Search results for "efficiency"
showing 10 items of 1430 documents
L'administration conjointe du dossier patient: une responsabilité partagée entre le patient et le praticien
2011
National audience; The main problem faced by patients, health practitioners and the authorities, is namely the gathering and updating of administrative and medical data in order to accurately reconstitute a patient's medical history. Although solutions to accelerate and to ease this gathering are being implemented at the national level in several European countries, as unique health identifier in France, information still have to be validated before use. Through this article, we propose a mixed management of patients' data, split between the patient regarding administrative information and the Medical Practitioner (MP) regarding medical information. This method is based on two processes. Th…
Mapping the relation between University access test and student’s university performance
2018
The access test is the most used tool to evaluate the initial preparation of an italian student before enrolling at the university. Although the necessity to select the most deserving students seem unquestionably reasonable, we have to wonder if it appears to be a good predictor of university performance. In order to answer this question, the university careers of the students enrolled at two Degree Courses at the University of Palermo (academic year 2013/2014) were analysed. The very aim of this paper is to propose a graphical tool, the Student Efficiency Nomogram, that shows the access test scores together with the first-year performance of the student.
Marginal contribution, reciprocity and equity in segregated groups: Bounded rationality and selforganization in social networks
2007
We study the formation of social networks that are based on local interaction and simple rule following. Agents evaluate the profitability of link formation on the basis of the Myerson-Shapley principle that payoffs come from the marginal contribution they make to coalitions. The NP-hard problem associated with the Myerson-Shapley value is replaced by a boundedly rational 'spatially' myopic process. Agents consider payoffs from direct links with their neighbours (level 1), which can include indirect payoffs from neighbours' neighbours (level 2) and up to M-levels that are far from global. Agents dynamically break away from the neighbour to whom they make the least marginal contribution. Com…
Exploiting the optical quadratic nonlinearity of zinc-blende semiconductors for guided-wave terahertz generation: A material comparison
2010
We present a detailed analysis and comparison of dielectric waveguides made of CdTe, GaP, GaAs and InP for modal phase matched optical difference frequency generation (DFG) in the terahertz domain. From the form of the DFG equations, we derived the definition of a very general figure of merit (FOM). In turn, this FOM enabled us to compare different configurations, by taking into account linear and nonlinear susceptibility dispersion, terahertz absorption, and a rigorous evaluation of the waveguide modes properties. The most efficient waveguides found with this procedure are predicted to approach the quantum efficiency limit with input optical power in the order of kWs.
The Effects of the Use of Serious Game in Eco-Driving Training
2016
International audience; Serious games present a promising approach to training and learning. The player is engaged in a virtual environment for a purpose beyond pure entertainment, all while having fun. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the use of serious game in eco-driving training. An approach has been developed in order to improve players’ practical skills in terms of eco-driving. This approach is based on the development of a driving simulation based on a serious game, integrating a multisensorial guidance system with metaphors including visual messages (information on fuel consumption, ideal speed area, gearbox management, etc.) and sounds (spatialized sounds, voice message…
Protocol for Specific Isolation of Virulent Strains of Vibrio vulnificus Serovar E (Biotype 2) from Environmental Samples
2004
ABSTRACT The eel pathogen Vibrio vulnificus biotype 2 comprises at least three serovars, with serovar E being the only one involved in both epizootics of eel vibriosis and sporadic cases of human infections. The virulent strains of this serovar (VSE) have only been recovered from clinical (mainly eel tissue) sources. The main objective of this work was to design and validate a new protocol for VSE-specific isolation from environmental samples. The key element of the new protocol is the broth used for the first step (saline eel serum broth [SEB]), which contains eel serum as a nutritive and selective component. This approach takes advantage of the ability of VSE cells to grow in eel serum an…
A composite indicator index as a proxy for measuring the quality of water supply as perceived by users for urban water services
2021
Abstract The objective of this study is to develop a composite indicator (CI) to measure the quality of water supply based on the variables that are considered to affect users’ perceptions of water supply quality. The proposed CI includes six relevant aspects that determine users’ perceptions of water supply quality (network quality, water quality, water price, complaints, inconvenience caused by upgrading the network, and continuity of service) in a simple, economical, and objective way, using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) with weights based on data envelopment analysis (DEA). The CI was applied to 32 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Valencia (Spain). The results show t…
Measuring the eco-efficiency of wastewater treatment plants under data uncertainty
2018
Abstract Eco-efficiency assessment is a useful tool for improving the sustainability of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, it is a complex task that requires the integration of several performance indicators into a single index. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is established as a highly effective methodology for achieving this as it permits the integration of the service value, resource consumption and environmental impact variables as the desirable outputs, inputs and undesirable outputs, respectively. However, traditional DEA models omit uncertainties in the data that are likely to result in biased conclusions. This study pioneers the assessment of the eco-efficiency of WWTPs w…
Hospital performance: Efficiency or quality? Can we have both with IT?
2015
This paper explores influence of IT investment on hospital efficiency and quality.There is a direct effect of IT investment on service quality in hospitals.There is a moderating effect of quality on operational efficiency in hospitals.There is a U-shaped relationship between IT investments and operational efficiency.IT investments have diminishing returns beyond a certain point. The influence of IT investment on hospital efficiency and quality are of great interest to healthcare executives as well as insurers. Few studies have examined how IT investments influence both efficiency and quality or whether there is an optimal IT investment level that influences both in the desired direction. De…
The Rail Quality Index as an Indicator of the “Global Comfort” in Optimizing Safety, Quality and Efficiency in Railway Rails
2012
AbstractThe proposed model uses the stochastic dynamic programming and in particular Markov decision processes applied to the Rail Quality Index (RQI - Italian Indice di Qualità del Binario, IQB).By performing the integrated analysis of the classes of variables which characterize the overall service quality (in terms of comfort and safety), the proposed mathematical approach allows to find the solutions to the decision-making process in function of the probability of deterioration of the state variables of the infrastructure over time and of the flow of available resources.