Regulatory and Environmental Effects on Public Transit Efficiency. A Mixed DEA-SFA Approach

The aim of this paper is to account for the impact of statistical noise and exogenous regulatory and environmental factors on the efficiency of public transit systems in a DEA-based framework. To this end, we implement a three-stage DEA-SFA mixed approach based on Fried et al. (2002) using a 1993-1999 panel of 42 Italian public transit companies. This allows us to decompose input-specific DEA inefficiency measures into three components: exogenous effects, pure managerial inefficiency, and statistical noise. First, the initial evaluation of producer performance is carried out using conventional variable returns to scale DEA (Banker et al., 1984). Second, a SFA approach (Battese and Coelli, 1992) is used to regress single input slacks on subsidies regulation (cost-plus versus fixed-price contracts) and a set of environmental variables including network speed and user density. Finally, third stage re-runs DEA on inputs purged of both exogenous effects and statistical noise. Results are such that adjusting for the type of regulatory scheme, environmental conditions, and statistical noise increases average efficiency in the industry and reduces dispersion among firms. Furthermore, the implementation of fixed-price subsidies is found to enhance efficiency in the usage of “drivers” and “materials and services” inputs. Such a result sheds some light on the determinants of input-specific efficiency differentials in the industry, improving the existing evidence on mean overall cost efficiency (e.g. Gagnepain e Ivaldi, 2002; Piacenza, 2006). As a policy implication, it is confirmed the relevance of regula tion aimed at replacing cost-plus subsidization mechanisms with high-powered incentive contracts as well as improving operating conditions of public transport networks.Public transit systems, Regulation, Environmental effects, Statistical noise, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA)

Cellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment: the role of secretome

Over the past years, it has become evident that cancer initiation and progression depends on several components of the tumor microenvironment, including inflammatory and immune cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, adipocytes, and extracellular matrix. These components of the tumor microenvironment and the neoplastic cells interact with each other providing pro and antitumor signals. The tumor-stroma communication occurs directly between cells or via a variety of molecules secreted, such as growth factors, cytokines, chemokines and microRNAs. This secretome, which derives not only from tumor cells but also from cancer-associated stromal cells, is an important source of key regulators of the tumorigenic process. Their screening and characterization could provide useful biomarkers to improve cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of treatment responses.Agência financiadora Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) FAPESP 10/51168-0 12/06048-2 13/03839-1 National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) CNPq 306216/2010-8 Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) UID/BIM/04773/2013 CBMR 1334info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Study of the reaction pbar p -> phi phi from 1.1 to 2.0 GeV/c

A study has been performed of the reaction pbar p -> 4K using in-flight antiprotons from 1.1 to 2.0 GeV/c incident momentum interacting with a hydrogen jet target. The reaction is dominated by the production of a pair of phi mesons. The pbar p -> phi phi cross section rises sharply above threshold and then falls continuously as a function of increasing antiproton momentum. The overall magnitude of the cross section exceeds expectations from a simple application of the OZI rule by two orders of magnitude. In a fine scan around the xi/f_J(2230) resonance, no structure is observed. A limit is set for the double branching ratio B(xi -> pbar p) * B(xi -> phi phi) < 6e-5 for a spin 2 resonance of M = 2.235 GeV and Width = 15 MeV.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, Latex. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Precision measurements of the total and partial widths of the psi(2S) charmonium meson with a new complementary-scan technique in antiproton-proton annihilations

We present new precision measurements of the psi(2S) total and partial widths from excitation curves obtained in antiproton-proton annihilations by Fermilab experiment E835 at the Antiproton Accumulator in the year 2000. A new technique of complementary scans was developed to study narrow resonances with stochastically cooled antiproton beams. The technique relies on precise revolution-frequency and orbit-length measurements, while making the analysis of the excitation curve almost independent of machine lattice parameters. We study the psi(2S) meson through the processes pbar p -> e+ e- and pbar p -> J/psi + X -> e+ e- + X. We measure the width to be Gamma = 290 +- 25(sta) +- 4(sys) keV and the combination of partial widths Gamma_e+e- * Gamma_pbarp / Gamma = 579 +- 38(sta) +- 36(sys) meV, which represent the most precise measurements to date.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. Final manuscript accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B. Parts of the text slightly expanded or rearranged; results are unchange

Double diffractive cross-section measurement in the forward region at LHC

The first double diffractive cross-section measurement in the very forward region has been carried out by the TOTEM experiment at the LHC with center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=7 TeV. By utilizing the very forward TOTEM tracking detectors T1 and T2, which extend up to |eta|=6.5, a clean sample of double diffractive pp events was extracted. From these events, we measured the cross-section sigma_DD =(116 +- 25) mub for events where both diffractive systems have 4.7 <|eta|_min < 6.5 .Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, submitted for publicatio

Looking Down

This book is the third in a series from an exploratory photo study looking up and down and at small things and large things. It was shot in Hong Kong over 14 days in January 2016

Proton-proton elastic scattering at the LHC energy of {\surd} = 7 TeV

Proton-proton elastic scattering has been measured by the TOTEM experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at {\surd}s = 7 TeV in dedicated runs with the Roman Pot detectors placed as close as seven times the transverse beam size (sbeam) from the outgoing beams. After careful study of the accelerator optics and the detector alignment, |t|, the square of four-momentum transferred in the elastic scattering process, has been determined with an uncertainty of d t = 0.1GeV p|t|. In this letter, first results of the differential cross section are presented covering a |t|-range from 0.36 to 2.5GeV2. The differential cross-section in the range 0.36 < |t| < 0.47 GeV2 is described by an exponential with a slope parameter B = (23.6{\pm}0.5stat {\pm}0.4syst)GeV-2, followed by a significant diffractive minimum at |t| = (0.53{\pm}0.01stat{\pm}0.01syst)GeV2. For |t|-values larger than ~ 1.5GeV2, the cross-section exhibits a power law behaviour with an exponent of -7.8_\pm} 0.3stat{\pm}0.1syst. When compared to predictions based on the different available models, the data show a strong discriminative power despite the small t-range covered.Comment: 12pages, 5 figures, CERN preprin

Through

Through.Artists photographic book."in at one end, side, or surface and out at the other: " This book is the second in a series from an exploratory photo study looking up and down and at small things and large things. It was shot in Hong Kong over 14 days in January 2016