Efficiency assessment of primary care providers: A conditional nonparametric approach

This paper uses a fully nonparametric approach to estimate efficiency measures for primary care units incorporating the effect of (exogenous) environmental factors. This methodology allows us to account for different types of variables (continuous and discrete) describing the main characteristics of patients served by those providers. In addition, we use an extension of this nonparametric approach to deal with the presence of undesirable outputs in data, represented by the rates of hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC). The empirical results show that all the exogenous variables considered have a significant and negative effect on efficiency estimates.     

An analysis of managerialism and performance in English and Welsh male prisons

This paper fills a noticeable gap in the current economic and penology literature by proposing new performance-enhancing policies based on an efficiency analysis of a sample of male prisons in England and Wales over the period 2009/10. In addition, we advance the empirical literature by integrating the managerialism of four strategic functions of prisons, employment and accommodation, capacity utilization, quality of life in prison and the rehabilitation and re-offending of prisoners. We find that by estimating multiple models focussing on these different areas some prisons are more efficient than other establishments. In terms of policy, it is therefore necessary to consider not just an overall performance metric for individual prisons, as currently undertaken annually by the UK Ministry of Justice, but to look into the administration and managerialism of their main functions in both a business and public policy perspective. Indeed, it is further necessary to view prisons together and not as single entities, so as to obtain a best practice frontier for the different operations that management undertakes in English and Welsh prisons.     

利用MGI方法寻找锂离子扩散激活能的材料基因

锂离子电池的应用涉及了正负极和电解质等关键材料,材料中的锂离子扩散属于最核心的微观过程。通过实验测量和理论计算可以找到锂离子扩散激活能小的优秀材料,但是通过一个好的激活能参数,我们不能明确它的影响因素是什么,也无法实现优化现有材料和发现新的锂电材料的目的。本文利用材料基因组计划(MGI)的研究思路,利用第一性原理计算得到的40多种典型体系的激活能参数,结合能带结构特征的计算结果,并通过数据分析,明确了晶格结构中影响锂离子扩散激活能的因素,确定出价带宽度和价带中d电子轨道比例数等基因参数影响激活能的规律。这些结果反映了锂离子材料能带整体特征研究的必要性,也体现了MGI研究方法的优势和特点。     

Resource augmentation for online bounded space bin packing

We study online bounded space bin packing in the resource augmentation model of competitive analysis. In this model, the online bounded space packing algorithm has to pack a list L of items in (0,1] into a small number of bins of size b1. Its performance is measured by comparing the produced packing against the optimal offline packing of the list L into bins of size 1.We present a complete solution to this problem: For every bin size b1, we design online bounded space bin packing algorithms whose worst case ratio in this model comes arbitrarily close to a certain bound ρ(b). Moreover, we prove that no online bounded space algorithm can perform better than ρ(b) in the worst case.     

基于子波变换的光谱信息数据压缩方法

本文介绍一种基于子波变换的光谱信息数据压缩方法，利用子波变换的多尺度分析原理，将原始光谱数据分解成集中源信号绝大部分能量的模糊信号和反映源信号变化特性的锐化信号。由于锐化信号只有源信号变化梯度大的区域系数值才较大，其他区域都接近零，只需保存少量的系数，就可以实现数据压缩，用本文方法，对２１种典型地物光谱数据进行了数据压缩实验，在１．０～１．７均方根误差情况下，若压缩结果不编码，压缩比一般为４：１～     

光测仪器的轴系检测及数据处理

本文针对光测仪器的轴系检测提出了一种新的改进方法,该方法采用数字式电子水平仪测量垂直轴系的径向晃动量;并用不等间隔采样点的最小二乘法计算垂直轴系、水平轴系的晃动误差。该方法及计算程序已成功地应用于多项任务的轴系误差测量中。     

On the relative efficiency of alternative modes of producing a public sector output: The case of the developmentally disabled

This paper examines the relative efficiency of alternative methods of producing care for the developmentally disabled. A linear programming framework is used to construct a production frontier which allows measurement of relative efficiency among institutions in the sample. Tests are performed to detect influential observations in the data which might result from measurement error which could distort the efficiency measures. Different types of institutions are compared in terms of average efficiency. Policy implications of the analysis are discussed in the concluding section.     

Measurement of small spin-spin splittings in the presence of chemical exchange: case of deuteriated water

A new implementation of a described data processing for measuring small scalar coupling constant J is proposed. It is applied particularly to situations where the coupling constant is around the linewidth at half-height, and in the presence of chemical exchange. This modified data processing uses only a simple "one-pulse" experiment instead of a series of spin echoes experiments required by the previous processing. The FID recorded in the one pulse experiment is used by a reconstitution program to generate a set of signals, which are analyzed in the time domain to obtain a spectrum where the scalar coupling constant is apparently multiplied by n+1, where n is positive. The new processing is tested with simulated spectra. The coupling constant between proton and deuterium is measured in the proton spectrum of a solution of 80% of D(2)O and 20% of H(2)O. It was found to be J=1.54+/-0.01 Hz.     

On a Problem of Karpilovsky

Let G be a finite elementary group. Let ⁿ (G) denote the nth power of the augmentation ideal (G) of the integral group ring G. In this paper, we give an explicit basis of the quotient group Q_n(G) = ⁿ(G)/ⁿ⁺¹ (G) and compute the order of Qⁿ (G).2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 16S34, 20C05     

Data acquisition in the EUDET project

The goal of the EUDET project is the development and construction of infrastructure to permit detector R&D for the international linear collider (ILC) with larger scale prototypes. It encompasses major detector components: the vertex detector, the tracker and the calorimeters. We describe here the status and plans of the project with emphasis on issues related to data acquisition for future test beam experiments.