Improving economic evaluations in stroke : A report from the ESO Health Economics Working Group

Introduction Approaches to economic evaluations of stroke therapies are varied and inconsistently described. An objective of the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) Health Economics Working Group is to standardise and improve the economic evaluations of interventions for stroke. Methods The ESO Health Economics Working Group and additional experts were contacted to develop a protocol and a guidance document for data collection for economic evaluations of stroke therapies. A modified Delphi approach, including a survey and consensus processes, was used to agree on content. We also asked the participants about resources that could be shared to improve economic evaluations of interventions for stroke. Results Of 28 experts invited, 16 (57%) completed the initial survey, with representation from universities, government, and industry. More than half of the survey respondents endorsed 13 specific items to include in a standard resource use questionnaire. Preferred functional/quality of life outcome measures to use for economic evaluations were the modified Rankin Scale (14 respondents, 88%) and the EQ-5D instrument (11 respondents, 69%). Of the 12 respondents who had access to data used in economic evaluations, 10 (83%) indicated a willingness to share data. A protocol template and a guidance document for data collection were developed and are presented in this article. Conclusion The protocol template and guidance document for data collection will support a more standardised and transparent approach for economic evaluations of stroke care.Peer reviewe

The Comet Interceptor Mission

Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner Solar System for the first time, or to encounter an interstellar object originating at another star. The objectives of the mission are to address the following questions: What are the surface composition, shape, morphology, and structure of the target object? What is the composition of the gas and dust in the coma, its connection to the nucleus, and the nature of its interaction with the solar wind? The mission was proposed to the European Space Agency in 2018, and formally adopted by the agency in June 2022, for launch in 2029 together with the Ariel mission. Comet Interceptor will take advantage of the opportunity presented by ESA’s F-Class call for fast, flexible, low-cost missions to which it was proposed. The call required a launch to a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The mission can take advantage of this placement to wait for the discovery of a suitable comet reachable with its minimum ΔV capability of 600 ms−1. Comet Interceptor will be unique in encountering and studying, at a nominal closest approach distance of 1000 km, a comet that represents a near-pristine sample of material from the formation of the Solar System. It will also add a capability that no previous cometary mission has had, which is to deploy two sub-probes – B1, provided by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and B2 – that will follow different trajectories through the coma. While the main probe passes at a nominal 1000 km distance, probes B1 and B2 will follow different chords through the coma at distances of 850 km and 400 km, respectively. The result will be unique, simultaneous, spatially resolved information of the 3-dimensional properties of the target comet and its interaction with the space environment. We present the mission’s science background leading to these objectives, as well as an overview of the scientific instruments, mission design, and schedule

The Lines That Held Us: Assessing Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in SARS-CoV-2 Testing

BACKGROUND: Racial disparities in SARS-CoV-2 prevalence are apparent. Race is a sociocultural construct, necessitating investigation into how sociocultural factors contribute. METHODS: This cross-sectional study linked laboratory data of adult patients between February 29 and May 15, 2020 with socio-demographics variables from the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS). Medical sites included healthcare organizations in Michigan, New York, North Carolina, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Race was treated as a proxy for racism and not biological essentialism. Laboratory data included patient age, sex, race, ethnicity, test result, test location, and residential ZIP code. ACS data included economic and educational variables contributing to an SES Index, population density, proportion Medicaid, and racial composition for corresponding ZIP code. Associations between race/socioeconomic variables and test results were examined using odds ratios (OR). RESULTS: Of 126 452 patients [mean (SD) age 51.9 (18.4) years; 52 747 (41.7%) men; 68 856 (54.5%) White and 27 805 (22.0%) Black], 18 905 (15.0%) tested positive. Of positive tests, 5238 (SD 27.7%) were White and 7223 (SD 38.2%) were Black. Black race increased the odds of a positive test; this finding was consistent across sites [OR 2.11 (95% CI 1.95-2.29)]. When subset by race, higher SES increased the odds of a positive test for White patients [OR 1.10 (95% CI 1.05-1.16)] but decreased the odds for Black patients [OR 0.92 (95% CI 0.86-0.99)]. Black patients, but not White patients, who tested positive overwhelmingly resided in more densely populated areas. CONCLUSIONS: Black race was associated with SARS-CoV-2 positivity and the relationship between SES and test positivity differed by race, suggesting the impact of socioeconomic status on test positivity is race-specific

Improving economic evaluations in stroke: A report from the ESO Health Economics Working Group

IntroductionApproaches to economic evaluations of stroke therapies are varied and inconsistently described. An objective of the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) Health Economics Working Group is to standardise and improve the economic evaluations of interventions for stroke.MethodsThe ESO Health Economics Working Group and additional experts were contacted to develop a protocol and a guidance document for data collection for economic evaluations of stroke therapies. A modified Delphi approach, including a survey and consensus processes, was used to agree on content. We also asked the participants about resources that could be shared to improve economic evaluations of interventions for stroke.ResultsOf 28 experts invited, 16 (57%) completed the initial survey, with representation from universities, government, and industry. More than half of the survey respondents endorsed 13 specific items to include in a standard resource use questionnaire. Preferred functional/quality of life outcome measures to use for economic evaluations were the modified Rankin Scale (14 respondents, 88%) and the EQ-5D instrument (11 respondents, 69%). Of the 12 respondents who had access to data used in economic evaluations, 10 (83%) indicated a willingness to share data. A protocol template and a guidance document for data collection were developed and are presented in this article.ConclusionThe protocol template and guidance document for data collection will support a more standardised and transparent approach for economic evaluations of stroke care

Annual program review, forest biology, October 14-15, 1998

"October 14-15, 1998."Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers: project F010 / Jerry Pullman ... [et al.] ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers - initiation / Gerald Pullman ... [et al.] ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers: genetic control of initiation and the number of zygotic embryos in the seed / John MacKay ... [et al.] ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers: survival of initiated cultures after direct transfer to liquid media / Gary Peter ... [et al.] ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers - embryo development improvements based on elemental analysis of female gametophyte, zygotic and somatic embryo tissues / Gerald Pullman, Paul Montello, Xiaorong Feng ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers: optimizing the percent of embryos that develop into cotyledonary embryos by altering embryo plating densities and ABA concentration / Teresa Vales, Gary Peter ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers: field establishment of somatic embryo derived loblolly pine seedlings / Jerry Pullman, Paul Montello, Mike Cunningham ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers: functional anaylsis of pinus taeda zygotic embryo germination: the effect of partial drying and the acquisition of desiccation tolerance / Gary Peter ... [et al.] ; Mass clonal propagation of improved conifers: differential gene expression in the suspensor of zygotic embryos - update / John MacKay ... [et al.] ; Externally funded research in 1998-1999 supporting F010 / John Cairney ... [et al.] ; Gene expression studies with developing embryos: the effect of ABA treatment / Nanfei Xu ... [et al.] ; Early-stage-specific gene expression in loblolly pine zygotic and somatic embryos: cDNA cloning, sequencing and expression analysis / Vincent Ciavatta, Gerald Pullman and John Cairney ; Identification and cloning of cDNAs for novel female-, male- and vegetatively expressed genes / Lin Ge, Gerald Pullman, and John Cairney ; Fundamental biological mechanisms: improved stem growth rates and fiber properties: project F011 / Gary Peter ... [et al.] ; Fundamental biological mechanisms: improved fiber properties and rates of wood cell formation: cellulose biosynthesis / Gary Peter, Chris Ricker ; Externally funded reserach in 1998-1999 supporting F011 / Gary Peter ... [et al.] ; Towards genetic engineering of forest trees with anthraquinones: endogenous anthraquinones in pulpwood trees and the cloning of a key gene for anthraquinone biosynthesis / Huabin Meng ... [et al.] ; Environmental and genetic regulation of microfibril angle in southern pine: determination of the microfibril angle in the S2 layer of pinus taeda using differential interference contrast microscopy: validation of the method / Douglas Benton, Keith Bennett, Gary Peter ; Genetically modified lignin in pine: structure and properties: lignin reactivity in CAD-deficient trees during pulping and bleaching / Donald Dimmel ... [et al.] -- Slide material