Two new European species of Rhamphomyia subgenus Amydroneura (Diptera: Empididae)

Rhamphomyia (Amydroneura) rampazzii sp. n. (Switzerland) and R. (A.) boreoitalica sp. n. (Italy) are described and illustrated. R. (A.) bipila Strobl, 1909 is redescribed and illustrated. A lectotype is designated for R. (A.) claripennis Oldenberg, 1922. A key to the Palaearctic species of the subgenus Amydroneura is given

Grönland. Ein kleiner Pflanzenführer.

Elke Lindner, Hagen Held and Ludwig MartinsArktis Kleinverlag, Spitsbergen.de (Rolf Stange), 2011. ISBN 978-9379903-11-3, 978-3937903118, 978-3-8334-5132-4, softcover, 269 pages

Mental health financing in six eastern european countries

We describe and compare the current status of mental health financing in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. In all six Eastern European countries, the state financed and state organized health system was transformed into a public health insurance scheme, though the implementation thereof differs from country to country. The country-specific information was obtained from a health policy questionnaire that includes both qualitative and quantitative information and covers health financing, purchasing, and provision of services. The compulsory health insurance secures that population has access to mental health services irrespective of their ability to pay. It seems that there is a problem to achieve such universal access in Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova. The countries spend lower shares of GDP on total health expenditure and from this amount they spent lower shares of total health expenditure on mental health services than Western European countries. The political, social and economic transition in the 1990s initiated the process of mental health policy formulation, adoption of mental health legislation stressing human rights of patients, and a call for a pragmatic balance of community and hospital services. However, not all of this has been successfully realized. Mental health services are underfinanced. Insufficient financing of mental health services leads to absence of financial resources for mental health system development. There were poor investments in mental health services in the past, which led to the situation with a need of renovation of inpatient facilities, and need of improvement of the living conditions in the existing institutions. On the other hand, the national mental health systems need resources for strengthening weak community services. But such additional resources are not available

Hilara croatica sp. nov. i kompeticija među svojtama Hilara i Rhamphomyia (Megacyttarus) (Diptera: Empididae)

A new species of the genus Hilara (Diptera: Empididae), Hilara croatica sp. nov., is described from Croatia and illustrated. Distributions of Hilara and Rhamphomyia (Megacyttarus) species in space and across time are briefly discussed.U radu se daje opis i crteži nove vrste roda Hilara (Diptera: Empididae), Hilara croatica sp. nov., iz Hrvatske. Kratko se raspravlja o prostornoj i vremenskoj rasprostranjenosti vrsta Hilara i Rhamphomyia (Megacyttarus)

New data about Empididae and Hybotidae (Diptera, Empidoidea) from Croatia: new species, new name, new records

Bicellaria croatica sp. nov. (Hybotidae) is described and illustrated from Croatia. In Empididae, new records for Rhamphomyia brevis Daugeron & Lefebvre, 2015 (preoccupied, Rhamphomyia brevis Loew, 1861) are presented and a new substitute name for this species is proposed: Rhamphomyia daugeroni nom. nov. The species is transferred to the subgenus Holoclera. Three species of Empididae are first recorded from Croatia: Empis pleurica (Collin, 1960), Rhamphomyia (Amydroneura) pseudogibba Strobl, 1910 and Empis (Xanthempis) hypandrialis Daugeron, 2000 (the female is described for the first time). It is hypothesised that Empis pleurica (Collin, 1960) is extending its distribution area northwest (from Israel through Turkey to Croatia), northwards (to the Caucasus) and eastward (to Iran), probably due to climate change

Estimation of medical equipment prices – a case study of tomotherapy equipment in the Czech Republic

Medical equipment (ME) is often considered to be an important factor in the growth of healthcare expenditures. In the Czech Republic (CR) validated approach does not yet exist for hospitals to use to assess commercial offers, nor is there a generally accepted methodology for regulatory bodies to allow for the evaluation of the effectiveness of prior purchases. This study intends to present a methodological approach that will allow for assessing the effectiveness of the procurement of capital ME based on international prices. The case of the purchase of tomotherapy system in the CR was used to demonstrate the developed approach. We performed a multiway search for international estimated and exact prices for tomotherapy unit using public-procurement databases, scientific papers, health technology assessment studies, professional reports, and Internet searches. All of the data that was gathered on prices was subjected to critical assessment vis-à-vis the reliability of the information. This research lays new methodology that may provide general background of international comparison studies focused on ME. The results provide support for decision making about the acquisitions of ME

Biomonitoring of Ceratopogonidae (Diptera: Nematocera) using car nets

Car nets were used to collect two samples on a forest road in Podyji National park, the Braitava forest, Czech Republic. Sampling was done in 2002 between May 31 and June 1, and between July 30 and 31. These consisted of 10 rounds (each 10 km in length) from morning to dusk. Over 3,000 specimens (52 species) of Ceratopogonidae were captured. The results suggest that the car-net method may be efficient in ceratopogonid biomonitoring and e. g. determining their daily flight activity and swarming sites

A new species of Gaurax from the Czech Republic (Diptera, Chloropidae)

Gaurax siostrzoneki sp. n. (Diptera, Chloropidae) is described from the Czech Republic and the main differential characters are illustrated. A key to the European species of the genus is provided

Ažurirani popis hrvatskih muha gusjeničarki (Diptera: Tachinidae)

We have listed 307 species of Tachinidae presently known from the country. Our checklist contains data from all available sources cited below the species names. New material consisting of 100 species has been studied to support the literature. There are still 29 doubtful records, as well as 3 doubtful taxa, mentioned by old references, the validity of which needs to be confirmed; these records are reviewed apart from the main species list.Utvrdili smo 307 vrsta muha gusjeničarki (Tachinidae) trenutno poznatih za Hrvatsku. Naš ažurirani popis sadrži podatke iz svih raspoloživih izvora koje citiramo nakon naziva vrste. Kao dopunu literaturnim navodima analiziran je novosakupljeni materijal koji sadrži 100 vrsta. Prisutno je 29 dvojbenih nalaza, kao i 3 taksonomski dvojbene svojte koje se navode u starim referencama, a čiju valjanost još treba potvrditi; ti nalazi se obrađuju odvojeno od glavnog popisa vrsta

GLOBAL CENTERS OF MEDICAL DEVICE TECHNOLOGY: UNITED STATES, EUROPE AND CHINA

The global market for medical technologies is concentrated in the most advanced countries of the world, namely the U.S.A., Europe and Japan. China is the most important of fast-growing markets. According to some estimates China's global share in 2030 will be as much as 25 %. The aim of the article is to provide an overview of the development of selected economic indicators of medical devices in the regions of the U.S.A., Europe and China. We address the last decade and comment on the estimated future development of these markets. The article is based on selective literature research. Indicators of the market value, global market share, market trends, and export and import values in the three world regions are the key elements of the analysis. We found that U.S. holds about 40 %, the market value (170 billion USD) and Europe holds currently about 30 % of the global market (110 billion USD). The Medtech market in China is about 10 % of global one (53,6 billion USD). The U.S. market growth is about 10 %, the European 5 % and China market shows far largest growth rate about 20-25 % per year. According China will become one of the major player in the Medtech market. The Chinese market, which has focused on low-cost production in the past, is currently coming to the forefront thanks to its development of high-end medical device technology