Microalgae-based products for the food and feed sector: an outlook for Europe

The European Union has recently adopted an ambitious strategy for developing the Bioeconomy in Europe, in this context algae represents an emerging biological resource of great importance for its potential applications in different fields. In particular, micro-algae are currently promoted as a new source of valuable nutrients for human and animal consumption. This report analyses the production, markets and regulation of microalgae-based food and feed products, especially focusing on the European sector. The report is structured in the following chapters: - Micro-algal production systems - Current markets, products and future developments for micro-algae - Outlook: R&D and prospects for micro-algae biotechnology and genetic modification - Safety and regulatory aspects of micro-algae food and feed applications in the EU and the US.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Broadening health technology assessment:To support setting boundaries to the basic benefit package

The content of the basic benefit package is restricted by evaluating the costs and benefits of healthcare interventions. Decision-making frameworks based on health technology assessment (HTA) have been developed to support this process. This thesis aims to optimize decision-making frameworks by examining broadening the scope of HTA, and extending the use of HTA

Broadening health technology assessment:To support setting boundaries to the basic benefit package

The content of the basic benefit package is restricted by evaluating the costs and benefits of healthcare interventions. Decision-making frameworks based on health technology assessment (HTA) have been developed to support this process. This thesis aims to optimize decision-making frameworks by examining broadening the scope of HTA, and extending the use of HTA

Broadening health technology assessment:To support setting boundaries to the basic benefit package

The content of the basic benefit package is restricted by evaluating the costs and benefits of healthcare interventions. Decision-making frameworks based on health technology assessment (HTA) have been developed to support this process. This thesis aims to optimize decision-making frameworks by examining broadening the scope of HTA, and extending the use of HTA

The role of budget impact in reimbursement decisions in The Netherlands:interviews with decision‑makers and pharmaceutical industry representatives

Economic evaluations of health technologies increasingly encompass a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and a supplementary budget impact analysis (BIA) to inform reimbursement decisions on health technologies. Evidence from the Netherlands suggests that CEA requirements are consistent between the different stages of the decision-making process in the Netherlands, while BIA requirements are not. It remains unclear why aspects of BIAs vary in form and importance across decision stages, and why BIA results do not have a clear and consistent relationship with CEA results. Therefore, this study aimed to obtain further insight into the role of budget impact in the different stages of the decision-making process in the Netherlands, and into the experiences of decision-makers that may explain the variation in use of BIA across these stages. To meet this aim, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 decision-makers and 3 pharmaceutical industry representatives. Our findings indicate that BIAs serve multiple purposes depending on the responsibilities and needs of decision-makers in a specific decision stage. Each purpose may be relatively well-defined, and decision-makers seemingly have a clear understanding of the evidence on (aspects of) budget impact required for achieving their specific purpose. For example, the selection of pharmaceuticals for assessment is based on the maximum financial risk associated with reimbursement, discarding evidence on savings and substitution effects in other budgets and sectors, while these broader healthcare and societal elements are included during the appraisal stage. Hence, a clear framework for the consistent use of evidence on budget impact across decision stages has not yet been established

A Deep Learning-Based Approach for Train Arrival Time Prediction

Level crossings have a function to let the traffic cross the railroad from one side to the other. In the Netherlands, 2300 level crossings are spread out over the country, playing a significant role in daily traffic. Currently, there isn’t an accurate estimation of the arrival time of trains at level crossings while it plays an important role in traffic flow management in intelligent transport systems. This paper presents a state-of-the-art deep learning model for predicting the arrival time of trains at level crossings using spatial and temporal aspects, external attributes, and multi-task learning. The spatial and temporal aspects incorporate geographical and historical travel data and the attributes provide specific information about a train route. Using multi-task learning all the information is combined and an arrival time prediction is made both for the entire route as for sub-parts of that route. Experimental results show that on average, the error is only 281 s with an average trip time of one hour. The model is able to accurately predict the arrival time at level crossings for various time steps in advance. The source code is available at https://github.com/basbuijse/train-arrival-time-estimator.</p

Monolithic near infrared image sensors enabled by quantum dot photodetector

status: publishe

Do economic evaluations of TAVI deal with learning effects, innovation, and context dependency? A review

Introduction: Most collectively funded healthcare systems set limits to their benefit package. Doing so require

Psychometric evaluation of the Mental Health Quality of Life (MHQoL) instrument in seven European countries

Introduction: To make efficient use of available resources, decision-makers in healthcare may assess the costs and (health) benefits of health interventions. For interventions aimed at improving mental health capturing the full health benefits is an important challenge. The Mental Health Quality of Life (MHQoL) instrument was recently developed to meet this challenge. Evaluating the pyschometric properties of this instrument in different contexts remains important. Methods: A psychometric evaluation of the MHQoL was performed using existing international, cross-sectional data with 7155 respondents from seven European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, The Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom). Reliability was examined by calculating Cronbach’s alpha, a measure of internal consistency of the seven MHQoL dimensions, and by examining the association of the MHQoL sum scores with the MHQoL-VAS scores. Construct validity was examined by calculating Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between the MHQoL sum scores and EQ-5D index scores, EQ-VAS scores, EQ-5D anxiety/depression dimension scores, ICECAP-A index scores and PHQ-4 sum scores. Results: The MHQoL was found to have good internal consistency for all seven countries. The MHQoL sum score and the MHQoL-VAS had a high correlation. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients were moderate to very high for all outcomes. Conclusion: Our results, based on data gathered in seven European countries, suggest that the MHQoL shows favourable psychometrical characteristics. While further validation remains important, the MHQoL may be a useful instrument in measuring mental health-related quality of life in the Western European context