The social return on investment (SROI) of four microfinance projects

The paper develops an SROI (Social Return on Investment) analysis of four microfinance institutions (MFIs) located in Spain, Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This work is part of the MeMI Project (\u201cMeasuring Microfinance Impact in the EU. Policy recommendations for Financial and Social Inclusion\u201d) funded by the EIBURS. It is an attempt to translate microcredit outcome indicators into a social return, quantified in monetary terms. After preliminary focus group analyses and staff interviews, data on outcomes of selected microcredit lines have been collected through a questionnaire administered to the borrowers. By comparing the monetary value of these outcomes (translated into an estimated impact) with the amount of related investment, we find that SROI is greater than 2 for all the credit lines analysed, meaning that every euro invested in microcredit generates at least 2 euros of social return. We also find SROI ranging between 2.33 and 6.97, mirroring the differences between MFIs in terms of target, operating model and country-level financial environment. Although the analysis is conducted on a limited number of cases and SROI calculation can be sharpened, it shows how different factors and outcomes drive the social return generated by microcredit

Fegato

Il fegato \ue8 l\u2019organo pi\uf9 grande del corpo umano e, con le sue numerose funzioni, \ue8 indispensabile al buon funzionamento di tutto l\u2019organismo. La molteplicit\ue0 delle patologie che ne possono alterare struttura e fun- zionalit\ue0 giustifica il numero sempre crescente di richieste di esami che studino il fegato. La sua buona ac- cessibilit\ue0 anatomica e le caratteristiche strutturali consentono spesso il raggiungimento di una diagnosi di malattia mediante ecografia e TC (entrambe senza e con mdc). L\u2019utilizzo della RM, per la sua risoluzione di contrasto e per la possibilit\ue0 di utilizzare mdc non iodati ed epatospecifici, costituisce ad oggi ancora un esa- me di secondo livello nei pazienti che, per vari motivi, non possono eseguire la TC o come problem-solver nella risoluzione di dubbi diagnostici

Mezzi di contrasto

La RM offre l\u2019opportunit\ue0 di esplorare l\u2019organismo umano nella sua componente normale e patologica non solo dal punto di vista morfologico, ma anche da quello funzionale, grazie allo sviluppo di mdc sempre pi\uf9 sofisticati. Il loro utilizzo, tuttavia, rende necessaria una profonda conoscenza dei meccanismi d\u2019azione del mdc e dell\u2019interazione tra mdc e processi patologici, al fine di ottenere il maggior numero di informazioni possibili

Increased risk of second malignancy in pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous tumors: Review of the literature.

AIM: To analyze the available evidence about the risk of extrapancreatic malignancies and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma associated to pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous tumors (IPMNs). METHODS: A systematic search of literature was undertaken using MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane and Web-of-Science libraries. No limitations for year of publication were considered; preference was given to English papers. All references in selected articles were further screened for additional publications. Both clinical series and Literature reviews were selected. For all eligible studies, a standard data extraction form was filled in and the following data were extracted: study design, number of patients, prevalence of pancreatic cancer and extrapancreatic malignancies in IPMN patients and control groups, if available. RESULTS: A total of 805 abstracts were selected and read; 25 articles were considered pertinent and 17 were chosen for the present systematic review. Eleven monocentric series, 1 multicentric series, 1 case-control study, 1 population-based study and 3 case report were included. A total of 2881 patients were globally analyzed as study group, and the incidence of pancreatic cancer and/or extrapancreatic malignancies ranged from 5% to 52%, with a mean of 28.71%. When a control group was analyzed (6 papers), the same incidence was as low as 9.4%. CONCLUSION: The available Literature is unanimous in claiming IPMNs to be strongly associated with pancreatic and extrapancreatic malignancies. The consequences in IPMNs management are herein discussed

Peliosis hepatis: spectrum of imaging findings

OBJECTIVE. It is important to recognize the imaging characteristics of peliosis hepatis because peliotic lesions may mimic several different types of focal hepatic lesions CONCLUSION. We illustrate the spectrum of imaging findings of peliosis hepatis, including sonography, CT, MR, and angiography