Case Studies on Impediments to Exports in Small Transition Economies

This series of enterprise case studies grew out from a 1995-1996 research project at IIASA. It acknowledged the importance of export development for the recovery of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe following their deep transformational recession in 1990-1994. The main goal was a systematic empirical analysis of the different kinds of impediments to exports in various small East European countries. The project included the coordinated elaboration of country studies for seven small transitional economies (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and the writing of three topical studies. The authors of the country studies and the author of the topical study on Russia were requested to base their work on 20 enterprise case studies each (eventually the Russian study was based on 10 cases). Before the start of the research a common scheme of the enterprise case studies was discussed and agreed upon with the authors. After completing their work the authors were asked to supplement a short version of their case studies to their main text. Eventually it was decided that, due to the length of the full text, two related publications would be arranged, one book made up of the country studies and topical studies, and another of the enterprise case studies. The book was published by Edward Elgar: Cooper, R. and Gács, J. (Eds.) (1997) Trade Growth in Transition Economies: Export Impediments for Central and Eastern Europe, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK. The second publication is the present series of case studies

Serum YKL-40 Levels in Patients with Asthma or COPD: A Pilot Study

Background and Objectives: Bronchial asthma (BA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are not only common obstructive respiratory conditions but also major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is, however, a surprising lack of blood-based biomarkers for separating between these pulmonary disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the practical relevance of using serum YKL-40, single or combined, for this purpose. Materials and Methods: Subjects included Romanian patients with BA (n = 24) or COPD (n = 27). YKL-40, fibrinogen, pre-treatment C-reactive protein (CRP), post-treatment CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, interleukin 6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), absolute neutrophil count, neutrophil percentage, absolute lymphocyte count, lymphocyte percentage, absolute eosinophil count, and eosinophil percentage were measured and compared between these patients. Results: This is the first study investigating the clinical significance of serum YKL-40 in delineating between COPD and BA in Caucasian populations. Only fibrinogen and YKL-40 levels were different between COPD and BA, with the measured values being significantly elevated. These patients exhibited distinct inflammatory profiles. Using the upper quartiles of these variables for the pooled study population (YKL-40: 5100 pg/mL; fibrinogen: 552 mg/dL) as cut-off values, subjects were classified into high or low groups. High YKL-40 adults revealed significantly increased PCT levels. High fibrinogen subjects, by contrast, showed significantly elevated IL-6 concentrations and pre-treatment CRP levels. Low YKL-40 and fibrinogen patients showed the absence of COPD. Conclusions: Combined use of serum YKL-40 and fibrinogen may be useful for identifying the absence of COPD