Search results for "INDEX"
showing 10 items of 5395 documents
The industry effect and the decision to integrate vertically in a crisis context
2019
The objective of this work is twofold: firstly, to study if the characteristics of the industry affect certain financial and strategic decisions of manufacturing firms and, secondly, to determine i...
Operational and financial performance of Italian airport companies: A dynamic graphical model
2016
Abstract This paper provides evidence on the relationship within a set of financial and operational indicators for Italian airports over 2008–2014. The limited sample size of national and regional airports suggests to apply the penalised RCON ( V , E ) model, which falls within the class of Gaussian graphical models. It provides both estimate and easy way to visualise conditional independence structures of the variables. Moreover, it is particularly suitable for handling longitudinal data where small number of units and huge number of variables have been collected. Findings highlight that a qualified concept of size matters in determining good financial performance. Specifically, increasing…
Assessment of the Total Factor Productivity Change in the Spanish Ports: Hicks–Moorsteen Productivity Index Approach
2016
AbstractThe assessment of the productivity growth of ports is essential to improve their performance and competitiveness. Although there are several nonparametric methodologies to compute the productivity change, the Hicks–Moorsteen productivity index is the only multiplicatively completed index that can be computed without price data. For the first time, the total factor productivity (TFP) change of a sample of ports is evaluated. The analysis covers the 28 ports comprising the Spanish port system, using data over the period 2005–2012. The drivers of TFP—technical change, technical efficiency, mix efficiency, and residual scale efficiency—are also investigated. The results indicate that fr…
Measuring foreland container port connectivity disaggregated by destination markets: An index for Short Sea Shipping services in Spanish ports
2020
Abstract The present research aims to develop a Foreland Port Connectivity Index (FPCI) including both qualitative and quantitative variables related to the characteristics of the maritime services provided. To that end, the FPCI incorporates two discount factors—the number of shipping services and destination countries—as penalties to correct for the quality of a port connection. After defining the FPCI, the index is applied to Spanish ports to study their connectivity in terms of container Short Sea Shipping (SSS) services. Although the connectivity of SSS traffic has not been widely studied, it is an interesting case study as small ports play a more relevant role in facilitating access t…
A stochastic dynamical social model involving a human happiness index
2018
[EN] This paper presents a new human happiness index built through five dimensions: development, freedom, solidarity, justice and peace. These five dimensions are evaluated through quantitative variables obtained from the Human Development Reports, World Data Bank and Eurostat. The new happiness index has been built following the guidelines set by the Human Development Reports of the UN for the construction of quality indices, and it has been compared on a set of 13 EU countries with the Overall Life Satisfaction Index, which is used by the UN. Moreover, the new index has been included in a dynamic mathematical model through the demographic rates to study the evolution of the population. Th…
Influence of the drawing process on the defect generation in multistep-index germanium-doped optical fibers
2009
International audience; Variation of germanium lone pair center (GLPC) concentration in germanosilicate multistep-index optical fibers and preforms was studied using confocal microscopy luminescence technique. The experimental results provide evidence that in the central core region ([Ge] ~11 wt. % ) of our specific canonical samples the ratio [GLPC]/[Ge] is five times larger in fiber than in preforms. The relative influence of the glass composition and of the drawing process on the generation efficiency of the GLPC defects that drive the glass photosensitivity is discussed. The radial distribution of these defects suggests a possible enhancement of the defect creation related to the intern…
Nonlinear femtosecond pulse propagation in an all-solid photonic bandgap fiber
2009
Nonlinear femtosecond pulse propagation in an all-solid photonic bandgap fiber is experimentally and numerically investigated. Guiding light in such fiber occurs via two mechanisms: photonic bandgap in the central silica core or total internal reflection in the germanium doped inclusions. By properly combining spectral filtering, dispersion tailoring and pump coupling into the fiber modes, we experimentally demonstrate efficient supercontinuum generation with controllable spectral bandwidth.
Tracing the indexicalization of the notion "Helsinki s"
2017
AbstractEarlier research has concluded that there is a strong symbolic relationship between Helsinki as a place and non-standard /s/ pronunciation. This phenomenon is likewise in continuous evidence in the Finnish media and social media. The notion of “Helsinki s” has become a folk linguistic fact although it lacks a clear linguistic correlate or even status as a linguistic fact. The only sibilant of the Finnish language is officially a voiceless alveolar, while the “Helsinki s” is most often discussed as “hissing”, “sharp” or “fronted”. However, according to recent research based on listening tasks, any /s/ may be designated and discussed as a “Helsinki s” if the speaker is regarded as a H…
The Complex Interaction Between the Major Sleep Symptoms, the Severity of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and Sleep Quality
2021
Introduction: Little information exists in the general population whether clinical presentation phenotypes of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) differ in terms of sleep quality and comorbidities.Aim: The purpose of our study was to assess possible differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic OSA patients concerning syndrome's severity, patients' sleep quality, and comorbidities.Subjects and methods: First, in a nationwide, stratified, epidemiological survey, 4,118 Cypriot adult participants were interviewed about sleep habits and complaints. In the second stage of the survey, 264 randomly selected adults underwent a type III sleep study for possible OSA. Additionally, they completed the Gre…
Comparison between SMOS Vegetation Optical Depth products and MODIS vegetation indices over crop zones of the USA
2014
The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission provides multi-angular, dual-polarised brightness temperatures at 1.4 GHz, from which global soil moisture and vegetation optical depth (tau) products are retrieved. This paper presents a study of SMOS' tau product in 2010 and 2011 for crop zones of the USA. Retrieved tau values for 504 crop nodes were compared to optical/IR vegetation indices from the MODES (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite sensor, including the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVE), Leaf Area Index (LAI), and a Normalised Difference Water Index (NOW!) product. tau values were observed to increase during the…