An Open Source architecture to collect and analyze performance measurement data to local health authorities in the Tuscany Region

The aim of this article is to present a hardware and software architecture that shows how to combine different open source technologies in order to realize an efficient system to collect and analyze data from a web survey. The framework presented has been used, in the context of the Performance Evaluation System, to measure the level of satisfaction of the employees of the Tuscany Health Authorities, compared with some specific variables in the internal organizational climate. Using that framework, about 42,000 employees were given the opportunity to fill in a web questionnaire. The survey has collected 20,294 cases.web survey, local health authorities, performance evaluation system

Economic and financial evaluation of investment projects : general principles and EC procedures

Revised version of EUI [ECO] WP 1984/119

Economic crisis in Eastern Europe : prospects and repercussions

First made available online in May 2015.Since the mid-seventies a crisis has developed in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. This paper reviews the symptoms of the crisis, grouped under i) deterioration of growth performance, ii) external imbalance, iii) internal imbalance, and outlines an explanatory model of the functioning of Soviet-type economies, which embodies their specific systemic features (in particular the centralisation of political power and economic decision-making, and the systemic commitment to economic growth, full employment and price stability) and is capable of generating economic and political cycles of the kind experienced by Eastern countries. The implications for East-West relations are also considered; the combined effect of economic crisis in both systems is claimed to be exercising a positive influence on those relations, especially in Europe

Does the healthcare system know what to cut under the pandemic emergency pressure? An observational study on geographic variation of surgical procedures in Italy

During 2020 many countries reduced the number of elective surgeries to free up beds and cope with the COVID-19 outbreak. This situation led healthcare systems to prioritise elective interventions and reduce the overall volumes of treatments.The aim of this paper is to analyse whether the pandemic and the prioritisation policies on elective surgery were done considering the potential inappropriateness highlighted by the measurement of geographic variation

The Chinese alternative

The contemporary economic system developed by China in the last two decades, supremely successful in achieving economic growth, defies traditional classification. It has been variously defined as socialist (by Chinese leaders), capitalist (Kornai), state socialist (Coase and Wang), political capitalism (Milanovic), a unique system with features of both socialism and capitalism not conforming to either system (Kolodko). This essay seeks to support, substantiate and develop Kolodko’s notion of the uniquess of China, while expressing greater pessimism than Kolodko about the economic, social and political sustainability of that system, its merits as a beneficial engine of globalisation and growth, and its exportability to other countries in the developed West

The cure from nature: the extraordinary anticancer properties of Ascorbate (Vitamin C)

The anticancer properties of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid o sodium ascorbate) are known since at least four decades, However, being a cheap and "natural" product, Vitamin C is not patentable and therefore has never been developed as an anticancer molecule. Recent in vitro investigations have confirmed the extraordinary antitumor properties of high doses of Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), particularly when administered by the intravenous route, and phase I/II randomized, controlled clinical trials have been started to verify its anticancer properties in vivo. Unfortunately, the controlled clinical trials performed so far, do not confirm the extraordinary results obtained with Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate) in vitro. However, this may depend on a number of different factors, such as the pharmaceutical preparation (Sodium ascorbate may be more suitable than buffered ascorbic acid), the schedule of administration (slow infusion better than rapid infusion), tumor tissue oxygenation (Cancer tissue oxygenation is lower that oxygenation of tumor cell lines, in vitro), etc., which deserve further in depth investigation. Even with these limitations, Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate) in high doses, administered by intravenous route, beyond being extremely effective in vitro, against a number of human tumor cell lines, is safe, has minimal contraindications, improves the quality of life of patients, and is highly selective for cancer cells. The Authors discuss these important aspects and suggest possible solutions to improve the in vivo anticancer effects of Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate)

A new flow-cytometry-based opsonophagocytosis assay for the rapid measurement of functional antibody levels against Group B Streptococcus

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