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The cost for the recovery/disposal of residues produced by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) represents a relevant aspect in the economics of WWTP management. We elaborated and applied a desk-based methodology to analyze tender processes and to investigate quantitatively and qualitatively the variability of unit costs for sewage sludge (EWC 190805) management in Northern Italy from 2015 to 2021. We conducted a qualitative survey for operators of the sector. Unit costs for sludge management increased over time. The unit cost was mostly affected by the type of sludge recovery/disposal being the cost for recovery in agriculture (direct or by composting) lower than incineration and landfilling. Other variables influencing the cost were the distance and discount offered by the contractor. Regulatory and judiciary events determined a sudden increase of sludge disposal costs in Italy between 2017 and 2019. Recovery in agriculture, when practicable, remains the preferable option. Results can orient and support the optimization of sludge management costs and be of interest for future studies at national or European level.

Simple Summary International agreements commit nations to control or eradicate invasive alien species. The scale of this challenge exceeds available resources and so it is essential to prioritise the management of invasive alien species. Species prioritisation for management may consider the likelihood and scale of impact (risk assessment) and the feasibility, costs and effectiveness of management (risk management). Risk assessment processes are widely used, risk management less so. To assess the cost effectiveness of prioritisation, we considered 26 high-risk species considered for eradication from Great Britain (GB) with pre-existing risk assessment and risk management outputs. We used these to consider the relative reduction in risk per unit cost when managing prioritised species based on different criteria. We showed that the cost effectiveness of prioritisation within our sample using risk assessment scores alone performed no better than a random ranking of the species. In contrast, prioritisation including management feasibility produced nearly two orders of magnitude improvement compared to random ranking. We concluded that basing management actions on priorities based solely on risk assessment without considering management feasibility risks the inefficient use of limited resources. In this study, the cost effectiveness of species prioritisation action was greatly increased by the inclusion of a risk management assessment. Abstract International agreements commit nations to control or eradicate invasive alien species. The scale of this challenge exceeds available resources and so it is essential to prioritise the management of invasive alien species. Species prioritisation for management typically involves a hierarchy of processes that consider the likelihood and scale of impact (risk assessment) and the feasibility, costs and effectiveness of management (risk management). Risk assessment processes are widely used, risk management less so, but are a crucial component of resource decision making. To assess the cost-effectiveness of prioritisation, we considered 26 high-risk species considered for eradication from Great Britain (GB) with pre-existing risk assessment and risk management outputs. We extracted scores to reflect the overall risk to GB posed by the species, together with the estimated cost and the overall feasibility of eradication. We used these to consider the relative reduction in risk per unit cost when managing prioritised species based on different criteria. We showed that the cost-effectiveness of prioritisation within our sample using risk assessment scores alone, performed no better than a random ranking of the species. In contrast, prioritisation including management feasibility produced nearly two orders of magnitude improvement compared to random. We conclude that basing management actions on priorities based solely on risk assessment without considering management feasibility risks the inefficient use of limited resources. In this study, the cost-effectiveness of species prioritisation for action was greatly increased by the inclusion of risk management assessment.

Background Malaria is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in African countries. It is one of the leading causes of hospital visits and hospitalization in pediatric wards for children under 5 years old. Interestingly however, the economic burden of this disease remains unknown in these endemic countries including Gabon. The purpose of this study is to assess the direct hospital cost for the management of malaria in children under 5 years old at the Libreville University Hospital Centre (CHUL, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Libreville) in Gabon. Methods This research work is a retrospective study using a comprehensive review of medical records of patients seen at the CHUL over a two-year period extending from January 2018 through December 2019. The study focused on children under 5 years old, admitted for malaria in the paediatric ward of the CHUL. The analysis targeted specifically direct hospital costs, which excluded salary and wages of health care workers. The monetary currency used in this study was the CFA francs, as that currency is the one used in Central Africa (as reference, 1 Euro = 656 CFA francs). Results For the set timeframe, 778 patient records matched the study criteria. Thus, out of 778 admitted patients, 58.4% were male while 41.5% were female. Overall, the average age was 13.2 months (± 13.8 months). The total cost incurred by the hospital for the management of these 778 malaria patients was 94,922,925 CFA francs (144,699.58 €), for an average expense per patient topping at 122,008 CFA francs (185.99 €). The highest expenditure items were hospitalizations (44,200,000 CFA francs, 67,378.1 €), followed by drugs (26,394,425 CFA francs, 40,235.4 €) and biomedical examinations (14,036,000 CFA francs, 21,396.34 €). Conclusion The financial burden for managing malaria in the paediatric ward seems to be very high, not only for the hospital, but also for families in spite of the government medical insurance coverage in some cases. These findings bring new insights as to the urgency to develop policies that foster preventive initiatives over curative approaches in the management of malaria in children in endemic countries.

Crop production must continuously be adjusted according to economic return and fluctuating prices on inputs versus harvested plant products and calls for continuous revision of the crop rotation and flexible management systems. This study describes grass seed production of three different types, respectively, of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) and their optimum number of growing seasons in terms of yield, selected yield components and economic gain. Three harvest years gave the maximum yield in the red fescue type with long stolons (cv. Pernille) and the highest number of fertile tillers in all three red fescue cultivars. Four harvest years gave the maximum yield for types with short stolons (cv. Suzette) and without stolons (cv. Tamara). The fifth year significantly reduced the yield compared to the highest obtained yield within each cultivar. The diploid amenity cv. Allegro and forage type cv. Borvi of perennial ryegrass can be harvested in five consecutive years without a significant yield reduction. The tetraploid type cv. Tivoli had the highest thousand seed weight and a significant yield decrease from the first to the second year of seed harvest and a continuous decline in seed yield is observed from the first to the fifth harvest year in this cultivar. Yet, when the economic incentive was calculated it was found that optimum harvest years cannot be determined by yield considerations alone. A combination of high grass seed price and low cereal price shows that red fescue can be grown up to four years and perennial ryegrass up to five years with high economic returns.

В статті досліджено питання використання аналізу практики управління витратами на виробництво і реалізацію продукції. Розглянута методика управління витратами підприємства на основі маржинального аналізу, який доповнено факторним аналізом беззбиткового обсягу продажів. The paper investigates the use of analysis of management practices cost of production and sales. The method of cost management on the basis of marginal analysis, factor analysis is supplemented break-even sales.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T12:35:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2016-07-07T12:44:32Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ISSN2176-4808-2010-01-02-24-39.pdf: 443629 bytes, checksum: ba0560bd633080fe679c99f0e68d95a8 (MD5) O Brasil possui a maior floresta tropical do planeta. O gênero Eucalyptus spp destaca-se dentre as espécies mais plantadas no Brasil e no mundo. Houve um aumento da utilização de madeira nas últimas décadas devido à demanda das indústrias no setor florestal em desenvolvimento. O objetivo é identificar a altura representativa da densidade média e otimizar a técnica de obtenção da densidade média da árvore pelas empresas do setor madeireiro. Foram utilizadas seis árvores do gênero Eucalyptus spp. recortadas de um em um metro até a altura comercial (hc). Por meio de equações determinou-se a densidade a 0% de umidade e a densidade básica. Determinou-se um índice de investimento para a melhora nos resultados por meio das demonstrações financeiras. O software Origin Professional Version 7.0 foi utilizado para ajuste das equações do tipo polinomial das variações da densidade e a identificação do ponto de máxima e mínima densidade. A posição ideal de amostragem (PIA) foi encontrado na posição de 0,46hc. O histórico da produtividade tornou-se um bom índice para tornar a empresa eficiente. O estudo possibilitou a viabilidade de redução do número de amostras e demonstrou viabilidade de retirada de um único disco entre 40 e 50% da altura comercial e a produtividade apresentou evidências de um índice confiável de investimento e custo inferior a 1% do lucro líquido. The Brazil has the largest tropical forest of planet. The forestry in State of São Paulo is prevalent in plantation of genus Eucalyptus spp. used for a variable finalities. This species is more planted in short-cicle forest in Brazil and the world. The increase of wood consumption in the last decade, due to industrial demand in the forest sector in development and due for expansive international demand forest products. The density have an expressive evidence how one of the major indices to evaluate the wood quality for companies. The optimization of techniques to determinate the density is very important. The objective of this study was identify the representive tree average size and density in technical optimization to determine the density for sample analysis acquisition. This study used six trees of the genus Eucalyptus spp. the samples was cut in disc form the every one meter, until the commercial height (hc). The density of samples was determinate by direct method to 0% of the humidity. The software Origin Professional Version 7.0 used for adjustment of equations of density variations. The results showed that the Ideal of Sampling Position (PIA) was determined in 0,46hc position. The study concluded the viability of significant number reduction from samples trees and the acquisition of a single disc between 40 and 50 of commercial height. The productivity demonstrated evidence of a reliable index of investment and cost less than 1% of the net. Brasil posee la mayor floresta tropical del planeta. El género Eucalyptus spp se destaca entre las especies más plantadas en Brasil y en el mundo. Hubo un aumento de la utilización de madera en las últimas décadas debido a la demanda de las industrias en el sector forestal en desenvolvimiento. El objetivo es identificar la altura representativa de la densidad media y optimizar la técnica de obtención de la densidad media del árbol por las empresas del sector maderero. Fueron utilizados seis árboles del género Eucalyptus spp. recortados de metro en metro hasta la altura comercial (hc). Por medio de ecuaciones se determinó la densidad a 0% de humedad y la básica. Se determinó un índice de inversión para la mejora en los resultados por medio de demostraciones financieras. El software Origin Professional Version 7.0 fue utilizado para ajuste de las ecuaciones del tipo polinomial de las variaciones de la densidad y a la identificación del punto de máxima y mínima densidad. La posición ideal de muestreo (PIA) fue encontrado en la posición de 0,46hc. El histórico de la productividad se convirtió en un buen índice para tornar la empresa eficiente. El estudio posibilitó la viabilidad de reducción del número de muestras y demostró viabilidad de retirada de un único disto entre 40 e 50% da altura comercial y la productividad presentó evidencia de un índice confiable de inversión y el coste inferior al 1% de la red. Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Departamento de Física e Biofísica, Instituto de Biociências, Botucatu, Distrito de Rubião Júnior, s/n, Rubião Júnior, CEP 18618-970, SP, Brasil Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Departamento de Física e Biofísica, Instituto de Biociências, Botucatu, Distrito de Rubião Júnior, s/n, Rubião Júnior, CEP 18618-970, SP, Brasil