Highest Return On Investment Research Articles

The effects of institutional factors on the return on investment of a university education in the United States of America

Higher education is often framed as a means to social mobility and increased earnings. However, the value of university education in the United States is coming under scrutiny in regard to its costs. This article examines a university education’s return on investment (ROI) from attending different types of universities in the United States. Unlike previous research, this study focuses on the variation of university institutional characteristics and their impact on ROI. This study analysed data from the US Department of Education College Scorecard, focusing on institutional factors, such as public/private, student body characteristics, research intensity, student diversity and selectivity. The results confirm that highly selective universities have a greater ROI, public universities overall have a better ROI, Research 1 universities have the higher ROI and private Research 1 institutions have the highest ROI. Implications for educational administration and university selection criteria are discussed.

Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in iran: the case for Investment

BackgroundNon-communicable diseases are imposing a considerable burden on Iran. This study aims to assess the Return on Investment (ROI) for implementation of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) prevention program in Iran.MethodsFour disease groups including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and respiratory diseases were included in our ROI analysis. The study followed four steps: 1) Estimating the total economic burden of NCDs using the Cost-of-Illness approach. 2) Estimating the total costs of implementing clinical and preventive interventions using an ingredient based costing at delivering level and a program costing method at central level.3) Calculating health impacts and economic benefits of interventions using the impact measures of avoided incidence, avoided mortality, healthy life years (HLYs) gained, and avoided direct treatment costs. 4) Calculating the ROI for each intervention in 5- and 15- year time horizons.ResultsThe total economic burden of NCDs to the Iranian economy was IRR 838.49 trillion per year (2018), which was equivalent to 5% of the country’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The package of NCD will lead to 549 000 deaths averted and 2 370 000 healthy life years gained over 15 years, and, financially, Iranian economy will gain IRR 542.22 trillion over 15 years. The highest ROI was observed for the package of physical activity interventions, followed by the interventions addressing salt, tobacco package and clinical interventions. ConclusionsNCDs in Iran are causing a surge in health care costs and are contributing to reduced productivity. Those actions to prevent NCDs in Iran, as well as yielding to a notable health impact, are giving a good economic return to the society. This study underscores an essential need for establishment of a national multi-sectorial NCD coordination mechanism to bring together and strengthen existing cross-agency initiatives on NCDs.

Profitability of the use of poultry manure for cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) production in Iwollo, Southeastern Nigeria

A field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Enugu state polytechnic, Iwollo, Southeastern Nigeria in 2020 to evaluate the profitability of the use of poultry manure for cucumber production in the area. The study was carried out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The treatment comprised different rates of poultry manure viz; 0 (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 t ha-1. The growth and yield parameters investigated were vine length, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, leaf area index, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare. The data collected on growth and yield parameters were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and treatment means were separated using Fisher's least significant difference (F-LSD) at 5% level of probability. Gross margin (GM) as well Return on Investment (RoI) was calculated to determine the profitability. The results showed that poultry manure significantly (p<0.05) induced higher vine length, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, leave area index, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare compared to control (0 t/ha) with optimum values obtained in 20 t ha-1. The profitability of the use of poultry manure increased with increase in the rate of poultry manure. The highest gross margin (N 3,233,860) was obtained from 20 t ha-1 of poultry manure followed by 15 t ha-1 (N 2,021,020), 10 t ha-1 (N 1,381,748), 5 t ha-1 (N 588,300) and 0 t ha-1(N14,660). Similarly, the highest RoI was obtained in 20 t ha-1 of poultry manure (325.95%) followed by 15 t ha-1 (237.49%); 10 t ha-1 (185%); 5 t ha-1 (93%) and the lowest was in 0 t ha-1 (2.76%). It could be concluded from the study that the use of poultry manure for cucumber production in Iwollo is profitable and most profitable when 20 t ha-1 is used.

Cost-effectiveness and return on investment of school-based health promotion programmes for chronic disease prevention.

BackgroundWhile school-based health prevention programmes are effective in addressing unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, little is known about their economic implications. We conducted an economic evaluation of the programmes that were previously identified as feasible, acceptable, and sustainable in the Canadian context.MethodsThis study builds on a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of feasible, acceptable, and sustainable school-based health promotion programmes. A micro-simulation model incorporated intervention effects on multiple risk factors to estimate incremental cost-effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) of comprehensive school health (CSH), multicomponent, and physical education (PE) curriculum modification programmes. Cost-effectiveness was expressed as the programme costs below which the programme would be cost-effective at a CA$50 000 threshold level.ResultsThe estimated costs below which interventions were cost-effective per quality-adjusted life year gained were CA$682, CA$444, and CA$416 per student for CSH, multicomponent, and PE curriculum modification programmes, respectively. CSH programmes remained cost-effective per year of chronic disease prevented for costs of up to CA$3384 per student, compared to CA$1911 and CA$1987 for multicomponent and PE curriculum modification interventions, respectively. If the interventions were implemented at total discounted intervention costs of CA$100 per student, ROI through the avoidance of direct healthcare costs related to the treatment and management of chronic diseases would be 824% for CSH, 465% for multicomponent interventions, and 484% for PE curriculum modification interventions.ConclusionsWhereas each examined intervention types showed favourable economic benefits, CSH programmes appeared to be the most cost-effective and to have the highest ROI.

Transition to Independent Research Funding Among National Institutes of Health K Grant Awardees at Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports mentored research career development awards (K awards) to increase the pipeline of independently funded scientists. This study analyzed the portfolio of K grants that were awarded to orthopaedic surgery departments and characterized the factors that were associated with successful transition to independent NIH research funding, including R01 grants. This was a retrospective cohort study of K-award recipients in orthopaedic surgery departments in the United States from 1996 to 2018. A query was performed on the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) database for NIH grants that were awarded to departments of orthopaedic surgery, general surgery, otolaryngology, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, and urology. Rates of transition to independent research funding were compared by specialty for K grants that were awarded from 1996 to 2011. The percentage of faculty with mentored research career development awards and the return on investment (ROI) were calculated. An internet and Scopus (Elsevier) database search determined the investigator characteristics. The factors that were associated with successful transition to independent funding were determined via chi-square and unpaired t tests. Sixty K-award recipients were identified in orthopaedic surgery departments. Most were men (77%) and research scientists (53%). Fifty percent of the K-award recipients transitioned to independent research funding. Research scientists had the highest rate of transition to independent research funding (71%, p = 0.016) relative to clinicians (0%) and orthopaedic surgeons (40%). Higher levels of publication productivity were associated with successful transition to independent research funding. Similar rates of transition to independent research funding existed among surgical specialties (p = 0.107). Orthopaedic surgery had the lowest percentage of faculty with a K award (1.4%) but had the highest ROI (198%) of these awards. Orthopaedic surgery had similar rates of transition to independent research funding when compared with other surgical specialties but had a lower prevalence of K awards among faculty. Orthopaedic surgeon-scientists have lower rates of transition to independent research funding when compared with their research-scientist colleagues. These findings highlight a need for greater support to foster the pipeline of future NIH-funded orthopaedic investigators. As the largest support of biomedical research in the U.S., the NIH is an important stakeholder in orthopaedic innovations and discoveries. This study highlights barriers in the procurement of NIH funding across surgical specialties and affirms the need for greater resources toward supporting NIH funding in orthopaedic surgery.

Economic assessment of photovoltaic water pumping integration with dairy milk production

As dairy consumption grows, domestic dairy farms face challenges in reducing the cost of feeds and the production of high-quality milk for market demands. This paper aims to introduce and integrate solar energy into the milk production chain to investigate its economic performance. By collecting data on milk production processes from 11 dairy farms in China, we quantified electricity usage and costs of milk production to identify the best and worst cases. Crop yields response to the water demand and the electricity requirements of the dairy farms were considered. The study simulated scenarios of self-sufficiency at 20%, 80%, and 100%, in the identified farms by integrating a photovoltaic water pumping (PVWP) system to provide both power and water for alfalfa and other feeds’ irrigation and subsequent milk production. We evaluated annual discounted cost, revenue and net profit under each scenario and case. The results showed that a dairy farm with an integrated PVWP system and self-sufficient feeds would lead to value add-ins, such as electricity saving with solar energy generation, economic cost saving of crops, and CO2 emission reduction. The analysis on return on investment (ROI) and internal rate of return (IRR) revealed that not all the self-sufficient feeds can bring positive marginal profit. Among the investigated scenarios and cases, the dairy farm marked out by the highest ROI with 3.12 and IRR with 20.4%, was the farm where the integrated PVWP system was used to reach 20% self-sufficiency (self-production of only alfalfa). The other scenarios and cases with higher levels of self-sufficiency showed lower ROIs and IRRs. This indicates that high self-production levels of feeds decrease the total profit due to high investment cost. Sensitivity analyses of crop price and operational cost were conducted for ROI with single and double factor approaches. Scale and production of feeds proportions should be carefully considered in improving the economic performance of dairy milk production.

Optimal processing network design under uncertainty for producing fuels and value‐added bioproducts from microalgae: Two‐stage adaptive robust mixed integer fractional programming model and computationally efficient solution algorithm

Fractional metrics, such as return on investment (ROI), are widely used for performance evaluation, but uncertainty in the real market may unfortunately diminish the results that are based on nominal parameters. This article addresses the optimal design of a large‐scale processing network for producing a variety of algae‐based fuels and value‐added bioproducts under uncertainty. We develop by far the most comprehensive processing network with 46,704 alternative processing pathways. Based on the superstructure, a two‐stage adaptive robust mixed integer fractional programming model is proposed to tackle the uncertainty and select the robust optimal processing pathway with the highest ROI. Since the proposed problem cannot be solved directly by any off‐the‐shelf solver, we develop an efficient tailored solution method that integrates a parametric algorithm with a column‐and‐constraint generation algorithm. The resulting robust optimal processing pathway selects biodiesel and poly‐3‐hydroxybutyrate as the final fuel and bioproduct, respectively. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 582–600, 2017

Growth and Yield Responses of NSIC Rc11 and Inipot-Ibon to Different Nitrogen Rates under Upland Condition

Two consecutive upland rice wet season croppings (2012-2013) were conducted in Lipa clay loam soil at Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. This was done to determine which among NSIC Rc11 (modern variety) and Inipot-Ibon (traditional variety) applied with six fertilizer rates [kg/ha of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)] with increasing N levels: control (zero fertilizer), 0-0-30, 20-30-30, 40-30-30, 60-30-30, and 80-30-30, will improve plant growth, yield, and profit. NSIC Rc11 was more productive with comparative average grain yields of 2.42-4.70 t/ha compared to Inipot-Ibon with only 1.40-2.20 t/ha during the two cropping seasons. This was due to the higher harvest index, tiller, panicle production, and return on investment (ROI) of NSIC Rc11 compared to Inipot-Ibon. Application of 20-80 kg/ha N plus 30 kg of both P and K significantly increased the grain and straw yields of NSIC Rc11 but not Inipot-Ibon having no significant response to fertilizer application. Highest ROI, though, was observed from the application of 60-30-30 kg/ha NPK to NSIC Rc11. The economic benefit from producing upland rice was very low due to the high cost of production from land preparation and maintenance costs (i.e. herbicides and pesticides application, contract labor for manual weeding). Keywords - itrogen rate, upland rice, yield performance, return on investment, experimental design, Philippines

Deep-Sea Farming of Kappaphycus Using the Multiple Raft, Long-Line Method

Farming practices of Kappaphycus seaweed planters using the multiple raft, long-line method were assessed in three major cultivation areas of Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao. Results show that this cultivation method is appropriate in deeper waters (> 10 m deep). Family labor (6-70 years old) is usually used in the selection and preparation of 'cuttings', unloading of newly harvested crops and drying of seaweeds, while preparation and installation of the raft, tying of 'cuttings' and harvesting, hired labor is needed. Though the multiple raft, long-line method of cultivating Kappaphycus is expensive (PhP 45,742 to PhP 49,785) based on a 500 m 2 raft, return on investment (ROI) is high and the payback period is short. Of the three areas assessed, Maasin had the highest ROI (218 %), followed by Tictauan Island (212 %), and finally Taluksangay (79 %). Consequently, the payback period followed the same order. Seaweed farming in these areas showed a tremendous impact on the quality life of the fisher folk and contributed a high revenue to the national economy.