Analysis of accounting data from the explanatory notes to the financial statements for the estimation of the enterprises investments

The Italian national institute of statistics (Istat) produces estimates on the main economic variables of enterprises, both from a Structural Business Statistics (SBS) and a National Accounts (NA) perspective. The two production processes present similarities and discrepancies. As far the production process of estimates on “acquisitions of fixed assets” during the year, also known as “enterprise investments”, both SBS and NA processes use survey data, but only NA process also uses administrative information. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the content of the information on Investments, at the level of the legal unit, from the administrative source of the Explanatory Notes, beside the administrative sources already used in Istat processes. This work represents an exploratory and study phase to evaluate the usability of this source in the production processes of Investments of both SBS and NA

Two applications of the subnormality of the Hessenberg matrix related to general orthogonal polynomials

In this paper we prove two consequences of the subnormal character of the Hessenberg matrix D when the hermitian matrix M of an inner product is a moment matrix. If this inner product is defined by a measure supported on an algebraic curve in the complex plane, then D satisfies the equation of the curve in a noncommutative sense. We also prove an extension of the Krein theorem for discrete measures on the complex plane based on properties of subnormal operators

Response to measles, mumps and rubella (Mmr) vaccine in transfusion-dependent patients

Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) still determine significant morbidity and mortality, although a highly effective vaccine is available. Postponing the MMR vaccination until 6 months after the last red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is recommended, but this delay is incompatible with chronic transfusions. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of blood transfusions on the immunogenicity of the MMR vaccine. In this observational study, a group of 45 transfusion-dependent (TD) patients was compared to 24 non-transfusion-dependent (NTD) patients. Immunity to measles was achieved in 35 (78%) TD and 21 (88%) NTD subjects (p = 0.7), to mumps in 36 (80%) TD and 21 (88%) NTD subjects (p = 0.99), and to rubella in 40 (89%) TD and 23 (96%) NTD subjects (p = 0.99). No significant difference was observed in the number of non-immune individuals or those with doubtful protection between the two groups (p > 0.05). The mean IgG value, assayed in 50 pre-storage leukoreduced RBC units, was 0.075 ± 0.064 mg/mL, ten times lower than the level assumed in blood units and considered detrimental to the immune response in TD patients. This work shows a favorable response to MMR vaccination in TD and NTDT patients and paves the way for further larger studies assessing the impact of chronic transfusions on vaccine response

Metabolic Syndrome features and risk of neural tube defects

Research articl

Development and validation of a questionnaire to identify severe maternal morbidity in epidemiological surveys

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>to develop and validate a questionnaire on severe maternal morbidity and to evaluate the maternal recall of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. <it>Design: </it>validity of a questionnaire as diagnostic instrument. <it>Setting: </it>a third level referral maternity in Campinas, Brazil. <it>Population: </it>386 survivors of severe maternal complications and 123 women that delivered without major complications between 2002 and 2007.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>eligible women were traced and interviewed by telephone on the occurrence of obstetric complications and events related to their treatment. Their answers were compared with their medical records as gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios plus their correspondent 95% confidence intervals were used as main estimators of accuracy. <it>Main outcomes: </it>diagnosis of severe maternal morbidity associated with past pregnancies, including hemorrhage, eclampsia, infections, jaundice and related procedures (hysterectomy, admission to ICU, blood transfusion, laparotomy, inter-hospital transfer, mechanical ventilation and post partum stay above seven days).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women did not recall accurately the occurrence of obstetric complications, especially hemorrhage and infection. The likelihood ratios were < 5 for hemorrhage and infection, while for eclampsia it almost reached 10. The information recalled by women regarding hysterectomy, intensive care unit admission and blood transfusion were found to be highly correlated with finding evidence of the event in the medical records (likelihood ratios ranging from 12.7-240). The higher length of time between delivery and interview was associated with poor recall.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Process indicators are better recalled by women than obstetric complication and should be considered when applying a questionnaire on severe maternal morbidity.</p

Please understand when I cry out in pain: women's accounts of maternity services during labour and delivery in Ghana

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to investigate women's accounts of interactions with health care providers during labour and delivery and to assess the implications for acceptability and utilisation of maternity services in Ghana. METHODS: Twenty-one individual in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted with women of reproductive age who had delivered in the past five years in the Greater Accra Region. The study investigated women's perceptions and experiences of care in terms of factors that influenced place of delivery, satisfaction with services, expectations of care and whether they would recommend services. RESULTS: One component of care which appeared to be of great importance to women was staff attitudes. This factor had considerable influence on acceptability and utilisation of services. Otherwise, a successful labour outcome and non-medical factors such as cost, perceived quality of care and proximity of services were important. Our findings indicate that women expect humane, professional and courteous treatment from health professionals and a reasonable standard of physical environment. Women will consciously change their place of delivery and recommendations to others if they experience degrading and unacceptable behaviour. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that inter-personal aspects of care are key to women's expectations, which in turn govern satisfaction. Service improvements which address this aspect of care are likely to have an impact on health seeking behaviour and utilisation. Our findings suggest that user-views are important and warrant further investigation. The views of providers should also be investigated to identify channels by which service improvements, taking into account women's views, could be operationalised. We also recommend that interventions to improve delivery care should not only be directed to the health professional, but also to general health system improvements

Changes in leisure-time physical activity among Brazilian pregnant women: comparison between two birth cohort studies (2004 – 2015)

Abstract Background Low levels of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) during pregnancy have been shown in studies conducted worldwide. Surveillance is extremely important to monitor the progress of physical activity patterns over time and set goals for effective interventions to decrease inactivity among pregnant women. The aim of this study was to evaluate time changes in LTPA among Brazilian pregnant women in an 11-year period (2004–2015) by comparing data from two birth cohort studies. Methods Two population-based birth cohort studies were carried out in the city of Pelotas, southern Brazil, in 2004 and 2015. A total of 4244 and 4271 mothers were interviewed after delivery. Weekly frequency and duration of each session of LTPA in a typical week were reported for the pre-pregnancy period and for each trimester of pregnancy. Trends in both recommended LTPA (≥150 min/week) and any LTPA (regardless of weekly amount) were analysed overtime. Changes were also calculated separately for subgroups of maternal age, schooling, family income, parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index and pre-pregnancy LTPA. Results The proportion of women engaged in recommended levels of LTPA pre-pregnancy increased from 11.2% (95%CI 10.0–12.2) in 2004 to 15.8% (95%CI 14.6–16.9) in 2015. During pregnancy, no changes were observed over the period for the first (10.6 to 10.9%) and second (8.7 to 7.9%) trimesters, whereas there was a decrease from 3.4% (95%CI 2.9–4.0) to 2.4% (95%CI 1.9–2.8) in the last trimester. Major decreases in LTPA in the last trimester were observed among women who were younger, with intermediate to high income, high schooling, primiparous, pre-pregnancy obese and, engaged in LTPA before pregnancy. Changes in any LTPA practice followed the same patterns described for recommended LTPA. Conclusions Despite the increase in the proportion of women engaged in LTPA before pregnancy between 2004–2015, LTPA levels remained stable during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy and declined during the third gestational trimester over the period. Interventions to encourage the maintenance of LTPA practice throughout pregnancy are urgently needed

Proceedings - International Conference on Image Processing, ICIP

A new method of biometric identity verification using images of fingers (contact-less sensing) is presented. The method utilizes ridge orientation along lines between easily and reliably extracted key points and bispectral invariant features from the ridge orientation profiles. Rotation is corrected in the pre-processing stage after extraction of key points. Robustness to translation and scale are incorporated in the feature extraction. The method does not rely on minutiae extraction and has potential for feature fusion from multiple fingers for improved performance. A radial basis function Support Vector Machine is trained to perform each identity verification. Results were obtained using 1341 index finger images from 41 individuals with 10-fold cross validation. The system shows about 12% misses at a setting of 1% false alarms and the classification accuracy of the fused system is 92.99%. The performance can be improved with the use of multiple fingers. The proposed methodology can facilitate high traffic, soft identity verification in busy premises such as shopping centres with presentation of the hand as a person walks through

Differently Calenian: A multi-analytical approach for the characterization of coarse ware from Cales (South Italy)

A selection of 46 ceramic fragments of common cookware, internal red slip ware, thin-walled pottery imitation, dolium and production indicators recovered at the archaeological site of Cales (South Italy), all characterized by a coarse-grained structure, were subjected to a program of multi-analytical investigations (PLM, FESEM/EDS, XRPD, TG-DSC, XRF). Among the materials under study, the production indicators, represented by wastes of common cookware and supports, attests a local production. Thin-section analysis shows that almost all samples have an optical active matrix except for the production indicators. The inclusions consist of feldspar, quartz, clinopyroxene, mica, lithic fragments of volcanic nature (fragments of trachyte) and juveniles (pumices and glass shards). The XRPD confirms the thin section observation and reveals the presence of neoformed Ca-silicates in the supports and dolium samples. Most of the samples show a Ca-poor composition and an extreme compositional homogeneity, which is in line with the chemical composition of the production indicators. The supports and dolium samples, on the contrary, show a Ca-rich composition. The geochemical comparisons with some Ca-rich and Ca-poor Campanian clay materials show a good affinity with alluvial clay sediments of the Volturnum river plain