Search results for "RICE"
showing 10 items of 2331 documents
Determining IPO prices for innovative firms: the case of young French bio-medtech firms
2020
International audience; The large number of French biotech firms that have recently gone public prompts us to analyse the role and characteristics of their initial backers and their influence in determining the offer price at the time of the IPO. We assume the offer price is setso as to underprice companies in conjunction with the exit motives of their main shareholders and the nature and characteristics of the venture capital firms backing them. The paper characterizes listed bio-medtech firms, although the resultssometimes fail to reveal underpricing for the 39 bio-medtech firms that went public on Euronext Paris between 2010 and 2016.
Cost-benefit analysis: A comparison between conventional and organic olive growing in the Mediterranean Area
2015
The conversion from conventional to organic management of olive growing has many benefits, such as increase of biodiversity, reduction of soil erosion and lower environmental impact. Since olive represents a main crop in the Mediterranean area, from a social, economic as well as environmental point of view, the aim of this paper has been to determine if the conversion from conventional to organic olive growing can increase the profitability of the farmer in Sicilian farms. Economic analysis has been carried out by means of cost-benefit analysis and financial indicators (NPV, B0/C0, IRR) show that organic growing would allow a better profitability for organic olive farms respect to conventio…
Biominéralisation chez les Céphalopodes (Mollusca) : processus moléculaires et évolution
2021
Molluscs constitute one of the most diversified phyla within metazoans, known for their ability to mineralize a shell. The shell biomineralization is a genetically controlled process that is performed extracellularly via a calcifying organic matrix. This latter, which remains finally occluded (at least, partially) into the shell, is a mixture of proteins, glycoproteins, lipids and polysaccharides, that are collectively secreted by the external calcifying epithelium of the mantle. Today, the shell matrix is usually considered as the ‘molecular toolbox’ for constructing the shell. Since its discovery, it has been the focus of numerous studies, but mainly on bivalves and gastropods leaving cep…
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…
Six Sigma in small- and medium-sized enterprises: a Black Belt project in the Swedish steel industry
2014
Many big companies around the world have solid Six Sigma infrastructures and it is easy to find in literature successful case studies. Conversely, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generally suffer lower attention in the literature. This happens because SMEs have only recently approached the methodology; they have weaker connection with the academia; or they do not rigorously pursue the frameworks. This paper is based on a Six Sigma project in a Swedish medium-sized company that produces steel tubes mainly for hydraulic applications. The project focused on the improvement of warehouse activities related to cutting processes. This Black Belt project was part of a Six Sigma education …
Vitamin C blocks inflammatory platelet-activating factor mimetics created by cigarette smoking.
1997
Cigarette smoking within minutes induces leukocyte adhesion to the vascular wall and formation of intravascular leukocyte-platelet aggregates. We find this is inhibited by platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor antagonists, and correlates with the accumulation of PAF-like mediators in the blood of cigarette smoke-exposed hamsters. These mediators were PAF-like lipids, formed by nonenzymatic oxidative modification of existing phospholipids, that were distinct from biosynthetic PAF. These PAF-like lipids induced isolated human monocytes and platelets to aggregate, which greatly increased their secretion of IL-8 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha. Both events were blocked by a PAF r…
Including Ratio of Platelets to Liver Stiffness Improves Accuracy of Screening for Esophageal Varices That Require Treatment
2021
International audience; Background & aims: Based on platelets and liver stiffness measurements, the Baveno VI criteria (B6C), the expanded B6C (EB6C), and the ANTICIPATE score can be used to rule out varices needing treatment (VNT) in patients with compensated chronic liver disease. We aimed to improve these tests by including data on the ratio of platelets to liver stiffness.Methods: In a retrospective analysis of data from 10 study populations, collected from 2004 through 2018, we randomly assigned data from 2368 patients with chronic liver disease of different etiologies to a derivation population (n = 1579; 15.1% with VNT, 50.2% with viral hepatitis, 28.9% with nonalcoholic fatty liver …
L'attività editoriale di Nicola Bonacasa per l'archeologia nordafricana e le ricerche in Egitto
2016
Vengono presentate le ricerche che Nicola Bonacasa ha svolto ad Alessandria d’Egitto, dall’inizio degli anni ’80 dello scorso secolo fino al 2007, in qualità di direttore della Missione dell’Università di Palermo, ricerche cui lo studioso ha affiancato un’intensa attività editoriale e l’organizzazione di alcuni prestigiosi congressi internazionali.
La resale price maintenance nel commercio librario. Limitare la concorrenza per promuovere la cultura?
2013
Traendo spunto dalle vicende della legge n. 128/2011, che limita lo sconto massimo praticabile al pubblico sul prezzo di copertina dei libri, pprovata con largo consenso e presto abrogata nell’indifferenza generale, l’articolo propone una approfondita analisi del modello nel quale tale legge si inscrive e delle soluzioni alternative che si riscontrano nel contesto europeo. L’indagine intende, quindi, riflettere sulla fondatezza degli assunti tradizionalmente posti alla base della difesa della Rpm libraria. Taking the cue from the events of the Law n. 128/2011, limiting the discounts on books cover price, which was passed by broad consensus and soon implicitly repealed amid the general indif…
Fast Hierarchical Boundary Element Method for Large Scale 3-D Elastic Problems
2010
This chapter reviews recent developments in the strategies for the fast solution of boundary element systems of equations for large scale 3D elastic problems. Both isotropic and anisotropic materials as well as cracked and uncracked solids are considered. The focus is on the combined use the hierarchical representation of the boundary element collocation matrix and iterative solution procedures. The hierarchical representation of the collocation matrix is built starting from the generation of the cluster and block trees that take into account the nature of the considered problem, i.e. the possible presence of a crack. Low rank blocks are generated through adaptive cross approximation (ACA) …