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1 – 10 of over 4000
Article
Publication date: 20 January 2020

Amita Majumder, Ranjan Ray and Sattwik Santra

This study aims to apply a proposed methodology for calculating spatial prices in a heterogeneous country setting such as India with limited price information. Based on the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to apply a proposed methodology for calculating spatial prices in a heterogeneous country setting such as India with limited price information. Based on the empirical evidence, the study plans to draw the spatial price map of India with different colours denoting states and districts with varying level of spatial prices.

Design/methodology/approach

This study shows that a procedure proposed by Lewbel (1989), based on the idea by Barten (1964) that household composition changes have “quasi-price effects”, can be used to estimate spatial prices in the absence of information on regional prices.

Findings

The evidence on spatial price differences in India, which is the most comprehensive to date because it goes down to district level, shows that the proposed procedure has considerable potential in future applications on other data sets with limited price information. The policy importance of the results is underlined by the sensitivity of the demand elasticities to the inclusion/omission of spatial price variation.

Research limitations/implications

The study uses “pseudo unit values” based on household composition and demographic effects on demand as proxy for the missing price information. While the work of Atella et al. (2004) suggests that such proxies are accurate representations of true prices, nevertheless, they are proxies and the results should be treated with caution.

Practical implications

The evidence on spatial prices in India that point to a high degree of price heterogeneity between regions implies that welfare applications such as income distributional and poverty studies must take account of the price heterogeneity within the country. The implications extend beyond India to cross-country exercises such as the purchasing power parity calculations undertaken by the International Comparison Project.

Originality/value

This is one of the first studies that provide evidence on spatial price heterogeneity within a country without requiring regional price information. Methodologically, the paper builds on the suggestion of Lewbel (RES, 1989) in showing how the demographic effects on household expenditure pattern can be used to estimate spatial prices. The value of the contribution lies in the use that the estimated spatial prices can be put to in calculating inequality and poverty rates and in standard of living comparisons between regions in the country.

Article
Publication date: 10 December 2019

Akbar Eslami, Zahra Goodarzvand Chegini, Maryam Khashij, Mohammad Mehralian and Marjan Hashemi

A nanosilica adsorbent was prepared and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and BET.

Abstract

Purpose

A nanosilica adsorbent was prepared and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and BET.

Design/methodology/approach

The optimum conditions for the highest adsorption performance were determined by kinetic modeling. The adsorbent was used for the adsorption of acetaminophen (ACT), and the parameters affecting the adsorption were discussed like pH, initial concentration, contact time and adsorbent dosage. The adsorbent have been characterized by SEM, XRD and BET analysis. The kinetic models including pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to investigate the kinetic and isotherms parameters.

Findings

The adsorption of ACT increased to around 95% with the increase of nanosilica concentration to 30 g/L. Moreover, the adsorption process of ACT follows the pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm with the maximum adsorption capacity of 609 mg/g.

Practical implications

This study provided a simple and effective way to prepare of nanoadsorbents. This way was conductive to protect environmental and subsequent application for removal of emerging pollutants from aqueous solutions.

Originality/value

The novelty of the study is synthesizing the morphological and structural properties of nanosilica-based adsorbent (specific surface area, pore volume and size, shape and capability) and improving its removal rate through optimizing the synthesis method; and studying the capability of synthesis of nanosilica-based adsorbent for removal of ACT as a main emerging pharmaceutical water contaminant.

Details

Pigment & Resin Technology, vol. 49 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0369-9420

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2013

Javier Sosa, Daniel Alcaraz Real-Arce, Tomás Bautista, Juan A. Montiel-Nelson, S. Garcia-Alonso, José M. Monzón-Verona and Saeid Nooshabadi

In a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, one of the most time-consuming tasks is to identify and track the visible satellites. The paper aims to propose and examine in…

Abstract

Purpose

In a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, one of the most time-consuming tasks is to identify and track the visible satellites. The paper aims to propose and examine in detail new and shorter identification patterns or lite pseudo-codes – pseudo-random numbers (PRNs) – that allow GPS receivers to reduce dramatically the computational effort to identify and track GPS satellites. Obtaining lite pseudo-codes is a multi-objective optimization problem that the paper resolves using genetic algorithms (GAs).

Design/methodology/approach

The lite PRNs are obtained by using NSGA-II and omni-optimizer multi-objective optimization techniques.

Findings

The new PRNs obtained with the proposed single/multi-objective solutions are always better than previously presented when the highest detection peak (DP) is required for the GPS receiver.

Originality/value

Results demonstrate that the problem of “obtaining lite pseudo-codes” is a multi-objective optimization problem. In other words, the solutions obtained with the single-objective approach could belong to a local minimum. The multi-objective approach provides a better solution than the single-objective approach in a 37 percent of the satellites while in other cases the multi-objective approach reaches the same DPs with a similar noise.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 30 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 February 2021

Lilly-Mari Sten, Pernilla Ingelsson, Ingela Bäckström and Marie Häggström

Team collaboration is essential to ensure the quality of care and patient safety when critically ill patients are transferred from an intensive care unit (ICU) to a general ward…

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Abstract

Purpose

Team collaboration is essential to ensure the quality of care and patient safety when critically ill patients are transferred from an intensive care unit (ICU) to a general ward. Measuring team collaboration in the patient transfer process can help gain insights into how team collaboration is perceived and how it can be improved. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and testing of a questionnaire aiming to measure perceived team collaboration in the patient transfer process from ICU to the general ward. This study also aims to analyze the results to see how the survey could help improve team collaboration within ICU transitional care.

Design/methodology/approach

Statements, factors and main areas intended to measure perceived team collaboration were developed from a theory. The questionnaire was tested in two ICUs at two hospitals located in Sweden, and the results were analyzed statistically.

Findings

The results showed that the questionnaire could be used for measuring perceived team collaboration in this process. The results from the survey gave insights that can be useful when improving team collaboration in ICU transitional care.

Research limitations/implications

The collaboration between two research subjects, Nursing Science and Quality Management, has given new perspectives in how cultural and systemic differences and opportunities can help improving team collaboration in ICU transitional care, by shifting focus from the individual to team, culture, system, process and continuous improvement.

Practical implications

The developed questionnaire can be used to measure perceived team collaboration and to identify areas for improving team collaboration in the ICU transitional care process.

Originality/value

There is a sparse amount of research about measuring team collaboration in ICU transitional care, and this study contributes to filling this research gap.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1994

R. Codina, U. Schäfer and E. Oñate

In this paper we consider several aspects related to the application ofthe pseudo‐concentration techniques to the simulation of mould fillingprocesses. We discuss, in particular…

Abstract

In this paper we consider several aspects related to the application of the pseudo‐concentration techniques to the simulation of mould filling processes. We discuss, in particular, the smoothing of the front when finite elements with interior nodes are employed and the evacuation of air through the introduction of temporary free wall nodes. The basic numerical techniques to solve the incompressible Navier—Stokes equations are also briefly described. The main features of the numerical model are the use of div‐stable velocity—pressure interpolations with discontinuous pressures, the elimination of the pressure via an iterative penalty formulation, the use of the SUPG approach to deal with convection‐dominated problems and the temporal integration using the generalized trapezoidal rule. At the end of the paper we present some numerical results obtained for a two‐dimensional test problem showing the ability of the method to capture complicated flow patterns.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1998

Mounia Lalmas and Ian Ruthven

In this paper we report on a theoretical model of structured document indexing and retrieval based on the Dempster‐Shafer Theory of Evidence. This includes a description of our…

Abstract

In this paper we report on a theoretical model of structured document indexing and retrieval based on the Dempster‐Shafer Theory of Evidence. This includes a description of our model of structured document retrieval, the representation of structured documents, the representation of individual components, how components are combined, details of the combination process, and how relevance is captured within the model. We also present a detailed account of an implementation of the model, and an evaluation scheme designed to test the effectiveness of our model. Finally we report on the details and results of a series of experiments performed to investigate the characteristics of the model.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 54 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2004

Scott Johnson, John R. Williams and Benjamin Cook

The efficiency of a discrete element implementation relies on several factors, including the particle representation, neighbor‐sorting algorithm, contact resolution, and force…

Abstract

The efficiency of a discrete element implementation relies on several factors, including the particle representation, neighbor‐sorting algorithm, contact resolution, and force generation. The focus of this paper is on the four‐arc approximation for an ellipsoid – a geometrical representation useful in simulations of large numbers of smoothly shaped particles. A new contact resolution algorithm based on the four‐arc approximation is presented, which takes advantage of the properties of the geometry to provide favorable empirical convergence properties compared with the method proposed earlier. Special attention is given to the software implementation of the algorithm, and a discussion of the computational efficiency of the algorithm is provided.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 21 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 January 2014

Ronald Rousseau

– The purpose of this paper is to extend the h-index framework to the case that articles are counted fractionally.

917

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend the h-index framework to the case that articles are counted fractionally.

Design/methodology/approach

Three restrictions related to the standard h-index are explained: as the standard h-index is a natural number it is a rather coarse indicator; if a scientist has published a relatively small number of publications then the h-index is completely determined by the number of publications; the standard h-index cannot be applied if publications are counted fractionally, or when magnitude values smaller than one occur.

Findings

We recall solutions we proposed in earlier publications regarding the first two problems (the use of the interpolated h-index and of the pseudo h-index) and add a new proposal to solve the third problem. The relation between the recently introduced window/field-normalized h-type index (hwf-index) and the interpolated h-index is described. A real-world example proves the feasibility of this proposal.

Research limitations/implications

Colleagues have shown that the h-index and its variations have fatal flaws and hence should never be used. Yet, not everyone agrees with this opinion.

Originality/value

Assuming that the h-index still has some value, this paper introduces a refinement of the interpolated h-index, called the generalized interpolated h-index. In this way the h-index framework is extended to incorporate, for instance, the case that fractional counting for publications and citations is applied.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 66 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2016

Petr Sosnin

Nowadays, experience bases are widely used by project companies in designing software-intensive systems (SISs). The efficiency of such informational sources is defined by the…

Abstract

Purpose

Nowadays, experience bases are widely used by project companies in designing software-intensive systems (SISs). The efficiency of such informational sources is defined by the “nature” of modeled experience units and approaches that apply to their systematization. This paper aims to increase the efficiency of designing the SISs by the use of an ontological support for interactions with an accessible experience, models of which are understood as intellectually processed conditioned reflexes.

Design/methodology/approach

Both of the base of experience (BE) and ontological support in interactions with its units are oriented on precedents built in accordance with the offered normative schema when the occupational work is fulfilled by a team of designers. In creating the BE and the ontology as part of the BE, the team should use a reflection of an operational space of solved tasks on a specialized semantic memory intended for simulating the applied reasoning of the question-answer type.

Findings

If the occupational space of designing is reflected on the semantic memory with a programmable shell, then this environment can be adjusted on simulating the intellectual mechanisms flown in a human consciousness when designers ontologically interact with the BE and tasks being solved. The use of simulating the process in consciousness in accordance with their nature facilitates increasing the efficiency of designing the SIS.

Research limitations/implications

An orientation on a precedent model as a basic type of experience unit and an ontological approach to their systematization are defined by the specificity of the study described in this paper. Models of precedents are constructed in accordance with the normative schema when the occupational work is fulfilled by a team of designers.

Practical implications

Investigated and developed means of ontological support are oriented on effective designing of the SISs with the use of the toolkit Working In Questions and Answers (WIQA) by the team of designers. The achieved effects are aimed at increasing the level of success in collaborative designing of SISs.

Social implications

Offered solutions are applicable in designing the systems which supported different relations of a human with artificial and natural environment. They facilitate the naturalness in interactions of a human with computerized world.

Originality/value

An orientation on the precedent model as a basic type of experience unit and the ontological approach to their systematization are defined by the specificity of the study described in this paper. The novelty of this approach is defined by the framework for the precedent model, understood as the intellectually processed conditioned reflex, in which a reflection on the semantic memory (of the question-answer type) is programmable in a conceptually algorithmic language. The ontological support is implemented in the environment of programming.

Details

International Journal of Web Information Systems, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-0084

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2012

Allen M. Featherstone, Timothy A. Park and Jeremy G. Weber

The purpose of this paper is to discuss opportunities to obtain more information from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). Specifically, the paper will explore the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss opportunities to obtain more information from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). Specifically, the paper will explore the issue of survey nonresponse, the development of pseudo panels, and more frequent updating of cost of production data on an enterprise basis.\

Design/methodology/approach

Researchers from the Land Grant University System and the Economic Research Service have relied on ARMS to evaluate the effect of agricultural, macroeconomic, and other factors on the US farm sector, farm businesses, and the households that manage them. This paper will identify gaps in understanding and proposes approaches to extract additional information from ARMS.

Findings

The relevance of ARMS in the future will depend on the ability to continue to understand potential pitfalls and areas of additional research that can develop new procedures to extract additional information. Three issues which are in need of further study include continuing to examine the issue of non‐response, refining methods to develop pseudo panel data, and examining methods to develop commodity specific financial information between the commodity specific surveys.

Originality/value

The National Research Council completed a review of ARMS to address challenges in keeping the survey relevant into the future. However, research that examines the construction of financial statements and other information had not been conducted since the early 1990s. This study fills part of that gap.

Details

Agricultural Finance Review, vol. 72 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-1466

Keywords

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