3 research outputs found
MODERN SYSTEMS FOR ASSESSING THE INFORMATIZATION OF COUNTRIES IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Information and communication theories became a major driver of the economic development of countries in a global world. Information component plays a key role in the building of competitive potential of countries and the development of international relations. At the national level, the development of innovative technologies enables the countries to take higher ranking positions by the level of progress of information and communication technologies. The assessment is carried out using a number of indicators, calculated with the respective index system and applied for analysis of problem areas in politics, as well as for monitoring of progress in the field of innovative technologies introduction. Although, this methodology does not take into consideration the indicators over time. Therefore, this paper aims to study the dynamics of networked readiness index as a factor of informatization of global economic development. The authors suggested a methodology to determine the level of informatization of global economic development based on cluster analysis of countries according to the indicators, included in NRI, which makes it possible to eliminate this defect. Methodology. The methodology of the paper is based on statistical data, forming the analytical database of the research findings and being studied using cluster analysis. The paper reviews a new indicator, which enables considering the informatization of global economic development in a comprehensive manner: in dynamics by a group of countries. Results. As a result of the author’s study, it has been established that, according to the level of informatization of global economic development, the countries can be divided into three groups: the countries with sustainable level of informatization, the ones with moderate development and the countries, which are the most backward by the level of informatization. Moreover, the paper identifies the countries, which had no data for the period under review, or underwent a transition from one informatization level to another one. Practical implications. The presented results make it possible to consider informatization of the global economic development in a comprehensive manner: in dynamics by a group of countries. It enables identification of the countries with a sustainable level of informatization of global economic development. Value/originality. As a result of the study, it has been proved that it is more expedient to study the countries, which underwent a transition from one level of informatization to another one during the period under review. The prospects of further studies in the above-stated area are in the search for factors to enable the transition of countries to a higher level of informatization of global economic development
Tiotropium versus Salmeterol for the Prevention of Exacerbations of COPD
BACKGROUND
Treatment guidelines recommend the use of inhaled long-acting bronchodilators to
alleviate symptoms and reduce the risk of exacerbations in patients with moderate-tovery-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but do not specify whether
a long-acting anticholinergic drug or a β2-agonist is the preferred agent. We investigated whether the anticholinergic drug tiotropium is superior to the β2-agonist
salmeterol in preventing exacerbations of COPD.
METHODS
In a 1-year, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group trial, we compared the effect of treatment with 18 μg of tiotropium once daily with that of 50 μg
of salmeterol twice daily on the incidence of moderate or severe exacerbations in
patients with moderate-to-very-severe COPD and a history of exacerbations in the
preceding year.
RESULTS
A total of 7376 patients were randomly assigned to and treated with tiotropium
(3707 patients) or salmeterol (3669 patients). Tiotropium, as compared with salmeterol, increased the time to the first exacerbation (187 days vs. 145 days), with a 17%
reduction in risk (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77 to 0.90;
P<0.001). Tiotropium also increased the time to the first severe exacerbation (hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.61 to 0.85; P<0.001), reduced the annual number of moderate or severe exacerbations (0.64 vs. 0.72; rate ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83 to 0.96;
P=0.002), and reduced the annual number of severe exacerbations (0.09 vs. 0.13;
rate ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.82; P<0.001). Overall, the incidence of serious
adverse events and of adverse events leading to the discontinuation of treatment was
similar in the two study groups. There were 64 deaths (1.7%) in the tiotropium group
and 78 (2.1%) in the salmeterol group.
CONCLUSIONS
These results show that, in patients with moderate-to-very-severe COPD, tiotropium
is more effective than salmeterol in preventing exacerbations. (Funded by Boehringer
Ingelheim and Pfizer; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00563381.
The digitalization as a global trend and growth factor of the modern economy
The phenomenon of the digitalization in the world economy is investigated in the article. The digital economy is the most important engine of innovation, competitiveness and economic growth in the world. The specific features of the modern digital economy are determined. The main indicators of measuring the level of digital economy are analyzed, the world countries’ leaders are defined. Study shows that each of the indexes has different methodological approaches to determining the level of digitalization and contains various factors. Highly developed countries have the best level of digitization of their own economies, because they have high-quality access to the Internet, a high level of scientific and technological capacity development and wide information access. The indicators of Ukraine as a digital economy are analyzed. Article shows that Ukraine as a European country is only at the beginning of its development of a high-quality digital economy. The links between national economy’s macroeconomic indicators development connecting with innovations are established