Financial sector and economic growth in the Republic of Croatia 1995-2005

Financial sector in the Republic of Croatia had a strong growth between 1995 2005.g. Liberalization of financial sector in 1999 led to an increase in bank foreign debt, which resulted in a strong increase in foreign currency reserves and appreciation of the national currency. The growth of the financial sector and credit expansion have been allocated in favour of private and public consumption, but not in industry investments. GDP growth didn't have the same momentum as financial aggregates. Economic growth, after a contraction in 1999 was within the average of global economic growth. Relying on neoclassical growth model, government and central bank didn't put in place the needed set of pro-active policies. Factor allocation was solely through private bank channels financing private consumption. If the sustainable economic growth and new employment are to be major macroeconomic goals, a new macroeconomic paradigm as combination of neclassical and neokeynesians approach will be needed

Health care expenditure disparities in the European Union and underlying factors: a distribution dynamics approach

This paper examines health care expenditure (HCE) disparities between the European Union countries over the period 1995-2010. By means of using a continuous version of the distribution dynamics approach, the key conclusions are that the reduction in disparities is very weak and, therefore, persistence is the main characteristic of the HCE distribution. In view of these findings, a preliminary attempt is made to add some insights into potentially main factors behind the HCE distribution. The results indicate that whereas per capita income is by far the main determinant, the dependency ratio and female labour participation do not play any role in explaining the HCE distribution; as for the rest of the factors studied (life expectancy, infant mortality, R&D expenditure and public HCE expenditure share), we find that their role falls somewhat in between

Steps to prevent SUDEP: the validity of risk factors in the SUDEP and seizure safety checklist: a case control study

Our objectives were to compare people with epilepsy (PWE) who died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) with live controls using the risk factor items of the SUDEP and Seizure Safety Checklist. All 48 SUDEPs of 93 epilepsy deaths which occurred in Cornwall UK 2004–2012 were compared to 220 live controls using the SUDEP and Seizure Safety Checklist, an evidenced based tool used to communicate person centered risk of SUDEP to PWE. The odds ratio for having a specific factor in those who died was compared to controls and ranked according to P value using a sequential Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Of the 17 modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors analyzed 9 were statistically significant of which 7 are potentially modifiable. Well known modifiable factors such as nocturnal monitoring, compliance and sleeping position featured prominently in the risk association. This is the first case control study exploring the risk factors for SUDEP since 2009. The findings are compared to the current considered risk factors as identified in a major recent review. The study further validates certain SUDEP risk factors. It highlights that the majority of risk factors strongly associated with SUDEP are potentially modifiable. There is an emerging profile to rank the risk factors. It furthers the evidence to use structured risk assessment and communication tools such as the SUDEP and Seizure Safety Checklist in daily clinical practice. It highlights key areas for a person centered discussion to empower PWE to mitigate risk