Search results for "ECONOMICS"

Quantitative comparison of motion history image variants for video-based depression assessment

2017

Abstract Depression is the most prevalent mood disorder and a leading cause of disability worldwide. Automated video-based analyses may afford objective measures to support clinical judgments. In the present paper, categorical depression assessment is addressed by proposing a novel variant of the Motion History Image (MHI) which considers Gabor-inhibited filtered data instead of the original image. Classification results obtained with this method on the AVEC’14 dataset are compared to those derived using (a) an earlier MHI variant, the Landmark Motion History Image (LMHI), and (b) the original MHI. The different motion representations were tested in several combinations of appearance-based …

Evaluating the effect of organization and context on technical efficiency: a second-stage DEA analysis of Italian hospitals

2022

Objective: the purpose of this study was to compare the technical efficiency of Italian hospitals at a regional level and to examine if differences could be explained by organisational and contextual factors. Technical efficiency was defined as the ability of the operating units evaluated to use optimal resource levels for their level of output.Methods: the effect of external factors was explored through a second stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Efficiency scores were calculated for each hospital using the DEA method (Stage I). Through Tobit regression analysis, the estimated efficiency scores were regressed against a set of organisational and contextual characteristics beyond manager…

Syntaxonomy, diversity and distribution of the vegetation of rock crevices, clefts and ledges in the colline and montane belts of Central Pamir-Alai …

2021

Mountain areas are very often considered to be biodiversity hotspots. Rocks are one of the most unique habitats and serve as a suitable biotope for many endemic and specialized plant species. Here we present the results of the vegetation studies conducted in central and eastern Pamir-Alai and the south-western Tian Shan mountains in 2013‒2019. Based on 334 phytosociological relevés we propose a synopsis of the rock communities of the montane and colline zones of eastern Middle Asia. As a result of our research, we distinguish 17 communities defined into five groups of petrophytic vegetation within the Caricion koshewnikowii alliance. We describe 11 new associations: Feruletum bucharicae, Sc…

Bicausative matrices to measure structural change: Are they a good tool?

1999

The causative-matrix method to analyze temporal change assumes that a matrix transforms one Markovian transition matrix into another by a left multiplication of the first matrix; the method is demand-driven when applied to input-output economics. An extension is presented without assuming the demand-driven or supply-driven hypothesis. Starting from two flow matrices X and Y, two diagonal matrices are searched, one premultiplying and the second postmultiplying X, to obtain a result the closer as possible to Y by least squares. The paper proves that the method is deceptive because the diagonal matrices are unidentified and the interpretation of results is unclear. Keywords : Input-Output ; Ch…

Forecast Output Coincidence and Biproportion: Two Criteria to Determine the Orientation of an Economy. Comparison for France (1980-1997)

2002

International audience; The method of forecast output coincidence used to determine if sectors are demand-sided or supply-sided in an input-output framework mixes two effects, the structural effect (choosing between demand and supply side models) and the effect of an exogenous factor (final demand or added-value). The note recalls that another method is possible, the comparison of the stability of technical and allocation coefficients, generalized by the biproportional filter: if for a sector, after biproportional filtering, column coefficients are more stable than row coefficients, then this sector is declared as not supply-sided (but one cannot decide that it is demand-sided anyway), and …

The variations of technical and allocation coefficients : are they comparable really ?

1995

Two great alternative hypothesis are possible in the analysis input-output : the model may be demand-driven (Leontief) or supply-driven (Ghosh). To test the consistency of these hypotheses on the long term, this paper studies the interest of proportional filters (comparison of column or row coefficients) and the interest of the biproportional filter for the temporalcomparison of input-output matrices. An application is proposed for France between 1980 and 1993. The result is the following : in the long period, there are more sectors supply-driven than demand-driven (i.e. row coefficients are less variable than column coefficients for the majority of the sectors). (FRE) Deux grandes hypothès…

A biproportional filter to compare technical and allocation coefficient variations

1997

International audience; In input-output analysis there are two alternate possibilities between Leontief's mechanism (fixed technical coefficients) and Ghosh's mechanism (fixed allocation coefficients). Testing the long term consistency of these mechanisms entails comparing input-output matrices over time. This paper challenges the value of proportional filters (separate comparison of column and row coefficients) and introduces the biproportional filter which allows simultaneous comparison of column and rows. An application is proposed using French input-output tables for 1980 and 1993. The stability of column coefficients cannot be taken for granted and generally, for any sector, both rows …

About the criteria of output coincidence for forecasts to determine the orientation of the economy (application for France, 1980-1997)

2000

This note indicates that the method of output coincidence for forecasts used to determine if sectors are demand-driven or supply-driven in an input-output framework mixes two effects, the structural effect (choosing between demand and supply driven models) and the effect of an exogenous factor (final demand or added-value). The note recalls that another method is possible, the comparison of the stability of technical and allocation coefficients, generalized by the biproportional filter: if for a sector, after biproportional filtering, column coefficients are more stable than row coefficients, then this sector is declared as not supply-driven (but one cannot decide that it is demand-driven a…

Route for political interests to weaken conservation

2009

A comparative life-cycle assessment of asphalt mixtures for railway sub-ballast containing alternative materials

2018

Abstract Bituminous sub-ballast in railway track-bed can mitigate the variation of the moisture content in the subgrade and reduce vertical stiffness variations of the track leading to a more durable infrastructure. Nevertheless, durability is only one of the aspects that affects the sustainability of an infrastructure. Other relevant aspects are related to the environmental and economic issues. This research work joins the worldwide effort towards a paradigm shift in civil engineering devoted to assess the sustainability of infrastructures at the design stage. With this in mind, in this study different alternative bituminous sub-ballast mixtures containing recycled materials, namely crumb …