Decision-usefulness of ideal cost- and ideal value accounting for valuation and stewardship

This paper contrasts the decision-usefulness of prototype accounting regimes based on perfect accounting for value, i.e. ideal value accounting (IVA), and perfect matching of cost, i.e. ideal cost accounting (ICA). The regimes are analyzed in the context of a firm with overlapping capacity investments where projects earn excess returns and residual income is utilized as performance indicator. Provided that IVA and ICA systematically differ based on the criterion of unconditional conservatism, we assess their respective decision-usefulness for different valuation- and stewardship-scenarios. Assuming that addressees solely observe current accounting data of the firm, ICA provides information which is useful for valuation and stewardship without reservation whereas IVA entails problems under specific assumptions.

Empfehlungen zur Diagnostik und Therapie der behavioralen und psychologischen Symptome der Demenz (BPSD)

In patients with dementia, Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) are frequent findings that accompany deficits caused by cognitive impairment and thus complicate diagnostics, therapy and care. BPSD are a burden both for affected individuals as well as care-givers, and represent a significant challenge for therapy of a patient population with high degree of multi-morbidity. The goal of this therapy-guideline issued by swiss professional associations is to present guidance regarding therapy of BPSD as attendant symptoms in dementia, based on evidence as well as clinical experience. Here it appears to be of particular importance to take into account professional experience, as at this point for most therapeutic options no sufficiently controlled clinical trials are available. A critical discussion of pharmaco-therapeutic intervention is necessary, as this patient-population is particularly vulnerable for medication side-effects. Finally, a particular emphasis is placed on incorporating and systematically reporting psycho-social and nursing options therapeutic intervention.

Knowledge and valuation of Andean agroforestry species: the role of sex, age, and migration among members of a rural community in Bolivia

Background Agroforestry is a sustainable land use method with a long tradition in the Bolivian Andes. A better understanding of people’s knowledge and valuation of woody species can help to adjust actor-oriented agroforestry systems. In this case study, carried out in a peasant community of the Bolivian Andes, we aimed at calculating the cultural importance of selected agroforestry species, and at analysing the intracultural variation in the cultural importance and knowledge of plants according to peasants’ sex, age, and migration. Methods Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews and freelisting exercises. Two ethnobotanical indices (Composite Salience, Cultural Importance) were used for calculating the cultural importance of plants. Intracultural variation in the cultural importance and knowledge of plants was detected by using linear and generalised linear (mixed) models. Results and discussion The culturally most important woody species were mainly trees and exotic species (e.g. Schinus molle, Prosopis laevigata, Eucalyptus globulus). We found that knowledge and valuation of plants increased with age but that they were lower for migrants; sex, by contrast, played a minor role. The age effects possibly result from decreasing ecological apparency of valuable native species, and their substitution by exotic marketable trees, loss of traditional plant uses or the use of other materials (e.g. plastic) instead of wood. Decreasing dedication to traditional farming may have led to successive abandonment of traditional tool uses, and the overall transformation of woody plant use is possibly related to diminishing medicinal knowledge. Conclusions Age and migration affect how people value woody species and what they know about their uses. For this reason, we recommend paying particular attention to the potential of native species, which could open promising perspectives especially for the young migrating peasant generation and draw their interest in agroforestry. These native species should be ecologically sound and selected on their potential to provide subsistence and promising commercial uses. In addition to offering socio-economic and environmental services, agroforestry initiatives using native trees and shrubs can play a crucial role in recovering elements of the lost ancient landscape that still forms part of local people’s collective identity.

Valuation of ecosystem goods and services. Part 2: Implications of unpredictable novel change

This is the second part of a two-part paper which offers a new approach to the valuation of ecosystem goods and services. In the first part a simple pre-industrial model was introduced to show how the interdependencies between the three subsystems, society, economy and nature, influence values, and how values change over time. In this second part the assumption of perfect foresight is dropped. I argue that due to novelty and complexity ex ante unpredictable change occurs within the three subsystems society, economy and nature. Again the simple pre-industrial model, which was introduced in part 1, serves as a simple paradigm to show how unpredictable novel change limits the possibility to derive accurate estimates of values.

[Collagenase injection in Dupuytren's disease, evaluation of the ultrasound assisted technique].

Since October 2011, the enzymatic lysis of Dupuytren's cord was introduced in Switzerland (Xiapex(®), Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer). Here we present our first university experience and underline the major role of ultrasound during the injection. Between December 2011 and February 2013, 52 injections were performed to eliminate 43 Dupuytren's cords in 33 patients. The mean age of the patients was 64.4 ± 8.5 years. Complications were documented for each patient. Before, directly after and after a minimum of 6 months post-injection, the contracture of the treated joint was measured with use of a goniometer. The DASH score was evaluated after a minimum of 6 months and the patients were asked to subjectively evaluate the outcome of the treatment (very good, good, mild, poor) and whether they would reiterate it if necessary. Four skin defects, one lymphangitis, and one CRPS were responsible for a complication rate of 18%. There was no infection and no tendon rupture in the series. The mean MCP joint contracture was respectively 36.8 ± 27.4°, 3.5 ± 7.8° (gain of mobility compared to the preoperative situation 33.3°, P<0.001), and 8.4 ± 13.9° (gain 28.4°, P<0.001) respectively before, just after and at the long-term clinical control. The mean PIP joint contracture was respectively 36.5 ± 29.1°, 5.9 ± 6.7° (gain 30.6°, P<0.001), and 15.1 ± 13.8° (gain 21.4°, P<0.001) respectively before injection, just after and at the long-term clinical control. The DASH score decreased from 24 ± 14 to 7 ± 9 (P<0.001). Eighty-one per cent of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied of the treatment. All but two would reiterate the treatment if necessary. Ultrasound is able to target the injection of collagenase in order to reduce complications. The short-term results of this non-invasive therapy are very promising however comparison with conventional procedures is difficult as the long-term results are lacking.

Interactions between dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex underlie context-dependent stimulus valuation in goal-directed choice.

External circumstances and internal bodily states often change and require organisms to flexibly adapt valuation processes to select the optimal action in a given context. Here, we investigate the neurobiology of context-dependent valuation in 22 human subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subjects made binary choices between visual stimuli with three attributes (shape, color, and pattern) that were associated with monetary values. Context changes required subjects to deviate from the default shape valuation and to integrate a second attribute in order to comply with the goal to maximize rewards. Critically, this binary choice task did not involve any conflict between opposing monetary, temporal, or social preferences. We tested the hypothesis that interactions between regions of dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (dlPFC; vmPFC) implicated in self-control choices would also underlie the more general function of context-dependent valuation. Consistent with this idea, we found that the degree to which stimulus attributes were reflected in vmPFC activity varied as a function of context. In addition, activity in dlPFC increased when context changes required a reweighting of stimulus attribute values. Moreover, the strength of the functional connectivity between dlPFC and vmPFC was associated with the degree of context-specific attribute valuation in vmPFC at the time of choice. Our findings suggest that functional interactions between dlPFC and vmPFC are a key aspect of context-dependent valuation and that the role of this network during choices that require self-control to adjudicate between competing outcome preferences is a specific application of this more general neural mechanism.

Does the Use of Mobile Devices (Tablets and Smartphones) Affect Stated Choice Behavior in Web Surveys? An Application to Environmental Valuation

Web surveys are becoming increasingly popular in survey research. Compared with face-to-face, telephone and mail surveys, web surveys may contain a different and new source of measurement error and bias: the type of device that respondents use to answer the survey questions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that tests whether the use of mobile devices affects survey characteristics and stated preferences in a web-based choice experiment. The web survey was carried out in Germany with 3,400 respondents, of which 12 per cent used a mobile device (i.e. tablet or smartphone), and comprised a stated choice experiment on externalities of renewable energy production using wind, solar and biomass. Our main finding is that survey characteristics such as interview length and acquiescence tendency are affected by the device used. In contrast to what might be expected, we find that, compared with respondents using desktop computers and laptops, mobile device users spent more time to answer the survey and are less likely to be prone to acquiescence bias. In the choice experiment, mobile device users tended to be more consistent in their stated choices, and there are differences in willingness to pay between both subsamples.