Overheads as a Performance Indicator in the Local Public Sector Organizations

If we consider business forms from the point of view of satisfying needs, public companies are consumer companies that satisfy collective needs with the aim of redistributing income. They differ from production companies in that they do not have direct access to the market, so that the sources of financing derive from the taxes imposed by law, while the uses concern management costs, capital investments and debt repayments. Maintaining this interpretation, another category belonging to consumer companies is that of non-profit companies, which can be equated partially to public companies precisely because of the absence of a real market of reference and the finding of sources of funding for the performance of the activity mainly from external contributions without consideration. The only difference is inherent in the fact that such contributions cannot be imposed by law and are aimed at assisting and providing services and benefits to the community of reference, in the absence of profit and capital distribution. Therefore, if in the public sector performance is mainly and historically linked to the management of financial resources and public debt, in the field of nonprofit there is a different literature focused more on the control of economic aspects (and in particular the costs of the activity) as performance indicators of the company's activity. At the international level, and in particular in the United States, the use of the incidence of overheads is an element of examination to assess the performance of the non-profit sector. In this article, the subject of analysis is the possibility of using the overhead level to assess the performance of a public body. The analysis is carried out by comparing the incidence of overheads on the revenues of Italian municipalities in the years 2015-2017 with the performance indicators given by the deficit parameters established by current administrative legislation. From this analysis, it is possible to identify the presence of a correlation between the performance indicators and the incidence of overheads, in which the likelihood of the presence of \u201cgood\u201d, \u201cexcellent\u201d or \u201cexcellent\u201d indicators is given by levels of overhead in the region of 10% of the total revenue assessed, with a margin of tolerance of 3% in positive for smaller entities (up to 5,000 inhabitants), and 3% in negative for larger entities

Centro deportivo de alta montaña y esquí en Candanchú

El proyecto a realizar consiste en crear una residencia y centro deportivo en Candanchú para acoger deportistas y personas centradas en los deportes de invierno y de alta montaña. En su implantación se pretende no competir con las edificaciones existentes y poner en valor el paisaje relacionándose con su entorno.<br /

Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) has a direct protective activity against interleukin 6-induced atrophy in C2C12 myotubes

We previously determined that different vitamin D metabolites can have opposite effects on C2C12 myotubes, depending on the sites of hydroxylation or doses. Specifically, 25(OH)D3 (25VD) has an anti-atrophic activity, 1,25(OH)2D3 induces atrophy, and 24,25(OH)2D3 is anti-atrophic at low concentrations and atrophic at high concentrations. This study aimed to clarify whether cholecalciferol (VD3) too, the non-hydroxylated upstream metabolite, has a direct effect on muscle cells. Assessing the effects of VD3 treatment on mouse C2C12 skeletal muscle myotubes undergoing atrophy induced by interleukin 6 (IL6), we demonstrated that VD3 has a protective action, preserving C2C12 myotubes size, likely through promoting the differentiation and fusion of residual myoblasts and by modulating the IL6-induced autophagic flux. The lack, in C2C12 myotubes, of the hydroxylase transforming VD3 in the anti-atrophic 25VD metabolite suggests that VD3 may have a direct biological activity on the skeletal muscle. Furthermore, we found that the protective action of VD3 depended on VDR, implying that VD3 too might bind to and activate VDR. However, despite the formation of VDR-RXR heterodimers, VD3 effects do not depend on RXR activity. In conclusion, VD3, in addition to its best-known metabolites, may directly impact on skeletal muscle homeostasis

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mouse Satellite Cell Isolation and Transplantation

: Satellite cell (SC) transplantation represents a powerful strategy to investigate SC biology during muscle regeneration. We described here a protocol for SC isolation from green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing mice and their transplantation into murine muscles. This procedure was originally used to assess the effects of the hormone unacylated ghrelin on muscle regeneration, in particular evaluating how the increase of unacylated ghrelin in the recipient muscle affected the engraftment of donor SCs ( Reano et al., 2017 )

Unacylated Ghrelin Enhances Satellite Cell Function and Relieves the Dystrophic Phenotype in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy mdx Model

Muscle regeneration depends on satellite cells, quiescent precursors that, in consequence of injury or in pathological states such as muscular dystrophies, activate, proliferate, and differentiate to repair the damaged tissue. A subset of satellite cells undergoes self-renewal, thus preserving the satellite cell pool and its regenerative potential. Unacylated ghrelin (UnAG) is a circulating hormone that protects muscle from atrophy, promotes myoblast differentiation, and enhances ischemia-induced muscle regeneration. Here we show that UnAG increases satellite cell activity and stimulates Par polarity complex/p38-mediated asymmetric division, fostering both satellite cell self-renewal and myoblast differentiation. Because of those activities on different steps of muscle regeneration, we hypothesized a beneficial effect of UnAG in mdx dystrophic mice, in which the absence of dystrophin leads to chronic muscle degeneration, defective muscle regeneration, fibrosis, and, at later stages of the pathology, satellite cell pool exhaustion. Upregulation of UnAG levels in mdx mice reduces muscle degeneration, improves muscle function, and increases dystrophin-null satellite cell self-renewal, maintaining the satellite cell pool. Our results suggest that UnAG has significant therapeutic potential for preserving the muscles in dystrophies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved