Search

Introduction: It is estimated that 1.4 billion quails are reared each year for their eggs and meat, but animal welfare assessment protocols for this species have yet to be established. The objective of this study was to devise an animal welfare assessment protocol developed through a multidimensional approach that contained a number of animal-based indicators (ABIs) for quails (Coturnix japonica) reared for meat production. Methods: During 2021 and 2022, the identical auditor visited and audited 14 Spanish farms in their initial year of integration into an animal welfare certification scheme. The protocol is categorised into 4 principles and 12 criteria. The "good feeding" principle includes 6 indicators (1 ABI), "good housing" includes 10 indicators (5 ABIs), "good health" includes 12 indicators (9 ABIs), and "appropriate behaviour" contains 8 indicators (5 ABIs). The final welfare assessment is calculated at the farm level using scores from the on-farm recordings. The assessment is a step-by-step weighted sum of the scores from the various indicators, with the final score ranging between 0 and 100. Results and discussion: The main welfare issues found on all farms were a lack of temperature and humidity records, a poor lighting pattern, and the absence of an outdoor range or access to one. To a lesser degree, it was also found that there were excessive numbers of birds per feeder, the presence of improperly functioning drinkers (i.e., not working, inadequate water flow, or dripping water), poor litter quality, and a high prevalence of birds with dirty plumage and lameness. Despite this, the farms achieved a good overall score, being classified as "enhanced" (n = 11) and "acceptable" (n = 3). The tool proved helpful in identifying specific welfare issues at the farm level and conducting benchmarking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the last two decades, substantial investments have been directed towards supporting fundamental and applied research in Alzheimer's disease (AD), breast cancer (BC), and prostate cancer (PC), which continue to pose significant health challenges. Recently, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) conducted a retrospective analysis to examine the major scientific advancements resulting from EU-funded research in these disease areas and their impact on society. Methods: Building upon this analysis, our subsequent investigation delves into the methodological approaches—both animal and non-animal models and methods—employed in AD, BC, and PC research funded under past EU framework programs (FP5, FP6, FP7, and H2020), and explored the notable research outputs associated with these approaches. Results: Our findings indicate a prevalent use of animal-based methodologies in AD research, particularly evident in projects funded under H2020. Notably, projects focused on drug development, testing, or repurposing heavily relied on animal models. Conversely, research aimed at clinical trial design, patient stratification, diagnosis and diagnostic tool development, lifestyle interventions, and prevention—outputs with potential societal impact—more frequently utilised non-animal methods. Advanced investigations leveraging imaging, computational tools, biomarker discovery and organ/tissue chip technologies predominantly favoured non-animal strategies. Conclusions: These insights highlight a correlation between methodological choices and the translational potential of research outcomes, suggesting the need for a reconsideration of research strategy planning in future framework programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction The Ethiopian government has introduced several healthcare financing reforms intending to improve efficiency. Piloting implementation of performance-based financing is one of these actions. The purpose of this research is to assess the efficiency of healthcare facilities that have implemented performance-based financing compared to those that have not. Methods Efficiency was measured using a nonparametric data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist Productivity Index technique. Total factor productivity change, technical change, and technological change are compared across eight sampled healthcare facilities that are implementing performance-based financing and eight that are not in Ethiopia. Results Health facilities implementing performance-based financing have a mean technical efficiency score of 64%, allowing for a potential 36% reduction in inputs without affecting outputs. Their scale efficiency is 88%, indicating a potential 12% increase in total outputs without expanding facilities. In contrast, facilities not implementing performance-based financing have a mean technical efficiency score of 62%, with a potential for 38% input reduction without affecting outputs. Their scale efficiency is 87%, suggesting a potential 13% increase in total outputs without scaling up facilities. Among the 16 healthcare facilities observed, seven experienced a decline in the mean total productivity, while one remained stagnant. The remaining eight facilities witnessed an increase in productivity. The healthcare facilities implementing performance-based financing showed a 1.3% decrease in mean total productivity during the observed period. Among them, five showed an increase and three showed a decrease in the total factor of productivity. The mean total factor of productivity of all healthcare facilities not implementing performance-based financing remained stagnant over the three-year period (2019–2021), with four showing an increase and four showing a decrease in total productivity. Conclusions The study concludes that implementing performance-based financing did not improve productivity levels among healthcare facilities over three years. In fact, productivity decreased among the facilities implementing performance-based financing, while those not implementing it remained stagnant. This shows health facilities that implement performance-based financing tend to utilize more resources for similar outputs, contradicting the anticipated efficiency improvement.

New inventions can increase productivity, accelerate the creation of new profits, and provide lucrative growth potential. Using a fixed effect model, this article examines the influence of government innovation subsidies and tax rebates on the R&D production of pharmaceutical companies from 2010 to 2020. It also assesses the moderators of institutional investors, audit agencies, and public opinion in monitoring. The research finds that government innovation subsidies and tax rebates have a significant impact on pharmaceutical enterprises' R&D outputs. Second, institutional shareholding and public opinion supervision can increase government innovation subsidies and tax breaks for pharmaceutical R&D. SOEs are more susceptible to innovation subsidies, while non-SOEs benefit from tax rebates. This study assists managers and policymakers develop effective innovation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astronauts are exposed to microgravity-induced health problems in spaceflight missions. Countermeasures and physical exercises have received increasing attention and its current research trends and landscapes warranted investigation. We conducted a comprehensive bibliometric analysis on astronaut training/countermeasures using the available data from the Web of Science Core Collection database from 1992 to 2022 to summarize the research trends and identify future directions. A total of 1,520 relevant articles were identified. Annual publications of the field have been increased over the years with the emergence of new and effective countermeasures. ‘Microgravity’ was the centered hotspot surrounded by the topics included ‘spaceflight’, ‘hind leg hanging’, ‘simulated microgravity’, and ‘simulated weightlessness’. The top countries that produced the most publications included United States (726 articles), Germany (129 articles), and France (84 articles). The United States played a dominant role in the collaboration network with other countries. Meanwhile, NASA from the United States led the global collaborations and dominated the literature. Future research trend might lie on the design of physical training exercises to tackle the potential health problems on osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, and abnormality on the nervous and cardiovascular system; and artificial/simulated gravity with interdisciplinary sports countermeasure research on physiology, brain science, biomechanics, and aerospace medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Academy is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This randomized experiment implemented with school children in India directly tests an input incentive designed to increase effort on learning activities against both an output incentive that rewards test performance and a control. Students in the input incentive treatment perform .58σ better than those in the control, and .34σ better than students in the output incentive treatment. Thus, the input incentive is approximately twice as cost-effective as the output incentive. The input incentive increases the intensive margin of student effort on the learning activity, and it is particularly effective for students that are present-biased as measured at baseline.

Abstract Background We analyse the impact of the three following categories of Health Policies (HP) carried out by the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments on the efficiency of Greek public general hospitals. These governments have implemented policies intended to change the rate of contributions to publicly funded healthcare (PCnH), policies to affect the volume and quality of publicly funded health care (PVQH) and those intended to affect the costs of publicly funded healthcare (PCH). A literary review of the PCnH. PVQH and PCH policies of the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments was carried out and an efficiency window-DEA study was executed using data from the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Greek Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). Methods The study was designed to assess the impact of PCnH. PVQH and PCH policies by the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments on the efficiency of Greek general hospitals. The data was collected from HEAL-Link scientific journals. Information on HPs was extracted from the work collected. The values of inputs and outputs used for the efficiency study were obtained from ELSTAT and Greek MoH databases. Results HPs of the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments extend to all three HP categories of the sample used. These policies have a dual effect on both the inputs and outputs used in efficiency. Efficiency values exhibit fluctuations with good and bad years. The SYRIZA-ANEL governments seek to ensure more equality in access to health services. Some of the policies reduce costs and have a positive impact on efficiency, while others have the opposite effect. The increase in outputs achieved as a result of health policies is counter balanced by an increase in inputs. Conclusions The PCnH, PVQH and PCH policies of the SYRIZA-ANEL governance seem to have a dual orientation: some policies reduce the cost of a category and contain the total cost, thus positively contributing to an increase in efficiency. Certain policies are aimed more at fulfilling the criterion of equality in the provision of health services and thus the cost inevitably increases. From the window-DEA study, three relatively “good” years emerge (2015, 2016, 2018) and two “bad years” (2017, 2019). This analysis will be useful for further research on the effect of health policies on hospital efficiency in other countries and periods.

This paper aims to examine how the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique can be applied to evaluate managerial ability and productivity growth for 29 European forest sectors over the period 2011–2020. Toward this end, we first applied DEA to evaluate the technical efficiency (TE) from both periodical-frontier and met-frontier perspectives in which results showed that the average TE was 0.645 and the annual operating efficiency of the years studied was reduced by 35%. A modified regression test is secondly developed in order to determine the effect of contextual variables on the log of TE. The findings showed that the regional density, time series and gross domestic product had the highest positive influence on improving the TE results, respectively. In the following, by considering the explanatory variables, a modified DEA-based Malmquist productivity index is used to calculate the productivity growth over the period 2011–2020. The results indicated that there was a decline of 12% for total factor productivity in 2019–2020 compared to 2014–2015 and 7% compared to 2015–2016 which is due to the uniform growth of technological change (TC) and efficiency change recession compared to previous periods. Hence, productivity growth is mainly due to frontier shift (TC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We analyse the impact of the three following categories of Health Policies (HP) carried out by the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments on the efficiency of Greek public general hospitals. These governments have implemented policies intended to change the rate of contributions to publicly funded healthcare (PCnH), policies to affect the volume and quality of publicly funded health care (PVQH) and those intended to affect the costs of publicly funded healthcare (PCH). A literary review of the PCnH. PVQH and PCH policies of the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments was carried out and an efficiency window-DEA study was executed using data from the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Greek Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). Methods: The study was designed to assess the impact of PCnH. PVQH and PCH policies by the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments on the efficiency of Greek general hospitals. The data was collected from HEAL-Link scientific journals. Information on HPs was extracted from the work collected. The values of inputs and outputs used for the efficiency study were obtained from ELSTAT and Greek MoH databases. Results: HPs of the Greek SYRIZA-ANEL governments extend to all three HP categories of the sample used. These policies have a dual effect on both the inputs and outputs used in efficiency. Efficiency values exhibit fluctuations with good and bad years. The SYRIZA-ANEL governments seek to ensure more equality in access to health services. Some of the policies reduce costs and have a positive impact on efficiency, while others have the opposite effect. The increase in outputs achieved as a result of health policies is counter balanced by an increase in inputs. Conclusions: The PCnH, PVQH and PCH policies of the SYRIZA-ANEL governance seem to have a dual orientation: some policies reduce the cost of a category and contain the total cost, thus positively contributing to an increase in efficiency. Certain policies are aimed more at fulfilling the criterion of equality in the provision of health services and thus the cost inevitably increases. From the window-DEA study, three relatively "good" years emerge (2015, 2016, 2018) and two "bad years" (2017, 2019). This analysis will be useful for further research on the effect of health policies on hospital efficiency in other countries and periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Económicas CUC is the property of Corporacion Universidad de la Costa, CUC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Background High-quality antenatal care (ANC) provides a lifesaving opportunity for women and their newborns through providing health promotion, disease prevention, and early diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy-related health issues. However, systematically synthesised evidence on factors influencing the quality of ANC services is lacking. This scoping review aims to systematically synthesize the factors influencing in provision and utilisation of quality ANC services. Methods We conducted a scoping review of published evidence on the quality of ANC services. We searched records on four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google scholar) and grey literature from 1 to 2011 to 30 August 2021. We analysed data using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis approach. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guideline for the review. We explained themes using the Donabedian healthcare quality assessment model (input-process-output). Results Several inputs- and process-related factors contributed to suboptimal quality of ANC in many low and lower- or middle-income countries. Input factors included facility readiness (e.g., lack of infrastructure, provision of commodities and supplies, health workforce, structural and intermediary characteristics of pregnant women, and service delivery approaches). Processes-related factors included technical quality of care (e.g., lack of skilled adequate and timely care, and poor adherence to the guidelines) and social quality (lack of effective communication and poor client satisfaction). These input and process factors have also contributed to equity gaps in utilisation of quality ANC services. Conclusion Several input and process factors influenced the provision and utilization of optimum quality ANC services. Better health system inputs (e.g., availability of trained workforces, commodities, guidelines, context-specific programs) are essential to creating enabling facility environment for quality ANC services. Care processes can be improved by ensuring capacity-building activities for workforces (training, technical support visits), and mentoring staff working at peripheral facilities. Identifying coverage of quality ANC services among disadvantaged groups could be the initial step in designing and implementing targeted program approaches.

Los lideres y las organizaciones se desarrollan constantemente en un entorno de mucha volatilidad e incertidumbre producido por la creciente competencia y rivalidad de los competidores, originando una preocupación constante a la alta directiva, quienes debe buscar elementos, crear acciones o estrategias que les permita aumentar su desempeño organizacional creando ventajas competitivas y manteniendo el posicionamiento, de tal forma que puedan superar este entorno constante de cambios. Es por eso por lo que se plantea analizar la relación de la eficiencia con el desempeño organizacional, para lo cual se ofrece hacer una revisión teórica que nos permitan construir conceptos basado en la eficiencia operacional con la aplicación de metodologías no paramétricas de análisis envolvente de datos DEA y un análisis de fronteras estocásticas SFA, que vislumbren el posicionamiento de las organizaciones basado en el desempeño organizacional. Con esto buscamos que tanto incide la relación de la eficiencia y en el desempeño organizacional frente al posicionamiento de las organizaciones.

We trace the evolution of understandings and applications of policy capacity through a meta-analysis of studies in the policy and administrative sciences that focus on definitions or conceptualizations of capacity, capability or competency, political resources and the functioning of policy systems, and variables or mechanisms leading to outcomes. We critique and disentangle common operationalizations, such as policy success and failure, to enable more complete assessments of whether the state's policy capacity has diminished in recent times, as often is suggested. Previous research has concentrated on two key properties of the "supply" of policy responses, namely sufficiency and changes over time and across contexts. We argue that there needs to be more consideration of societal demands on governments or governance systems and the (dis)equilibrium between demand and supply generation. Using the analogy of the battery, we propose three interconnected dimensions of policy capacity that better capture the qualities and relationality of supply and demand: administrative capital; contingent political management; and expectations satisfiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is stated that the secondary processing can achieve a lot of advantages in order to stagnate and produce a cheap source of rich materials, raw materials and non-natural materials. In addition, it is clear that having been squandered into too much of a middle ground, the outputs of mankind’s technogenic activities are likely to become problematic. On the other hand, the natural resources of our planet are limited and are constantly being used up and cannot be replenished in terms equal to the hour of the founding of civilization. Also considered are the products that involve the processing of glass containers for repeated recovery through turning around the outputs of the production process. And you yourself will have to achieve the goal of using a second-grade glass container when selecting a glass for new dances. Slo is a material that is widely used in the manufacture of windows, dishes, packaging and other items. This is due to its versatility, clarity and ability to melt at high temperatures. The melting temperature of the warehouse varies from 650 to 1500 ⁰C in storage of components. The melted layer becomes viscous, making it easy to process and create new products. One of the key aspects is that the recycling of tableware is significant, it is an environmental benefit. Stain, as a non-collapsible material, can accumulate on waste materials and in nature for a decade, causing damage to the environment. Reprocessing broken glass into new processes can significantly change the quantity of outputs that go to waste disposal plants and in combustion plants. This emits a change in carbon dioxide, which is seen when a new glass is formed from the original cheese. In addition to environmental benefits, recycling of warehouses can also be a significant economic benefit. The production of raw materials from raw materials requires significant expenditure of energy and resources. The process of recycling broken glass can be 40% cheaper compared to the production of new warehouse. This is due to the smaller amount of energy required to melt the already formed material, and to the smaller amount of vicorized ore. In addition, warehouse processing can create new opportunities for business and development. Enterprises that specialize in the collection and processing of waste products create work places and promote the development of the local economy. Also, recycling of waste is of great importance both for the environment and for the economy. Replacement of primary resources, reduction of waste and creation of new opportunities for the recovery of outputs - this is only a step from the advantages that the processing of warehouses provides. In general, this process plays an important role in the creation of a more environmentally friendly society. The article describes a section of the line for sorting glass dances by color and recycling them using the method of further processing and recycling. The length of the line consists of the following sequentially expanded machines: a stitch conveyor, a crusher of cursed dances (2 pcs), a straight sleeve, a screw conveyor (2 pcs). Stitch conveyor is used for transporting and sorting dances into dances from a clear fold, for example, from dances filled with barnyard in green colors. The crusher is intended for fine graining and sifting through a sieve, which can be replaced in storage according to the required size of the granular glass. Stored under 50...60 0, screw conveyors are used for transporting the detailed warehouse with the method of further packaging in containers and delivery to the production site for the production of cursed dances. The armchair was dismantled and the anterior debranching was carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shea butter is a vital commodity in the global economy, engaging millions of women across the African shea belt, as income directly or indirectly in the value chain. The shea kernel is obtained from processing fresh shea fruits and further processed into shea butter. Manual and semi-mechanized methods are employed in processing shea kernel into butter. Major inputs are; kernel, water, energy, and time and outputs are; shea butter and wastewater. Focus group discussions and individual interviews and material flow analysis were applied to cross-sectional data generated from five Shea Butter Extraction Women Cooperative centres in the Northern and Upper West Regions of Ghana. Results showed that with an input of 86.3 ± 1.88 kg of the kernel, 305.2 ± 24.3 L of water, 49.7 ± 7.2 kg of fuelwood and 15.11 ± 1.9 h, the output was 29.7 ± 2.39 kg of shea butter, 46.86 ± 13.8 kg of shea residues and 202.3 ± 3.95 L of wastewater (effluent). The study recommends more efficient use of inputs to ensure profit maximization. Processing at the cooperative level coupled with sustainable value addition promotion, could guarantee security and increased income. Further research on the chemical composition of shea waste will be required for possible reuse.

Multiple-input, multiple-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems with multiple input antennas and multiple output antennas in dynamic environments face the challenge of channel estimation. To overcome this challenge and to improve the performance and signal-tonoise ratio, in this paper we used the Kalman filter for the correct estimation of the signal in dynamic environments. To obtain the original signal at the receiver end bit error rate factor plays a major role. If the signal to noise ratio is high and the bit error rate is low then signal strength is high, the signal received at the receiver end is almost similar to the ith transmitted signal. The dynamic tracking characteristic of Kalman filter is used to establish a dynamic space-time codeword and a collection of orthogonal pilot sequences to prevent interference among transmissions in this paper. Using the simulation, the Kalman filter method can be compared to the other channel estimation method presented in this paper that can track timevarying channels rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are an integral component of US community economic development policy. These organizations differ in structure and client base, but they all seek to promote sustainable and equitable growth at the local level. By injecting capital into under-served markets, CDFIs facilitate development that may not otherwise occur. Attempts to measure and evaluate CDFI performance have often yielded disparate results. A systematic review of the literature reveals that capacity constraints have resulted in CDFI evaluations with wide variance in scope and rigor. Making comparisons across these institutions is difficult because there are few standardized performance metrics that could inform evaluations. Major CDFI funders in the philanthropic and public sectors often have competing demands and do not consistently use evaluations to guide their decisions. To incrementally advance CDFI research and promote a more accurate understanding of their impact, we recommend a shift towards utilization-focused evaluations (UFEs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collecting, which is a niche area of consumer behavior, has been given little research attention by marketing scholars. Based on an extensive literature review and primary data collection through in-depth interviews, conducted in Turkey, the present study intends to understand collectors' motivations and emotional outputs of the process. Additionally, it also aims at classifying collector typologies based on their starting point of collecting and revealing the differentiated motives and emotional outcomes of each typology. The findings indicate that all of the participants in all groups stated that they are addicted to collecting. Within groups, Family collectors differentiate with passion for research and childhood collectors with nostalgia whereas leaving a heritage to the future and self-expression are the main motives of adulthood collectors. On the output side, the pleasure/satisfaction derived from collecting has been the common point of all collector groups. Besides, the percentage of pleasure takers in the A.C. is slightly lower than in other groups. Other positive outputs of collectors are listed as socializing, differentiation, and self-confidence. This typology will bring in more clarity and further insights that will help scholars; expand the research domain and it helps sellers of collectibles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia is the property of Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: High-quality antenatal care (ANC) provides a lifesaving opportunity for women and their newborns through providing health promotion, disease prevention, and early diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy-related health issues. However, systematically synthesised evidence on factors influencing the quality of ANC services is lacking. This scoping review aims to systematically synthesize the factors influencing in provision and utilisation of quality ANC services. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of published evidence on the quality of ANC services. We searched records on four databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google scholar) and grey literature from 1 to 2011 to 30 August 2021. We analysed data using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach. We followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guideline for the review. We explained themes using the Donabedian healthcare quality assessment model (input-process-output). Results: Several inputs- and process-related factors contributed to suboptimal quality of ANC in many low and lower- or middle-income countries. Input factors included facility readiness (e.g., lack of infrastructure, provision of commodities and supplies, health workforce, structural and intermediary characteristics of pregnant women, and service delivery approaches). Processes-related factors included technical quality of care (e.g., lack of skilled adequate and timely care, and poor adherence to the guidelines) and social quality (lack of effective communication and poor client satisfaction). These input and process factors have also contributed to equity gaps in utilisation of quality ANC services. Conclusion: Several input and process factors influenced the provision and utilization of optimum quality ANC services. Better health system inputs (e.g., availability of trained workforces, commodities, guidelines, context-specific programs) are essential to creating enabling facility environment for quality ANC services. Care processes can be improved by ensuring capacity-building activities for workforces (training, technical support visits), and mentoring staff working at peripheral facilities. Identifying coverage of quality ANC services among disadvantaged groups could be the initial step in designing and implementing targeted program approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the indices of the outputs of the production processes in agriculture could be considered proactive markers in understanding the effectiveness of the agricultural policies implementation and the functionality of the European Agricultural Model. The main aim of the research is centered on the analyzing the evolution of the European developments, in agricultural output price indices during 208-2017, from the Romanian perspective. The main findings describe the long-term changes regarding the evolution of the agricultural sector in the analyzed countries.

Accreditation processes for health care professions are designed to ensure that individuals and programs in these fields meet established standards of quality and effectiveness. The accelerating pace of globalization in the health care professions has increased the need for a shared understanding of the vocabulary of evaluation, assessment, and accreditation. The psychometric principles of valid and reliable assessment are commonly accepted, but the terminology is confusing. We believe that all stakeholders – evaluators, faculty, students but also the community – will benefit from a shared language and common set of definitions. We recognize that not all readers will agree with the definitions we propose, but we hope that this guide will help to ensure clarity, consistency, transparency, and fairness, and that it will promote through the stimulation of a debate greater collaboration across national and international boundaries.

The experiment was carried out at the “El Jobo” farm in the municipality of Camajuaní, in the province of Villa Clara, with the objective of determining the energy efficiency of a common bean cultivar. To fulfill this objective, the energy equivalents of the inputs and outputs of the system were used. Direct (fuel) and indirect (pesticides, seeds, human and animal labor) energy sources were taken into account. The results showed that the cultivar ‘CUL-156’ was very energy efficient with a value of 4.64. The greatest amounts of energy consumed were contributed by chemical synthesis products (diesel and herbicides). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Agriculture is an energy conversion process. In this process, solar energy, fossil fuel, and electricity are converted mainly into food and fiber. In the agricultural section, the trend of energy consumption increases rapidly every year. Constraints on agricultural land, population growth, changes in infrastructure, and a trend towards high living standards have contributed to increase energy use in the agricultural sector. Fuel, electricity, machinery, seeds, chemical fertilizers, and chemical pesticides have a significant share in supplying energy sources. Effective use of energy in agriculture reduces environmental problems and prevents the destruction of natural resources and develops sustainable agriculture as an economic production system. Wheat is the most strategic crop in Iran that more than 50.39% of arable land belongs to wheat. Materials and Methods The current study has been done with the objects of evaluation of inputs and crop yield, input and output energy, and energy indices for irrigated wheat for seven provinces such as Alborz, Isfahan, Ardebil, Khorasan-e Razavi, Khuzestan, Golestan, and Hamadan. For this purpose, the required information gathered via study of publications, face to face interview with experts and leading farmers, and questionnaire completion by the irrigated wheat farmers in different cities of each understudy province. Then, with the help of equivalent energy equations, input and output energy and energy indices were calculated. In this research, simple random sampling method was used.Results and DiscussionAccording to the results, total input energies of Alborz, Isfahan, Ardebil, Khorasan-e Razavi, Khuzestan, Golestan, and Hamadan provinces were calculated with 45458.84, 92714.8, 38755.34, 104701, 50971.2, 26198, and 49362. 64 MJ ha-1 respectively, while the output energy for those provinces were 162169.28, 131958.8, 77381.39, 122297, 141901.2, 134106, and 125511.69 MJ ha-1, respectively. The maximum share of energy input for Alborz, Ardebil, Khuzestan, Golestan, and Hamadan provinces were regarding to chemical fertilizers with amounts of 43.06, 43.16, 58.33, 38.05, and 47.57 percent, respectively, while irrigation energy requirement had maximum share in Isfahan and Khorasan-e Razavi with 62.36 and 57.17 percent, respectively. The minimum share of energy input for Alborz, Isfahan, Ardebil, Khorasan-e Razavi, and Golestan provinces was calculated for labor energy requirement with 0.39, 0.29, 0.79, 0.18, and 0.26 percent, respectively, while in Khuzestan and Hamadan, chemicals consumed the lowest energy with 0.55 and 0.89 percent, respectively. Share of direct energies for all understudy provinces were 44.61, 72.13, 41.22, 67.48, 30.75, 39.44, and 39.91 percent, share of indirect energies were 55.39, 27.87, 58.78, 32.52, 69.25, 60.56, and 60.09 percent, share of renewable energies were 27.99, 65.91, 32.35, 60.57, 19.26, 34.92, and 35.16 percent, and share of nonrenewable energies were 72.01, 34.09, 67.65, 39.43, 80.74, 65.08, and 64.84 percent, respectively. Energy ratio for Alborz, Isfahan, Ardebil, Khorasan-e Razavi, Khuzestan, Golestan, and Hamadan provinces were 3.57, 1.42, 3.48, 1.17, 2.78, 5.12, and 2.54, respectively, and energy productivities were 0.26, 0.11, 0.26, 0.08, 0.21, 0.38, and 0.18 kg MJ-1, respectively. Average input energy, output energy, energy ratio, energy productivity, and net energy gain for all provinces were 58308.83 MJ ha-1, 136092.15 MJ ha-1, 2.87, 0.212 kg MJ-1 and 77783. 31 MJ ha-1, respectively. Total input energy cost for irrigated wheat production was 57.966 ×106 Rial ha-1. The Energy intensiveness, Energy intensiveness value, Energy intensity cost, and Energy ratio cost were found as 1.299 MJ (103 Rial)-1, 0.641 MJ (103 Rial)-1, 10853.05 Rial kg-1, and 1.21, respectively.Conclusions In order to reduce the share of indirect energy and non-renewable energy, organic fertilizers should be replaced by chemical fertilizers and plant residues in the field. Minimum tillage should also be used in land preparation operations to reduce fuel consumption, maintain organic matter and soil moisture and reduce soil erosion. To compensate for some of the elements taken from the soil by the plant and the increase of organic matter and fertility of the soil, it is recommended to return part of the plant residues to the soil. The use of combined machines that can perform several simultaneous operations and minimizing and protecting soil tillage to reduce fossil fuel consumption through minimum use of machinery should be investigated as a national necessity.

The experiment was carried out at the “El Jobo” farm in the municipality of Camajuaní, in the province of Villa Clara, with the objective of determining the energy efficiency of a common bean cultivar. To fulfill this objective, the energy equivalents of the inputs and outputs of the system were used. Direct (fuel) and indirect (pesticides, seeds, human and animal labor) energy sources were taken into account. The results showed that the cultivar ‘CUL-156’ was very energy efficient with a value of 4.64. The greatest amounts of energy consumed were contributed by chemical synthesis products (diesel and herbicides).

Copyright of Reforma (1694-5158) is the property of Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present paper is a synthesis of the scopes of accounting in understanding the economic processes and transactions from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. The economic cycle is a continuous set of choices and decisions (of maintaining, developing, correcting) based on the information supplied through accounting. The input information that is processed can be incorrect, then processed with correct models, and the outputs can be correct, incorrectly processed and with incorrect results.

Using a rich new data source, we explore the selection of economics lecturers into the last UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise. Only some one‐in‐two (54%) of these lecturers were submitted to REF2014; 57% of men and 46% of women. The decision making of institutions is found to be well approximated by a simplified selection approach; focusing on working papers and higher quality journal publications. Our results also reveal sizeable conditional differences in the probability of selection, especially so in departments with higher research rankings. More than half of the variance in selection probability remains unexplained, revealing considerable idiosyncrasies in the management of submissions and uncertainty across the discipline in this research assessment process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Quantitative Economics Studies (JQES) is the property of University of Kasdi Merbah Ouargla and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to investigate the influence of the components of the startup ecosystem on the business performance of startups, focusing on the mediating effect of the location environment. By presenting the insight that the popularization of start-ups can be an alternative for job creation thanks to the government's start-up support policy considering the location environment, it is possible to construct an optimal configuration scenario between the components of the start-up ecosystem and the location environment. Furthermore, it is expected to contribute to the improvement of corporate management performance. To achieve this goal, we performed a survey and the subjects were domestic start-up company employees with less than 7 years of experience. The results show that the components of the start-up ecosystem had a significant effect on the business performance of start-up companies and the location environment and on the management performance of start-up companies according to the mediation of the location environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through its programmes, the European Union supports Euroregions so as to help develop joint projects, meant to enforce the economic and social cohesion. Do these programmes of the Cohesion Policy also support the transition processes towards sustainability? This study examines this aspect, by achieving an overall image of the results of the projects implemented in the "Lower Danube" Euro-region. This work uses the method of mapping the results in order to understand the way in which the cohesion policy supports the Euroregions in terms of territorial cohesion and durable development. Therefore, there are roughly analysed the types of results which prevail and their implications in ensuring the sustainability. This method can be adapted for other territorial structures (towns, regions etc) so as to appreciate the transition towards sustainability of the studied territory. The financial support for ensuring the territorial and social cohesion needs to be rethought depending on the potential and social-economical characteristics of the region.

Greening the economy requires green innovations, and innovations require investments. Most countries of the world are still relying on conventional (fossil-based) sources of energy. The transition toward green or renewable energy sources is an effective and innovative way to meet ever-increasing demand as a result of the rising population. Another reason for innovations in the field of green energy is the need to mitigate climate change and avoid pollution, especially in developing countries. The monitored investments into renewable energy sources are usually public. Therefore, this paper aims to determine whether the selected countries of the world produced renewable energy efficiently, considering the investments made by public financial institutions and installed electricity capacity for renewable energy sources, for the period 2013–2017 (for a deeper analysis, the year 2017 was chosen). For this purpose, the Stochastic Frontier Analysis model in the logarithmic form of the Cobb-Douglas production function is used, which helps to judge the competitiveness of countries based on effectively transforming the inputs into outputs. Results suggest that the effect of the first variable “installed electricity capacity” on electricity generation was highly statistically significant, and the impact of the second variable “public investments” was characterized as statistically insignificant. The monitored countries were divided into 10 groups according to the different range of estimated output-oriented technical efficiency from 0.00 to 1.00. Most countries should increase the renewable electricity generation approximately by 40-49%, given the level of inputs (16 countries of 6th group with estimated output-oriented technical efficiency 0.51-0.60) for the year 2017.