Is perfect the enemy of good? Weighing the evidence for biparametric MRI in prostate cancer

Author(s):  
Alexander P Cole ◽  
Bjoern J. Langbein ◽  
Francesco Giganti ◽  
Fiona M. Fennessy ◽  
Clare M. Tempany ◽  
...  

The role of multiparametric MRI in diagnosis, staging and treatment planning for prostate cancer is well established. However there remain several challenges to widespread adoption. One such challenge is the duration and cost the examination. Abbreviated exams omitting contrast enhanced sequences may help address this challenge. In this review, we will discuss the rationale for biparametric MRI (bpMRI) for detection and characterization of clinically significant prostate cancer prior to biopsy and synthesize the published literature. We will weigh up the advantages and disadvantages to this approach and lay out a conceptual cost/benefit analysis regarding adoption of bpMRI.

2007 ◽  
pp. 70-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Demidova

This article analyzes definitions and the role of hostile takeovers at the Russian and European markets for corporate control. It develops the methodology of assessing the efficiency of anti-takeover defenses adapted to the conditions of the Russian market. The paper uses the cost-benefit analysis, where the costs and benefits of the pre-bid and post-bid defenses are compared.


2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-19
Author(s):  
Duncanson V

T his article describes a small study aimed at making a purchasing recommendation to the purchasing manager, providing a cost-benefit analysis of the most commonly used brands of non-sterile latex examination gloves. One of the nine makes of glove tested remained consistent with the agreed criteria for assessment and, if introduced as the only option available, would result in a saving of $15,150 per annum on Site A of a recently merged secondary care Trust. Also, the importance of the consultancy role of the clinical nurse specialist in improving practice was demonstrated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Nesticò ◽  
Shuquan He ◽  
Gianluigi De Mare ◽  
Renato Benintendi ◽  
Gabriella Maselli

The process of allocating financial resources is extremely complex—both because the selection of investments depends on multiple, and interrelated, variables, and constraints that limit the eligibility domain of the solutions, and because the feasibility of projects is influenced by risk factors. In this sense, it is essential to develop economic evaluations on a probabilistic basis. Nevertheless, for the civil engineering sector, the literature emphasizes the centrality of risk management, in order to establish interventions for risk mitigation. On the other hand, few methodologies are available to systematically compare ante and post mitigation design risk, along with the verification of the economic convenience of these actions. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate how these limits can be at least partially overcome by integrating, in the traditional Cost-Benefit Analysis schemes, the As Low as Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) logic. According to it, the risk is tolerable only if it is impossible to reduce it further or if the costs to mitigate it are disproportionate to the benefits obtainable. The research outlines the phases of an innovative protocol for managing investment risks. On the basis of a case study dealing with a project for the recovery and transformation of an ancient medieval village into a widespread-hotel, the novelty of the model consists of the characterization of acceptability and tolerability thresholds of the investment risk, as well as its ability to guarantee the triangular balance between risks, costs and benefits deriving from mitigation options.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Felice Simonelli

This study focuses on the role of the discount rate in cost–benefit analysis (CBA) of regulation, providing a systematic investigation into regulatory practice vis–à–vis the existing economic theories. In the first part, a quick survey of the main economic literature on the social discount rate (SDR) is presented. In the second part, the current institutional practice is investigated, firstly comparing the recommendations on discounting issued by institutional actors in the US (Office of Management Budget, Environmental Protection Agency) and the EU (Commission), and secondly examining the SDRs adopted in two samples of CBAs selected among Regulatory Impact Analyses of US EPA and Impact Assessments of EU Directorate–General for the Environment. A gap exists between economic theory and institutional practice in the selection of the SDR. Regulatory decisions which are based on CBA reflect the most workable economic literature on discounting rather than the most theoretically consistent one, thus yielding less reliable and less robust results. Scholars who aim at improving the quality of rule–making and at fostering the application of CBA in regulatory decisions should improve the “operational validity” of their research, thus providing practitioners with methods that are both consistent and workable.


2012 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Diggs

The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit expired on December 31, 2011. This cost benefit analysis concludes that without the tax credit, the net benefits will be $168.1 billion in net present value from 2012 to 2022. The total costs will be $116.8 billion, primarily imposed upon ethanol producers and farmers. The benefits, realized through improved environmental conditions and stabilized food prices, will save society a total of $284.9 billion. Alternative considerations beyond the scope of this assessment are presented, such as the role of innovation and foreign alternative fuel imports. These considerations will play a significant role in future outcomes from the expiration of the tax credit.


Finisterra ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (72) ◽  
Author(s):  
João Lima Santos

The role of landscape valuation and extended cost-benefit analysis inlandscape conservation decision-making is first addressed. It is stressed that substantial research on how to value alternative conservation schemes is required, in order to cope with emerging policy needs. An analytical frame for the valuation of alternative landscape conservation schemes is then discussed. This frame enablesthe analyst to sequentially disaggregate values for whole landscape changes over attributes. This is an essential operation if the optimal bundle of landscape attributes is to be selected by cost-benefit analysis. The concept of substitution between landscape attributes plays an essential role within the whole analytical frame. The circumstances that lead to anticipate substitution between landscape attributes are explored. A brief review of the alternative empirical strategies for landscape valuation is then carried out, to check whether they permit sequential desegregation of landscape value over attributes. Next, an empirical application to the valuation of landscape attribute changes in the Pennine Dales Environmentally Sensitive Area is presented. The empirical results confirm the idea of the prevalence of substitution in valuation in most practical contexts. To illustrate the potential of the proposed approach, a sequential cost-benefit analysis of attribute changes along consistent paths of aggregation is then carried out – which eventually leads to the selection of optimal bundles of landscape attributes. Some problems and limitations of the approach are also discussed. Among them, the question of non-uniqueness, or path dependency of the optimum is given particular consideration.


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