Evidence regarding the relation between SARS-CoV-2 mortality and the underlying medical condition is scarce. We conducted an observational, retrospective study based on Romanian official data about ...location, age, gender and comorbidities for COVID-19 fatalities. Our findings indicate that males, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and chronic kidney disease were most frequent in the COVID-19 fatalities, that the burden of disease was low, and that the prognosis for 1-year survival probability was high in the sample. Evidence shows that age-dependent pairs of comorbidities could be a negative prognosis factor for the severity of disease for the SARS-CoV 2 infection.
Background:
Price erosion of generic medicines over time as a result of existing pricing policies in combination with increasing operational costs of these products due to high inflation, undermine ...long-term sustainable competition in European off-patent medicines markets. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify new potential pricing models for retail generic medicines in Europe, examine their pros and cons, and illustrate them with examples inside or outside the pharmaceutical sector.
Methods:
A targeted literature review, one-to-one interviews and a joint advisory board meeting with experts from five European countries were carried out to assess potential pricing models for generic medicines.
Results:
We identified ten pricing models that can be applied to generic medicines. The tiered pricing model is viewed as a sustainable solution ensuring competitiveness, but requires market monitoring using a supportive IT infrastructure. De-linking the price of generic medicines from that of the off-patent originator medicine prevents the originator from forcing generic medicines’ prices to unsustainable levels. Higher costs due to inflation can be compensated in the automatic indexation model. Other pricing models that have less implementation potential include the one-in-one/multiple-out model, tax credits, value-based pricing, volume for savings and guaranteed margin/fee models. The hypothecated tax and cost allocation models, which add a patient fee to generic medicines prices, are not likely to be socially acceptable.
Conclusion:
When considering a new pricing model for generic medicines, the impact on innovative medicines and the characteristics of the healthcare system in a given country need to be taken into account. Also, there is a need to continuously follow up the level of competition in off-patent medicines markets and to identify sustainability risks.
One of the major obstacles to the full implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) tobacco control measures is the lack of sustainable ...financing resources.
To update and simulate country-specific indicators that are highly relevant to the costs and financial resources of the treaty policy implementation. We also developed an Excel tool for simulation and assessed the aggregated-level indicators by the 2016 World Bank income groups.
Using mostly 2016 data or 2014-15 data if 2016 one are not available, we updated five indicators relevant to the treaty implementation, which are the gap between current and desirable policy implementation, cigarette affordability, the costs of implementing best- buy tobacco control policies, the number of smoking-attributable deaths, and the simulated tax revenue resulting from a $1 tax increase. We also aggregated indicators and simulation results by the World Bank income groups, encompassing the five indicators and the reduction in smoking and in attributable deaths due to a hypothetical 1I$ tax increase. Finally, the policy implementation cost was compared with tax revenue and revenue increases.
As of 2016, smoking remains one of the leading causes of premature deaths worldwide while the implementation of best-buy tobacco control policies was below the recommended levels. Meanwhile, there was room to further increase cigarette taxes and prices, as cigarettes remained affordable in many countries. The total costs of implementing best-buy policies in the next 15 years merely account for 8.3% of the 2016 excise tax revenue, indicating that a small proportion of annual tax revenue could fund the implementation of tobacco control policies recommended by the WHO FCTC.
Increasing taxes could have a multiplier impact on curbing tobacco use through aiding the implementation of the WHO FCTC.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
The use of patient‐reported outcomes (PRO) in clinical practice is gaining increasing attention. This study aimed to provide a critical assessment of the current state‐of‐the‐art and ...beliefs about the use of PRO in the management of people with epilepsy across some European countries.
Methods
Structured interviews were conducted with European experts to collect insights about (I) the personal experience with PRO; (II) the value and impact of PRO in the decision‐making process at the national level; and (III) the interest for and use of PRO by national health authorities.
Results
Nine neurologists (Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, and United Kingdom), three health economists (Portugal, Romania, and Sweden), and one epidemiologist (Slovakia) participated. They all stated that PRO are collected at their own countries in the context of clinical trials and/or specific projects. During everyday clinical practice, PRO are collected routinely/almost routinely in Austria and Sweden and only at the discretion of the treating physicians in Czechia, Denmark, France, Greece, and Portugal. There was complete consensus about the favorable impact that the PRO can have in terms of clinical outcomes, healthcare resources utilization, and general patient satisfaction. Only participants from Portugal and Sweden answered that the PRO are perceived as very important by the National Health Authorities of their respective countries.
Conclusions
Differences exist in attitudes and perspectives about PRO in epilepsy across Europe. An active plan is warranted to harmonize the measurement of PRO and ensure they can be relevant to people with epilepsy and health services.
species are known for their ability to form biofilms, which contributes to their survival in extreme environments and involvement in persistent bacterial infections, especially in the case of ...multi-drug-resistant strains. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying biofilm formation in clinically important species such as
and the less studied but increasingly multi-drug-resistant
, and explores potential strategies for their eradication. Biofilm formation in
involves a complex interplay of genes and virulence factors, including gelatinase, cytolysin, Secreted antigen A, pili, microbial surface components that recognize adhesive matrix molecules (MSCRAMMs), and DNA release. Quorum sensing, a process of intercellular communication, mediated by peptide pheromones such as Cob, Ccf, and Cpd, plays a crucial role in coordinating biofilm development by targeting gene expression and regulation. Additionally, the regulation of extracellular DNA (eDNA) release has emerged as a fundamental component in biofilm formation. In
, the autolysin N-acetylglucosaminidase and proteases such as gelatinase and serin protease are key players in this process, influencing biofilm development and virulence. Targeting eDNA may offer a promising avenue for intervention in biofilm-producing
infections. Overall, gaining insights into the intricate mechanisms of biofilm formation in
may provide directions for anti-biofilm therapeutic research, with the purpose of reducing the burden of
-associated infections.
Abstract We aim to clarify the usefulness of different measures of economic resilience in the context of global shocks. In relation to the Great Recession, Oil& European migrant crises, and COVID-19, ...we compute and validate from a statistical point of view, then characterize five metrics on 317 NUTS2 regions and 21 years. ROC curves and Cox regression compare them by the capacity to predict the post-shock state. Heterogenous behavior characterizes resistance, recovery, and loss. Furthermore, the non-linear resistance performs best in future state prediction, while the composite index has the lowest efficiency as a predictor of the regions’ recovery.
(1) Background: The rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria poses a significant threat to public health worldwide, necessitating innovative solutions. This study explores the role of Clustered ...Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) in the context of antibiotic resistance among different species from the Enterococcus genus. (2) Methods: The genomes of Enterococcus included in the study were analyzed using CRISPRCasFinder to distinguish between CRISPR-positive (level 4 CRISPR) and CRISPR-negative genomes. Antibiotic resistance genes were identified, and a comparative analysis explored potential associations between CRISPR presence and antibiotic resistance profiles in Enterococcus species. (3) Results: Out of ten antibiotic resistance genes found in Enterococcus species, only one, the efmA gene, showed a strong association with CRISPR-negative isolates, while the others did not significantly differ between CRISPR-positive and CRISPR-negative Enterococcus genomes. (4) Conclusion: These findings indicate that the efmA gene may be more prevalent in CRISPR-negative Enterococcus genomes, and they may contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes in Enterococcus species.
•Three-phase four-wire loads can be balanced by a Balancing Capacitive Compensator.•Variable load can be balanced by an Adaptive Balancing Capacitive Compensator-ABCC.•A Static Var Compensator type ...ABCC is a high efficiency solution.•This article presents and validates a new method of sizing an ABCC.
Nowadays, there is an increasing development of equipment type Custom Power Devices (CPDs) designed to ensure a high level of electrical power quality at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). Most of these devices are built as advanced power electronics applications, such as the Switching Power Converters (SPCs) category. However, for a wide range of applications in consumer installations and electricity distribution operators, such as power factor correction, load balancing, voltage regulation, or flicker mitigation, the reactive power compensators based on passive circuit elements, Reactive Power Compensators (RPCs) are successfully used. The most efficient RPCs are those built so that they may adapt to variable regimes, known as Static Var Compensators (SVCs). Two of the usual functions of a SVC, namely power factor improvement and load balancing in a three-phase distribution network, can be achieved simultaneously by using an unbalanced SVC built in the version of Adaptive Balancing Reactive Compensator (ABRC). The paper briefly–outlines the mathematical model and operation of a Balancing Reactive Compensator (BRC) for a three-phase four-wire network. Then, moves on to develop a direct method of sizing based on equations that directly link the susceptances’ values of the compensator with the real and imaginary components of load sequence currents. The problem is to determine the weight of these components, meaning their degree of compensation, by requiring only capacitive or null susceptances and avoiding capacitive over-compensation of positive sequence currents. Thus, a particular case of BRC, i.e. a Balancing Capacitive Compensator (BCC) is obtained, which keeps the same functions, but has the advantage of reducing costs by eliminating high-power single-phase coils and by simplifying the compensation control system. The paper also presents the numerical results and the conclusions of a case study on the application of the method, performed using two computational and modeling software tools. Experimental laboratory determinations and modeling under nonsinusoidal conditions complete the analysis. The results demonstrate the correctness of the new method of solving the sizing problem and once again validate the unbalanced capacitive compensation as an efficient method of power factor improvement and load balancing at a PCC belonging to a three-phase four-wire distribution network.
Nowadays, improving the power quality at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) between the consumers’ installations and the distribution system operators’ installations depends more and more on the use ...of specialized equipment, able to intervene in the network to eliminate or diminish the disturbances. The reactive power compensators remain valid solutions for applications in consumer and electricity distribution, in those situations when the criterion regarding the costs of installing and operating the equipment is more important than the ones related to the reaction speed or the control accuracy. This is also the case of the equipment for power factor improvement and load balancing in a three-phase distribution network. The two functions can be achieved simultaneously by using an unbalanced static var compensator, known as an adaptive balancing compensator, achieved by adjusting the equivalent parameters of circuits containing single-phase coils and capacitor banks. The paper presents the mathematical model for the sizing and operation of a balancing reactive compensator for a three-phase four-wire network and then presents some resizing methods to convert it into a balancing capacitive compensator, having the same functions. The mathematical model is then validated by a numerical application, modelling with a specialized software tool, and by experimental laboratory determinations. The paper contains strong arguments to support the idea that a balancing capacitive compensator becomes a very advantageous solution in many industrial applications.
Developed to achieve the balancing of three-phase loads and improve their power factor, the BCC (Balancing Capacitive Compensator) is presented in this paper as having a broader capability, namely ...that of balancing the two-way power flow. BCCs are becoming useful in today’s distribution networks with a high content of DERs (Distributed Energy Resources), where unbalanced power transfers to the higher voltage network occur more and more frequently as a result of the excess power generated. The article contains a case study in which, by means of Matlab-Simulink 2021 modelling, such a network is studied by considering two regimes corresponding to the two-way power flow. The numerical analysis of phase components and sequence components confirms the validity of the mathematical model concerning the BCC and also for the case of changing the way of power flow in the section controlled by the compensator. This demonstrates the possibility of extending the load balancing function of the BCC to that of balancing the two-way power flow and is an additional argument in support of replacing, in the more or less near future, conventional shunt capacitive compensators with capacitive balancing compensators.
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