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Productive Potential (productive + potential)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	33%

Selected Abstracts

Measuring the quantitative performance of surgical operating lists: theoretical modelling of ,productive potential' and ,efficiency'

ANAESTHESIA, Issue 5 2009
J. J. Pandit
Summary We previously defined surgical list ,efficiency' as: maximising theatre utilisation, minimising over-running, and minimising cancellations. ,Efficiency' maximises output for input; ,productivity' emphasises total output. We define six criteria that any measure of productivity (better termed ,quantitative performance') needs to satisfy. We then present a theoretical analysis that fulfils these by incorporating: ,speed' of surgery (with reference to average speeds), ,patient contact' (synonymous with minimising gaps between cases), and ,efficiency' (as previously defined). ,Speed' and ,patient contact' together constitute a ,productive potential'. Our formula satisfies the pre-set criteria and yields plausible results in both hypothetical and real data sets, To be productive in these quantitative terms, teams in any specialty need to achieve minimum quality standards defined by their sub-specialty; to plan their lists to utilise the time available with no cancellations or over-runs and to work at least as fast as average with minimal gaps between cases. ,Productive potential' combined with ,efficiency' yielding ,actual productivity' in our theoretical analysis more completely describes quantitative surgical list performance than any other single measure. [source]

A Competitive European Agriculture Designed for the Citizens , Romania's Perspective Une agriculture européenne compétitive au service des citoyens : La perspective de la Roumanie Eine an die Bedürfnisse der Bürger angepasste, wettbewerbsfähige Europäische Landwirtschaft , die Perspektive Rumäniens

EUROCHOICES, Issue 3 2008
Dacian Ciolo
Summary A Competitive European Agriculture Designed for the Citizens , Romania's Perspective In the coming months and years the European Union has to make fundamental choices for the future of agriculture, food, landscape and quality of life within its whole territory. These choices have now to be made for 27 Member States, which together give a new configuration to the Community. Poland and Romania together now represent nearly half of the total active population involved in EU agriculture. European agriculture has to be multifunctional, competitive not only for the market but also for citizens, as an economic activity that uses and manages renewable resources of public interest. Higher competitiveness inevitably leads to restructuring and modernisation of the agro-food sector in the New Member States. This must be achieved gradually to avoid a negative social impact, through a rural development policy supporting job creation outside agriculture. Romanian agriculture employs about 30 per cent of the country's active population and half of the country's population live in rural areas. Romania, therefore, aims to preserve a substantial CAP budget to promote investment in agriculture and quality of life in rural areas. It is in the interest of the whole EU to ensure not just proper use of the productive potential of Romanian agriculture but also economic development of the Romanian countryside. Au cours des prochains mois et des prochaines années, l'Union européenne doit faire des choix fondamentaux quant à l'avenir de l'agriculture, de l'alimentation et de la qualité de vie sur l'ensemble de son territoire. Ces choix relèvent actuellement de 27 état membres qui, ensemble, donnent à la communauté une nouvelle configuration. Actuellement, la Pologne et la Roumanie représentent à elles deux pratiquement la moitié de la population agricole de l'Union européenne. L'agriculture européenne doit être multifonctionnelle et compétitive, pas seulement pour les marchés mais aussi pour les citoyens, en tant qu'activitééconomique qui utilise et gère des ressources renouvelables d'intérêt public. La hausse de la compétitivité entraînera inévitablement une restructuration et une modernisation du secteur agro-alimentaire dans les nouveaux états membres. Ce processus doit être progressif pour éviter des conséquences sociales négatives, et il doit s'accompagner d'une politique de développement rural pour promouvoir la création d'emplois hors du secteur agricole. L'agriculture roumaine emploie environ 30 pour cent de la population active nationale et la moitié de la population du pays vit dans des zones rurales. La Roumanie compte donc utiliser une grande partie du budget de la PAC pour la promotion des investissements dans le secteur agricole et l'amélioration de la qualité de vie dans les zones rurales. Il est dans l'intérêt de l'ensemble de l'Union européenne de s'assurer non seulement que le potentiel productif agricole de la Roumanie est correctement utilisé mais également que la campagne roumaine se développe économiquement. In den kommenden Monaten und Jahren wird die Europäische Union grundlegende Entscheidungen im Hinblick auf Landwirtschaft, Lebensmittel, Landschaftsbild und Lebensqualität zu treffen haben, die sich auf ihr gesamtes Gebiet auswirken werden. Diese Entscheidungen betreffen nun alle 27 Mitgliedsstaaten, die der Gemeinschaft ein neues Gesicht verleihen. Mittlerweile stellen Polen und Rumänien zusammen etwa die Hälfte der aktiv in der Landwirtschaft der EU beschäftigten Bevölkerung. Die europäische Landwirtschaft muss multifunktional und nicht nur mit Blick auf den Markt wettbewerbsfähig sein, sondern auch mit Blick auf ihre Bürger, als ein Wirtschaftszweig, der erneuerbare Ressourcen verwendet und verwaltet, für die ein öffentliches Interesse besteht. Eine höhere Wettbewerbsfähigkeit führt unweigerlich zur Umstrukturierung und Modernisierung des Agro-Food-Sektors in den neuen Mitgliedsstaaten. Zur Vermeidung negativer Auswirkungen auf die Gesellschaft muss dies schrittweise durch eine Politik zur Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums erfolgen, die Arbeitsplätze außerhalb der Landwirtschaft fördert. In Rumänien sind 30 Prozent der Erwerbstätigen in der Landwirtschaft tätig, und die Hälfte der Bevölkerung lebt im ländlichen Raum. Daher ist Rumänien daran gelegen, weiterhin einen hinreichend großen Haushalt für die GAP zu erhalten, um Investitionen in die Landwirtschaft und die Lebensqualität im ländlichen Raum zu fördern. Es ist im Interesse aller EU-Länder, nicht nur die Ausschöpfung des produktiven Potenzials der rumänischen Landwirtschaft, sondern ebenfalls die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums in Rumänien sicherzustellen. [source]

Age at first reproduction and economic change in the context of differing kinship ecologies

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2009
Donna L. Leonetti
Kinship systems which tend to be based on ecologies of subsistence also assign differential power, privilege, and control to human connections that present pathways for manipulation of resource access and transfer. They can be used in this way to channel resource concentrations in women and hence their reproductive value. Thus, strategic female life course trade-offs and their timing are likely to be responsive to changing preferences for qualities in women as economic conditions change. Female life histories are studied in two ethnic groups with differing kinship systems in NE India where the competitive market economy is now being felt by most households. Patrilineal Bengali (599 women) practice patrilocal residence with village exogamy and matrilineal Khasi (656 women) follow matrilocal residence with village endogamy, both also normatively preferring three-generation extended households. These households have helpful senior women and significantly greater income. Age at first reproduction (AFR), achieved adult growth (height) and educational level (greater than 6 years or less) are examined in reproductive women, ages 16,50. In both groups, women residing normatively are older at AFR and taller than women residing nonnormatively. More education is also associated with senior women. Thus, normative residence may place a woman in the best reproductive location, and those with higher reproductive and productive potential are often chosen as households face competitive market conditions. In both groups residing in favorable reproductive locations is associated with a faster pace of fertility among women, as well as lower offspring mortality among Khasi, to compensate for a later start. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

A functional genomics approach to evaluate candidate genes located in a QTL interval for milk production traits on BTA6

ANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 4 2009
P. A. Sheehy
Summary The potential genetic and economic advantage of marker-assisted selection for enhanced production in dairy cattle has provided an impetus to conduct numerous genome scans in order to identify associations between DNA markers and future productive potential. One area of focus has been a quantitative trait locus on bovine chromosome 6 (BTA6) found to be associated with milk yield, milk protein and fat percentage, which has been subsequently fine-mapped to six positional candidate genes. Subsequent investigations have yet to resolve which of the potential positional candidate genes is responsible for the observed associations with productive performance. In this study, we analysed candidate gene expression and the effects of gene knockdown on expression of ,- and ,-casein mRNA in a small interfering RNA transfected bovine in vitro mammosphere model. From our expression studies in vivo, we observed that four of the six candidates (ABCG2, SPP1, PKD2 and LAP3) exhibited differential expression in bovine mammary tissue over the lactation cycle, but in vitro functional studies indicate that inhibition of only one gene, SPP1, had a significant impact on milk protein gene expression. These data suggest that the gene product of SPP1 (also known as osteopontin) has a significant role in the modulation of milk protein gene expression. While these findings do not exclude other positional candidates from influencing lactation, they support the hypothesis that the gene product of SPP1 is a significant lactational regulatory molecule. [source]