Railways, Airports and Sea Container Operators as Publicly Listed Companies – Financial Performance and Shareholder Value Creation Perspective

Logistics infrastructure and transportation services have been the liability of countries and governments for decades, or these have been under strict regulation policies. One of the first branches opened for competition in EU as well as in other continents, has been air transports (operators, like passenger and freight) and road transports. These have resulted on lower costs, better connectivity and in most of the cases higher service quality. However, quite large amount of other logistics related activities are still directly (or indirectly) under governmental influence, e.g. railway infrastructure, road infrastructure, railway operations, airports, and sea ports. Due to the globalization, governmental influence is not that necessary in this sector, since transportation needs have increased with much more significant phase as compared to economic growth. Also freight transportation needs do not correlate with passenger side, due to the reason that only small number of areas in the world have specialized in the production of particular goods. Therefore, in number of cases public-private partnership, or even privately owned companies operating in these sub-branches have been identified as beneficial for countries, customers and further economic growth. The objective of this research work is to shed more light on these kinds of experiments, especially in the relatively unknown sub-branches of logistics like railways, airports and sea container transports. In this research work we have selected companies having public listed status in some stock exchange, and have needed amount of financial scale to be considered as serious company rather than start-up phase venture. Our research results show that railways and airports usually need high fixed investments, but have showed in the last five years generally good financial performance, both in terms of profitability and cash flow. In contrary to common belief of prosperity in globally growing container transports, sea vessel operators of containers have not shown that impressive financial performance. Generally margins in this business are thin, and profitability has been sacrificed in front of high growth – this also concerns cash flow performance, which has been lower too. However, as we examine these three logistics sub-branches through shareholder value development angle during time period of 2002-2007, we were surprised to find out that all of these three have outperformed general stock market indexes in this period. More surprising is the result that financially a bit less performing sea container transportation sector shows highest shareholder value gain in the examination period. Thus, it should be remembered that provided analysis shows only limited picture, since e.g. dividends were not taken into consideration in this research work. Therefore, e.g. US railway operators have disadvantage to other in the analysis, since they have been able to provide dividends for shareholders in long period of time. Based on this research work we argue that investment on transportation/logistics sector seems to be safe alternative, which yields with relatively low risk high gain. Although global economy would face smaller growth period, this sector seems to provide opportunities in more demanding situation as well.

Biogas production in regional integrated biodegradable waste treatment – Possibilities for improving energy performance and reducing GHG emissions

The greatest threat that the biodegradable waste causes on the environment is the methane produced in landfills by the decomposition of this waste. The Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) aims to reduce the landfilling of biodegradable waste. In Finland, 31% of biodegradable municipal waste ended up into landfills in 2012. The pressure of reducing disposing into landfills is greatly increased by the forthcoming landfill ban on biodegradable waste in Finland. There is a need to discuss the need for increasing the utilization of biodegradable waste in regional renewable energy production to utilize the waste in a way that allows the best possibilities to reduce GHG emissions. The objectives of the thesis are: (1) to find important factors affecting renewable energy recovery possibilities from biodegradable waste, (2) to determine the main factors affecting the GHG balance of biogas production system and how to improve it and (3) to find ways to define energy performance of biogas production systems and what affects it. According to the thesis, the most important factors affecting the regional renewable energy possibilities from biodegradable waste are: the amount of available feedstock, properties of feedstock, selected utilization technologies, demand of energy and material products and the economic situation of utilizing the feedstocks. The biogas production by anaerobic digestion was seen as the main technology for utilizing biodegradable waste in agriculturally dense areas. The main reason for this is that manure was seen as the main feedstock, and it can be best utilized with anaerobic digestion, which can produce renewable energy while maintaining the spreading of nutrients on arable land. Biogas plants should be located close to the heat demand that would be enough to receive the produced heat also in the summer months and located close to the agricultural area where the digestate could be utilized. Another option for biogas use is to upgrade it to biomethane, which would require a location close to the natural gas grid. The most attractive masses for biogas production are municipal and industrial biodegradable waste because of gate fees the plant receives from them can provide over 80% of the income. On the other hand, directing gate fee masses for small-scale biogas plants could make dispersed biogas production more economical. In addition, the combustion of dry agricultural waste such as straw would provide a greater energy amount than utilizing them by anaerobic digestion. The complete energy performance assessment of biogas production system requires the use of more than one system boundary. These can then be used in calculating output–input ratios of biogas production, biogas plant, biogas utilization and biogas production system, which can be used to analyze different parts of the biogas production chain. At the moment, it is difficult to compare different biogas plants since there is a wide variation of definitions for energy performance of biogas production. A more consistent way of analyzing energy performance would allow comparing biogas plants with each other and other recovery systems and finding possible locations for further improvement. Both from the GHG emission balance and energy performance point of view, the energy consumption at the biogas plant was the most significant factor. Renewable energy use to fulfil the parasitic energy demand at the plant would be the most efficient way to reduce the GHG emissions at the plant. The GHG emission reductions could be increased by upgrading biogas to biomethane and displacing natural gas or petrol use in cars when compared to biogas CHP production. The emission reductions from displacing mineral fertilizers with digestate were seen less significant, and the greater N2O emissions from spreading digestate might surpass the emission reductions from displacing mineral fertilizers.

Probiotic effect of Bacillus NL110 and Vibrio NE17 on the survival, growth performance and immune response of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man)

Eight hundred and eighty-¢ve strains of bacterial isolates fromvarious samples associatedwith the natural habitat ofMacrobrachiumrosenbergii were screened for their probiotic potential. Two putative probionts namely Bacillus NL110 and Vibrio NE17 isolated from the larvae and egg samples, respectively, were selected for experimental studies and were introduced to the juveniles of M. rosenbergii (0.080 0.001g) through di¡erent modes such as through feed, water and both. The probiotic potential of the above bacteria in terms of improvements inwater quality, growth, survival, speci¢c growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio and immune parameters was evaluated. The treatment groups showed a signi¢cant improvement in SGR and weight gain (Po0.001). Survival among di¡erent treatment groups was better than that in the control group. There were also signi¢cant improvements in the water quality parameters such as the concentration of nitrate and ammonia in the treatment groups (Po0.05). Improvements in immune parameters such as the total haemocyte count (Po0.05), phenoloxidase activity and respiratory burst were also signi¢cant (Po0.001). It is concluded that screening of the natural micro£ora of cultured ¢sh and shell¢sh for putative probionts might yield probiotic strains of bacteria that could be utilized for an environment-friendly and organic mode of aquaculture.

Probiotic effect of Bacillus NL110 and Vibrio NE17 on the survival, growth performance and immune response of Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man)

Eight hundred and eighty-¢ve strains of bacterial isolates fromvarious samples associatedwith the natural habitat ofMacrobrachiumrosenbergii were screened for their probiotic potential. Two putative probionts namely Bacillus NL110 and Vibrio NE17 isolated from the larvae and egg samples, respectively, were selected for experimental studies and were introduced to the juveniles of M. rosenbergii (0.080 0.001g) through di¡erent modes such as through feed, water and both. The probiotic potential of the above bacteria in terms of improvements inwater quality, growth, survival, speci¢c growth rate (SGR), feed conversion ratio and immune parameters was evaluated. The treatment groups showed a signi¢cant improvement in SGR and weight gain (Po0.001). Survival among di¡erent treatment groups was better than that in the control group. There were also signi¢cant improvements in the water quality parameters such as the concentration of nitrate and ammonia in the treatment groups (Po0.05). Improvements in immune parameters such as the total haemocyte count (Po0.05), phenoloxidase activity and respiratory burst were also signi¢cant (Po0.001). It is concluded that screening of the natural micro£ora of cultured ¢sh and shell¢sh for putative probionts might yield probiotic strains of bacteria that could be utilized for an environment-friendly and organic mode of aquaculture

Reductions in insecticide use from adoption of Bt cotton in South Africa: impacts on economic performance and toxic load to the environment

The study reported presents the findings relating to commercial growing of genetically-modified Bt cotton in South Africa by a large sample of smallholder farmers over three seasons (1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01) following adoption. The analysis presents constructs and compares groupwise differences for key variables in Bt v. non-Bt technology and uses regressions to further analyse the production and profit impacts of Bt adoption. Analysis of the distribution of benefits between farmers due to the technology is also presented. In parallel with these socio-economic measures, the toxic loads being presented to the environment following the introduction of Bt cotton are monitored in terms of insecticide active ingredient (ai) and the Biocide Index. The latter adjusts ai to allow for differing persistence and toxicity of insecticides. Results show substantial and significant financial benefits to smallholder cotton growers of adopting Bt cotton over three seasons in terms of increased yields, lower insecticide spray costs and higher gross margins. This includes one particularly wet, poor growing season. In addition, those with the smaller holdings appeared to benefit proportionately more from the technology (in terms of higher gross margins) than those with larger holdings. Analysis using the Gini-coefficient suggests that the Bt technology has helped to reduce inequality amongst smallholder cotton growers in Makhathini compared to what may have been the position if they had grown conventional cotton. However, while Bt growers applied lower amounts of insecticide and had lower Biocide Indices (per ha) than growers of non-Bt cotton, some of this advantage was due to a reduction in non-bollworm insecticide. Indeed, the Biocide Index for all farmers in the population actually increased with the introduction of Bt cotton. The results indicate the complexity of such studies on the socio-economic and environmental impacts of GM varieties in the developing world.

Reductions in insecticide use from adoption of Bt cotton in South Africa: impacts on economic performance and toxic load to the environment

The study reported presents the findings relating to commercial growing of genetically-modified Bt cotton in South Africa by a large sample of smallholder farmers over three seasons (1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01) following adoption. The analysis presents constructs and compares groupwise differences for key variables in Bt v. non-Bt technology and uses regressions to further analyse the production and profit impacts of Bt adoption. Analysis of the distribution of benefits between farmers due to the technology is also presented. In parallel with these socio-economic measures, the toxic loads being presented to the environment following the introduction of Bt cotton are monitored in terms of insecticide active ingredient (ai) and the Biocide Index. The latter adjusts ai to allow for differing persistence and toxicity of insecticides. Results show substantial and significant financial benefits to smallholder cotton growers of adopting Bt cotton over three seasons in terms of increased yields, lower insecticide spray costs and higher gross margins. This includes one particularly wet, poor growing season. In addition, those with the smaller holdings appeared to benefit proportionately more from the technology (in terms of higher gross margins) than those with larger holdings. Analysis using the Gini-coefficient suggests that the Bt technology has helped to reduce inequality amongst smallholder cotton growers in Makhathini compared to what may have been the position if they had grown conventional cotton. However, while Bt growers applied lower amounts of insecticide and had lower Biocide Indices (per ha) than growers of non-Bt cotton, some of this advantage was due to a reduction in non-bollworm insecticide. Indeed, the Biocide Index for all farmers in the population actually increased with the introduction of Bt cotton. The results indicate the complexity of such studies on the socio-economic and environmental impacts of GM varieties in the developing world.

Squirmish at the Oasis: an evening of performance and rant hosted by Agency of Noise at the Kinsgate Workshsops Trust in affiliation with Camden Arts Centre

Squirmish at the Oasis takes its name from Luigi Russolo's fourth noise network 'Skirmish at the Oasis' performed in Milan in 1913. 100 years on the Agency of Noise contemplate changes in technology and the culture industry that provoke new questions around the deliberate use of noise within music and art. Through live acts of enquiry and experimentation five artists unravel paradoxes associated with the use of noise in art, music and the gallery space. The works challenge tensions, contradictions and possible oxymorons that emerge through the use and acceptance of noise within an artistic framework. Featuring: DAISY DIXON / GRAHAM DUNNING / POLLYFIBRE / DANE SUTHERLAND / MARNIE WATTS

The effect of adding stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) haylage to a total mixed ration on performance and rumen function of lactating dairy cows

In vitro studies found that inclusion of dried stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) at 100 mg/g dry matter (DM) increased the pH of a rumen fluid inoculated fermentation buffer by 30% and the effect was persistent for 7 days. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of adding stinging nettle haylage to a total mixed ration on feed intake, eating and rumination activity, rumen pH, milk yield, and milk composition of lactating dairy cows. Six lactating Holstein-Friesian cows were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin Square design experiment with 3 treatments and 3 week periods. Treatments were a control (C) high-starch (311 g/kg DM) total mixed ration diet and two treatment diets containing 50 (N5) and 100 (N10) g nettle haylage (DM/kg) as a replacement for ryegrass silage (Lolium perenne). There was an increase (linear, P < 0.010) in the proportion of large particles and a reduction in medium (linear, P = 0.045) and fine particles (linear, P = 0.026) in the diet offered with increasing nettle inclusion. A numerical decrease (linear, P = 0.106) in DM intake (DMI) was observed as nettle inclusion in the diet increased. Milk yield averaged 20.3 kg/day and was not affected by diet. There was a decrease (quadratic, P = 0.01) in the time animals spent ruminating as nettle inclusion in the diet increased, in spite of an increase in the number of boli produced daily for the N5 diet (quadratic, P = 0.031). Animals fed the N10 diet spent less time with a rumen pH below 5.5 (P < 0.05) than cows fed the N5 diet. Averaged over an 8.5 h sampling period, there were no changes in the concentration or proportions of acetate or propionate in the rumen, but feeding nettle haylage reduced the concentrations of n-butyrate (quadratic, P < 0.001), i-butyrate (linear, P < 0.009) and n-caproate (linear, P < 0.003). Milk and fat and protein corrected milk yield were not affected when nettles replaced ryegrass silage in the diet of lactating dairy cows, despite a numerical reduction in feed intake. Rumination activity was reduced by the addition of nettle haylage to the diet, which may reflect differences in fibre structure between the nettle haylage and ryegrass silage fed. Changes observed in rumen pH suggest potential benefits of feeding nettle haylage for reducing rumen acidosis. However, the extent to which these effects were due to the fermentability and structure of the nettle haylage compared to the ryegrass silage fed, or a bioactive component of the nettles, is not certain

Effect of impurities in biodiesel-derived waste glycerol on the performance and feasibility of biotechnological processes

The rapid development of biodiesel production technology has led to the generation of tremendous quantities of glycerol wastes, as the main by-product of the process. Stoichiometrically, it has been calculated that for every 100 kg of biodiesel, 10 kg of glycerol are produced. Based on the technology imposed by various biodiesel plants, glycerol wastes may contain numerous kinds of impurities such as methanol, salts, soaps, heavy metals and residual fatty acids. This fact often renders biodiesel-derived glycerol unprofitable for further purification. Therefore, the utilization of crude glycerol though biotechnological means represents a promising alternative for the effective management of this industrial waste. This review summarizes the effect of various impurities-contaminants that are found in biodiesel-derived crude glycerol upon its conversion by microbial strains in biotechnological processes. Insights are given concerning the technologies that are currently applied in biodiesel production, with emphasis to the impurities that are added in the composition of crude glycerol, through each step of the production process. Moreover, extensive discussion is made in relation with the impact of the nature of impurities upon the performances of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms, during crude glycerol bioconversions into a variety of high added-value metabolic products. Finally, aspects concerning ways of crude glycerol treatment for the removal of inhibitory contaminants as reported in the literature are given and comprehensively discussed

Growth performance and meat quality of heifers receiving different forms of soybean oil in the rumen

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

SOAP processing performance and enhancement

The web services (WS) technology provides a comprehensive solution for representing, discovering, and invoking services in a wide variety of environments, including Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) and grid computing systems. At the core of WS technology lie a number of XML-based standards, such as the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), that have successfully ensured WS extensibility, transparency, and interoperability. Nonetheless, there is an increasing demand to enhance WS performance, which is severely impaired by XML's verbosity. SOAP communications produce considerable network traffic, making them unfit for distributed, loosely coupled, and heterogeneous computing environments such as the open Internet. Also, they introduce higher latency and processing delays than other technologies, like Java RMI and CORBA. WS research has recently focused on SOAP performance enhancement. Many approaches build on the observation that SOAP message exchange usually involves highly similar messages (those created by the same implementation usually have the same structure, and those sent from a server to multiple clients tend to show similarities in structure and content). Similarity evaluation and differential encoding have thus emerged as SOAP performance enhancement techniques. The main idea is to identify the common parts of SOAP messages, to be processed only once, avoiding a large amount of overhead. Other approaches investigate nontraditional processor architectures, including micro-and macrolevel parallel processing solutions, so as to further increase the processing rates of SOAP/XML software toolkits. This survey paper provides a concise, yet comprehensive review of the research efforts aimed at SOAP performance enhancement. A unified view of the problem is provided, covering almost every phase of SOAP processing, ranging over message parsing, serialization, deserialization, compression, multicasting, security evaluation, and data/instruction-level processing.

Streaming Video: Student Performance and Relative Use in the Preclinical Curriculum

Purpose: To assess the relationship between student utilization of learning resources, including streaming video (SV), and their performance in the pre-clinical curriculum. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Social skills as predictors of communication, performance and quality of collaboration in project-based learning

The assumption that social skills are necessary ingredients of collaborative learning is well established but rarely empirically tested. In addition, most theories on collaborative learning focus on social skills only at the personal level, while the social skill configurations within a learning group might be of equal importance. Using the integrative framework, this study investigates which social skills at the personal level and at the group level are predictive of task-related e-mail communication, satisfaction with performance and perceived quality of collaboration. Data collection took place in a technology-enhanced long-term project-based learning setting for pre-service teachers. For data collection, two questionnaires were used, one at the beginning and one at the end of the learning cycle which lasted 3 months. During the project phase, the e-mail communication between group members was captured as well. The investigation of 60 project groups (N = 155 for the questionnaires; group size: two or three students) and 33 groups for the e-mail communication (N = 83) revealed that personal social skills played only a minor role compared to group level configurations of social skills in predicting satisfaction with performance, perceived quality of collaboration and communication behaviour. Members from groups that showed a high and/or homogeneous configuration of specific social skills (e.g., cooperation/compromising, leadership) usually were more satisfied and saw their group as more efficient than members from groups with a low and/or heterogeneous configuration of skills.

Influence of energy concentration and feed form of the diet on growth performance and digestive traits of brown egg-laying pullets from 1 to 120 days of age

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Organisational learning, strategic rigidity and technology adoption: Implications for electric utilities and renewable energy firms

This paper examines the implications of strategic rigidness for technology adoption behaviours among electric utilities. Such behaviours lead to heterogeneity in firm performance and consequently affect the electric utility industry. The paper's central aim is to identify and describe the implications of strategic rigidness for a utility firm's decision making in adopting newer renewable energy technologies. The findings indicate that not all utility firms are keen to adopt these new technologies, as these firms have traditionally been operating efficiently with a more conventional and mature technological arrangement that has become embedded in the organisational routine. Case studies of Iberdrola S.A. and Enel S.p.A. as major electric utilities are detailed to document mergers and acquisitions and technology adoption decisions. The results indicate that technology adoption behaviours vary widely across utility firms with different organisational learning processes and core capabilities.