38 research outputs found
Camostat Mesylate Versus Lopinavir/Ritonavir in Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19—Results From a Randomized, Controlled, Open Label, Platform Trial (ACOVACT)
Background: To date, no oral antiviral drug has proven to be beneficial in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.Methods: In this randomized, controlled, open-label, platform trial, we randomly assigned patients ≥18 years hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia to receive either camostat mesylate (CM) (considered standard-of-care) or lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/RTV). The primary endpoint was time to sustained clinical improvement (≥48 h) of at least one point on the 7-category WHO scale. Secondary endpoints included length of stay (LOS), need for mechanical ventilation (MV) or death, and 29-day mortality.Results: 201 patients were included in the study (101 CM and 100 LPV/RTV) between 20 April 2020 and 14 May 2021. Mean age was 58.7 years, and 67% were male. The median time from symptom onset to randomization was 7 days (IQR 5–9). Patients in the CM group had a significantly shorter time to sustained clinical improvement (HR = 0.67, 95%-CI 0.49–0.90; 9 vs. 11 days, p = 0.008) and demonstrated less progression to MV or death [6/101 (5.9%) vs. 15/100 (15%), p = 0.036] and a shorter LOS (12 vs. 14 days, p = 0.023). A statistically nonsignificant trend toward a lower 29-day mortality in the CM group than the LPV/RTV group [2/101 (2%) vs. 7/100 (7%), p = 0.089] was observed.Conclusion: In patients hospitalized for COVID-19, the use of CM was associated with shorter time to clinical improvement, reduced need for MV or death, and shorter LOS than the use of LPV/RTV. Furthermore, research is needed to confirm the efficacy of CM in larger placebo-controlled trials.Systematic Review Registration: [https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04351724, https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/trial/2020-001302-30/AT], identifier [NCT04351724, EUDRACT-NR: 2020–001302-30]
Constraints to Economic Development and Growth in the Middle East and North Africa
When comparing the speed and extent of economic development in different geographic
regions of the world over the past 20 years, the under-average performance of Arab countries
in general and Arab Mediterranean countries in particular is striking. This is despite
an overall favorable geo-strategic situation at the crossroads of three continents, with excellent
connections to sea and waterways and in direct proximity to the European Union,
one of the world’s economic hubs. It is also despite the minor importance of negative factors
such as a high-burden diseases or high levels of ethnic fractionalization.
In this paper, I focus on identifying the most important constraints on Arab Mediterranean
economic development. I use state-of-the-art econometric tools to quantify constraints that
have been identified through economic theory and studies of the political economy characteristics
of the region. The empirical results offer support for the central hypothesis that
limited technological capacities and political economy structures are the primary constraints
on economic development. With a view to international structural adjustment efforts,
my findings imply that the limited success of the Euro-Mediterranean policy to
stimulate the economic development of the Arab Mediterranean countries might be because
structural adjustment efforts do not tackle—or at least do not sufficiently tackle—
these constraints.Vergleicht man Geschwindigkeit und Umfang der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der verschiedenen
Weltregionen in den vergangenen zwanzig Jahren, so fällt insbesondere das
unterdurchschnittliche Abschneiden der arabischen Länder im Allgemeinen und der arabischen
Mittlemeerländer im Besonderen ins Auge, und dies trotz einer insgesamt vorteilhaften
geographischen Lage im Schnittpunkt dreier Kontinente mit exzellenten Anschlussmöglichkeiten
an See- und Wasserwege, trotz der direkten Nachbarschaft zum
Weltwirtschaftsdrehkreuz Europäische Union und trotz der relativ geringen Bedeutung
wichtiger entwicklungshemmender Faktoren, beispielsweise ethnische Zersplitterung oder
massive Ausbreitung von Krankheiten wie AIDS oder Malaria.
In diesem Aufsatz wird versucht, von den unterschiedlichen Hemmfaktoren wirtschaftlicher
Entwicklung, die in der wirtschaftstheoretischen Literatur und/oder in MENARegionalstudien
diskutiert werden, diejenigen herauszuarbeiten, die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung
am stärksten behindern oder möglicherweise stärker als andere. Dabei benutze
ich modernste ökonometrische Verfahren, um den Einfluss der verschiedenen erklärenden
Variablen zu quantifizieren. Die Ergebnisse stĂĽtzen die Eingangshypothese, dass insbesondere
mangelnde technologische Kapazitäten und Fähigkeiten sowie regionalspezifische
politökonomische Strukturen die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in den arabischen Mittelmeerländern
behindern