Migration Costs and Networks: household optimal investment in migration

International migration is an expensive form of investment, that only households relatively better off can afford. However poorer households have the higher incentive to migrate. Migration decision is conditional on the entry cost, expected returns and risks of migration. This paper, using data from Mexican rural and urban areas, examines the relation between household and community networks and costs and risks of migration focusing on the optimal investment in migration. To investigate an household optimal number of migrants this paper introduces a Three Step procedure to solve simultaneously for the endogeneity of network size and possible selection of migrants. The analysis confirms the inverted U-shaped relation between wealth and migration, stressing the importance of networks particularly in facilitating the migration of social strata belonging to the left tail of the income distribution. Moreover, in presence of sunk costs and/or high initial investment, household and community networks accomplish different functions

Determinants and consequences of international migration

This chapter provides a simple overview of the canonical model of international migration, discusses the consequences of migration on both sending and receiving countries and draws some considerations on future research prospects for the international migration literature

Reduced chance of hearing loss associated with Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Aminoglycosides in the treatment of Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis

Item does not contain fulltextHearing loss and nephrotoxicity are associated with prolonged treatment duration and higher dosage of amikacin and kanamycin. In our tuberculosis center, we used therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) targeting preset pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) surrogate endpoints in an attempt to maintain efficacy while preventing (oto)toxicity. To evaluate this strategy, we retrospectively evaluated medical charts of tuberculosis (TB) patients treated with amikacin or kanamycin in the period from 2000 to 2012. Patients with culture-confirmed multiresistant or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB) receiving amikacin or kanamycin as part of their TB treatment for at least 3 days were eligible for inclusion in this retrospective study. Clinical data, including maximum concentration (Cmax), Cmin, and audiometry data, were extracted from the patients' medical charts. A total of 80 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean weighted Cmax/MIC ratios obtained from 57 patients were 31.2 for amikacin and 12.3 for kanamycin. The extent of hearing loss was limited and correlated with the cumulative drug dose per kg of body weight during daily administration. At follow-up, 35 (67.3%) of all patients had successful outcome; there were no relapses. At a median dose of 6.5 mg/kg, a correlation was found between the dose per kg of body weight during daily dosing and the extent of hearing loss in dB at 8,000 Hz. These findings suggest that the efficacy at this lower dosage is maintained with limited toxicity. A randomized controlled trial should provide final proof of the safety and efficacy of TDM-guided use of aminoglycosides in MDR-TB treatment