System dynamics modelling and its implications for childhood obesity prevention: evidence from improving the consumption of portion size and meal frequency

The childhood obesity has rapidly increased, though little is known about the impact of frequency of meals and portion size on weight and obesity. The objective of this study is to compare and to determine the effective strategy for obesity prevention by improving the consumption of portion size and meal frequency. This study utilised the secondary data obtained from the Health Survey for England for the child population aged between 2 to 15 years in United Kingdom. This study combines the different strands of knowledge from nutrition, physical activity and body metabolism and synthesizing this knowledge into a system dynamics model which the model offers unique insights into the cause-and-effect relationships among the influencing factors. Findings from the simulation analysis demonstrated that reducing meal frequency is the most effective controlling strategy for obesity prevention. This is asserted by the fact that the highest reduction in average weight (3.14%-4.5%) and average body mass index (3.14%-4.5%) between 2020 and 2030 was observed by improving meal frequency. This paper concludes that system dynamics utilised in this study will be advantageous to guide the food stakeholder to gain insight into the complex of eating behavior and to experiment with various intervention strategies for obesity prevention

Interial sensing in a hand held dynamometer

Two methods for kinematic sensing in a hand-held dynamometer using accelerometers and gyroscopes are presented. The first method integrates the angular velocity signal from the gyroscope, after calibration of gyroscope offset and joint angle from a static period immediately preceding each measurement. The second method estimates tangential and radial accelerations, enabling the estimation of the gravity components in the accelerometer signals under dynamic conditions, and thus angle reconstruction. The second method appeared to perform best in preliminary test

Cost Efficiency Measurement of Leasing Companies with SFA and DEA Approach

Nowadays the leasing industry is a successful industry in economic conditions, but there are few studies that deal with the assessment of leasing companies' efficiency in Bangladesh. Previous research for leasing company's' efficiency measurement usually adopts either DEA or SFA method, but not both of them. Therefore, this paper is aimed to measure the cost efficiencies of 15 leasing companies from 2002 to 2008 by applying both SFA and DEA models with four inputs and two outputs. The results suggest that leasing companies have generally less experience in the allocation of resources and in the improvement of cost efficiency. INTRODUCTION Performance evaluation of the leasing companies is a most important issue because leasing has a vital role in economic development and growth and also contributes a major share in the gross domestic production (GDP) [4] developed a model for the evaluation of service quality in auto-industry leasing in Iran. They used the factor analysis to assess service quality and customer satisfaction in the form of performance. Majazi Dalfard et al. [16] applied the super efficiency DEA model to rank efficient leasing companies due to the failure of basic DEA models, there are other methods that can be used to rank the DMUs [19] in future studies. There are only a few literatures available in the subject of leasing companies in Bangladesh. For instance, Khanam The measure of inefficiency derived from micro-economic theory [1], Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes [9,10], and Banker, Charnes, and Cooper The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses the background and literatures for leasing companies in Bangladesh. Section 3 presents the methodologies of SFA and DEA. Section 4 assesses the efficiency ratings of leasing companies. Finally, the main results and suggestions for future research are summarized

Dynamic forces acting on the lumbar spine during manual handling. Can they be estimated using electromyographic techniques alone?

STUDY DESIGN: Compressive loading of the lumbar spine was analyzed using electromyographic, movement analysis, and force-plate techniques. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the inertial forces that cannot be detected by electromyographic techniques alone. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Links between back pain and manual labor have stimulated attempts to measure spine compressive loading. However, direct measurements of intradiscal pressure are too invasive, and force plates too cumbersome for use in the workplace. Electromyographic techniques are noninvasive and portable, but ignore certain inertial forces. METHODS: Eight men lifted boxes weighing 6.7 and 15.7 kg from the ground, while joint moments acting about L5-S1 were quantified 1) by using a linked-segment model to analyze data from Kistler force plates and a Vicon movement-analysis system, and 2) by measuring the electromyographic activity of the erector spinae muscles, correcting it for contraction speed and comparing it to moment generation during static contractions. The linked-segment model was used to calculate the "axial thrust," defined as the component of the L5-S1 reaction force that acts along the axis of the spine and that is unrelated to trunk muscle activity or static body weight. RESULTS: Peak extensor moments predicted by the two techniques were similar and equivalent to spinal compressive forces of 2.9-4.8 kN. The axial thrust "hidden" from the electromyographic technique was negligible during slow lifts, and remained below 4% of peak spinal compression even during fast heavy lifts. Peak axial thrust was proportional to the peak vertical ground reaction (R2 = 0.74). CONCLUSIONS: Electromyographic techniques can measure dynamic spinal loading, but additional force-plate data would improve accuracy slightly during lifts requiring a vigorous upward thrust from the legs

Cost efficiency measurement of leasing companies with SFA and DEA approach

Nowadays the leasing industry is a successful industry in economic conditions, but there are few studies that deal with the assessment of leasing companies' efficiency in Bangladesh. Previous research for leasing company's' efficiency measurement usually adopts either DEA or SFA method, but not both of them. Therefore, this paper is aimed to measure the cost efficiencies of 15 leasing companies from 2002 to 2008 by applying both SFA and DEA models with four inputs and two outputs.The results suggest that leasing companies have generally less experience in the allocation of resources and in the improvement of cost efficiency.The coefficients of Interest revenue and Non Interest revenue are found significant and positive effects on the cost efficiency of the leasing company in case of stochastic cost frontier model. The results of technical efficiency and allocative efficiency are combined to provide a measure of total cost efficiency in case of cost data envelopment analysis.The lowest cost efficiency (39.6%) for Union Capital Limited, and highest cost efficiency (89.7%) for International Leasing & Financial S.Ltd., is observed in case of cost data envelopment analysis

Goat Genomic Resources: The Search for Genes Associated with Its Economic Traits

Goat plays a crucial role in human livelihoods, being a major source of meat, milk, fiber, and hides, particularly under adverse climatic conditions. The goat genomics related to the candidate gene approach is now being used to recognize molecular mechanisms that have different expressions of growth, reproductive, milk, wool, and disease resistance. The appropriate literature on this topic has been reviewed in this article. Several genetic characterization attempts of different goats have reported the existence of genotypic and morphological variations between different goat populations. As a result, different whole-genome sequences along with annotated gene sequences, gene function, and other genomic information of different goats are available in different databases. The main objective of this review is to search the genes associated with economic traits in goats. More than 271 candidate genes have been discovered in goats. Candidate genes influence the physiological pathway, metabolism, and expression of phenotypes. These genes have different functions on economically important traits. Some genes have pleiotropic effect for expression of phenotypic traits. Hence, recognizing candidate genes and their mutations that cause variations in gene expression and phenotype of an economic trait can help breeders look for genetic markers for specific economic traits. The availability of reference whole-genome assembly of goats, annotated genes, and transcriptomics makes comparative genomics a useful tool for systemic genetic upgradation. Identification and characterization of trait-associated sequence variations and gene will provide powerful means to give positive influences for future goat breeding program

Cost and profit efficiency of online banks: Do national commercial banks perform better than private banks?

This study employs the parametric approach, in particular the Stochastic Frontier Approach, to examine the cost and profit efficiency of National Commercial Banks and Private Banks in Bangladesh using stochastic frontier model.The cost inefficiency and profit efficiency are observed slightly higher for private banks than national commercial banks. The coefficient of advance (0.334) is highly significant at 1% level and the coefficient of off-balance sheet items (0.339) is significant at 5% level.Both results are positive influence to the banks for cost model.The coefficients of Advance, Other earning assets, Off-balance sheet items, Price of fixed assets and Price of labour are recorded highly significant in profit model.The average cost inefficiency and profit efficiency are observed 16.3% and 91% respectively.The lowest cost inefficiency is 5.3% for United Commercial Bank Limited while the highest cost inefficiency is 44.7% for Janata Bank. The lowest profit efficiency is 76.9% for Janata Bank while the highest profit efficiency is 94.9% for Eastern Bank Limited