Probiotiques, aliments fonctionnels et kéfir : le point sur la situation règlementaire en Belgique et sur les avancées scientifiques en matière d'évaluation des effets santé du kéfir

Probiotics, functional foods and kefir: a review of the Belgian regulation and the scientific progress in evaluating the beneficial health effects of kefir. In Belgium and more widely in Europe, conditions for putting probiotics on the market are defined on the basis of their application: medicinal or food use. Probiotics used as food supplements, as well as functional foods, are governed by food legislation. By the 31st of January 2010 at the latest, new restrictions will be introduced governing the publication of positive health claims that are authorized to be made about foods and the conditions for using them. For any other health claim, as well as for a medicinal application, the scientific evidence of the claimed effect must be provided. The potential of kefir to promote human health has been subject to various studies. These aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of probiotic strains isolated from kefir and the positive action of kefir, or some of its chemical components (fatty matter, polysaccharides), on specific health features predominantly related to cancerous tumour development, immunity, allergy and cholesteromia. The abilities of kefir to improve human health were evaluated on human cells and on laboratory animals but have not yet been confirmed by human trials

Inflation persistence in structural macroeconomic models (RG10)

This paper analyses the response of inflation in the euro area to five macroeconomic shocks through the use of results derived from Eurosystem large-scale macroeconomic models. The main finding is that only a fiscal shock, and to a lesser extent a TFP shock, generate marked inflation persistence. In contrast, an indirect tax and an oil price shock appear much less persistent and a social security shock generates less inflation persistence in the majority of the countries (although some weak persistence was observed at the euro area level). The paper also considers evidence on the sources of persistence, which indicates that it is crucially affected by the responsiveness of wages to employment, by the sluggishness in the adjustments of the demand components, and by the speed of adjustment of employment to output and wage changes. JEL Classification: C53, E31, E52impulse response function, Inflation persistence, large-scale macroeconomic models

Стратегічне планування як основний інструмент ефективності підприємства

Наук. кер.: А.Ю. Жулавськи

Multilevel factors are associated with immunosuppressant nonadherence in heart transplant recipients: The international BRIGHT study

Factors at the level of family/healthcare worker, organization, and system are neglected in medication nonadherence research in heart transplantation (HTx). The 4-continent, 11-country cross-sectional Building Research Initiative Group: Chronic Illness Management and Adherence in Transplantation (BRIGHT) study used multistaged sampling to examine 36 HTx centers, including 36 HTx directors, 100 clinicians, and 1397 patients. Nonadherence to immunosuppressants\u2014defined as any deviation in taking or timing adherence and/or dose reduction\u2014was assessed using the Basel Assessment of Adherence to Immunosuppressive Medications Scale \ua9 (BAASIS \ua9 ) interview. Guided by the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction and Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, we analyzed factors at these multiple levels using sequential logistic regression analysis (6 blocks). The nonadherence prevalence was 34.1%. Six multilevel factors were associated independently (either positively or negatively) with nonadherence: patient level: barriers to taking immunosuppressants (odds ratio [OR]: 11.48); smoking (OR: 2.19); family/healthcare provider level: frequency of having someone to help patients read health-related materials (OR: 0.85); organization level: clinicians reporting nonadherent patients were targeted with adherence interventions (OR: 0.66); pickup of medications at physician's office (OR: 2.31); and policy level: monthly out-of-pocket costs for medication (OR: 1.16). Factors associated with nonadherence are evident at multiple levels. Improving medication nonadherence requires addressing not only the patient, but also family/healthcare provider, organization, and policy levels