Measuring Service Quality: The Opinion of Europeans about Utilities

This paper provides a comparative analysis of statistical methods to evaluate the consumer perception about the quality of Services of General Interest. The evaluation of the service quality perceived by users is usually based on Customer Satisfaction Survey data and an ex-post evaluation is then performed. Another approach, consisting in evaluating Consumers preferences, supplies an ex-ante information on Service Quality. Here, the ex-post approach is considered, two non-standard techniques - the Rasch Model and the Nonlinear Principal Component Analysis - are presented and the potential of both methods is discussed. These methods are applied on the Eurobarometer Survey data to assess the consumer satisfaction among European countries and in different years.Service Quality, Eurobarometer, Non Linear Principal Component Analysis, Rasch Analysis, Conjoint Analysis

Modeling Virus Transport and Removal during Storage and Recovery in Heterogeneous Aquifers

A quantitative understanding of virus removal during aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) in physically and geochemically heterogeneous aquifers is needed to accurately assess human health risks from viral infections. A two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical model incorporating processes of virus attachment, detachment, and inactivation in aqueous and solid phases was developed to systematically evaluate the virus removal performance of ASR schemes. Physical heterogeneity was considered as either layered or randomly distributed hydraulic conductivities (with selected variance and horizontal correlation length). Geochemical heterogeneity in the aquifer was accounted for using Colloid Filtration Theory to predict the spatial distribution of attachment rate coefficient. Simulation results demonstrate that the combined effects of aquifer physical heterogeneity and spatial variability of attachment rate resulted in higher virus concentrations in the recovered water at the ASR well (i.e. reduced virus removal). While the sticking efficiency of viruses to aquifer sediments was found to significantly influence virus concentration in the recovered water, the solid phase inactivation under realistic field conditions combined with the duration of storage phase had a predominant influence on the overall virus removal. The relative importance of physical heterogeneity increased under physicochemical conditions that reduced virus removal (e.g. lower value of sticking efficiency or solid phase inactivation rate). This study provides valuable insight on site selection of ASR projects and an approach to optimize ASR operational parameters (e.g. storage time) for virus removal and to minimize costs associated with post-recovery treatment

Research infrastructures in the LHC era : a scientometric approach

When a research infrastructure is funded and implemented, new information and new publications are created. This new information is the measurable output of discovery process. In this paper, we describe the impact of infrastructure for physics experiments in terms of publications and citations. In particular, we consider the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments (ATLAS, CMS, ALICE, LHCb) and compare them to the Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) experiments (ALEPH, DELPHI, L3, OPAL) and the Tevatron experiments (CDF, D0). We provide an overview of the scientific output of these projects over time and highlight the role played by remarkable project results in the publication-citation distribution trends. The methodological and technical contributions of this work provide a starting point for the development of a theoretical model of modern scientific knowledge propagation over time

Awareness campaign for Fisherwomen

Women in fishing communities have decisioh-making role in community management. With the increasing commercialisation of fishing industry I women's access to post-harvest operations in fisheries has been declining: It is- estimated that only about 20 percent of women from traditional fishing households get opportunities for income generation from fishery related activities which are seasonal

Economics of trawling along Goa coast

A trawler on an average earned a gross revenue of Rs. 6,28,800 during 1991-'92. The annual cost of trawl operation is calculated at Rs. 6,03,705. Thus, an amount of Rs. 25,095 is found to be the net profit of a trawl unit. The income over operating expenses comes to Rs. 1.82 lakh. By investing one rupee on fuel, an amount of Rs. 2.52 is earned by a trawler. It requires 6 years to recover initial investment in a trawl unit with the average production of 43,520 kg of fish per annum with a price of Rs. 14.45 per kg. The rate of return to capital is calculated at 20% which is higher by 5% than the rate of interest on which capital was made available for acquiring the trawlers

Action research for rural empowerment in Chellanam fishing village

The empowerment approach aims at equipping the rural people with ways and means of improving their living conditions. Extension education was found to be useful in producing the desired change in the target grou

Note on the extension of prawn culture technology to women in a coastal village

Prawn farming is a potential area of income generation for women in fishing villages. Observations indicate that women in small scale prawn farming households do have involvement in the traditional system. They also play an important role in the management of other activities such as livestock rearing and vegetable cultivation in their farms. Given more information and training they can be usefully involved in the adoption of the technology and also management of the farms

Pandemic Data Quality Modelling: A Bayesian Approach = Modellazione della qualit`a dei dati pandemici: un approccio bayesiano

When dealing with pandemics like COVID-19, it is crucial for policymakers to constantly monitor the emergency. Correct data reporting is a hard task during pandemics, and errors affect the overall mortality, resulting in excess deaths in official statistics. In this work, we provide tools for evaluating the quality of pandemic mortality data. We accomplish this through a spatio-temporal Bayesian approach accounting for the bias implicitly contained in the data

Biochemical Effects of Exercise on a Fasciocutaneous Flap in a Rat Model.

Importance: An overwhelming amount of data suggest that cardiovascular exercise has a positive effect on the mind and body, although the precise mechanism is not always clear. Objective: To assess the clinical and biochemical effects of voluntary cardiovascular exercise on pedicled flaps in a rodent model. Design, Setting, and Participants: Eighteen adult Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomized into a resting animal group (RAG) (n=9) and an exercise animal group (EAG) (n=9) for 14 days (July 23, 2013, through July 30, 2013). A pedicled transposition flap was performed on the ventral surface of the rat, and biopsy specimens were taken from the proximal, middle, and distal portions on postoperative days 0, 2, 5, and 9. Flap survival was analyzed planimetrically, and biopsy specimens were analyzed by hematoxylin-eosin-stained microscopy and immunoblotting. The housing, exercise, surgery, and analysis of the rats were conducted at a single basic science research laboratory at the tertiary care center campus of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Exposures: The rats were caged for 14 days or housed in a cage connected to an exercise wheel and pedometer. Main Outcomes and Measures: Study measures were gross and micrographic necrosis and expression of proteins within cell survival and apoptosis pathways. Results: A total of 18 rats were studied, 9 in the RAG and 9 in the EAG. the mean (SEM) amount of necrosis in flaps was 41.3% (3%) in the RAG rats and 10.5% (3.5%) in the EAG rats (P \u3c .001). Immunoblotting revealed increased Caspase-9 activity resulting in poly-(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase 1 cleavage in the RAG vs the EAG, as well as lower phosphorylated protein kinase B (also known as Akt), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, and total B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 protein levels. Throughout the postoperative period, the cumulative vascular endothelial growth factor A levels of the EAG flaps were significantly higher than those of the RAG flaps (2.30 vs 1.25 fold induction [FI], P = .002), with differences of 2.76 vs 1.54 FI in the proximal segment, 2.40 vs 1.20 FI in the middle segment, and 1.90 vs 0.79 FI in the distal segment. A similar response was noted when comparing phosphorylated Akt, with cumulative mean (SEM) p-Akt expression levels of 0.62 (0.04) for RAG and 1.98 (0.09) for EAG (P = .002 between the 2 groups). Conclusions and Relevance: Voluntary preoperative exercise improves survival in pedicled fasciocutaneous flaps; the EAG rats had less necrosis, decreased apoptotic markers, and increased amounts of vascular endothelial growth factor A and prosurvival proteins. These results have implications to increase flap survival in other mammal populations, such as humans. Level of Evidence: 3

Ten challenges in modeling bibliographic data for bibliometric analysis

The complexity and variety of bibliographic data is growing, and efforts to define new methodologies and techniques for bibliometric analysis are intensifying. In this complex scenario, one of the most crucial issues is the quality of data and the capability of bibliometric analysis to cope with multiple data dimensions. Although the problem of enforcing a multidimensional approach to the analysis and management of bibliographic data is not new, a reference design pattern and a specific conceptual model for multidimensional analysis of bibliographic data are still missing. In this paper, we discuss ten of the most relevant challenges for bibliometric analysis when dealing with multidimensional data, and we propose a reference data model that, according to different goals, can help analysis designers and bibliographic experts in working with large collections of bibliographic dat