This paper describes the Italian real estate investment funds industry, providing an overview of the distinctive features and risk factors of this sector. By using accounting and supervisory data, we: (1) compute the returns of the real estate assets in the portfolio of these funds; (2) construct a price index and a total return index of the real estate assets held by the Italian funds; (3) def...

Few therapeutic interventions have been so widely researched, evaluated, and commented on as cardiac surgery, and in particular coronary revascularization. Aspects related to outcomes and the appropriateness of indications have, among many others, received much attention. This type of research is driven by many interest groups, including heart surgeons, cardiologists, epidemiologists, health ca...

Solving complicated problems in a contemporary knowledge-based society requires higher-order thinking (HOT). The most productive way to encourage development of HOT in students is through use of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) model. This model organizes learning by solving corresponding problems relative to study courses. Students are directed to develop HOT skills needed for problem-solving ...

Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is a construct of increasing importance in modern healthcare, and has typically been assessed using retrospective instruments. While such measures have been shown to have predictive utility for clinical outcomes, several cognitive biases associated with human recall and current mood state may undermine their validity and reliability. Retrospective tools ca...

The rapid change in our entire life influences directly or indirectly the systems that controls our knowledge, skills and behaviour. The evolution of our culture is one of the major indicators for this change. Our educational system has been influenced by this rapid change over the time and technology is increasingly used in learning settings. Assessment as a part of the educational system is e...

BACKGROUND The purpose of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is to make the best possible summary of the evidence regarding specific health interventions in order to influence health care and policy decisions. The need for decision makers to find relevant HTA data when it is needed is a barrier to its usefulness. These barriers are highest in rural areas and amongst isolated practitioners. ME...

In performing risk assessments for plant protection products by applicants or regulators in relation to the registration of the products, an important aspect to take into account is the foliar interception and retention of the active substance of the product on the plant. An overview is given of the approaches to this item in several parts of the world. The relevant circumstances and influencin...

Independent regulatory agencies (IRAs) for Health Technology Assessment (HTA) are a key means by which national governments have responded to the challenge of ensuring equitable public access to a new range of medicines and treatment options within the context of limited national budgets for healthcare. In this paper, we apply a regulatory governance frame to the study of the Swedish process fo...

BACKGROUND Formalized and systematic assessment of survivorship care and rehabilitation needs is prerequisite for ensuring cancer patients sufficient help and support through their cancer trajectory. Patients are often uncertain as to how to express and address their survivorship care and rehabilitation needs, and little is known about specific, unmet needs and the plans necessary to meet them....

The Organisation of European Cancer Institutes OECI working group on Health Economics and Cost Benefit in Oncology suggests four actions that are needed to improve alignment and integration between clinicians, researchers, and Health Technology Assessment (HTA) experts and agencies: 1) HTA expertise is necessary close to or within the comprehensive cancer centres (CCC); 2) HTA expertise should ...