Relationship between Spatial Price Transmission and Geographical Distance in Brazil

Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s 2011 AAEA & NAREA Joint Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 24-26, 2011. (Poster Presentation)cointegration, price transmission, geographical distance, structural breaks, principal component regression, rice, Brazil., Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, C32, Q11, Q13,

Challenges and methodologies in using progression free survival as a surrogate for overall survival In oncology

Objectives: A primary outcome in oncology trials is overall survival (OS). However, to estimate OS accurately requires a sufficient number of patients to have died, which may take a long time. If an alternative end point is sufficiently highly correlated with OS, it can be used as a surrogate. Progression-free survival (PFS) is the surrogate most often used in oncology, but does not always satisfy the correlation conditions for surrogacy. We analyze the methodologies used when extrapolating from PFS to OS. Methods: Davis et al. previously reviewed the use of surrogate end points in oncology, using papers published between 2001 and 2011. We extend this, reviewing papers published between 2012 and 2016. We also examine the reporting of statistical methods to assess the strength of surrogacy. Results: The findings from 2012 to 2016 do not differ substantially from those of 2001 to 2011: the same factors are shown to affect the relationship between PFS and OS. The proportion of papers reporting individual patient data (IPD), strongly recommended for full assessment of surrogacy, remains low: 33 percent. A wide range of methods has been used to determine the appropriateness of surrogates. While usually adhering to reporting standards, the standard of scholarship appears sometimes to be questionable and the reporting of results often haphazard. Conclusions: Standards of analysis and reporting PFS to OS surrogate studies should be improved by increasing the rigor of statistical reporting and by agreeing to a minimum set of reporting guidelines. Moreover, the use of IPD to assess surrogacy should increase

Bibliometric trends of health economic evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Background: Collaboration between Sub-Saharan African researchers is important for the generation and transfer of health technology assessment (HTA) evidence, in order to support priority-setting in health. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate collaboration patterns between countries. Methods: We conducted a rapid evidence assessment that included a random sample of health economic evaluations carried out in 20 countries (Angola, Botswana, Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda). We conducted bibliometric network analysis based on all first authors with a Sub-Saharan African academic affiliation and their co-authored publications (“network-articles”). Then we produced a connection map of collaboration patterns among Sub-Saharan African researchers, reflecting the number of network-articles and the country of affiliation of the main co-authors. Results: The sample of 119 economic evaluations mostly related to treatments of communicable diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS (42/119, 35.29 %) and malaria (26/119, 21.85 %). The 39 first authors from Sub-Saharan African institutions together co-authored 729 network-articles. The network analysis showed weak collaboration between health economic researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa, with researchers being more likely to collaborate with Europe and North America than with other African countries. South Africa stood out as producing the highest number of health economic evaluations and collaborations. Conclusions: The development and evaluation of HTA research networks in Sub-Saharan Africa should be supported, with South Africa central to any such efforts. Organizations and institutions from high income countries interested in supporting priority setting in Sub-Saharan Africa should include promoting collaboration as part of their agendas, in order to take advantage of the potential transferability of results and methods of the available health economic analyses in Africa and internationally

Economies of scale and scope in publicly funded biomedical and health research: evidence from the literature

BACKGROUND: Publicly funded biomedical and health research is expected to achieve the best return possible for taxpayers and for society generally. It is therefore important to know whether such research is more productive if concentrated into a small number of ‘research groups’ or dispersed across many. METHODS: We undertook a systematic rapid evidence assessment focused on the research question: do economies of scale and scope exist in biomedical and health research? In other words, is that research more productive per unit of cost if more of it, or a wider variety of it, is done in one location? We reviewed English language literature without date restriction to the end of 2014. To help us to classify and understand that literature, we first undertook a review of econometric literature discussing models for analysing economies of scale and/or scope in research generally (not limited to biomedical and health research). RESULTS: We found a large and disparate literature. We reviewed 60 empirical studies of (dis-)economies of scale and/or scope in biomedical and health research, or in categories of research including or overlapping with biomedical and health research. This literature is varied in methods and findings. At the level of universities or research institutes, studies more often point to positive economies of scale than to diseconomies of scale or constant returns to scale in biomedical and health research. However, all three findings exist in the literature, along with inverse U-shaped relationships. At the level of individual research units, laboratories or projects, the numbers of studies are smaller and evidence is mixed. Concerning economies of scope, the literature more often suggests positive economies of scope than diseconomies, but the picture is again mixed. The effect of varying the scope of activities by a research group was less often reported than the effect of scale and the results were more mixed. CONCLUSIONS: The absence of predominant findings for or against the existence of economies of scale or scope implies a continuing need for case by case decisions when distributing research funding, rather than a general policy either to concentrate funding in a few centres or to disperse it across many

El clima organizacional y el desempeño docente en la Institución Educativa No. 0055 Manuel Gonzales Prada UGEL 06 Lurigancho Chosica 2010

El trabajo de investigación se realizó en la Institución Educativa Nº 0055 Manuel Gonzales Prada UGEL 06 Lurigancho Chosica 2010, donde participaron docentes, el propósito de investigación fue realizar un estudio sobre la relación entre el Clima organizacional y el desempeño docente. El estudio se justificó por cuanto tiene sustento teórico y utilidad práctica y relevancia social por los beneficios que genera sus resultados. La metodología del trabajo de investigación es de tipo correlacional, diseño no experimental de corte transeccional, el muestreo no probabilístico por que se trabajó con todos (17) docentes de nivel secundaria de Institución Educativa Nº 0055 Manuel Gonzales Prada. Como técnica de observación se utilizó encuestas de 90 preguntas de variable dicotómica para el clima organizacional elaboradas por Rudolf H. Moos; Bernice S. Moos y Edison J.Trickett Adaptadas al español y 30 preguntas para el desempeño docente preguntas con escala de cinco alternativas elaboradas por la comisión de calidad de la Educación de la Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. El procesamiento de datos permitió realizar la prueba de las hipótesis y llegar a las siguientes conclusiones: (a) existe relación casi nulo indirecta, se puede considerar que las variables son casi independientes (b) la dimensión relaciones, autorrealización y estabilidad/ cambio del clima Organizacional se relacionan de manera indirecta, negativa muy baja con del desempeño docente. Son casi independientes

Exploring the interdependencies of research funders in the UK

Investment in medical research is vital to the continuing improvement of the UK's health and wealth. It is through research that we expand our understanding of disease and develop new treatments for patients. Medical research charities currently contribute over £1 billion annually to medical research in the UK, of which over £350 million is provided by Cancer Research UK. Many charities, including Cancer Research UK, receive no government funding for their research activity. Cancer Research UK is engaged in a programme of work in order to better understand the medical research funding environment and demonstrate the importance of sustained investment. A key part of that is the Office of Health Economics‟ (OHE) 2011 report “Exploring the interdependency between public and charitable medical research”. This study found that there are substantial benefits, both financial and qualitative, from the existence of a variety of funders and that reductions in the level of government financial support for medical research are likely to have broader negative effects. This contributed to other evidence which found that the activities and funding of the charity, public and private sectors respectively are complementary, i.e. mutually reinforcing, rather than duplicative or merely substituting for one another. “Exploring the interdependencies of research funders in the UK” by the Office of Health Economics (OHE) and SPRU: Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex, represents a continued effort to build the evidence base around the funding of medical research. This report uncovers the extent to which funders of cancer research are interdependent, nationally and internationally. Key figures show that two thirds of publications acknowledging external support have relied on multiple funders, while just under half benefited from overseas funding, and almost a fifth are also supported by industry. In addition the analysis shows that the general public would not want tax funding of cancer research to be reduced, but would not donate enough to charities to compensate for any such reduction

Supercritical extraction of lyophilized strawberry anthocyanins with pulsed electric fields pretreatment

Anthocyanins from LSB and with a PEF pretreatment were extracted with ethanol + SCCO2. The extraction at 200 bar, 333.15, 3.3% wt. of ethanol as cosolvent and using LSB with a PEF pretreatment of 1 kV/cm, produced an extraction yield of 0.284 % and a TAC of 0.231 (g/100 g of ethanol + SCCO2). The individual effect of 1.0 kV/cm of PEF pretreatment increases the %EY by 25 % and the TAC by 29 %. The individual effect of the cosolvent increases the %EY by 32% and that of TAC by 36.4%. However, the combined effect of 1.0 kV cm-1 and 3.3 % ethanol, produced an increase of 78.2 % and 85.3% in the %EY and TAC, respectively. Therefore, these results suggest that there is a synergistic effect, which means that both the electroporation caused by PEF in the LSB and the increase in polarity due to the addition of ethanol produce a substantial improvement over %ET and TAC. Furthermore, the process of extracting anthocyanins from LSB using a mixture of ethanol + supercritical carbon dioxide can be satisfactorily described by a solubility-based model such as the Kumar and Johnston model.The lyophilized strawberry anthocyanins were extracted using a supercritical extraction (SE) process. The effect of pulsed electric fields (PEF) as pretreatment and the influence of the addition of ethanol as a cosolvent on the percentage of extraction yield (EY) and the total anthocyanin concentration (TAC) were analyzed. The effect of PEF was evaluated at 0.5 and 1.0 kV/cm, while the effect of the cosolvent was studied in mixtures of supercritical carbon dioxide - ethanol (SCCO2 + ethanol) at 1.6 and 3.3% by weight. The best results (% EY = 0.506, TAC = 0.428 g /100 g of lyophilized strawberry) were obtained with a PEF pretreatment of 1.0 kV cm-1, 3.3%wt. ethanol at 200 bar and 333.15 K. The experimental results of solubility were suitably adjusted with the Kumar and Johnston model. The maximum solubility (0.114 g/100 g of solvent mixture) was obtained at 300 bar and 313.15 K.The authors would like to thank the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACyT) for the scholarship granted to the master’s student in chemical sciences Marco A. Ávila-Hernández

Acumulación simultánea de múltiples metales pesados por cultivos in vitro de plántulas de Prosopis laevigata

Se investigó la capacidad de plántulas de Prosopis laevigata para tolerar y acumular de forma simultánea hasta 4 metales pesados (cromo, níquel, cadmio y plomo), bajo condiciones de cultivo in vitro.Experiments were conducted to investigate the capability of Prosopis laevigata to individually or simultaneously uptake four heavy metals (HM; Cr, Ni, Cd, and Pb). To this end, P. laevigata seedlings were cultured during 50 days on modified MS medium supplemented with 30 g L−1 of sucrose and added with 1, 2, 3 or 4 HM (50 mg L−1 of each HM). When the four HM were added simultaneously, the medium was supplemented with or without ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (EDTA). In the MS media contained only one HM, the seedlings tolerance to HM was as follows: Pb≥Cr>Ni≥Cd. The accumulation of HM from higher to lower concentration in shoots was Pb≥Ni>Cd>>Cr and in roots Cr>>Pb>>Ni>Cd. When the media contained more than one HM, the accumulation in shoots was the highest for Ni and the lowest for Pb, whether EDTA was added or not. EDTA supplementation increased 61, 39, 22, and 3 fold uptake of Cr, Ni, Pb, and Cd in roots, respectively

Estimation of the stage-wise costs of breast cancer in Germany using a modeling approach

Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease representing a substantial economic burden. In order to develop policies that successfully decrease this burden, the factors affecting costs need to be fully understood. Evidence suggests that early-stage BC has a lower cost than a late stage BC. We aim to provide conservative estimates of BC's stage-wise medical costs from German healthcare and the payer's perspective. To this end, we conducted a literature review of articles evaluating stage-wise costs of BC in Germany through PubMed, Web of Science, and Econ Lit databases supplemented by Google Scholar. We developed a decision tree model to estimate BC-related medical costs in Germany using available treatment and cost information. The review generated seven studies; none estimated the stage-wise costs of BC. The studies were classified into two groups: case scenarios (five studies) and two studies based on administrative data. The first sickness funds data study (Gruber et al., 2012) used information from the year 1999 to approach BC attributable cost; their results suggest a range between €3,929 and €11,787 depending on age. The second study (Kreis, Plöthner et al., 2020) used 2011–2014 data and suggested an initial phase incremental cost of €21,499, an intermediate phase cost of €2,620, and a terminal phase cost of €34,513 per incident case. Our decision tree model-based BC stage-wise cost estimates were €21,523 for stage I, €25,679 for stage II, €30,156 for stage III, and €42,086 for stage IV. Alternatively, the modeled cost estimates are €20,284 for the initial phase of care, €851 for the intermediate phase of care, and €34,963 for the terminal phase of care. Our estimates for phases of care are consistent with recent German estimates provided by Kreis et al. Furthermore, the data collected by sickness funds are collected primarily for reimbursement purposes, where the German ICD-10 classification system defines a cancer diagnosis. As a result, claims data lack the clinical information necessary to understand stage-wise BC costs. Our model-based estimates fill the gap and inform future economic evaluations of BC interventions

Quality Appraisal in Systematic Literature Reviews of Studies Eliciting Health State Utility Values: Conceptual Considerations.

BACKGROUND: The increasing number of studies that generate health state utility values (HSUVs) and the impact of HSUVs on cost-utility analyses make a robust tailored quality appraisal (QA) tool for systematic reviews of these studies necessary. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to address conceptual issues regarding QA in systematic reviews of studies eliciting HSUVs by establishing a consensus on the definitions, dimensions and scope of a QA tool specific to this context. METHODS: A modified Delphi method was used in this study. An international multidisciplinary panel of seven experts was purposively assembled. The experts engaged in two anonymous online survey rounds. After each round, the experts received structured and controlled feedback on the previous phase. Controlled feedback allowed the experts to re-evaluate and adjust their positions based on collective insights. Following these surveys, a virtual face-to-face meeting was held to resolve outstanding issues. Consensus was defined a priori at all stages of the modified Delphi process. RESULTS: The response rates to the first-round and second-round questionnaires and the virtual consensus meeting were 100%, 86% and 71%, respectively. The entire process culminated in a consensus on the definitions of scientific quality, QA, the three QA dimensions-reporting, relevance and  methodological quality-and the scope of a QA tool specific to studies that elicit HSUVs. CONCLUSIONS: Achieving this consensus marks a pivotal step towards developing a QA tool specific to systematic reviews of studies eliciting HSUVs. Future research will build on this foundation, identify QA items, signalling questions and response options, and develop a QA tool specific to studies eliciting HSUVs