IMPACT OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS ON DAIRY FARM PROFITABILITY

Seven of 196 New York dairy farms used on-farm computers for accounting in 1984, rising to 23 in 1987. A regression of net farm income per cow on computer use, years computer experience and other variables showed income increasing the first year of computer use, dropping and rising again by year four.Livestock Production/Industries,

Medición de la eficiencia en la gestión de una administración de una empresa constructora

Nowadays, Construction firms face the challenge of strong and continuous changes.These changes are related to environment, social, technological media, new regularization and legislation, capital resources, among others. A high competitiveness comes from the market trends toward globalization and the use of new models of behaviour based on management knowledge. Therefore, it is important to make decisions in order to adapt to this changing and complex world. Organizations' leaders must seek customer satisfactionfollowing strategic planning to minimize costs, differentiate products and segmentcustomers.The objective of this work is to evaluate the efficiency in managing of a construction company in Resistencia, Chaco. The data used for the analysis were extracted from the balance sheets of ten periods of the studied company, obtained under confidential conditions.The methodology used was the case study, applying the Mathematical Model DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and the ACP Statistics (Principal Component Analysis) model. First, we have considered the results arising from the application of DEA model on theoriginal data extracted from the financial statements of the company. Second, the data structure was modified by the principal components method obtained from the GPA model.Both analyses used the same inputs while the output was varied. The first case was the item "Total Result" and the second case, the item "Sales". The software used were: Frontier Analyst for the DEA and Statgraphics for the ACP.As a result of the application of these models, it was concluded that the company suffered loss of profitability (efficiency) steadily since 2007.The results were confirmed by the feedback from the directors of the company, who also stated that directly analysing the indicators of financial statements that actual loss of efficiency was not appreciated.Las empresas constructoras se enfrentan más que nunca al reto de asimilar fuertes y continuos cambios, no sólo del entorno, sino también sociales, medios tecnológicos, nuevas regularizaciones y legislaciones, recursos de capital, entre otros. En este contexto, existe una elevada competitividad que deriva, precisamente, de la evolución de los mercados hacia la globalización y a la adopción, por parte de las empresas, del nuevo modelo de comportamiento basado en la gestión del conocimiento. Por ello es necesario tomar decisiones dentro del ámbito empresarial para poder adaptarse a este cambiante y complejo mundo. Quienes conducen las organizaciones deben buscar la satisfacción del cliente siguiendo un planeamiento estratégico que tenga como meta minimizar los costos, diferenciar los productos y segmentar la clientela.El objetivo de este trabajo fue medir la eficiencia en la gestión de administración de una empresa constructora de la ciudad de Resistencia, Chaco. Los datos para llevar a cabo el análisis fueron extraídos de los balances de diez ejercicios económicos de la empresa estudiada, obtenidos bajo condiciones de confidencialidad. La metodología empleada fue el estudio de caso, utilizando el Modelo Matemático DEA (Análisis Envolvente de Datos) y el Modelo Estadístico ACP (Análisis de Componentes Principales). Se han considerado los resultados surgidos de la aplicación del Modelo DEA, en primer lugar, sobre los datos originales extraídos de los Estados Contables de la empresa y en segundo lugar, sobre las componentes principales obtenidas de la aplicación del Modelo ACP. En ambos análisis se utilizaron los mismos inputs y se varió el output, tomando para un primer caso el rubro Resultado Total y para el segundo caso, el de Ventas. Los softwares empleados fueron: Frontier Analyst para el DEA y Statgraphics para el ACP.Como resultado de la aplicación de los Modelos mencionados, se concluyó que la empresa en cuestión sufrió pérdida de rentabilidad (eficiencia) en forma sostenida a partir del año 2007, resultados confirmados por el feedback realizado con los directivos de la empresa, quienes manifestaron, asimismo, que analizando directamente los indicadores de los estados contables esta real pérdida de eficiencia no era apreciada

Dos modelos para determinar la eficiencia de una empresa constructora

Para determinar e interpretar la eficiencia en la gestión de administración en una empresa constructora de la ciudad de Resistencia, Chaco, se aplicaron dos modelos, el ACP (modelo estadístico que consiste en el Análisis de las Componentes Principales) y el DEA (modelo matemático que radica en el Análisis Envolvente de Datos).La evaluación de la eficiencia relativa mediante la modelación DEA requiere, cuando las variables son numerosas, de un paso previo en el que se seleccionan las que se consideran más representativas respecto de esa evaluación, tanto para las entradas (inputs) como para las salidas (outputs). Ese paso previo se materializa mediante el ACP.To determine and interpret the efficiency in the management of a construction firm in the city of Resistencia, Chaco, two models were applied, the PCA (statistical model that consists of the Principal Component Analysis) and DEA (mathematical model that lies in the Data Envelopment Analysis).Assessing the relative efficiency by DEA modeling requires, when variables are numerous, a step in which you select those considered most representative for that evaluation, both for inputs (inputs) to the outputs (outputs). This step is implemented by the PCA

Percolation, Morphogenesis, and Burgers Dynamics in Blood Vessels Formation

Experiments of in vitro formation of blood vessels show that cells randomly spread on a gel matrix autonomously organize to form a connected vascular network. We propose a simple model which reproduces many features of the biological system. We show that both the model and the real system exhibit a fractal behavior at small scales, due to the process of migration and dynamical aggregation, followed at large scale by a random percolation behavior due to the coalescence of aggregates. The results are in good agreement with the analysis performed on the experimental data.Comment: 4 pages, 11 eps figure

The Euler-Maruyama approximation for the absorption time of the CEV diffusion

A standard convergence analysis of the simulation schemes for the hitting times of diffusions typically requires non-degeneracy of their coefficients on the boundary, which excludes the possibility of absorption. In this paper we consider the CEV diffusion from the mathematical finance and show how a weakly consistent approximation for the absorption time can be constructed, using the Euler-Maruyama scheme

STXBP2-R190C Variant in a Patient With Neonatal Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and G6PD Deficiency Reveals a Critical Role of STXBP2 Domain 2 on Granule Exocytosis

Neonatal hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a medical emergency that can be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Often these patients present with familial HLH (f-HLH), which is caused by gene mutations interfering with the cytolytic pathway of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) and natural killer cells. Here we describe a male newborn who met the HLH diagnostic criteria, presented with profound cholestasis, and carried a maternally inherited heterozygous mutation in syntaxin-binding protein-2 [STXBP2, c.568C\u3eT (p.Arg190Cys)] in addition to a severe pathogenic variant in glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase [G6PD, hemizygous c.1153T\u3eC (Cys385Arg)]. Although mutations in STXBP2 gene are associated with f-HLH type 5, the clinical and biological relevance of the p.Arg190Cys mutation identified in this patient was uncertain. To assess its role in disease pathogenesis, we performed functional assays and biochemical and microscopic studies. We found that p.Arg190Cys mutation did not alter the expression or subcellular localization of STXBP2 or STX11, neither impaired the STXBP2/STX11 interaction. In contrast, forced expression of the mutated protein into normal CTLs strongly inhibited degranulation and reduced the cytolytic activity outcompeting the effect of endogenous wild-type STXBP2. Interestingly, arginine 190 is located in a structurally conserved region of STXBP2 where other f-HLH-5 mutations have been identified. Collectively, data strongly suggest that STXBP2-R190C is a deleterious variant that may act in a dominant-negative manner by probably stabilizing non-productive interactions between STXBP2/STX11 complex and other still unknown factors such as the membrane surface or Munc13-4 protein and thus impairing the release of cytolytic granules. In addition to the contribution of STXBP2-R190C to f-HLH, the accompanied G6PD mutation may have compounded the clinical symptoms; however, the extent by which G6PD deficiency has contributed to HLH in our patient remains unclear

Semaphorins and their receptors: Novel features of neural guidance molecules

Semaphorins were originally identified as axon guidance cues involved in the development of the nervous system. In recent years, it is emerging that they also participate in various biological systems, including physiological and pathological processes. In this review, we primarily focus on our cumulative findings for the role of semaphorins and their receptors in the regulation of the immune system, while also summarizing recent progress in the context of cardiovascular system