatric injury.

Profit U

Science.gov (United States)

Weinstein, Margery

2012-01-01

Preparing employees for the immediate work in front of them is a challenge. While most companies are still mastering effectively training their own workforce, some, such as "Training" magazine Top 10 Hall of Famer The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, have set up for-profit academies open to the public. When Ritz-Carlton won the national Malcolm…

Non-profit Drug Research and Development at a Crossroads.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarosławski, Szymon; Toumi, Mondher; Auquier, Pascal; Dussart, Claude

2018-02-07

In wealthy nations, non-profit drug R&D has been proposed to reduce the prices of medicines. We sought to review the ethical and economic issues concerning non-profit drug R&D companies, and the possible impact that their pricing strategy may have on the innovation efforts from for-profit companies targeting the same segment of the pharmaceutical market. There are two possible approaches to pricing drugs developed by non-profit R&D programs: pricing that maximises profits and "affordable" pricing that reflects the cost of manufacturing and distribution, plus a margin that ensures sustainability of the drug supply. Overall, the non-profits face ethical challenges - due to the lack of resources, they are unable to independently commercialize their products on a large scale; however, the antitrust law does not permit them to impose prices on potential licensees. Also, reduced prices for the innovative products may result in drying the for-profit R&D in the area.

Growth Kinematics of Opening-Mode Fractures

Science.gov (United States)

Eichhubl, P.; Alzayer, Y.; Laubach, S.; Fall, A.

2014-12-01

Fracture aperture is a primary control on flow in fractured reservoirs of low matrix permeability including unconventional oil and gas reservoirs and most geothermal systems. Guided by principles of linear elastic fracture mechanics, fracture aperture is generally assumed to be a linear function of fracture length and elastic material properties. Natural opening-mode fractures with significant preserved aperture are observed in core and outcrop indicative of fracture opening strain accommodated by permanent solution-precipitation creep. Fracture opening may thus be decoupled from length growth if the material effectively weakens after initial elastic fracture growth by either non-elastic deformation processes or changes in elastic properties. To investigate the kinematics of fracture length and aperture growth, we reconstructed the opening history of three opening-mode fractures that are bridged by crack-seal quartz cement in Travis Peak Sandstone of the SFOT-1 well, East Texas. Similar crack-seal cement bridges had been interpreted to form by repeated incremental fracture opening and subsequent precipitation of quartz cement. We imaged crack-seal cement textures for bridges sampled at varying distance from the tips using scanning electron microscope cathodoluminescence, and determined the number and thickness of crack-seal cement increments as a function of position along the fracture length and height. Observed trends in increment number and thickness are consistent with an initial stage of fast fracture propagation relative to aperture growth, followed by a stage of slow propagation and pronounced aperture growth. Consistent with fluid inclusion observations indicative of fracture opening and propagation occurring over 30-40 m.y., we interpret the second phase of pronounced aperture growth to result from fracture opening strain accommodated by solution-precipitation creep and concurrent slow, possibly subcritical, fracture propagation. Similar deformation

XFEM modeling of hydraulic fracture in porous rocks with natural fractures

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Tao; Liu, ZhanLi; Zeng, QingLei; Gao, Yue; Zhuang, Zhuo

2017-08-01

Hydraulic fracture (HF) in porous rocks is a complex multi-physics coupling process which involves fluid flow, diffusion and solid deformation. In this paper, the extended finite element method (XFEM) coupling with Biot theory is developed to study the HF in permeable rocks with natural fractures (NFs). In the recent XFEM based computational HF models, the fluid flow in fractures and interstitials of the porous media are mostly solved separately, which brings difficulties in dealing with complex fracture morphology. In our new model the fluid flow is solved in a unified framework by considering the fractures as a kind of special porous media and introducing Poiseuille-type flow inside them instead of Darcy-type flow. The most advantage is that it is very convenient to deal with fluid flow inside the complex fracture network, which is important in shale gas extraction. The weak formulation for the new coupled model is derived based on virtual work principle, which includes the XFEM formulation for multiple fractures and fractures intersection in porous media and finite element formulation for the unified fluid flow. Then the plane strain Kristianovic-Geertsma-de Klerk (KGD) model and the fluid flow inside the fracture network are simulated to validate the accuracy and applicability of this method. The numerical results show that large injection rate, low rock permeability and isotropic in-situ stresses tend to lead to a more uniform and productive fracture network.

Permeability in fractured rocks from deep geothermal boreholes in the Upper Rhine Graben

Science.gov (United States)

Vidal, Jeanne; Whitechurch, Hubert; Genter, Albert; Schmittbuhl, Jean; Baujard, Clément

2015-04-01

Permeability in fractured rocks from deep geothermal boreholes in the Upper Rhine Graben Vidal J.1, Whitechurch H.1, Genter A.2, Schmittbuhl J.1, Baujard C.2 1 EOST, Université de Strasbourg 2 ES-Géothermie, Strasbourg The thermal regime of the Upper Rhine Graben (URG) is characterized by a series of geothermal anomalies on its French part near Soultz-sous-Forêts, Rittershoffen and in the surrounding area of Strasbourg. Sedimentary formations of these areas host oil field widely exploited in the past which exhibit exceptionally high temperature gradients. Thus, geothermal anomalies are superimposed to the oil fields which are interpreted as natural brine advection occurring inside a nearly vertical multi-scale fracture system cross-cutting both deep-seated Triassic sediments and Paleozoic crystalline basement. The sediments-basement interface is therefore very challenging for geothermal industry because most of the geothermal resource is trapped there within natural fractures. Several deep geothermal projects exploit local geothermal energy to use the heat or produce electricity and thus target permeable fractured rocks at this interface. In 1980, a geothermal exploration well was drilled close to Strasbourg down to the Permian sediments at 3220 m depth. Bottom hole temperature was estimated to 148°C but the natural flow rate was too low for an economic profitability (geothermal site by drilling five boreholes, three of which extend to 5 km depth. They identified a temperature of 200° C at 5 km depth in the granitic basement but with a variable flow rate. Hydraulic and chemical stimulation operations were applied in order to increase the initial low permeability by reactivating and dissolving sealed fractures in basement. The productivity was considerably improved and allows geothermal exploitation at 165° C and 20 L/s. Recent studies revealed the occurrences of permeable fractures in the limestones of Muschelkalk and the sandstones of Buntsandstein also. For

Gigantic environmental profit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

The article presents studies on possible profits and advantages by converting vehicles such as buses and taxis from diesel to gas fuel engines for the environment and human beings in Norway. Some applications for automobiles are mentioned

Research on fracture analysis, groundwater flow and sorption processes in fractured rocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Dae Ha [Korea Institute of Geology Mining and Materials, Taejon (Korea)

1998-12-01

Due to increasing demand for numerous industrial facilities including nuclear power plants and waste repositories, the feasibility of rocks masses as sites for the facilities has been a geological issue of concern. Rock masses, in general, comprises systems of fractures which can provide pathways for groundwater flow and may also affect the stability of engineered structures. such properties of fractures stimulate a synthetic study on (1) analyses of fracture systems, and (2) characterization of groundwater flow and sorption processes in fractured rocks to establish a preliminary model for assessing suitable sites for industrial facilities. The analyses of fracture systems cover (1) reconstruction of the Cenozoic tectonic movements and estimation of frequency indices for the Holocene tectonic movements, (2) determination of distributions and block movements of the Quaternary marine terraces, (3) investigation of lithologic and geotechnical nature of study area, and (4) examination of the Cenozoic volcanic activities and determination of age of the dike swarms. Using data obtained from above mentioned analyses along with data related to earthquakes and active faults, probabilistic approach is performed to determine various potential hazards which may result from the Quaternary or the Holocene tectonic movements. In addition, stepwise and careful integration of various data obtained from field works and laboratory experiments are carried out to analyze groundwater flow in fractures rocks as follows; (1) investigation of geological feature of the site, (2) identification and characterization of fracture systems using core and televiewer logs, (3) determination of conductive fractures using electrical conductivity, temperature, and flow logs, (4) identification of hydraulic connections between fractures using televiewer logs with tracer tests within specific zones. The results obtained from these processes allow a qualitative interpretation of groundwater flow patterns

Are loyal customers profitable? : customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer profitability at the individual level

OpenAIRE

Helgesen, Øyvind

2000-01-01

Customer satisfaction is supposed to be positively related to profitability. This conception may be called “the paradigm of customer satisfaction”. Nevertheless, only a few studies have examined this fundamental relationship. Thus, evidence for this “much talked about relationship” is questioned. In this working paper the focus is on the individual customer with respect to the relationships between customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and customer profitability at the customer level. The f...

'Paper profits': Fair value accounting, dividends, and corporate governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goncharov, I.; van Triest, S.

2009-01-01

We examine the impact of upward fair value adjustments on dividend policies in Russia, where corporate governance is weak. We discuss the case of the utility company Unified Energy System (UES), which abolished its dividends (including mandatory preferred dividends) after reporting a record profit

Physeal Fractures in Foals.

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, David G; Aitken, Maia R

2017-08-01

Physeal fractures are common musculoskeletal injuries in foals and should be included as a differential diagnosis for the lame or nonweightbearing foal. Careful evaluation of the patient, including precise radiographic assessment, is paramount in determining the options for treatment. Prognosis mostly depends on the patient's age, weight, and fracture location and configuration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Decomposition of Hospital Profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason Turner

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This paper evaluates the drivers of profitability for a large sample of U.S. hospitals. Following a methodology frequently used by financial analysts, we use a DuPont analysis as a framework to evaluate the quality of earnings. By decomposing returns on equity (ROE into profit margin, total asset turnover, and capital structure, the DuPont analysis reveals what drives overall profitability. Methods: Profit margin, the efficiency with which services are rendered (total asset turnover, and capital structure is calculated for 3,255 U.S. hospitals between 2007 and 2012 using data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Healthcare Cost Report Information System (CMS Form 2552. The sample is then stratified by ownership, size, system affiliation, teaching status, critical access designation, and urban or non-urban location. Those hospital characteristics and interaction terms are then regressed (OLS against the ROE and the respective DuPont components. Sensitivity to regression methodology is also investigated using a seemingly unrelated regression. Results: When the sample is stratified by hospital characteristics, the results indicate investor-owned hospitals have higher profit margins, higher efficiency, and are substantially more leveraged. Hospitals in systems are found to have higher ROE, margins, and efficiency but are associated with less leverage. In addition, a number of important and significant interactions between teaching status, ownership, location, critical access designation, and inclusion in a system are documented. Many of the significant relationships, most notably not-for-profit ownership, lose significance or are predominately associated with one interaction effect when interaction terms are introduced as explanatory variables. Results are not sensitive to the alternative methodology. Conclusion: The results of the DuPont analysis suggest that although there appears to be convergence in the behavior of

A Decomposition of Hospital Profitability

Science.gov (United States)

Broom, Kevin; Elliott, Michael; Lee, Jen-Fu

2015-01-01

Objectives: This paper evaluates the drivers of profitability for a large sample of U.S. hospitals. Following a methodology frequently used by financial analysts, we use a DuPont analysis as a framework to evaluate the quality of earnings. By decomposing returns on equity (ROE) into profit margin, total asset turnover, and capital structure, the DuPont analysis reveals what drives overall profitability. Methods: Profit margin, the efficiency with which services are rendered (total asset turnover), and capital structure is calculated for 3,255 U.S. hospitals between 2007 and 2012 using data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Healthcare Cost Report Information System (CMS Form 2552). The sample is then stratified by ownership, size, system affiliation, teaching status, critical access designation, and urban or non-urban location. Those hospital characteristics and interaction terms are then regressed (OLS) against the ROE and the respective DuPont components. Sensitivity to regression methodology is also investigated using a seemingly unrelated regression. Results: When the sample is stratified by hospital characteristics, the results indicate investor-owned hospitals have higher profit margins, higher efficiency, and are substantially more leveraged. Hospitals in systems are found to have higher ROE, margins, and efficiency but are associated with less leverage. In addition, a number of important and significant interactions between teaching status, ownership, location, critical access designation, and inclusion in a system are documented. Many of the significant relationships, most notably not-for-profit ownership, lose significance or are predominately associated with one interaction effect when interaction terms are introduced as explanatory variables. Results are not sensitive to the alternative methodology. Conclusion: The results of the DuPont analysis suggest that although there appears to be convergence in the behavior of NFP and IO

Fractures in infants and toddlers with rickets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chapman, Teresa; Done, Stephen [Seattle Children' s Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seattle, WA (United States); Sugar, Naomi; Feldman, Kenneth [Seattle Children' s Hospital, Children' s Protection Program, Seattle, WA (United States); Marasigan, Joanne; Wambold, Nicolle [University of Washington, College of Arts and Sciences, Seattle, WA (United States)

2010-07-15

Rickets affects young infants and toddlers. However, there is a paucity of literature regarding the types of fractures that occur in rachitic patients. To evaluate the age of patients at which radiographically evident rickets occurs, and to characterize the age incidence and fractures that are observed in infants and toddlers with radiographically evident rickets. A retrospective study of children younger than 24 months was performed. Clinical data and radiographs were reviewed. Radiographs obtained within 1 month of the diagnosis were evaluated for the presence or absence of osteopenia, presence or absence of fraying-cupping, and presence and characterization of fractures. After exclusion criteria were applied, 45 children were included in the study. Children with rickets evident by radiograph were in the age range of 2-24 months. Fractures were present in 17.5% of the study group, exclusively in mobile infants and toddlers. Fracture types included transverse long bone fractures, anterior and anterior-lateral rib fractures, and metaphyseal fractures. All fractures occurred exclusively in patients with severe, overtly evident rickets. Fractures occur in older infants and toddlers with overt rickets and can be seen by radiograph. Fractures do not resemble high-risk non-accidental trauma fractures. (orig.)

Electronic Payments Profitability Extent Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rudolf Vohnout

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Cashless payments are recent phenomena, which even increased with the introduction of contactless means like NFC, PayPass or payWave. Such new methods speed-up the entire payment process and in comparison to cash transactions are much simpler and faster. But on the other hand the key question for merchant is if it is worth to have such device, which accept these new payment means or not to have the terminal at all. What is the amount of cash flow, which delimits the cash holdings to be still profitable? This paper tries to give answers to such question by presenting general profitability model, which will address defining the cash threshold amount. The aim is to show that cash holdings could be profitable up to certain amount, but after the threshold is met, cashless payment methods are fairly superior despite their additional costs.

The determinants of Bank Profitability: Does Liquidity Creation matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Sahyouni

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Using a panel data set of 4995 banks across 11 developed and emerging countries during the period (2011-2015, this report analyses the amount of liquidity created by banks, how liquidity creation, bank-specific and the macroeconomic factors affecting bank profitability. The results show evidence of increased creation of liquidity over the period. By applying the panel data fixed effect technique, banks that create more liquidity, are set up to have lower profitability. As well as, Asset management, bank size and capital ratio are positively correlated with bank profitability. While, credit quality and operating efficiency affect bank’s profits negatively. Additionally, macroeconomic factors have different impact on profitability indicators in each market. Our findings may help decision makers inside and outside bank to determine important factors affecting bank profitability.

Education for Profit, Education for Freedom

Science.gov (United States)

Nussbaum, Martha C.

2009-01-01

Education is often discussed in low-level utilitarian terms: how can educators produce technically trained people who can hold onto "their" share of the global market? With the rush to profitability, values precious for the future of democracy are in danger of getting lost. The profit motive suggests to most concerned politicians that science and…

Profit and place

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian Bentley

1997-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the physical and symbolic effects the built environment has on human activities in a capitalist economy. The built environment is integrated in the capitalist economy on three levels: as the focus of a profit-oriented manufacturing industry, as the setting for all sorts of other enterprises and as the built context of the whole economy. The built environment is understood as a commodity. The capitalist system contains inbuilt tensions which have important design implications: the first tension arises because the system, if left to itself, lacks any overall planning functions, the second tension stems from the ability of the system to generate profit and the third arises from the character of labour, which distinguishes it from other commodities used in the production process. In conclusion methods of designing built environments, which perpetuate social order, are discussed.

10 CFR 603.230 - Fee or profit.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... participant is to receive fee or profit. Note that this policy extends to all performers of the project... subrecipients' payment of reasonable fee or profit when making purchases from suppliers of goods (e.g., supplies...

Image diagnosis of nasal bone fracture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirota, Yoshiharu; Shimizu, Yayoi; Iinuma, Toshitaka.

1988-01-01

Twenty cases of nasal bone fractures were evaluated as to the types of fractures based upon HRCT findings. Conventional X-Ray films for nasal bones were analyzed and compared with HRCT findings. Nasal bone fractures were classified into lateral and frontal fractures. HRCT images were evaluated in three planes including upper, middle and lower portions of the nasal bone. Fractures favored males of teens. Lateral fracture gave rise to the fractures of the nasal bone opposite to the external force, loosening of the ipsilateral nasomaxillary sutures and fractures of the frontal process of the maxilla. Conventional X-Ray films were reevaluated after HRCT evaluation and indications of nasal bone fractures were determined. In addition to the discontinuity of the nasal dorsum, fracture lines parallel to and beneath the nasal dorsum and indistinct fracture lines along the nasomaxillary sutures are the indication of nasal bone fractures by conventional X-Ray films. (author)

THE INFLUENCE OF AGRIBUSINESS SUBSYSTEM ON BEEF CATTLE FATTENING FARMS PROFIT IN CENTRAL JAVA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Rianto

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed : (i to know the subsystem implementation and agribusiness planning in beef cattle fattening; (ii to count the profit of beef cattle farming; (iii to analyze the effect of agribusiness subsystem implementation and agribusiness planning to beef cattle fattening profit. This study was carried out using survey method and the elementary units were feedlot farmers. The sample was determined by Purposive Quota Sampling Method on 112 respondents spread across five regencies, namely Blora, Rembang, Grobogan, Wonogiri, and Boyolali. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The data analysis used quantitative descriptive and inferential statistics method, which include scoring, financial, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed that : (i the implementation of agribusiness subsystem (including preproduction subsystem, marketing, and agribusiness support services and agribusiness planning were not so good category, while the cattle farming subsystem was moderate category; (ii the average of farming scale in each feedlot farmer was 2.95 head of cattle with the profit rate was IDR 1,044,719 per fattening period during 6.68 months (equivalent to IDR 156,395 per month; (iii agribusiness subsystem and agribusiness planning had significant impact on feedlot farmer profit simultaneously, but preproduction subsystem and the agribusiness support services subsystem partially had a significant impact on feedlot farmer profit.

Vectors for Increasing the Effectiveness of Profit Management at Company Level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

І. V.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Imperfect management of processes involved in accumulation and disposal of profit at Ukrainian companies affects their performance, with the consequent losses of public budget revenues. This raises the need for new and more effective mechanisms for accumulation and disposal of corporate profit, which would be focused on maximal utilization of production, marketing and fiscal capacities of business entities and enhancement of their competitiveness at domestic and global market. The article’s objective is to conduct theoretical study of profit as an economic category and an essential component of company’s performance, sum up the principles of profit management, and analyze the profit management system at company level. A brief review of theoretical definitions of profit is made, economic origin of profit and its role in business operation in the Ukrainian context is highlighted. The components of profit management system at company level, essential principles of strategic management of company profit, organizational and economic mechanism for company profit management, a strategy for profit management at company level is discussed and summed up. The organizational and economic mechanism for profit quality management at company level is proposed.

Approaches to economic analysis of profitability of forestry enterprises

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.M. Dzyubenko

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article substantiates the directions of adaptation of existing analytical procedures for assessing the profitability to specific activities of forestry enterprises, which is an integral part of evaluating financial potential of enterprises of the investigated branch. In particular, the author identifies the following analytical procedures that make it possible to assess the performance of forestry enterprises and determine its financial potential: the return on equity (assets on net profit, the return on equity, the return on assets, the return on sales of profits from operating activities, the profitability of sold products at net profit, reinvestment factor, the economic growth sustainability ratio, the period of payback capital, the payback period of equity capital. On the basis of these indicators, the current state of profitability of forestry enterprises was substantiated and their critical points were determined.

Profitability and occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines.

Science.gov (United States)

Asfaw, Abay; Mark, Christopher; Pana-Cryan, Regina

2013-01-01

Coal plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy yet underground coal mining continues to be one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. In addition, there are large variations in both profitability and the incidence of occupational injuries across mines. The objective of this study was to examine the association between profitability and the incidence rate of occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines between 1992 and 2008. We used mine-specific data on annual hours worked, geographic location, and the number of occupational injuries suffered annually from the employment and accident/injury databases of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and mine-specific data on annual revenue from coal sales, mine age, workforce union status, and mining method from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A total of 5669 mine-year observations (number of mines×number of years) were included in our analysis. We used a negative binomial random effects model that was appropriate for analyzing panel (combined time-series and cross-sectional) injury data that were non-negative and discrete. The dependent variable, occupational injury, was measured in three different and non-mutually exclusive ways: all reported fatal and nonfatal injuries, reported nonfatal injuries with lost workdays, and the 'most serious' (i.e. sum of fatal and serious nonfatal) injuries reported. The total number of hours worked in each mine and year examined was used as an exposure variable. Profitability, the main explanatory variable, was approximated by revenue per hour worked. Our model included mine age, workforce union status, mining method, and geographic location as additional control variables. After controlling for other variables, a 10% increase in real total revenue per hour worked was associated with 0.9%, 1.1%, and 1.6% decrease, respectively, in the incidence rates of all reported injuries, reported injuries with lost workdays, and the most serious injuries reported

Profitability and occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines☆

Science.gov (United States)

Asfaw, Abay; Mark, Christopher; Pana-Cryan, Regina

2015-01-01

Background Coal plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy yet underground coal mining continues to be one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. In addition, there are large variations in both profitability and the incidence of occupational injuries across mines. Objective The objective of this study was to examine the association between profitability and the incidence rate of occupational injuries in U.S. underground coal mines between 1992 and 2008. Data and method We used mine-specific data on annual hours worked, geographic location, and the number of occupational injuries suffered annually from the employment and accident/injury databases of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and mine-specific data on annual revenue from coal sales, mine age, workforce union status, and mining method from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. A total of 5669 mine-year observations (number of mines × number of years) were included in our analysis. We used a negative binomial random effects model that was appropriate for analyzing panel (combined time-series and cross-sectional) injury data that were non-negative and discrete. The dependent variable, occupational injury, was measured in three different and non-mutually exclusive ways: all reported fatal and nonfatal injuries, reported nonfatal injuries with lost workdays, and the ‘most serious’ (i.e. sum of fatal and serious nonfatal) injuries reported. The total number of hours worked in each mine and year examined was used as an exposure variable. Profitability, the main explanatory variable, was approximated by revenue per hour worked. Our model included mine age, workforce union status, mining method, and geographic location as additional control variables. Results After controlling for other variables, a 10% increase in real total revenue per hour worked was associated with 0.9%, 1.1%, and 1.6% decrease, respectively, in the incidence rates of all reported injuries, reported injuries with lost

New C2 synchondrosal fracture classification system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rusin, Jerome A.; Ruess, Lynne [Department of Radiology, Nationwide Children' s Hospital, Columbus, OH (United States); The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, Columbus, OH (United States); Daulton, Robert S. [Department of Radiology, Nationwide Children' s Hospital, Columbus, OH (United States)

2015-06-15

Excessive cervical flexion-extension accompanying mild to severe impact injuries can lead to C2 synchondrosal fractures in young children. To characterize and classify C2 synchondrosal fracture patterns. We retrospectively reviewed imaging and medical records of children who were treated for cervical spine fractures at our institution between 1995 and 2014. We reviewed all fractures involving the five central C2 synchondroses with regard to patient demographics, mechanism of injury, fracture pattern, associated fractures and other injuries, treatment plans and outcome. Fourteen children had fractures involving the central C2 synchondroses. There were nine boys and five girls, all younger than 6 years. We found four distinct fracture patterns. Eleven complete fractures were further divided into four subtypes (a, b, c and d) based on degree of anterior displacement of the odontoid segment and presence of distraction. Nine of these 11 children had fractures through both odontoneural synchondroses and the odontocentral synchondrosis; one had fractures involving both neurocentral synchondroses and the odontoneural synchondrosis; one had fractures through bilateral odontoneural and bilateral neurocentral synchondroses. Three children had incomplete fractures, defined as a fracture through a single odontoneural synchondrosis with or without partial extension into either the odontocentral or the adjacent neurocentral synchondroses. All complete fractures were displaced or angulated. Four had associated spinal cord injury, including two contusions (subtype c fractures) and two fatal transections (subtype d fractures). Most children were treated with primary halo stabilization. Subtype c fractures required surgical fixation. We describe four patterns of central C2 synchondrosal fractures, including two unique patterns that have not been reported. We propose a classification system to distinguish these fractures and aid in treatment planning. (orig.)

Profitability of timber harvesting and timber transportation enterprises

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajamaeki, J.

1996-01-01

In co-operation with the major companies contracting out forestry work and Statistics Finland, Metsaeteho carried out a project with the objective of analysing the economic profitability of timber harvesting and transportation enterprises in 1994. The calculation of profitability was based on utilisation of last livelihoods taxation data (EVR) that Statistics Finland was in possession of. The basic material comprised data that the companies contracting out forestry work had full-time entrepreneurs. There were 255 forestry machine contractor enterprises and 270 trucking enterprises. Statistics Finland was responsible for computations of the results of the project. The calculation of the indicators of profitability was based on the recommendations of Yritystutkimusneuvottelukunta, a committee looking into the functioning of enterprises. The year 1994 was a good year from the viewpoint of profitability of both forestry machine contractors as well as trucking enterprises. With full depreciations and salary adjustments attended to, both enterprise groups still showed a mean profitability of ca. 8 %. The yield of invested capital was ca. 25 %. The differences in profitability among enterprises were great in both groups and in different parts of the country

Recognizing and reporting vertebral fractures: reducing the risk of future osteoporotic fractures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lentle, B.C.; Brown, J.P.; Khan, A.

2007-01-01

should be assessed from lateral spinal or chest radiographs according to the semiquantitative method of Genant and colleagues. Grade II and Grade III fractures as classified by this method should be given the greatest emphasis. Semiquantitative fracture recognition should include the recognition of changes such as loss of vertebral end-plate parallelism, cortical interruptions, and quantitative changes in the anterior, midbody, and posterior heights of vertebral bodies. (author)

THE INFLUENCE OF AGRIBUSINESS SUBSYSTEM ON BEEF CATTLE FATTENING FARM’S PROFIT IN CENTRAL JAVA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Prasetyo

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This study was aimed : (i to know the subsystem implementation and agribusiness planning inbeef cattle fattening; (ii to count the profit of beef cattle farming; (iii to analyze the effect ofagribusiness subsystem implementation and agribusiness planning to beef cattle fattening profit. Thisstudy was carried out using survey method and the elementary units were feedlot farmers. The samplewas determined by Purposive Quota Sampling Method on 112 respondents spread across five regencies,namely Blora, Rembang, Grobogan, Wonogiri, and Boyolali. Data were collected from primary andsecondary sources. The data analysis used quantitative descriptive and inferential statistics method,which include scoring, financial, and multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed that : (i theimplementation of agribusiness subsystem (including preproduction subsystem, marketing, andagribusiness support services and agribusiness planning were not so good category, while the cattlefarming subsystem was moderate category; (ii the average of farming scale in each feedlot farmer was2.95 head of cattle with the profit rate was IDR 1,044,719 per fattening period during 6.68 months(equivalent to IDR 156,395 per month; (iii agribusiness subsystem and agribusiness planning hadsignificant impact on feedlot farmer profit simultaneously, but preproduction subsystem and theagribusiness support services subsystem partially had a significant impact on feedlot farmer profit.

Community osteoporosis screening services for the prevention of osteoporotic fractures in population health: a literature review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Vu H

2017-06-01

To determine the implications of the reviewed literature in population health improvement. A review of the literature was conducted with the search of four databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Google Scholar. Search terms entered into these databases were 'osteoporosis community'. After a thorough review of all search results, 11 studies were found to be community osteoporosis screening services, and descriptions of each study's participants and location, details and descriptions of each study's community osteoporosis screening service, and effectiveness on outcome measure(s) for each study's objective were reviewed and examined to determine their implications on population health. Nine of the 11 studies on community osteoporosis screening services were conducted at community pharmacy settings, and all studies included participants that were all or mostly older women, with only three studies that included men as participants. In addition to osteoporosis screening, all studies included osteoporosis education and/or counseling with the exception of one study. Various outcome measures were assessed in these studies, and with the exception of osteoporosis treatment adherence, weight-bearing exercise and osteoporosis-specified quality of life, community osteoporosis screening services showed positive outcomes in increasing osteoporosis awareness, osteoporosis knowledge, osteoporosis risk identification, calcium intake, service satisfaction, primary care physician perspective, and financial sustainability. In particular, community osteoporosis screening services are helpful in identifying those with osteoporosis or are at moderate risk to high risk, and they are effective in increasing outcomes that help prevent osteoporotic fractures, such as osteoporosis medication prescription and calcium intake. Furthermore, participants feel satisfied in partaking in community osteoporosis screening services, primary care physicians do believe that they are useful, and they are

The relationship between bed size and profitability in South Carolina hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Yang K; Glover, Saundra H; Stoskopf, Carleen H; Boyd, Suzan D

2002-01-01

The purpose of the study is to identify factors affecting hospital profitability and to find the optimal hospital bed size that assures maximum profit. This is a cross-sectional study using survey data obtained from acute care hospitals in South Carolina in 1997. The relationship of hospital profitability and hospital bed size revealed that when bed size increases, hospital profitability increases, decreases, and then increases again. For the patient profit proportion, the turning points in bed size are 238.22 and 560.08. For the total profit proportion, the turning points in bed size are 223.31 and 503.86. The results on the relationship between bed size and hospital profitability indicate that medium-size hospitals have less profitability.

Orbital wall fractures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iinuma, Toshitaka; Ishio, Ken-ichirou; Yoshinami, Hiroyoshi; Kuriyama, Jun-ichi; Hirota, Yoshiharu.

1993-01-01

A total of 59 cases of mild facial fractures (simple orbital wall fractures, 34 cases, other facial fractures, 25 cases) with the clinical suspects of orbital wall fractures were evaluated both by conventional views (Waters' and Caldwell views) and coronal CT scans. Conventional views were obtained, as an average, after 4 days and CT after 7 days of injuries. Both the medial wall and the floor were evaluated at two sites, i.e., anterior and posterior. The ethmoid-maxillary plate was also included in the study. The degree of fractures was classified as, no fractures, fractures of discontinuity, dislocation and fragmentation. The coronal CT images in bone window condition was used as reference and the findings were compared between conventional views and CT. The correct diagnosis was obtained as follows: orbital floor (anterior, 78%, posterior, 73%), medial orbital wall (anterior, 72%, posterior, 72%) and ethmoid-maxillary plate (64%). The false positive diagnosis was as follows: orbital floor (anterior only, 13%), medial orbital wall (anterior only, 7%) and ethmoid-maxillary plate (11%). The false negative diagnosis was as follows: orbital floor (anterior, 9%, posterior, 10%), medial orbital wall (anterior, 21%, posterior, 28%) and ethmoid-maxillary plate (21%). The results were compared with those of others in the past. (author)

Profit Forecast Model Using Monte Carlo Simulation in Excel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petru BALOGH

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Profit forecast is very important for any company. The purpose of this study is to provide a method to estimate the profit and the probability of obtaining the expected profit. Monte Carlo methods are stochastic techniques–meaning they are based on the use of random numbers and probability statistics to investigate problems. Monte Carlo simulation furnishes the decision-maker with a range of possible outcomes and the probabilities they will occur for any choice of action. Our example of Monte Carlo simulation in Excel will be a simplified profit forecast model. Each step of the analysis will be described in detail. The input data for the case presented: the number of leads per month, the percentage of leads that result in sales, , the cost of a single lead, the profit per sale and fixed cost, allow obtaining profit and associated probabilities of achieving.

An unusual stress fracture: Bilateral posterior longitudinal stress fracture of tibia.

Science.gov (United States)

Malkoc, Melih; Korkmaz, Ozgur; Ormeci, Tugrul; Oltulu, Ismail; Isyar, Mehmet; Mahirogulları, Mahir

2014-01-01

Stress fractures (SF) occur when healthy bone is subjected to cyclic loading, which the normal carrying range capacity is exceeded. Usually, stress fractures occur at the metatarsal bones, calcaneus, proximal or distal tibia and tends to be unilateral. This article presents a 58-year-old male patient with bilateral posterior longitudinal tibial stress fractures. A 58 years old male suffering for persistent left calf pain and decreased walking distance for last one month and after imaging studies posterior longitudinal tibial stress fracture was detected on his left tibia. After six months the patient was admitted to our clinic with the same type of complaints in his right leg. All imaging modalities and blood counts were performed and as a result longitudinal posterior tibial stress fractures were detected on his right tibia. Treatment of tibial stress fracture includes rest and modified activity, followed by a graded return to activity commensurate with bony healing. We have applied the same treatment protocol and our results were acceptable but our follow up time short for this reason our study is restricted for separate stress fractures of the posterior tibia. Although the main localization of tibial stress fractures were unilateral, anterior and transverse pattern, rarely, like in our case, the unusual bilateral posterior localization and longitudinal pattern can be seen. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Bioeconomic evaluation of sow longevity and profitability.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Zas, S L; Southey, B R; Knox, R V; Connor, J F; Lowe, J F; Roskamp, B J

2003-12-01

Sow production indicators, including litter size, litter weight, and the length of time that sows remained in the herd (sow longevity), were used to characterize sow performance and profitability. Sow longevity and production records from 148,568 sows in 32 commercial herds from Central Illinois from January 1995 to May 2001 were analyzed using survival and repeatability models, respectively. The factors studied included sow genetics (32 genetic lines), with eight major lines present in multiple herds, and the combination of herd and year of entry in the herd. The largest difference in longevity between the major genetic lines was approximately one parity. There were differences (P present value per sow (present value of future cash flows and the present value of the sow) was used to evaluate the effect of sow longevity and production traits on economic returns. Assuming a zero discount rate per parity, genetic lines with longer herd life resulted in greater profit than genetic lines with shorter herd life. This difference was reduced with increasing discount rates and was reversed with high discount rates and low net income per litter. These results suggest that the magnitude of the economic improvement attained through the use of sow genetic lines with longer longevity depends on the economic context under which the evaluation is made.

Determinants of Food Crop Diversity and Profitability in Southeastern Nigeria: A Multivariate Tobit Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanzidur Rahman

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The present study jointly determines the factors influencing decisions to diversify into multiple food crops (i.e., rice, yam and cassava vis-à-vis profitability of 400 farmers from Ebonyi and Anambra states of Southeastern Nigeria using a multivariate Tobit model. Model diagnostic reveals that the decisions to diversify into multiple crops and profits generated therefrom are significantly correlated, thereby justifying use of a multivariate approach. Results reveal that 68% of the farmers grew at least two food crops and profitability is highest for only rice producers followed by joint rice and yam producers, which are mainly for sale. Farm size is the most dominant determinant of crop diversity vis-à-vis profitability. A rise in the relative price of plowing significantly reduces profitability of yam and rice. High yield is the main motive for growing yam and cassava whereas ready market is for rice. Other determinants with varying level of influences are proximity to market and/or extension office, extension contact, training, agricultural credit, subsistence pressure and location. Policy recommendations include investments in market infrastructure and credit services, land and/or tenurial reform and input price stabilization to promote food crop diversity vis-à-vis profitability in Southeastern Nigeria.

Basic principles of fracture treatment in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Ömeroğlu, Hakan

2018-04-01

This review aims to summarize the basic treatment principles of fractures according to their types and general management principles of special conditions including physeal fractures, multiple fractures, open fractures, and pathologic fractures in children. Definition of the fracture is needed for better understanding the injury mechanism, planning a proper treatment strategy, and estimating the prognosis. As the healing process is less complicated, remodeling capacity is higher and non-union is rare, the fractures in children are commonly treated by non-surgical methods. Surgical treatment is preferred in children with multiple injuries, in open fractures, in some pathologic fractures, in fractures with coexisting vascular injuries, in fractures which have a history of failed initial conservative treatment and in fractures in which the conservative treatment has no/little value such as femur neck fractures, some physeal fractures, displaced extension and flexion type humerus supracondylar fractures, displaced humerus lateral condyle fractures, femur, tibia and forearm shaft fractures in older children and adolescents and unstable pelvis and acetabulum fractures. Most of the fractures in children can successfully be treated by non-surgical methods.

TIBIAL SHAFT FRACTURES.

Science.gov (United States)

Kojima, Kodi Edson; Ferreira, Ramon Venzon

2011-01-01

The long-bone fractures occur most frequently in the tibial shaft. Adequate treatment of such fractures avoids consolidation failure, skewed consolidation and reoperation. To classify these fractures, the AO/OTA classification method is still used, but it is worthwhile getting to know the Ellis classification method, which also includes assessment of soft-tissue injuries. There is often an association with compartmental syndrome, and early diagnosis can be achieved through evaluating clinical parameters and constant clinical monitoring. Once the diagnosis has been made, fasciotomy should be performed. It is always difficult to assess consolidation, but the RUST method may help in this. Radiography is assessed in two projections, and points are scored for the presence of the fracture line and a visible bone callus. Today, the dogma of six hours for cleaning the exposed fracture is under discussion. It is considered that an early start to intravenous antibiotic therapy and the lesion severity are very important. The question of early or late closure of the lesion in an exposed fracture has gone through several phases: sometimes early closure has been indicated and sometimes late closure. Currently, whenever possible, early closure of the lesion is recommended, since this diminishes the risk of infection. Milling of the canal when the intramedullary nail is introduced is still a controversial subject. Despite strong personal positions in favor of milling, studies have shown that there may be some advantage in relation to closed fractures, but not in exposed fractures.

Transforming the tobacco market: why the supply of cigarettes should be transferred from for-profit corporations to non-profit enterprises with a public health mandate.

Science.gov (United States)

Callard, C; Thompson, D; Collishaw, N

2005-08-01

Current tobacco control strategies seek primarily to decrease the demand for cigarettes through measures that encourage individuals to adopt healthier behaviours. These measures are impeded and undermined by tobacco corporations, whose profit drive compels them to seek to maintain and expand cigarette sales. Tobacco corporations seek to expand cigarette sales because they are for-profit business corporations and are obliged under law to maximise profits, even when this results in harm to others. It is not legally possible for a for-profit corporation to relinquish its responsibility to make profits or for it to temper this obligation with responsibilities to support health. Tobacco could be supplied through other non-profit enterprises. The elimination of profit driven behaviour from the supply of tobacco would enhance the ability of public health authorities to reduce tobacco use. Future tobacco control strategies can seek to transform the tobacco market from one occupied by for-profit corporations to one where tobacco is supplied by institutions that share a health mandate and will help to reduce smoking and smoking related disease and death.

Competition for FDI and Profit Shifting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ma, Jie; Raimondos-Møller, Pascalis

When countries compete for the location of a new multinational plant they need to be aware of the profit shifting opportunities this new plant creates for the global multinational firm. By modelling explicitly the multinational’s intra-firm transactions, we show that the home market advantage...... that large countries have due to their size will be counteracted by such profit shifting opportunities. As a result of this, large countries will not be able to capitalize on their size and sustain high corporate taxes. We show that, on the basis of these profit shifting opportunities, a small country can...... easily win the location game ahead of a large country. How lenient the small country is in implementing transfer pricing regulations turns out to be an important variable in such location games....

Profit Sharing and Reciprocity: Theory and Survey Evidence

OpenAIRE

Cornelissen, Thomas; Heywood, John S.; Jirjahn, Uwe

2010-01-01

The 1/n problem potentially limits the effectiveness of profit sharing in motivating workers. While the economic literature suggests that reciprocity can mitigate this problem, it remains silent on the optimal degree of reciprocity. We present a representative model demonstrating that reciprocity may increase productive effort but may also increase unproductive effort such as socializing on the job. The model implies that reciprocity increases profit up to a point but decreases profit beyond ...

Benefits and Costs of For-Profit Public Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alex Molnar

2001-04-01

Full Text Available As a policy initiative, for-profit operation of public schools has not lived up to the claims of its proponents. An examination of issues such as teaching methods, academic achievement, autonomy, local control, and the image and influence of for-profit public schools suggests that "for-profits" are unlikely to succeed in the long term in improving the overall quality of public education. They do, however, seem capable of harming public schools.

Cooperation and profit allocation in distribution chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Guardiola, Luis A.; Meca, Ana; Timmer, Judith B.

2007-01-01

We study the coordination of actions and the allocation of profit in supply chains under decentralized control in which a single supplier supplies several retailers with goods for replenishment of stocks. The goal of the supplier and the retailers is to maximize their individual profits. Since the

Health care joint ventures between tax-exempt organizations and for-profit entities.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Michael I

2005-01-01

Health care exempt organizations have many options regarding their structure and affiliations with for-profit entities. As long as any joint ventures are carefully structured and the nonprofit retains control over the exempt health care activities, the Internal Revenue Service should not question the structure. However, as outlined above, if the for-profit entity effectively gains control over the activities of the venture, the structure is not likely to be upheld by the IRS or the courts, and either the exempt status of the nonprofit will be denied or revoked, or health care income will be subject to the unrelated business income tax. In summary, the health care industry has been severely impacted by many economic forces, including uncertainty in the area of joint ventures between nonprofits and for-profit health care systems. The uncertainty as to whether the joint venture would negatively impact the nonprofit's tax-exempt status undoubtedly caused many nonprofits to form for-profit subsidiaries and otherwise expanded operations in a for-profit marketplace. Fortunately, with the guidance that is currently available in the form of Revenue Ruling 98-15, Redlands, St. David's, and now Revenue Ruling 2004-51, health care institutions can move forward with properly structured joint ventures with greater confidence that the joint venture will not endanger the tax-exempt status of the nonprofit.

An Algorithm for the Nucleolus of Airport Profit Problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brânzei, R.; Inarra, E.; Tijs, S.H.; Zarzuelo, J.

2003-01-01

Airport profit games are a generalization of airport cost games as well as of bankruptcy games.In this paper we present a simple algorithm to compute the nucleolus of airport profit games.In addition we prove that there exists an unique consistent allocation rule in airport profit problems, and it

Causes of different profitability of agricultural sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vučković Branko

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This work involves identification of causes of different profitability of agricultural sector done on case study of nearly identical agricultural enterprises. It shows that financial mix even in scope of similar companies can lead to various profit indicators. Through comparative financial analysis in the same industry and activity by applying methods and techniques we have concluded that company PP Ratkovo operates more stable and closer to determined norms and also shows better results in majority of the indicators. Horizontal and vertical analysis indicates that companies in Agribusiness partner group use expensive external sources of financing. We have precisely defined in which cost segment occurs highest distinction. Also we have shown reasons why PP Ratkovo in the last two years manifests great profitability measured by ebit, ebitda and net profit as well as excellent structure of material costs and wages costs in in frame of the operating income, and reasons why enterprises in Agribusiness partner group does not.

Profit inefficiency and its determinants among yam producers in Imo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Farm profit inefficiency in yam production in Imo State, Nigeria was estimated using stochastic translog profit frontier model. The mean output of yam producers was 10.3tons/ha, while the mean level of profit inefficiency was 63.7 percent with a wide range of 23.41 – 94.23 percent. Mean loss of profit was N76061 per hectare.

Fracture Mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Dong Il; Jeong, Gyeong Seop; Han, Min Gu

1992-08-01

This book introduces basic theory and analytical solution of fracture mechanics, linear fracture mechanics, non-linear fracture mechanics, dynamic fracture mechanics, environmental fracture and fatigue fracture, application on design fracture mechanics, application on analysis of structural safety, engineering approach method on fracture mechanics, stochastic fracture mechanics, numerical analysis code and fracture toughness test and fracture toughness data. It gives descriptions of fracture mechanics to theory and analysis from application of engineering.

Fall with and without fracture in elderly: what's different?

Science.gov (United States)

Kantayaporn, Choochat

2012-10-01

Falling fracture was one of the health problems in elderly. This presentation aimed to identify the factors of fall that caused fractures. The retrospective case-control study was designed. Samples were all who experienced fall within 1 year in Lamphun. Factors included age, gender underlying diseases, chronic drugs used, history of parent fragility fracture, age of menopause, steroid used, body mass index, visual acuity and time up and go test were studied. Multivariate regression analysis was used. 336 cases of fractures in 1,244 cases of fall were found. Significant factors of falling fracture group that were different from fall without fracture group included age, female gender, menopause before age of 45 and visual impairment. Visual impairment was the other key factor rather than osteoporosis that caused fall with fracture. The author suggested that falling fracture prevention programs should be included correction of visual impairment other than osteoporosis treatment.

Provision of Child Care: Cost Functions for Profit-Making and Not-for-Profit Day Care Centers

OpenAIRE

Swati Mukerjee; Ann Dryden Witte; Sheila Hollowell

1990-01-01

This paper estimates cost functions for day care centers in Massachusetts. The production technology assumed is the generalized homothetic Cobb-Douglas production function. The cost function dual to this production function is estimated separately for profit-making (P1Os) and not-for-profit (NPOs) organizations. The results are discussed in the context of current NPO literature. NPOs are found to be operating at higher average coats than PMOs for most output levels as predicted by the literat...

Perioperative lateral trochanteric wall fractures: sliding hip screw versus percutaneous compression plate for intertrochanteric hip fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Langford, Joshua; Pillai, Gita; Ugliailoro, Anthony D; Yang, Edward

2011-04-01

This study was performed to determine the incidence of perioperative lateral wall fractures with a standard sliding hip screw (SHS) versus a percutaneous compression plate (PCCP) using identical meticulous closed reduction techniques in both groups. Retrospective analysis of a prospective trauma registry. Urban Level I trauma center. Over a 7-year period, 337 patients with intertrochanteric hip fractures were treated with either a SHS or a PCCP at our institution. The PCCP group (Group 1) consisted of 200 patients, of which 141 (71%) had adequate images to be included in the study. The SHS group (Group 2) consisted of 137 patients, of which 100 (73%) had adequate images to be included in the study. Closed reduction and plate application with either a standard sliding hip screw or a percutaneous compression plate for an Orthopaedic Trauma Association 31A1 or 31A2 intertrochanteric hip fracture. : Radiographic evidence of lateral trochanteric wall fracture as measured by intraoperative and perioperative radiographs. There was an overall lateral wall fracture incidence of 20% in the SHS group versus 1.4% in the PCCP group (P fracture types, there was a lateral wall fracture incidence of 29.8% in the SHS group versus 1.9% in the PCCP group (P trochanteric wall fracture compared with the SHS group. This difference became greater when just unstable intertrochanteric fractures were analyzed. An anatomic reduction, combined with a device (PCCP) that uses small-diameter defects in the lateral trochanteric wall, essentially eliminates perioperative lateral trochanteric wall fractures.

Optimal solutions for routing problems with profits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Archetti, C.; Bianchessi, N.; Speranza, M. G.

2013-01-01

In this paper, we present a branch-and-price algorithm to solve two well-known vehicle routing problems with profits, the Capacitated Team Orienteering Problem and the Capacitated Profitable Tour Problem. A restricted master heuristic is applied at each node of the branch-and-bound tree in order to

Management Practices: Are Not For Profits Different?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Delfgaauw (Josse); A.J. Dur (Robert); C. Propper (Propper); S. Smith (Sarah)

2011-01-01

textabstractRecent studies have demonstrated the importance of good management for firm performance. Here, we focus on management in not-for-profits (NFPs). We present a model predicting that management quality will be lower in NFPs compared to for-profits (FPs), but that outputs may not be worse if

Growth and profitability in small privately held biotech firms: preliminary findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Brännback, Malin; Carsrud, Alan; Renko, Maija; Ostermark, Ralf; Aaltonen, Jaana; Kiviluoto, Niklas

2009-06-01

This paper reports on preliminary findings on a study of the relationship of growth and profitability among small privately held Finnish Life Science firms. Previous research results concerning growth and profitability are mixed, ranging from strongly positive to a negative relationship. The conventional wisdom states that growth is a prerequisite for profitability. Our results suggest that the reverse is the case. A high profitability-low growth biotech firm is more probably to make the transition to high profitability-high growth than a firm that starts off with low profitability and high growth.

DISPAQ: Distributed Profitable-Area Query from Big Taxi Trip Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Putri, Fadhilah Kurnia; Song, Giltae; Kwon, Joonho; Rao, Praveen

2017-09-25

One of the crucial problems for taxi drivers is to efficiently locate passengers in order to increase profits. The rapid advancement and ubiquitous penetration of Internet of Things (IoT) technology into transportation industries enables us to provide taxi drivers with locations that have more potential passengers (more profitable areas) by analyzing and querying taxi trip data. In this paper, we propose a query processing system, called Distributed Profitable-Area Query ( DISPAQ ) which efficiently identifies profitable areas by exploiting the Apache Software Foundation's Spark framework and a MongoDB database. DISPAQ first maintains a profitable-area query index (PQ-index) by extracting area summaries and route summaries from raw taxi trip data. It then identifies candidate profitable areas by searching the PQ-index during query processing. Then, it exploits a Z-Skyline algorithm, which is an extension of skyline processing with a Z-order space filling curve, to quickly refine the candidate profitable areas. To improve the performance of distributed query processing, we also propose local Z-Skyline optimization, which reduces the number of dominant tests by distributing killer profitable areas to each cluster node. Through extensive evaluation with real datasets, we demonstrate that our DISPAQ system provides a scalable and efficient solution for processing profitable-area queries from huge amounts of big taxi trip data.

Willow growing - Methods of calculation and profitability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenqvist, H.

1997-01-01

The calculation method presented here makes it possible to conduct profitability comparisons between annual and perennial crops and in addition take the planning situation into account. The method applied is a modified total step calculation. The difference between a traditional total step calculation and the modified version is the way in which payments and disbursements are taken into account over a period of several years. This is achieved by combining the present value method and the annuity method. The choice of interest rate has great bearing on the result in perennial calculations. The various components influencing the interest rate are analysed and factors relating to the establishment of the interest rate in different situations are described. The risk factor can be an important variable component of the interest rate calculation. Risk is also addressed from an approach in accordance with portfolio theory. The application of the methods sheds light on the profitability of Salix cultivation from the viewpoint of business economics, and also how different factors influence the profitability of Salix cultivation. Aspects studied are harvesting intervals, the importance of yield level, the competitiveness of Salix versus grain cultivation, the influence of income taxes on profitability etc. Methods for evaluation of activities concerning cultivation of a perennial crop are described and also involve the application of nitrogen fertilization to Salix cultivation. Studies have been performed using these methods to look into nitrogen fertilizer profitability in Salix cultivation during the first rotation period. Nitrogen fertilizer profitability has been investigated involving both production functions and cost calculations, taking the year fertilization into consideration. 72 refs., 2 figs., 52 tabs

Components of the Profitability of Technical Currency Trading

OpenAIRE

Schulmeister, Stephan

2005-01-01

This paper investigates the sources of the profitability of 1024 moving average and momentum models when trading in the German mark (euro)/U.S. dollar market based on daily data. The main results are as follows. First, each of these models would have been profitable over the entire sample period. Second, this profitability is exclusively due to the exploitation of persistent exchange rate trends. Third, these results do not change substantially when trading is examined within subperiods. Four...

There's no profiting from a joint venture misadventure.

Science.gov (United States)

Herschman, Gary W

2004-10-01

In St. David's vs. IRS, a not-for-profit health system effectively challenged the IRS's determination that the system should be disqualified from tax exemption because it had entered a 50/50 joint venture with a for-profit system. The court decisions in St. David's, coupled with a recent IRS ruling, Revenue Ruling 2004-51, provide insight into how a not-for-profit hospital can structure such a joint venture to avoid jeopardizing its tax-exempt status.

Marketing strategies and profitability analysis of restaurants in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Marketing strategies and profitability analysis of restaurants in Sokoto metropolis, Nigeria. ... Abstract. The study examined the marketing strategies and profitability of restaurants in Sokoto metropolis. ... EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT

Cemented Hemiarthroplasty in Elderly Osteoporotic Unstable Trochanteric Fractures using Fracture Window

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thakur A

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: We would like to analyze the role of cemented hemiarthroplasty in elderly osteoporotic unstable intertrochanteric fractures through trochanteric fracture window. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted from July 2011 to July 2014. From a total of 265 consecutive patients with intertrochanteric fractures of 42 patients were selected according to inclusion criteria and results were analyzed prospectively. All patients were operated at tertiary care institute. Patients which matched the inclusion criteria were selected. 42 patients entered the study and all completed the study. Primary cemented hemiarthroplasty was done in all patients. Modified Harris Hip Score was used to assess all the patients. Results: 42 patients were included in the study with an average age of 80.7 years. Only AO/OTA type 31-A2.2 and 31-A2.3 were included, average HHS at final follow up of three years was 86.2. No revision or reoperation was done. Conclusion: In a selected cohort of patients primary prosthetic replacement in elderly osteoporotic unstable intertrochanteric fractures is good option and the surgical technique allowed us to perform it more easily.

Operation and profits of energy boards. A study of the basis of municipal business activities and the equitableness of the profits of municipal energy boards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karhu, V.; Nissinen, T.; Valkama, P.

1999-01-01

The objective of the empirical part of the study (Chapter 6) is to evaluate the equitableness of profits on capital invested of the 16 municipal energy boards selected for this study and, at the same time, to create a general evaluation basis for equity decisions made by the authorities case by case. In this part of the study, answers are sought for the following questions: (1) how has the economic situation of the energy boards studied been recently developing based on various economic parameters? (2) have there been differences in the returns and profitability of energy boards operating as public utilities or energy boards operating in company form? (3) what kind of a price level the energy boards studied have maintained in relation to the national averages of this field? (4) is a city in a weaker economic position more tempted to require higher profits on capital invested than a city with a sound economic basis? (5) how high profits on capital invested can be considered reasonable for the whole energy board and particularly for a network business holding a monopoly? The structure of the study is as follows. Chapter 2 contains a brief description of the energy boards selected for this study and of the economic situation of the cities owning them. The theoretical part of the study is included in Chapter 3 'Municipal Self-Government and Business'. It analyses rather deeply the terminology of the municipal business, norm basis, steering of actions, restructuring of companies into business profit centres and privatisation, as well as application of the Act on Restrictions on Competition from the standpoint of a municipal self-government. Chapter 4 deals with the establishment of energy board activity, the legal basis and the criteria for pricing electricity, network services and district heat. Chapter 5 examines the Act on Restrictions on Competition as a regulator of the energy board activities. After this, there are the presentations of the research results of the

Acetabular fractures: anatomic and clinical considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, David A; Menn, Kirsten; Baumgaertner, Michael; Haims, Andrew H

2013-09-01

Classifying acetabular fractures can be an intimidating topic. However, it is helpful to remember that there are only three basic types of acetabular fractures: column fractures, transverse fractures, and wall fractures. Within this framework, acetabular fractures are classified into two broad categories: elementary or associated fractures. We will review the osseous anatomy of the pelvis and provide systematic approaches for reviewing both radiographs and CT scans to effectively evaluate the acetabulum. Although acetabular fracture classification may seem intimidating, the descriptions and distinctions discussed and shown in this article hopefully make the topic simpler to understand. Approach the task by recalling that there are only three basic types of acetabular fractures: column fractures (coronally oriented on CT images), transverse fractures (sagittally oriented on CT images), and wall fractures (obliquely oriented on CT images). We have provided systematic approaches for reviewing both conventional radiographs and CT scans to effectively assess the acetabulum. The clinical implications of the different fracture patterns have also been reviewed because it is critically important to include pertinent information for our clinical colleagues to provide the most efficient and timely clinical care.

Price Discrimination, Economies of Scale, and Profits.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Donghyun

2000-01-01

Demonstrates that it is possible for economies of scale to induce a price-discriminating monopolist to sell in an unprofitable market where the average cost always exceeds the price. States that higher profits in the profitable market caused by economies of scale may exceed losses incurred in the unprofitable market. (CMK)

Seismic characteristics of tensile fracture growth induced by hydraulic fracturing

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, D. W. S.; Van der Baan, M.; Boroumand, N.

2014-12-01

failure mechanisms documented by passive monitoring of hydraulic fractures may contain a significant component of tensile failure, including fracture opening and closing, although creation of extensive new fracture surfaces may be a seismically inefficient process that radiates at sub-audio frequencies.

CURBSIDE CONSULTATION IN FRACTURE MANAGEMENT: 49 CLINICAL QUESTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walter W. Virkus

2008-12-01

Full Text Available DESCRIPTION: A user-friendly, unique resource for the treatment of fractures designed in a casual questions and answers format which provides basic knowledge, current information and evidence based expert advices enhanced by images and diagrams and supported by ref-erences.PURPOSE: Designing this book the editor has aimed to prepare not only a source of current knowledge and opin-ions by experienced authors in fracture management for decision making in daily practice but also a brief refer-ence and useful educational resource in orthopedic trauma surgery.FEATURES: Three Sections are composed of 49 sub-jects in a form of the answers of frequently asked ques-tions richly illustrated by images and diagrams and in-cluding references at the end of each subject.The Section I is “UPPER EXTREMITIES” including: Neck fracture; Humerus shaft fracture; Management of radial nerve palsy associated with humeral fracture; Clavicle fractures; Elbow fractures in children; Fasciot-omy technic of the forearm; Distal radius fracture; Indica-tions of radial head replacement, Femur and humeral shaft fractures; Treatment of posterolateral elbow dislocation; The Section II is “LOWER EXTREMITIES” including : Femur fractures; Pelvic fractures; Life threatening pelvic fractures; Decision for surgical treatment in pelvic frac-tures; Treatment of anterior fracture of femoral head and hip joint incongruity; Management of a displaced femoral neck fracture in young patient in ER; Elder patients with displaced femoral head fracture; Patella and tibial plateau fractures; Criteria for compartment syndromes in the tibia; Tricks in nailing proximal and distal tibial fractures; Surgical management of distal tibia spiral fracture in middle aged women; Pilon fracture; Management of syn-desmotic screws in adult patient; The management of minimally displaced posterior malleol in three malleolar fractures; Postoperative management of bimalleolar frac-tures; Management of minimally

The costs and profitability of heat-energy entrepreneurship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solmio, H.

1998-01-01

Heat-energy entrepreneurs are responsible for the supply of fuel to and the labour input required by heating of buildings in their locality. An individual heat-energy entrepreneur or a consortium of them, a company or a co-operative is paid for the work according to the amount of heat-energy produced. In Finland there are about 50 operational heating targets and about 100 in planning stage. TTS-Institute has studied the activities of heat-energy entrepreneurs since 1993 in connection with research projects included in the national Bioenergy research programme. This study covered 10 heating plants with capacities 60 - 1000 kW, two of which are district heating plants. Five of the targets (60 - 370 kW) were included in the previous heat-energy entrepreneurs follow-up study conducted in 1993 - 1995 and five (80 - 1000 kW) were new. The main fuel used in all the targets was wood chips with light fuel oil reserve or auxiliary fuel. All but one of the entrepreneurs, supplying these heating targets located in Central and Southern Finland, are farmers, who procure the fuelwood and take care of heating and its supervision. Transportation of wood chips, topping up of the silo and heating work and working path consumed 0.12-0.78 h of time/MWh. When compared to the five study targets' follow-up results of the years 1993 - 1995, the results of the present study show reduction in labour consumption on part of the heat-energy entrepreneurs in all these targets. Profit margins of the entrepreneurs supplying heating energy were 73 - 132 FIM/h (excluding the interest on the equipment acquisition (agricultural tractor and associated equipment), and insurance and storage costs). When these costs were also taken into account, the resulting profit margin was 71 - 127 FIM/h. The margin included the entrepreneurs' earnings incl. monitoring of the heating plant, social security costs connected to earnings and entrepreneur's risk. When compared to the previous follow-up study, also the

The quasi-market for adult residential care in the UK: Do for-profit, not-for-profit or public sector residential care and nursing homes provide better quality care?

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, David N; West, Elizabeth

2017-04-01

There has been a radical transformation in the provision of adult residential and nursing home care in England over the past four decades. Up to the 1980s, over 80% of adult residential care was provided by the public sector, but today public sector facilities account for only 8% of the available places, with the rest being provided by a mixture of for-profit firms (74%) and non-profit charities (18%). The public sector's role is often now that of purchaser (paying the fees of people unable to afford them) and regulator. While the idea that private companies may play a bigger role in the future provision of health care is highly contentious in the UK, the transformation of the residential and nursing home care has attracted little comment. Concerns about the quality of care do emerge from time to time, often stimulated by high profile media investigations, scandals or criminal prosecutions, but there is little or no evidence about whether or not the transformation of the sector from largely public to private provision has had a beneficial effect on those who need the service. This study asks whether there are differences in the quality of care provided by public, non-profit or for-profit facilities in England. We use data on care quality for over 15,000 homes that are provided by the industry regulator in England: the Care Quality Commission (CQC). These data are the results of inspections carried out between April 2011 and October 2015. Controlling for a range of facility characteristics such as age and size, proportional odds logistic regression showed that for-profit facilities have lower CQC quality ratings than public and non-profit providers over a range of measures, including safety, effectiveness, respect, meeting needs and leadership. We discuss the implications of these results for the ongoing debates about the role of for-profit providers of health and social care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Fibular Fracture Type vs Location of Tibial Fixation of Pilon Fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Busel, Gennadiy A; Watson, J Tracy; Israel, Heidi

2017-06-01

Comminuted fibular fractures can occur with pilon fractures as a result of valgus stress. Transverse fibular fractures can occur with varus deformation. No definitive guide for determining the proper location of tibial fixation exists. The purpose of this study was to identify optimal plate location for fixation of pilon fractures based on the orientation of the fibular fracture. One hundred two patients with 103 pilon fractures were identified who were definitively treated at our institution from 2004 to 2013. Pilon fractures were classified using the AO/OTA classification and included 43-A through 43-C fractures. Inclusion criteria were age of at least 18 years, associated fibular fracture, and definitive tibial plating. Patients were grouped based on the fibular component fracture type (comminuted vs transverse), and the location of plate fixation (medial vs lateral) was noted. Radiographic outcomes were assessed for mechanical failures. Forty fractures were a result of varus force as evidenced by transverse fracture of the fibula and 63 were due to valgus force with a comminuted fibula. For the transverse fibula group, 14.3% mechanical complications were noted for medially placed plate vs 80% for lateral plating ( P = .006). For the comminuted fibular group, 36.4% of medially placed plates demonstrated mechanical complications vs 16.7% for laterally based plates ( P = .156). Time to weight bearing as tolerated was also noted to be significant between groups plated medially and laterally for the comminuted group ( P = .013). Correctly assessing the fibular component for pilon fractures provides valuable information regarding deforming forces. To limit mechanical complications, tibial plates should be applied in such a way as to resist the original deforming forces. Level of Evidence Level III, comparative study.

ANA position statement on privatization and for-profit conversion. American Nurses Association.

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that the health of communities benefits from a mix of health care facilities, including both public and nonprofit private facilities where feasible. ANA is concerned by the rate of conversion of nonprofit facilities and plans to for-profit status. Privatization of public facilities and the conversion of nonprofit facilities and health plans to for-profit status requires careful public oversight to ensure continued access to affordable, quality services, including a maintenance of uncompensated care; a fair accounting of the assets of the entity being privatized or converted; and an assurance that converted assets are used to maintain and improve access to affordable, safe and quality health care services. The rights and benefits of employees must be carefully safe-guarded in any privatization or conversion move. All hospitals, regardless of ownership or tax status, should be held accountable for the delivery of safe, quality services, and should be required to disclose data regarding staffing, patient outcomes, cost and delivery of uncompensated care. Continued data collection will be necessary to guide further development of public policy to address privatization and for-profit conversion.

Distribution of Costs and Profits in Urban Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Finn Kjær; Sørensen, Michael Tophøj

2009-01-01

Most countries have a system - procedures and tools - for foreseeable, clear and fair distribution of costs and profits in urban development. However, the distribution of profits and costs between the municipality and the developers /landowners is in Denmark rather fragmented and not very...... transparent as the distribution is regulated throughout the whole planning and environmental regulation system. Furthermore, development agreements – an “old” tool in many countries and an efficient tool to distribute profits and costs between the public and private sector – have only recently become possible...... in Denmark, and only under some special circumstances. This paper aims to clarify how costs and profits are distributed between the municipality and the developers /landowners in Denmark. The paper analyses how the Danish planning and environmental regulation system handles this issue. Based on the analysis...

Management of civilian ballistic fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Seng, V S; Masquelet, A C

2013-12-01

The management of ballistic fractures, which are open fractures, has often been studied in wartime and has benefited from the principles of military surgery with debridement and lavage, and the use of external fixation for bone stabilization. In civilian practice, bone stabilization of these fractures is different and is not performed by external fixation. Fifteen civilian ballistic fractures, Gustilo II or IIIa, two associated with nerve damage and none with vascular damage, were reviewed. After debridement and lavage, ten internal fixations and five conservative treatments were used. No superficial or deep surgical site infection was noted. Fourteen of the 15 fractures (93%) healed without reoperation. Eleven of the 15 patients (73%) regained normal function. Ballistic fractures have a bad reputation due to their many complications, including infections. In civilian practice, the use of internal fixation is not responsible for excessive morbidity, provided debridement and lavage are performed. Civilian ballistic fractures, when they are caused by low-velocity firearms, differ from military ballistic fractures. Although the principle of surgical debridement and lavage remains the same, bone stabilization is different and is similar to conventional open fractures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

A More Detailed Understanding Of Factors Associated With Hospital Profitability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Ge; Anderson, Gerard F

2016-05-01

To identify the characteristics of the most profitable US hospitals, we examined the profitability of acute care hospitals in fiscal year 2013, measured as net income from patient care services per adjusted discharge. Based on Medicare Cost Reports and Final Rule Data, the median hospital lost $82 for each such discharge. Forty-five percent of hospitals were profitable, with 2.5 percent earning more than $2,475 per adjusted discharge. The ten most profitable hospitals, seven of which were nonprofit, each earned more than $163 million in total profits from patient care services. Hospitals with for-profit status, higher markups, system affiliation, or regional power, as well as those located in states with price regulation, tended to be more profitable than other hospitals. Hospitals that treated a higher proportion of Medicare patients, had higher expenditures per adjusted discharge, were located in counties with a high proportion of uninsured patients, or were located in states with a dominant insurer or greater health maintenance organization (HMO) penetration had lower profitability than hospitals that did not have these characteristics. These findings can inform policy reforms, while providing a baseline against which to measure the impact of any subsequent reforms. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Profitability analysis of plantain marketing in Kaduna metropolis ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Profitability analysis of plantain marketing in Kaduna metropolis, Kaduna state Nigeria. ... The study was carried out to analyze the profitability of plantain marketing and to examine the ... EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

Research on fracture analysis, groundwater flow and sorption processes in fractured rocks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Dae-Ha; Kim, Won-Young; Lee, Seung-Gu [Korea Institute of Geology Mining and Materials, Taejon (KR)] (and others)

1999-12-01

Due to increasing demand for numerous industrial facilities including nuclear power plants and waste repositories, the feasibility of rocks masses as sites for the facilities has been a geological issue of concern. Rock masses, in general, comprises systems of fractures which can provide pathways for groundwater flow and may also affect the stability of engineered structures. For the study of groundwater flow and sorption processes in fractured rocks, five boreholes were drilled. A stepwise and careful integration of various data obtained from field works and laboratory experiments were carried out to analyze groundwater flow in fractured rocks as follows; (1) investigation of geological feature of the site, (2) identification and characterization of fracture systems using core and televiewer logs, (3) determination of hydrogeological properties of fractured aquifers using geophysical borehole logging, pumping and slug tests, and continuous monitoring of groundwater level and quality, (4) evaluation of groundwater flow patterns using fluid flow modeling. The results obtained from these processes allow a qualitative interpretation of fractured aquifers in the study area. Column experiments of some reactive radionuclides were also performed to examine sorption processes of the radionuclides including retardation coefficients. In addition, analyses of fracture systems covered (1) reconstruction of the Cenozoic tectonic movements and estimation of frequency indices for the Holocene tectonic movements, (2) determination of distributions and block movements of the Quaternary marine terraces, (3) investigation of lithologic and geotechnical nature of study area, and (4) examination of the Cenozoic volcanic activities and determination of age of the dike swarms. Using data obtained from above mentioned analyses along with data related to earthquakes and active faults, probabilistic approach was performed to determine various potential hazards which may result from the

Epidemiology of rib fractures in older men: Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett-Connor, Elizabeth; Nielson, Carrie M; Orwoll, Eric; Bauer, Douglas C; Cauley, Jane A

2010-03-15

To study the causes and consequences of radiologically confirmed rib fractures (seldom considered in the context of osteoporosis) in community dwelling older men. Prospective cohort study (Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study). 5995 men aged 65 or over recruited in 2000-2 from six US sites; 99% answered mailed questionnaires about falls and fractures every four months for a mean 6.2 (SD 1.3) year follow-up. New fractures validated by radiology reports; multivariate Cox proportional hazard ratios were used to evaluate factors independently associated with time to incident rib fracture; associations between baseline rib fracture and incident hip and wrist fracture were also evaluated. The incidence of rib fracture was 3.5/1000 person years, and 24% (126/522) of all incident non-spine fractures were rib fractures. Nearly half of new rib fractures (48%; n=61) followed falling from standing height or lower. Independent risk factors for an incident rib fracture were age 80 or above, low bone density, difficulty with instrumental activities of daily living, and a baseline history of rib/chest fracture. Men with a history of rib/chest fracture had at least a twofold increased risk of an incident rib fracture (adjusted hazard ratio 2.71, 95% confidence interval 1.86 to 3.95), hip fracture (2.05, 1.33 to 3.15), and wrist fracture (2.06, 1.14 to 3.70). Only 14/82 of men reported being treated with bone specific drugs after their incident rib fracture. Rib fracture, the most common incident clinical fracture in men, was associated with classic risk markers for osteoporosis, including old age, low hip bone mineral density, and history of fracture. A history of rib fracture predicted a more than twofold increased risk of future fracture of the rib, hip, or wrist, independent of bone density and other covariates. Rib fractures should be considered to be osteoporotic fractures in the evaluation of older men for treatment to prevent future fracture.

Isolated rib fractures in geriatric patients

OpenAIRE

Elmistekawy, Elsayed M.; Hammad, Abd Almohsen M.

2007-01-01

Introduction: The goal of this study was to investigate the short-term outcomes in patients older than 60 years with isolated rib fractures and admitted to emergency hospital. Materials and Methods: This study included patients who were 60 years old or more and sustained blunt chest injury and had isolated rib fractures. The following data were obtained from the medical records: age, gender, number of fracture ribs, side of fracture ribs, mechanism and nature of injury, preexisting medical...

Identifying Competences and Their Sources in a Not-for-Profit Organization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vega, Diego; Sanchez, Ron

2017-01-01

Effective competence-based management (CBM) requires in the first instance an ability to identify an organization’s competences and the sources of those competences. Identifying competences can be especially challenging in the context of not-for-profit organizations, which have often been...... characterized as being “different” from for-profit organizations. In this paper we argue that not-for-profit organizations have fundamentally the same systemic requirements for survival and success as for-profit organizations – and therefore that not-for-profits ought to be amenable to competence identification...... and analysis through use of CBM concepts and theory in essentially the same way as for-profit organizations. We support this basic proposition through a case study of competence identification and analysis in a humanitarian relief organization (HRO), an increasingly important kind of not-for-profit...

Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit Maximizing Behaviour

OpenAIRE

Becchetti, Leonardo; Giallonardo, Luisa; Tessitore, Maria Elisabetta

2005-01-01

We examine the behavior of a profit maximizing monopolist in a horizontal differentiation model in which consumers differ in their degree of social responsibility (SR) and consumers SR is dynamically influenced by habit persistence. The model outlines parametric conditions under which (consumer driven) corporate social responsibility is an optimal choice compatible with profit maximizing behavior.

IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON FARM PRODUCTION AND PROFIT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asif Reza Anik

2013-02-01

Full Text Available By analyzing experiences of 210 rice farmers belonging to six villages of six different districts in Bangladesh this article estimates the impact of corruption on farm production and profit. Unlike existing literature corruption here is defined in broader term. Both explicit and implicit cost items are included while calculating the cost of corruption. Through estimating the marginal physical product of fertilizer, a relative impact of corruption on farm production is estimated. Then by hypothesizing different scenarios with different levels of corruption, changes in a farmer's benefit cost ratio is estimated. It has been observed that with reducing cost of corruption farmers observe higher benefit cost ratio and vice versa. Cost of corruption is found to be relatively higher in restricted input market situation and relatively lower when the market is more competitive. Thus our results are suggestive for competitive market policy to reduce corruption which will ultimately result in more farm production and profit.

A longitudinal analysis of the impact of hospital service line profitability on the likelihood of readmission.

Science.gov (United States)

Navathe, Amol S; Volpp, Kevin G; Konetzka, R Tamara; Press, Matthew J; Zhu, Jingsan; Chen, Wei; Lindrooth, Richard C

2012-08-01

Quality of care may be linked to the profitability of admissions in addition to level of reimbursement. Prior policy reforms reduced payments that differentially affected the average profitability of various admission types. The authors estimated a Cox competing risks model, controlling for the simultaneous risk of mortality post discharge, to determine whether the average profitability of hospital service lines to which a patient was admitted was associated with the likelihood of readmission within 30 days. The sample included 12,705,933 Medicare Fee for Service discharges from 2,438 general acute care hospitals during 1997, 2001, and 2005. There was no evidence of an association between changes in average service line profitability and changes in readmission risk, even when controlling for risk of mortality. These findings are reassuring in that the profitability of patients' admissions did not affect readmission rates, and together with other evidence may suggest that readmissions are not an unambiguous quality indicator for in-hospital care.

Application of relationship marketing in non-profit organisations ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Application of relationship marketing in non-profit organisations involved in the provision of sport and recreational services. ... A variety of factors have over time contributed to a need for marketing in non-profit ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Radiological study of the mandibular fractures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Ju Won; Kim, Kyoung A; Koh, Kwang Jun [Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry, and Institute of Oral Bio Science, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju (Korea, Republic of)

2009-06-15

To classify and evaluate mandibular fractures. The author classified mandibular fractures of 284 patients who were referred to the Chonbuk National University Dental Hospital during the period from March 2004 to June 2007. This study was based on the conventional radiographs as well as computed tomographs which were pertained to the 284 patients who have had the mandibular fractures including the facial bone fractures. And mandibular fractures were classified with respect to gender, age, site and type of the fractures. More frequently affected gender with mandibular fracture was male with the ratio of 3.3 : 1. The most frequently affected age with mandibular fracture was third decade (38%), followed by fourth decade (16%), second decade (15%), fifth decade (11%), sixth decade (7%), seventh decade (5%), eighth decade (4%), first decade (4%), and ninth decade (0.3%). The most frequent type of mandibular fracture was single fracture (58%), followed by double fracture (39%), triple fracture (3%). The most common site of mandibular fracture was mandibular condyle as 113 cases (27.7%) and the next was mandibular symphysis as 109 cases (26.7%), mandibular angle as 103 cases (25.3%), mandibular body as 83 cases (20.3%) in order. The sum of fracture sites were 408 sites and there were 1.4 fracture sites per one patient. The number of mandible fractures accompanied with facial bone fractures were 41 cases (14.4%). The results showed the most frequent type and common site of mandibular fracture was single fracture and mandibular condyle respectively.

Radiological study of the mandibular fractures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ju Won; Kim, Kyoung A; Koh, Kwang Jun

2009-01-01

To classify and evaluate mandibular fractures. The author classified mandibular fractures of 284 patients who were referred to the Chonbuk National University Dental Hospital during the period from March 2004 to June 2007. This study was based on the conventional radiographs as well as computed tomographs which were pertained to the 284 patients who have had the mandibular fractures including the facial bone fractures. And mandibular fractures were classified with respect to gender, age, site and type of the fractures. More frequently affected gender with mandibular fracture was male with the ratio of 3.3 : 1. The most frequently affected age with mandibular fracture was third decade (38%), followed by fourth decade (16%), second decade (15%), fifth decade (11%), sixth decade (7%), seventh decade (5%), eighth decade (4%), first decade (4%), and ninth decade (0.3%). The most frequent type of mandibular fracture was single fracture (58%), followed by double fracture (39%), triple fracture (3%). The most common site of mandibular fracture was mandibular condyle as 113 cases (27.7%) and the next was mandibular symphysis as 109 cases (26.7%), mandibular angle as 103 cases (25.3%), mandibular body as 83 cases (20.3%) in order. The sum of fracture sites were 408 sites and there were 1.4 fracture sites per one patient. The number of mandible fractures accompanied with facial bone fractures were 41 cases (14.4%). The results showed the most frequent type and common site of mandibular fracture was single fracture and mandibular condyle respectively.

Routine functional assessment for hip fracture patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Tonny J; Lauritsen, Jens M

2016-01-01

Background and purpose - Pre-fracture functional level has been shown to be a consistent predictor of rehabilitation outcomes in older hip fracture patients. We validated 4 overall pre-fracture functional level assessment instruments in patients aged 65 or more, used the prediction of outcome at 4...... months post-fracture, and assessed cutoff values for decision making in treatment and rehabilitation. Patients and methods - 165 consecutive patients with acute primary hip fracture were prospectively included in the study. Pre-fracture Barthel-20, Barthel-100, cumulated ambulation score, and new...... investigation of usage for guidance of clinical and rehabilitation decisions concerning hip fracture patients is warranted....

Capital Structure and Profitability of Quoted Companies in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AMOS O. AROWOSHEGBE. Ph.D; ACA.

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The study examined the relationship of capital structure to profitability of quoted firms in Nigeria. The study was based on a panel data set from 1996 to 2010 comprising sixty non – financial companies. The study specified two panel regression models. Two profitability measures: Net Profit Margin (NPM and Operating Profit Margin (OPM were taken as the dependent variables respectively. The principal explanatory variable for each of the models was Debt Ratio (DR. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant negative relationship between capital structure and profitability of quoted companies in Nigeria. Indeed, the results the Pecking order theory that profitable firms do not target an optimal level of leverage to balance the benefits and costs of debt financing. Rather, firms use retained earnings first, then debts and finally equity. Such firms would actually be paying high tax charges and also high operating costs arising from over dependence on the money market for their funds requirements. It was recommended that appropriate fiscal policies, relevant capital market institutional and legal framework should be put in place. These measures, we believe, will ensure better access to funds and reduce the cost of doing business.

Evaluation of fracture mechanics analyses used in RPV integrity assessment regarding brittle fracture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moinereau, D.; Faidy, C.; Valeta, M.P.; Bhandari, S.; Guichard, D.

1997-01-01

Electricite de France has conducted during these last years some experimental and numerical research programmes in order to evaluate fracture mechanics analyses used in nuclear reactor pressure vessels structural integrity assessment, regarding the risk of brittle fracture. These programmes included cleavage fracture tests on large scale cladded specimens containing subclad flaws with their interpretations by 2D and 3D numerical computations, and validation of finite element codes for pressurized thermal shocks analyses. Four cladded specimens made of ferritic steel A508 C13 with stainless steel cladding, and containing shallow subclad flaws, have been tested in four point bending at very low temperature in order to obtain cleavage failure. The specimen failure was obtained in each case in base metal by cleavage fracture. These tests have been interpreted by two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element computations using different fracture mechanics approaches (elastic analysis with specific plasticity corrections, elastic-plastic analysis, local approach to cleavage fracture). The failure of specimens are conservatively predicted by different analyses. The comparison between the elastic analyses and elastic-plastic analyses shows the conservatism of specific plasticity corrections used in French RPV elastic analyses. Numerous finite element calculations have also been performed between EDF, CEA and Framatome in order to compare and validate several fracture mechanics post processors implemented in finite element programmes used in pressurized thermal shock analyses. This work includes two-dimensional numerical computations on specimens with different geometries and loadings. The comparisons show a rather good agreement on main results, allowing to validate the finite element codes and their post-processors. (author). 11 refs, 24 figs, 3 tabs

Evaluation of fracture mechanics analyses used in RPV integrity assessment regarding brittle fracture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moinereau, D [Electricite de France, Dept. MTC, Moret-sur-Loing (France); Faidy, C [Electricite de France, SEPTEN, Villeurbanne (France); Valeta, M P [Commisariat a l` Energie Atomique, Dept. DMT, Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Bhandari, S; Guichard, D [Societe Franco-Americaine de Constructions Atomiques (FRAMATOME), 92 - Paris-La-Defense (France)

1997-09-01

Electricite de France has conducted during these last years some experimental and numerical research programmes in order to evaluate fracture mechanics analyses used in nuclear reactor pressure vessels structural integrity assessment, regarding the risk of brittle fracture. These programmes included cleavage fracture tests on large scale cladded specimens containing subclad flaws with their interpretations by 2D and 3D numerical computations, and validation of finite element codes for pressurized thermal shocks analyses. Four cladded specimens made of ferritic steel A508 C13 with stainless steel cladding, and containing shallow subclad flaws, have been tested in four point bending at very low temperature in order to obtain cleavage failure. The specimen failure was obtained in each case in base metal by cleavage fracture. These tests have been interpreted by two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element computations using different fracture mechanics approaches (elastic analysis with specific plasticity corrections, elastic-plastic analysis, local approach to cleavage fracture). The failure of specimens are conservatively predicted by different analyses. The comparison between the elastic analyses and elastic-plastic analyses shows the conservatism of specific plasticity corrections used in French RPV elastic analyses. Numerous finite element calculations have also been performed between EDF, CEA and Framatome in order to compare and validate several fracture mechanics post processors implemented in finite element programmes used in pressurized thermal shock analyses. This work includes two-dimensional numerical computations on specimens with different geometries and loadings. The comparisons show a rather good agreement on main results, allowing to validate the finite element codes and their post-processors. (author). 11 refs, 24 figs, 3 tabs.

Femoral neck stress fractures (fnsf) in military recruits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majeed, N.U.; Naqvi, A.N.; Majeed, H.

2012-01-01

Objective: To identify patterns of Femoral Neck Stress Fractures (FNSF), its presentation and outcome of its treatment in PMA (Pakistan Military Academy) cadets. These findings would help suggest guidelines for their appropriate management. Study design: Case Series Place and duration of study: CMH Abbottabad and CMH Rawalpindi from May 2005 to January 2008. Materials and Methods: Twenty cases (20 hips in 18 patients) of FNSF were included in the study. Only male cadets from Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) were included. Diagnosis was made clinically and was confirmed by radiographs or bone scan. Incomplete fractures were managed conservatively where as complete fractures were fixed surgically. Results: All compression fractures healed conservatively where as tension fractures needed surgical fixation in all the cases, except one where fracture remained incomplete. Rest of tension fractures converted from incomplete fractures to complete fractures and hence needed surgical stabilization. There was no problem of avascular necrosis of femoral head (AVNFH) in any patient. Conclusion: FNSF are uncommon injuries with potentially serious complications and are difficult to diagnose clinically. When diagnosed early and managed appropriately, they carry good prognosis. (author)

Profit and loss account in the international context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PALIU - POPA LUCIA

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Given that the objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of an economic unit, useful for a wide range of users in making economic decisions, particular attention should be paid to the profit and loss account, which is the main instrument for reflecting the financial performance, because on the one hand it provides the information necessary for their evaluation, and on the other hand the information essential for determining the risk of cash flows. Even if each component of the financial statements provides different pieces of information, they should be correlated because they reflect different aspects of the same transactions or events, and in this article we will address the general aspects of profit and loss account from the perspective of profit and loss account models. In this regard, after a brief theoretical approach of the profit and loss account, we will indicate the advantages of two models of profit and loss account but without forgetting their limitations. Thus, we will provide the income statement structure on two stages of normalization: internationally and nationally.

Valuing goodwill: not-for-profits prepare for annual impairment testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Heuer, Christian; Travers, Mary Ann K

2011-02-01

Accounting standards for valuing goodwill and intangible assets are becoming more rigorous for not-for-profit organizations: Not-for-profit healthcare organizations need to test for goodwill impairment at least annually. Impairment testing is a two-stage process: initial analysis to determine whether impairment exists and subsequent calculation of the magnitude of impairment. Certain "triggering" events compel all organizations--whether for-profit or not-for-profit--to perform an impairment test for goodwill or intangible assets.

The Significance of Loyalty on Consumer Credit Profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aditya Galih Prihartono

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to analyze and test the effect of customer loyalty on consumer credit profitability. Loyalty Index Score was developed to determine the level of customers’ loyalty level through 4 main variables; Longevity, Depth, Breadth and Referrals. The effect of Loyalty Index Score on profitability was further tested by path analysis to find out the significance direct relationship between loyalty and profitablity and the indirect relationship between the two variable through bucket. The result showed that loyalty has a significant effect on profitability either directly or indirectly. It was concluded that direct loyalty effect on profitability is lower than that of the indirect effect through bucket. The conclusion could be made by analyzing the available data from personal loan customers in one of the biggest multinational bank in indonesia during October 2010 until March 2011.

Atypical femoral fractures related to bisphosphonate therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tarun Pankaj Jain

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Bisphosphonates (BP are a commonly prescribed class of drugs for the prevention of osteoporosis-related fractures. Paradoxically, however, they have recently been linked to atypical fractures in the shaft of the femur. Since many physicians including radiologists, are not aware of this entity, the incidence is likely underreported. These fractures usually occur in the sub-trochanteric region of the femur in the setting of low-energy trauma. It starts as a fracture line involving the lateral cortex and then progresses medially to give rise to a complete fracture. The fracture line is usually transverse, and there is a medial spike associated with a complete fracture. These fractures can be bilateral. Awareness of these atypical fractures and their radiological appearance should enable their early and accurate detection and thus lead to specific treatment.

Acute cognitive dysfunction after hip fracture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bitsch, M S; Foss, N B; Kristensen, B B

2006-01-01

hip fracture surgery in an optimized, multimodal, peri-operative rehabilitation regimen. METHODS: One hundred unselected hip fracture patients treated in a well-defined, optimized, multimodal, peri-operative rehabilitation regimen were included. Patients were tested upon admission and on the second......BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing hip fracture surgery often experience acute post-operative cognitive dysfunction (APOCD). The pathogenesis of APOCD is probably multifactorial, and no single intervention has been successful in its prevention. No studies have investigated the incidence of APOCD after......, fourth and seventh post-operative days with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. RESULTS: Thirty-two per cent of patients developed a significant post-operative cognitive decline, which was associated with several pre-fracture patient characteristics, including age and cognitive function...

Pediatric femur fractures, epidemiology and treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petković Lazar

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim. Femur fractures in children most often occur as a consequence of traffic accidents, during play and sport activities, and due to different pathological states. Diagnosis is rather simple and it includes physical and radiographycal examination. Femur fractures treatment in children can be operative and unoperative, depending on several facts: age, localisation and type of fracture, joint injuries of soft tissues, the presence of other injuries (in polytrauma, economical and social aspects, ect. The aim of this study was to present epidemiological characteristics of pediatric femur fractures, that is in the stage of development, including a special analysis of the used treatment techniques, as well as the comparison of the obtained data with those from the literature. Methods. The evaluation included following parameters: age, gender, cause, localisation and type of femur fracture, applied treatment and hospitalisation duration. Results. Among the presented 143 patients with femur fracture, 109 were boys and 34 were girls (3.2 : 1 ratio; p = 0.0001. Average age for both genders was 8.6 years, and no difference between boys and girls were found for the age (p = 0.758. In total, the most common fracture was diaphyseal fracture of femur in 93 (65.03% patients. The second was proximal fracture in 30 (20.98% patients, and the last distal fracture of the femur in 20 (13.99% patients (p = 0.0001. Three main causes of femur fracture can be distinguished: during play and sport activities in 67 (46.8% children, in traffic accidents in 64 (44.8% children, and pathological fractures in 12 (8.4% children. Inoperative treatment was applied in 82 (57.3% patients, and operative one in 61 (42.7% patients. The most common tretament was traction, in 71 (49.6% patients, followed by immobilization by hip spica cast mostly in young children. Intramedullar elastic nailing was applied in 16 (11.2% cases, and intramedullar rigid nailing (Küntscher in 19

Model of T-Type Fracture in Coal Fracturing and Analysis of Influence Factors of Fracture Morphology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuwei Li

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Special T-type fractures can be formed when coal is hydraulically fractured and there is currently no relevant theoretical model to calculate and describe them. This paper first establishes the height calculation model of vertical fractures in multi-layered formations and deduces the stress intensity factor (SIF at the upper and lower sides of the fracture in the process of vertical fracture extension. Combined with the fracture tip stress analysis method of fracture mechanics theory, the horizontal bedding is taken into account for tensile and shear failure, and the critical mechanical conditions for the formation of horizontal fracture in coal are obtained. Finally, the model of T-type fracture in coal fracturing is established, and it is verified by fracturing simulation experiments. The model calculation result shows that the increase of vertical fracture height facilitates the increase of horizontal fracture length. The fracture toughness of coal has a significant influence on the length of horizontal fracture and there is a threshold. When the fracture toughness is less than the threshold, the length of horizontal fracture remains unchanged, otherwise, the length of horizontal fracture increases rapidly with the increase of fracture toughness. When the shear strength of the interface between the coalbed and the interlayer increases, the length of the horizontal fracture of the T-type fracture rapidly decreases.

The Persistence of Profits in Azerbaijan's Banking System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Batu TUNAY

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In this research, the persistence of profits in Azerbaijan's banking sector in the short-run and the long-run is investigated. Although there are a lot of researches done in the case of different countries, enough study has been implemented for the case of Azerbaijan despite of its high speed economic growth. This research analysis continuity of profits by using system panel data method. Obtained results indicate that profits demonstrate no persistence or a little persistence. In this context, existence of competitive powers in the sector can be stated.

Gas-processing profit margin series begins in OGJ

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovacs, K.J.

1991-01-01

This paper reports on the bases and methods employed by the WK (Wright, Killen and Co, Houston) profit-margin indicator for U.S. gas-processing plants. Additionally, this article reviews the historical profitability of the gas-processing industry and key factors affecting these trends. Texas was selected as the most representative for the industry, reflecting the wide spectrum of gas-processing plants. The profit performance of Texas' gas plants is of special significance because of the large number of plants and high volume of NGL production in the region

Oil price scenarios and refining profitability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweeney, B.

1993-01-01

Currently refining profitability is low because there has been an overbuilding of conversion capacity in Western Europe in the last round. Oil marketing, the chemicals business and the fundamental economy itself are at low points in their cycles which have not coincided, at least in the UK, since 1975. Against that gloomy background, it is predicted that downstream profitability will recover in the mid-1990s. Crude oil prices will remain low until the call on OPEC crude increases again and takes up the capacity which has been brought on stream in response to the Gulf War. When this happens, it is likely to trigger another price spike and another round of investment in production capacity. Environmentally driven investments in desulphurisation or emissions reduction will be poorly remunerated all the way through the value chain. Refining margins will recover when white oil demand growth tightens up the need for conversion capacity. Marketing will need to reduce the retail network overcapacity in the mature markets if it is to improve its profitability. In this period of low profitability, even with the light at the end of the tunnel for refiners in the middle of the decade, the industry structure is under threat. There is a strong argument for new modes of competitive behaviour which are backed by strong elements of cooperation. (author)

Combining Purpose With Profits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Julian Birkinshaw, Julian; Foss, Nicolai Juul; Lindenberg, Siegwart

2014-01-01

A sense of purpose that transcends making money can motivate employees. But to sustain both a sense of purpose and a solid level of profitability over time, companies need to pay attention to several fundamental organizing principles....

Design for life-cycle profit with simultaneous consideration of initial manufacturing and end-of-life remanufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Minjung; Kim, Harrison

2015-01-01

Remanufacturing is emerging as a promising solution for achieving green, profitable businesses. This article considers a manufacturer that produces new products and also remanufactured versions of the new products that become available at the end of their life cycle. For such a manufacturer, design decisions at the initial design stage determine both the current profit from manufacturing and future profit from remanufacturing. To maximize the total profit, design decisions must carefully consider both ends of product life cycle, i.e. manufacturing and end-of-life stages. This article proposes a decision-support model for the life-cycle design using mixed-integer nonlinear programming. With an aim to maximize the total life-cycle profit, the proposed model searches for an (at least locally) optimal product design (i.e. design specifications and the selling price) for the new and remanufactured products. It optimizes both the initial design and design upgrades at the end-of-life stage and also provides corresponding production strategies, including production quantities and take-back rate. The model is extended to a multi-objective model that maximizes both economic profit and environmental-impact saving. To illustrate, the developed model is demonstrated with an example of a desktop computer.

Contribution of family labour to the profitability and competitiveness of small-scale dairy production systems in central Mexico.

Science.gov (United States)

Posadas-Domínguez, Rodolfo Rogelio; Arriaga-Jordán, Carlos Manuel; Martínez-Castañeda, Francisco Ernesto

2014-01-01

The objective of this work was to determine the effect of family labour on the profitability and competitiveness of small-scale dairy farms in the highlands of Central Mexico. Economic data from 37 farms were analysed from a stratified statistical sampling with a Neyman assignment. Three strata were defined taking herd size as criterion. Stratum 1: herds from 3 to 9 cows plus replacements, Stratum 2: herds from 10 to 19 cows and Stratum 3: herds from 20 to 30 cows. The policy analysis matrix was used as the method to determine profitability and competitiveness. The coefficient of private profitability (CPP) when the economic cost of family labour is included in the cost structure was 8.0 %, 31.0 % and 46.0 %. When the economic cost of family labour is not included, CPP increase to 47.0 %, 57.0 % and 66.0 % for each strata, respectively. The private cost ratio (PCR) when family labour is included was 0.79, 0.51 and 0.42 for strata 1, 2 and 3, respectively. When family labour is not included, the PCR was 0.07, 0.25 and 0.26. Net profit per litre of milk including family labour was US$0.03 l(-1) for Stratum 1, US$0.09 for Stratum 2 and US$0.12 l(-1) for Stratum 3; but increased to $0.12, 0.14 and 0.15, respectively, when the economic cost of family labour is not included. It is concluded that family labour is a crucial factor in the profitability and competitiveness of small-scale dairy production.

Ontology of fractures

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Jian; Aydina, Atilla; McGuinness, Deborah L.

2009-03-01

Fractures are fundamental structures in the Earth's crust and they can impact many societal and industrial activities including oil and gas exploration and production, aquifer management, CO 2 sequestration, waste isolation, the stabilization of engineering structures, and assessing natural hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides). Therefore, an ontology which organizes the concepts of fractures could help facilitate a sound education within, and communication among, the highly diverse professional and academic community interested in the problems cited above. We developed a process-based ontology that makes explicit specifications about fractures, their properties, and the deformation mechanisms which lead to their formation and evolution. Our ontology emphasizes the relationships among concepts such as the factors that influence the mechanism(s) responsible for the formation and evolution of specific fracture types. Our ontology is a valuable resource with a potential to applications in a number of fields utilizing recent advances in Information Technology, specifically for digital data and information in computers, grids, and Web services.

Golfer's fracture of the ribs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, J. H.

1980-01-01

Golfer's fracture is stress fracture of the posterior portion of left 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7th ribs of golfer's, usually beginners,and it is considered due to exposure to unaccustomed severe exercise of this fascinating sport. Healing is usually uneventful, but possible complication may occur, because symptom is mild and golfers continue the exercise with physical therapy such as massage. Author report 4 cases of golfer's fracture, including 1 case complicated by platelike at electasis of lung.

Golfer's fracture of the ribs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lim, J H [Seoul District Armed Forces General Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1980-06-15

Golfer's fracture is stress fracture of the posterior portion of left 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7th ribs of golfer's, usually beginners,and it is considered due to exposure to unaccustomed severe exercise of this fascinating sport. Healing is usually uneventful, but possible complication may occur, because symptom is mild and golfers continue the exercise with physical therapy such as massage. Author report 4 cases of golfer's fracture, including 1 case complicated by platelike at electasis of lung.

Clinical effects of internal fixation for ulnar styloid fractures associated with distal radius fractures: A matched case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sawada, Hideyoshi; Shinohara, Takaaki; Natsume, Tadahiro; Hirata, Hitoshi

2016-11-01

Ulnar styloid fractures are often associated with distal radius fractures. However, controversy exists regarding whether to treat ulnar styloid fractures. This study aimed to evaluate clinical effects of internal fixation for ulnar styloid fractures after distal radius fractures were treated with the volar locking plate system. We used prospectively collected data of distal radius fractures. 111 patients were enrolled in this study. A matched case-control study design was used. We selected patients who underwent fixation for ulnar styloid fractures (case group). Three control patients for each patient of the case group were matched on the basis of age, sex, and fracture type of distal radius fractures from among patients who did not undergo fixation for ulnar styloid fractures (control group). The case group included 16 patients (7 men, 9 women; mean age: 52.6 years; classification of ulnar styloid fractures: center, 3; base, 11; and proximal, 2). The control group included 48 patients (15 men, 33 women; mean age: 61.1 years; classification of ulnar styloid fractures: center, 10; base, 31; and proximal, 7). For radiographic examination, the volar tilt angle, radial inclination angle, and ulnar variance length were measured, and the union of ulnar styloid fractures was judged. For clinical examination, the range of motions, grip strength, Hand20 score, and Numeric Rating Scale score were evaluated. There was little correction loss for each radiological parameter of fracture reduction, and these parameters were not significantly different between the groups. The bone-healing rate of ulnar styloid fractures was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group, but the clinical results were not significantly different. We revealed that there was no need to fix ulnar styloid fractures when distal radius fractures were treated via open reduction and internal fixation with a volar locking plate system. Copyright © 2016 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association

Sequential Relationship between Profitability and Sustainability: The Case of Migratory Beekeeping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciano Pilati

2016-01-01

Full Text Available When beekeeping is managed on a migratory basis, the bee colony produces physical outputs (honey and pollination services on a sequence of forage sites. Forage sites are competitors if their flowering periods overlap, and are complementary otherwise. Viable sequences consist only of complementary forage sites. A part of the bee colony’s production time is spent on each forage site in the period when the crop or wild vegetation covering it is in flower. The total period covered by the sequence of sites, including the base site, must be equal to or less than the duration (365 days of the bee colony’s annual biological cycle. The migratory beekeeper draws up viable sequences of forage sites and calculates their profitability levels. Variations in the profitability of forage sites which alter the composition of the sequence, affecting provision of the non-marketed ecosystem pollination services, impact the biodiversity of the pollinated plants with trickle-down effects on sustainability. In the case of migratory beekeeping, there is, therefore, a sequential relationship between profitability and sustainability.

Productivity and profitability of maize-pumpkin mix cropping in Chitwan, Nepal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shiva Chandra Dhakal

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The study was conducted to determine the productivity, profitability and resource use efficiency of maize-pumpkin mix crop production in Chitwan. The study used 53 maize-pumpkin mix crop adopting farmers from among 300 farmers adopting different pollinator friendly practices. Descriptive and statistical tools including Cobb-Douglas production function were used to analyze data, collected from structured interview schedule. The benefit cost ratio (1.58 indicates that maize-pumpkin mix cropping was profitable with productivity of 2.83 ton per ha on maize main product equivalent basis. The magnitude of regression coefficients of maize-pumpkin mix cropping implied that expenditure on seed and fertilizer and irrigation had significant positive effect on gross return with estimated decreasing return to scale (0.85. According to estimated allocative efficiency indices, it is suggested to increase expenditure on seed and fertilizer cum irrigation by about 90% and 55% respectively. Extension of modern technologies with adjustment on resource use is to be encouraged for increase in productivity and profitability of maize-pumpkin mix crop production which indirectly promotes and ensure forage for pollinators

10 CFR 603.615 - Financial management standards for-profit firms.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Financial management standards for-profit firms. 603.615... § 603.615 Financial management standards for-profit firms. (a) To avoid causing needless changes in participants' financial management systems, an expenditure-based TIA will make for-profit participants that...

The Determinants of Bank Profitability: The Case of Tunisia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olfa Nessibi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Using bank level data this paper examines how bank’s specific characteristics and macroeconomic indicators affect the profitability in the Tunisian banking industry over the period 1990–2008. The results indicate that the more profitable banks are those higher amount of capital and lower operating costs. Furthermore, it appears that private banks tend to perform better than state owned ones.  Despite the great importance given to the board of directors, it doesn't have a dominant role in the Tunisian commercial banks. Finally, turning to macroeconomic conditions and its impact on banks’ profitability, we find that the real interest rate has a positive effect on bank profitability.

Fracture Characterization in Reactive Fluid-Fractured Rock Systems Using Tracer Transport Data

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhopadhyay, S.

2014-12-01

Fractures, whether natural or engineered, exert significant controls over resource exploitation from contemporary energy sources including enhanced geothermal systems and unconventional oil and gas reserves. Consequently, fracture characterization, i.e., estimating the permeability, connectivity, and spacing of the fractures is of critical importance for determining the viability of any energy recovery program. While some progress has recently been made towards estimating these critical fracture parameters, significant uncertainties still remain. A review of tracer technology, which has a long history in fracture characterization, reveals that uncertainties exist in the estimated parameters not only because of paucity of scale-specific data but also because of knowledge gaps in the interpretation methods, particularly in interpretation of tracer data in reactive fluid-rock systems. We have recently demonstrated that the transient tracer evolution signatures in reactive fluid-rock systems are significantly different from those in non-reactive systems (Mukhopadhyay et al., 2013, 2014). For example, the tracer breakthrough curves in reactive fluid-fractured rock systems are expected to exhibit a long pseudo-state condition, during which tracer concentration does not change by any appreciable amount with passage of time. Such a pseudo-steady state condition is not observed in a non-reactive system. In this paper, we show that the presence of this pseudo-steady state condition in tracer breakthrough patterns in reactive fluid-rock systems can have important connotations for fracture characterization. We show that the time of onset of the pseudo-steady state condition and the value of tracer concentration in the pseudo-state condition can be used to reliably estimate fracture spacing and fracture-matrix interface areas.

Dissipative particle dynamics simulation of fluid motion through an unsaturated fracture and fracture junction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Moubin; Meakin, Paul; Huang Hai

2007-01-01

Multiphase fluid motion in unsaturated fractures and fracture networks involves complicated fluid dynamics, which is difficult to model using grid-based continuum methods. In this paper, the application of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a relatively new mesoscale method to simulate fluid motion in unsaturated fractures is described. Unlike the conventional DPD method that employs a purely repulsive conservative (non-dissipative) particle-particle interaction to simulate the behavior of gases, we used conservative particle-particle interactions that combine short-range repulsive and long-range attractive interactions. This new conservative particle-particle interaction allows the behavior of multiphase systems consisting of gases, liquids and solids to be simulated. Our simulation results demonstrate that, for a fracture with flat parallel walls, the DPD method with the new interaction potential function is able to reproduce the hydrodynamic behavior of fully saturated flow, and various unsaturated flow modes including thin film flow, wetting and non-wetting flow. During simulations of flow through a fracture junction, the fracture junction can be fully or partially saturated depending on the wetting property of the fluid, the injection rate and the geometry of the fracture junction. Flow mode switching from a fully saturated flow to a thin film flow can also be observed in the fracture junction

Where Did They Go? Market Share Trends of Business Student Enrollment at Public, Not-for-Profit, and For-Profit Institutions from 1996 to 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Fox Garrity, Bonnie Kathleen

2012-01-01

The author presents the trends in market share of business student enrollment at public, not-for-profit, and for-profit 4-year-and-above institutions from 1996 to 2008. Although each sector of the institutions has experienced growth in overall enrollments, the relative market share of public and not-for-profit institutions has dropped, whereas the…

Reference Tracking and Profit Optimization of a Power Plant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kragelund, Martin Nygaard; Leth, John-Josef; Wisniewski, Rafal

2010-01-01

In this paper we discuss two different methods for implementing reference tracking intro a profit optimization problem of a power plant. It is shown that tracking included as a side constraint results in an significant tracking error only when the reference gradient is large. When tracking...... is included in the cost function, as a quadratic term, the reference is tracked with a small accumulated error. Finally, the two methods are compared both in terms of tracking performance and computational burden....

The Effect of Capital Working Management on the Profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Slamet Mulyono

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Companies must maintain the sustainability business. In order to keep their existence and competitiveness, companies must increase profitability in every year. It also applies to state fertilizer companies. However, 10 years of history (2005-2014, the state fertilizer company have been facing difficulties in maintaining business sustainability. Profitability fluctuates and tends to decrease every year. One of the causes is inefficient working capital management. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between working capital management and corporate profitability. To ensure the absence of the influence of unexamined factors, this study uses control variables of firm size, financial leverage, and gross domestic product. This research uses a positivist paradigm with a quantitative approach and multiple regression analysis.The results of this study indicate that state fertilizer companies will be able to increase ROA by accelerating Days of Sales in Inventory and Days of Payables. Higher assets, reduce profitability, and increasing debt withdrawal, which further declines the profitability. State fertilizer companies should accelerate inventory turnover and obligation payments to suppliers to minimize the risk of foreign exchange loss, considering that 80% of raw materials are still imported. In addition, state fertilizer should maintain asset quality and minimize debt withdrawal to increase profitability. 

Determinants of Egyptian Banking Sector Profitability: Time-Series Analysis from 2004-2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heba Youssef Hashem

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of banking sector profitability in Egypt to shed light on the most influential variables that have a significant impact on the performance of this vital sector. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis includes a time series model of quarterly data from 2004 to 2014. The model utilizes Cointegration technique to investigate the long-run relationship between the return on equity as a proxy for bank profitability and several bank-specific variables including liquidity, capital adequacy, and percentage of non-performing loans. In addition, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM is utilized to explore the short-run dynamics of the model and the speed of adjustment to reach the long-run equilibrium. Findings - The main findings of this work show that banking sector profitability is inversely related to capital adequacy, the percentage of loan provisions and the ratio of deposits to total assets. On the other hand, it is positively related to the size of the banking sector which implies that the banking sector exhibits economies of scale. Research limitations/implications - The implications of this work is that it helps reveal the major factors affecting bank performance in the short-run and long-run, and hence provide bank managers and monetary policy makers with beneficial insights on how to enhance bank performance. Since the banking sector represents one of the main engines of financing investment, enhancing the efficiency of this sector would contribute to economic growth and prosperity Originality/value - The Vector error correction model showed that about 4% of the disequilibrium is corrected each quarter to reach the long run equilibrium. In addition, all bank specific variables were found to affect profitability in the long-run only. This study would serve as a base that further work on Egyptian banking sector profitability can build on by incorporating more variables in the

Multi-zone coupling productivity of horizontal well fracturing with complex fracture networks in shale gas reservoirs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiyao Zhu

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a series of specific studies were carried out to investigate the complex form of fracture networks and figure out the multi-scale flowing laws of nano/micro pores–complex fracture networks–wellbore during the development of shale reservoirs by means of horizontal well fracturing. First, hydraulic fractures were induced by means of Brazilian splitting tests. Second, the forms of the hydraulic fractures inside the rock samples were observed by means of X-ray CT scanning to measure the opening of hydraulic fractures. Third, based on the multi-scale unified flowing model, morphological description of fractures and gas flowing mechanism in the matrix–complex fracture network–wellbore, the productivity equation of single-stage horizontal well fracturing which includes diffusion, slipping and desorption was established. And fourthly, a productivity prediction model of horizontal well multi-stage fracturing in the shale reservoir was established considering the interference between the multi-stage fracturing zones and the pressure drop in the horizontal wellbore. The following results were obtained. First, hydraulic fractures are in the form of a complex network. Second, the measured opening of hydraulic fractures is in the range of 4.25–453 μm, averaging 112 μm. Third, shale gas flowing in different shapes of fracture networks follows different nonlinear flowing laws. Forth, as the fracture density in the strongly stimulated zones rises and the distribution range of the hydraulic fractures in strongly/weakly stimulated zones enlarges, gas production increases gradually. As the interference occurs in the flowing zones of fracture networks between fractured sections, the increasing amplitude of gas production rates decreases. Fifth, when the length of a simulated horizontal well is 1500 m and the half length of a fracture network in the strongly stimulated zone is 100 m, the productivity effect of stage 10 fracturing is the

Construct the stable vendor managed inventory partnership through a profit-sharing approach

Science.gov (United States)

Li, S.; Yu, Z.; Dong, M.

2015-01-01

In real life, the vendor managed inventory (VMI) model is not always a stable supply chain partnership. This paper proposes a cooperative game based profit-sharing method to stabilize the VMI partnership. Specifically, in a B2C setting, we consider a VMI program including a manufacturer and multiple online retailers. The manufacturer provides the finished product at the equal wholesale price to multiple online retailers. The online retailers face the same customer demand information. We offer the model to compute the increased profits generated by information sharing for total possible VMI coalitions. Using the solution concept of Shapley value, the profit-sharing scheme is produced to fairly divide the total increased profits among the VMI members. We find that under a fair allocation scheme, the higher inventory cost of one VMI member increases the surplus of the other members. Furthermore, the manufacturer is glad to increase the size of VMI coalition, whereas, the retailers are delighted to limit the size of the alliance. Finally, the manufacturer can select the appropriate retailer to boost its surplus, which has no effect on the surplus of the other retailers. The numerical examples indicate that the grand coalition is stable under the proposed allocation scheme.

Recurrent Hip Fracture Prevention With Osteoporosis Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Shahla

2007-02-01

Full Text Available Background:Osteoporosis is a major public health threat,and hip fracture is a serious consequence of osteoporosis.Apatient with an osteoporosis-related hip fracture has an increased risk for a second hip fracture.The effect of osteoporosis management on the risk of recurrent hip fracture was evaluated in this study.Methods:58 hip fracture patients older than 50yr and BMD < 2.5 were discharged from hospital with Ca-Vitamin D- Alendronate prescriptions, and followed up for 4 years to determine the rate of recurrent hip fractures. Rate of second hip fractures was compared with 58 hip fractures in the control group (without osteoporosis treatment which were also followed for 4 years. Results:72% of patients continued treatment for 2 years. There were no second hip fractures in the critical first 12 months in the treated group.Overall second hip fractures in osteoporosis treated and control groups were 3.4% and 8.6%(p<0.03, respectively.Conclusion:Management of hip fractures in the elderly should include bone mineral density determination and osteoporosis treatment to prevent further fractures.

26 CFR 509.105 - Industrial and commercial profits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... sales promotion, the orders being transmitted to Switzerland for acceptance, then the profits arising... 26 Internal Revenue 19 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Industrial and commercial profits. 509.105 Section 509.105 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED...

Profit efficiency among catfish farmers in Benue state, Nigeria | Tsue ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined profit efficiency among catfish farmers in Benue State of Nigeria using a stochastic profit frontier approach. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to collect data from 143 catfish farmers through a well structured questionnaire. The study used a Cobb-Douglas stochastic profit frontier function to ...

In California, not-for-profit hospitals spent more operating expenses on charity care than for-profit hospitals spent.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdovinos, Erica; Le, Sidney; Hsia, Renee Y

2015-08-01

In exchange for sizable tax exemptions, not-for-profit hospitals must engage in activities that meet the Internal Revenue Service's community benefit standard. The provision of charity care-free care to those unable to pay-can help meet that standard. Bad debt, the other form of uncompensated care, cannot be used to meet the standard, although Medicaid shortfalls can. However, the ACA lacks guidelines for providing charity care, and federal law sets no minimum requirements for community benefit activities. Using data from California, we examined whether the levels of charity and uncompensated care provided differed across general acute care hospitals by profit status and other characteristics during 2011-13. The mean proportion of total operating expenses spent on charity care differed significantly between not-for-profit (1.9 percent) and for-profit hospitals (1.4 percent), in contrast to the mean proportion spent on uncompensated care. Both types of spending varied widely across hospitals. Policy makers should consider measures that remove disincentives to meeting the persistent considerable need for charity care-for example, increasing supports to offset rising Medicaid shortfalls resulting from program expansion-and facilitate the tracking of ACA impacts on the distribution of charity care and uncompensated care delivery. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

A Kitchen with too Many Cooks: Factors Associated with Hospital Profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Na-Eun Cho

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we carefully investigate previous literature to extract 10 relevant factors to explain the hospital profitability and build an econometrically well-specified model of explaining hospital profitability that does not suffer from omitted variable bias. Then we provide empirical evidence to a common belief that the objective function of a hospital varies with the type of hospital. We identified distinct objective functions for three types of hospitals: for-profit hospitals are driven by the overarching agreed-upon goal of profit maximization for shareholders; government hospitals, which are often the insurers of last resort, are obliged to put the public interest over profit objectives; nonprofit hospitals, which are legally prohibited from distributing profits, occupy the middle ground between for-profit and government hospitals. The results of this paper suggest that the ownership type should determine the factors on which hospitals focus and hence are useful to hospital management and academic researchers.

The Profitability – Risk Relationship and Financing Decision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoleta BARBUTA-MISU

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The enterprise financial decision is a rational process for option to the optimal variant related to financing and investments. For the capital investment to be justified, the profitability of the invested money must be at least equal with the profitability of the alternative investment opportunities with the same risk on market. The choosing of a way for financing is determined on the one side by their cost and on the other side by the existent capital structure. In this paper I tried to analyse the profitability – risk relationship in the financing decision for the “NIKOS” Ltd.

Comparison of surgical techniques of 111 medial malleolar fractures classified by fracture geometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebraheim, Nabil A; Ludwig, Todd; Weston, John T; Carroll, Trevor; Liu, Jiayong

2014-05-01

Evaluation of operative techniques used for medial malleolar fractures by classifying fracture geometry has not been well documented. One hundred eleven patients with medial malleolar fractures (transverse n = 63, oblique n = 29, vertical n = 7, comminuted n = 12) were included in this study. Seventy-two patients had complicating comorbidities. All patients were treated with buttress plate, lag screw, tension band, or K-wire fixation. Treatment outcomes were evaluated on the basis of radiological outcome (union, malunion, delayed union, or nonunion), need for operative revision, presence of postoperative complications, and AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot score. For transverse fractures, tension band fixation showed the highest rate of union (79%), highest average AOFAS score (86), lowest revision rate (5%), and lowest complication rate (16%). For oblique fractures, lag screws showed the highest rate of union (71%), highest average AOFAS score (80), lowest revision rate (19%), and lowest complication rate (33%) of the commonly used fixation techniques. For vertical fractures, buttress plating was used in every case but 1, achieving union (whether normal or delayed) in all cases with an average AOFAS score of 84, no revisions, and a 17% complication rate. Comminuted fractures had relatively poor outcomes regardless of fixation method. The results of this study suggest that both tension bands and lag screws result in similar rates of union for transverse fractures of the medial malleolus, but that tension band constructs are associated with less need for revision surgery and fewer complications. In addition, our data demonstrate that oblique fractures were most effectively treated with lag screws and that vertical fractures attained superior outcomes with buttress plating. Level III, retrospective comparative series.

Multiple fractures in infancy: scurvy or nonaccidental injury?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin R Paterson

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Colin R PatersonFormerly of Department of Medicine, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, UKAbstract: The child with unexplained fractures has a differential diagnosis that includes nonaccidental injury but also a number of bone disorders including osteogenesis imperfecta and rickets. This paper reports a 14-month-old girl who was found to have seven fractures, several hematomas and widespread sub-periosteal reactions. She was found to have biochemical evidence of vitamin C deficiency. While nonaccidental injury could not be excluded, it seemed likely that the major cause of the fractures was scurvy. It is important to consider the whole differential diagnosis in a child with unexplained fractures.Keywords: scurvy, vitamin C deficiency, nonaccidental injury, fractures, ascorbic acid

Site investigation SFR. Fracture mineralogy including identification of uranium phases and hydrochemical characterisation of groundwater in borehole KFR106

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sandstroem, Bjoern; Nilsson, Kersti; Tullborg, Eva-Lena

2011-12-01

This report presents the fracture mineralogy and hydrochemistry of borehole KFR106. The most abundant fracture minerals in the examined drill core samples are clay minerals, calcite, quartz and adularia; chlorite is also common but is mostly altered and found interlayered with corrensite. The most common clay mineral is a mixed layer clay consisting of illite-smectite. Pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, barite (-celestine) and hematite are also commonly found in the fractures, but usually in trace amounts. Other minerals identified in the examined fractures are U-phosphate, pitchblende, U(Ca)-silicate, asphaltite, biotite, monazite, fluorite, titanite, sericite, xenotime, rutile and (Ca, REEs)-carbonate. Uranium has been introduced, mobilised and reprecipitated during at least four different episodes: 1) Originally, during emplacement of U-rich pegmatites, probably as uraninite. 2) At a second event, uranium was mobilised under brittle conditions during formation of breccia/cataclasite. Uraninite was altered to pitchblende and partly coffinitised. Mobilised uranium precipitated as pitchblende closely associated with hematite and chlorite in cataclasite and fracture sealings prior to 1,000 Ma. 3) During the Palaeozoic U was remobilised and precipitated as U-phosphate on open fracture surfaces. 4) An amorphous U-silicate has also been found in open fractures; the age of this precipitation is not known but it is inferred to be Palaeozoic or younger. Groundwater was sampled in two sections in borehole KFR106 with pumping sequences of about 6 days for each section. The samples from sections KFR106:1 and KFR106:2 (260-300 m and 143-259 m borehole length, i.e. -261 and -187 m.a.s.l. mid elevation of the section, respectively) were taken in November 2009 and yielded groundwater chemistry data in accordance with SKB chemistry class 3 and 5. In section KFR106:1 and KFR106:2, the chloride contents were 850 and 1,150 mg/L and the drilling water content 6 and 4%, respectively

Site investigation SFR. Fracture mineralogy including identification of uranium phases and hydrochemical characterisation of groundwater in borehole KFR106

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sandstroem, Bjoern [WSP Sverige AB, Goeteborg (Sweden); Nilsson, Kersti [Geosigma AB, Uppsala (Sweden); Tullborg, Eva-Lena [Terralogica AB, Graabo (Sweden)

2011-12-15

This report presents the fracture mineralogy and hydrochemistry of borehole KFR106. The most abundant fracture minerals in the examined drill core samples are clay minerals, calcite, quartz and adularia; chlorite is also common but is mostly altered and found interlayered with corrensite. The most common clay mineral is a mixed layer clay consisting of illite-smectite. Pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, barite (-celestine) and hematite are also commonly found in the fractures, but usually in trace amounts. Other minerals identified in the examined fractures are U-phosphate, pitchblende, U(Ca)-silicate, asphaltite, biotite, monazite, fluorite, titanite, sericite, xenotime, rutile and (Ca, REEs)-carbonate. Uranium has been introduced, mobilised and reprecipitated during at least four different episodes: 1) Originally, during emplacement of U-rich pegmatites, probably as uraninite. 2) At a second event, uranium was mobilised under brittle conditions during formation of breccia/cataclasite. Uraninite was altered to pitchblende and partly coffinitised. Mobilised uranium precipitated as pitchblende closely associated with hematite and chlorite in cataclasite and fracture sealings prior to 1,000 Ma. 3) During the Palaeozoic U was remobilised and precipitated as U-phosphate on open fracture surfaces. 4) An amorphous U-silicate has also been found in open fractures; the age of this precipitation is not known but it is inferred to be Palaeozoic or younger. Groundwater was sampled in two sections in borehole KFR106 with pumping sequences of about 6 days for each section. The samples from sections KFR106:1 and KFR106:2 (260-300 m and 143-259 m borehole length, i.e. -261 and -187 m.a.s.l. mid elevation of the section, respectively) were taken in November 2009 and yielded groundwater chemistry data in accordance with SKB chemistry class 3 and 5. In section KFR106:1 and KFR106:2, the chloride contents were 850 and 1,150 mg/L and the drilling water content 6 and 4%, respectively

Audits contribute to pride, productivity and profit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, Q.

1984-01-01

The object of this writing is to demonstrate that audits (in general) when used as a ''management tool' can contribute to pride, productivity, and profit. The goal of ''pride'' achievement is demonstrated through the use of techniques developed from behavioral sciences. Discussed is dealing with people and their basic needs. This is intended to point out the fact that satisfying individual needs and concerns is the first step to achieving the goals of pride, productivity, and profit. Also discussed are the basic needs of safety (security), social, ego/esteem, and self-fulfillment as well as providing some basic techniques of auditing which will help assure general satisfaction of these needs. Also noted are reporting methods. The goal of ''productivity'' is approached by demonstrating that objectives must be clear and workable. Objectives must be translated into specific action and that action must be compatible with the overall company objectives. All objectives must be known and understood by those affected. Consideration must be given to men, money, and machines (present technology). All of the objectives must also be weighed against external constraints. The goal of ''profit'' then becomes the product of a combination of ''pride'' and ''productivity''. Audits must be cost conscious. Value engineer the problem, the cause, and the solution. Discussion continues with quality cost programs briefly indicating that ''Q'' costs could be considered a type of audit. Identifying deficiencies and weaknesses, then correcting them, contributes to profit. Increased pride and productivity contributes to profit. Consider the employee's awareness and commitment for doing a good job when auditing

DISPAQ: Distributed Profitable-Area Query from Big Taxi Trip Data †

Science.gov (United States)

Putri, Fadhilah Kurnia; Song, Giltae; Rao, Praveen

2017-01-01

One of the crucial problems for taxi drivers is to efficiently locate passengers in order to increase profits. The rapid advancement and ubiquitous penetration of Internet of Things (IoT) technology into transportation industries enables us to provide taxi drivers with locations that have more potential passengers (more profitable areas) by analyzing and querying taxi trip data. In this paper, we propose a query processing system, called Distributed Profitable-Area Query (DISPAQ) which efficiently identifies profitable areas by exploiting the Apache Software Foundation’s Spark framework and a MongoDB database. DISPAQ first maintains a profitable-area query index (PQ-index) by extracting area summaries and route summaries from raw taxi trip data. It then identifies candidate profitable areas by searching the PQ-index during query processing. Then, it exploits a Z-Skyline algorithm, which is an extension of skyline processing with a Z-order space filling curve, to quickly refine the candidate profitable areas. To improve the performance of distributed query processing, we also propose local Z-Skyline optimization, which reduces the number of dominant tests by distributing killer profitable areas to each cluster node. Through extensive evaluation with real datasets, we demonstrate that our DISPAQ system provides a scalable and efficient solution for processing profitable-area queries from huge amounts of big taxi trip data. PMID:28946679

Bimalleolar ankle fracture with proximal fibular fracture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Colenbrander, R. J.; Struijs, P. A. A.; Ultee, J. M.

2005-01-01

A 56-year-old female patient suffered a bimalleolar ankle fracture with an additional proximal fibular fracture. This is an unusual fracture type, seldom reported in literature. It was operatively treated by open reduction and internal fixation of the lateral malleolar fracture. The proximal fibular

Hospital financial management: what is the link between revenue cycle management, profitability, and not-for-profit hospitals' ability to grow equity?

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Simone Rauscher; Wheeler, John

2012-01-01

Effective revenue cycle management--from appointment scheduling and patient registration at the front end of the revenue cycle to billing and cash collections at the back end--plays a crucial role in hospitals' efforts to improve their financial performance. Using data for 1,397 bond-issuing, not-for-profit US hospitals for 2000 to 2007, this study analyzed the relationship between hospitals' performance at managing the revenue cycle and their profitability and ability to build equity capital. Hospital-level fixed effects regression analysis was used to model four different measures of profitability and equity capital as functions of two key financial indicators of revenue cycle management--amount of patient revenue and speed of revenue collection. The results indicated that higher amounts of patient revenue in relation to a hospital's assets were associated with statistically significant increases in operating and total profit margins, free cash flow, and equity capital (p < 0.01 for all four models); that is, hospitals that generated more patient revenue per dollar of assets invested reported improved financial performance. Likewise, a statistically significant link existed between lower revenue collection periods and all four indicators of hospital financial performance (p < 0.01 for three models; p < 0.05 for one model). Hospitals that collected faster on their patient revenue reported higher profit margins and larger equity values. For revenue cycle managers, these findings represent good news: Streamlining a hospital's management of the patient revenue cycle can advance the organization's financial viability by improving profitability and enabling equity growth.

Stress fractures: pathophysiology, clinical presentation, imaging features, and treatment options.

Science.gov (United States)

Matcuk, George R; Mahanty, Scott R; Skalski, Matthew R; Patel, Dakshesh B; White, Eric A; Gottsegen, Christopher J

2016-08-01

Stress fracture, in its most inclusive description, includes both fatigue and insufficiency fracture. Fatigue fractures, sometimes equated with the term "stress fractures," are most common in runners and other athletes and typically occur in the lower extremities. These fractures are the result of abnormal, cyclical loading on normal bone leading to local cortical resorption and fracture. Insufficiency fractures are common in elderly populations, secondary to osteoporosis, and are typically located in and around the pelvis. They are a result of normal or traumatic loading on abnormal bone. Subchondral insufficiency fractures of the hip or knee may cause acute pain that may present in the emergency setting. Medial tibial stress syndrome is a type of stress injury of the tibia related to activity and is a clinical syndrome encompassing a range of injuries from stress edema to frank-displaced fracture. Atypical subtrochanteric femoral fracture associated with long-term bisphosphonate therapy is also a recently discovered entity that needs early recognition to prevent progression to a complete fracture. Imaging recommendations for evaluation of stress fractures include initial plain radiographs followed, if necessary, by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is preferred over computed tomography (CT) and bone scintigraphy. Radiographs are the first-line modality and may reveal linear sclerosis and periosteal reaction prior to the development of a frank fracture. MRI is highly sensitive with findings ranging from periosteal edema to bone marrow and intracortical signal abnormality. Additionally, a brief description of relevant clinical management of stress fractures is included.

DEA best practice assesses relative efficiency, profitability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, D.T.; Thompson, R.G.

1995-01-01

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), in its Order 636 of Apr. 8, 1992, stated, ''All natural gas suppliers, including pipelines, will compete for gas purchases on an equal footing.'' This FERC order changed the economic environment in the natural gas pipeline industry. Now, gas pipeline companies must know their market position, since rate of return regulation is no longer relevant. They must be managed more than before as companies have been in less-regulated parts of the oil and gas business. How they adapt to the new environment, therefore, can be instructive to companies throughout the energy industry. In this article, DEA best-practice methods measure relative efficiency and profitability potential. This measurement reflects fundamental economic relationships. The operational efficiency model analyzed is as follows: Y 1 = f(x 1 , x 2 ), where Y 1 is gross profits, x 1 is total assets (capital employed), and x 2 is total employees (labor employed). Y 1 is a comprehensive indicator of a pipeline's output, whereas x 1 represents the pipeline's total capital employed, and x 2 represents the pipeline's total labor employed. This model reflects principles long studied in economics

Marketization in Long-Term Care: A Cross-Country Comparison of Large For-Profit Nursing Home Chains

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, Charlene; Jacobsen, Frode F; Panos, Justin; Pollock, Allyson; Sutaria, Shailen; Szebehely, Marta

2017-01-01

This article presents cross-country comparisons of trends in for-profit nursing home chains in Canada, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Using public and private industry reports, the study describes ownership, corporate strategies, costs, and quality of the 5 largest for-profit chains in each country. The findings show that large for-profit nursing home chains are increasingly owned by private equity investors, have had many ownership changes over time, and have complex organizational structures. Large for-profit nursing home chains increasingly dominate the market and their strategies include the separation of property from operations, diversification, the expansion to many locations, and the use of tax havens. Generally, the chains have large revenues with high profit margins with some documented quality problems. The lack of adequate public information about the ownership, costs, and quality of services provided by nursing home chains is problematic in all the countries. The marketization of nursing home care poses new challenges to governments in collecting and reporting information to control costs as well as to ensure quality and public accountability. PMID:28634428

The Impact of Internal Factors on Bank Profitability in Kosovo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonora Haliti Rudhani

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Commercial banks play an important role in the economic development and financial stability; therefore this study investigated the influence of internal factors in the profitability of commercial banks in Kosovo. Based on the literature review, a crucial internal factor on the profitability of banks in Kosovo was deemed: the repayment of assets (ROA as a measure of profitability influenced by other independent variables, such as: bank size, capital adequacy, loan and liquidity risk. The aim of this study is to investigate the empirical relation between internal factors determining bank profitability and profitability as a dependent variable. The empirical analysis is based on the data of commercial banks in Kosovo published in the period 2010-2014. The data were analysed with SPSS 21 version, and the hypotheses were tested by means of correlation and linear regression. The findings of the study proved that commercial banks in Kosovo could enlarge their profitability by increasing the level of bank loaning and other investments, except for managing risk and liquidity properly.

Vibrational modes of hydraulic fractures: Inference of fracture geometry from resonant frequencies and attenuation

Science.gov (United States)

Lipovsky, Bradley P.; Dunham, Eric M.

2015-02-01

Oscillatory seismic signals arising from resonant vibrations of hydraulic fractures are observed in many geologic systems, including volcanoes, glaciers and ice sheets, and hydrocarbon and geothermal reservoirs. To better quantify the physical dimensions of fluid-filled cracks and properties of the fluids within them, we study wave motion along a thin hydraulic fracture waveguide. We present a linearized analysis, valid at wavelengths greater than the fracture aperture, that accounts for quasi-static elastic deformation of the fracture walls, as well as fluid viscosity, inertia, and compressibility. In the long-wavelength limit, anomalously dispersed guided waves known as crack or Krauklis waves propagate with restoring force from fracture wall elasticity. At shorter wavelengths, the waves become sound waves within the fluid channel. Wave attenuation in our model is due to fluid viscosity, rather than seismic radiation from crack tips or fracture wall roughness. We characterize viscous damping at both low frequencies, where the flow is always fully developed, and at high frequencies, where the flow has a nearly constant velocity profile away from viscous boundary layers near the fracture walls. Most observable seismic signals from resonating fractures likely arise in the boundary layer crack wave limit, where fluid-solid coupling is pronounced and attenuation is minimal. We present a method to estimate the aperture and length of a resonating hydraulic fracture using both the seismically observed quality factor and characteristic frequency. Finally, we develop scaling relations between seismic moment and characteristic frequency that might be useful when interpreting the statistics of hydraulic fracture events.

Functional outcome of intra-articular tibial plateau fractures: the impact of posterior column fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Berg, Juriaan; Reul, Maike; Nunes Cardozo, Menno; Starovoyt, Anastasiya; Geusens, Eric; Nijs, Stefaan; Hoekstra, Harm

2017-09-01

INTRODUCTION: Although regularly ignored, there is growing evidence that posterior tibial plateau fractures affect the functional outcome. The goal of this study was to assess the incidence of posterior column fractures and its impact on functional outcome and general health status. We aimed to identify all clinical variables that influence the outcome and improve insights in the treatment strategies. A retrospective cohort study including 218 intra-articular tibial plateau fractures was conducted. All fractures were reclassified and applied treatment was assessed according to the updated three-column concept. Relevant demographic and clinical variables were studied. The patient reported outcome was assessed using the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). Median follow-up was 45.5 (IQR 24.9-66.2) months. Significant outcome differences between operatively and non-operatively treated patients were found for all KOOS subscales. The incidence of posterior column fractures was 61.9%. Posterior column fractures, sagittal malalignment and an increased complication rate were associated with poor outcome. Patients treated according to the updated three-column concept, showed significantly better outcome scores than those patients who were not. We could not demonstrate the advantage of posterior column fracture fixation, due to a limited patient size. Our data indicates that implementation of the updated three-column classification concept may improve the surgical outcome of tibial plateau fractures. Failure to recognize posterior column fractures may lead to inappropriate utilization of treatment techniques. The current concept allows us to further substantiate the importance of reduction and fixation of posterior column fractures with restoration of the sagittal alignment. 3.

Increased fracture risk assessed by fracture risk assessment tool in Greek patients with Crohn's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Terzoudis, Sotirios; Zavos, Christos; Damilakis, John; Neratzoulakis, John; Dimitriadi, Daphne Anna; Roussomoustakaki, Maria; Kouroumalis, Elias A; Koutroubakis, Ioannis E

2013-01-01

The World Health Organization has recently developed the fracture risk assessment tool (FRAX) based on clinical risk factors and bone mineral density (BMD) for evaluation of the 10-year probability of a hip or a major osteoporotic fracture. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of the FRAX tool in Greek patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). FRAX scores were applied to 134 IBD patients [68 Crohn's disease (CD); 66 ulcerative colitis (UC)] who underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans at the femoral neck and lumbar spine during the period 2007-2012. Calculation of the FRAX scores, with or without BMD, was made through a web-based probability model used to compute individual fracture probabilities according to specific clinical risk factors. The median 10-year probability of a major osteoporotic fracture for IBD patients based on clinical data was 7.1%, and including the BMD was 6.2%. A significant overestimation with the first method was found (P = 0.01). Both scores with and without BMD were significantly higher in CD patients compared with UC patients (P = 0.02 and P = 0.005, respectively). The median 10-year probability of hip fracture based on clinical data was 0.8%, and including the BMD was 0.9%. The score with use of BMD was significantly higher in CD compared with UC patients (P = 0.04). CD patients have significantly higher FRAX scores and possibly fracture risk compared with UC patients. The clinical FRAX score alone seems to overestimate the risk of osteoporotic fracture in Greek IBD patients.

Statistical methods for analysing the relationship between bank profitability and liquidity

OpenAIRE

Boguslaw Guzik

2006-01-01

The article analyses the most popular methods for the empirical estimation of the relationship between bank profitability and liquidity. Owing to the fact that profitability depends on various factors (both economic and non-economic), a simple correlation coefficient, two-dimensional (profitability/liquidity) graphs or models where profitability depends only on liquidity variable do not provide good and reliable results. Quite good results can be obtained only when multifactorial profitabilit...

Analysis of fracture patterns and local stress field variations in fractured reservoirs

Science.gov (United States)

Deckert, Hagen; Drews, Michael; Fremgen, Dominik; Wellmann, J. Florian

2010-05-01

A meaningful qualitative evaluation of permeabilities in fractured reservoirs in geothermal or hydrocarbon industry requires the spatial description of the existing discontinuity pattern within the area of interest and an analysis how these fractures might behave under given stress fields. This combined information can then be used for better estimating preferred fluid pathway directions within the reservoir, which is of particular interest for defining potential drilling sites. A description of the spatial fracture pattern mainly includes the orientation of rock discontinuities, spacing relationships between single fractures and their lateral extent. We have examined and quantified fracture patterns in several outcrops of granite at the Costa Brava, Spain, and in the Black Forest, Germany, for describing reservoir characteristics. For our analysis of fracture patterns we have used photogrammetric methods to create high-resolution georeferenced digital 3D images of outcrop walls. The advantage of this approach, compared to conventional methods for fracture analysis, is that it provides a better 3D description of the fracture geometry as the entity of position, extent and orientation of single fractures with respect to their surrounding neighbors is conserved. Hence for instance, the method allows generating fracture density maps, which can be used for a better description of the spatial distribution of discontinuities in a given outcrop. Using photogrammetric techniques also has the advantage to acquire very large data sets providing statistically sound results. To assess whether the recorded discontinuities might act as fluid pathways information on the stress field is needed. A 3D model of the regional tectonic structure was created and the geometry of the faults was put into a mechanical 3D Boundary Element (BE) Model. The model takes into account the elastic material properties of the geological units and the orientation of single fault segments. The

Decomposing variation in dairy profitability: the impact of output, inputs, prices, labour and management.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, P

2011-08-01

The UK dairy sector has undergone considerable structural change in recent years, with a decrease in the number of producers accompanied by an increased average herd size and increased concentrate use and milk yields. One of the key drivers to producers remaining in the industry is the profitability of their herds. The current paper adopts a holistic approach to decomposing the variation in dairy profitability through an analysis of net margin data explained by physical input-output measures, milk price variation, labour utilization and managerial behaviours and characteristics. Data are drawn from the Farm Business Survey (FBS) for England in 2007/08 for 228 dairy enterprises. Average yields are 7100 litres/cow/yr, from a herd size of 110 cows that use 0·56 forage ha/cow/yr and 43·2 labour h/cow/yr. An average milk price of 22·57 pence per litre (ppl) produced milk output of £1602/cow/yr, which after accounting for calf sales, herd replacements and quota leasing costs, gave an average dairy output of £1516/cow/yr. After total costs of £1464/cow/yr this left an economic return of £52/cow/yr (0·73 ppl) net margin profit. There is wide variation in performance, with the most profitable (as measured by net margin per cow) quartile of producers achieving 2000 litres/cow/yr more than the least profitable quartile, returning a net margin of £335/cow/yr compared to a loss of £361/cow/yr for the least profitable. The most profitable producers operate larger, higher yielding herds and achieve a greater milk price for their output. In addition, a significantly greater number of the most profitable producers undertake financial benchmarking within their businesses and operate specialist dairy farms. When examining the full data set, the most profitable enterprises included significantly greater numbers of organic producers. The most profitable tend to have a greater reliance on independent technical advice, but this finding is not statistically significant

A note on profit maximization and monotonicity for inbound call centers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koole, G.M.; Pot, S.A.

2011-01-01

We consider an inbound call center with a fixed reward per call and communication and agent costs. By controlling the number of lines and the number of agents, we can maximize the profit. Abandonments are included in our performance model. Monotonicity results for the maximization problem are

Fractures of the growing mandible.

Science.gov (United States)

Kushner, George M; Tiwana, Paul S

2009-03-01

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons must constantly weigh the risks of surgical intervention for pediatric mandible fractures against the wonderful healing capacity of children. The majority of pediatric mandibular fractures can be managed with closed techniques using short periods of maxillomandibular fixation or training elastics alone. Generally, the use of plate- and screw-type internal fixation is reserved for difficult fractures. This article details general and special considerations for this surgery including: craniofacial growth & development, surgical anatomy, epidemiology evaluation, various fractures, the role rigid internal fixation and the Risdon cable in pediatric maxillofacial trauma. It concludes with suggestions concerning long-term follow-up care in light of the mobility, insurance obstacles, and family dynamics facing the patient population.

Generic phase transitions and profit singularities in Arnol'd's model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davydov, Aleksei A; Matos, Helena Mena

2007-01-01

For a smooth one-parameter family of pairs of control systems and profit densities on a circle, the generic transitions between optimal rotations and stationary strategies are studied in the problem of maximization of the time-averaged profit on the infinite horizon. It is shown that there are only two types of such transitions, the corresponding singularities of the average profit as a function of the family parameter are found, and it is proved that these singularities are stable under small perturbations of a generic family. The classification of singularities of the maximum average profit is completed for generic families. Bibliography: 16 titles.

RODUCTION COSTS AND PROFITABILITY OF THREE POTATO VARIETIES: LORD, VINETA AND JELLY IN YEARS 2011-2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lukasz KUTA

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The paper Farm incomes in Poland vary substantially, which is entirely confirmed by the results of agricultural accounting in Polish FADN. The income is influenced by a range of factors of which the most important are natural conditions, the farm production potential, production intensity as well as subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy. The increase in potato production on the European market has caused a low price level. In some countries the decline in prices was even 15% in 2010. The decline in prices led to the decline in profitability of potato production because low prices obtained by producers entailed higher costs of potato production. This work shows research results from years 2011-2013. The aim of the research was to compare the profitability of edible potato production on an individual farm in the Lódz Province in the early and late harvesting of the analysed years. The data needed to estimate the profitability were obtained based on the data included in the report which an individual farm runs in order to determine the profitability of the application of new cultivation technique or new varieties. Based on the obtained data, direct and indirect costs as well as profit were calculated. The profitability estimated on the basis of the data collected from the farmer was compared to the profitability which would be achieved by the farmer on the basis of the percentage of direct and indirect costs provided by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics. The profitability calculated on the basis of indicators of the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics was lower than the profitability estimated on the basis of the data obtained from the analysis of the farm financial report.

Costs and Benefits of Stopping the Clock. How Airlines Profit from Changes in the EU ETS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelissen, D.; Faber, J.

2012-12-15

All flights arriving at or departing from EU airports have been included in the EU ETS from the beginning of 2012. Airlines have to surrender allowances for emissions on flights to and from EU airports. A share of the allowances has been issued to the airlines for free, the remainder needs to be acquired at an auction or from the market. In November 2012, the European Commission proposed to exempt intercontinental flights from the EU ETS for 2012, an initiative branded as 'Stopping the Clock'. As a result of this change, airlines on intercontinental routes are likely to experience additional windfall profit, since they have probably anticipated ETS-related expenditures on these routes, which they will now not incur. In addition, all airlines have a windfall profit since they are likely to pass on the value of the free allowances, as has been demonstrated to happen in all other sectors that have received free allowances. This note estimates the windfall profits. The report distinguishes two types of windfall profits: (1) Profits that occur because the opportunity costs of free allowances received for intercontinental flights have been passed on. These windfall profits would also have occurred without the 'stop the clock' exemption. We call them ETS Windfall. (2) Profits that occur because airlines have raised their revenues on intercontinental flights, but will not need to buy allowances either at the auction or from other actors because of the exemption. We call them Stopping the Clock Windfall. Depending on the cost pass through, the total windfall profits range from euro 679 million to euro 1,358 million. About a third of these windfall profits arise from the exemption of intercontinental flights. EU airlines are expected to reap the largest share of the windfall due to the change in regulation (55%), followed by US airlines (13%).

Treatment of proximal ulna and olecranon fractures by dorsal plating

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kloen, Peter; Buijze, Geert A.

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE : Anatomic reconstruction of proximal ulna and olecranon fractures allowing early mobilization and prevention of ulnohumeral arthritis. INDICATIONS : Comminuted olecranon or proximal ulna fractures (including Monteggia fractures), olecranon fractures extending distally from the coronoid

Changing incidence and residual lifetime risk of common osteoporosis-related fractures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauritzen, J B; Schwarz, Peter; Lund, B

1993-01-01

1735 fractures of the distal radius, 747 fractures of the proximal humerus, 878 cervical and 635 trochanteric hip fractures were included. In men 273 cervical and 232 trochanteric hip fractures were included. The fractures were registered during the period 1976 to 1984 and changes in age.......05) during the observation period, while no significant decrease was found in the incidence of trochanteric fractures. No significant changes in incidence were observed in women with radial or humeral fractures, or in men with hip fractures. A women 60 years old with a life expectancy of 81 years had......Changes in incidence and lifetime risk of fractures are of major importance in the epidemiology of osteoporosis. We focused on hip fractures in women and men and on radial and humeral fractures in women. The study subjects comprised 4500 women and men 20 years old or more with fractures. In women...

Risk Pricing and Profit Maximization of Insurance Companies ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The research investigates the impact of pricing of risk on the profitability of Nigeria insurance market and also the relationship between operation expenses and profitability of the non-life insurance market in Nigeria. Results show that economy, competition and government regulation have effect on pricing of risk. Also, it was ...

smallholder farmers' use and profitability of legume inoculants

African Journals Online (AJOL)

ACSS

Rhizobia inoculant, a product of Kenya, and its profitability in smallholder farms. Data were collected from ... of the inoculants use and gross margin analysis to examine profitability. The area under the .... the effects of various factors on the extent of. BIOFIX® use. ..... little information, resulting in reduced adoption of legume ...

Profile and procedures for fractures among 1323 fracture patients from the 2010 Yushu earthquake, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Peng; Tang, Bihan; Liu, Yuan; Liu, Xu; Shen, Yan; Liu, Zhipeng; Yang, Hongyang; Zhang, Lulu

2016-11-01

The injuries caused by earthquakes are often complex and of various patterns. Our study included all fracture inpatients from the Yushu earthquake (1323 in total), to learn more about the incidence and distribution of fractures during earthquakes. A retrospective study of the clinical characteristics of hospitalized fracture patients after the 2010 Yushu earthquake was conducted from December 20 to 25, 2010.We reviewed medical records of hospitalized patients who had been evacuated from the Yushu earthquake area between April 14 and June 15, 2010, from 57 hospitals, and also reviewed more than 100 documents assembled from daily medical rescue and disease prevention reports submitted by the frontline rescue organizations. In total, 78.0% of fracture patients were admitted to the hospital within 3 days after the earthquake. There were 1323 patients who presented with 1539 fractures. The most common fracture occurred in the lower limbs, followed by spinal, pelvic, and shoulder-upper limb fractures. The end of the thoracic vertebra and the lumbar vertebra were the high-risk sites for vertebral fractures. A total of 38 patients became paraplegic. A 2-level spatial clustering was detected among the 193 patients presenting with 2 fractures. Analysis profiles of the injuries and clinical features of patients with earthquake-related fractures will positively impact rescue efforts and the treatment of fracture injuries caused by possible future natural disasters. We should assemble orthopedic-related medications and surgical equipment, and allocate them promptly after a major earthquake. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fracture heuristics: surgical decision for approaches to distal radius fractures. A surgeon's perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Wichlas, Florian; Tsitsilonis, Serafim; Kopf, Sebastian; Krapohl, Björn Dirk; Manegold, Sebastian

2017-01-01

Introduction: The aim of the present study is to develop a heuristic that could replace the surgeon's analysis for the decision on the operative approach of distal radius fractures based on simple fracture characteristics. Patients and methods: Five hundred distal radius fractures operated between 2011 and 2014 were analyzed for the surgeon's decision on the approach used. The 500 distal radius fractures were treated with open reduction and internal fixation through palmar, dorsal, and dorsopalmar approaches with 2.4 mm locking plates or underwent percutaneous fixation. The parameters that should replace the surgeon's analysis were the fractured palmar cortex, and the frontal and the sagittal split of the articular surface of the distal radius. Results: The palmar approach was used for 422 (84.4%) fractures, the dorsal approach for 39 (7.8%), and the combined dorsopalmar approach for 30 (6.0%). Nine (1.8%) fractures were treated percutaneously. The correlation between the fractured palmar cortex and the used palmar approach was moderate (r=0.464; p<0.0001). The correlation between the frontal split and the dorsal approach, including the dorsopalmar approach, was strong (r=0.715; p<0.0001). The sagittal split had only a weak correlation for the dorsal and dorsopalmar approach (r=0.300; p<0.0001). Discussion: The study shows that the surgical decision on the preferred approach is dictated through two simple factors, even in the case of complex fractures. Conclusion: When the palmar cortex is displaced in distal radius fractures, a palmar approach should be used. When there is a displaced frontal split of the articular surface, a dorsal approach should be used. When both are present, a dorsopalmar approach should be used. These two simple parameters could replace the surgeon's analysis for the surgical approach.

Rib fracture repair: indications, technical issues, and future directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Nirula, Raminder; Diaz, Jose J; Trunkey, Donald D; Mayberry, John C

2009-01-01

Rib fracture repair has been performed at selected centers around the world for more than 50 years; however, the operative indications have not been established and are considered controversial. The outcome of a strictly nonoperative approach may not be optimal. Potential indications for rib fracture repair include flail chest, painful, movable rib fractures refractory to conventional pain management, chest wall deformity/defect, rib fracture nonunion, and during thoracotomy for other traumatic indication. Rib fracture repair is technically challenging secondary to the human rib's relatively thin cortex and its tendency to fracture obliquely. Nonetheless, several effective repair systems have been developed. Future directions for progress on this important surgical problem include the development of minimally invasive techniques and the conduct of multicenter, randomized trials.

Screen Wars, Star Wars, and Sequels: Nonparametric Reanalysis of Movie Profitability

OpenAIRE

W. D. Walls

2012-01-01

In this paper we use nonparametric statistical tools to quantify motion-picture profit. We quantify the unconditional distribution of profit, the distribution of profit conditional on stars and sequels, and we also model the conditional expectation of movie profits using a non- parametric data-driven regression model. The flexibility of the non-parametric approach accommodates the full range of possible relationships among the variables without prior specification of a functional form, thereb...

Bone and fall-related fracture risks in women and men with a recent clinical fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

van Helden, Svenhjalmar; van Geel, Antonia C M; Geusens, Piet P; Kessels, Alfons; Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman, Arie C; Brink, Peter R G

2008-02-01

Worldwide fracture rates are increasing as a result of the aging population, and prevention, both primary and secondary, is an important public health goal. Therefore, we systematically analyzed risk factors in subjects with a recent clinical fracture. All men and women over fifty years of age who had been treated in the emergency department of, or hospitalized at, our institution because of a recent fracture during a one-year period were offered the opportunity to undergo an evidence-based bone and fall-related risk-factor assessment and bone densitometry. The women included in this study were also compared with a group of postmenopausal women without a fracture history who had been included in another cohort study. Of the 940 consecutive patients, 797 (85%) were eligible for this study and 568 (60%) agreed to participate. The prevalence of fall-related risk factors (75% [95% confidence interval = 71% to 78%]; n = 425) and the prevalence of bone-related risk factors (53% [95% confidence interval = 49% to 57%]; n = 299) at the time of fracture were higher than the prevalence of osteoporosis (35% [95% confidence interval = 31% to 39%]; n = 201) as defined by a dual x-ray absorptiometry T score of fall and bone-related risk factors were present irrespective of the fracture location, patient age, or gender. An overlap between bone and fall-related risk factors was found in 50% of the patients. After adjusting for age, weight, and height, we found that women with a fracture more frequently had a diagnosis of osteoporosis (odds ratio = 2.9; 95% confidence interval = 2.0 to 4.1) and had a more extensive history of falls (odds ratio = 4.0; 95% confidence interval = 2.7 to 5.9) than did the postmenopausal women without a fracture history. Men and women over fifty years of age who had recently sustained a clinical fracture had, at the time of that fracture, bone and fall-related risk factors that were greater than the risk predicted by the presence of osteoporosis. Risk

Earnings and bank profitability in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John N. N. Ugoani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Bank earnings in form of retained profit help in the capital formation of banks. This is critical because capital inadequacy is often a cause of bank failures. During the banking crisis in Nigeria the gross earnings of many banks diminished considerably due to frauds and bad management. For example, in 2009 the Central Bank of Nigeria revoked the operating licences of fourteen banks which had huge nonperforming loans and were making losses. The fragility in the Nigerian banking system in the 1990s and beyond was compounded due to wide spread poor corporate governance practices and imprudent lending that led to the erosion of gross earnings and profitability. The study employed the exploratory research design. Data analyses were done through description statistics and the regression technique using the statistical package for the social sciences. The regression result was Y = 4.926 + 1.877x meaning that with an increase of 1 percent in gross earnings bank profitability increases by 1.88 percent. This is the crux of the study.

Minimally invasive plating osteosynthesis for mid-distal third humeral shaft fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Lian, Kejian; Wang, Lei; Lin, Dasheng; Chen, Zhiwen

2013-08-01

Mid-distal third humeral shaft fractures can be effectively treated with minimally invasive plating osteosynthesis and intramedullary nailing (IMN). However, these 2 treatments have not been adequately compared. Forty-seven patients (47 fractures) with mid-distal third humeral shaft fractures were randomly allocated to undergo either minimally invasive plating osteosynthesis (n=24) or IMN (n=23). The 2 groups were similar in terms of fracture patterns, fracture location, age, and associated injuries. Intraoperative measurements included blood loss and operative time. Clinical outcome measurements included fracture healing, radial nerve recovery, and elbow and shoulder discomfort. Radiographic measurements included fracture alignment, time to healing, delayed union, and nonunion. Functional outcome was satisfactory in both groups. Mean American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score and Mayo score were both better for the minimally invasive plating osteosynthesis group than for the IMN group (98.2 vs 97.6, respectively, and 93.5 vs 94.1, respectively; Pshaft fractures. Minimally invasive plating osteosynthesis is more suitable for complex fractures, especially for radial protection and motion recovery of adjacent joints, compared with IMN for simple fractures. Copyright 2013, SLACK Incorporated.

Wise Investment? Modeling Industry Profitability and Risk of Targeted Chemotherapy for Incurable Solid Cancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Conter, Henry J; Chu, Quincy S C

2012-03-01

Pharmaceutical development involves substantial financial risk. This risk, rising development costs, and the promotion of continued research and development have been cited as major drivers in the progressive increase in drug prices. Currently, cost-effective analyses are being used to determine the value of treatment. However, cost-effective analyses practically function as a threshold for value and do not directly address the rationale for drug prices. We set out to create a functional model for industry price decisions and clarify the minimum acceptable profitability of new drugs. Assuming that industry should only invest in profitable ventures, we employed a linear cost-volume-profit breakeven analysis to equate initial capital investment and risk and post-drug-approval profits, where drug development represents the bulk of investment. A Markov decision analysis model was also used to define the relationships between investment events risk. A systematic literature search was performed to determine event probabilities, clinical trial costs, and total expenses as inputs into the model. Disease-specific inputs, current market size across regions, and lengths of treatment for cancer types were also included. With development of single novel chemotherapies costing from $802 to $1,042 million (2002 US dollars), pharmaceutical profits should range from $4.3 to $5.2 billion, with an expected rate of return on investment of 11% annually. However, diversification across cancer types for chemotherapy can reduce the minimum required profit to less than $3 billion. For optimal diversification, industry should study four tumor types per drug; however, nonprofit organizations could tolerate eight parallel development tracks to minimize the risk of development failure. Assuming that pharmaceutical companies hold exclusive rights for drug sales for only 5 years after market approval, the minimum required profit per drug per month per patient ranges from $294 for end-stage lung

Wise Investment? Modeling Industry Profitability and Risk of Targeted Chemotherapy for Incurable Solid Cancers

Science.gov (United States)

Conter, Henry J.; Chu, Quincy S.C.

2012-01-01

Purpose: Pharmaceutical development involves substantial financial risk. This risk, rising development costs, and the promotion of continued research and development have been cited as major drivers in the progressive increase in drug prices. Currently, cost-effective analyses are being used to determine the value of treatment. However, cost-effective analyses practically function as a threshold for value and do not directly address the rationale for drug prices. We set out to create a functional model for industry price decisions and clarify the minimum acceptable profitability of new drugs. Methods: Assuming that industry should only invest in profitable ventures, we employed a linear cost-volume-profit breakeven analysis to equate initial capital investment and risk and post–drug-approval profits, where drug development represents the bulk of investment. A Markov decision analysis model was also used to define the relationships between investment events risk. A systematic literature search was performed to determine event probabilities, clinical trial costs, and total expenses as inputs into the model. Disease-specific inputs, current market size across regions, and lengths of treatment for cancer types were also included. Results: With development of single novel chemotherapies costing from $802 to $1,042 million (2002 US dollars), pharmaceutical profits should range from $4.3 to $5.2 billion, with an expected rate of return on investment of 11% annually. However, diversification across cancer types for chemotherapy can reduce the minimum required profit to less than $3 billion. For optimal diversification, industry should study four tumor types per drug; however, nonprofit organizations could tolerate eight parallel development tracks to minimize the risk of development failure. Assuming that pharmaceutical companies hold exclusive rights for drug sales for only 5 years after market approval, the minimum required profit per drug per month per patient ranges

Fracture size and transmissivity correlations: Implications for transport simulations in sparse three-dimensional discrete fracture networks following a truncated power law distribution of fracture size

Science.gov (United States)

Hyman, J.; Aldrich, G. A.; Viswanathan, H. S.; Makedonska, N.; Karra, S.

2016-12-01

We characterize how different fracture size-transmissivity relationships influence flow and transport simulations through sparse three-dimensional discrete fracture networks. Although it is generally accepted that there is a positive correlation between a fracture's size and its transmissivity/aperture, the functional form of that relationship remains a matter of debate. Relationships that assume perfect correlation, semi-correlation, and non-correlation between the two have been proposed. To study the impact that adopting one of these relationships has on transport properties, we generate multiple sparse fracture networks composed of circular fractures whose radii follow a truncated power law distribution. The distribution of transmissivities are selected so that the mean transmissivity of the fracture networks are the same and the distributions of aperture and transmissivity in models that include a stochastic term are also the same.We observe that adopting a correlation between a fracture size and its transmissivity leads to earlier breakthrough times and higher effective permeability when compared to networks where no correlation is used. While fracture network geometry plays the principal role in determining where transport occurs within the network, the relationship between size and transmissivity controls the flow speed. These observations indicate DFN modelers should be aware that breakthrough times and effective permeabilities can be strongly influenced by such a relationship in addition to fracture and network statistics.

Anchorage strategies in geriatric hip fracture management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Knobe Matthias

2016-12-01

Full Text Available There is an enormous humanitarian and socioeconomic need to improve the quality and effectiveness of care for patients with hip fracture. To reduce mechanical complications in the osteosynthesis of proximal femoral fractures, improved fixation techniques have been developed including blade or screw-anchor devices, locked minimally invasive or cement augmentation strategies. However, despite numerous innovations and advances regarding implant design and surgical techniques, systemic and mechanical complication rates remain high. Treatment success depends on secure implant fixation in often-osteoporotic bone as well as on patient-specific factors (fracture stability, bone quality, comorbidity, and gender and surgeon-related factors (experience, correct reduction, and optimal screw placement in the head/neck fragment. For fracture fixation, the anchorage of the lag screw within the femoral head plays a crucial role depending on the implant’s design. Meta-analyses and randomized controlled studies demonstrate that there is a strong trend towards arthroplasty treating geriatric femoral neck fractures. However, for young adults as well as older patients with less compromised bone quality, or in undisplaced fractures, head-preserving therapy is preferred as it is less invasive and associated with good functional results. This review summarizes the evidence for the internal fixation of femoral neck fractures and trochanteric femoral fractures in elderly patients. In addition, biomechanical considerations regarding implant anchorage in the femoral head including rotation, migration, and femoral neck shortening are made. Finally, cement augmentation strategies for hip fracture implants are evaluated critically.

Rock fracture processes in chemically reactive environments

Science.gov (United States)

Eichhubl, P.

2015-12-01

Rock fracture is traditionally viewed as a brittle process involving damage nucleation and growth in a zone ahead of a larger fracture, resulting in fracture propagation once a threshold loading stress is exceeded. It is now increasingly recognized that coupled chemical-mechanical processes influence fracture growth in wide range of subsurface conditions that include igneous, metamorphic, and geothermal systems, and diagenetically reactive sedimentary systems with possible applications to hydrocarbon extraction and CO2 sequestration. Fracture processes aided or driven by chemical change can affect the onset of fracture, fracture shape and branching characteristics, and fracture network geometry, thus influencing mechanical strength and flow properties of rock systems. We are investigating two fundamental modes of chemical-mechanical interactions associated with fracture growth: 1. Fracture propagation may be aided by chemical dissolution or hydration reactions at the fracture tip allowing fracture propagation under subcritical stress loading conditions. We are evaluating effects of environmental conditions on critical (fracture toughness KIc) and subcritical (subcritical index) fracture properties using double torsion fracture mechanics tests on shale and sandstone. Depending on rock composition, the presence of reactive aqueous fluids can increase or decrease KIc and/or subcritical index. 2. Fracture may be concurrent with distributed dissolution-precipitation reactions in the hostrock beyond the immediate vicinity of the fracture tip. Reconstructing the fracture opening history recorded in crack-seal fracture cement of deeply buried sandstone we find that fracture length growth and fracture opening can be decoupled, with a phase of initial length growth followed by a phase of dominant fracture opening. This suggests that mechanical crack-tip failure processes, possibly aided by chemical crack-tip weakening, and distributed solution-precipitation creep in the

Being 'green' helps profitability?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Austin, D.

1999-01-01

Pollution reduction beyond regulatory compliance is gaining momentum among firms, but managers ask if being 'green' helps profitability. Evidence suggests it doesn't hurt, but when we see environmentally attractive firms with sound financial performance, it cannot yet say which is cause and which is effect [it

Is merging and acquisition profitable?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skjeret, Frode; Soergard, Lars

2002-01-01

This report deals with mergers and acquisitions in the electricity sector in Norway. The background is the fact that the profitability of these activities proves to be low. In buying, it is typically the selling shareholder who profits from the transaction, while the buying company does not really earn much. This result appears to be a robust result both in different countries, between sectors and independent of methodology. The report provides theoretical justification for merging and buying up and empirical evaluations of the effects of company integration. It is asserted that what can be learned in general from the literature may also occur in the European power sector. Furthermore, the report discusses the challenges faced by the companies if they want to expand through mergers and acquisitions

Growth, carcass characteristics, and profitability of organic versus conventional dairy beef steers.

Science.gov (United States)

Bjorklund, E A; Heins, B J; Dicostanzo, A; Chester-Jones, H

2014-03-01

Bull calves (n=49), born at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (Morris) between March and May 2011, were used to compare growth measurements and profitability of conventional and organic dairy steers. Calves were assigned to 1 of 3 replicated groups at birth: conventional (CONV; n=16), organic (pasture and concentrate; ORG; n=16), or organic grass only (GRS; n=17), and analysis of variables was on a pen basis. Breed groups of calves were Holstein (HO; n=9); Holsteins (n=11) maintained at 1964 breed average level; crossbreds (n=19) including combinations of HO, Montbéliarde, and Swedish Red; and crossbreds (n=10) including combinations of HO, Jersey, Swedish Red, and Normande. The CONV steers were fed a diet of 80% concentrate and 20% forage. The ORG steers were fed a diet of organic corn, organic corn silage, and at least 30% of their diet consisted of organic pasture during the grazing season. The GRS steers grazed pasture during the grazing season and were fed high-quality hay or hay silage during the nongrazing season. Intakes of a total mixed ration were recorded daily with herd management software. A profit function was defined to include revenues and expenses for beef value, feed intake, pasture intake, health cost, and yardage. The GRS (358.6 kg) steers had lesser total gains from birth to slaughter than ORG (429.6 kg) and CONV (534.5 kg) steers. Furthermore, the GRS (0.61 kg/d) steers had lesser average daily gain from birth compared with ORG (0.81 kg/d) and CONV (1.1 kg/d) steers. The GRS and ORG steers had smaller rib eye area (49.5 and 65.8 cm(2), respectively) compared with CONV (75.4 cm(2)) steers. For profitability, GRS steers had 43% greater profit than CONV steers due to organic beef price premiums and lower feed costs. On the other hand, ORG steers had substantially less profit than CONV steers. The higher cost of production for the ORG steers is due to the extreme high value of organic corn. The results of the

Not-for-profit versus for-profit health care providers-Part I: comparing and contrasting their records.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotarius, Timothy; Trujillo, Antonio J; Liberman, Aaron; Ramirez, Bernardo

2005-01-01

The debate over which health care providers are most capably meeting their responsibilities in serving the public's interest continues unabated, and the comparisons of not-for-profit (NFP) versus for-profit (FP) hospitals remain at the epicenter of the discussion. From the perspective of available factual information, which of the two sides to this debate is correct? This article is part I of a 2-part series on comparing and contrasting the performance records of NFP health care providers with their FP counterparts. Although it is demonstrated that both NFP and FP providers perform virtuous and selfless feats on behalf of America's public, it is also shown that both camps are involved in potentially willful clinical and administrative missteps. Part I contains the background information (eg, legal differences, perspectives on social responsibility, and types of questionable and fraudulent behavior) that is necessary to adequately understand the scope of the comparison issue. Part II offers actual comparisons of the 2 organizational structures using several disparate factors such as specific organizational behaviors, approach to the health care priorities of cost and quality, and business-focused goals of profits, efficiency, and community benefit.

Not-for-profit versus for-profit health care providers--Part II: Comparing and contrasting their records.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotarius, Timothy; Trujillo, Antonio J; Liberman, Aaron; Ramirez, Bernardo

2006-01-01

The debate over which health care providers are most capably meeting their responsibilities in serving the public's interest continues unabated, and the comparisons of not-for-profit (NFP) versus for-profit (FP) hospitals remain at the epicenter of the discussion. From the perspective of available factual information, which of the two sides to this debate is correct? This article is part II of a 2-part series on comparing and contrasting the performance records of NFP health care providers with their FP counterparts. Although it is demonstrated that both NFP and FP providers perform virtuous and selfless feats on behalf of America's public, it is also shown that both camps have been accused of being involved in potentially willful clinical and administrative missteps. Part I provided the background information (eg, legal differences, perspectives on social responsibility, and types of questionable and fraudulent behavior) required to adequately understand the scope of the comparison issue. Part II offers actual comparisons of the 2 organizational structures using several disparate factors such as specific organizational behaviors, approach to the health care priorities of cost and quality, and business-focused goals of profits, efficiency, and community benefit.

Prediction of fracture initiation in square cup drawing of DP980 using an anisotropic ductile fracture criterion

Science.gov (United States)

Park, N.; Huh, H.; Yoon, J. W.

2017-09-01

This paper deals with the prediction of fracture initiation in square cup drawing of DP980 steel sheet with the thickness of 1.2 mm. In an attempt to consider the influence of material anisotropy on the fracture initiation, an uncoupled anisotropic ductile fracture criterion is developed based on the Lou—Huh ductile fracture criterion. Tensile tests are carried out at different loading directions of 0°, 45°, and 90° to the rolling direction of the sheet using various specimen geometries including pure shear, dog-bone, and flat grooved specimens so as to calibrate the parameters of the proposed fracture criterion. Equivalent plastic strain distribution on the specimen surface is computed using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) method until surface crack initiates. The proposed fracture criterion is implemented into the commercial finite element code ABAQUS/Explicit by developing the Vectorized User-defined MATerial (VUMAT) subroutine which features the non-associated flow rule. Simulation results of the square cup drawing test clearly show that the proposed fracture criterion is capable of predicting the fracture initiation with sufficient accuracy considering the material anisotropy.

Imaging techniques for the assessment of fracture repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Augat, P; Morgan, E F; Lujan, T J; MacGillivray, T J; Cheung, W H

2014-06-01

Imaging of a healing fracture provides a non-invasive and often instructive reproduction of the fracture repair progress and the healing status of bone. However, the interpretation of this reproduction is often qualitative and provides only an indirect and surrogate measure of the mechanical stability of the healing fracture. Refinements of the available imaging techniques have been suggested to more accurately determine the healing status of bone. Plain radiographs provide the ability to determine the degree of bridging of the fracture gap and to quantify the amount of periosteal callus formation. Absorptiometric measures including dual X-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography provide quantitative information on the amount and the density of newly formed bone around the site of the fracture. To include the effect of spatial distribution of newly formed bone, finite element models of healing fracture can be employed to estimate its load bearing capacity. Ultrasound technology not only avoids radiation doses to the patients but also provides the ability to additionally measure vascularity in the surrounding soft tissue of the fracture and in the fracture itself. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The “communication line” suggests occult posterior malleolar fracture associated with a spiral tibial shaft fracture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou Zhiyong; Zhang Liping; Zhang Qi; Yao Shuangquan; Pan Jinshe; Irgit, Kaan; Zhang Yingze

2012-01-01

Objectives: To demonstrate radiographical characteristics of the relationship between distal spiral tibial shaft fractures and associated occult posterior malleolar fractures (PMF) that confirmed by CT and MRI. Materials and methods: X-rays for a ninety-six patients with spiral tibia fracture and associated PMF were reviewed. All patients additionally had an ankle CT. Patients with a negative CT scans underwent an ankle MRI. Radiographic observations included fracture location, characteristics, and a presence of a fracture line between the two injuries. Results: The spiral tibia fracture line was contiguous with PMF in 89 of 96 cases after evaluation with the CT and MRI. The line connecting the two injuries, which occurs between the medial inferior apex of the spiral tibia fracture line and the posterior superior apex of the PMF was identified as the “communication line”. In 47 of the 89 conjunction fractures, the “communication line” was detectable preoperatively and in 12 cases postoperatively by anteroposterior radiograph. By using the CT and MRI scans, we found that no “communication line” was present in only 7 cases. Conclusion: It is important to understand the nature of the association between distal spiral tibial shaft fractures and occult posterior malleolar fractures for optimal stabilization of the fracture and for appropriate rehabilitation. The “communication line” is a useful diagnostic clue for early recognition the occult PMF and alerts a closer evaluation of the lateral view and further CT examination.

Management of Enterprise Profit: Theory and Methodology

OpenAIRE

Nadezhda Sergeevna Piontkevich

2015-01-01

Effective management of financial activity of commercial organization promotes achievement of the main objective of its activity – receiving profit. Both external and internal factors causing specifics of financial management of organization in the field of management of profit have impact on this process. In modern conditions of economic development this problem gains the greatest relevance, and new approaches for its decision are required. In the present article the author’s theoretical and...

Risk factors for stress fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennell, K; Matheson, G; Meeuwisse, W; Brukner, P

1999-08-01

Preventing stress fractures requires knowledge of the risk factors that predispose to this injury. The aetiology of stress fractures is multifactorial, but methodological limitations and expediency often lead to research study designs that evaluate individual risk factors. Intrinsic risk factors include mechanical factors such as bone density, skeletal alignment and body size and composition, physiological factors such as bone turnover rate, flexibility, and muscular strength and endurance, as well as hormonal and nutritional factors. Extrinsic risk factors include mechanical factors such as surface, footwear and external loading as well as physical training parameters. Psychological traits may also play a role in increasing stress fracture risk. Equally important to these types of analyses of individual risk factors is the integration of information to produce a composite picture of risk. The purpose of this paper is to critically appraise the existing literature by evaluating study design and quality, in order to provide a current synopsis of the known scientific information related to stress fracture risk factors. The literature is not fully complete with well conducted studies on this topic, but a great deal of information has accumulated over the past 20 years. Although stress fractures result from repeated loading, the exact contribution of training factors (volume, intensity, surface) has not been clearly established. From what we do know, menstrual disturbances, caloric restriction, lower bone density, muscle weakness and leg length differences are risk factors for stress fracture. Other time-honoured risk factors such as lower extremity alignment have not been shown to be causative even though anecdotal evidence indicates they are likely to play an important role in stress fracture pathogenesis.

Acetabular Fracture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chad Correa

2017-09-01

Full Text Available History of present illness: A 77-year-old female presented to her primary care physician (PCP with right hip pain after a mechanical fall. She did not lose consciousness or have any other traumatic injuries. She was unable to ambulate post-fall, so X-rays were ordered by her PCP. Her X-rays were concerning for a right acetabular fracture (see purple arrows, so the patient was referred to the emergency department where a computed tomography (CT scan was ordered. Significant findings: The non-contrast CT images show a minimally displaced comminuted fracture of the right acetabulum involving the acetabular roof, medial and anterior walls (red arrows, with associated obturator muscle hematoma (blue oval. Discussion: Acetabular fractures are quite rare. There are 37 pelvic fractures per 100,000 people in the United States annually, and only 10% of these involve the acetabulum. They occur more frequently in the elderly totaling an estimated 4,000 per year. High-energy trauma is the primary cause of acetabular fractures in younger individuals and these fractures are commonly associated with other fractures and pelvic ring disruptions. Fractures secondary to moderate or minimal trauma are increasingly of concern in patients of advanced age.1 Classification of acetabular fractures can be challenging. However, the approach can be simplified by remembering the three basic types of acetabular fractures (column, transverse, and wall and their corresponding radiologic views. First, column fractures should be evaluated with coronally oriented CT images. This type of fracture demonstrates a coronal fracture line running caudad to craniad, essentially breaking the acetabulum into two halves: a front half and a back half. Secondly, transverse fractures should be evaluated by sagittally oriented CT images. By definition, a transverse fracture separates the acetabulum into superior and inferior halves with the fracture line extending from anterior to posterior

Recognition of Depreciation by Not-For-Profit Institutions. A NACUBO Mongraph.

Science.gov (United States)

Forrester, Robert T.; Collins, Stephen J.

Information on depreciation concepts, accounting procedures, and reporting formats in not-for-profit institutions is provided. Details are included on the requirements and implications of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Statement of Financial Accounting Standards no. 93 (FASB 93). Following highlights of FASB 93, an overview looks at…

An Analysis of The Islamic and Conventional Banking Profitability in Palestine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohmad Tawfiq Abusharbeh

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: An Analysis of the Islamic and Conventional Banking Profitability in Palestine. The research paper examines the performance of profitability of Islamic banks against conventional banks for the period of 2005 to 2010. Two alternative measurements of banking profitability such as Return on Equity (ROE and Return on Assets (ROA are used to examine whether there is any differences of profit rate between Islamic, local and foreign conventional banks. The study concludes that Islamic banks generally provide the similar profit rate compared to local banks, however Islamic banks provide lower profit rate compared to foreign banks. Finally the findings also suggest that there is no statistical significant difference in mean return between the Islamic banks, local and foreign banks in Palestine. The study recommends the critical needs for Islamic regulation in order to improve the role of Islamic banking industry in Palestine.

Powering Profits. Profits, Investments and Fuel Type Mixes in the Dutch Power Sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilde-Ramsing, J.; Steinweg, T.

2007-06-01

This report addresses the Dutch power sector, identifying the major corporate players in the market, types of fuel used to generate electricity, the profits being made, and investments in both renewable and non-renewable generation capacity. For the purposes of this report, the power sector is understood to encompass production (i.e. generation) and supply of electricity. Some discussion and figures on heat and gas, which are also essential energy services, are provided, but the focus is primarily on electricity. Section 2 of the report provides an overview of the Dutch power sector, breaking the market down into production and supply. Major players, markets shares, and recent trends and developments are given for each of these activities. Sections 3 - 7 go into detail on the five major corporate players active in the Dutch power sector: ENECO, Essent, Nuon, Electrabel, and E.ON Energie. For each company, information is provided on profits and earnings, the fuel mix used to generate and supply electricity, the CO2 emissions associated with these activities, installed capacity in the Netherlands, and recent investments in renewable and non-renewable generation capacity in the Netherlands. For the Dutch companies, ENECO, Essent and Nuon, additional information on the ownership structure of the company, shareholders and dividends paid and received is given. A section on RWE (Section 8) is also included in the study because, although RWE is not currently active in generating electricity in the Netherlands, RWE Energy does currently supply electricity generated by producers in the Netherlands. In addition, RWE Power is currently planning to invest significantly in power generation capacity in the Netherlands. The final section of the report compares the companies activities in the Netherlands and draws conclusions based on the companies' respective performance

Business analytics of specialized medical biochemistry laboratory using profit and loss acount

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vikica Buljanović

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Introduction. By measuring the actual effectiveness of a medical biochemistry laboratory’s business operations, we can determine the accounting measure of laboratory’s profitability, where operating expenses of the laboratory are covered by the income generated from the services. A laboratory’s financial report can be based on a profit and loss account, which shows whether or not a business entity, i.e., the laboratory, is making a profit during a particular business period. Methods. Profitability of the Specialized Medical Biochemical Laboratory (Laboratory of the General County Hospital in Našice, Croatia, was determined using the profit and loss account for 2007. Business success was expressed using the accounting measures of marginal contribution, gross income, and operating income, which could show whether or not the laboratory was operating profitably. This procedure allowed us to identify indicators of successful or unsuccessful business operations of the Laboratory. Results. According to the profit and loss account, the operating profit was 719,926 HRK, i.e., the operating margin was 11.7%, indicating that the Laboratory was operating positively. After subtracting all operating expenses per 100 income units, 11.7 units profit remained from the Laboratory’s core business. Conclusion. The Specialized Medical Biochemical Laboratory of the General County Hospital in Našice generated income, i.e., it operated at a profit. The purpose of profit and loss account was to determine the Laboratory operations that had impact on its business effectiveness and could increase the actual profitability. If the laboratory operates at a loss, and no activities are undertaken that would reverse the business toward positive, the analysis may provide information on the cost for the society as a whole of the studied laboratory within the existing healthcare system.

Radiographic evaluation of maxillofacial fractures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litwan, M.; Fliegel, C.

1986-01-01

The course and configuration of typical maxillofacial fractures (type Le Fort I-III) and lateral maxillary fractures including the zygomatic arch were reconstructed in detail by application of barium paste on a bony skull and radiogrpahs in standard projections were performed and evaluated. It was obvious from the resulting radiographs that for most maxillofacial fractures a half axial or Water's view was most helpful. Lateral views only give additional information when there is a considerable degree of dislocation of fragments. Comparison with a prediatric skull of 8 years of age demonstrated that fractures of the zygomatic arch in this age group cannot be demonstrated by the typical submento-vertical view, but are shown on a Towne projection. The radiographic appearance of important maxillofacial fractures is demonstrated. The necessity of further studies in cases where reconstructive surgery appears necessary is discussed and CT rather then conventional tomography is advocated. (orig.) [de

Near Wellbore Hydraulic Fracture Propagation from Perforations in Tight Rocks: The Roles of Fracturing Fluid Viscosity and Injection Rate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed Hassan Fallahzadeh

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Hydraulic fracture initiation and near wellbore propagation is governed by complex failure mechanisms, especially in cased perforated wellbores. Various parameters affect such mechanisms, including fracturing fluid viscosity and injection rate. In this study, three different fracturing fluids with viscosities ranging from 20 to 600 Pa.s were used to investigate the effects of varying fracturing fluid viscosities and fluid injection rates on the fracturing mechanisms. Hydraulic fracturing tests were conducted in cased perforated boreholes made in tight 150 mm synthetic cubic samples. A true tri-axial stress cell was used to simulate real far field stress conditions. In addition, dimensional analyses were performed to correspond the results of lab experiments to field-scale operations. The results indicated that by increasing the fracturing fluid viscosity and injection rate, the fracturing energy increased, and consequently, higher fracturing pressures were observed. However, when the fracturing energy was transferred to a borehole at a faster rate, the fracture initiation angle also increased. This resulted in more curved fracture planes. Accordingly, a new parameter, called fracturing power, was introduced to relate fracture geometry to fluid viscosity and injection rate. Furthermore, it was observed that the presence of casing in the wellbore impacted the stress distribution around the casing in such a way that the fracture propagation deviated from the wellbore vicinity.

Profitability of Technical Currency Speculation. The Case of Yen-Dollar Trading 1976-2007

OpenAIRE

Schulmeister, Stephan

2008-01-01

The paper investigates the profitability of 1,024 moving average and momentum models and their components in the yen-dollar market. It turns out that all models would have been profitable between 1976 and 2007. The models produce more single losses than single profits. At the same time, the size of the single profits is on average much higher than the size of single losses because profitable positions last two to six times longer than unprofitable positions. Hence, the profitability of techni...

Estimating profit shifting in South Africa using firm-level tax returns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wier, Ludvig

2016-01-01

Using the universe of South African corporate tax returns for 2009–14, we estimate profit- and debt-shifting responses in South Africa. We find evidence that South African subsidiaries engage in profit shifting and that profit-shifting responses to tax incentives across all channels...

The decline of uranium profitability in South Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1989-06-01

Between 1952 and 1988, the South African uranium industry produced 340 million pounds U{sub 3}O{sub 8}-some 14 percent of total world production to date. Peak production was 16.1 million pounds U{sub 3}O{sub 8} in 1980. In 1989, uranium production will have dropped to less than eight million pounds U{sub 3}O{sub 8} per year, and the prospects for further decreases are high. This once-booming business that has been a major contributor to South Africa`s economy is on the brink of collapse. While the policy of apartheid has caused several countries to restrict or embargo further deliveries, the uranium business has also become much less profitable. Profits from the production of uranium concentrates in South Africa exceeded 1.5 billion rand during the period 1981-1988. The trend of this profitability is shown. Inflation and low prices in combination with stabilizing exchange rates are continuing to restrict profitability. NUEXCO examines these factors and their impact on South African uranium production in detail in this article.

Age differences in career activities among higher-level employees in the Netherlands: a comparison between profit sector and non-profit sector staff

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Heijden, Beatrice

2006-01-01

The present study describes age differences in the occurrence of career activities among profit sector and non-profit sector employees in the Netherlands. Three different types of variables have been studied, i.e. individual, job-related and organizational variables. Hypotheses have been tested with

Domestic and Foreign Banks’ Profitability: Differences and Their Determinants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad AZAM

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study to analyze and compare the profitability of domestic (Public & Private and foreign banks operating in the Pakistan Banking market between 2004 and 2010 on quarterly basis. Total 36 Commercial Banks of Pakistani Industry have represented our sample. To control for the effect of bank ownership on performance, we split the sample into three categories: (1 domestic banks with Government Control, (2 domestic banks with Private control, and (3 foreign banks. This study also finds that foreign banks are more profitable than all domestic banks regardless of their ownership structure by applying regression analysis. This may suggest that it is better for a multinational bank to establish a subsidiary/branch rather than acquiring an “existing player” in the host country. We also found that domestic and foreign banks have different profitability determinants, i.e. factors that are important in shaping domestic banks’ profitability are not necessary important for the foreign banks and vice versa. Empirical results show that foreign banks are less affected by the macroeconomic factors of the host country than domestic banks and they have a higher profitability margin in Pakistan.

Dynamic fracture toughness data for CASTOR registered casks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winkler, H.P.; Trubitz, P.; Pusch, G.; Warnke, E.P.; Beute, K.; Novotny, V.

2004-01-01

For the use of cast iron spherical graphite for heavy-sectioned casks for transportation and storage of radiactive materials a complete failure assessment including fracture mechanical analysis is necessary. The casks require an elaborate fracture mechanics design based on fracture mechanics evaluation. The extension of the existing code with respect to dynamic loading takes account new developments to extend the field of applications. It also includes new criteria to design these casks against operating and accident loadings. A fundamental requirement for the realisation of this standard and the calculation of admissible crack lengths of stresses under dynamic loads is the availability of fracture mechanical data. The paper presents-as a part of a large test-program-first results of dynamic fracture-toughness-investigations depending on structure and temperature. The test-program will incorporate investigations on more then 2500 specimens. The investigations that will be done include static and dynamic fracture mechanics tests, dynamic tensile and pressure-tests on different formed specimens. The temperatures and other test conditions follows the IAEA-regulations and the real service conditions. The test-program will be realised in partnership with different institutes

The relationship between the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) and hospital profitability.

Science.gov (United States)

Younis, Mustafa Z

2006-01-01

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) reduced the payment for fees for service providers and reduced the subsidy paid by the government for teaching hospitals. Since the passage of such cost containment measures, debates regarding their impact on hospitals, graduate medical education, and access to health care were raised. The need to examine the effect of such payment reduction on hospital profitability was widely ignored. We examined the relationship between the BBA and hospital profitability by using return on assets to measure profitability, by running an ordinary least squares regression for 1996 as pre-BBA and 1999 as post-BBA. We controlled for variables that were not included in previous literature, such as disproportionate share hospital status, critical access hospital status, and graduate medical education, measured by teaching hospitals to measure the effect of BBA cuts on teaching hospitals. Furthermore we incorporated several economic, financial, and utilization variables in the model. We used 1996 and 1999 data in our analysis to bridge potential effects of the BBA. To locate hospitals that changed ownership status we cross-matched the Medicare Cost Report data with the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. We found that overall hospital profitability declined as a result of the introduction of the BBA; however, small rural hospitals that converted to critical access status enjoyed improvement in financial status over the period of our study. Hospitals that converted to for-profit status did not improve in financial status, and showed a lower earning after the conversation. Our results show that the BBA had a negative effect on hospitals because of cuts in its reimbursement policy, except for critical access hospitals, which show improvement because of their exemption from the prospective payment system. Our study differs from others by using national comprehensive data for years that focus exclusively on the Balanced Budget Act period. We

The Investment Strategy of With-Profits Life Insurance Firms

OpenAIRE

Jaafar, Karim Chawki

2008-01-01

Abstract Within the context of an increasingly fragile life insurance industry, this paper conducts a quantitative investigation on the determinants of investment strategy within with profit life assurers in the UK, a dominant segment within the global industry. Examining a range of possible defining characteristics on investment strategy of such firms including size, financial strength (solvency), proprietary/mutual status, open/closed status and the level of guaranteed liabilities, th...

Femoral neck fractures after removal of hardware in healed trochanteric fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Barquet, Antonio; Giannoudis, Peter V; Gelink, Andrés

2017-12-01

Hardware removal in healed trochanteric fractures (TF) in the absence of infection or significant mechanical complications is rarely indicated. However, in patients with persistent pain, prominent material and discomfort in the activities of daily living, the implant is eventually removed. Publications of ipsilateral femoral neck fracture after removal of implants from healed trochanteric fractures (FNFARIHTF) just because of pain or discomfort are rare. The purpose of this systematic review of the literature is to report on the eventual risk factors, the mechanisms, the clinical presentation, and frequency, and to pay special emphasis in their prevention. A comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken using the PRISMA guidelines with no language restriction. Case reports of FNFARIHTF and series of TF with cases of FNFARIHTF due to pain or discomfort published between inception of journals to December 2016 were eligible for inclusion. Relevant information was divided in two parts. Part I included the analysis of cases of FNFARIHTF, with the objective of establishing the eventual risk factors, mechanisms and pathoanatomy, clinical presentation and diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Part II analyzed series of TF which included cases of FNFARIHTF for assessing the incidence of femoral neck fractures in this condition. Overall 24 publications with 45 cases of FNFARIHTF met the inclusion criteria. We found that the only prevalent factors for FNFARIHTF were: 1) preexisisting systemic osteoporosis, as most patients were older and elder females, with lower bone mineral density and bone mass; 2) local osteoporosis as a result of preloading by the fixation device in the femoral neck, leading to stress protection, reducing the strain at the neck, and increasing bone loss and weakness; and 3) the removal of hardware from the femoral neck, with reduction of the failure strength of the neck. The femoral neck fractures were spontaneous, i.e. not related to trauma or

Associations of early premenopausal fractures with subsequent fractures vary by sites and mechanisms of fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Honkanen, R; Tuppurainen, M; Kroger, H; Alhava, E; Puntila, E

1997-04-01

In a retrospective population-based study we assessed whether and how self-reported former fractures sustained at the ages of 20-34 are associated with subsequent fractures sustained at the ages of 35-57. The 12,162 women who responded to fracture questions of the baseline postal enquiry (in 1989) of the Kuopio Osteoporosis Study, Finland formed the study population. They reported 589 former and 2092 subsequent fractures. The hazard ratio (HR), with 95% confidence interval (CI), of a subsequent fracture was 1.9 (1.6-2.3) in women with the history of a former fracture compared with women without such a history. A former low-energy wrist fracture was related to subsequent low-energy wrist [HR = 3.7 (2.0-6.8)] and high-energy nonwrist [HR = 2.4 (1.3-4.4)] fractures, whereas former high-energy nonwrist fractures were related only to subsequent high-energy nonwrist [HR = 2.8 (1.9-4.1)] but not to low-energy wrist [HR = 0.7 (0.3-1.8)] fractures. The analysis of bone mineral density (BMD) data of a subsample of premenopausal women who underwent dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) during 1989-91 revealed that those with a wrist fracture due to a fall on the same level at the age of 20-34 recorded 6.5% lower spinal (P = 0.140) and 10.5% lower femoral (P = 0.026) BMD than nonfractured women, whereas the corresponding differences for women with a former nonwrist fracture due to high-energy trauma were -1.8% (P = 0.721) and -2.4% (P = 0. 616), respectively. Our results suggest that an early premenopausal, low-energy wrist fracture is an indicator of low peak BMD which predisposes to subsequent fractures in general, whereas early high-energy fractures are mainly indicators of other and more specific extraskeletal factors which mainly predispose to same types of subsequent fractures only.

Analysis on the risk factors of second fracture in osteoporosis-

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

RUAN Wen-dong

2011-04-01

Full Text Available 【Abstract】 Objective: To explore the clinical characteristics and risk factors of refracture in patients suffering from osteoporosis-related fractures as well as effective interventions. Methods: From January 2006 to January 2008, both out-patients and in-patients in our hospital who were over 50 years old and suffered from osteoporosis-related fractures were selected for this research. They were divided into fracture group and refracture group. The refracture rate was followed up for 2 years, during which 11 patients developed refracture, thus were included in the refracture group. Therefore, 273 patients, 225 first-fracture cases, aged (67.7± 8.5 years, and 48 refracture cases, aged (72.7±9.5 years, were included in this study. General data including age and sex, fracture types, femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD T-scores tested by dual-energy X-rays absorptiometry (DEXA, Charlson index, time-frame between two fractures as well as mobility skill assessment were collected and analyzed by single-factor and multivariate statistical methods. Results: Females accounted for 70.2% of the fracture group and 77.1% of the refracture group. The most common refracture type was vertebral fracture for the first time and femoral neck fracture for the second time during the followup. The second fracture happened 3.7 years after the first one on average. The refracture rate was 2.12% within one year, and 4.66% within two years. Risk factors for a second fracture in osteoporotic fracture patients included age (>75 years, HR=1.23, 95%CI 1.18-1.29; >85 years, HR=1.68, 95% CI 1.60-1.76, female sex (HR=1.36, 95%CI 1.32-1.40, prior vertebral fractures (HR=1.62, 95%CI 1.01-2.07, prior hip fractures (HR=1.27, 95%CI 0.89-2.42, BMD T-score<-3.5 (HR=1.38, 95%CI 1.17-1.72 and weakened motor skills (HR=1.27, 95%CI 1.09-1.40. Conclusions: The risks of second fracture among patients with initial brittle fracture are substantial. There is adequate time between the

Comparing profitability of Burlina and Holstein Friesian cattle breeds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martino Cassandro

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Aim of this study was to compare profitability of Burlina and Holstein Friesian cows in northern Italy. Cow’s profitability was calculated for each breed, with consideration of economic incentive programs and alternative milk pricing scenarios. The difference in annual profitability between Burlina and Holstein Friesian ranged from −€719 to −€274 per cow per year. In a low-input management level with a cow’s incentive payment and a specific cheese market strategy the low milk yield of Burlina can be compensate respect to Holstein Friesian.

An Embedded 3D Fracture Modeling Approach for Simulating Fracture-Dominated Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Geothermal Reservoirs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnston, Henry [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wang, Cong [Colorado School of Mines; Winterfeld, Philip [Colorado School of Mines; Wu, Yu-Shu [Colorado School of Mines

2018-02-14

An efficient modeling approach is described for incorporating arbitrary 3D, discrete fractures, such as hydraulic fractures or faults, into modeling fracture-dominated fluid flow and heat transfer in fractured geothermal reservoirs. This technique allows 3D discrete fractures to be discretized independently from surrounding rock volume and inserted explicitly into a primary fracture/matrix grid, generated without including 3D discrete fractures in prior. An effective computational algorithm is developed to discretize these 3D discrete fractures and construct local connections between 3D fractures and fracture/matrix grid blocks of representing the surrounding rock volume. The constructed gridding information on 3D fractures is then added to the primary grid. This embedded fracture modeling approach can be directly implemented into a developed geothermal reservoir simulator via the integral finite difference (IFD) method or with TOUGH2 technology This embedded fracture modeling approach is very promising and computationally efficient to handle realistic 3D discrete fractures with complicated geometries, connections, and spatial distributions. Compared with other fracture modeling approaches, it avoids cumbersome 3D unstructured, local refining procedures, and increases computational efficiency by simplifying Jacobian matrix size and sparsity, while keeps sufficient accuracy. Several numeral simulations are present to demonstrate the utility and robustness of the proposed technique. Our numerical experiments show that this approach captures all the key patterns about fluid flow and heat transfer dominated by fractures in these cases. Thus, this approach is readily available to simulation of fractured geothermal reservoirs with both artificial and natural fractures.

Hip fracture in hospitalized medical patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zapatero Antonio

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of the present study is to analyze the incidence of hip fracture as a complication of admissions to internal medicine units in Spain. Methods We analyzed the clinical data of 2,134,363 adults who had been admitted to internal medicine wards. The main outcome was a diagnosis of hip fracture during hospitalization. Outcome measures included rates of in-hospital fractures, length of stay and cost. Results A total of 1127 (0.057% admittances were coded with an in-hospital hip fracture. In hospital mortality rate was 27.9% vs 9.4%; p  Conclusions In-hospital hip fracture notably increased mortality during hospitalization, doubling the mean length of stay and mean cost of admission. These are reasons enough to stress the importance of designing and applying multidisciplinary plans focused on reducing the incidence of hip fractures in hospitalized patients.

Survival times of patients with a first hip fracture with and without subsequent major long-bone fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Angthong, Chayanin; Angthong, Wirana; Harnroongroj, Thos; Naito, Masatoshi; Harnroongroj, Thossart

2013-01-01

Survival rates are poorer after a second hip fracture than after a first hip fracture. Previous survival studies have included in-hospital mortality. Excluding in-hospital deaths from the analysis allows survival times to be evaluated in community-based patients. There is still a lack of data regarding the effects of subsequent fractures on survival times after hospital discharge following an initial hip fracture. This study compared the survival times of community-dwelling patients with hip fracture who had or did not have a subsequent major long-bone fracture. Hazard ratios and risk factors for subsequent fractures and mortality rates with and without subsequent fractures were calculated. Of 844 patients with hip fracture from 2000 through 2008, 71 had a subsequent major long-bone fracture and 773 did not. Patients who died of other causes, such as perioperative complications, during hospitalization were excluded. Such exclusion allowed us to determine the effect of subsequent fracture on the survival of community-dwelling individuals after hospital discharge or after the time of the fracture if they did not need hospitalization. Demographic data, causes of death, and mortality rates were recorded. Differences in mortality rates between the patient groups and hazard ratios were calculated. Mortality rates during the first year and from 1 to 5 years after the most recent fracture were 5.6% and 1.4%, respectively, in patients with subsequent fractures, and 4.7% and 1.4%, respectively, in patients without subsequent fractures. These rates did not differ significantly between the groups. Cox regression analysis and calculation of hazard ratios did not show significant differences between patients with subsequent fractures and those without. On univariate and multivariate analyses, age fracture. This study found that survival times did not differ significantly between patients with and without subsequent major long-bone fractures after hip fracture. Therefore, all

Evaluation and Management of Proximal Humerus Fractures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina Khmelnitskaya

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Proximal humerus fractures are common injuries, especially among older osteoporotic women. Restoration of function requires a thorough understanding of the neurovascular, musculotendinous, and bony anatomy. This paper addresses the relevant anatomy and highlights various management options, including indication for arthroplasty. In the vast majority of cases, proximal humerus fractures may be treated nonoperatively. In the case of displaced fractures, when surgical intervention may be pursued, numerous constructs have been investigated. Of these, the proximal humerus locking plate is the most widely used. Arthroplasty is generally reserved for comminuted 4-part fractures, head-split fractures, or fractures with significant underlying arthritic changes. Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty is reserved for patients with a deficient rotator cuff, or highly comminuted tuberosities.

Medical Schools for Profit?

African Journals Online (AJOL)

[3] The same could be said of E-learning in medical education.[4,5] Thirdly allowing profits within medical education should attract more investment. Investors could sink funds into medical education, and learners would benefit as a result; inevitably investors would like to see a return on investment – however, successful.

From People to Profits.

Science.gov (United States)

Barber, L.; Hayday, S.; Bevan, S.

An empirical test of the service-profit chain in a large United Kingdom retail business explored how employee attitudes and behavior can improve customer retention and, consequently, company sales performance. Data were collected from 65,000 employees and 25,000 customers from almost 100 stores. The business collected customer satisfaction for…

Dimensional threshold for fracture linkage and hooking

Science.gov (United States)

Lamarche, Juliette; Chabani, Arezki; Gauthier, Bertrand D. M.

2018-03-01

Fracture connectivity in rocks depends on spatial properties of the pattern including length, abundance and orientation. When fractures form a single-strike set, they hardly cross-cut each other and the connectivity is limited. Linkage probability increases with increasing fracture abundance and length as small fractures connect to each other to form longer ones. A process for parallel fracture linkage is the "hooking", where two converging fracture tips mutually deviate and then converge to connect due to the interaction of their crack-tip stresses. Quantifying the processes and conditions for fracture linkage in single-strike fracture sets is crucial to better predicting fluid flow in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs. For 1734 fractures in Permian shales of the Lodève Basin, SE France, we measured geometrical parameters in 2D, characterizing three stages of the hooking process: underlapping, overlapping and linkage. We deciphered the threshold values, shape ratios and limiting conditions to switch from one stage to another one. The hook set up depends on the spacing (S) and fracture length (Lh) with the relation S ≈ 0.15 Lh. Once the hooking is initiated, with the fracture deviation length (L) L ≈ 0.4 Lh, the fractures reaches the linkage stage only when the spacing is reduced to S ≈ 0.02 Lh and the convergence (C) is < 0.1 L. These conditions apply to multi-scale fractures with a shape ratio L/S = 10 and for fracture curvature of 10°-20°.

Dynamic Profit Inefficiency: A DEA Application to Belgian Dairy Farms

OpenAIRE

Ang, Frederic; Oude Lansink, Alfons

2014-01-01

Using a nonparametric framework, we analyze dynamic profit inefficiency for a sample of Belgian, specialized dairy farms from 1996–2008. Profit inefficiency is decomposed into contributions of output, input, and investment. Moreover, we identify the contributions of technical and allocative inefficiency in each input and output. The results suggest substantial profit inefficiency under the current dairy-quota system, mainly driven by an average underproduction of approximately 50 percent and ...

Scapular fracture: lower severity and mortality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javad Salimi

Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: The presence of scapular fracture is believed to be associated with high rates of other injuries and accompanying morbidities. The aim was to study injury patterns and their overall outcomes in patients with scapula fractures. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study of trauma patients treated at six general hospitals in Tehran. METHODS: One-year trauma records were obtained from six general hospitals Among these, forty-one had sustained a scapular fracture and were included in this study. RESULTS: Scapular fracture occurred predominantly among 20 to 50-year-old patients (78%. Road traffic accidents (RTAs were the main cause of injury (73.2%; 30/41. Pedestrians accounted for 46.7% (14/30 of the injuries due to RTAs. Falls were the next most common cause, accounting for seven cases (17.1%. Body fractures were the most common type of scapular fractures (80%. Eighteen patients (43.9% had isolated scapular fractures. Limb fracture was the most common associated injury, detected in 18 cases (43.9%. Three patients (7.3% had severe injuries (injury severity score, ISS > 16 which resulted in one death (2.4%. The majority of the patients were treated conservatively (87.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with scapula fractures have more severe underlying chest injuries and clavicle fractures. However, this did not correlate with higher rates of injury severity score, intensive care unit admission or mortality.

Rib fractures in blunt chest trauma - associated thoracic injuries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iv. Dimitrov

2017-09-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE. The aim of our retrospective study was to analyze the patterns of associated thoracic injuries in patients underwent blunt chest trauma and rib fractures. METHODS. The study included 212 patients with rib fractures due to blunt thoracic trauma. The mechanism of trauma, the type of rib fracture and the type of associated injuries were analyzed. RESULTS. The patients were divided in two groups according to the number of fractured ribs-group I included the patients with up to two fractured ribs (72 patients-33,9%, and group II – with ≥3 fractured ribs (140 patients-66,1%. Associated chest injuries were present in 36 of the patients from group I (50%, and in 133 patients from group II (95%. Pulmonary contusion was the most common intrathoracicinjurie-65,6% of the cases. The mean hospital stay was 8, 7 days. The lethality rate was 16,9% -all of them due to the associated chest injuries. CONCLUSIONS. The mortality related to rib fractures is affected by the associated thoracic injuries, the advanced age, and the number of fractured ribs.

Development of technical means for directional hydraulic fracturing with shearing loading of borehole walls

Science.gov (United States)

Rybalkin, LA; Patutin, AV; Patutin, DV

2018-03-01

During the process of mineral deposits’ mining one of the most important conditions for safe and economically profitable work of a mining enterprise is obtaining timely information on the stress state of the developed massif. One of the most common methods of remote study of the geomechanical state of the rock massif is hydraulic fracturing of the formation. Directional hydraulic fracturing is a type of the method employed to form cracks across production wells. This technology was most widely used in the gas industry to extract gas from shale formations. In mining, this technology is used to set up filtration screens, to integrate degassing, to soften the hard roof of coal seams. Possible practical appliance is the expansion of the application field of this technology to intensify the production of viscous oil, to leach non-ferrous metals, to create in the rock massif anti-filtration screens for various purposes, as well as to measure stresses acting along the wells.

Ownership concentration and bank profitability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peterson Kitakogelu Ozili

2017-12-01

Full Text Available We investigate whether ownership concentration influences bank profitability in a developing country context. We focus on bank ownership concentration measured as the amount of direct equity held by a majority shareholder categorised into: high ownership concentration, moderate ownership concentration and disperse ownership. We find that banks with high ownership concentration have higher return on assets, higher net interest margin and higher recurring earning power while banks with dispersed ownership have lower return on assets but have higher return on equity. Also, higher cost efficiency improves the return on assets of widely-held banks and the return on equity of banks with moderate ownership. The findings have implications. JEL: Code: G3, G34, G31, Keywords: Corporate governance, Ownership structure, Agency theory, Profitability, Firm performance, Banks, Return on asset, Return on equity

Risk factors for fractures in the elderly.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacqmin-Gadda, H; Fourrier, A; Commenges, D; Dartigues, J F

1998-07-01

We report the results of a 5-year prospective cohort study of risk factors for fractures, including drinking fluoridated water, in a cohort of 3,216 men and women aged 65 years and older. We studied risk factors for hip fracture and fractures at other locations separately. We found a higher risk of hip fractures for subjects exposed to fluorine concentrations over 0.11 mg per liter but without a dose-effect relation (odds ratio (OR) = 3.25 for a concentration of 0.11-0.25 mg per liter; OR = 2.43 for > or = 0.25 mg per liter]. For higher thresholds (0.7 and 1 mg per liter), however, the OR was less than 1. We found no association between fluorine and non-hip fractures. Non-hip fractures were associated with polymedication rather than with specific drug use, whereas fracture was associated with polymedication and use of anxiolytic and antidepressive drugs. Subjects drinking spirits every day were more likely to have hip fractures. Tobacco consumption increased the risk for non-hip fractures.

Pathogenesis of osteoporotic hip fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

McClung, Michael R

2003-01-01

Osteoporosis is characterized late in the course of the disease by an increased risk of fracture, particularly in the elderly. It occurs in both sexes, affecting approximately 8 million women and 2 million men aged > or = 50 years (1). While low bone density is a predictor of fractures, it is not the only determinant of fracture risk. Other factors include advanced age, altered bone quality, a personal or family history of falls, frailty, poor eyesight, debilitating diseases, and high bone turnover. A diet with sufficient calcium and vitamin D is important to minimize bone loss and, along with regular exercise, to maintain muscle strength. Bisphosphonates have been shown to reduce the risk of hip fracture. For elderly patients, the use of hip protectors may be used as a treatment of last resort. Regardless of the age of the patient, individual patient risk factors must be considered to target appropriate treatment and prevent fracture.

Medical Cost Analysis of the Osteoporotic Hip Fractures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savaş Çamur

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: Osteoporotic hip fractures decrease the life expectancy for 20% about 20-50% of the patients become permanently dependent in terms of walking for the rest of their life. Life expectancy is increasing in Turkey in the last 20 years. We investigated the impact of osteoporotic hip fractures which increase the morbidity and mortality on the national economy. Materials and Methods: A total of 81 patients admitted to our emergency department with the diagnosis of femur intertrochanteric fracture and femoral neck fracture between 2008 and 2012 were included in this study. We retrospectively evaluated the medical records and the medical costs of these patients from hospital information management system. Results: Of the 81 patients 32 (39.6% males and 49 (60.4% females meeting the inclusion criteria were included in this study. The mean age was 80.1 years (range, 61-103. Twenty-three (27.5% patients had femoral neck fracture and 58 (72.5% patients had intertrochanteric femur fracture. The mean length of hospital stay was 13.4 days in intertrochanteric femur fracture and 15.5 days in femoral neck fracture; average of the total days of hospitalization of all patients was 13.9 days. The average treatment cost per patient was 5,912.36 TL for intertrochanteric fractures, 5,753.00 TL for neck fractures, and 5,863.09 TL for the whole patient population. Conclusion: Hip fracture is a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly. Taking preventive measures before the fracture occurs may help to prevent this problem which has a high cost treatment and which is a substantial burden for the national economy.

Mapping the prescriptiome to fractures in men--a national analysis of prescription history and fracture risk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abrahamsen, B; Brixen, K; Abrahamsen, B

2009-01-01

SUMMARY: A nationwide case-control study was performed in 62,865 men aged 50+ using fracture data from the national hospital discharge register to screen all redeemed prescriptions in the past 5 years for significant mapping to fracture risk, employing measures to control for false discovery rate....... INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis in men is frequently related to alcohol abuse, hypogonadism, hypercalciuria, or the use of glucocorticoids. Very limited information is available on the impact of other medications on fracture risk in men. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide population-based case-control study...... collecting fracture data from the Danish National Hospital Discharge Register and prescriptions from the National Prescriptions Database (1995-2000). We included men aged 50+ years, with hospital-treated fractures in the year 2000 (n = 15,716), and age- and sex-matched controls (n = 47,149). RESULTS: We...

ECO PROFIT - A NEW DIMENSION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Crecană Cornel Dumitru

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The paper begins with a review of theoretical concepts including a conceptual delimitation of the term "sustainable development" from the first definition given in 1987 to concrete implementation of EU law and develop a strategy in this regard. Aim of the work is to emphasize the importance of the transition from an economy focused on obtaining maximum profits in a responsible economy, which does not exclude profit, but prioritizes basic maintenance of ecological balance. The innovative character of such a theoretical-methodological approach is limited only by the practicality of implementing the macroeconomic and microeconomic level. It is noteworthy, however, increasing research activities in this field of sustainable development literature study clearly reflects a new direction in the economy, the paradigm shift is expected by all professionals, but was seriously hampered by the financial crisis. Serious impetus was given to research done by the German company Puma, launched in 2010 through the development and publication of a profit and loss "green", taking into account the impact of the natural environment over activities, impact measured clear and published in financial statements of the company. Starting from these considerations, I propose in this paper, introducing the term ECOPROFIT or profit obtained under maintaining fundamental ecological balances, justifying the need for, and practical possibilities to implement this concept in economic and financial analysis, accounting and fiscal management economic entities by developing a model of differential taxation of profits, depending on the impact the entity's economic activities on the ecological balance.

Risk and profitability of animal and crop production in Slovak farms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marián Tóth

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on profitability and risk of crop and animal production based on an analysis of farms operating in Slovak Republic. The individual farm data used for the analysis are from the database of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic. For our analysis, data were selected according to the farm production orientation to the subset of crop farms and animal farms. The selecting criterion for production orientation was the percentage share of revenues from crop production, or revenues from animal production from the overall revenues from own products and services. We analyse profitability of farms divided into groups based on the type of production into crop and animal farms (according to the share in sales from crop or animal production. Using descriptive statistics and portfolio theory we simulate the total farm profitability and volatility of animal and crop production in Slovakia. The modified Markowitz portfolio theory approach was used to estimate the total risk of portfolios of crop and animal farms. Based on the results we conclude that in the long run crop farms are profitable and profit from crop production is used to cover the losses from animal production in mixed farms. Farms focused on animal production only are efficient and profitable, but the profitability is lower in comparison with crop farms. Animal farms results are less volatile than crop farms. Large farms tend to production with lower value added and can generate enough profit for the owner.

Rib Fracture Fixation: Indications and Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Senekjian, Lara; Nirula, Raminder

2017-01-01

Rib fractures are a frequently identified injury in the trauma population. Not only are multiple rib fractures painful, but they are associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes. Pneumonia in particular can be devastating, especially to an elderly patient, but other complications such as prolonged ventilation and increased intensive care and hospital durations of stay have a negative impact on the patient. Computed tomography scan is the best modality to diagnosis rib fractures but the treatment of fractures is still evolving. Currently patient care involves a multidisciplinary approach that includes pain control, aggressive pulmonary therapy, and possibly surgical fixation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A new algorithm for hip fracture surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Palm, Henrik; Krasheninnikoff, Michael; Holck, Kim

2012-01-01

Background and purpose Treatment of hip fracture patients is controversial. We implemented a new operative and supervision algorithm (the Hvidovre algorithm) for surgical treatment of all hip fractures, primarily based on own previously published results. Methods 2,000 consecutive patients over 50...... years of age who were admitted and operated on because of a hip fracture were prospectively included. 1,000 of these patients were included after implementation of the algorithm. Demographic parameters, hospital treatment, and reoperations within the first postoperative year were assessed from patient...... by reoperations was reduced from 24% of total hospitalization before the algorithm was introduced to 18% after it was introduced. Interpretation It is possible to implement an algorithm for treatment of all hip fracture patients in a large teaching hospital. In our case, the Hvidovre algorithm both raised...

Subfield profitability analysis reveals an economic case for cropland diversification

Science.gov (United States)

Brandes, E.; McNunn, G. S.; Schulte, L. A.; Bonner, I. J.; Muth, D. J.; Babcock, B. A.; Sharma, B.; Heaton, E. A.

2016-01-01

Public agencies and private enterprises increasingly desire to achieve ecosystem service outcomes in agricultural systems, but are limited by perceived conflicts between economic and ecosystem service goals and a lack of tools enabling effective operational management. Here we use Iowa—an agriculturally homogeneous state representative of the Maize Belt—to demonstrate an economic rationale for cropland diversification at the subfield scale. We used a novel computational framework that integrates disparate but publicly available data to map ˜3.3 million unique potential management polygons (9.3 Mha) and reveal subfield opportunities to increase overall field profitability. We analyzed subfield profitability for maize/soybean fields during 2010-2013—four of the most profitable years in recent history—and projected results for 2015. While cropland operating at a loss of US 250 ha-1 or more was negligible between 2010 and 2013 at 18 000-190 000 ha (profitable areas, incorporating conservation management that breaks even (e.g., planting low-input perennials), into low-yielding portions of fields could increase overall cropland profitability by 80%. This approach is applicable to the broader region and differs substantially from the status quo of ‘top-down’ land management for conservation by harnessing private interest to align profitability with the production of ecosystem services.

Treatment of neglected femoral neck fracture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anil K Jain

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Intra-capsular femoral neck fractures are seen commonly in elderly people following a low energy trauma. Femoral neck fracture has a devastating effect on the blood supply of the femoral head, which is directly proportional to the severity of trauma and displacement of the fracture. Various authors have described a wide array of options for treatment of neglected/nonunion (NU femoral neck fracture. There is lack of consensus in general, regarding the best option. This Instructional course article is an analysis of available treatment options used for neglected femoral neck fracture in the literature and attempt to suggest treatment guides for neglected femoral neck fracture. We conducted the "Pubmed" search with the keywords "NU femoral neck fracture and/or neglected femoral neck fracture, muscle-pedicle bone graft in femoral neck fracture, fibular graft in femoral neck fracture and valgus osteotomy in femoral neck fracture." A total of 203 print articles were obtained as the search result. Thirty three articles were included in the analysis and were categorized into four subgroups based on treatment options. (a treated by muscle-pedicle bone grafting (MPBG, (b closed/open reduction internal fixation and fibular grafting (c open reduction and internal fixation with valgus osteotomy, (d miscellaneous procedures. The data was pooled from all groups for mean neglect, the type of study (prospective or retrospective, classification used, procedure performed, mean followup available, outcome, complications, and reoperation if any. The outcome of neglected femoral neck fracture depends on the duration of neglect, as the changes occurring in the fracture area and fracture fragments decides the need and type of biological stimulus required for fracture union. In stage I and stage II (Sandhu′s staging neglected femoral neck fracture osteosynthesis with open reduction and bone grafting with MPBG or Valgus Osteotomy achieves fracture union in almost 90

Differences in technology innovation R&D performance creation behavior between for-profit institutions and not-for-profit institutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Sungmin

2016-01-01

The present study compares the performance creation behavior between for-profit institutions and not-for-profit institutions within a national technology innovation research and development (R&D) program. Based on the stepwise performance creation chain structure of typical R&D logic models, a series of successive binary logistic regression models is newly proposed. Using the models, a sample of n = 2076 completed government-sponsored R&D projects was analyzed. For each institution type, its distinctive behavior is diagnosed, and relevant implications are suggested for improving the R&D performance.

Non-Profit Organizations in a Bureaucratic Environment

OpenAIRE

Grout, Paul; Schnedler, Wendelin

2008-01-01

How does the environment of an organization influence whether workers voluntarily provide effort? We study the power relationship between a non-profit unit (e.g. university department, NGO, health trust), where workers care about the result of their work, and a bu- reaucrat, who supplies some input to the non-profit unit, but has opportunity costs in doing so (e.g. Dean of faculty, corrupt representative, government agency). We find that marginal changes in the balance of power eventually hav...

The impact of liquidity on bank profitability

OpenAIRE

Bordeleau, Etienne; Graham, Christopher

2010-01-01

The recent crisis has underlined the importance of sound bank liquidity management. In response, regulators are devising new liquidity standards with the aim of making the financial system more stable and resilient. In this paper, the authors analyse the impact of liquid asset holdings on bank profitability for a sample of large U.S. and Canadian banks. Results suggest that profitability is improved for banks that hold some liquid assets, however, there is a point at which holding further liq...

PROFITABILITY RATIO AS A TOOL FOR BANKRUPTCY PREDICTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel BRÎNDESCU – OLARIU

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The current study evaluates the potential of the profitability ratio in predicting corporate bankruptcy. The research is focused on Romanian companies, with the targeted event being represented by the manifestation of bankruptcy 2 years after the date of the financial statements of reference. All tests were conducted over 2 paired samples of 1176 Romanian companies. The methodology employed in evaluating the potential of the profitability ratio was based on the Area Under the ROC Curve (0.663 and the general accuracy ensured by the ratio (62.6% out-of-sample accuracy. The results confirm the practical utility of the profitability ratio in the prediction of bankruptcy and thus validate the need for further research focused on developing a methodology of analysis.

Ballistic fractures: indirect fracture to bone.

Science.gov (United States)

Dougherty, Paul J; Sherman, Don; Dau, Nathan; Bir, Cynthia

2011-11-01

Two mechanisms of injury, the temporary cavity and the sonic wave, have been proposed to produce indirect fractures as a projectile passes nearby in tissue. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the temporal relationship of pressure waves using strain gauge technology and high-speed video to elucidate whether the sonic wave, the temporary cavity, or both are responsible for the formation of indirect fractures. Twenty-eight fresh frozen cadaveric diaphyseal tibia (2) and femurs (26) were implanted into ordnance gelatin blocks. Shots were fired using 9- and 5.56-mm bullets traversing through the gelatin only, passing close to the edge of the bone, but not touching, to produce an indirect fracture. High-speed video of the impact event was collected at 20,000 frames/s. Acquisition of the strain data were synchronized with the video at 20,000 Hz. The exact time of fracture was determined by analyzing and comparing the strain gauge output and video. Twenty-eight shots were fired, 2 with 9-mm bullets and 26 with 5.56-mm bullets. Eight indirect fractures that occurred were of a simple (oblique or wedge) pattern. Comparison of the average distance of the projectile from the bone was 9.68 mm (range, 3-20 mm) for fractured specimens and 15.15 mm (range, 7-28 mm) for nonfractured specimens (Student's t test, p = 0.036). In this study, indirect fractures were produced after passage of the projectile. Thus, the temporary cavity, not the sonic wave, was responsible for the indirect fractures.

The relationship of CSR and the business profit: can the most responsible companies be more profitable?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Miguel Gil Salmerón

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Persistent financial crisis and the cases of corruption afflicting Spain have broken the trust of society that forcefully demands an ethical, responsible and sustainable management of organizations, which are not immune to environmental problems. The effects of globalization, the introduction of tecnoestructura as a management model, technological and socio-economic changes have reshaped the cultural, management and ownership system of the current company, the company nowadays is transferred the responsibility to combine growth and competitiveness with social development and environmental improvement. This reconfiguration of business management model is implemented with the introduction of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR in the strategic plans of the companies with the purpose of achieving a competitive advantage. The question is: can the most responsible companies be more profitable? The introduction of CSR in the organizational culture of the companies involved as a vector, accelerates the profitability of the companies that apply it: the higher level of CSR used, the more profitable the companies are. These conclusions are determined from a linear regression analysis comparing the ROA –return on assets– to CSR levels in a hundred companies with higher levels of sustainability that operate in Spain, according to a survey published in 2014 by the Monitor business Corporate Reputation (Merco

Factor analysis of financial and operational performance measures of non-profit hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Dhiman

2009-01-01

To understand the important dimensions of the financial and operational performance of non-profit hospitals. Secondary data for non-profit US hospitals between 1996 and 2004. I use iterative principal factor analysis of hospitals' financial and operational ratios for each year of the study. For factor interpretation, I use oblique rotation. Financial ratios were created using cost report data from HCRIS 2552-96 available from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS). I identify five factors--capital structure, profitability, activity, liquidity, and an operational factor--that explain most of the variation in the performance of non-profit hospitals. I also find that capital structure is more important than profitability in determining the performance of these hospitals. The importance of capital structure highlights a significant shift in the organization of the non-profit hospitals' finances.

Cost structure and profitability of Assaf dairy sheep farms in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Milán, M J; Frendi, F; González-González, R; Caja, G

2014-01-01

Twenty dairy sheep farms of Assaf breed, located in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla y León and included in a group receiving technical support, were used to study their production cost structure and to assess their economic profitability during 2009. On average, farms had 89.2±38.0 ha (own, 38%), 592±63 ewes, yielded 185.9±21.1×10(3) L/yr (i.e., 316±15 L/ewe), and were attended by 2.3±0.2 annual working units (family, 72%). Total annual income was €194.4±23.0×10(3)/yr (€1.0=$1.3) from milk (78.6%), lamb (13.2%), culled ewes (0.5%), and other sales (0.8%, wool and manure), and completed with the European Union sheep subsidy (6.9%). Total costs were €185.9±19.0×10(3)/yr to attend to feeding (61.6%), labor (18.2%), equipment maintenance and depreciation (7.6%), finances (3.0%), animal health (2.5%), energy, water and milking supplies (2.2%), milk recording (0.5%), and other costs (4.4%; assurances, shearing, association fees, and so on). Mean dairy sheep farm profit was €8.5±5.8×10(3)/yr (€7.4±8.3/ewe) on average, and varied between -€40.6 and €81.1/ewe among farms. Only 60% of farms were able to pay all costs, the rest had negative balances. Nevertheless, net margin was €31.0±6.5×10(3)/yr on average, varying between €0.6 and €108.4×10(3)/yr among farms. In this case, without including the opportunity costs, all farms had positive balances. Total annual cost (TAC; €/ewe) and total annual income (TAI; €/ewe) depended on milk yield (MY; L/ewe) and were TAC=161.6 + 0.502 MY (R(2)=0.50), and TAI=78.13 + 0.790 MY (R(2)=0.88), respectively, with the break-even point being 291 L/ewe. Conversely, farm TAC (€/yr) and farm TAI (€/yr) were also predicted as a function of the number of ewes (NOE) per flock, as TAC=18,401 + 282.8 NOE (R(2)=0.89) and TAI=330.9 NOE (R(2)=0.98), with the break-even point being 383 ewes/flock. Finally, according to the increasing trend expected for agricultural commodity prices, it was

Booming Economy Fuels Continued Expansion of For-Profit Child Care--Annual Status Report #13.

Science.gov (United States)

Neugebauer, Roger

2000-01-01

Discusses growth of North America's 40 largest for- profit child care centers. Identifies current threats, including staffing shortage and increasing competition from public schools and among chains. Identifies current opportunities to include employer and franchise child care, upscale child care, elementary school services, and flexible hours.…

Rib fracture as a predictor of future fractures in young and older postmenopausal women: National Osteoporosis Risk Assessment (NORA)

Science.gov (United States)

Sajjan, S. G.; Barrett-Connor, E.; McHorney, C. A.; Miller, P. D.; Sen, S. S.; Siris, E.

2013-01-01

Summary A rib fracture history after age 45 was associated with a 5.4-fold increase in new rib fracture risk and a 2.4-fold increase in risk of any new clinical fracture in 155,031 postmenopausal women. A rib fracture history suggests osteoporosis and should be considered when evaluating patients for interventions to prevent fractures. Introduction Until recently, little attention was paid to rib fracture as an osteoporosis marker. Emerging evidence suggests rib fracture may be an osteoporotic fracture in men and women. We report the 5-year independent association between baseline rib fracture histories and self-reported future fractures by age (decade) in the NORA cohort (155,031 postmenopausal women, 50–99 years). Methods Participants reported fracture history and responded to follow-up surveys at years 1, 3, or 6. Women with a baseline rib fracture history without other fractures were compared with women with no fracture. Results At baseline, 4,758 (3.07%) women reported a rib fracture history without other fractures; 6,300 women reported 6,830 new clinical fractures, including wrist (2,271), rib (1,891), spine (1,136), hip (941), and forearm (591). Adjusted relative risk (ARR) values (95% confidence interval [CI]) for future fractures in women with rib fracture history versus women with no fracture history were 5.4 (4.8–6.1) at the rib, 2.1 (1.7–2.6) at the spine, and 1.4 (1.1–1.7) at the wrist, and not significant for forearm or hip fractures. Future fracture risk was at least doubled in women with a rib fracture history in all ages: ARR (95% CI) 3.4 (2.8–4.0) for ages 50–59, 2.5 (2.1–3.0) for ages 60–69, 2.0 (1.7–2.3) for ages 70–79, and 2.0 (1.6–2.6) for ages >80. Conclusions Rib fracture, the second most common clinical fracture in women (after wrist fracture), predicted future fractures of the rib, wrist, and spine at all ages. Women presenting with rib fractures should be evaluated for appropriate management to prevent future

The implementation of customer profitability analysis: a case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Raaij, E.M.; Vernooij, M.J.A.; Vernooij, Maarten J.A.; van Triest, S.P.

2003-01-01

By using customer profitability analysis (CPA), firms can determine the profit contribution of customer segments and/or individual customers. This article presents an approach for the implementation of CPA. The implementation process is illustrated using a case study of a firm producing and selling

Radionuclide transport in fractured porous media -- Analytical solutions for a system of parallel fractures with a constant inlet flux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, C.T.; Li, S.H.

1997-01-01

Analytical solutions are developed for the problem of radionuclide transport in a system of parallel fractures situated in a porous rock matrix. A constant flux is used as the inlet boundary condition. The solutions consider the following processes: (a) advective transport along the fractures; (b) mechanical dispersion and molecular diffusion along the fractures; (c) molecular diffusion from a fracture to the porous matrix; (d) molecular diffusion within the porous matrix in the direction perpendicular to the fracture axis; (e) adsorption onto the fracture wall; (f) adsorption within the porous matrix, and (g) radioactive decay. The solutions are based on the Laplace transform method. The general transient solution is in the form of a double integral that is evaluated using composite Gauss-Legendre quadrature. A simpler transient solution that is in the form of a single integral is also presented for the case that assumes negligible longitudinal dispersion along the fractures. The steady-state solutions are also provided. A number of examples are given to illustrate the effects of various important parameters, including: (a) fracture spacing; (b) fracture dispersion coefficient; (c) matrix diffusion coefficient; (d) fracture width; (e) groundwater velocity; (f) matrix retardation factor; and (g) matrix porosity

Fracture criteria of reactor graphite under multiaxial stresses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, S.; Kawamata, K.; Kurumada, A.; Oku, T.

1987-01-01

New fracture criteria for graphite under multiaxial stresses are presented for designing core and support materials of a high temperature gas cooled reactor. Different kinds of fracture strength tests are carried out for a near isotropic graphite IG-11. Results show that, under the stress state in which tensile stresses are predominant, the maximum principal stress theory is seen as applicable for brittle fracture. Under the stress state in which compressive stresses are predominant there may be two fracture modes for brittle fracture, namely, slipping fracture and mode II fracture. For the former fracture mode the maximum shear stress criterion is suitable, but for the latter fracture mode a new mode II fracture criterion including a restraint effect for cracks is verified to be applicable. Also a statistical correction for brittle fracture criteria under multiaxial stresses is discussed. By considering the allowable stress values for safe design, the specified minimum ultimate strengths corresponding to a survival probability of 99% at the 95% confidence level are presented. (orig./HP)

Energy productivity, fertilization rate and profitability of wheat production after various predecessors II.Profitability of wheat production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Uhr

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract. In the course of our study on the adaptation of modern genotypes common winter wheat (Triticum aestivum to the requirements of sustainable agriculture data were received concerning the influence of the predecessor and nitrogen fertilizer rate on energy efficiency and recyclable nitrogen fertilization and profitability of productivity.We share these data with the scientific community, as they are up-to-date and informative in both theoretical and practical aspects. The analyses are based on data from field experiments fertilizer derived after predecessor cereals – regular crop of sorghum, millet, maize and legumes after predecessor - separate sowing of chickpeas. Energy efficiency of nitrogen fertilization was calculated as the ratio between the energy supplied in the additional grain yield and energy input in the form of fertilizers. Refundable efficiency of nitrogen fertilization is the additional amount of nitrogen accumulated in the grain, with respect to the applied nitrogen fertilization. Economic profitability of production is evaluated by coefficient R = P/Ra (ratio of benefits/costs. The results show that energy efficiency and recyclable nitrogen fertilization are on average five times higher after cereal than after legumes predecessor, and decreased with increasing the fertilizer rate, the decrease was statistically significant only for the first item (exponent. Profitability ratio of production after the introduction of legumes predecessor in crop rotation increases by an average of 42% and retains maximum values of fertilization levels 0.06, 0.12 and 0.18 t/ha nitrogen. Profitability of wheat production using pre-legumes crop is not determined by the parameters nitrogen fertilizer rate and energy efficiency of nitrogen fertilization and refundable efficiency of nitrogen fertilization.

10 CFR 603.650 - Designation of auditor for for-profit participants.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Designation of auditor for for-profit participants. 603... Financial Matters § 603.650 Designation of auditor for for-profit participants. The auditor identified in an... circumstances, as follows: (a) The Federal cognizant agency or an IPA will be the auditor for a for-profit...

Defining hip fracture with claims data: outpatient and provider claims matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Berry, S D; Zullo, A R; McConeghy, K; Lee, Y; Daiello, L; Kiel, D P

2017-07-01

Medicare claims are commonly used to identify hip fractures, but there is no universally accepted definition. We found that a definition using inpatient claims identified fewer fractures than a definition including outpatient and provider claims. Few additional fractures were identified by including inconsistent diagnostic and procedural codes at contiguous sites. Medicare claims data is commonly used in research studies to identify hip fractures, but there is no universally accepted definition of fracture. Our purpose was to describe potential misclassification when hip fractures are defined using Medicare Part A (inpatient) claims without considering Part B (outpatient and provider) claims and when inconsistent diagnostic and procedural codes occur at contiguous fracture sites (e.g., femoral shaft or pelvic). Participants included all long-stay nursing home residents enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B fee-for-service between 1/1/2008 and 12/31/2009 with follow-up through 12/31/2011. We compared the number of hip fractures identified using only Part A claims to (1) Part A plus Part B claims and (2) Part A and Part B claims plus discordant codes at contiguous fracture sites. Among 1,257,279 long-stay residents, 40,932 (3.2%) met the definition of hip fracture using Part A claims, and 41,687 residents (3.3%) met the definition using Part B claims. 4566 hip fractures identified using Part B claims would not have been captured using Part A claims. An additional 227 hip fractures were identified after considering contiguous fracture sites. When ascertaining hip fractures, a definition using outpatient and provider claims identified 11% more fractures than a definition with only inpatient claims. Future studies should publish their definition of fracture and specify if diagnostic codes from contiguous fracture sites were used.

Transforming the tobacco market: why the supply of cigarettes should be transferred from for-profit corporations to non-profit enterprises with a public health mandate

OpenAIRE

Callard, C; Thompson, D; Collishaw, N

2005-01-01

Current tobacco control strategies seek primarily to decrease the demand for cigarettes through measures that encourage individuals to adopt healthier behaviours. These measures are impeded and undermined by tobacco corporations, whose profit drive compels them to seek to maintain and expand cigarette sales. Tobacco corporations seek to expand cigarette sales because they are for-profit business corporations and are obliged under law to maximise profits, even when this results in harm to othe...

Double segmental tibial fractures - an unusual fracture pattern

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bali Kamal

2012-02-01

Full Text Available 【Abstract】A case of a 50-year-old pedestrian who was hit by a bike and suffered fractures of both bones of his right leg was presented. Complete clinical and radiographic assessment showed double segmental fractures of the tibia and multisegmental fractures of the fibula. Review of the literature revealed that this fracture pattern was unique and only a single case was reported so far. Moreover, we discussed the possible mechanisms which can lead to such an injury. We also discussed the management of segmental tibial fracture and the difficulties encountered with them. This case was managed by modern osteosynthesis tech- nique with a pleasing outcome. Key words: Fracture, bone; Tibia; Fibula; Nails

Profitability of irradiation plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bustos R, M.E.; Gonzalez F, C.; Liceaga C, G.; Ortiz A, G.

1997-01-01

In any industrial process it is seek an attractive profit from the contractor and the social points of view. The use of the irradiation technology in foods allows keep their hygienically, which aid to food supply without risks for health, an increment of new markets and a losses reduction. In other products -cosmetics or disposable for medical use- which are sterilized by irradiation, this process allows their secure use by the consumers. The investment cost of an irradiation plant depends mainly of the plant size and the radioactive material reload that principally is Cobalt 60, these two parameters are in function of the type of products for irradiation and the selected doses. In this work it is presented the economic calculus and the financial costs for different products and capacities of plants. In general terms is determined an adequate utility that indicates that this process is profitable. According to the economic and commercial conditions in the country were considered two types of credits for the financing of this projects. One utilizing International credit resources and other with national sources. (Author)

The profitability of automatic milking on Dutch dariy farms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bijl, R.; Kooistra, S.R.; Hogeveen, H.

2007-01-01

Several studies have reported on the profitability of automatic milking based on different simulation models, but a data-based study using actual farm data has been lacking. The objective of this study was to analyze the profitability of dairy farms having an automatic milking system (AMS) compared

How Managerial Ownership Affects Profit Maximization in Newspaper Firms.

Science.gov (United States)

Busterna, John C.

1989-01-01

Explores whether different levels of a manager's ownership of a newspaper affects the manager's profit maximizing attitudes and behavior. Finds that owner-managers tend to place less emphasis on profits than non-owner-controlled newspapers, contrary to economic theory and empirical evidence from other industries. (RS)

CSHURI - Modified HURI algorithm for Customer Segmentation and Transaction Profitability

OpenAIRE

Pillai, Jyothi; Vyas, O. P.

2012-01-01

Association rule mining (ARM) is the process of generating rules based on the correlation between the set of items that the customers purchase.Of late, data mining researchers have improved upon the quality of association rule mining for business development by incorporating factors like value (utility), quantity of items sold (weight) and profit. The rules mined without considering utility values (profit margin) will lead to a probable loss of profitable rules. The advantage of wealth of the...

Islamic banks and profitability: an empirical analysis of Indonesian banking

OpenAIRE

Jordan, Sarah

2013-01-01

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the factors that determine the profitability of Indonesian banks between the years 2006-2012. In particular, it investigates whether there are any significant differences in terms of profitability between Islamic banks and commercial banks. The results, obtained by applying the system-GMM estimator to the panel of 54 banks, indicate that the high bank profitability during these years were determined mainly by the size of the banks, the market share...

Comparison of femoral morphology and bone mineral density between femoral neck fractures and trochanteric fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Maeda, Yuki; Sugano, Nobuhiko; Saito, Masanobu; Yonenobu, Kazuo

2011-03-01

Many studies that analyzed bone mineral density (BMD) and skeletal factors of hip fractures were based on uncalibrated radiographs or dual-energy xray absorptiometry (DXA). Spatial accuracy in measuring BMD and morphologic features of the femur with DXA is limited. This study investigated differences in BMD and morphologic features of the femur between two types of hip fractures using quantitative computed tomography (QCT). Forty patients with hip fractures with normal contralateral hips were selected for this study between 2003 and 2007 (trochanteric fracture, n=18; femoral neck fracture, n=22). Each patient underwent QCT of the bilateral femora using a calibration phantom. Using images of the intact contralateral femur, BMD measurements were made at the point of minimum femoral-neck cross-sectional area, middle of the intertrochanteric region, and center of the femoral head. QCT images also were used to measure morphologic features of the hip, including hip axis length, femoral neck axis length, neck-shaft angle, neck width, head offset, anteversion of the femoral neck, and cortical index at the femoral isthmus. No significant differences were found in trabecular BMD between groups in those three regions. Patients with trochanteric fractures showed a smaller neck shaft angle and smaller cortical index at the femoral canal isthmus compared with patients with femoral neck fractures. We conclude that severe osteoporosis with thinner cortical bone of the femoral diaphysis is seen more often in patients with trochanteric fracture than in patients with femoral neck fracture. Level IV, prognostic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Research of profit earner in professional football

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsyganok A.V.

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The term of professional sport is considered. The models of entrepreneurial activity are described in this sphere. The structure of income of soccer clubs of France, USA and Ukraine is analysed. The tendencies of receipt of profits are rotined on the example of professional soccer clubs of Ukraine. It is marked that in Ukraine actual two models of orientation of conduct of sporting business on condition of high-efficiency management and marketing. For the increase of profits necessary changes are in a current legislation.

Association of Ipsilateral Rib Fractures With Displacement of Midshaft Clavicle Fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Stahl, Daniel; Ellington, Matthew; Brennan, Kindyle; Brennan, Michael

2017-04-01

To determine whether the presence of ipsilateral rib fractures affects the rate of a clavicle fracture being unstable (>100% displacement). A retrospective review from 2002-2013 performed at a single level 1 trauma center evaluated 243 midshaft clavicle fractures. Single Level 1 trauma center. These fractures were subdivided into those with ipsilateral rib fractures (CIR; n = 149) and those without ipsilateral rib fractures (CnIR; n = 94). The amount of displacement was measured on the initial injury radiograph and subsequent follow-up radiographs. Fractures were classified into either 100% displacement, based on anteroposterior radiographs. Ipsilateral rib fractures were recorded based on which number rib was fractured and the total number of fractured ribs. One hundred sixteen (78%) of the CIR group and 51 (54%) of the CnIR group were found to have >100% displacement at follow-up (P = 0.0047). Seventy-two percent of the CIR group demonstrated progression from 100% displacement of the fracture compared with only 54% of the CnIR group (P fracture to >100% was 4.08 (P = 0.000194) when ribs 1-4 were fractured and not significant for rib fractures 5-8 or 9-12. The presence of concomitant ipsilateral rib fractures significantly increases the rate of midshaft clavicle fractures being >100% displaced. In addition, a fracture involving the upper one-third of the ribs significantly increases the rate of the clavicle fracture being >100% displaced on early follow-up. Clavicle fractures with associated ipsilateral rib fractures tend to demonstrate an increased amount of displacement on follow-up radiographs compared with those without ipsilateral rib fractures. Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Capital structure and profitability. A case of JSE Listed Companies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faith Mashavave

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The research aims to find out the relationship between capital structure and profitability focusing on firms listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange in South Africa. Past research on this topic excluded the Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed firms. The research results will be useful to the business people in South Africa because it will be more in line with the South African economic status and thus relevant. From the graphs and tables of the companies analyzed, it appears there is no relationship between the capital structure and profitability. The fluctuations in the debt/equity ratio and profitability ratio are so severe to such an extent that no meaningful conclusion regarding the relationship between capital structure and profitability can be made. The outcomes are haphazard there is no uniformity and consistence on the outcomes. Other hindrances to the relationship between capital structure and profitability were also discovered and these were attributed to the environmental factors of the company such as economic, political, and social and all other external forces that companies under study were exposed to.

A branch-and-cut algorithm for the capacitated profitable tour problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jepsen, Mads Kehlet; Petersen, Bjørn; Spoorendonk, Simon

2014-01-01

This paper considers the Capacitated Profitable Tour Problem (CPTP) which is a special case of the Elementary Shortest Path Problem with Resource Constraints (ESPPRC). The CPTP belongs to the group of problems known as traveling salesman problems with profits. In CPTP each customer is associated...... with a profit and a demand and the objective is to find a capacitated tour (rooted in a depot node) that minimizes the total travel distance minus the profit of the visited customers. The CPTP can be recognized as the sub-problem in many column generation applications, where it is traditionally solved through...

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PROFITABILITY DETERMINANTS OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN ISLAMIC BANKS IN MALAYSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhamad Muda

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper is conducted to compare the determinants of profitability of the domestic and foreign Islamic banks operating in Malaysia. The Generalized Least Square (GLS is employed with unbalanced panel data on seventeen Islamic banks, using quarterly data for the period of 2007 to 2010. In order to find out the differences in the profitability determinants, the sample of banks is divided into two sub-samples (domestic and foreign. The results reveal that domestic Islamic banks are more profitable than foreign Islamic banks. The results also show that the profitability determinants of domestic banks are different from those of foreign banks. The overhead expenses, loans, efficiency, gross domestic product growth rate and bank size have a significant effect in determining banks’ profitability, in which case applicable to the domestic banks only. In turn, the gross domestic product per capita has a significant effect in determining banks’ profitability of only the foreign banks. The study finds that, deposits, capital and reserves, inflation and banks’ age have a significant effect in determining banks’ profitability of both domestic and foreign banks. Meanwhile, liquidity and concentration are not able to explain the variability of domestic and foreign Islamic banks’ profitability. The findings indicate that the profitability of domestic banks is affected by the global financial crisis while, the profitability of foreign banks is not affected.

Profit allocation of independent power producers based on cooperative Game theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia, N.X.; Yokoyama, R.

2003-01-01

With the development of deregulation, the retail market is being formed. The independent power producers (IPPs) can contact the customers and sell electric power to them directly to obtain the profits because IPPs can provide electricity at cheaper prices to the customers than the utilities can. If IPP can obtain further more profit through collaborating with other ones in some coalition, it will prefer to collaborate to form this coalition rather than participating individually. In coalition, also the problem of how to allocate profit rationally for each IPP should also be solved. In this paper, we discuss the cooperation of IPPs in retail market and give a formulation about the calculation of IPPs profits. After that, based on Game theory, we propose a scheme to decide the profit allocation of each IPP in the coalitions rationally and impartially. (author)

Impact of Liquidity on Islamic Banks' Profitability: Evidence from Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Limon Moinur Rasul

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This study examines the impact of liquidity on Islamic banks’ profitability during an 11 years period of 2001 to 2011. To explore and interpret the results the study has taken samples from five Islamic banks that have been in operation in Bangladesh on or before 2001 to till date. In order to construct the liquidity model it used four liquidity variables namely cash & due from banks to total assets (CDTA, cash & due from banks to total deposits (CDDEP, investment to total assets (INVSTA and investment to total deposits (INVSDEP. According to adjusted R squares profitability variables return on assets (ROA, return on equity (ROE and return on deposits (ROD are respectively 17.1%, 4.5% and 24.6% dependent on independent variables. The statistical results suggest that CDTA is found insignificant with all profitability variables, whereas CDDEP is individually significant with all profitability variables except ROE. On the other hand INVSTA and INVSDEP are recognized significant with all three profitability variables. However, when ROE stands for an insignificant relationship with the overall liquidity model, ROA and ROD are identified significantly correlated with the similar model at 1% significant level. Unsurprisingly the findings do strengthen the specification that the impact of liquidity reflects adequate imposition on profitability that the Islamic banks in Bangladesh must abide by.

Analysis of profitability and poverty reduction of yoghurt processing ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study assessed the profitability of yoghurt processing with a view of determining its potentials for reducing poverty in Maiduguri Metropolitan Area. Data were collected from a survey of 10 yoghurt processing firms in Maiduguri and analysed using profit model and descriptive statistics. Results revealed that yoghurt ...

Profitability analysis of catfish farming in Suleja local government ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The problem of profitability and scale of production of catfish has not been properly addressed. This study was conducted in Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State to assess the profitability of catfish production. Forty (40) catfish farmers were selected from the study area using simple random sampling techniques.

A review on hydraulic fracturing of unconventional reservoir

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quanshu Li

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Hydraulic fracturing is widely accepted and applied to improve the gas recovery in unconventional reservoirs. Unconventional reservoirs to be addressed here are with very low permeability, complicated geological settings and in-situ stress field etc. All of these make the hydraulic fracturing process a challenging task. In order to effectively and economically recover gas from such reservoirs, the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fracturing in the heterogeneous fractured/porous media under such complicated conditions should be mastered. In this paper, some issues related to hydraulic fracturing have been reviewed, including the experimental study, field study and numerical simulation. Finally the existing problems that need to be solved on the subject of hydraulic fracturing have been proposed.

Distal antebrachial fractures in toy-breed dogs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muir, P.

1997-01-01

Antebrachial fractures account for approximately 17% of all canine fractures, with motor vehicle trauma cited as one of the primary causes. However, antebrachial fractures in toy-breed dogs are often sustained after apparently minimal trauma, such as jumping or falling, and are usually distal. The cause of antebrachial fractures in toy breeds is not well understood. Complications after treatment of distal antebrachial fractures in toy-breed dogs, including delayed union, nonunion, and malunion, are common and are potentially serious because they may necessitate limb amputation. This article reports on distal antebrachial fractures in 26 toy-breed dogs that wee presented to the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital from April 1987 to March 1996. The author found that (1) these fractures typically occur in growing or adolescent dogs; (2) the presence of complications of union is typically associated with prior treatment using intramedullary pinning or external coaptation; and (3) successful healing of this type of fracture is obtained via rigid stabilization with bone plating in combination with cancellous bone autograft

Fracture behavior of human molars.

Science.gov (United States)

Keown, Amanda J; Lee, James J-W; Bush, Mark B

2012-12-01

Despite the durability of human teeth, which are able to withstand repeated loading while maintaining form and function, they are still susceptible to fracture. We focus here on longitudinal fracture in molar teeth-channel-like cracks that run along the enamel sidewall of the tooth between the gum line (cemento-enamel junction-CEJ) and the occlusal surface. Such fractures can often be painful and necessitate costly restorative work. The following study describes fracture experiments made on molar teeth of humans in which the molars are placed under axial compressive load using a hard indenting plate in order to induce longitudinal cracks in the enamel. Observed damage modes include fractures originating in the occlusal region ('radial-median cracks') and fractures emanating from the margin of the enamel in the region of the CEJ ('margin cracks'), as well as 'spalling' of enamel (the linking of longitudinal cracks). The loading conditions that govern fracture behavior in enamel are reported and observations made of the evolution of fracture as the load is increased. Relatively low loads were required to induce observable crack initiation-approximately 100 N for radial-median cracks and 200 N for margin cracks-both of which are less than the reported maximum biting force on a single molar tooth of several hundred Newtons. Unstable crack growth was observed to take place soon after and occurred at loads lower than those calculated by the current fracture models. Multiple cracks were observed on a single cusp, their interactions influencing crack growth behavior. The majority of the teeth tested in this study were noted to exhibit margin cracks prior to compression testing, which were apparently formed during the functional lifetime of the tooth. Such teeth were still able to withstand additional loading prior to catastrophic fracture, highlighting the remarkable damage containment capabilities of the natural tooth structure.

Potential profitability of pearl culture in coastal communities in Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ismail Saidi

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Artisanal half-pearl culture has been shown to provide livelihood and economic opportunities for coastal communities in Tanzania that depend directly on exploitation of marine resources. However, these pilot research studies have been supported by donor organisations and the economic feasibility of such development has not yet been assessed. Furthermore, there is little understanding of the costs required to establish pearl farms and the relative impacts of farm size on production, running costs, profitability and risks involved in production. The aim of this study was to develop economic models for subsistence level half-pearl culture in Tanzania. Models were generated for various scenarios relating to farm size and products (i.e. half-pearls and juvenile oyster or ‘spat’ collection and they give detail on infrastructure costs, operational costs and income generated for various levels of operation. We concluded that the most profitable model for community-based pearl farming is to culture at least 600 oysters for half-pearl production. However, for communities to be able to run a sustainable and profitable enterprise, development of a sustainable source of oysters is crucial. Farmers can also generate income from collection of juvenile oysters and their subsequent sale to pearl farmers, but this is less profitable than half-pearl farming and requires a longer operational period before profits are made. Like pearl farming, there were major benefits or economies of scale with the largest farms tested providing greatest profit and/or a shorter time required to reach profitability. Our results provide a valuable source of information for prospective pearl farmers, donors, funding bodies and other stakeholders, and valuable extension information supporting further development of pearl culture in Tanzania.

Hip fracture in hospitalized medical patients

OpenAIRE

Zapatero Antonio; Barba Raquel; Canora Jesús; Losa Juan E; Plaza Susana; San Roman Jesús; Marco Javier

2013-01-01

Abstract Background The aim of the present study is to analyze the incidence of hip fracture as a complication of admissions to internal medicine units in Spain. Methods We analyzed the clinical data of 2,134,363 adults who had been admitted to internal medicine wards. The main outcome was a diagnosis of hip fracture during hospitalization. Outcome measures included rates of in-hospital fractures, length of stay and cost. Results A total of 1127 (0.057%) admittances were coded with an in-hosp...

A Year of Fractures: a snapshot analysis of the logistics, problems and outcomes of a hospital-based fracture liaison service.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaile, J H; Sullivan, L; Connor, D; Bleasel, J F

2013-10-01

Our fracture liaison service identifies patients with low trauma fractures, determines the need for osteoporosis therapy and instigates therapy if necessary. We describe the tracking and outcome of 768 patients attending our emergency department over 1 year and discuss the problems we encountered and potential solutions. Osteoporotic fractures result in substantial morbidity, mortality and economic cost, and patients sustaining a first fracture are known to be at higher risk of sustaining future fracture. Treatment of at-risk patients has been shown to assist in prevention of future fracture including hip fracture. We established a "First Fracture Project" to identify and treat these patients in 2003. We assessed "A Year of Fractures": the logistics, outcome and problems in tracking patients presenting to our emergency department with a low trauma fracture by our fracture liaison service, over 1 year from July 2008 to June 2009. Patients were tracked by our osteoporosis nurse and offered assessment, and treatment where necessary. In 1 year, 768 patients aged 50 or over were identified from emergency department records as attending with a low trauma fracture. About 84 % of patients eventually received assessment. Of the162 patients progressing through the entire process, 74 % had osteoporosis treatment planned and/or commenced. Our fracture liaison service was effective at identifying most low trauma fracture patients at risk of further fracture and providing access to osteoporosis assessment. There were many difficulties: we outline logistic and practical issues in delivering our service and suggest potential improvements.

WHAT DETERMINES THE PROFITABILITY OF BANKS? EVIDENCE FROM THE US

OpenAIRE

Ruochen Wang; Xuan Wang

2015-01-01

This paper examines the factors affecting bank profitability. We use a sample of US banks over the period 2002-2014, and measure profitability using both return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). We find that banks have higher profitability when they have: (1) a lower loans to total assets ratio, (2) a lower customer deposits to total liabilities ratio, (3) a lower nonperforming loans to gross loans ratio, (4) higher efficiency, and (5) higher revenue diversification.   We...

Bank Relationship and Firm Profitability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Degryse, H.A.; Ongena, S.

2000-01-01

This paper examines how bank relationships affect firm performance. An empirical implication of recent theoretical models is that firms maintaining multiple bank relationships are less profitable than their single-bank peers. We investigate this empirical implication using a data set containing

Profitability of simple technical trading rules of Chinese stock exchange indexes

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hong; Jiang, Zhi-Qiang; Li, Sai-Ping; Zhou, Wei-Xing

2015-12-01

Although technical trading rules have been widely used by practitioners in financial markets, their profitability still remains controversial. We here investigate the profitability of moving average (MA) and trading range break (TRB) rules by using the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SHCI) from May 21, 1992 through December 31, 2013 and Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index (SZCI) from April 3, 1991 through December 31, 2013. The t-test is adopted to check whether the mean returns which are conditioned on the trading signals are significantly different from unconditioned returns and whether the mean returns conditioned on the buy signals are significantly different from the mean returns conditioned on the sell signals. We find that TRB rules outperform MA rules and short-term variable moving average (VMA) rules outperform long-term VMA rules. By applying White's Reality Check test and accounting for the data snooping effects, we find that the best trading rule outperforms the buy-and-hold strategy when transaction costs are not taken into consideration. Once transaction costs are included, trading profits will be eliminated completely. Our analysis suggests that simple trading rules like MA and TRB cannot beat the standard buy-and-hold strategy for the Chinese stock exchange indexes.

High-Risk Stress Fractures: Diagnosis and Management.

Science.gov (United States)

McInnis, Kelly C; Ramey, Lindsay N

2016-03-01

Stress fractures are common overuse injuries in athletes. They occur during periods of increased training without adequate rest, disrupting normal bone reparative mechanisms. There are a host of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including biochemical and biomechanical, that put athletes at risk. In most stress fractures, the diagnosis is primarily clinical, with imaging indicated at times, and management focused on symptom-free relative rest with advancement of activity as tolerated. Overall, stress fractures in athletes have an excellent prognosis for return to sport, with little risk of complication. There is a subset of injuries that have a greater risk of fracture progression, delayed healing, and nonunion and are generally more challenging to treat with nonoperative care. Specific locations of high-risk stress fracture include the femoral neck (tension side), patella, anterior tibia, medial malleolus, talus, tarsal navicular, proximal fifth metatarsal, and great toe sesamoids. These sites share a characteristic region of high tensile load and low blood flow. High-risk stress fractures require a more aggressive approach to evaluation, with imaging often necessary, to confirm early and accurate diagnosis and initiate immediate treatment. Treatment consists of nonweight-bearing immobilization, often with a prolonged period away from sport, and a more methodic and careful reintroduction to athletic activity. These stress fractures may require surgical intervention. A high index of suspicion is essential to avoid delayed diagnosis and optimize outcomes in this subset of stress fractures. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessing alternative conceptual models of fracture flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ho, C.K.

1995-01-01

The numerical code TOUGH2 was used to assess alternative conceptual models of fracture flow. The models that were considered included the equivalent continuum model (ECM) and the dual permeability (DK) model. A one-dimensional, layered, unsaturated domain was studied with a saturated bottom boundary and a constant infiltration at the top boundary. Two different infiltration rates were used in the studies. In addition, the connection areas between the fracture and matrix elements in the dual permeability model were varied. Results showed that the two conceptual models of fracture flow produced different saturation and velocity profiles-even under steady-state conditions. The magnitudes of the discrepancies were sensitive to two parameters that affected the flux between the fractures and matrix in the dual permeability model: (1) the fracture-matrix connection areas and (2) the capillary pressure gradients between the fracture and matrix elements

Flow characteristics through a single fracture of artificial fracture system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Byoung Yoon; Bae, Dae Seok; Kim, Chun Soo; Kim, Kyung Su; Koh, Young Kwon; Jeon, Seok Won

2001-04-01

Fracture flow in rock masses is one of the most important issues in petroleum engineering, geology, and hydrogeology. Especially, in case of the HLW disposal, groundwater flow in fractures is an important factor in the performance assessment of the repository because the radionuclides move along the flowing groundwater through fractures. Recently, the characterization of fractures and the modeling of fluid flow in fractures are studied by a great number of researchers. Among those studies, the hydraulic behavior in a single fracture is one of the basic issues for understanding of fracture flow in rockmass. In this study, a fluid flow test in the single fracture made of transparent epoxy replica was carried out to obtain the practical exponent values proposed from the Cubic law and to estimate the flow rates through a single fracture. Not only the relationship between flow rates and the geometry of fracture was studied, but also the various statistical parameters of fracture geometry were compared to the effective transmissivity data obtained from computer simulation.

Diagnostic Accuracy of 2-Dimensional Computed Tomography for Articular Involvement and Fracture Pattern of Posterior Malleolar Fractures.

Science.gov (United States)

Meijer, Diederik T; de Muinck Keizer, Robert-Jan O; Doornberg, Job N; Sierevelt, Inger N; Stufkens, Sjoerd A; Kerkhoffs, Gino M M J; van Dijk, C Niek

2016-01-01

Up to 44% of ankle fractures have involvement of the posterior tibial margin. Fracture size and morphology are important factors to guide treatment of these fragments, but reliability of plain radiography in estimating size is low. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the accuracy of 2-dimensional computed tomography (2DCT) in the assessment of posterior malleolar fractures. Additionally, the diagnostic accuracy of 2DCT and its value in preoperative planning was evaluated. Thirty-one patients with 31 ankle fractures including a posterior malleolar fragment were selected. Preoperative CT scans were analyzed by 50 observers from 23 countries. Quantitative 3-dimensional CT (Q3DCT) reconstructions were used as a reference standard. Articular involvement of the posterior fragment was overestimated on 2DCT by factors 1.6, 1.4, and 2.2 for Haraguchi types I, II, and III, respectively. Interobserver agreement on operative management ("to fix, or not to fix?") was substantial (κ = 0.69) for Haraguchi type I fractures, fair (κ = 0.23) for type II fractures, and poor (κ = 0.09) for type III fractures. 2DCT images led to a change in treatment of the posterior malleolus in 23% of all fractures. Surgeons would operatively treat type I fractures in 63%, type II fractures in 67%, and type III fractures in 22%. Surgeons overestimated true articular involvement of posterior malleolar fractures on 2DCT scans. 2DCT showed some additional value in estimating the involved articular surface when compared to plain radiographs; however, this seemed not yet sufficient to accurately read the fractures. Analysis of the CT images showed a significant influence on choice of treatment in 23% with a shift toward operative treatment in 12% of cases compared to evaluating plain lateral radiographs alone. Level III, comparative study. © The Author(s) 2015.

Determinants of Profitability of Food Industry in India: A Size-Wise Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramachandran Azhagaiah

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Profitability is the profit earning capacity, which is a crucial factorin contributing to the survival of firms. This paper is a maidenattempt at estimating the impact of size on profitability, consideringthe ‘size’ as the control variable. For this purpose, the selectedfirms are classified into three size categories as ‘small,’ ‘medium,’and ‘large’ based on the sales turnover. The results show that volatilityand growth are the major predictors in determining profitabilityin case of small size firms while growth is important in determiningthe profitability of medium size firms. Capital intensityhas a significant positive coefficient with the profitability of largesize firms. The overall result shows that the larger the size of thefirm, the more the investment in long lived assets has helped toincrease the profitability of the firm unlike the trend in cases ofsmall size and medium size firms.

A Rare Nasal Bone Fracture: Anterior Nasal Spine Fracture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Egemen Kucuk

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Anterior nasal spine fractures are a quite rare type of nasal bone fractures. Associated cervical spine injuries are more dangerous than the nasal bone fracture. A case of the anterior nasal spine fracture, in a 18-year-old male was presented. Fracture of the anterior nasal spine, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of the midface injuries and also accompanying cervical spine injury should not be ignored.

Detection of neurological deficits by computed tomography in sacral fracture patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakai, Daisuke; Numazaki, Shin; Katsumura, Tetsu; Tamaru, Tomohiko; Sugiyama, Mitsugi; Nakamura, Jun-ichiro; Saitoh, Tomoyuki

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the correlation between sacral fractures and neurological deficits as complications. From November 2002 to February 2005, 12 patients (15 fractures) were found to have sacral fractures without other spinal injuries or brain injuries and were evaluated by plain CT scans immediately after trauma. This group included 6 males and 6 females, whose age ranged from 17 to 67 years with mean of 39.9±17.4. All patients were classified according to AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft fuer Osteosynthesefragen) classification (pelvic ring fracture) and Denis's classification. Displacements of sacral fractures were evaluated by plain CT scans for all patients. We defined displacements using the key slice in CT scans that included the first foramen in the sacrum. Five cases, including 2 with bi-lateral sacral fractures, were complicated with neurological deficits. There was one case with a neurological deficit of 7 Type B fractures (14%) and 4 cases with neurological deficits of 5 Type C fractures (80%) in the AO classification. There were 6 fractures with neurological deficits of 12 Zone II fractures (50%) and one fracture with neurological deficits of one Zone III fractures (100%) in Denis's classification. There was a significant correlation between the extent in the displacement of the sacral fractures and neurological deficits. For more than 3 mm displacements in the medial or lateral or anterior directions, neurological deficits increased significantly. In emergency medicine, it is difficult to evaluate the neurological findings of patients with impaired consciousness. Our evaluation using CT scan is valuable as a predictor of neurological deficits and for an optimal reduction in sacral fractures in patients with in impaired consciousness. (author)

The Effect of Age at First Calving and Calving Interval on Productive Life and Lifetime Profit in Korean Holsteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changhee Do

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This study was performed to estimate the effect of age at first calving and first two calving intervals on productive life and life time profit in Korean Holsteins. Reproduction data of Korean Holsteins born from 1998 to 2004 and lactation data from 276,573 cows with birth and last dry date that calved between 2000 and 2010 were used for the analysis. Lifetime profit increased with the days of life span. Regression of Life Span on Lifetime profit indicated that there was an increase of 3,800 Won (approximately $3.45 of lifetime profit per day increase in life span. This is evidence that care of each cow is necessary to improve net return and important for farms maintaining profitable cows. The estimates of heritability of age at first calving, first two calving intervals, days in milk for lifetime, lifespan, milk income and lifetime profit were 0.111, 0.088, 0.142, 0.140, 0.143, 0.123, and 0.102, respectively. The low heritabilities indicated that the productive life and economical traits include reproductive and productive characteristics. Age at first calving and interval between first and second calving had negative genetic correlation with lifetime profit (−0.080 and −0.265, respectively. Reducing age at first calving and first calving interval had a positive effect on lifetime profit. Lifetime profit increased to approximately 2,600,000 (2,363.6 from 800,000 Won ($727.3 when age at first calving decreased to (22.3 month from (32.8 month. Results suggested that reproductive traits such as age at first calving and calving interval might affect various economical traits and consequently influenced productive life and profitability of cows. In conclusion, regard of the age at first calving must be taken with the optimum age at first calving for maximum lifetime profit being 22.5 to 23.5 months. Moreover, considering the negative genetic correlation of first calving interval with lifetime profit, it should be reduced against the present

IS THE PRICE RIGHT? PRICING FOR LONG TERM PROFITABILITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Erika NYÁRÁDI

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The way how we choose our pricing strategy has a significant impact on company’s success. Nowadays companies more and more adopt a new way of thinking in pricing, namely pricing for a long term period in order to bring higher profitability, to build an efficient pricing strategy. Marketers have only recently begun to focus seriously on effective pricing. These companies are the so called progressive companies. They have begun doing more than just worrying about pricing. To increase profitability many are abandoning traditional reactive pricing procedures in favor of proactive pricing, making explicit corporate decisions to change their focus to growth in top-line sales to growth in profitability. The long-term implications of price strategies are still under-researched, and managers should be aware of shifts in customer reactions that may result from frequent adoption of certain strategies. The company pricing strategy should be seen in relation to developments in the company variables, internal ones (capital strength, competencies, organizational conditions, efficiency of the work force etc. as well as external ones (customers, competitors, the technological development etc., adopting strategic pricing. In this paper I will present the most effective pricing strategies leading to long term profitability, and also suggest practical conditions for pricing strategies to maximize profit in the long run.

Self-perception of fracture risk: what can it tell us?

Science.gov (United States)

Litwic, A E; Compston, J E; Wyman, A; Siris, E S; Gehlbach, S H; Adachi, J D; Chapurlat, R; Díez-Pérez, A; LaCroix, A Z; Nieves, J W; Netelenbos, J C; Pfeilschifter, J; Rossini, M; Roux, C; Saag, K G; Silverman, S; Watts, N B; Greenspan, S L; March, L; Gregson, C L; Cooper, C; Dennison, E M

2017-12-01

In this study, we report that self-perception of fracture risk captures some aspect of fracture risk not currently measured using conventional fracture prediction tools and is associated with improved medication uptake. It suggests that adequate appreciation of fracture risk may be beneficial and lead to greater healthcare engagement and treatment. This study aimed to assess how well self-perception of fracture risk, and fracture risk as estimated by the fracture prediction tool FRAX, related to fracture incidence and uptake and persistence of anti-osteoporosis medication among women participating in the Global Longitudinal study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW). GLOW is an international cohort study involving 723 physician practices across 10 countries in Europe, North America and Australia. Aged ≥ 55 years, 60,393 women completed baseline questionnaires detailing medical history, including co-morbidities, fractures and self-perceived fracture risk (SPR). Annual follow-up included self-reported incident fractures and anti-osteoporosis medication (AOM) use. We calculated FRAX risk without bone mineral density measurement. Of the 39,241 women with at least 1 year of follow-up data, 2132 (5.4%) sustained an incident major osteoporotic fracture over 5 years of follow-up. Within each SPR category, risk of fracture increased as the FRAX categorisation of risk increased. In GLOW, only 11% of women with a lower baseline SPR were taking AOM at baseline, compared with 46% of women with a higher SPR. AOM use tended to increase in the years after a reported fracture. However, women with a lower SPR who were fractured still reported lower AOM rates than women with or without a fracture but had a higher SPR. These results suggest that SPR captures some aspect of fracture risk not currently measured using conventional fracture prediction tools and is also associated with improved medication uptake.

Dynamic fracture toughness data for CASTOR {sup registered} casks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkler, H.P. [GNS Gesellschaft fuer Nuklear-Service mbH/GNB, Essen (Germany); Trubitz, P.; Pusch, G. [Technische Univ. Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg (Germany); Warnke, E.P. [Siempelkamp GmbH and Co. KG, Krefeld (Germany); Beute, K. [Gontermann-Peipers GmbH, Siegen (Germany); Novotny, V. [SKODA, HUTE, Plzen (Czech Republic)

2004-07-01

For the use of cast iron spherical graphite for heavy-sectioned casks for transportation and storage of radiactive materials a complete failure assessment including fracture mechanical analysis is necessary. The casks require an elaborate fracture mechanics design based on fracture mechanics evaluation. The extension of the existing code with respect to dynamic loading takes account new developments to extend the field of applications. It also includes new criteria to design these casks against operating and accident loadings. A fundamental requirement for the realisation of this standard and the calculation of admissible crack lengths of stresses under dynamic loads is the availability of fracture mechanical data. The paper presents-as a part of a large test-program-first results of dynamic fracture-toughness-investigations depending on structure and temperature. The test-program will incorporate investigations on more then 2500 specimens. The investigations that will be done include static and dynamic fracture mechanics tests, dynamic tensile and pressure-tests on different formed specimens. The temperatures and other test conditions follows the IAEA-regulations and the real service conditions. The test-program will be realised in partnership with different institutes.

A Financial Ratio Analysis of For-Profit and Non-Profit Rural Referral Centers

Science.gov (United States)

McCue, Michael J.; Nayar, Preethy

2009-01-01

Context: National financial data show that rural referral center (RRC) hospitals have performed well financially. RRC hospitals' median cash flow margin ratio was 10.04% in 2002 and grew to 11.04% in 2004. Purpose: The aim of this study is to compare the ratio analysis of key operational and financial performance measures of for-profit RRCs to…

Epidemiology of forearm fractures in adults in Denmark