West Nile Virus Economic Impact, Louisiana, 2002

2002 WNV epidemic in Louisiana incurred substantial short-term economic cost

Modeled Health and Economic Impact of Team-Based Care for Hypertension

IntroductionTeam-based interventions for hypertension care have been widely studied and shown effective in improving hypertension outcomes. Few studies have evaluated long-term effects of these interventions; none have assessed broad-scale implementation. This study estimates the prospective health, economic, and budgetary impact of universal adoption of a team-based care intervention model that targets people with treated but uncontrolled hypertension in the U.S.MethodsAnalysis was conducted in 2014−2015 using a microsimulation model, constructed with various data sources from 1948 to 2014, designed to evaluate prospective cardiovascular disease (CVD)−related interventions in the U.S. population. Ten-year primary outcomes included prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension; incident myocardial infarction, stroke, CVD events, and CVD-related mortality; intervention and net medical costs by payer; productivity; and quality-adjusted life years.ResultsAbout 4.7 million (13%) fewer people with uncontrolled hypertension and 638,000 prevented cardiovascular events would be expected over 10 years. Assuming $525 per enrollee, implementation would cost payers$22.9 billion, but $25.3 billion would be saved in averted medical costs. Estimated net cost savings for Medicare approached$5.8 billion. Net costs were especially sensitive to intervention costs, with break-even thresholds of $300 (private),$450 (Medicaid), and $750 (Medicare).ConclusionsNationwide adoption of team-based care for uncontrolled hypertension could have sizable effects in reducing CVD burden. Based on the study’s assumptions, the policy would be cost saving from the perspective of Medicare and may prove to be cost effective from other payers’ perspectives. Expected net cost savings for Medicare would more than offset expected net costs for all other insurers

Optimizing Treatment of Antimicrobial-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Optimal point to switch to more expensive drug depends on prevalence of drug resistance an

Masks from the archives of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts

130-133Mask, used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, are normally worn on the face, typically for protection, concealment, performance, or amusement. Masks are believed to embody the spirit of an ancestor, and symbolize a message of wisdom, prosperity, security, and power. Masks have been worn in cultures throughout the world for thousands of years. Masks are made of varied materials including paper, cloth, grass, leather, metal, wood and stone. They are painted with symbolic designs and vivid colours. Masks and their manifold forms are a very significant mode of cultural expression. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has a rich collection of masks from all over the world. The paper describes historical background, material used, traditional methods of preparation and cultural significance of masks from the repository of the GNCA. The article also highlights the musicological, psychological and philosophical significance of these masks and focused description of the Chhau masks of West Bengal and Saraikela

On the Economics of Volunteering

The past decade has witnessed a surge in private, volunteer activity across the globe, generating an optimistic belief in the potential of “civil society” in “filling” the niches where both the state and markets have failed. While this has stirred a burgeoning academic interest in the third sector, with a proliferation of studies from the perspective of political science, sociology, and social politics, economic interest has been rather lackluster. Economic theories that may enrich our understanding of volunteering behavior have either not received adequate attention or have not been explicitly identified. Furthermore, the significant contribution made by volunteer labor goes unnoticed in economic terms, as national income and labor force statistics are designed to gather information primarily on “remunerated” economic activity. Recognizing this lacuna, this paper attempts to develop a conceptual framework to measure the economic contribution made by volunteer labor, thereby hoping to raise its societal appreciation. To do so, we make forays in the following directions: (1) capture the theoretical underpinnings on the economics of volunteering; (2) incorporate that in developing a suitable methodological framework to accord an “economic value” to volunteer labor; (3) use relevant data sources to generate, some initial, but understandably rough estimates to comprehend its contribution to national output and employment. Our results indicate that volunteering is a substantial activity in most developed countries, and is growing in importance in many developing countries. Sound economic analyses applied to good descriptive cross-country data on volunteering could shed light on many fundamental issues: Why has voluntarism flourished in some societies, yet languished in others? Does it play inherently different roles in the “North” vis-a-vis the “South”? And, most importantly, how does the level of development affect voluntarism, i.e. is it rising or declining with development

Influence of socioeconomic status, wealth and financial empowerment on gender differences in health and healthcare utilization in later life: evidence from India

Empirical studies from developed countries observe that women report worse health and higher healthcare utilization than men, but the health disadvantage diminishes with age; gender differences in self-rated health often vanish or are reversed in older ages. Comparable assessments of health during later life from developing countries are limited because of the lack of large-scale surveys that include older women. Our study attempts to address the shortage of developing country studies by examining gender differences in health and healthcare utilization among older adults in India. Both ordered and binary logit specifications were used to assess significant gender differences in subjective and objective health, and healthcare utilization after controlling for demographics, medical conditions, traditional indicators of socioeconomic status like education and income, and additional wealth indicators. The wealth indicators, measured by property ownership and economic independence, are regarded as financially empowering older adults to exercise greater control over their health and well-being. Data are drawn from a nationally representative decennial socioeconomic and health survey of 120,942 Indian households conducted during 1995-1996. The study sample comprises 34,086 older men and women aged >=60 years. Our results indicate that older women report worse self-rated health, higher prevalence of disabilities, marginally lower chronic conditions, and lower healthcare utilization than men. The health disadvantage and lower utilization among women cannot be explained by demographics and the differential distribution of medical conditions. While successive controls for education, income, and property ownership narrows the gender gap in both health and healthcare utilization, significant differentials still persist. Upon controlling for economic independence, gender differentials disappear or are reversed, with older women having equal or better health than otherwise similar men. Financial empowerment might confer older women the health advantage reflected in developed societies by enhancing a woman's ability to undertake primary and secondary prevention during the life course.Elderly health Gender Empowerment Health inequalities Healthcare utilization India Socioeconomic status (SES)

Studies on the structure of 7α-hydroxytaraxerol

2129-2131The proposed structure of the natural product 7α-hydroxytaraxerol (D-friedoolean-14-en-3β, 7α-diol) 1 has been established by its synthesis from a known compound, multiflorenol (D : C-friedoolean-7-en-3β-ol) 2