Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Economic Development”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,189 records · Page 66Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Measuring the indirect and direct costs of acute otitis media.

OBJECTIVES: To test a method of measuring the related cost of acute otitis media (AOM) and to provide a preliminary calculation of the indirect and directs costs associated with a single, medically treated episode of AOM. DESIGN: The Otitis Media Diary was used to measure indirect and direct costs associated with AOM in a prospective cohort study. Measured values included the parental time spent in otitis-specific child care and the number and type of medications used. A previously developed economic model was used to calculate the monetary costs associated with the value of caregiver time and the total opportunity cost of AOM. SETTING: The pediatric clinic of Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Wash. PATIENTS: A cohort of 25 children (12 with AOM and 13 controls) aged 1 to 3 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Caregiver time and medication use. RESULTS: The total cost attributable to AOM in the 3-month period following diagnosis was $1330.58 (95% confidence interval, $1008.75-$1652.43), with the majority of that cost stemming from the indirect, rather than direct, costs of illness. After conservative estimates of unmeasured expenses, such as clinic visits and transportation, were accounted for, indirect costs, accrued primarily by parental time, accounted for nearly 90% (95% confidence interval, 87.1%-92.3%) of the total 3-month cost associated with AOM and its medical treatment. The cost items of the Otitis Media Diary were also highly correlated with each other and with other measures of clinical and functional health status. CONCLUSIONS: Otitis Media Diary measures of parental time and medication use appear to provide a more accurate means of calculating the real social costs attributable to the AOM disease process in this cost-effectiveness analysis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

Considerations on photochemical genotoxicity: report of the International Workshop on Genotoxicity Test Procedures Working Group.

Recent toxicological observations have caused concern regarding the need to test, for example, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products for photochemical genotoxicity. The objective of this report is to give assistance on how to adapt existing test methods to investigate the potential of light-absorbing compounds to induce genotoxic effects on photoactivation. In general, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation & Economic Development (OECD) draft guideline on in vitro phototoxicity testing served as a basis for consideration. Concomitant exposure of the cells to the test compound and solar simulated light was considered appropriate as the initial, basic test condition. Optimization of the exposure scheme, e.g., a change of the irradiation spectrum, might be indicated depending on the initial test results. Selection of test compound concentrations should be based on results obtained with the dark version of the respective test system but might have to be modified if phototoxic effects are observed. Selection of the irradiation dose has to be performed individually for each test system based on dose-effect studies. The irradiation should induce per se a small, reproducible toxic or genotoxic effect. The report includes a specification of necessary controls, discusses factors that might have an impact on the irradiation characteristics, and gives a rationale for the omission of an external metabolic activation system. It also addresses the question that physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties might trigger the need to test a chemical for photochemical genotoxicity. Relevant experimental observations are presented to back up the recommendations. The working group did not reach a consensus as to whether a single, adequately perfomed in vitro test for clastogenicity would be sufficient to exclude a photogenotoxic liability or whether a test battery including a gene mutation assay would be needed for product safety testing regarding photochemical genotoxicity.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Costs of polio immunization days in China: implications for mass immunization campaign strategies.

Ten provinces of China were selected to estimate the cost per immunization of the 1994-95 national immunization days (NIDs) at five levels (e.g. province, prefecture, county, township and village). Personnel costs accounted for the largest overall share of costs (39 per cent), followed by publicity and promotion costs (27 per cent), and logistic costs (15 per cent). Without consideration of vaccine costs, the major part of NID expenses were shouldered at the township level, which paid for 47 per cent of all incremental costs, while county and village level covered 28 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. Estimation of average costs per immunization was 2.86 RMB yuan, or $0.34, including vaccine costs, buildings and equipment amortization and salaries at all levels. The factors affecting average cost of NID included the output volume, socio-economic development and geographic features. Various approaches were recommended: to intensify the productivity of time and staff, to employ alternative inexpensive manpower resources, to make the best use of publicity and social promotion, the expansion of the age groups and utilization of multi-intervention strategies. Good planning at township level was a decisive factor to ensure an effective NID conducted in an efficient manner. The average cost of China's NID was the lowest among all mass immunization campaigns ever documented. Much of the reduced average cost was attributable to economies of scale.

Catchment Area, Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Feasibility of mobile provision of health services: a study of child monitoring centres in The Netherlands.

In the Netherlands children up to the age of 4 years are regularly monitored. Several demographic and economic developments have led to the idea of using mobile child monitoring centres. Mobile units are expected to be flexible, effective and efficient but little information is available about the implications for the organization, the clients and other third parties involved. This paper outlines an approach for assessing the feasibility of mobile child monitoring centres. The focus is on the area Midden-Gelderland in the Netherlands and the implications of alternative options are compared on the basis of feasibility criteria or performance measures. The implementation of mobile units for child monitoring appears to be feasible with respect to most performance measures but there are also disadvantages. The approach taken proved to be a valuable exercise since it provided detailed information on all implications. It was decided that the mobile units would not be purchased but that some child monitoring centres could be closed without replacing them.

Benchmarking↗
PubMed1999

Genomics and the biology of parasites.

Despite the advances of modern medicine, the threat of chronic illness, disfigurement, or death that can result from parasitic infection still affects the majority of the world population, retarding economic development. For most parasitic diseases, current therapeutics often leave much to be desired in terms of administration regime, toxicity, or effectiveness and potential vaccines are a long way from market. Our best prospects for identifying new targets for drug, vaccine, and diagnostics development and for dissecting the biological basis of drug resistance, antigenic diversity, infectivity and pathology lie in parasite genome analysis, and international mapping and gene discovery initiatives are under way for a variety of protozoan and helminth parasites. These are far from ideal experimental organisms, and the influence of biological and genomic characteristics on experimental approaches is discussed, progress is reviewed and future prospects are examined.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

A comparison of Hodgkin's disease in Alameda County, California, and Connecticut: histologic subtype and age distribution.

A comparison of the histologic patterns of Hodgkin's disease in Alameda County, California and Connecticut was made in relation to age. All Hodgkin's disease cases from the Alameda County Cancer Registry diagnosed between 1960 and 1969 for which adequate material was available for evaluation were reviewed and histologically subtyped according to the Rye classification (159 cases). The age-specific relative frequencies and incidence rates for the histologic subtypes of Hodgkin's disease in Alameda County were estimated and compared to those estimated for Hodgkin's disease in Connecticut. The morphologic ex pression of Hodgkin's disease in both areas was similar and characteristic of economically developed regions with high living standards. The comparison supports the hypothesis that the host immune capacity, influenced by socioeconomic factors, has a strong and measurable effect on the pathogenesis of Hodgkin's disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Computer-assisted training and learning in surgery.

The teaching and learning of surgery is a time-honored tradition based upon the "see one, do one, teach one" apprenticeship model. Recent improvement of this model has centered upon incremental change in skills teaching and testing and curricular development. Economic pressures have strained the resources of academic health centers and faculty responsible for teaching surgery, even as information technology has opened new avenues for obtaining and benefitting from relevant information. Combining the tools of simulation theory, virtual reality, and the principles of adult education offers new opportunities to optimize surgical education as we enter a more highly connected and interdependent era, where the boundaries between teacher and student blur as the modern surgeon truly becomes a lifelong learner.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1993

The economics of food production.

Although world average food production per person is increasing there are many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where production has fallen in recent decades. The economic analysis of the world food problem concerns the dynamics of production, income, growth, demand and trade. The 'law of diminishing returns' suggests that labour incomes fall as population density increases. Capital investment and technological change, particularly with a land-saving bias, can overcome this effect. Such land-saving innovations are less appropriate where population densities are lower, as in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Innovations which reduce risk, such as stress- and disease-resistant crop varieties, may be more attractive to farmers. Communal or government action is required to ensure sustainability of food production; to reduce risk, through price stabilization, possibly crop insurance and contingency plans for famine relief; to promote equity and to ensure competitive market conditions. Public funding of agricultural research is necessary to promote growth in food supplies. If increases in supply do not keep pace with growth in demand, food prices rise, attracting resources into food production. If supply grows faster, food prices and farm incomes fall, driving resources out of agriculture. Resources may not move fast enough to correct imbalances. Primary producers are likely to face deteriorating terms of trade. Linkages between food production and other sectors are weak, so primary exports are not a good basis for economic development. Import substitution strategies may damage agriculture. Structural adjustment regimes have been adopted in some countries to correct imbalances and provide an incentive for farmers to increase production. Associated reductions in public expenditure may have a contrary impact.

Agriculture↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Introduction: evolutionary theory and the search for a unified theory of fertility.

Demography and evolutionary biology share common origins but have divergent emphasis on the role of theory in understanding population phenomena. A unified theory of fertility would be beneficial in explaining variation in demographic characteristics across geographic and temporal gulfs and in integrating disparate perspectives. The six papers in this thematic collection represent a nascent but vital field: human evolutionary demography. These papers examine the ways in which evolutionary theory can inform, strengthen, and focus research on topics of long-standing interest to demographers by explicitly modeling the relationship of socioecological variables to life history traits. The papers demonstrate that an understanding of human life history evolution and the use of evolutionary theory as an organizing framework can lead to a productive reassessment of five areas, which are of long-standing concern to demographers, and which conventional demographic approaches have had limited success in understanding. These are conflicts of interest between parents and children and between men and women, the allocation of resources to competing and/or alternative forms of investment in reproduction and parenting, resource flow within the household, demographic transitions and particularly the fertility transition associated with economic development, and variation in life history characteristics such as fertility and mortality across populations. Future research integrating models of trait-environment correlation with models of individual information processing and decision-making will help identify areas of focus, revitalize current models, and play a leading role in the development of a unified theory of fertility applicable across societies and times.

Birth Rate↗
PubMed2005

Estimation of net-costs for prevention of occupational low back pain: three case studies from the US.

BACKGROUND: Occupational low back pain (OLBP) is widespread in industrialized societies. We present a model to estimate the net economic costs of investments in ergonomic interventions at the company level to reduce work-related low back pain. METHODS: Costs of interventions are defined by incorporating not only the costs of investment of equipment and labor, but also by taking into account the avoided costs of lost work time, medical care costs, and productivity improvements. In the net-cost model, all costs are annualized and are calculated at the level of an individual organization. Three case studies have been performed based on data from three companies in the manufacturing sector of the United States using the above approach. RESULTS: The net-cost estimates for the three case studies consistently show that ergonomic interventions applied appropriately can result in substantial cost savings for the companies. CONCLUSIONS: Although generalizing on the basis of three case studies is not ideal, our analyses show that it might be in the economic interest of management to play a more active role to prevent back pain. Gathering useful retrospective cost data, even on interventions deemed effective by corporate innovators, proved to be extremely difficult. We conclude that it is essential to incorporate a protocol for collecting cost and effectiveness data in the standard operating procedures of ergonomists and companies introducing such innovation. We intend to validate the net-cost model for the monitoring and reporting of such data through prospective studies in a variety of industrial settings and in countries at various stages of economic development.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1982

Secular trend for stature in adult male Yucatec Maya to 1968.

Statures for 64 adult male Yucatec Maya (18 + years old, sons of campesinos) were measured in 1968 and compared with mean statures presented in results for previous studies. There were no significant changes in mean stature since 1895. If the sample is divided into 5-year age groups, no secular trend is evident. Using osteological information from as early as the Late Preclassic, stature of adult Maya males has decreased 119 mm in a little more than 20 centuries (-0.06 cm/decade). Comparing the results with measurements from other Mesoamerican groups, only one--the Otomí--show evidence of significant secular change. It is possible that modern economic development schemes in Mesoamerica are too recent or ineffective to have had an effect on stature.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The changing world demography of type 2 diabetes.

In recent years it has been estimated that the current global prevalence of type 2 diabetes amounts to about 150 million patients. Projections suggest that by the year 2025 the number of prevalent patients in the world will reach approximately 300 million. It is assumed that the increase in the number of patients will be most pronounced in nations currently undergoing socio-economic development including increasing urbanization. The technique used to provide these estimates is based on results from available, contemporary survey results, combined with expected future trends in demographic indicators. We suggest that the currently available methods for the estimation of the future global burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus yield underestimates. Further modifications and validity tests of the modelling techniques are necessary in order to develop a reliable instrument to globally monitor the effects of the struggle against the diabetes problem.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Population-based survival analysis of colorectal cancer patients in Singapore, 1968-1992.

Since the 1980s, colorectal cancer incidence in Singapore has ranked second to lung in males and females. We describe a population-based analysis of survival of colorectal cancer patients diagnosed from 1968 to 1992 in Singapore. Data of colorectal cancer patients diagnosed during 1968-1992 were retrieved from the Singapore Cancer Registry. Patients were passively followed up for death to the end of 1997. The final dataset consisted of 10,114 subjects. Observed and relative survival rates were calculated by stage (localized, regional metastases and distant metastases), age, ethnicity and calendar period for both genders. Over the study period, a significant progress in survival of colorectal cancer patients was observed. For localized cancer of the colon, the 5-year age-standardized relative survival (ASRS) increased from 36% in 1968-1972 to 66% in 1988-1992 for males and from 32 to 71% for females. For localized rectal cancer, the 5-year ASRS improved from 25 to 66% for males and from 23 to 66% in females. Similarly, improvement was observed in colorectal cancer patients with regional metastases, but not in those with distant metastases. Calendar year period and clinical stage of disease were identified as major significant prognostic factors of survival for colorectal cancer. The substantially improved colorectal cancer survival rates reflected the interplay of cancer control activities in various areas, such as health promotion, early diagnosis and treatment. Our study shows a unique changing pattern of survival experience for colorectal patients from a country undergoing rapid economic development.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Elevated antibody titers against cytomegalovirus among patients with testicular cancer.

The epidemiology of testicular cancer (TC) has 2 distinguishing features. First, it has an unusual unimodal age-incidence curve which peaks about age 30, and decreases with increasing age. Second, risk of the disease has been consistently associated with a high standard of living inasmuch as it is a disease of young white men of generally higher social class in economically developed populations. These features suggest that risk may be related to relatively late age of exposure to common infectious agents resulting in damage to the developing testis. We evaluated this hypothesis in a serologic case-control study in which subjects were compared for both prevalence and level of antibody to the following agents: measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (VZV), herpes simplex (HSV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), toxoplasmosis, Chlamydia, and Mycoplasma hominis. The TC cases included 50 with seminoma, 50 with embryonal carcinoma, and 17 with other sub-classifications. There were 100 male controls of comparable age. No consistent differences were found for any of the non-herpes viruses. For VZV, cases generally had elevated titers, significantly so for the seminoma patients, relative risk (RR) = 6.3 (95% confidence interval, 3.0-13.3) adjusted for the titer distributions of HSV and CMV. For HSV, seminoma patients also had elevated titers, RR = 2.6 (1.0-6.4). The strongest association was with CMV. Patients had a higher prevalence rate than controls, RR = 2.0 (1.1-3.6), and a gradient of risk with titer level. Overall, those in the highest titer quartile had an RR of 4.9 compared to those with no antibody, with a significant trend (p = 0.0002). Since age at CMV infection is directly related to social class, these findings suggest that delayed exposure to CMV, resulting in a more severe infection, may be related to risk of TC. However, confounding by immune status of the cases or by other risk factors of TC could not be evaluated and may account for this observation.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed2001

Protective role of infections and vaccinations on autoimmune diseases.

Infectious agents may induce autoimmune disease through several mechanisms, notably antigen mimicry and inflammation of the target organ; conversely, infections may protect from autoimmune diseases. This paradoxical effect has been demonstrated for a number of bacteria, viruses and parasites on a variety of spontaneous or experimentally induced animal models of autoimmune diseases (e.g. experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, lupus mice, non-obese diabetic mice). The mechanisms of the protection are still ill-defined, and probably vary according to models. Stimulation of immunoregulatory CD4 T cells has been shown to play a central role in several major models. The role of superantigens is also important, like that of Toll-like receptors. Antigen competition is another major mechanism, itself open to several interpretations. Epidemiological data support a protective role of infections on human allergic and autoimmune diseases. These diseases are much more common in countries with high socio-economic development (typically Northern countries in Europe). The reason for this cannot be fully explained by genetic differences because migrating populations develop these diseases with the same incidence of the adoptive country rather than that of the country of origin. It is interesting that the frequency of these diseases has been increasing in developed countries over the last 20 years but not in undeveloped ones.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Fishing and farming at Lake Chad: institutions for access to natural resources.

Lake Chad is a vitally important wetland in the semi-arid Sahel corridor. It provides the basis of many thousands of livelihoods which depend on its seasonal fluctuations to renew fish stocks, farmland and rangeland. This paper describes how access to farmland and fishing rights has evolved on the Nigerian shore of the lake. The paper aims to assess the applicability of different institutional approaches to natural resource management on the lake shore. Although many recent approaches to natural resource management have reflected a 'Tragedy of the Commons' approach, a growing literature both in support and critical of Hardin's (1968) thesis has followed. Four distinct approaches are considered: (1) institutional intervention to prevent 'tragedy'; (2) institution erosion brought about by such interventions; (3) models of institutional adaptation to resource scarcity; and (4) approaches which perceive institutions as a crucial determinant of social and economic development. In examining which institutional approaches may be relevant at Lake Chad, it is anticipated that this paper will provide insights which will be relevant to policy-makers, resource managers and students working in environments where resource fluctuation inhibits stable property rights and state resource management has proved neither feasible nor successful. The western shore of Lake Chad has been under the jurisdiction of Borno State in its various guises since the end of the fourteenth century and is currently one of 36 states in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Although the administrative status of Borno itself has varied, it has been dominated by a Kanuri aristocracy for most of its existence. The Kanuri administration has continued to operate in a remarkably similar way over the past 150 years. Traditionally, it has played a crucial role in allocating access to farm land. In recent years, the 'Kanuri administration' has not only maintained its pre-colonial authority over farming on the lake shore, but has expanded it to cover new areas of the lake floor and the increasingly lucrative fishing opportunities which federal government has been unable to regulate. This success suggests that collaboration with the organisations which operate such institutions could be beneficial, if not essential, to the success of natural resource management.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2001

Environmental issues in the post-communist Ukraine.

The Ukraine, which gained independence in 1991, faces serious problems related to environmental degradation. Environmental problems contribute to a deterioration in human health and a negative trend in population growth. Both form part of a raft of socio-economic problems encountered during the country's transition to a free market economy. The most serious problems are found in cities and areas near the Black and Azov Seas, the Dnipro river basin and in the Polissya region. This paper provides an overview of the situation. Social and managerial implications of environmental management are considered alongside associated environmental and human health problems in the country. It is concluded that a desired change in the mindset of policy makers and, indeed, the population at large, is required in parallel with legal and technocratic instruments, while real improvements can only be achieved through economic development, which can be facilitated by Western assistance.

Commerce↗
PubMed1996

Cloning and expression of full-length Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I cDNAs in Escherichia coli.

The process of converting lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol via fermentation depends on developing economic sources of cellulases. Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase (CBH) I is a key enzyme in the fungal cellulase system; however, specific process application requirements make modification of the enzyme by site-directed mutagenesis (SDM) an attractive goal. To undertake SDM investigations, an efficient, cellulase-free host is required. To test the potential of Escherichia coli as a host, T. reesei CBH I cDNA was expressed in E. coli strain GI 724 as a C-terminal fusion to thermostable thioredoxin protein. Full-length expression of CBH I was subsequently verified by molecular weight, Western blot analysis, and activity on soluble substrates.

Base Sequence↗