Burden of onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy: First estimates and research priorities

__Background:__ Since the 1990s, evidence has accumulated of an increased prevalence of epilepsy in onchocerciasis-endemic areas in Africa as compared to onchocerciasis-free areas. Although the causal relationship between onchocerciasis and epilepsy has yet to be proven, there is likely an association.

Isle of Sports: A multifunctional sports center on the Danube Island

Abweichender Titel nach Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des VerfassersZusammenfassung in englischer SpracheSport sollte die Menschen begeistern und in der persönlichen Entwicklung bereichern. Zudem ist Sport ein sehr wichtiger Bestandteil für ein gesundes Leben und trägt enorm zur Verbesserung der körperlichen sowie der geistigen Gesundheit bei. Das Sportzentrum soll das Sportangebot in Wien erweitern und auf der Donauinsel eine Alternative für Schlechtwetter bieten. Das Gebäude soll von Außen aber nicht als Fremdkörper wahrgenommen werden, sondern in die Landschaft einfließen. Daher wird das Dach begrünt und für Spaziergänger begehbar. Sowohl Hobby- als auch Berufssportler sollen vom neuen Sportzentrum profitieren. Eine Veranstaltungshalle für Ballsportarten jeglicher Art wird Mittelpunkt des Sportzentrums. Ein Olympia-Schwimmbecken und Sprungturm sollen die bereits vorhandenen Anlagen für Wassersportarten wie Rudern und Kajak auf der Donauinsel ergänzen. Mit einem Indoor-Beachvolleyball Platz kann auch bei Schlechtwetter oder im Winter auf der Donauinsel gebeacht werden.Sport should inspire people and enrich their personal development. Sport is also a very important component of a healthy life and contributes enormously to improving physical and mental health.The sports center is intended to expand the range of sports based in Vienna and offer an alternative to bad weather on the Danube Island. From the outside, however, the building should not be perceived as a foreign body, but should flow into the landscape. Therefore, the roof will be greened and walked on.Both amateur and professional athletes should benefit from the new sports center. An event hall for ball sports of all kinds becomes the focus of the sports center. An Olympic swimming pool and diving tower are intended to complement the existing facilities for water sports such as rowing and kayaking on the Danube Island. An indoor beach volleyball court can also be used in bad weather or in winter on the Danube Island.16

Operationalisierung von Konventionalisierungstendenzen in der biologischen Landwirtschaft mit Hilfe sozial-ökologischer Konzepte

Julia Edlinger-HolzingerAbstract in englischer SpracheAlpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Masterarbeit, 2016(VLID)241566

ReCO2ST D8.4 - Resilience of renovation solutions: residential retrofit assessment platform and demonstrations for near zero energy and CO2 emissions with optimum cost, health, comfort and environmental quality

This report presents simulation results on the impact of climate change and urban environment on energy savings for the ReCO2ST demo buildings and installed technologies. It also presents an assessment of nature-based technologies regarding resulting environmental improvements and related costs. It was found that climate change/urban environment has a marked impact on materialised energy savings and resulting environmental conditions in naturally cooled buildings and should be considered in the design of retrofits. Nature based technologies can offer a holistic improvement of internal environment but costs are higher than conventional systems.Preprin

Burden of onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy: first estimates and research priorities

Background Since the 1990s, evidence has accumulated of an increased prevalence of epilepsy in onchocerciasis-endemic areas in Africa as compared to onchocerciasis-free areas. Although the causal relationship between onchocerciasis and epilepsy has yet to be proven, there is likely an association. Here we discuss the need for disease burden estimates of onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE), provide them, detail how such estimates should be refined, and discuss the socioeconomic impact of OAE, including a cost-estimate for anti-epileptic drugs. Main body Providing OAE burden estimates may aid prevention of epilepsy in onchocerciasis- endemic areas by inciting and informing collaboration between onchocerciasis control programmes and mental health services. Epilepsy not only massively impacts the health of those affected, but it also carries a high socioeconomic burden for the households and communities involved. We used previously published geospatial estimates of onchocerciasis in Africa and a separately published logistic regression model quantifying the association between onchocerciasis and epilepsy to estimate the number of OAE cases. We then applied disability weights for epilepsy to quantify the burden in terms of years of life lived with disability (YLD) and estimate the cost of treatment. We estimate that in 2015 roughly 117 000 people were affected by OAE across onchocerciasis-endemic areas previously under the African Programme for Onchocerciases control (APOC) mandate where OAE has ever been reported or suspected, and another 264 000 persons in onchocerciasis-endemic areas where OAE has never been investigated before. The total number of YLDs due to OAE was 39 300 and 88 700 in these areas respectively, based on a weighted mean disability weight of 0.336. The burden of OAE is approximately 13% of the total YLDs attributable to onchocerciasis and 10% of total YLDs attributable to epilepsy. We estimated that by 2015 the total costs of treatment with anti-epileptic drug for OAE cases would have been a minimum of 12.4 million US$. Conclusions These estimates suggest a considerable health, social and economic burden of OAE in Africa. The treatment and care for people with epilepsy, especially in hyperendemic onchocerciasis areas with high epilepsy prevalence thus requires more financial and human resources

ARIA masterclass 2018 : from guidelines to real-life implementation

Over the past 20 years, ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) has developed various guidelines for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma multimorbidity. Over time, the ARIA initiative has evolved to ensure the highest level of best-practices adoption in real life settings. It has evolved towards Integrated Care Pathways (ICPs) using mobile technology, and has now entered a new phase in which change management is key to provide an active and healthy life to all AR patients. With that in mind, the first ARIA masterclass was held on 12th September 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The masterclass aimed at informing clinicians about the principles of change management, providing unbiased education on diagnosis and treatments, sharing the most recent research data on AR and multimorbidities, and creating a snowball effect to increase the adoption of best practices around the globe. This report provides an overview of the ARIA masterclass concept, summarizes the key lectures and discussions, and gives an outline of the future key development

ARIA masterclass 2018: From guidelines to real-life implementation

Over the past 20 years, ARIA (Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) has developed various guidelines for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma multimorbidity. Over time, the ARIA initiative has evolved to ensure the highest level of bestpractices adoption in real life settings. It has evolved towards Integrated Care Pathways (ICPs) using mobile technology, and has now entered a new phase in which change management is key to provide an active and healthy life to all AR patients. With that in mind, the first ARIA masterclass was held on 12th September 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The masterclass aimed at informing clinicians about the principles of change management, providing unbiased education on diagnosis and treatments, sharing the most recent research data on AR and multimorbidities, and creating a snowball effect to increase the adoption of best practices around the globe. This report provides an overview of the ARIA masterclass concept, summarizes the key lectures and discussions, and gives an outline of the future key development.status: publishe