The concept of the regional innovation system (RIS) has been developed into an important framework for evaluating innovation performance. The study reported in this paper explores the relationship ...between the RIS and the firm's innovation system (FIS) according to the basic premise that firms that better utilize sources of information (SI) available within their regional innovation system (RIS) perform better due effect this has in enhancing the firm's technological innovation capabilities (TICs). The different innovation capabilities of a firm are regarded as the key components of the firm's innovation system. The sources of information available within an RIS include external sources (EXT) and external expert organizations, the latter of which are referred to as knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). This study also explores the dual role of KIBS as both sources of and bridges for innovation in the RIS. Data were obtained through a mailed survey using a self-administered questionnaire. The utilization concept and the dual role of KIBS were verified. The results show that externally available information affects all innovation capabilities of the firm, while external expert organizations affect only the firm's R&D and resources allocation capabilities. This study contributes to the RIS literature by providing empirical evidence on how firms can interact with the RIS by utilizing SI to enhance their TICs and achieve global competitiveness.
Diabetes mellitus is a common comorbidity of atrial fibrillation (AF), which can complicate the management of AF. The pharmacology of oral anticoagulants (OACs) have been implicated in pathogenesis ...of diabetes, but the relationship between different OACs and risk of diabetes remains unexamined. This study aimed to evaluate the risk of diabetes with use of different OACs in AF patients.
Population-based retrospective cohort study using an electronic healthcare database managed by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Patients newly diagnosed with AF from 2014 through 2018 and prescribed OACs were included and followed till December 31, 2019. Inverse probability of treatment weighting based on the propensity score (PS) is used to address potential bias due to nonrandomized allocation of treatment. The risks ofdiabetes were compared between different new OAC users using propensity score-weighted cumulative incidence differences (CID).
There were 13,688 new users of OACs (warfarin: n = 3454; apixaban: n = 3335; dabigatran: n = 4210; rivaroxaban: n = 2689). The mean age was 75.0 (SD, 11.2), and 6,550 (47.9%) were women. After a median follow-up of 0.93 years (interquartile range, 0.21-1.92 years), 698 incident diabetes cases were observed. In Cox-regression analysis, dabigatran use was significantly associated with reduced risk of diabetes when compared with warfarin use HR 0.69 (95% CI 0.56-0.86; P < 0.001), with statistically insignificant associations observed for use of apixaban and rivaroxaban. The corresponding adjusted CIDs at 2 years after treatment with apixaban, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban users when compared with warfarin were - 2.06% (95% CI - 4.08 to 0.16%); - 3.06% (95% CI - 4.79 to - 1.15%); and - 1.8% (- 3.62 to 0.23%). In head-to-head comparisons between women DOAC users, dabigatran was also associated with a lower risk of diabetes when compared with apixaban and rivaroxaban.
Among adults with AF receiving OACs, the use of dabigatran had the lowest risk of diabetes when compared with warfarin use.
The risk of osteoporotic fracture with dabigatran use in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is unknown.
To investigate the risk of osteoporotic fracture with dabigatran vs warfarin ...in patients with NVAF.
Retrospective cohort study using a population-wide database managed by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Patients newly diagnosed with NVAF from 2010 through 2014 and prescribed dabigatran or warfarin were matched by propensity score at a 1:2 ratio with follow-up until July 31, 2016.
Dabigatran or warfarin use during the study period.
Risk of osteoporotic hip fracture and vertebral fracture was compared between dabigatran and warfarin users using Poisson regression. The corresponding incidence rate ratio (IRR) and absolute risk difference (ARD) with 95% CIs were calculated.
Among 51 496 patients newly diagnosed with NVAF, 8152 new users of dabigatran (n = 3268) and warfarin (n = 4884) were matched by propensity score (50% women; mean SD age, 74 11 years). Osteoporotic fracture developed in 104 (1.3%) patients during follow-up (32 dabigatran users 1.0%; 72 warfarin users 1.5%). Results of Poisson regression analysis showed that dabigatran use was associated with a significantly lower risk of osteoporotic fracture compared with warfarin (0.7 vs 1.1 per 100 person-years; ARD per 100 person-years, -0.68 95% CI, -0.38 to -0.86; IRR, 0.38 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.66). The association with lower risk was statistically significant in patients with a history of falls, fractures, or both (dabigatran vs warfarin, 1.6 vs 3.6 per 100 person-years; ARD per 100 person-years, -3.15 95% CI, -2.40 to -3.45; IRR, 0.12 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.33), but not in those without a history (0.6 vs 0.7 per 100 person-years; ARD per 100 person-years, -0.04 95% CI, 0.67 to -0.39; IRR, 0.95 95% CI, 0.45 to 1.96) (P value for interaction, <.001).
Among adults with NVAF receiving anticoagulation, the use of dabigatran compared with warfarin was associated with a lower risk of osteoporotic fracture. Additional study, perhaps including randomized clinical trials, may be warranted to further understand the relationship between use of dabigatran vs warfarin and risk of fracture.
Aim
To examine the associations between variability in lipids and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes based on low‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol ...(LDL‐C), the total cholesterol (TC) to high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol (HDL‐C) ratio and triglycerides (TG).
Materials and methods
A retrospective cohort study included 125 047 primary care patients with type 2 diabetes aged 45‐84 years without CVD during 2008‐2012. The variability of LDL‐C, TC to HDL‐C and TG was determined using the standard deviation of variables in a mixed effects model to minimize regression dilution bias. The associations between variability in lipids and CVD and mortality risk were assessed by Cox regression. Subgroup analyses based on patients’ baseline characteristics were also conducted.
Results
A total of 19 913 CVD events and 15 329 mortalities were recorded after a median follow‐up period of 77.5 months (0.8 million person‐years), suggesting a positive linear relationship between variability in lipids and the risk of CVD and mortality. Each unit increase in the variability of LDL‐C (mmol/L), the TC to HDL‐C ratio and TG (mmol/L) was associated with a 27% (HR: 1.27 95% CI: 1.20‐1.34), 31% (HR:1.31 95% CI: 1.25‐1.38) and 9% (HR: 1.09 95% CI: 1.04‐1.15) increase in the risk of composite endpoint of CVD and mortality, respectively. Age‐specific effects were also found when comparing LDL‐C variability, with patients aged 45‐54 years (HR: 1.70 95% CI: 1.42‐2.02) exhibiting a 53% increased risk for the composite endpoints than those aged 75‐84 years (HR: 1.11 95% CI: 1.01‐1.23). Similar age effects were observed for both the TC to HDL‐C ratio and TG variability. Significant associations remained consistent among most of the subgroups.
Conclusions
Variability in respective lipids are significant factors in predicting CVD and mortality in primary care patients with type 2 diabetes, with the strongest effects related to LDL‐C and the TC to HDL‐C ratio and most significant in the younger age group of patients aged 45‐54 years. Further study is warranted to confirm these findings.
Women with atrial fibrillation are at a higher risk of stroke, despite treatment with warfarin. It is unclear if women treated with direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have better clinical outcomes, ...especially when considering the quality of anticoagulation control of warfarin.
This study compared the effectiveness and safety outcomes of DOACs versus warfarin in men and women with stratifications for anticoagulation control.
Patients newly diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and prescribed oral anticoagulants during 2010 to 2015 were identified using the Hong Kong clinical database. Propensity score matching was performed in men and women separately. Further analysis was conducted to stratify warfarin users according to their anticoagulation control. Cox regression was used to compare the risk of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), gastrointestinal bleeding, and all-cause mortality in the specific sex.
There were 4,972 men and 4,834 women successfully matched in our cohort. Compared with warfarin, DOAC use was associated with a lower risk of ICH (hazard ratio HR: 0.16; 95% confidence interval CI: 0.06 to 0.40) and all-cause mortality (HR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.39 to 0.77) in women but not in men. The treatment by sex interaction was significant for ICH only, and a significantly lower risk of ICH remained in the DOAC group when compared with warfarin users with good anticoagulation control (HR: 0.13; 95% CI: 0.02 to 1.00) among women only. The risks of ischemic stroke or systemic embolism and gastrointestinal bleeding with DOACs versus warfarin were comparable in both sexes.
DOACs were associated with a lower risk of ICH and all-cause mortality in women only, where the association of lower ICH risk remained when compared with warfarin users with good anticoagulation control.
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Many of the cost-effectiveness analyses of apixaban against warfarin focused on Western populations but Asian evidence remains less clear. The present study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of ...apixaban against warfarin in Chinese patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) from a public institutional perspective in Hong Kong.
We used a Markov model incorporating 12 health state transitions, and simulated the disease progression of NVAF in 1,000 hypothetical patients treated with apixaban/warfarin. Risks of clinical events were based on the ARISTOTLE trial and were adjusted with local International Normalized Ratio control, defined as the time in therapeutic range. Real-life input for the model, including patients' demographics and clinical profiles, post-event treatment patterns, and healthcare costs, were determined by a retrospective cohort of 40,569 incident patients retrieved from a Hong Kong-wide electronic medical database. Main outcome measurements included numbers of thromboembolic and bleeding events, life years, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and direct healthcare cost. When comparing apixaban and warfarin, treatment with incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) less than one local GDP per capita (USD 33,534 in 2014) was defined to be cost-effective.
In the lifetime simulation, fewer numbers of events were estimated for the apixaban group, resulting in reduced event-related direct medical costs. The estimated ICER of apixaban was USD 7,057 per QALY at base-case analysis and ranged from USD 1,061 to 14,867 per QALY under the 116 tested scenarios in deterministic sensitivity analysis. While in probabilistic sensitivity analysis, the probability of apixaban being the cost-effective alternative to warfarin was 96% and 98% at a willingness to pay threshold of USD 33,534 and 100,602 per QALY, respectively.
Apixaban is likely to be a cost-effective alternative to warfarin for stroke prophylaxis in Chinese patients with NVAF in Hong Kong.
The effects of a delayed school start time by one hour were examined at a boarding school in Hong Kong. Two cohorts of high school students (N = 228; 61.8% female) were recruited respectively before ...and after a school start time changed from 7:30am to 8:30am. Both cross-cohort and within-cohort longitudinal comparisons yielded significant increase in total sleep time. Cross-cohort comparison yielded improvement in sleep quality, insomnia, life satisfaction, and psychological distress. Longitudinal data suggested that the longer the additional sleep time, the better was sleep quality, day-time functioning, and subjective wellbeing.
Abstract Risky decision-making is subserved by the frontostriatal system, which includes a network of interconnected brain regions known to be dysfunctional in patients with schizophrenia. This study ...aimed to investigate whether and to what extent patients with schizophrenia display a different pattern of risk-taking behavior relative to matched healthy controls. The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and the Risky-Gains Task were used as naturalistic measures of risk-taking behavior in 25 patients with schizophrenia and 25 controls. Results of the BART revealed that patients behaved more conservatively, and this in turn led to suboptimal risky decision-making. Consistently, patients behaved more conservatively in the Risky-Gains Task. Interestingly, however, they adjusted the pattern of risk-taking following a punished trial similar to controls. These findings indicate that patients have impaired reward but preserved punishment processing. This study complements previous studies on decision-making in schizophrenia and suggests specific rather than widespread abnormalities along the frontostriatal system in schizophrenia.
Religiosity and values are correlated. However, it is unclear whether it is because certain values predispose one to becoming and staying religious or whether religious persons are more likely to ...adopt those values. To clarify this ambiguity in directionality, we collected cross-sectional and longitudinal data from a Chinese sample (N = 3,248). We replicated previous findings that Christians and nonbelievers differ on all 10 values in Schwartz's model. Longitudinal analyses further showed that religious affiliation predicted increase in tradition and decline in self-direction, hedonism, and security about three years later. Making finer distinction within the Christian subsample, we showed that vertical faith maturity (relationship with the transcendence) was associated with all values except security, whereas horizontal faith maturity (charity toward fellow human beings) was associated with 7 values. Furthermore, longitudinal analyses revealed that vertical and horizontal faith maturity predicted 2-year changes in some values and in different directions: Vertical faith maturity predicted higher security and lower self-direction around two years later; horizontal faith maturity predicted higher self-direction and lower security around two years later. Evidence of relationship also goes in the opposite direction: Benevolence predicted positive changes in both vertical and horizontal faith maturity. Future assertions on the predictions of directional relationships between religiosity and values should specify the particular value and religiosity dimension.
Concerns regarding the autoimmune safety of COVID-19 vaccines may negatively impact vaccine uptake. We aimed to describe the incidence of autoimmune conditions following BNT162b2 and CoronaVac ...vaccination and compare these with age-standardized incidence rates in non-vaccinated individuals.
This is a descriptive cohort study conducted in public healthcare service settings. Territory-wide longitudinal electronic medical records of Hong Kong Hospital Authority users (≥16 years) were linked with COVID-19 vaccination records between February 23, 2021 and June 30, 2021. We classified participants into first/second dose BNT162b2 groups, first/second dose CoronaVac groups and non-vaccinated individuals for incidence comparison. The study outcomes include hospitalized autoimmune diseases (16 types of immune-mediated diseases across six body systems) within 28 days after first and second dose of vaccination. Age-standardized incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with exact 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Poisson distribution.
This study included around 3.9 million Hong Kong residents, of which 1,122,793 received at least one dose of vaccine (BNT162b2: 579,998; CoronaVac: 542,795), and 721,588 completed two doses (BNT162b2: 388,881; CoronaVac: 332,707). Within 28 days following vaccination, cumulative incidences for all autoimmune conditions were below 9 per 100,000 persons, for both vaccines and both doses. None of the age-standardized incidence rates were significantly higher than the non-vaccinated individuals, except for an observed increased incidence of hypersomnia following the first dose of BNT162b2 (standardized IRR: 1.47; 95% CI: 1.10–1.94).
Autoimmune conditions requiring hospital care are rare following mRNA and inactivated COVID-19 vaccination with similar incidence to non-vaccinated individuals. The association between first dose BNT162b2 vaccination and immune-related sleeping disorders requires further research. Population-based robust safety surveillance is essential to detect rare and unexpected vaccine safety events.
•Severe autoimmune conditions following mRNA and inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccines are rare.•Population-based active surveillance is imperative for vaccine safety monitoring.•Long-term autoimmune safety of COVID-19 vaccine warrants further investigation.
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