No description available.

No description available.

South African medical schemes (health insurance or medical aid) companies offer insurance to the general public in the form of a multitude of different schemes. Each scheme has its own unique range of benefits, but certain exclusions apply across the board in respect of all schemes operated by a medical aid. In this research report, I investigate the rationale and necessity, as well as some of the ethical and legal implications of numerous notable exclusions. I further make relevant recommendations with respect to their application within the legal and ethical framework of the South Africa’s Consumer Protection Act, No. 68 of 2010.

BACKGROUND: Until recently budget allocation for public hospitals in the Gauteng Province were based on the historical values and not on the costed activities. It is therefore unknown how much of the allocated budget is used per discipline in an institution. Because of recurrent over expenditure by institutions, Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development have decided to change policy for budget allocation of funding public health facilities from historical allocation to activity based costing. Although good financial management of hospitals is a priority for the government, data on real costs of providing health care services is scarce and unreliable. No formal study has been done to estimate the cost to provide inpatient services in the Helen Joseph Hospital, a regional hospital in the Gauteng Province. In view of that, it was decided to initiate this study at the Orthopaedic unit of the Hospital, which would then be extended to the other units. AIM: To estimate the caseload, profile of patients and operational cost of providing the inpatient orthopaedics services at a regional hospital in Gauteng. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study design was used based on retrospective review of patients’ and hospital records of patients admitted during one month study period at the two Orthopaedic Ward in the Helen Joseph Hospital, situated in the Johannesburg Health District in the Gauteng Province. RESULTS: Total number of patients admitted in the Orthopaedic Unit of the Hospital in the year 2009/2010 was 2160 (The mean number of inpatients per month was 180 ± 28). Profile of patients One hundred and ninety seven patients were admitted during one month study period. There were more male than female patients. The median age was 41 years (IQR 31-53 years). More black patients were admitted during this period, even though the main catchment population for the Hospital is predominantly white and coloured. The majority of patients were from a low socio-economic class as reflected by their classification for user fee payment using the means test. The median inpatient day was 3. The most common cause of admissions is due to injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes as expected in an Orthopaedic Ward. A low complication rate (4.5%) was found to be the lowest as compared to other units in the Hospital. The majority of patients were discharged. Cost drivers The major cost driver was human resource which accounted for 70% of the total expenditure. Other cost drivers were material resources used in the unit, which includes: laboratory, blood and blood products, radiology and pharmaceuticals. Expenditure on these items account for only 13.7% of total expenditure. Cost driver Amount Unit cost Laboratory R61,215.57 R412.26 Blood and blood products R53,164.41 R269.87 Radiology R52,085.50 R264.39 Pharmaceuticals R17,315.82 R87.90 The total expenditure during this period was R 1,481,363.30 or R 17,776,359.60 annually. The unit cost of laboratory services (Ward 4: R926.30 and Ward 5: R272.97), blood and blood products (Ward 4: R463.05 and Ward 5: R217.52), radiology (Ward 4: R659.97 and Ward 5: R157.20) and pharmaceuticals (Ward 4: R236.63 and Ward 5: R47.60) and varied significantly between Ward 4 and Ward 5 which might be due to difference in clinical practices between the two Wards. CONCLUSION: This study showed the operational costs needed to provide an inpatient orthopaedic service at a regional health facility. Further study based on more detailed costing at individual patient level is necessary to develop a better understanding of costing at these Wards. This study highlighted the significance of understanding the importance of determining the actual costs needed to provide an inpatient service in a health facility. Simple cost analysis method could easily be done at Unit/ Ward level to provide more insight to Hospital managers who are always criticized for overexpenditure.

公司廣告支出的意欲如何受行業的競爭激烈程度影響？除了行業的集中度，競爭的激烈程度可以在多種不同的情況下改變，包括制度變遷等，從而影響一間公司在未來存在的可能性。此外，一間公司對於其未來的生存機會，以及未來利潤的預期，均會影響其廣告支出。本文旨在探討公司如何在不同的競爭程度下，作出廣告支出的決策。本文透過公司與消費者之間的信息不對稱的信號傳遞模型，提出一個闡釋競爭與廣告的簡單理論。 / How are advertising incentives affected by the level of competition? Apart from the concentration levels, the intensity of competition can be altered in many different ways, including institutional changes which affect a firm’s existence in the future. Also, advertising incentives are influenced by anticipated future profits and hence the firm’s chance of survival. This paper aims to investigate how advertising decisions are made under different levels of competition. It proposes a simple theory of competition and advertising, through a signaling model with information asymmetry between a firm and a consumer. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Yuen, Shuk In Jacqueline. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 26-27). / Abstracts also in Chinese.

Thesis. 1977. M.Arch.A.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references. / by John I. Meyer, Jr. / M.Arch.A.S.

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Optimization programming techniques were applied to develop the least cost formulations for Pacific whiting surimi-based seafood (PWSBS). To develop the quality constraint functions, texture and color of whiting surimi gels were determined by torsion test and colorimeter, respectively. Whiting surimi gels were produced by heating at 90��C for 15 min. with 2% NaCl, five final moisture contents (74, 76, 78, 80, 82%), and various combinations of beef plasma protein (0-2%), potato starch (0-8%), and two whey protein concentrates (0-8%). Due to the non-linear constraint functions describing texture and color, a non-linear programming search technique was required to solve the least cost model for PWSBS. Results for target quality constraints are reported in this study and show that whey protein concentrate increases the texture properties and can remain economically competitive with other ingredients which similarly influence functionality in PWSBS. Water holding capacity indicated by thermal transition was also studied as a measure of gel quality. The water evaporization process was quantified using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for surimi gels with added potato starch or whey protein concentrate. Pacific whiting surimi gels were produced by heating in a sealed DSC pan from 30 to 90��C at a rate of 5��C/min.; gelled samples were then re-heated from 30 to 180��C at 2��C/min. in an open pan using an equivalent water mass as a reference. The DSC thermogram showed one exothermic peak followed by one endothermic peak, the former indicating a relative energy flow from the protein gels due to the delayed water evaporation. DSC parameters derived in this study showed good correlation with the texture properties of protein gels. The addition of whey protein concentrate and the increase of heating rate increased the water holding capacity of whiting surimi gels. / Graduation date: 1996

Studies assessing the electricity generation cost of various power generating technologies are becoming increasingly common and references to such studies can often be heard in the public debate. Different studies do however often present significantly different results. This is a problem as electricity generation cost assessments are important when it comes to choosing and designing future energy systems. In this thesis, existing electricity generation cost assessments are reviewed and issues and differences with current methodologies are investigated. As many of the reviewed studies lack detailed sensitivity analyses, an electricity generation cost model has been implemented in order to shed some light on the sensitivity in the produced results. The thesis shows that different methodological approaches and assumptions have a significant impact on electricity generation cost results. The habit of generalising electricity generation costs in a public context can also be questioned. Generation costs tend to be site-specific and sensitive to changes in input parameters. Another finding is that current methodologies are not suitable for comparing intermittent and dispatchable power generating technologies. The reasons are missing electricity system cost perspective and failure to account for differences in production profiles.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Richard Feiock, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, School of Public Administration and Policy. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 2, 2003). Includes bibliographical references.