2,140 research outputs found

    Ron Wheldon

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    Photograph - Portrait of Ron Wheldon, Athabasca, Albert

    A literature review of economic evaluations for a neglected tropical disease : human African trypanosomiasis ("sleeping sickness")

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    Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a disease caused by infection with the parasite Trypanosoma brucei gambiense or T. b. rhodesiense. It is transmitted to humans via the tsetse fly. Approximately 70 million people worldwide were at risk of infection in 1995, and approximately 20,000 people across Africa are infected with HAT. The objective of this review was to identify existing economic evaluations in order to summarise cost-effective interventions to reduce, control, or eliminate the burden of HAT. The studies included in the review were compared and critically appraised in order to determine if there were existing standardised methods that could be used for economic evaluation of HAT interventions or if innovative methodological approaches are warranted. A search strategy was developed using keywords and was implemented in January 2014 in several databases. The search returned a total of 2,283 articles. After two levels of screening, a total of seven economic evaluations were included and underwent critical appraisal using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Methodology Checklist 6: Economic Evaluations. Results from the existing studies focused on the cost-effectiveness of interventions for the control and reduction of disease transmission. Modelling was a common method to forecast long-term results, and publications focused on interventions by category, such as case detection, diagnostics, drug treatments, and vector control. Most interventions were considered cost-effective based on the thresholds described; however, the current treatment, nifurtomix-eflornithine combination therapy (NECT), has not been evaluated for cost-effectiveness, and considerations for cost-effective strategies for elimination have yet to be completed. Overall, the current evidence highlights the main components that play a role in control; however, economic evaluations of HAT elimination strategies are needed to assist national decision makers, stakeholder and key funders. These analyses would be of use, as HAT is currently being prioritized as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) to reach elimination by 2020

    Interprovincial Comparisons of Public and Private Sector Long-Term Care Facilities for the Elderly in Canada

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    Long-term care services for the elderly in Canada have evolved into a vast array of types of facilities, levels and types of care and organizational arrangements, and are best characterized as operating within ten individual provincial systems. This study was undertaken in an effort to more fully understand the organization and financing of facility-based long-term care across the provinces. The wide degree of variability across systems renders interprovincial comparisons problematic and, to mitigate this, a reconciliation process was undertaken whereby facilities and beds were classified into four Categories of Care. While a few general patterns emerged, the results also serve to highlight the dissimilarities between, and within, systems. The article concludes by examining the potential value of such data to health planners and policy-makers. Coauthors are Larry W. Chambers, Amiram Gafni, Ron Goeree, and Roberta Labelle.

    Oral history interview with Ron Wallace

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    Ron Wallace, author and instructor, talks about growing up in Durant, Oklahoma, and having a father on the police force. He recalls his college days and earning a degree in English. He explains how he developed a love of poetry initially and how he began writing poetry. Wallace also shares stories of his grandparents and reads a few of his favorite poems. He has been a Oklahoma Book Award finalist several times.The Deep Roots: Oklahoma Authors Collection is a series of interviews with authors who discuss their lives, work, and creative processes

    Best-Selling Author Ron Rash to Visit GWU

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    Gardner-Webb University alumnus and best-selling author Ron Rash is set to visit GWU as he gains worldwide attention for “Serena,” his novel that was adapted into a feature film set to premiere next month. Rash will visit the campus Oct. 3 to give the keynote address at the Appalachian Writers Association’s annual awards banquet, part of the Southern Appalachian Culture Series conference hosted at Gardner-Webb. The 1976 GWU alum, also currently the John Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University, will discuss Appalachian writing and read from some of his works. WGWG: Catch Up with Ron Rashhttps://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2320/thumbnail.jp

    Friends of the Greenwood Library Presents Ron Smith

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    Virginia Poet Laureate Ron Smith spoke and read at Longwood University April 14, 2015 in celebration of National Poetry Month. Smith, a longtime professor and celebrated poet, is currently writer-in-residence at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond. He is the author of Running Again in Hollywood Cemetery, Moon Road and Its Ghostly Workshop. He will speak and read from his poetry on April 14 at 7 p.m. in the Greenwood Library atrium. The event is free and open to the public. I’m excited to bring Ron Smith, poet laureate of the Commonwealth, to speak at Longwood during National Poetry Month, said Suzy Szasz Palmer, dean of Greenwood Library. Virginia is rich in its history but also in its depth of literary writers. Fiction and nonfiction typically garner more public attention, but it’s vitally important to celebrate the role of poetry in our culture. Virginia’s poet laureates serve for two-year terms, and Mr. Smith is the third poet laureate we’ve hosted since I came to Longwood in July 2011, thanks to the Friends of the Greenwood Library. Many of Smith’s poems center on his time in college at the University of Richmond, where he played football on the Tangerine Bowl championship team. He also holds a master’s degree from VCU

    A Literature Review of Economic Evaluations for a Neglected Tropical Disease: Human African Trypanosomiasis (“Sleeping Sickness”)

    No full text
    Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a disease caused by infection with the parasite Trypanosoma brucei gambiense or T. b. rhodesiense. It is transmitted to humans via the tsetse fly. Approximately 70 million people worldwide were at risk of infection in 1995, and approximately 20,000 people across Africa are infected with HAT. The objective of this review was to identify existing economic evaluations in order to summarise cost-effective interventions to reduce, control, or eliminate the burden of HAT. The studies included in the review were compared and critically appraised in order to determine if there were existing standardised methods that could be used for economic evaluation of HAT interventions or if innovative methodological approaches are warranted. A search strategy was developed using keywords and was implemented in January 2014 in several databases. The search returned a total of 2,283 articles. After two levels of screening, a total of seven economic evaluations were included and underwent critical appraisal using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Methodology Checklist 6: Economic Evaluations. Results from the existing studies focused on the cost-effectiveness of interventions for the control and reduction of disease transmission. Modelling was a common method to forecast long-term results, and publications focused on interventions by category, such as case detection, diagnostics, drug treatments, and vector control. Most interventions were considered cost-effective based on the thresholds described; however, the current treatment, nifurtomix-eflornithine combination therapy (NECT), has not been evaluated for cost-effectiveness, and considerations for cost-effective strategies for elimination have yet to be completed. Overall, the current evidence highlights the main components that play a role in control; however, economic evaluations of HAT elimination strategies are needed to assist national decision makers, stakeholders, and key funders. These analyses would be of use, as HAT is currently being prioritized as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) to reach elimination by 2020

    Advertising in the US Personal Computer Industry

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    Traditional models of consumer choice assume consumers are aware of all products for sale.This assumption is questionable, especially when applied to markets characterized by a high degree of change, such as the personal computer (PC) industry. I present an empirical discrete-choice model of limited information on the part of consumers, where advertising influences the set of products from which consumers choose to purchase. Multi-product firms choose prices and advertising in each medium to maximize their profits. I apply the model to the US PC market, in which advertising expenditures are over $2 billion annually. The estimation technique incorporates macro and micro data from three sources. Estimated median industry markups are 19% over production costs. The high industry markups are explained in part by the fact that consumers know only some of the products for sale.Indeed estimates from traditional consumer choice models predict median markups of one fourth this magnitude. I find that product-specific demand curves are biased towards being too elastic under traditional models of consumer choice. The estimates suggest that PC firms use advertising media to target high-income households, that there are returns to scope in group advertising, and that word-of-mouth or experience plays a role in informing consumers. The top firms engage in higher than average advertising and earn higher than average markups.

    Famous Author and Gardner-Webb Alumnus Ron Rash to Make Television Appearance

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    Award-winning author and Boiling Springs, N.C., native, Ron Rash will be featured during the season premiere of “North Carolina Bookwatch” on UNC-TV (public television) this Friday, July 6 at 9:30 p.m. The show will spotlight Rash’s latest novel, “The Cove.” This marks the third appearance for Rash on the program, where he’s previously spoke about his books “Serena” and “One Foot in Eden.”https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2837/thumbnail.jp
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