Search results for " Index"
showing 10 items of 4978 documents
Prediction of Vehicle Crashworthiness Parameters Using Piecewise Lumped Parameters and Finite Element Models
2018
Estimating the vehicle crashworthiness parameters experimentally is expensive and time consuming. For these reasons different modelling approaches are utilized to predict the vehicle behaviour and reduce the need for full-scale crash testing. The earlier numerical methods used for vehicle crashworthiness analysis were based on the use of lumped parameters models (LPM), a combination of masses and nonlinear springs interconnected in various configurations. Nowadays, the explicit nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA) is probably the most widely recognized modelling technique. Although informative, finite element models (FEM) of vehicle crash are expensive both in terms of man-hours put into…
Pricing Sovereign Contingent Convertible Debt
2016
We develop a pricing model for sovereign contingent convertible bonds (S-CoCo) with payment standstills triggered by a sovereign's credit default swap CDS spread. One innovation is the modeling of CDS spread regime switching which is prevalent during crises. Regime switching is modeled as a hidden Markov process and is integrated with a stochastic process of spread levels to obtain S-CoCo prices through simulation. The paper goes a step further and uses the pricing model in a Longstaff-Schwartz. American option pricing framework to compute state contingent S-CoCo prices at some risk horizon, thus facilitating risk management. Dual trigger pricing is also discussed using the idiosyncratic CD…
Ranking corporate sustainability: a flexible multidimensional approach based on linguistic variables
2017
Corporate sustainability implies a compromise between the present environmental, social, and economic needs of a firm's stakeholders and their future needs. Corporate sustainability is therefore a multidimensional concept. Nowadays, several independent rating agencies rate firms in terms of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. These ratings are usually used by main sustainability indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, FTSE4 Good, Stoxx Sustainability Index, or Euronext Vigeo Family to select companies to invest in. Only those firms performing better than the average of their sector are selected. However, although providing linguistic ratings about the performan…
Comparing Freedom House Democracy Scores to Alternative Indices and Testing for Political Bias: Are US Allies Rated as More Democratic by Freedom Hou…
2014
AbstractSeveral scholars have criticized the Freedom House democracy ratings as being politically biased. Do countries indeed incorrectly receive better ratings that have stronger political ties with the United States? This article tests whether differences between a number of alternative indices of democracy and the FH ratings can be explained in a systematic manner by variables that record relationships between the US and the countries under investigation. Differentiating between the periods before 1988 and after 1989, strong and consistent evidence of a substantial bias in the FH ratings is obtained for the former period. For the latter period, the estimates are less consistent, but stil…
Prediction of Difficult Tracheal Videolaryngoscopic Intubation Using El-Ganzouri Risk Index
2017
Summary Introduction. Unanticipated difficult intubation still exists as a significant problem. El-Ganzouri risk index is a bedside difficult airway evaluation method, which can help determine risk of difficult airways. However, evidence of using of El-Ganzouri risk index in difficult laryngeal visualisation using videolaryngoscopes is limited. Aim of the Study. Determine the specificity and sensitivity of El-Ganzouri multivariate risk index to predict difficult laryngeal exposure using Storz C-MAC videolaryngoscope equipped with D type blade. Material and methods. We conducted a study of 29 patients, which were examined using El-Ganzouri risk index before induction of anaesthesia. After in…
UVER and UV index at high altitude in Northwestern Argentina
2016
Measurements of ultraviolet erythemal radiation (UVER) made during two years at three sites located at altitudes over 1000 m a.s.l. in Northwestern Argentina (Salta, San Carlos, and El Rosal) have been used to estimate and analyze the UV Index (UVI) and the cumulative doses at these locations. For the UVER irradiance, data of January (maximum values) and June (minimum values) have been analyzed as representative of the year for all locations. The UVI reaches extreme (> 11) values in > 20% of the analyzed days in Salta (1190 m a.s.l.), while these are reached in San Carlos (1611 m a.s.l.) and El Rosal (3355 m a.s.l.) in > 40% of the analyzed days. Finally, the cumulative doses over an averag…
Association Between Fatty Acids of Blood Cell Membranes and Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease
2019
Objective— To examine the associations between baseline levels of fatty acids in blood cell membranes and their 1-year changes with the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in older adults at high cardiovascular disease risk. Approach and Results— This is a case-control study nested in the PREDIMED trial (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea), with 136 CHD cases and 272 controls (matched on age, sex, body mass index, intervention group, and time of permanence in the study to the time event). We used gas chromatography to measure the proportion of 22 fatty acids in blood cell membranes at baseline and after 1 year. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and…
A new mass spectrometry-based method for the quantification of histones in plasma from septic shock patients.
2017
The aim of this study was to develop a novel method to detect circulating histones H3 and H2B in plasma based on multiple reaction monitoring targeted mass spectrometry and a multiple reaction monitoring approach (MRM-MS) for its clinical application in critical bacteriaemic septic shock patients. Plasma samples from 17 septic shock patients with confirmed bacteraemia and 10 healthy controls were analysed by an MRM-MS method, which specifically detects presence of histones H3 and H2B. By an internal standard, it was possible to quantify the concentration of circulating histones in plasma, which were significantly higher in patients, and thus confirmed their potential as biomarkers for diagn…
The Effects of Different High-Protein Low-Carbohydrates Proprietary Foods on Blood Sugar in Healthy Subjects.
2016
The aim of this study was to analyze the effects on blood sugar concentrations through the calculation of the glycemic score (GS) of 10 different high-protein low-carbohydrates (CHOs) proprietary foods that are commonly used as meals during very low-CHO ketogenic diets or during low-CHO diets. Fourteen healthy females were tested for their glycemic response curve elicited by 1000 kJ of glucose three times within a 3-week period (one test each week) compared with one of 10 test foods once on separate days twice a week. After determining the GS of each food in each individual, the mean GS of each test food was calculated. All test foods, compared with glucose, produced a significantly lower g…
Seven-day fasting as a multimodal complex intervention for adults with type 1 diabetes: Feasibility, benefit and safety in a controlled pilot study.
2020
Abstract Objectives Intermittent as well as prolonged fasting are receiving considerable attention and appear favorable in conditions such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and rheumatic diseases. Fasting for individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is generally considered too risky. However, the ability and possibility to change from carbohydrate- to ketone-based fuel supply might be relevant for individuals with T1D. The aim of this patient-led research was to investigate the feasibility, benefit, and safety of a 7-d multimodal fasting intervention in individuals with T1D. Methods This was a non-randomized controlled pilot study, with 20 participants with T1D and 10 without the diseas…