71 research outputs found
VERDIEN AV LIV OG HELSE Hvor mye bør samfunnet være villig til å betale for helseforbedringer?
No full textØkonomisk evaluering er et verktøy som har fått økende anvendelse som beslutningsgrunnlag ved prioriteringer i helsevesenet. Fordi det er knapphet på ressurser er det nødvendig å vurdere om nytten av ressursbruken eller ressursfordelingen står i et akseptabelt forhold til kostnadene. Det ville være uetisk å ignorere kostnaden ved en gitt helsetjeneste; det innebærer å ignorere spørsmålet om ressursbruken kunne gitt mer nytte i form av helseforbedring eller livredning for andre pasienter. Likevel reiser økonomiske analyser en rekke problemer av etisk, økonomisk-teoretisk, metodologisk og praktisk art. Senter for medisinsk metodevurdering (SMM), Helseøkonomiprogrammet ved Universitetet i Oslo (HERO) og Sosial- og helsedirektoratet (SHD) besluttet derfor våren 2002 å arrangere en konferanse der man ville drøfte noen av de vanskelige problemene knyttet til økonomisk evaluering og prioritering. Man inviterte politikere fra alle politiske fløyer og fagfolk med svært ulik tilnærming slik det fremgår av programmet. I denne rapporten legger vi frem skriftlige bidrag fra de fleste av foredragsholderne. En redaksjonskomite bestående av Berit Bringedal, Tor Iversen og Ivar Sønbø Kristiansen har redigert rapporten sammen med informasjonsmedarbeiderne Dagny Fredheim og Gunn Kristin Tjoflot. Redaksjonsarbeidet har begrenset seg til forslag om klargjøring av argumenter og enhetlig grafisk layout. Forfatterne har stått fritt til å uttrykke sine meninger, og disse står for enkeltpersonenes regning, ikke for deres arbeidsgiveres. Konferansen vakte stor interesse med ca 170 påmeldte deltakere. Mens mange av foredragsholderne hadde fått i oppdrag å vurdere grenser for samfunnets betalingsvilje for liv og helseforbedringer, ønsket de selv i liten grad å uttrykke seg konkret om dette. Artiklene belyser likevel en rekke teoretiske og praktiske aspekter ved økonomisk evaluering og prioritering. Rapporten gir et bilde av viktige helseøkonomiske problemstillinger, samt noen av de sentrale problemene knyttet til økonomiske analyser av helsetiltak. Vi håper rapporten kan være nyttig for alle som skal bruke økonomisk evaluering i sitt arbeide.Økonomisk evaluering; prioritering; helse
The design and use of 'alternate'assessments of academic literacy as selection mechanisms in higher education
No full textThis is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies on 8 April 2010, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.2989/SALALS.2009.27.3.5.939.In a context where applicants to higher education study vary widely in terms of their prior educational, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds, it becomes extremely important to assess the extent to which these applicants might be said to be ready to cope with the typical academic reading and writing demands of higher education study. This assessment becomes even more crucial in a country like South Africa, where issues of equity of access, selection and redress remain a central challenge. Put simply, the challenge is to identify academically talented students from educationally diverse backgrounds, especially in cases where the educational backgrounds of these applicants may have militated against them, fully demonstrating their talent in conventional (e.g. school-leaving) examinations. This article describes the theoretical basis for the development of tests of academic literacy that downplay the role of prior learning in the assessment of academic readiness. The uses of these tests as selection mechanisms complementary to conventional academic assessments are also outlined. Empirical data are presented that demonstrate associations between these tests and academic performance in higher education. Issues and challenges regarding the validity and reliability of these tests are presented, and the implications of major research findings on the tests debated and deliberated upon
Modelling regional variation of first-time births in Denmark 1980-1994 by an age-period-cohort model
No full textDespite the small size of Denmark, there have traditionally been rather consistent regional differences in fertility rates. We apply the statistical age-period-cohort model to include the effect of these three time-related factors thereby concisely illuminating the regional differences of first-time births in Denmark. From the Fertility of Women and Couples Dataset we obtain data on number of births by nulliparous women by year (1980-1994), age (15-45) and county of residence. We show that the APC-model describes the fertility rates of nulliparous women satisfactorily. To catch the regional variation an interaction parameter between age and county is necessary, which provides a surprisingly good description suggesting that the county-specific age-distributions of first-time fertility rates differ. Our results are in general agreement with the 'moral geography' concepts of Tonboe (2001).age-period-cohort models, Denmark, fertility, fertility rate, nulliparous women, regional variation
Intervertebral disc degeneration in dogs
No full textBack pain is common in both dogs and humans, and is often associated with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. The IVDs are essential structures of the spine and degeneration can ultimately result in diseases such as IVD herniation or spinal instability. In order to design new treatments halting or even preventing IVD degeneration, more basic knowledge of the disease process is needed. The aim of this thesis was to increase the knowledge of IVD degeneration in dogs and to evaluate the similarities and differences between IVD degeneration in dogs and humans, in order to establish whether spontaneous IVD degeneration occurring in both chondrodystrophic (CD) and non-chondrodystrophic (NCD) dog breeds can be used as translational animal models for human spine research. The key findings of the thesis were: • The division of the processes underlying canine IVD degeneration into chondroid or fibroid degeneration appears to be inaccurate. The biochemical, histopathological, and morphological alterations examined during the process of IVD degeneration were found to be similar in CD and NCD dog breeds. • IVD degenerative diseases were most common in CD breeds, especially in Dachshunds, and were 1.5 times more common in male than female dogs. Case fatality rates were found to be higher than previously suggested, with rates of 34% in the overall population, around 20% in most CD breeds, and over 50% in the NCD breeds at highest risk such as the Doberman and the German Shepherd Dog. • IVD degeneration in dogs could accurately be diagnosed, early in the degenerative process, by using low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The MRI based grading scheme used in humans could reliably be used in dogs, and was found to be highly correlated with pathological changes found post mortem. Early diagnosis facilitates the possibility of preemptive treatments. • A new nucleus pulposus prosthesis, made of an intrinsically radiopaque hydrogel, was tested ex-vivo in dogs. Surgical implantation of the prosthesis in canine lumbosacral IVDs via a dorsal laminectomy was clinically applicable. After absorbing fluid from the surrounding tissue the swollen implant could restore disc height, which could be monitored by radiography, computed tomography and MRI. • Many similarities were found between the processes of IVD degeneration in humans and CD and NCD dog breeds. Both dog-types may serve as translational animal models of spontaneous IVD degeneration for human research. Synergistic effects of studying IVD degeneration in veterinary patients could lead to new treatment modalities for both dogs and humans, a reduced need for animal testing, and lower cost of research. It is also likely that spontaneous IVD degeneration in dogs more resembles the true disease process, as it occurs in humans, than induced IVD degeneration in experimental animals
Counter-current chromatography for the separation of terpenoids: A comprehensive review with respect to the solvent systems employed
No full textCopyright @ 2014 The Authors.This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.Natural products extracts are commonly highly complex mixtures of active compounds and consequently their purification becomes a particularly challenging task. The development of a purification protocol to extract a single active component from the many hundreds that are often present in the mixture is something that can take months or even years to achieve, thus it is important for the natural product chemist to have, at their disposal, a broad range of diverse purification techniques. Counter-current chromatography (CCC) is one such separation technique utilising two immiscible phases, one as the stationary phase (retained in a spinning coil by centrifugal forces) and the second as the mobile phase. The method benefits from a number of advantages when compared with the more traditional liquid-solid separation methods, such as no irreversible adsorption, total recovery of the injected sample, minimal tailing of peaks, low risk of sample denaturation, the ability to accept particulates, and a low solvent consumption. The selection of an appropriate two-phase solvent system is critical to the running of CCC since this is both the mobile and the stationary phase of the system. However, this is also by far the most time consuming aspect of the technique and the one that most inhibits its general take-up. In recent years, numerous natural product purifications have been published using CCC from almost every country across the globe. Many of these papers are devoted to terpenoids-one of the most diverse groups. Naturally occurring terpenoids provide opportunities to discover new drugs but many of them are available at very low levels in nature and a huge number of them still remain unexplored. The collective knowledge on performing successful CCC separations of terpenoids has been gathered and reviewed by the authors, in order to create a comprehensive document that will be of great assistance in performing future purifications. © 2014 The Author(s)
Search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum in 1 fb<sup>-1</sup> of 7 TeV proton–proton collision data with the ATLAS detector
No full textA search for diphoton events with large missing transverse momentum has been performed using 1.07 fb−1of proton–proton collision data at √s=7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector. No excess of events was observed above the Standard Model prediction and 95% Confidence Level (CL) upper limits are set on the production cross section for new physics. The limits depend on each model parameter space and vary as follows: σ<(22–129) fb in the context of a generalised model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GGM) with a bino-like lightest neutralino, σ<(27–91) fb in the context of a minimal model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (SPS8), and σ< (15–27) fb in the context of a specific model with one universal extra dimension (UED). A 95% CL lower limit of 805 GeV, for bino masses above 50 GeV, is set on the GGM gluino mass. Lower limits of 145 TeV and 1.23 TeV are set on the SPS8 breaking scale ∧ and on the UED compactification scale 1/R, respectively. These limits provide the most stringent tests of these models to date
Checklist of British and Irish Hymenoptera - Braconidae
No full textThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
Oil company annual report disclosure responses to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
No full textThis paper analyses the annual report disclosures of the other six largest oil companies in reaction to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It focusses on changes in disclosures that can be ascribed to the oil spill. The companies all increased their environmental disclosures, with positive disclosures increasing most. It shows the use of an image enhancement disclosure strategy and a (partial) disclaiming of responsibility disclosure strategy, but do not find evidence consistent with a deflection of attention disclosure strategy, probably due to the high profile of the incident. It is found that BP’s strategy of repeating disclosures about remedial activities several times in different parts of the annual report ensures: an emphasis on the positive, that all stakeholders regardless of their area of focus are likely to notice this disclosure, an increase in the volume of environmental disclosure, and that less detail can be disclosed, reducing litigation-related risks
Jet energy resolution in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV recorded in 2010 with the ATLAS detector
No full textAtlas Collaboration contributor: Paul Douglas Jackson of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford CA, United States of America. Extent: 27p.The measurement of the jet energy resolution is presented using data recorded with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV . The sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb⁻¹. Jets are reconstructed from energy deposits measured by the calorimeters and calibrated using different jet calibration schemes. The jet energy resolution is measured with two different in situ methods which are found to be in agreement within uncertainties. The total uncertainties on these measurements range from 20 % to 10 % for jets within |y|<2.8 and with transverse momenta increasing from 30 GeV to 500 GeV. Overall, the Monte Carlo simulation of the jet energy resolution agrees with the data within 10 %.The ATLAS Collaboratio
- …
