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PurposeThis paper aims to investigate empirically whether Islamic securities enhance economic growth in the Southeast Asian region based on the endogenous growth theory using the non-parametric analysis.Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies panel quantile regression with Markov chain Monte Carlo optimization as an optimal non-parametric approach to investigate the effect of Islamic securities on economic growth starting from 2013Q4 to 2019Q4 in Southeast Asia. Total issued Islamic securities holdings are employed as a measure for Islamic securities, while the gross domestic product is employed as a proxy for economic growth. The sample includes all working Islamic financial foundations in the top progressive Islamic securities markets' countries of Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam).FindingsThe findings confirm that the increase of issuing Islamic securities in Islamic capital markets of Southeast Asia is increasing the levels of economic growth, reflecting the weighty role of the Islamic capital market development as an active contributor to economic growth.Practical implicationsThis research would fill the literature gap by exploring Islamic securities–economic growth nexus in Southeast Asia using a robust non-parametric approach based on the endogenous growth theory for better estimation results. The findings of this review serve as a roadmap for financial analysts, policymakers and decision makers to stimulate the Islamic securities markets as another source of finance which can promote the economic growth.Originality/valueThis research is the first that investigates empirically the Islamic securities–economic growth nexus in Southeast Asia using a new empirical investigation built on the non-parametric analysis and outlined within the theoretical context of the endogenous growth model to gain robust evidence about this nexus.

Nutritional imbalances have been confirmed in other breeds, related to energy, proteins and minerals and this affects embryonic development, production of quality. In this regard, the objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of strategic supplementation for the production of embryos in native Harton del Valle heifers. For that purpose, 18 pure heifers were used, fed with a diet containing 0.708 kg of crude protein and 73.58 kg of ME Mjul. The economic evaluation was carried out using the partial budgeting technique. Treatments consisted of T1: Without supplementation, T2: Supplementation, 42 days before protocol, T3: 42 days of supplementation, 26 days before and 16 days during protocol. Variables evaluated were number of structures, transferable embryos, number of Non-Transferable Embryos (NTE), number of corpora lutea, follicles and embryonic quality. Non parametric analysis of variance was performed, according to a completely randomized design and comparison of proportions (chi-square). When analyzing the proportion of NTE Vs. the total, it was lower (p˂0.05) in supplemented treatments, regardless of the period in which supplementation was carried out. Supplementation, in both phases of the protocol, increased the proportions of early morulae and blastocysts (p

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of non-genetic factors on milk yield, its composition (fat, protein, dry matter and lactose) and the count of somatic cells in Murciano-Granadina goat breed, through the application of alternative nonparametric tests to routine parametric tests to explain the variability found in the population with respect the aforementioned traits. 2594 milk yield and composition records belonging to 159 goats from the selection nucleus were analysed. Predictors evaluated were farm, type of birth and parity order, live kids, parturition month, season and year, control number, control type, control month, season and year, days in lactation, days from first control, days from last control to drying, drying month, season and year. All of them presented a significant influence (p < .0001) on all the variables studied with the exception of the number of stillborn kids which did not significantly influence the percentage of each component and the year of drying which seemed not to significantly influence dry matter percentage. Conclusively, nongenetic factors affect milk yield and its compositions in the Murciano-Granadina goat breed. Additionally, the inclusion of the type of milk control and information related to the drying period in models predicting for milk yield and content may provide interesting information, which must be included in genetic evaluations to promote higher and better-quality milk production improving the profitability of autochthonous breeds.HIGHLIGHTS Non-genetic factors may affect milk components more than milk yield. Including factors related to lactation cycle can help identifying critical points. Drying-off period information promotes milk yield and quality. Studying nongenetic factors helps maximising milk predictive model potential. Factor combinations studied explain up to 41.8% of variability of milk yield.

This study analyzes wage distortion based on ability in the Chinese labour market using a non-parametric approach. We first propose a signalling model by adding regressive wage incentives to descri...

Young drivers among the group recorded highest fatalities index in road traffic crashes. The objective of this study was to identify factors affecting injury severity of young drivers using 5-years crash data (2008-2012) in Sabah, Malaysia. This study used a combination of parametric and non-parametric analysis to allows the specification of nonlinearities and interactions in addition to main effects. The results indicate that crashes on nighttime, federal roads and involved with a single-vehicle are positively associated with injury among young drivers. Interestingly, municipal roads, female drivers, crashes on the roundabout and T/Y junction are less likely to involve injury. A higher-order interaction suggests that not-at-fault young drivers involved with out-of-control or hit the object are more likely to be severe. On the other hand, young passenger car drivers involved in overturn and sideswipe collisions are negatively associated with the injury. It was also found that young drivers with driving too close behaviour are less likely to injure when involved in rear-end collisions for passenger car and four-wheel drive. Findings of this study will help relate authorities to design well-targeted restrictive measures in reducing the severity level of young drivers in traffic crashes.

This paper uses a novel semi‐non‐parametric approach, the so‐called stochastic non‐parametric envelopment on Z‐variables data (StoNEZD), to measure the performance of 279 European regions (in 28 EU member states and Norway) in the years 2000, 2007, and 2014. The StoNEZD approach combines the main virtues of the parametric and non‐parametric methods in a unifying framework. The proposed model accounts explicitly for the presence of contextual/exogenous factors that might affect the regional performance and allows for the use of statistical inference methods to explore the effects of such variables (agriculture‐to‐ gross value added (GVA) share, employment rate, and euro area membership). According to our results, a larger agriculture‐to‐GVA ratio has a negative impact on regional growth rates, whereas a higher employment rate has a positive influence on regional economic levels. In overall terms, the euro area membership appears to reduce regional average growth rates but seems to enhance regional average efficiency scores. Este trabajo utiliza un novedoso enfoque semi no parametrico, conocido como analisis envolvente estocastico no parametrico sobre datos de Z variables (StoNEZD, por sus siglas en ingles), para medir el desempeno de 279 regiones europeas (en 28 estados miembros de la UE y Noruega) en los anos 2000, 2007 y 2014. El enfoque StoNEZD combina las principales virtudes de los metodos parametricos y no parametricos en un solo marco. El modelo propuesto tiene en cuenta explicitamente la presencia de factores contextuales o exogenos que podrian afectar el desempeno regional y posibilita el uso de metodos de inferencia estadistica para explorar los efectos de esas variables (contribucion de la agricultura al valor anadido bruto (VAB), la tasa de empleo y la pertenencia a la zona del euro). De acuerdo con los resultados, una mayor contribucion de la agricultura al VAB tiene un efecto negativo en las tasas de crecimiento regional, mientras que una tasa de empleo mas elevada influye positivamente en los niveles economicos regionales. En terminos generales, la pertenencia a la zona del euro parece reducir las tasas promedio de crecimiento regional, pero parece mejorar los valores regionales promedio de eficiencia. 土地データは計画立案と行政に非常に重要であるが、開発途上国においてこのリソースは管理が不十分かつ利用できない場合が多い。最近独立した国では、データが削除されるなど問題が深刻化しており、新たな取り組みが必要となっている。この問題に対処するため、東ティモールにおける土地データを統合する際の法的、行政的、技術的な問題の解決策を検討し、提案する。ユーザーの視点から、データ・アクセス・インターフェースのプロトタイプを作成しテストした。このプロトタイプの実行可能性と、国土を所管する国家機関と公的と民間の両方の利害関係者に対する有用性を測定した。このプロトタイプは実用的であり、東ティモールにおける将来の土地情報システム (LIS)のあるべきかたちを予測するのに役立つことが分かった。

Inflation is an increase in the general level of prices which indicates a decrease in the purchasing power of households and a decrease in their real income. The level of interest rates in an econo...

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a type of cancer that remains incurable. In the last decade, most research into MM has focused on investigating the improvement in the therapeutic strategy. Our study assesses the survival probability of 48 patients diagnosed with MM based on parametric and non-parametric techniques. We performed parametric survival analysis and found a well-def- ined probability distribution of the survival time to follow three-parameter lognormal. We then estimated the survival probability and compared it with the commonly used non-parametric Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of the survival times. The comparison of the survival probability estimates of the two methods revealed a better survival probability estimate by the parametric method than the Kaplan-Meier. The parametric survival analysis is more robust and efficient because it is based on a well-defined parametric probabilistic distribution, hence preferred over the non-parametric Kaplan-Meier. This study offers therapeutic significance for further enhancement in the treatment strategy of multiple myeloma cancer.

Last decades have witnessed that exposure to business activities, through family and direct experience, positively influences students’ entrepreneurial intention (EI). The paper aims to present and analyze the relationship between business experience (BE) and EI in the case of final-year university students, specialized in business administration and marketing, resorting to this end to a standardized questionnaire, developed by the authors and finalized following a pilot survey. The hypotheses considered, centered on the study of the existence of any contingency or correlational relationship between the BE of students, and their EI, based on related coefficients applicable in such case, have been confirmed, in line with similar studies. Theoretically, this paper contributes to the enrichment of the literature on students’ EI in higher education institutions (HEIs). Practically, students’ EI can be stimulated and encouraged by a deeper involvement of HEIs in entrepreneurship education, thereby creating a challenging entrepreneurial academic environment through a plethora of measures, such as establishing university spin-offs and closer relationships with their specific external stakeholders (e.g., entrepreneurs, businessmen).

Nitrogen and phosphorous support the ecosystem by supplying nutrients to algae and aquatic plants. Having them in excess results in the eutrophication of waters creating quality problems. In the past, nitrogen has been widely investigated for wells in the context of groundwater flow. However, a national-scale nitrogen assessment in rivers and streams has not received enough attention. In this research, the Wilcoxon rank sum test, as a non-parametric hypothesis testing method, has been applied to nitrogen concentration in the form of nitrate-nitrogen and nitrite-nitrogen in rivers and streams of the Contiguous United States. This approach was particularly selected because of the non-normal and positively skewed nitrogen levels occurring in the surface flow. This method was able to identify the impaired body of waters as well as quantify the confidence, significance, and errors involved. The Northern Appalachians (NAP), Northern Plains (NPL), and Xeric (XER) ecoregions were worsening in the nitrogen-nitrate condition with NAP, and XER needed immediate actions. The nitrite-nitrogen condition did not pose an immediate threat, so mitigation plans should focus more on nitrate-nitrogen remediation. It was shown that the method was superior to the two-sample t-test by yielding lower type II errors.

This study explores the relationship between different dimensions of regional institutional quality and the efficient provision of transport infrastructure. A two-stage semi-parametric approach is applied to a large sample of public works procured by about 1700 Italian municipalities in the 2000–2014 period. First, we estimate the performance in contract execution; then, we test the impact of different measures and dimensions of institutional quality at both regional and provincial level. The results provide evidence that the quality of institutional environment matters in infrastructure procurement, though some specific dimensions of institutional quality appear to be more relevant than others in affecting performance in contract execution. Overall, the estimates are robust to alternative measures of institutional quality, alternative model specifications, and different sample selections.

Objective The development of a constructive therapeutic alliance may represent an important feature of interpersonal adaptation in clients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The present study explores cognitive heuristics as dynamic features of change in relationship with the therapeutic alliance in the treatment of BPD. Method In total, N = 60 clients with BPD, are included in the present study. In the context of brief therapy, the therapeutic alliance (WAI) is assessed from the client and the therapist perspectives after each therapy session; cognitive heuristics are assessed three times (CERS). The data analyses are on the basis of non-parametric clusters (kml3d) linked with the therapeutic alliance. Results The results showed that clusters of cognitive heuristics trajectories are linked with the client's therapeutic alliance (t(55) = 2.30, p = .03), but they remained unrelated with the evolution of the therapist's alliance. Conclusions These results are discussed with regard to the interpersonal adaptiveness of cognitive heuristics in the context of BPD undergoing treatment.

By using the probabilistic framework of production efficiency, the paper develops time-dependent conditional efficiency estimators performing a non-parametric frontier analysis. Specificall...

This paper investigates the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and gross domestic product in the Middle East and North Africa region using World Bank data covering the period 1980 to 2010 on the eve of the Arab Spring. Unlike extant studies using parametric models, the results provide evidence against the postulated inverted-U shaped relationship between pollution and the level of economic development. Using a non-parametric model, new evidence is found against the existence of a carbon Environmental Kuznets Curve in contrast to previous studies on the region. The paper provides a cautionary note against the use of parametric models to draw policy implications about the trade-off (or lack thereof) between environmental quality and the level of economic development.

Limited sample sizes imply parametric assumptions could be violated, even if traits have been reported to fulfil parametric assumptions. Parametric studies have addressed a non-significant influence of CSN1S1 genes on Murciano-Granadina milk yield, fat, protein and dry extract. We used non-parametric categorical tests to find alternative statistical methods to analyse the power to explain the variability found in the population regarding milk yield and its components. We analysed 2090 records for milk yield, and its components from 710 Murciano-Granadina CSN1S1-genotyped goats. Categorical regression equations were issued to predict which and at what level these factors may determine milk yield (kg), fat (kg), protein (kg) and dry extract (kg). All environmental (farm and parturition year) and animal-inherent factors (genotype, birth type and age) resulted statistically significant (p

(Impacto de los impuestos al salario. Un analisis no parametrico del caso de Mexico por Genero) El objetivo del trabajo es medir el efecto del impuesto sobre la renta en los salarios en Mexico en funcion del sexo y las horas trabajadas. Realizamos microsimulacion de la carga impositiva de los asalariados formales y utilizamos un metodo no parametrico para evitar asumir una relacion funcional de las variables, mediante el uso de la funcion kernel Gaussiana. Los resultados muestran que la carga impositiva solo recae en el 60 por ciento de los asalariados. Los hombres soportan una mayor carga tributaria que las mujeres y un aumento en las horas de trabajo no causa un aumento significativo en el pago del impuesto. Se recomienda establecer estrategias a favor de mejores salarios que permita incrementar la recaudacion. La limitante del estudio es que no considera la incidencia de impuestos de sociedades o trabajadores por cuenta propia. La originalidad es ofrecer una medicion alternativa del ISR teniendo en cuenta los salarios y las horas de trabajo sin establecer condiciones a priori entre ellos. Se concluye que un mercado laboral de bajos salarios no contribuira al fortalecimiento de los ingresos publicos.

The SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. In 2015 all UN Member States, adopted the 2030 Agenda for the SDG, which comprises an action plan for people, the planet and prosperity with 17 objectives covering the economic, social and environmental dimensions, [1]. SDG 4 is the goal of quality education with made up of 10 targets to ensure an inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In this sense, it is expected that all countries increasing the number of young people and adults with relevant professional skills, decent jobs, entrepreneurship, eliminating gender and income disparities in access to education. This article examines the quality of education in 17 European countries using a model nonparametric deterministic for measuring efficiency based on MEA (Multidirectional Efficiency Analysis) [2], in combination with other mathematical techniques (such as accumulated effort and group indicator), during seven years (every three years from 2000-2018). To this end, we analyze the countries evolution at three distinct efficiency stages: levels, patterns and determinants. The study is based on the EU's set of indicators to monitor progress towards the UN SDGs: basic education (early leavers from education and training, participation in early childhood education and achievement in reading, mathematic or science), tertiary education (tertiary education attainment and employment rates of recent graduates) and adult learning (adult participation in learning). This study allows us to address questions such as: To what extent are European countries improving education quality? Which European countries have significant advances / setbacks over time? What factors are intervening in the process of the countries that are most efficient and least efficient? In other words, our results clarify which are the profiles of the countries that are most efficient, giving some insight about the improvements which could be applied in the less efficient to raise their efficiency, in view of reaching the proposed objectives for the year 2030. References: [1] Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (E/CN.3/2016/2/Rev.1), Economic and Social Council, United Nations, 1-39, 2016. [2] P. Bogetoft and J. L. Hougaard, Efficiency evaluations based on potential (Non-proportional) improvements, J. Productivity Analysis, 12(3), 233-247, 1999. published

Time-course experiments using parallel sequencers have the potential to uncover gradual changes in cells over time that cannot be observed in a two-point comparison. An essential step in time-series data analysis is the identification of temporal differentially expressed genes (TEGs) under two conditions (e.g. control versus case). Model-based approaches, which are typical TEG detection methods, often set one parameter (e.g. degree or degree of freedom) for one dataset. This approach risks modeling of linearly increasing genes with higher-order functions, or fitting of cyclic gene expression with linear functions, thereby leading to false positives/negatives. Here, we present a Jonckheere–Terpstra–Kendall (JTK)-based non-parametric algorithm for TEG detection. Benchmarks, using simulation data, show that the JTK-based approach outperforms existing methods, especially in long time-series experiments. Additionally, application of JTK in the analysis of time-series RNA-seq data from seven tissue types, across developmental stages in mouse and rat, suggested that the wave pattern contributes to the TEG identification of JTK, not the difference in expression levels. This result suggests that JTK is a suitable algorithm when focusing on expression patterns over time rather than expression levels, such as comparisons between different species. These results show that JTK is an excellent candidate for TEG detection.

Purpose This study aims to evaluate how the configuration of competitive pillars impacts businesses' competitive efficiency by using a non-parametric model, namely, data envelopment analysis (DEA), with a single constant input. Design/methodology/approach The proposed DEA model evaluates technical inefficiency, which results from differences in the availability and allocation of resources, and configuration inefficiency, which we link to differences in the way businesses amalgamate their competitive pillars. The sample includes 115 Spanish businesses operating in manufacturing, construction, retail and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) sectors. Findings The results reveal that, on an average, firms can improve their overall competitive efficiency by 53.53%. The findings suggest that the configuration of competitive pillars has important implications for efficiency analyses: human capital and strategy are the most relevant aspects shaping competitive efficiency in manufacturing and construction firms; whereas innovation emerges as the most relevant competitive aspect driving competitive efficiency in KIBS firms. Originality/value The novelty of this study lies in the analysis of competitive efficiency in a model where efficiency can be explained by overall (industry-specific) competitive efficiency within the industry and by strategic choices on how resources and capabilities are combined within the business.

The study focuses on the impact exerted on private R&D expenditures by regular and innovative public procurement when taken in combination or insolation with supply-push measures. The econometric analysis relies on a pulled sample of 4206 Italian manufacturing firms observed between 2010 and 2014. The empirical exercise confirms previous evidences on the relevance of technology-push instruments in sustaining firms’ innovativeness. On the contrary, the ability of public procurement activities in shaping innovative investments is found to depend on a number of instances related to: (i) the adoption of contemporaneous supply side measures; (ii) the inclusion of innovative demand in procurement contracts. The analysis provides important suggestions with respect to the potential effectiveness of demand-side tools when implemented in weak administrative and innovation systems, as in the Italian case. Moreover, it is shown that the design of the policy mix matters, and its effectiveness improves when demand-side and supply-side instruments are jointly implemented.

In Mediterranean countries dairy sheep and goat farming is based on grazing even though production system can vary from extensive, where nutrition is based on the exploitation of natural resources, to intensive, where nutrition can be a combination of grazing and parallel supplementation of feed. Transhumance is an extensive farming system where herds are moved to uplands in order to exploit the mountainous rangelands. Purpose of this paper was to study the nutritional management of transhumant sheep and goat herds in Greece. Non parametric analysis was performed to a sample of 551 transhumant herds. The results revealed differences of the nutritional management performed between different species and breeds of the reared animals. More specifically nutrition of goats and indigenous mountainous breeds was based mainly on grazing even to lowlands while nutrition of sheep and improved dairy breeds tended to be more integrated with combination of grazing to supplementation of feed.

Over the last years, the banking sector in Vietnam has been going through the restructuring period, in order to cope with non-performing loans and build up mergers and acquisitions. This paper applies the non-parametric method proposed by Bogetoft and Wang in 2005 to evaluate the bank merger gains in Vietnam during the period 2010–2016. The potential gains from mergers are thus estimated and decomposed into technical efficiency, scale efficiency and harmony effect. The results indicate that under the production approach, all six mergers obtain potential gains with the main sources from technical efficiency and harmony effect. Under the intermediation approach, five mergers exhibit potential gains with the main source from harmony effect, while technical efficiency contributes to the potential gain of two mergers. Accordingly, banks could benefit from the new management or learn from the more efficient ones and reap benefits from harmony effect by reallocating the service portfolio of related parties in the merger to boost their activities. The post-merger efficiency scores are also calculated and are found to increase slightly compared to the efficiency scores before merger, which supports the statement that mergers help banks improve their efficiency. This paper contributes to the gap of lacking analysis on mergers and acquisitions in Vietnam banking sector.

An implementation and effort of technology in medical education to increase student motivation of the large-scale classes are increasing worldwide. One of them is Kahoot!. This study measured student motivation level in medical school of FKIK UMY after the implementation of Kahoot! Quasi experimental method was implemented in this study. The data was collected by using Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). During the normality test by using Kolmogorof Smirnov method, all of the data has the amount of p>0,05, therefore we used non parametric analysis with independent sample T-test and one way ANOVA to figure out the relation of student batch and students motivation level. The result showed that only students in batch 2015 who decreased the motivation after implementing Kahoot! Different from students batch 2015, these three batches (2016, 2017, and 2018) increased the motivation after implementing Kahoot!

Applying a two-stage Free Disposal Hull (FDH)/Tobit approach to a sample of 23 European countries, we find that the efficiency of social expenditure for families is positively correlated to per-cap...

This chapter gives an introduction to Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), presenting an overview of the basic concepts and models used. Emphasis is made on the non-parametric derivation of the Production Possibility Set (PPS), on the multiplicity of DEA models and on how to handle different types of situations, namely, undesirable outputs, ratio variables, multi-period data, negative data non-discretionary variables, and integer variables.

The enzymatic activities occurring on painted walls in a tropical environment have become critical given the rate of aesthetic biodeterioration of such walls. Pigmented heterotrophic microorganisms isolated from discolored painted walls in Lagos, Nigeria were screened for their phosphatase activities. The strains were characterized by morphological methods and 16S rDNA analysis as belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Meyerozyma, Candida, Fusarium, Cerrena and Pseudomonas. The sequences were submitted to NCBI GenBank. Crude extracellular phosphatase from cell-free culture supernatant were reacted in p-nitrophenolphosphate. Subsequently, their alkaline phosphatase activities were compared. All tested strains produced phosphatase at different pH, temperature, incubation time and substrate concentration which were used as biomarkers for microbial metabolic activity. The order of optimal phosphatase production was observed as: Cerrena sp > Aspergillus sp >M. guilliermondii > A. aculeatus > F. proliferatum > P. aeruginosa > C. tropicalis > M. caribbica. Morphological studies and microbial enzymatic activity confirm the hypothesis that heavy pigmentation and phosphatase production are major indices of discoloration on biodeteriorating painted walls in a typical tropical environment like Nigeria. Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in phosphatase production at the different environmental conditions examined except at different time intervals.

This paper applies a non-parametric method to provide level technical efficiency for 7 Tunisian ports during 18 years (1998-2015). These ports represent different data set. The use of the model of variable returns to scale (VRS) has led to interesting results. The results show that the most ports are characterized by low levels of technical efficiency, with the exception port of Rades. In addition, the result shows the variation of variable returns to scale and constant returns to scale of technical port’s efficiency. Furthermore, we concluded that the panel data improves the efficiency estimates.

Purpose/Objective(s) Analyses of locally-advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) series have identified radiation dose to the cardio-pulmonary system as a new key detriment for risk of death. However, spatial dose patterns are typically represented as one-dimensional dose metrics of pre-defined segmented structures. Here we introduce the use of a recently developed non-parametric approach based on an extended form of optimal mass transport (OMT), called unbalanced OMT distance. Thoracic dose distributions were ranked in relation to risk of death within RTOG 0617. This agnostic approach preserves the spatial dose information without pre-selection of specific thoracic sub-regions or normalization. Materials/Methods The 409 patients with evaluable data (CTs, dose, structures and overall survival status) were retrieved from The Cancer Imaging Archive. Patients were censored at 60 months. Data was split into a 70% training and a 30% validation data (n = 286 and 123). Dose distributions were deformably registered to randomly selected reference patients using multi-step B spline. The unbalanced OMT distance measures dose spread pattern and total amount of dose differences among patients. Using a newly proposed approximation of the unbalanced OMT distance via vector-valued OMT, the highly complicated distances between pairs of dose distributions were computed efficiently. The OMT distances were translated into risk scores represented by C-indices: small distances (low C-indices) represent high-risk; large distances (high C-indices) represent low-risk. Risk status in the validation data was measured as distances to the training reference patients. Lastly, two sub-regions were deduced: One high-risk region based on the 50 riskiest patients (overlap of at least 80% of distributions including the highest 80% dose relative to max dose) and one low-risk region based on the 50 least risky patients. The locations of the sub-regions were qualitatively compared to those of eight deep learning auto-segmented cardio-pulmonary substructures (aorta, atria, inferior and superior vena cava (SVC), pulmonary artery (PA), ventricles). Results The highest risk of death was identified in a region overlapping with the base of the heart, including the ascending aorta, PA and the superior part of the left atrium. In contrast, the ‘safe’ distributions associated with the lowest risk of death mostly avoided all cardio-pulmonary substructures with the exception of the SVC and right PA. Conclusion This non-parametric approach identified specific high-risk and low-risk regions associated with death in RTOG 0617. While there was no one-to-one correspondence between the identified high-risk region and the segmented cardio-pulmonary structures, this region focused on the base of the heart. The identified regions may direct further work on elucidating mechanisms and generalizability.

En México, los jóvenes universitarios enfrentan un doble desafío frente a las exigencias de su formación profesional y las condiciones laborales. Esta investigación se orientó a estudiar la situación laboral de la población estudiantil del Centro Universitario de Ciencias Económico Administrativas (CUCEA) de la Universidad de Guadalajara, en Jalisco, México. El objetivo consistió en analizar las características de los empleos remunerados en los que se desenvuelven los estudiantes del CUCEA, otorgando especial atención a los componentes psicosociales del entorno laboral. La metodología empleada fue de carácter cuantitativo, de corte transversal con análisis estadístico de tipo no paramétrico de variables cualitativas; se aplicó una encuesta a nivel licenciatura del CUCEA durante el segundo semestre del 2015 a una muestra de 346 estudiantes, de los cuales 145 se encontraban laboralmente activos durante el estudio. En un primer momento, se identificó la existencia de precariedad laboral respecto a percepción salarial, se encontró que principalmente oscila en un rango que va de 2 103 a 4 206 pesos mexicanos mensuales. En cuanto al tipo de jornada laboral se detectó que 49 % es de medio tiempo, mientras que los de tiempo completo representan al 32 % y el 19 % restante se encuentra en otras modalidades. La falta de prestaciones sociales es evidente dado que sólo 1.4 % de los encuestados son acreedores a las prestaciones básicas establecidas en la Ley Federal del Trabajo. En tanto a la formalidad del contrato de trabajo ésta es baja ya que la mayoría son trabajos de confianza; es decir, que son empleados no sindicalizados con contratos temporales o indefinidos, e incluso no tienen contrato.

Recurrent event data often arise in longitudinal studies. In many applications, subjects may experience two different types of events alternatively over time or a pair of subjects may experience recurrent events of the same type. Medical advances have made it possible for some patients to be cured such that the disease of interest does not recur. In this article, we consider non parametric analysis of bivariate recurrent event data with cure fraction. Using the inverse-probability weighted (IPW) approach, we propose non parametric estimators for the proportion of cured patients and for the joint distribution functions of bivariate recurrence times of the uncured ones. The asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators are established. Simulation study indicates that the proposed estimators perform well in finite samples.

The paper assesses the evolution of efficiency of Italian public universities for the period 2000–2010. It aims at investigating whether their levels of efficiency showed signs of convergence, and if the well-known disparity between northern and southern regions decreased. For this purpose, we use a refinement of data envelopment analysis, namely window analysis, which allows for measuring efficiency in cross-sectional and time-varying data. We find that the efficiency of most universities registered only marginal changes in the period, although a notable re-ranking occurred. However, changes in the management of universities, consequential to the reform processes, did not affect the long-run tendencies, such as the persisting difference in performance between north and south.

Recently, with increasingly concern on energy and environmental problems, China’s new programs of energy intensity reduction were released in 11th&12th Five-Year-Plan, which results in an urgent need for regional energy intensity reduction potential evaluation. Based upon this recognition, this study mainly focuses on China’s regional energy intensity reduction potential, by employing global data envelopment analysis approach. Moreover, investigating the sources of energy intensity reduction potential change with index decomposition analysis is also one of our targets. The results show that: (1) in the sample period, the energy intensity reduction potential of the western regions is significantly higher than that of central and eastern regions, and the eastern regions have the lowest energy intensity reduction potential. (2) The energy intensity of the eastern regions can be reduced approximately 10–20%, whereas that of the western region can be reduced 30–45%, and that of the whole country can be reduce 25–30% on current basis. (3) According to the sources of energy intensity reduction potential change, it can be found that the energy intensity reduction potential of eastern areas decreased over the sample period. Both the increasing technical efficiency and technical progress contribute to the decline of energy intensity reduction potential. But the western region’s energy intensity reduction potential presents an upward trend during 2000–2011, and the technical regression is the main reason. Therefore, the western regions should pay more attention on optimizing the production technology.

Motivation Massively parallel reporter assays (MPRA) enable systematic screening of DNA sequence variants for effects on transcriptional activity. However, convenient analysis tools are still needed. Results We introduce MPRAscore, a novel tool to infer allele-specific effects on transcription from MPRA data. MPRAscore uses a weighted, variance-regularized method to calculate variant effect sizes robustly, and a permutation approach to test for significance without assuming normality or independence. Availability and implementation Source code (C++), precompiled binaries and data used in the paper at https://github.com/abhisheknrl/MPRAscore and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA554195. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

The study empirically estimates the relative technical efficiency of Nigeria upstream petroleum industries and its determinants using non-parametric and parametric analysis. The non-parametric analysis’ results reveal that joint venture contract operators, marginal field contract operators, sole risk contract operators, production sharing contract operators, service contract operator and national oil company contract have the following technical efficiency grades: 75%, 67%, 65%, 64%, 42% and 23%, respectively. On the other hand, the parametric analysis result indicates that four of the selected independent variables are statistically significant determinants of the upstream technical performance. The findings support the plan exit of cash calls policy by the government and confirm that the proposed exit of the model is not harmful to both the government and the investors. For the indigenous participants, we submit that the government may put in place attractive incentives policy to encourage more indigenous participation in the upstream business.

Using repeated cross-section annual data for Peru spanning 2002–2011 and non-parametric duration analysis, our estimates support the hypothesis that both stay in and exit from poverty (non-poverty) depends on the duration and sequence of poverty (non-poverty) spells. We find that longer periods in poverty reduce the probability of leaving poverty and, conversely, longer periods spent out of poverty reduce the chance of falling back into poverty. Also, we show that, at least in the last decade (of high economic growth), the probability of staying in poverty was lower than staying in non-poverty and the probability of re-entering in poverty was higher than re-entering in non-poverty, being both differences growing with the number of accumulated spells. Past experiences of poverty and non-poverty seem to be essential to predict the future status of poverty.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation level of introduce technology of bokashi on rice cultivation. This study was conducted in the village Kuripan Sub Penengahan, South Lampung regency. Technique of data collecting conducted by field observation and interview by using of quizioner. Determine of sample conducted with purposive sampling. Data analysed using non parametric analysis (rating scale ) . Result of the study relevead that the public interest of farmer very high to bokashi applying. Based to result of evaluation about perception of farmer to technology of making and applying of bokashi in rice cultivation, applying has 72,0% high respons and 28,0% do not respons. Keywords: f armer , perception , bokashi, rice

The aim of the article is to analyze and evaluate technical efficiency scores of public sector banks (PSBs) in India. The study also determines the nature of return to scale (RTS) of individual banks and thereby identifies the leaders and laggards in the PSBs. To measure the extent of overall technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency (SE), the non-parametric approach, that is, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to determine the causes of inefficiency. The sample of the study includes 26 PSBs operating in India during the time period from 2007–2008 to 2011–2012. The results show that although the PSBs have more or less similar efficiency scores, that is, higher than 0.900, still out of 22 banks falling in the category of efficient banks in 2007–2008, only 7 of them were left by the year 2011–2012. Overall analysis of PSBs during the time period of the study explains that a greater part of inefficiency among PSBs is attributed to scale inefficiency. In addition, the number of banks operating at constant return to scale (CRS) came down to 9 in 2011–2012 from 23 in 2007–2008. Simultaneously, there was a reduction in leaders and increase in laggards. It is suggested that banks must optimize their scale of operations and adopt technological innovations.

For many studies, participants sleep-wake patterns are monitored and recorded prior to, during and following an experimental or clinical intervention using actigraphy, i.e. the recording of data generated by movements. Often, these data are merely inspected visually without computation of descriptive parameters, in part due to the lack of user-friendly software. To address this deficit, we developed a package for R Core Team [6], that allows computing several non-parametric measures from actigraphy data. Specifically, it computes the interdaily stability (IS), intradaily variability (IV) and relative amplitude (RA) of activity and gives the start times and average activity values of M10 (i.e. the ten hours with maximal activity) and L5 (i.e. the five hours with least activity). Two functions compute these ‘classical parameters and handle either single or multiple files. Two other functions additionally allow computing an L-value (i.e. the least activity value) for a user-defined time span termed ‘Lflex value. A plotting option is included in all functions. The package can be downloaded from the Comprehensive R Archives Network (CRAN). The package ‘nparACT for R serves the non-parametric analysis of actigraphy data. Computed parameters include interdaily stability (IS), intradaily variability (IV) and relative amplitude (RA) as well as start times and average activity during the 10 h with maximal and the 5 h with minimal activity (i.e. M10 and L5). (VLID)1920507

Although a long tradition exists of studying the economics of education, performance comparisons of different kinds have traditionally been difficult to undertake. An important impediment has been the lack of comparable data. To a large extent, this study remedies the shortcomings of earlier studies. Our contribution is twofold. First, the current higher education policy of contraction and economizing, common to most European countries, make knowledge of potential efficiency gains crucial. Second, a unique database allows us to study a broad diversity of organizations as well as organizations located in a number of different European countries. The study suggests evaluating higher education institution (HEI) performance in a production theory context, applying the well-known data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to a cross section of 944 HEIs in 17 European countries. The DEA approach is particularly suitable in this context where little is known about production technologies and economic behavio...

The changes in the global rainfall have raised concerns over the present and possible future use of coastal areas in many Asian countries including Sri Lanka. However, no in-depth analysis of rainfall of these coastal lines of Sri Lanka has been performed yet to understand any changes in the pattern in general. This study was carried out to fulfil the above need, especially focusing on rainfall of North-Western and Eastern coastal lines of Sri Lanka. The rainfall data for a period of 30 years (1986–2016) were used in the study and analysis was performed using the tests, Mann Kendall, Sen’s slope estimator, and sequential Mann Kendall. Mann–Kendall’s test indicated positive trend in annual rainfall of most parts of North-Western coastal line but negative monotonic decrease at 4 stations, namely, Chilaw, Horakele, Lunuwila and Palaviya. In the Eastern coastal line, significant positive trend in annual rainfall was observed at 4 stations, namely, Kantale, Batticaloa, Pottuvil and Mylambaveli. The monthly rainfall analysis of North-Western coastal line revealed significant positive trends at Kottukachchiya and Anamaduwa stations in March and December respectively and in the Eastern costal line, positive trends were observed at Kantalae, Mylambaveli and Navatkiri Aru for February. The stations except Anamaduwa in NorthWestern coastal line recorded a significant negative trend in rainfall in the month of May. No station showed a significant positive trend during Southwest Monsoon season. During the Northeast Monsoon season, all the nineteen stations showed an increase in rainfall amounts while two locations in NorthWestern region and six locations in Eastern showed a significant upward trend. With these dynamic rainfall trends, it can be reiterated that it is vital to advocate climate mitigating actions to reduce impacts of changes in rainfall trends.

The validity and usefulness of empirical data requires that the data analyst ascertains the cleanliness of the collected data before any statistical analysis commence. In this study, petroleum demand data for a period of 24 hours was collected from 1515 households in 10 clusters. The primary sampling units were stratified into three economic classes of which 50% were drawn from low class, 28% from medium class and 22% from high class. 63.6% of the questionnaires were completed whereas incomplete data was computed using multivariate imputation by chained equation with the aid of auxiliary information from past survey. The proportion of missing data and its pattern was ascertained. The study assumed that missing data was at random. Nonparametric methods namely Nadaraya Watson, Local Polynomial and a design estimator Horvitz Thompson were fitted to aid in the estimation of the total demand for petroleum which has no close substitute. The performance of the three estimators were compared and the study found that the Local Polynomial approach appeared to be more efficient and competitive with low bias. Local polynomial estimator took care of the boundary bias better as compared to Nadaraya Watson and Horvitz Thompson estimators. The results were used to estimate the long time gaps in petroleum demand in Nairobi county, Kenya.