Efficiency Scores Research Articles

Can information constraints explain the low efficiency in premium quality rice cultivation? Evidence from smallholder farmers in Bangladesh

AbstractThe integration of smallholder farmers into emerging value chains for fine‐grain and aromatic ‘premium quality rice’ (PQR) could prove to be crucial to improving rural livelihoods in Bangladesh, though efforts could be constrained by farmers' differing levels of agronomic knowledge. Based on a pre‐analysis plan, we analyse farmers' ability to efficiently allocate production enhancing inputs in PQR cultivation based on a survey of 1420 farmers in key PQR producing areas. Farmers received a hypothetical budget to allocate to six different inputs advised for efficient production of PQR, mimicking familiar production decisions made seasonally on their own farms. Our results suggest that even without budget or input access constraints farmers tend to inefficiently allocate inputs in PQR in this hypothetical setting. In particular, they tend to overspend on seeds, fertiliser and pesticides. Farmers with better access to agricultural information, such as through PQR specific extension services, conversely reach substantially higher efficiency scores and decided to spend significantly less on fertiliser. Without future adjustments such as more targeted extension services, implied higher production costs will likely lower the profitability of PQR cultivation for smallholder farmers, thereby limiting potential income gains. Besides these economic concerns, excessive input use is associated with environmental externalities. Improved efficiency is therefore desirable from both an economic and environmental standpoint.

Hydrogen rich syngas production through sewage sludge pyrolysis: A comprehensive experimental investigation and performance optimisation using statistical analysis

Bioenergy is anticipated to play a significant role in the United Kingdom’s Net Zero 2050 scenario. This study aims to explore the possibility of producing hydrogen-rich syngas using sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant located in England, United Kingdom. The primary objective of this study is to experimentally produce hydrogen-rich syngas from sewage sludge through pre-treatment, drying, and pyrolysis. Furthermore, statistical methods have been employed to optimise the performance of the pyrolyser. The individual desirability scores for lower heating value (LHV) and cold gas efficiency (CGE) were estimated to be 0.83902 and 0.85307, respectively. Combining these scores, the overall desirability of the model reached 0.8460, indicating favourable predictive performance. The optimal operational conditions are reported to be a feed rate of 3.0488 revolutions per minute (rpm) and an operational temperature of 800°C. Under these conditions, the highest calculated CGE of 66.31% and the peak LHV value of 18.36 MJ/ m^3 were achieved.

EFFECT OF INPUT USE EFFICIENCY OF RICE PRODUCTION AMONG BENEFICIARIES AND NON-BENEFICIARIES OF ANCHOR BORROWERS’ PROGRAMME IN KADUNA STATE NIGERIA

This study investigates the effect of input use efficiency of rice production among beneficiaries and non- beneficiaries of Central Bank of Nigeria Anchor borrowers’ programme (ABP) in Kaduna State. Multistage sampling procedure include the purposive selection of the three Local Government Areas (LGAs): Kaduna South, Chukun, and Igabi where rice production is prominence in the state; two communities was randomly selected from each of the three selected LGAs to give a total of six selected communities. Finally, 110 each of upland rice farmers who were RIFAN and NON-RIFAN member beneficiaries of ABP were randomly selected from the targeted communities. Descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier model were used in analyzing data collected for the study area. The findings revealed that there were no significant differences between the socio-economic characteristics of both categories of farmers. Findings revealed that beneficiaries of ABP technical efficiency scores ranged from 0.71 and 1.00 with an average of 0.91. The scores for their allocative and economic efficiency ranged from 0.62 - 0.99 and 0.44 - 0.99 with an average of 0.93 and 0.85, respectively. While for the non-beneficiary rice farmer of the ABP, technical efficiency scores ranged from 0.52 and 0.89 with an average of 0.81. The scores for their allocative and economic efficiency ranged from 0.57 – 0.97 and 0.39 - 0.72 with an average of 0.76 and 0.65, respectively. From the finding it can be concluded that the mean technical, allocative and economic efficiencies for of both beneficiaries and non- beneficiaries were below the frontier of one. The three most critical constraints for beneficiary and non-beneficiary were lack and poor extension services, high cost of inputs, and untimeliness of inputs distribution for beneficiary, and insufficient planting seeds for non-beneficiary. It is therefore recommended that government at the federal, state and local government levels should provide adequate extension services to rice farmers and also rice farmers should be encouraged by the extension agents to join and participate in cooperative societies so that Government and NGOs can easily reach out to them through this medium.

Esterman Visual Field Testing Using a Virtual Reality Headset in Glaucoma

To test the use of a virtual reality visual field headset (VRVF) for implementation of the Esterman visual field (EVF) test as compared with standard automated perimetry (SAP) among people with glaucoma. Experimental design. Patients with mild to severe glaucoma ranging from 10 to 90 years who presented for follow-up at a glaucoma clinic in Miami, Florida were eligible. Participants performed the EVF test on both SAP and VRVF. Five glaucoma-trained ophthalmologists were then asked to rate all anonymized SAP and RVF tests as a "pass" or "failure" based on Florida state law. Point-by-point concordance between original VRVF EVF test results and SAP EVF test results was calculated using the Kappa statistic. Concordance between SAP and VRVF was secondarily assessed with a conditional logistic regression based on the pass-failure determinations by the glaucoma-trained ophthalmologists. Interrater agreement on test pass-failure determinations was also calculated. Finally, test results on SAP versus VRVF were compared based on Esterman efficiency score (EES), the number of correct points divided by the number of total points, and duration of testing. Twenty-two subjects were included in the study with ages ranging from 14 to 78 years old. Concordance between VRVF and SAP test using point-by-point analysis was poor (κ=0.332, [95% confidence intervals {CI}: 0.157, 0.506]) and somewhat increased using pass-failure determinations from ophthalmologists (κ=0.657, [95% CI: 0.549, 0.751]). Ophthalmologists were more likely to agree amongst themselves on pass-failure determinations for VRVF tests (κ=0.890, [95% CI: 0.726, 0.964]) than for SAP (κ=0.590, [95% CI: 0.372, 0.818]); however, VRVF demonstrated significantly lower EES than SAP (median EES difference: 4.5 points, P=0.021). This pilot study is the first to assess the implementation of the EVF test using a virtual reality headset. Based on the weak overall agreement between VRVF and SAP, the current VRVF EVF test is not an acceptable determinant of driver's licensing. However, ophthalmologists were more likely to agree amongst themselves on VRVF test reports than on SAP reports. With further testing and improvement, virtual reality may eventually become a portable and convenient method for administering the EVF test. Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Subitizing endures in sequential rather than simultaneous comparison tasks.

Subitizing is the ability to appraise a number of small quantities (up to four) rapidly and precisely. This system, however, can be impaired by distractors presented along with targets to be enumerated. To better understand whether this limitation arises in perceptual circuits or in the response selection stage, we investigated whether subitizing can endure in simultaneous comparison tasks. Participants were asked to compare the number of dots in two sets on the left and right sides of the screen, presented either simultaneously or sequentially. For comparing within the numerosity range (6-32 dots), both the error rate and reaction time increased steadily as the ratio between the two numbers compared approached "1." Namely, a phenomenon labeled the ratio effect was revealed. For comparison with small numbers (<5), the sequential comparison task was errorless despite the ratio, suggesting the feature of subitizing. Individual efficiency (measured by the inverse efficiency score [IES]) did not correlate between number ranges in sequential comparison, suggesting that distinct mechanisms were involved. However, we found that in simultaneous tasks, error rate and efficiency showed an increase as the ratios of the two numbers compared approached "1." This is similar to the ratio effect revealed in the comparison for moderate numbers. Individual efficiency within these two ranges correlated, indicating that the enumeration within these two ranges was based on a single mechanism. These results suggest that subitizing cannot process sets in parallel, and numerosity takes the job whenever subitizing fails.

Evaluating Technical and Scale Efficiencies of Cooperative Banks in Jammu and Kashmir

This article examines the performance of cooperative banks in Jammu and Kashmir (J&amp;K) during 2005–2018. We use data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology to obtain technical and scale efficiency scores for each bank over the years. Income-based approach has been employed while selecting our inputs and outputs. Our results indicate a large asymmetry as far as the performance across different banks is concerned. The dominant source of the technical inefficiency in the cooperative banks is found to be scale related. Further, the results from returns to scale suggest that majority of the cooperative banks in J&amp;K are operating on the zone of decreasing returns to scale.

Evaluating the technical efficiency of Egypt’s main container terminals

ABSTRACT Technical efficiency in container terminals refers to the ability of a port/terminal to operate at maximum capacity with a minimum number of resources. This includes optimising equipment and workforce utilisation, as well as streamlining operations and logistics to reduce delays and increase throughput. This research follows a deductive approach using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models (CCR) and sensitivity analysis (SA) to define the most effective variable in the efficiency score of the main Egyptian container terminals. According to the sensitivity analysis, the most significant variable influencing the efficiency scores is the draft. Using the CCR model, it was found that the majority of the Egyptian container terminals under review were inefficient during the study period, with the exception of the East Port Said terminal. The current research is limited to evaluating the technical efficiency of six Egyptian container terminals (Alexandria, El-Dekheila, Damietta, East Port Said port, Port Said West, and El-Sokhna terminals) using two different DEA models from 2018 to 2022. The present research offers an in-depth approach for evaluating the technical efficiency of container terminals. The study’s findings could be applied to developing guidelines for enhancing the efficiency and productivity of Egypt’s container terminals.

Ligand-dictated planar versus bent nickel(II) chelates of the Schiff bases: Synthesis, crystal structures, optical properties, DFT and molecular docking studies

Two nickel(II) coordination compounds [Ni(LI)2] (1) and [Ni(LII)2] (2) (HLI = N-cyclohexyl-3-methoxysalicylideneimine, HLII = N-cyclohexyl-3-ethoxysalicylideneimine) were synthesized with the aim to reveal and compare the influence of the electronically and structurally similar methyl (Me) and ethyl (Et) funcionalities in a close proximity to the chelate backbone of the corresponding parent ligand. It was established that a minor difference in the structure of the parent ligand (Me in LI vs. Et in LII) leads to a crucial difference in the geometry of a complex molecule: a planar structure of 1 with two cycloalkane functionalities directed on the opposite sides of a molecule, and a bent structure of 2 with two cycloalkane functionalities directed on the convex side of a molecule. The coordination core of both complexes is a NiN2O2 planar square, formed due to two trans-coordinated ligands LI and LII, respectively. Solutions of the title compounds in CH2Cl2, MeOH and EtOH absorb up to about 475 nm due to intraligand transitions and LMCT. The DFT-based calculations were also applied to shed light on the structural and optical features of 1 and 2. In silico prediction using a molecular docking approach showed that both complexes can potentially inhibit a number of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The so-called ligand efficiency scores for complex Nsp14_N7-MTase–1 are within the recommended ranges for a drug, while the same scores for complexes Nsp14_N7-MTase–2, PLpro–1 and Mpro–1 fall in the ranges for a Hit.

CAMELS-DEA in assessing the role of major factors in achieving higher efficiency levels: evidence from Turkish banks

ABSTRACT This study investigates the efficiency of Turkish banks from 2010 to 2023 under unconventional central bank monetary policies, a departure from studies in developed economies using Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity (CAMELS) ratings. This study involves two stages. In the first stage, we calculate the efficiency scores of Turkish banks through a CAMELS ratings-based data envelopment analysis (CAMELS-DEA) model with two enhancements. Then, in the second stage, we conduct static and dynamic panel data analysis, relating these CAMELS-DEA efficiency estimates to factors and economy-wide variables thought to impact the banks’ efficiency levels, capturing cross-sectional variations across entities and mitigate potential endogeneity bias by incorporating lagged dependent variables as instruments. The study reveals a significant relationship between Turkish bank efficiency, size, and type, with public capital deposit banks as well as banks with the highest number of branches displaying superior performance. The results show that unemployment rate, government debt, exchange rate, and inflation rate have a meaningful impact on banking efficiency. Government debt and exchange rate have an inverse relationship with efficiency while the remaining variables are positively correlated. These findings underline the potential for rising inflation to trigger financial instability after abrupt and unforeseen inflation spikes.

The decomposition of efficiency in parallel network production models

Kao (2012) proposed a method to decompose DMU efficiency into sub-unit efficiencies for parallel production systems. We provide a numerical example showing that the proposed method can yield negative sub-unit efficiency scores under variable returns to scale, against common sense and standard postulates requiring this score to be non-negative. As a solution, we propose a decomposition based on the directional distance function that does not suffer from this problem. In particular, we recognize that the overall inefficiency of the DMU is composed of the sub-units technical inefficiencies and a reallocation inefficiency component. The proposed method can be also applied to non-convex technologies, therefore providing a more general method to implement such a decomposition. Given the connection between the directional distance function and slack-based efficiency measurement, the method can easily be extended to this case as well.

Association between sleep quality and dry eye disease: a literature review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveThe purpose of this article is to systematically review the association between dry eye and sleep quality.MethodsPubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Web of Science, and grey literature databases were searched for observational studies published before April 2023. Meta-analysis was performed using STAT15 software.ResultsA total of 21 studies with 419,218 participants were included. The results showed that the dry eye subjects had a worse sleep quality than the healthy population, with poorer subjective sleep quality, longer sleep latency, and a higher risk of unhealthy sleep duration such as insufficient sleep or excessive sleep. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores of the dry eye subjects were significantly higher than those of the control subjects (WMD = 1.78, 95%CI: 1.06, 2.50, P < 0.001). The dry eye subjects scored higher than the control subjects in sleep quality, sleep latency, and sleep disturbance in PSQI; there was no difference between the dry eye individuals and control subjects in sleep duration, sleep efficiency, daytime dysfunction, and sleep medication scores. The risk of sleep disorders in the dry eye subjects was significantly higher than that in the non-dry eye subjects (RR = 2.20, 95%CI: 1.78, 2.72, P < 0.001); the risk of insufficient sleep in the dry eye subjects was higher than that in the control subjects (RR = 3.76, 95%CI: 3.15, 4.48, P < 0.001), and the prevalence of excessive sleepiness in dry eye subjects was higher than that in the control subjects (RR = 5.53, 95%CI: 3.83, 7.18, P < 0.001). The ESS scores of the dry eye subjects were significantly higher than those of the control subjects (WMD = 3.02, 95%CI: 2.43, 3.60, P < 0.01).ConclusionOur meta-analysis suggests that individuals with dry eye have a worse sleep quality than the healthy population, with poorer subjective sleep quality, longer sleep latency, and higher risk of unhealthy sleep duration such as insufficient sleep or excessive sleepiness.

A Technological Tool Aimed at Self-Care in Patients With Multimorbidity: Cross-Sectional Usability Study.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been positioned as useful tools to facilitate self-care. The interaction between a patient and technology, known as usability, is particularly important for achieving positive health outcomes. Specific characteristics of patients with chronic diseases, including multimorbidity, can affect their interaction with different technologies. Thus, studying the usability of ICTs in the field of multimorbidity has become a key element to ensure their relevant role in promoting self-care. The aim of this study was to analyze the usability of a technological tool dedicated to health and self-care in patients with multimorbidity in primary care. A descriptive observational cross-sectional usability study was performed framed in the clinical trial in the primary care health centers of Madrid Health Service of the TeNDER (Affective Based Integrated Care for Better Quality of Life) project. The TeNDER technological tool integrates sensors for monitoring physical and sleep activity along with a mobile app for consulting the data collected and working with self-management tools. This project included patients over 60 years of age who had one or more chronic diseases, at least one of which was mild-moderate cognitive impairment, Parkinson disease, or cardiovascular disease. From the 250 patients included in the project, 38 agreed to participate in the usability study. The usability variables investigated were effectiveness, which was determined by the degree of completion and the total number of errors per task; efficiency, evaluated as the average time to perform each task; and satisfaction, quantified by the System Usability Scale. Five tasks were evaluated based on real case scenarios. Usability variables were analyzed according to the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients. A logistic regression model was constructed to estimate the factors associated with the type of support provided for task completion. The median age of the 38 participants was 75 (IQR 72.0-79.0) years. There was a slight majority of women (20/38, 52.6%) and the participants had a median of 8 (IQR 7.0-11.0) chronic diseases. Thirty patients completed the usability study, with a usability effectiveness result of 89.3% (134/150 tasks completed). Among the 30 patients, 66.7% (n=20) completed all tasks and 56.7% (17/30) required personalized help on at least one task. In the multivariate analysis, educational level emerged as a facilitating factor for independent task completion (odds ratio 1.79, 95% CI 0.47-6.83). The median time to complete the total tasks was 296 seconds (IQR 210.0-397.0) and the median satisfaction score was 55 (IQR 45.0-62.5) out of 100. Although usability effectiveness was high, the poor efficiency and usability satisfaction scores suggest that there are other factors that may interfere with the results. Multimorbidity was not confirmed to be a key factor affecting the usability of the technological tool. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT05681065; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05681065.

Allocating the fixed cost as a complementary input in two-stage system: A DEA approach

The existing research on fixed cost allocation (FCA) in two-stage system data envelopment analysis (DEA) models typically regards the fixed cost as an additional input for each decision-making unit (DMU). However, these models overlook the prevalent real-world scenario where fixed costs act as complementary inputs in actual production processes. This study proposes a general two-stage network DEA model that incorporates the fixed cost as a complementary input to optimize the allocation scheme. First, we construct a functional relationship between the efficiency scores of DMUs and their allocated fixed costsusing a modified super-efficiency DEA model, which effectively classifies DMUs and solves infeasible solutions within the variable returns to scale (VRS) framework. Then, we propose a fair and unique allocation model based on fairness and efficiency maximization principles. Specifically, we allocate fixed costs based on the operational scale for inelastic DMUs while equitably increasing the efficiency scores for elastic DMUs. Finally, a numerical example and an empirical study on subsidy allocation among 30 provinces demonstrate the rationality and acceptability of our approach.

Association Between Sleep Efficiency Variability and Cognition Among Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Accelerometer Study.

Sleep efficiency is often used as a measure of sleep quality. Getting sufficiently high-quality sleep has been associated with better cognitive function among older adults; however, the relationship between day-to-day sleep quality variability and cognition has not been well-established. We aimed to determine the relationship between day-to-day sleep efficiency variability and cognitive function among older adults, using accelerometer data and 3 cognitive tests. We included older adults aged >65 years with at least 5 days of accelerometer wear time from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) who completed the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Word-Learning subtest (CERAD-WL), and the Animal Fluency Test (AFT). Sleep efficiency was derived using a data-driven machine learning algorithm. We examined associations between sleep efficiency variability and scores on each cognitive test adjusted for age, sex, education, household income, marital status, depressive symptoms, diabetes, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, arthritis, heart disease, prior heart attack, prior stroke, activities of daily living, and instrumental activities of daily living. Associations between average sleep efficiency and each cognitive test score were further examined for comparison purposes. A total of 1074 older adults from the NHANES were included in this study. Older adults with low average sleep efficiency exhibited higher levels of sleep efficiency variability (Pearson r=-0.63). After adjusting for confounding factors, greater average sleep efficiency was associated with higher scores on the DSST (per 10% increase, β=2.25, 95% CI 0.61 to 3.90) and AFT (per 10% increase, β=.91, 95% CI 0.27 to 1.56). Greater sleep efficiency variability was univariably associated with worse cognitive function based on the DSST (per 10% increase, β=-3.34, 95% CI -5.33 to -1.34), CERAD-WL (per 10% increase, β=-1.00, 95% CI -1.79 to -0.21), and AFT (per 10% increase, β=-1.02, 95% CI -1.68 to -0.36). In fully adjusted models, greater sleep efficiency variability remained associated with lower DSST (per 10% increase, β=-2.01, 95% CI -3.62 to -0.40) and AFT (per 10% increase, β=-.84, 95% CI -1.47 to -0.21) scores but not CERAD-WL (per 10% increase, β=-.65, 95% CI -1.39 to 0.08) scores. Targeting consistency in sleep quality may be useful for interventions seeking to preserve cognitive function among older adults.

Multi-model approach in a variable spatial framework for streamflow simulation

Abstract. Accounting for the variability of hydrological processes and climate conditions between catchments and within catchments remains a challenge in rainfall–runoff modelling. Among the many approaches developed over the past decades, multi-model approaches provide a way to consider the uncertainty linked to the choice of model structure and its parameter estimates. Semi-distributed approaches make it possible to account explicitly for spatial variability while maintaining a limited level of complexity. However, these two approaches have rarely been used together. Such a combination would allow us to take advantage of both methods. The aim of this work is to answer the following question: what is the possible contribution of a multi-model approach within a variable spatial framework compared to lumped single models for streamflow simulation? To this end, a set of 121 catchments with limited anthropogenic influence in France was assembled, with precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and streamflow data at the hourly time step over the period 1998–2018. The semi-distribution set-up was kept simple by considering a single downstream catchment defined by an outlet and one or more upstream sub-catchments. The multi-model approach was implemented with 13 rainfall–runoff model structures, three objective functions, and two spatial frameworks, for a total of 78 distinct modelling options. A simple averaging method was used to combine the various simulated streamflow at the outlet of the catchments and sub-catchments. The lumped model with the highest efficiency score over the whole catchment set was taken as the benchmark for model evaluation. Overall, the semi-distributed multi-model approach yields better performance than the different lumped models considered individually. The gain is mainly brought about by the multi-model set-up, with the spatial framework providing a benefit on a more occasional basis. These results, based on a large catchment set, evince the benefits of using a multi-model approach in a variable spatial framework to simulate streamflow.

Comparing Self-Report vs. Performance Measures of Attentional Control and Efficiency.

Background: The Attention Control Scale (ATTC) is a widely used self-report measure of attentional control capacities. However, research questions whether it accurately substitutes for objective attention control tasks. This study investigated ATTC's correlation with the Attention Network Test (ANT) across alerting, orienting, and executive control networks. We also used the Inverse Efficiency Score (IES) as an additional factor to check ATTC using ANT. Methods: We administered 143 participants who completed the ATTC questionnaire and ANT behavioral test assessing network efficiencies. Results: The results showed non-significant ATTC-ANT correlations across all networks. In an additional analysis, while the ATTC demonstrated factorial validity, subjective control was disconnected from actual attention regulation efficiency. A small male advantage emerged for executive control. Conclusions: Dissociations likely stem from attention complexity and method variances rather than overlap. The findings do not support the ATTC as a stand-alone proxy for performance-based measurement. Multifaceted assessments are essential for comprehensively capturing attentional control.

Enhancing Dairy Farm Welfare: A Holistic Examination of Technology Adoption and Economic Performance in Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey

Technology and innovations have significant potential to enhance farm productivity, profitability, and economic sustainability. This study comprehensively investigates the relationship between technology adoption and economic performance within dairy farming. First, it seeks to clarify how socio-economic, information-seeking, behavioral factors and technical efficiency influence the level of technology adoption in dairy farms. It also compares the economic indicators of dairy farms depending on their technology adoption levels and evaluates whether technology adoption affects dairy farms’ technical, allocative, and economic efficiency. The data were collected from 188 dairy farmers in Kahramanmaraş Province in the East Mediterranean Region of Turkey in 2022. The results reveal that dairy farms’ technology adoption levels are influenced by income, household size, investment, ownership of cultured cattle breeds, Chamber of Agriculture membership, contact frequency with private veterinarians and other farmers, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and technical efficiency. Farms with high-level technology adoption demonstrate increased profitability and efficiency scores, highlighting the positive correlation between technology adoption and farm efficiency. Policymakers should focus on training and support programs for dairy farmers to optimize technology use and input management. They can also promote resource-efficient farming and provide financial incentives for sustainable practices and dairy technologies.

Endogeneity in stochastic frontier models with 'wrong' skewness: copula approach without external instruments

Stochastic frontier models commonly assume positive skewness for the inefficiency term. However, when this assumption is violated, efficiency scores converge to unity. The potential endogeneity of model regressors introduces another empirical challenge, impeding the identification of causal relationships. This paper tackles these issues by employing an instrument-free estimation method that extends joint estimation through copulas to handle endogenous regressors and skewness issues. The method relies on the Gaussian copula function to capture dependence between endogenous regressors and composite errors with a simultaneous consideration of positively or negatively skewed inefficiency. Model parameters are estimated through maximum likelihood, and Monte Carlo simulations are employed to evaluate the performance of the proposed estimation procedures in finite samples. This research contributes to the stochastic frontier models and production economics literature by presenting a flexible and parsimonious method capable of addressing wrong skewness of inefficiency and endogenous regressors simultaneously. The applicability of the method is demonstrated through an empirical example.

Analyzing the Performances and Efficiencies of European Electric Vehicles in the European Union Market Using Decision Analysis Methods

Concerns about the environment have grown worldwide as carbon emissions, one of the primary drivers of global warming, continue to rise. As the transportation industry is one of the most greenhouse-gas-emitting sectors in the European Union (EU), the need for environmentally friendly solutions has been increasing progressively. In this regard, electric vehicles (EVs) play an important part in mitigating some of the adverse effects of road transportation on human health, the environment, and climate. Therefore, the popularity of electric vehicles in the EU has recently increased significantly because of climate change mitigation efforts. In this paper, we aim to analyze and compare the performance of European EVs with multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, namely preference selection index (PSI) and axial-distance-based aggregated measurement (ADAM) techniques, which do not need the criteria weights for measurement and a novel three-dimensional evaluation technique. The results of both MCDM methods reveal that the EVs of the Tesla Inc. and Geely Group models are found to be the best-performing vehicles. We also investigate the efficiency of the European EV market by the super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique, which enables us to evaluate among efficient units. The efficiency scores indicate that five EVs from three different manufacturer groups obtain efficiency levels. To the best of our knowledge, European EV market evaluation by integrated and comparative analysis has not been encountered for the EU on a group basis. The suggested MCDM and DEA techniques can benefit stakeholders while assessing the European EV market.

Sleep disorders among women with post-menopausal osteoporosis

IntroductionOsteoporosis (OP) is characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue. Recent studies have suggested that sleep may significantly influence the pathophysiology of OP.Objectives In the present study, we aimed to determine sleep disorders among women with post-menopausal OP.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted between January and June 2023. Patients with post-menopausal OP who visited the rheumatology department in a university hospital in Tunisia were interviewed. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). It is a seven-component scale, including: sleep quality (C1), sleep latency (C2), sleep duration (C3), sleep efficiency (C4), sleep disturbances (C5), sleep medication use (C6), and daytime dysfunction (C7).PSQI ≤ 7 indicated normal sleep quality, and PSQI &gt; 7 indicated poor sleep quality.Results Ninety-three women diagnosed with post-menopausal OP were interviewed. the number of complete questionnaires was 72. The valid rate was 77.4%. All were women. The mean age was 72.5 (±1.08). The median duration of menopause was 23 years (IIQ= [10.5-28.5]). Forty-five women were diagnosed with bone fractures (62%). Thirty-three patients (45.8%) were obese (IMC&gt;30). The median PSQI score was 16 (IIQ = [6-18]). Forty-seven participants (65.3%) had poor sleep quality (PSQI &gt; 7). According to the items of PSQI: the median score of sleep duration, sleep Efficiency and sleep disturbances was 1 (IIQ= [1 -2]) for each item. The median score of sleep latency was 3 (IIQ=[2-3]). For daytime dysfunction, the median score was 2 (IIQ=[0-3]). Study analytics revealed a significant association between daytime dysfunction and the presence of bone fractures (p=10-3), the same was with sleep disturbances and bone fractures (p=10-3). Body mass index (BMI) was significantly and inversely associated with sleep quality (r= -0.313; p= 0.007). Sleep latency was significantly associated with physical activity (p&lt;10-3).ConclusionsIn conclusion, our results suggest that sleep quality is associated with physical activity and BMI. This is consistent with the most recent evidence in the literature. These findings support expanding the scope of wellness programs to promote healthy sleep among osteoporotic women.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared