Specialist Respiratory Outreach : a case-finding initiative for identifying undiagnosed COPD in primary care

Acknowledgments This report is independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research Wessex ARC. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care. We are very grateful to Optimum Patient care and their team for their help and support with the data extraction and application of the case-finding risk score. We would also like to thank: The participants, Mark Stafford-Watson (PPI) in memorial, Colin Newell, Dr Fiona McKenna, Dr Andy Powell, Dr Helen Myers, Dr Stuart McKinnes, Dr Mark Williams, Dr Louisa Egbe, Dr Richard Baxter, Dr Sarah A’Court, Dr Elisabeth Willows, Dr Gareth Morris, Dr Ford, Dr Kate Lippiett, Wessex Clinical Research Network, West Hampshire CCG and Southampton City CCGPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Information transmission in energy futures markets

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DXN060205 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Do emerging markets matter in the world oil pricing system? Evidence of imported crude by China and India

This paper provides empirical evidence on the changing structure of world oil price system by identifying an additional driver – emerging market factor. We choose China and India as a representative of emerging markets to examine if the quantity of crude oil imported by China and India is significant in the existing oil pricing system (Kaufmann et.al. (2004). Our data starts from January 2002 and ends in March 2010 which includes the oil shock of 2007-2008. We utilize cointegration and Error-Correction-Model framework developed by Engle-Granger (1987) and Gregory-Hansen (1996) in the analysis. Our results indicate that demand from emerging market has become a significant factor in the world oil pricing system since 2003. This result is significant as it lends empirical support to the widely held conjecture that the oil shock of 2007-2008 is a demand-led shock (Hamilton, 2009). Our result also has significant policy implications that go beyond the oil shock. The emerging market factor is there to stay and reflects the changing power between emerging and developed economies in the world economic system as a result of decades of fast economic development in the former. It will certainly influence policy issues related to oil and beyond

Do emerging markets matter in the world oil pricing system? Evidence of imported crude by China and India

This paper provides empirical evidence on the changing structure of world oil price system by identifying an additional driver-emerging market factor. We choose China and India as a representative of emerging markets to examine if the quantity of crude oil imported by China and India is significant in the existing oil pricing system (Kaufmann et al., 2004). Our data starts from January 2002 and ends in March 2010, which includes the oil shock of 2007-2008. We utilize cointegration and error correction model framework developed by Engle-Granger (1987) and Gregory-Hansen (1996) in the analysis. Our results indicate that demand from emerging markets has become a significant factor in the world oil pricing system since 2003. This result is significant as it lends empirical support to the widely held conjecture that the oil shock of 2007-2008 is a demand-led shock (Hamilton, 2009). Our result also has significant policy implications that go beyond the oil shock. The emerging market factor is there to stay and reflects the changing power between emerging and developed economies in the world economic system as a result of decades of fast economic development in the former. It will certainly influence policy issues related to oil and beyond.Cointegration Oil market modelling Oil imports by China and India

Impact of credit risk and business cycles on momentum returns

In this paper, we show that significant momentum returns generate from credit-rated stocks across business cycles. The generation of momentum earned from speculative-grade stocks is on average 1.27% per month and are more prevalent during contraction periods in which they earn 1.61% per month. We also find that investment-grade stocks earn on average momentum returns of 0.85% per month and 1.14% per month during contractions. Higher momentum returns are unexplained by macroeconomic variables during contractions such as the 2008 recession. Our findings conclude that momentum return is due to high uncertainty associated with the increased credit risk of stocks and across business cycles.</p

The contribution of internet use in personal networks of support for long-term condition self-management

Objectives:To describe the individual and network characteristics of the personal communities of people using the internet and the role of offline support, network resources and community participation in using the internet for condition management.Methods:Secondary analysis of survey data using logistic regression analysis to determine the factors associated with differential internet use for condition management. This study involved 300 participants from 19 primary care providers in Manchester in 2010 and 2011.Results:Using the internet is associated with age, deprivation, education and having access to a personal network member who understands how to fix computer problems. Those using the internet for condition management received more offline emotional work. No associations were found between using the internet for health and other types of offline support. Those using the internet for support reported lower levels of happiness.Conclusion:Network processes and engagement shape online contact and use of resources for condition management. Those with access to personal networks who provide emotional work are likely to make use of online resources during non-crisis situations, suggesting that these resources act as an extension of offline network support. Those with greater levels of unhappiness may more frequently look to the internet for support

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prescription refills for immune-mediated inflammatory disorders: a time series analysis (Jan 2019 to Jan 2021) using the English Prescribing Dataset

Objective To investigate monthly prescription refills for common immunosuppressive/immunomodulatory therapy (sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine, azathioprine, methotrexate, leflunomide) prescriptions in England during the complete first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary analysis examined unit cost analysis and regional use.Design and setting A national cohort of community-based, primary care patients who anonymously contribute data to the English Prescribing Dataset, dispensed in the community in England, were included. Descriptive statistics and interrupted time series analysis over 25 months (14 months before, 11 months after first lockdown) were evaluated (January 2019 to January 2021, with March 2020 as the cut-off point).Outcome measures Prescription reimbursement variance in period before the pandemic as compared with after the first lockdown.Results Fluctuation in monthly medicines use is noted in March 2020: a jump is observed for hydroxychloroquine (Mann-Whitney, SE 14.652, standardised test statistic 1.911, p value=0.059) over the study period. After the first lockdown, medicines use fluctuated, with wide confidence intervals. Unit-cost prices changed substantially: sulfasalazine 33% increase, hydroxychloroquine 98% increase, azathioprine 41% increase, methotrexate 41% increase, leflunomide 20% decrease. London showed the least quantity variance, suggesting more homogeneous prescribing and patient access compared with Midlands and East of England, suggesting that some patients may have received medication over/under requirement, representing potential resource misallocation and a proxy for adherence rates. Changepoint detection revealed four out of the five medicines’ use patterns changed with a strong signal only for sulfasalazine in March/April 2020.Conclusions Findings potentially present lower rates of adherence because of the pandemic, suggesting barriers to care access. Unit price increases are likely to have severe budget impacts in the UK and potentially globally. Timely prescription refills for patients taking immunosuppressive/immunomodulatory therapies are recommended. Healthcare professionals should identify patients on these medicines and assess their prescription-day coverage, with planned actions to flag and follow-up adherence concerns in patients