Synthetic Indicator Research Articles

The Influence of Selected Food Safety Practices of Consumers on Food Waste Due to Its Spoilage.

Food waste in households is a consequence of the accumulation of improper practices employed by consumers when dealing with food. The survey estimated the impact of practices of Polish respondents, in the context of selected food safety and hygiene issues, on throwing away food due to spoilage. The survey was conducted in 2019, in a random quota-based, nationwide sample of 1115 respondents 18 years old and older. Synthetic indicators (SI) were created to assess the knowledge and practices of Polish adult respondents concerning selected areas of food management and the frequency of throwing food away. Most food products were not thrown away at all or were thrown away occasionally. Regression analysis revealed that the frequency of throwing food away was to the greatest extent related to food spoilage (β = 0.223). Among the five areas of Polish respondents’ practices covered by the analysis, the most conducive to wasting food due to spoilage were improper proceedings with food after bringing it home (β = 0.135; p = 0.000), a failure to ensure proper food storage conditions (β = 0.066; p = 0.030), or inappropriate proceedings with uneaten meals, excluding the food plate (β = 0.066; p = 0.029). To reduce food waste in Polish households, drawing the attention of consumers to the conditions of food storage at home seems appropriate. It is also vital to convince them to use freezing of uneaten food as an effective method of extending the life of food products.

Tourism Sustainability Index: Measuring Tourism Sustainability Based on the ETIS Toolkit, by Exploring Tourist Satisfaction via Sentiment Analysis

Interest in measuring the sustainability of tourism has been significantly advancing in recent years, together with the need to manage the impact of tourism on territories and hosting communities. This interest was further boosted by the pandemic, with sustainability being identified as one of the central elements in restarting global tourism. The European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS), developed by the European Commission, is a point of reference based on self-assessment, data collection, and analysis by tourist destinations themselves. The application of the ETIS toolkit has faced many challenges, especially at the subnational level, most of which are related to the lack of available and updated data to feed into the model. In this article, we explore the implementation issues, develop a synthetic indicator based on the use of the sentiment analysis technique to frame e-reputation and tourism satisfaction, and combine that analysis with other open data sources. The Tourism Sustainability Index (TSI) can provide a scalable and georeferenced evaluation of tourism sustainability, measured according the ETIS criteria and complementing them. The TSI, its pillars and sub-components are all applicable to any tourism destination. The results show that the TSI can be a consistent and valid tool for tourist destinations to use in analyzing sustainability, monitoring the evolution of sustainability through time periods and subareas, and comparing the findings with those of other benchmarks and/or other competitive areas.

PENGGUNAAN EKSTRAK KAYU SECANG DAN KOL UNGU PADA MEDIA MANITOL SALT AGAR UNTUK MENUMBUHKAN Staphylococcus

Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA) is a selective and differential medium for isolating Stapylococcus bacteria, distinguishing Staphylococcus aureus bacteria from other species from the ability of mannitol to ferment which changes the color of the phenol red indicator from red to yellow. The use of synthetic indicators that are not environmentally friendly and difficult to decompose can be replaced with natural indicators, including the use of secang wood extract (Caesalpinia sappan L.) and purple cabbage (Brasicca oleraceae). The research was conducted using a descriptive method which describes the color changes of the modified mannitol salt agar (MSA) media of secang wood and purple cabbage extract after being planted with bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus and Coagulation Negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) bacteria were isolated from acne-prone skin. The growth of Staphylococus aureus changed the color of the modified MSA medium from red to yellow for the secang wood extract and the color change from blue to pink for the purple cabbage extract. The growth of CoNS bacteria changed the color of the modified MSA medium from red to red-orange for the secang wood extract and the color change from blue to blue-purple for the purple cabbage extract. Both bacteria thrived on purple cabbage modified MSA media. From this study, it was concluded that secang wood extract and purple cabbage could be used as natural indicators of modified MSA in growing Staphylococcus isolated from the skin.

The Impact of Monetary Environment on Unemployment in the Republic of Croatia

The assumption is that expansionary monetary policy is good for reducing unemployment, and vice versa. In this context, the status of monetary policy is defined, which is called monetary conditions. For this, the IFIS Financial Conditions Index published by the Institute of Economics, Zagreb, was used as a synthetic indicator of the state of numerous monetary variables (27 variables). By analysing the movements of restrictive and expansionary monetary conditions presented by the IFIS index and the unemployment rate conducted in this paper, it can be concluded that there is a strong link between the index of macroeconomic monetary conditions and unemployment in Croatia. This relationship operates with a time lag of one year, i.e., a change in monetary conditions leads to a change in the overall unemployment rate after one year. Although there is a link between monetary conditions and youth unemployment, it is weaker because youth unemployment is significantly influenced by other factors. These are primarily emigration after Croatia’s accession to the European Union and liberalization of the labour market.

Multi-laboratory performance assessment of diffuse optics instruments: the BitMap exercise.

.SignificanceMulti-laboratory initiatives are essential in performance assessment and standardization—crucial for bringing biophotonics to mature clinical use—to establish protocols and develop reference tissue phantoms that all will allow universal instrument comparison.AimThe largest multi-laboratory comparison of performance assessment in near-infrared diffuse optics is presented, involving 28 instruments and 12 institutions on a total of eight experiments based on three consolidated protocols (BIP, MEDPHOT, and NEUROPT) as implemented on three kits of tissue phantoms. A total of 20 synthetic indicators were extracted from the dataset, some of them defined here anew.ApproachThe exercise stems from the Innovative Training Network BitMap funded by the European Commission and expanded to include other European laboratories. A large variety of diffuse optics instruments were considered, based on different approaches (time domain/frequency domain/continuous wave), at various stages of maturity and designed for different applications (e.g., oximetry, spectroscopy, and imaging).ResultsThis study highlights a substantial difference in hardware performances (e.g., nine decades in responsivity, four decades in dark count rate, and one decade in temporal resolution). Agreement in the estimates of homogeneous optical properties was within 12% of the median value for half of the systems, with a temporal stability of over 1 h, and day-to-day reproducibility of . Other tests encompassed linearity, crosstalk, uncertainty, and detection of optical inhomogeneities.ConclusionsThis extensive multi-laboratory exercise provides a detailed assessment of near-infrared Diffuse optical instruments and can be used for reference grading. The dataset—available soon in an open data repository—can be evaluated in multiple ways, for instance, to compare different analysis tools or study the impact of hardware implementations.

Are Citizens Credentialist or Post-Nationalists? A Fuzzy-Eco Apostle Model Applied to National Identity

The debate on national identity has been receiving more attention from academics, social planners, and the public in recent years. This study aims to analyse citizens’ different national identity typologies using data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) in two waves: 2003 and 2013. The study is based on 10 countries for which the dimensions of the national identity construct are first examined through multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). Then, a fuzzy hybrid approach is used to obtain two synthetic indicators for each dimension of national identity, namely ethnic and civic orientations. Then, a fuzzy clustering analysis is used to extend the Classical Apostle Model, obtaining 16 different national identity categories that expand the four Apostle categories denominated as credentialists, post-nationalists, ethnic-oriented and civic-oriented. The study ends by applying the Binary Probit Model to analyse whether some socioeconomic characteristics can partly explain the four pure national identity categories. Our results show that people seem to be increasingly credentialists. Furthermore, the civic–ethnic dichotomy of France–Germany is no longer confirmed, as Germans appear to be included in the civic-oriented national identity group.

Measuring the territorial effort in research, development, and innovation from a multiple criteria approach: Application to the Spanish regions case

Research, development and innovation are fundamental for the socioeconomic growth of the territories. Consequently, many governments set spending targets for research and development (R&D), for example the EU has a goal of reaching a spending target of 3% of the Union's GDP. However, recent literature emphasizes that spending on R&D may not be the most appropriate indicator to measure the innovative efforts of a particular territory. Multidimensional indicators are required to measure the different elements that reflect the capacity of each scientific and innovative system to transmit the scientific results into productivity and competitiveness advancements. In this context, the objective of this paper is to propose a method that produces a synthetic indicator to rank various territories as an aid to understanding the multidimensional complexities of the innovation process. To reach this objective, the methodological approach proposed is a modified version of the unweighted TOPSIS (UW-TOPSIS) method. In this paper, this multiple criteria decision-making method is used to rank the 17 Spanish autonomous communities in terms of their innovation efforts. The obtained results show the capacity of the proposed technique to evaluate the relative situation of each community using a multidimensional approach. However, it also allows us to provide policy guidance to political decision-makers on socioeconomic aspects that can be improved in each region.

Multidimensional assessment of the financial position of polish households and its regional diversity

The article aims to present a multidimensional assessment of Polish households' financial position and its regional diversity in 2018. In the first stage of the assessment, the financial position was compared between voivodships in a one-dimensional approach, taking into account the level of equivalent disposable income and total expenditure, the savings rate, the shares of food, and housing expenditures. In the second stage, a multidimensional assessment of the financial position was performed, based on the value of the synthetic indicator constructed with the TOPSIS method. Additionally, TOPSIS-based typological classes helped account for determinants of the financial position and subjective evaluation of households in each voivodship. The article drew on unpublished individual data from the Household Budget Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Office of Poland in 2018. Analyses from both stages showed that the households in Mazowieckie and Dolnośląskie voivodships enjoyed the best financial position, followed by Śląskie and Opolskie, while in Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, and Świętokrzyskie -- the worst. With regards to Zachodniopomorskie and Wielkopolskie voivodships, the financial position of their households was similar to the national average. The reasons for these disparities are social, economic, and demographic and include professional activity (being unemployed), the level of education of household head, location, and meeting debt obligations.

A fuzzy-hybrid analysis of citizens’ perception toward immigrants in Europe

The public and political debate about immigration now play a big role in all European elections, and there is a trend increasing an anti-immigrant sentiment that receives important media attention. This work, based on the European Social Survey (ESS) round 9 data for 27 European countries, contributes to such debate by introducing a new method in the field, a Fuzzy-Hybrid Approach (FHA), that complements other methodological methods that have been used to measure citizens’ attitudes towards immigrants. The novel approach in the field provides a synthetic indicator that measures openness towards immigrants (OTISI). Then, we analyse the relationship that exists between some specific sociodemographic variables and the new index. Results show that country, political orientation, age, religion, economic situation, gender, birthplace, employment, education, universalism, and conformity are key drivers that explain different attitudes towards immigrants. Our findings concur with other previous studies showing that the results are robust and that the method can be applied in future social science studies.

Fluorescent Indicators For Biological Imaging of Monatomic Ions.

Monatomic ions play critical biological roles including maintaining the cellular osmotic pressure, transmitting signals, and catalyzing redox reactions as cofactors in enzymes. The ability to visualize monatomic ion concentration, and dynamic changes in the concentration, is essential to understanding their many biological functions. A growing number of genetically encodable and synthetic indicators enable the visualization and detection of monatomic ions in biological systems. With this review, we aim to provide a survey of the current landscape of reported indicators. We hope this review will be a useful guide to researchers who are interested in using indicators for biological applications and to tool developers seeking opportunities to create new and improved indicators.

Фракционирование сыпучих пищевых продуктов

Powders are part of many food products, which makes grinding an important food industry process. The research objective was to develop a new process of separating a polydisperse powder that differs in particle density from the liquid it is dissolved in.
 The study featured polydisperse sugar powder crushed in a ball mill and dissolved in sugar wafer suspension. The article introduces a physical and mathematical model of the process and a method for quantitative modeling of the process of separating particles from powder by centrifuging the suspension.
 The research was based on the classical concept of the diameter of a particle moving in a predetermined manner in the inter-barrel space of the separator drum. The authors developed a new concept of the current critical particle diameter, which they calculated from the dispersion composition of the powder synthetic indicators, the control parameter of the suspension separation process, and the performance of the separating machine, e.g. coefficients of clarification and loss factor. The study resulted in a new calculation method with fewer fractionation stages.
 The authors calculated the separation of targeted particles from a granulometric composition by centrifuging the powder. The calculation method fits any fine and medium-dispersed particle size and can facilitate any quantitative analysis of fractionation processes in a disc separator.

Environmental Sustainability Assessment of the European Union's Capital Cities.

The growing flow of people into cities causes several challenges for their functioning. This brings the need to ensure, for example, efficient transport, sustainable waste, and appropriate energy policy. Particularly capital cities are exposed to the above-mentioned risks, due to their large numbers and densities of inhabitants. Therefore, the state of the environment in cities should be monitored systematically. The research aim of this article is to evaluate the level of environmental sustainability in capitals of European Union countries. A synthetic indicator was made up of diagnostic variables, using quantitative and qualitative indicators relating to the quality of the environment. Based on the ranking, results reveal that Europe is spatially divided according to the level of environmental quality. The best results were achieved by capital cities of the northern European countries. The analysis presented here has some application potential. It can serve to identify challenges to improving the quality of the environment, and to raise public awareness of the importance of changing individual behaviour (e.g., use of public transport).

Значимые пространственно-отраслевые факторы экономического развития региона в условиях цифровизации

The development of spatial-industrial structures of the regions of the Russian Federation in today’s reality occurs under the complex influence of heterogeneous factors, to study which the economists use different approaches. The theory of the new digital economy is currently in the formation; therefore, the definition of many elements is under discussion, which has predetermined the multiplicity of classifications of factors for spatial and sectoral development of the regions in conditions of digitalization in the scientific literature. There is considered the author’s approach to identification and study of significant factors of regional spatial and sectoral development in the conditions of digitalization, highlighted in accordance with the key directions of spatial and sectoral development of the Russian Federation entities on the basis of state (regional) program documents. Investment, production, natural resources, entrepreneurial activity and human capital factors have been identified as the most significant factors influencing the development of spatial and sectoral structures in the Volga-Kama macro-region. The analysis of the impact of these factors is carried out through the formation of synthetic indicators, including regional statistical data in the dynamics for 2016-2020. Based on the construction of regression models, the analysis of the impact of the factors under study on the economic and spatial development of territories was carried out; the trends demonstrating the declining importance of productive capacity in the development of spatial and sectoral structures of regions and the growing importance of the investment factor in terms of investment in breakthrough technologies of the digital future were identified. The study leads to the conclusion that in the conditions of digitalization of the economy there is a shift in the priorities of spatial and sectoral development of the regions from production spheres to technological areas directly related to Industry 4.0, in which a significant part of investments of the studied subjects of the Volga-Kama macro-region of the Russian Federation is concentrated.

Impacts of the Brexit referendum on UK employment: a synthetic control method approach

ABSTRACT We estimate the impact of the 2016 Brexit referendum on the UK (un-)employment rate up to January 2020 by comparing the observed performance of the indicators in the UK with those of a synthetic control. The decline in the UK unemployment rate recorded after the referendum mimics the trend of the synthetic indicator and, similarly, the increase in UK employment follows the trend of the synthetic control. Overall, we find that the Brexit referendum has had little effect on the UK (un-)employment rate.

Development and cohesion in Spanish regions. An analysis before and after the Great Recession

Regional cohesion has been one of the European Union's objectives since its origins. Its strategies and implementations have been modified over time, adjusting to the incorporation of new members and to different economic cycles. To gain more knowledge about the impact of cohesion policies, we use the Lisbon Regional Index, a synthetic indicator that brings together the global objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, that includes simple indicators of employment, training and research, development and innovation expenditures of the regions. The evolution of this Index over time gives the possibility of dynamic analysis and enables comparing the values of synthetic index for all the years of the considered period. Thereby, the development and cohesion on the Spanish regions can be evaluated, and it is verified how cohesion has improved in Spain in the expansive period (2000-2007) and how the Great Crisis has caused a regression of cohesion, affecting to a greater extent the regions "in transition" and "less developed", reaching levels prior to 2000. The next period (2014-2019) shows important signs of positive trend recovery.

CULTURAL DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: NATIONALIST-XENOPHOBIC ATTITUDES

Cultural characteristics related to the values of national identity (patriotism, nationalism) and attitudes toward other peoples (xenophobia) represent important elements of cultural specificity that influence various dimensions of socioeconomic life, including economic processes. Unfortunately, these specific characteristics are not often investigated, especially in this context, probably because of the difficulty of quantifying them and the general sensitivity of the topic. This study presents an original approach to the study of nationalist-xenophobic attitudes and their relationship to foreign direct investment (FDI). The aim of this study is to identify theoretical benchmarks for approaching the topic of nationalism-xenophobia, to develop a synthetic indicator to quantify nationalism-xenophobic attitudes, and to highlight the mechanism of their influence on FDI attraction. The methodology used for conducting this research comprises the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction (for logical connections and theoretical argumentation), weighted average technique (for the elaboration of Nationalism-xenophobia Index), Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of internal consistency (to test the reliability of the construct) and Pearson correlation coefficient (for the correlation analysis). The author's contributions include a study of the relationship between nationalist and xenophobic sentiments, the development of the Nationalism-xenophobia Index, an indicator of the intensity of these sentiments in society, an analysis of the relationship between nationalism-xenophobia relations and the amount of FDI attracted per capita, the identification and explanation of the cultural mechanism by which nationalist and xenophobic sentiments influence various phenomena, including FDI. Logical-theoretical assumptions and arguments are confirmed by the results of quantitative data analysis. The findings of the study confirm that the cultural characteristics associated with nationalism and xenophobia represent important elements of cultural specificity that influence economic processes, including FDI. Numerous studies show that the nationalist dimension of ethnocentrism is closely related to xenophobia. Analysis of countries' scores on the nationalism-xenophobia index depending on the dominant Christian denomination and the presence of a communist past shows a link between nationalist-xenophobic, Orthodox (and, to a lesser extent, Catholic) values and the values of communist ideology, which negatively affect FDI attraction. Furthermore, nationalist-xenophobic attitudes have a negative impact on FDI attraction, both directly and indirectly, showing a strong negative impact.

METHODS OF MODELING AND FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE VOLUME OF PROVIDEDSERVICES BY MUNICIPAL LAUNDRY ENTERPRISES

The method of calculating the influence of the most important factors on the change in the volume of services provided by municipal laundries is considered. It is proposed to use mathematical multiplicative models in modeling and factor analysis of this indicator, which contain a number of different technical and operational factors that reflect the characteristics of economic activity and the final production result of these enterprises. To determine the quantitative impact of these factors on the overall change in the studied indicator of the volume of provided laundry services, it is recommended to carry out the step-by-step factor analysis of this indicator using the method of chain substitutions. This makes it possible, depending on the available statistical information and the purpose of the analysis to perform two-factor, three-factor and multifactor analysis of this indicator. This methodological approach allows in each case to calculate the impact on changes in the volume of laundry services only those factors that are currently the most significant. It is proposed in the process of factor analysis of this indicator to calculate the absolute and relative influence of individual factors on its change, as well as the structure of such influence, which allows to determine the way of enterprise development from the economic point of view (extensively or intensively). The given method of factor analysis of the volume of laundry services provided allows us to decompose this synthetic indicator into a number of analytical components, present it in the form of deterministic economic and mathematical models, determine the influence of individual factors on its change, investigate the patterns of such an impact, use the obtained analytical information in substantiating and adopting appropriate management decisions.

Towards the Prediction of Favourable Conditions for the Harmful Algal Bloom Onset of Ostreopsis ovata in the Ligurian Sea Based on Satellite and Model Data

In recent years, the occurrence of Ostreopsis ovata (O. ovata) Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) has increased in the coasts of the Ligurian Sea, causing problems to the marine environment and human health. Favourable conditions for O. ovata bloom are triggered by many drivers, many of which are still under investigation, but we hypothesize that this phenomenon can be simulated using a reduced number of major meteo-marine factors, namely water temperature and remixing. Satellite and model data obtained and derived from Copernicus service, namely Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Significant Wave Height (SWH), were therefore investigated as possible proxies of these local factors. A simplified conceptual model, built on such proxies, was developed and applied to yield a synthetic indicator informative on O. ovata abundance. The model was tested in two study areas in the Ligurian Sea, Marina di Pisa and Marina di Massa in Tuscany, Italy. The results obtained show that the synthetic indicator is able to account for about 35% of the temporal variability of O. ovata bloom occurrence in the two study areas.

The Potential Use of Anthocyanin in Butterfly Pea (Clinoteria ternatea) Petals as Colorimetric Indicator in Intelligent Food Packaging Article

Butterfly pea is a perennial leguminous twiner that lives within the tropical belt and certain warm areas. Butterfly pea contains anthocyanin that are highly sensitive towards any change of pH, making them suitable to be used as pH indicator. The mechanism of the pH sensing capabilities of anthocyanin from butterfly pea involves four reversible structure of anthocyanin that are present in different range of pH: flavylium cation, hemiketal, quinonoid base and chalcone. Colorimetric indicator is a tool that are used in an intelligent food packaging. Its purpose in intelligent food packaging is to provide information of the food contained inside through colour changes that are visible to naked eyes. This colorimetric indicator utilizes pH indicator to assess the freshness of the food by measuring the change of pH that the product undergoes. Anthocyanin from butterfly pea provides an option of natural and organic pH indicator as opposes to synthetic pH indicators that can cause health issues. Anthocyanin from butterfly pea is capable to react towards any change of pH both acidic and basic, stable at least up to 60 days and are organic, perfect to be used in intelligent food packaging and other food related purposes.

The effect of energy density and porosity structure on tensile properties of 316L stainless steel produced by laser powder bed fusion

Understanding the influence of process parameters and defect structure on the properties of parts produced via laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is a fundamental step towards the broader use of additive manufacturing technologies in critical applications. Furthermore, the ability to predict mechanical properties by simply considering information on the process parameters and defects observed via X-ray computer tomography (XCT) allows one to avoid expensive destructive testing, provide an in-depth understanding of the process quality and represents a viable solution towards process optimisation. Most of the previous works showed that energy density could be used as an excellent synthetic indicator to predict the mechanical properties of parts produced by L-PBF. This paper explores the effect of different energy density levels on the tensile properties of 316L stainless steel parts produced by L-PBF. Different from previous works in the literature, the same level of energy density is obtained considering various combinations of process parameters (speed, power and hatch distance). While energy density is shown to be a good synthetic indicator for predicting ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and yield strength (YS), a different behaviour is observed for elongation. Elongation shows a significant variability even when samples are produced at the same level of energy density, which contrasts with results obtained for UTS and YS. Synthetic indices representing the porosity structure are shown to be quite significant for predicting elongation even when the optimal energy density is considered. By combining process parameters with porosity structure, we show that almost a full prediction of the tensile properties can be achieved, paving the way for a significant reduction in expensive destructive tests.