blood components as joint products a literature review of cost allocation methods

The object of this review is to present and to shed light on joint cost-allocation methods that are used in the healthcare sector for pricing purposes or cost-effectiveness purposes in different countries. The concept of jointness is illustrated through joint products and joint costs as found in the example of blood component production. The descriptive review, fundamentally concept-centric, highlights that the cost of blood products or blood price-setting is an issue in legislative proposals at the national and state levels and represents a matter of public interest and of public regulation. In applying economic models (based on economic principles and behavior axioms) rather than accounting methodology (based on physical measures or on market value of the split/final products), scholars have brought to light the problems arising from the continuous search for a neutral method for allocating joint costs in the blood production sector. Numerous studies have focused on the blood costs for the health system. Nevertheless, the cost accounting and reimbursement system effectively underlying the acquisition, screening, and transfusion of blood appears, in practice, to be largely obscure. Moreover, the literature provides little insights into the level of "relative importance" assigned to each product in the costing setting. The current status of the discussion offers opportunities for future researches, which could be directed toward investigating the relationships between national systems of healthcare services and the cost-allocation methods used to determine the cost/price of blood components, analyzing the effect of public regulation on blood costs and, lastly, developing a method based more on the benefit-value to users

CSR Motivations in Voluntary Non-Financial Disclosures: The Preparers’ Voice

CSR reports are communication tools, appropriate for informing stakeholders of the CSR practices conducted by organizations. This article aims to explore the reasons why complex organizations have adopted on purpose the CSR report to meet their needs, and to discover why they have chosen to adopt the integrated report as an alternative to the sustainability report. This study is based on an explanatory case study of two healthcare organizations that have exactly implemented Integrated Reporting (IR), instead of Sustainability Reporting. The research method used is the field study. This work points out how organizations create and use CSR reports, even if they are not mandatory. If the IR looks like a “managerial innovation”, there is always a risk that the diffusion of these tools could simply be the latest popular trend, followed by internal or external proponents, rather than a rational decision-making process. The study has implications for the policymakers, the organizations, and their integrated report. The policymakers can understand if this tool can be useful for the organizations, to promote internal CSR. The study contributes to literature about the willingness to publish CSR reports, as an expression of the internal and external factors that influence voluntary reporting choices

Disclosing the Health Value through Integrated Report: An Explorative Research

This study aims to investigated if the integrated report, according to the IIRC (International Integrated Reporting Council) Framework, has the potential to disclose health information and to address citizens’ expectations. An explorative case was conducted in an Italian public hospital follows the action research approach. Semi-structured interviews were asked by researchers to reach a deep understanding of the phenomenon under study. The results show that Integrated Reporting is able to disclose the value created: the health outcome. There is a need for Integrated Reporting Framework adjustments for health sector purposes: in relation to some capitals of the framework, to the concept of value created in its particular emphasis on health outcome for patients and to the need to find a more effective communication method. The absence of stakeholder engagement activities in the Integrated Reporting adoption process influences the attractiveness of the document. In fact, the Integrated Reporting user appears to be only the financing institutio

European Citizenship, Identity and Rights: A Survey on Italian Young Students

Developing Europe means, first of all, creating a pervasive feeling of European citizenship, and creating a sense of belonging to a community in all countries of the European Union. This paper focuses on extracting Italian students’ socio-psychological dimension with respect to their perception and feelings regarding European citizenship, and their knowledge of the most relevant rights. The study involves Italian students aged between 18 and 25. A hybrid methodology has been adopted, combining: data extracted from a questionnaire; text from the photo-stories; images of the photo-stories and interviews. The results underline that young people have a sense of belonging to the European community, with the same rights and benefits. Moreover, there is the need to have the same feeling of European citizenship everywhere in Europe. The request for a stronger and more active citizens’ involvement also emerged from the study

Integration of Field and Laboratory Spectral Data with Multi-Resolution Remote Sensed Imagery for Asphalt Surface Differentiation

The ability to classify asphalt surfaces is an important goal for the selection of suitable non-variant targets as pseudo-invariant targets during the calibration/validation of remotely-sensed images. In addition, the possibility to recognize different types of asphalt surfaces on the images can help optimize road network management. This paper presents a multi-resolution study to improve asphalt surface differentiation using field spectroradiometric data, laboratory analysis and remote sensing imagery. Multispectral Infrared and Visible Imaging Spectrometer (MIVIS) airborne data and multispectral images, such as Quickbird and Ikonos, were used. From scatter plots obtained by field data using λ = 460 and 740 nm, referring to MIVIS Bands 2 and 16 and Quickbird and Ikonos Bands 1 and 4, pixels corresponding to asphalt covering were identified, and the slope of their interpolation lines, assumed as asphalt lines, was calculated. These slopes, used as threshold values in the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classifier, obtained an overall accuracy of 95% for Ikonos, 98% for Quickbird and 93% for MIVIS. Laboratory investigations confirm the existence of the asphalt line also for new asphalts, too

Full-aperture extended-depth oblique plane microscopy through dynamic remote focusing

Significance: The reprojection setup typical of oblique plane microscopy (OPM) limits the effective aperture of the imaging system, and therefore its efficiency and resolution. Large aperture system is only possible through the use of custom specialized optics. A full-aperture OPM made with off the shelf components would both improve the performance of the method and encourage its widespread adoption. Aim: To prove the feasibility of an OPM without a conventional reprojection setup, retaining the full aperture of the primary objective employed. Approach: A deformable lens based remote focusing setup synchronized with the rolling shutter of a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor detector is used instead of a traditional reprojection system. Results: The system was tested on microbeads, prepared slides, and zebrafish embryos. Resolution and pixel throughput were superior to conventional OPM with cropped apertures, and comparable with OPM implementations with custom made optical components. Conclusions: An easily reproducible approach to OPM imaging is presented, eliminating the conventional reprojection setup and exploiting the full aperture of the employed objective

Full-aperture extended-depth oblique plane microscopy through dynamic remote focusing

Oblique plane microscopy is a method enabling light-sheet fluorescence imaging through a single microscope objective lens by focusing on a tilted plane within the sample. To focus the fluorescence emitted by the oblique plane on a camera, the light is imaged through a pair of remote objective lenses, facing each other at an angle. The aperture mismatch resulting from this configuration limits the effective numerical aperture of the system, reducing image resolution and signal intensity. This manuscript introduces an alternative method to capture the oblique plane on the camera. Instead of relying on angled objective lenses, an electrically tunable lens is employed. This lens adjusts the focal plane of the microscope synchronously with the rolling shutter of a scientific CMOS camera. In this configuration the entire aperture of the objective is effectively employed, increasing the resolution of the system. Moreover, a variety of objective lenses can be employed, enabling the acquisition of wider axial fields of view compared to conventional oblique plane microscopy

An Integrated Framework for On-line Viral Marketing Campaign Planning

Over the years Internet marketing has become the primary tool for marketers to deliver information to consumers. It includes a mix of methods (m-marketing, social networks, viral marketing etc.) to create awareness for the company's brand, products and services. This paper, in particular addresses the on-line viral marketing method. In particular it provides a theoretical framework involving elements and actors important for the planning of an on-line viral marketing campaign. The framework presents four different phases of the analysis. The first phase involves the analysis of the company, its business context and the knowledge of the type of on-line viral marketing campaigns already done (both internal and external). In the second phase objectives and target are defined. On considering the third phase this includes the message creation and the selection of useful tolls to use. Finally in the last phase the implementation of the on-line viral marketing campaign is carried out. Each of these phases is caracterised by different actors involved in the different processes

Virtual unfolding of light sheet fluorescence microscopy dataset for quantitative analysis of the mouse intestine

Light sheet fluorescence microscopy has proven to be a powerful tool to image fixed and chemically cleared samples, providing in depth and high resolution reconstructions of intact mouse organs. We applied light sheet microscopy to image the mouse intestine. We found that large portions of the sample can be readily visualized, assessing the organ status and highlighting the presence of regions with impaired morphology. Yet, three-dimensional (3-D) sectioning of the intestine leads to a large dataset that produces unnecessary storage and processing overload. We developed a routine that extracts the relevant information from a large image stack and provides quantitative analysis of the intestine morphology. This result was achieved by a three step procedure consisting of: (1) virtually unfold the 3-D reconstruction of the intestine; (2) observe it layer-by-layer; and (3) identify distinct villi and statistically analyze multiple samples belonging to different intestinal regions. Even if the procedure has been developed for the murine intestine, most of the underlying concepts have a general applicability

Robotic total gastrectomy with intracorporeal robot-sewn anastomosis. A novel approach adopting the double-loop reconstruction method

Gastric cancer constitutes a major health problem. Robotic surgery has been progressively developed in this field. Although the feasibility of robotic procedures has been demonstrated, there are unresolved aspects being debated, including the reproducibility of intracorporeal in place of extracorporeal anastomosis. Difficulties of traditional laparoscopy have been described and there are well-known advantages of robotic systems, but few articles in literature describe a full robotic execution of the reconstructive phase while others do not give a thorough explanation how this phase was run. A new reconstructive approach, not yet described in literature, was recently adopted at our Center. Robotic total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy and a socalled ‘‘double-loop’’ reconstruction method with intracorporeal robotsewn anastomosis (Parisi’s technique) was performed in all reported cases. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative data were collected and a technical note was documented. All tumors were located at the upper third of the stomach, and no conversions or intraoperative complications occurred. Histopathological analysis showed R0 resection obtained in all specimens. Hospital stay was regular in all patients and discharge was recommended starting from the 4th postoperative day. No major postoperative complications or reoperations occurred. Reconstruction of the digestive tract after total gastrectomy is one of the main areas of surgical research in the treatment of gastric cancer and in the field of minimally invasive surgery. The double-loop method is a valid simplification of the traditional technique of construction of the Roux-limb that could increase the feasibility and safety in performing a full hand-sewn intracorporeal reconstruction and it appears to fit the characteristics of the robotic system thus obtaining excellent postoperative clinical outcome