1047-3203/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Inc. A doi:10.1016/j.jvcir.2009.06.002 * Corresponding author. Address: Center for Biome Medicine, 660 1st Ave., FL1, New York, NY 10016, US E-mail address: [email protected] (Q. Duan). Deformable models have been widely used in image segmentation since the introduction of the snakes. Later the introduction of level set frameworks to solve the energy m...

The lamellar phase of a lyotropic solution in a confined geometry is investigated with a surface force apparatus (SFA). The measured interaction between the two SFA surfaces immersed in the mesophase is periodic, oscillatory, decaying, and discontinuous. A model is developed to account for the specific confining geometry of the SFA It is based on an array of concentric dislocation loops that al...

Quality of service is of major economic significance in natural monopoly infrastructure industries. In this paper we present an efficiency analysis of electricity distribution networks from seven European countries. We apply the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method on multi-output translog input distance function models to estimate cost efficiency and scale economies. We show that introduc...

Sugarcane productivity is cyclical in India and Tamil Nadu. The post-Green Revolution phase is characterized by high input-use and decelerating total factor productivity growth. Sugarcane productivity attained during the 1980s has not been sustained during the1990s and early 21 st century and has posed a challenge for the researchers to shift production function upward by improving the technolo...

This paper adopts trans-log production function based on the SFA model, empirically test how the change of the proportion of the value added tax impacts on each part of China’s productivity. The results show: that, in tax structure, if the proportion of the value added tax is higher, the more conducive to the improvement of production efficiency. But it is not good for the technical efficiency ...

The present study aims to measure the technical efficiency and establish core factors affecting rice production in Cambodia. A four-year dataset generated from the central government document “Profile on Economics and Social” of 25 entire provinces between 2012 and 2015 and the stochastic production frontier model (SFA) was applied. The results indicated that the level of output (quantity) of C...

The selling of sophisticated equipment is very different from the sale of simple products and requires a considerable amount of strategizing to achieve success. In clear recognition of this fact, Canon has a sales strategy training program that uses SPIN@ selling methodology to train major account sales representatives. However, this training gets quickly lost in the multitude of daily tasks th...

An empirical study concerning management accounting information on corporate pricing decisions is presented. The study reveals insufficient information quality in organizations. The lack of information quality concerns the relevance of information available to the decision-making sales departments. In particular, too much irrelevant information is supplied by the controlling departments, as wel...

International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management © Copyright January 1996, by the National Association of Purchasing Management, Inc. Analysis of data from 179 respondents indicated that the concept of the business lunch is alive and well among both purchasing and sales professionals. Neither the purchasing nor sales professionals believed that there was a possibility for a high lev...