Business and financial cycles in the Eurozone: synchronization or decoupling

This paper proposes a novel approach, based on probit framework, towards measuring business cycle synchronization for 9 eurozone economies. We find strong cross-country synchronization in both business cycles and financial cycles. Moreover, financial synchronization dominates business cycle synchronization in the eurozone, especially after the introduction of the single currency. For some peripheral country pairs, we even find some evidence of "de-coupling" business cycles relative to the core countries but the majority of marginal business cycle effects do not change much over time. The former observation supports the often heard plea for more Europe-wide macro-prudential regulation whereas the latter observation gives ammunition to those economists that always stressed that the euro zone architecture is unfinished business and that the conditions for an optimum currency area are not fulfilled. JEL Classification: C25, E32, F4

How to Bridge the Gaps between Competing Paradigms for EU Law: An Introduction

For the first time since its creation, the European Union (EU) has been living its probably most significant identity crisis. This crisis has its roots in different critical situations that have hit the EU, have affected its functioning and have fundamentally questioned its legitimacy. The gaps in the EU integration process have been uncovered and the fragmentation of EU policies has become a source of different risks

Do people with intellectual disabilities understand their prescription medication? A scoping review

© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Background: People with intellectual disabilities are more likely to experience poor health than the general population and are frequently prescribed multiple medications. Therefore, it is important that people with intellectual disabilities understand their medication and potential adverse effects. Method: A scoping review explored people with intellectual disabilities' knowledge of prescription medications, their risks and how medication understanding can be improved. Results: Ten journal articles were included. People with intellectual disabilities often lacked understanding of their medication, including its name, purpose and when and how to take it. Participants were often confused or unaware of adverse effects associated with their medication. Information was sometimes explained to carers rather than people with intellectual disabilities. Some interventions and accessible information helped to improve knowledge in people with intellectual disabilities. Conclusion: There is a need for accessible and tailored information about medication to be discussed with people with intellectual disabilities in order to meet legal and best practice standards.Peer reviewe

Health characteristics and consultation patterns of people with intellectual disability: a cross-sectional database study in English general practice.

BACKGROUND: People with intellectual disability (ID) are a group with high levels of healthcare needs; however, comprehensive information on these needs and service use is very limited. AIM: To describe chronic disease, comorbidity, disability, and general practice use among people with ID compared with the general population. DESIGN AND SETTING: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of a primary care database including 408 English general practices in 2012. METHOD: A total of 14 751 adults with ID, aged 18-84 years, were compared with 86 221 age-, sex- and practice-matched controls. Depending on the outcome, prevalence (PR), risk (RR), or odds (OR) ratios comparing patients with ID with matched controls are shown. RESULTS: Patients with ID had a markedly higher prevalence of recorded epilepsy (18.5%, PR 25.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 23.29 to 27.57), severe mental illness (8.6%, PR 9.10, 95% CI = 8.34 to 9.92), and dementia (1.1%, PR 7.52, 95% CI = 5.95 to 9.49), as well as moderately increased rates of hypothyroidism and heart failure (PR>2.0). However, recorded prevalence of ischaemic heart disease and cancer was approximately 30% lower than the general population. The average annual number of primary care consultations was 6.29 for patients with ID, compared with 3.89 for matched controls. Patients with ID were less likely to have longer doctor consultations (OR 0.73, 95% CI = 0.69 to 0.77), and had lower continuity of care with the same doctor (OR 0.77, 95% CI = 0.73 to 0.82). CONCLUSION: Compared with the general population, people with ID have generally higher overall levels of chronic disease and greater primary care use. Ensuring access to high-quality chronic disease management, especially for epilepsy and mental illness, will help address these greater healthcare needs. Continuity of care and longer appointment times are important potential improvements in primary care

Tail risk and systemic risk of US and Eurozone financial institutions in the wake of the global financial crisis

We evaluate multiple market-based measures for US and eurozone individual bank tail risk and bank systemic risk. We apply statistical extreme value analysis to the tails of bank equity capital losses to estimate the likelihood of individual institutions' financial distress as well as individual banks' exposure to each other (“spillover risk”) and to global shocks (“extreme” systematic risk). The estimation procedure presupposes that bank equity returns are “heavy tailed” and “tail dependent” as identifying assumption. Using both US and eurozone banks allows one to make a cross-Atlantic comparison of tail risks and systemic stability. We also assess to what extent magnitudes of tail risk and systemic risk have been altered by the global financial crisis. The results suggest that both tail risk and systemic risk in the US are higher than in the eurozone regardless of the considered sample period

Aflatoxin Levels in Locally Grown Maize from Makueni District, Kenya

Objectives: Investigations were carried out to determine aflatoxin levels in household maize in Makueni District and to correlate aflatoxin levels to maize drying and storage practices. Also, aflatoxin exposure in villages that reported aflatoxicosis cases in 2005 was compared with that in villages that did not report cases to assess whether aflatoxin exposure levels could be used to identify high-risk villages for targeted prevention interventions. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Three divisions of Makueni district, Kibwezi, Makindu and Mtito Andei in Eastern Province, Kenya. Subjects: Ninety six households were surveyed, and 104 maize samples were analysed for total aflatoxin levels from June to July 2005. The households were selected from high and low aflatoxicosis risk areas. Results: Out of the 104 maize samples collected from 96 households, 37 (35.5%) had aflatoxin levels above the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended maximum limit of 20 ppb. All of these samples were homegrown or purchased. Twenty one samples (20.1%) had levels above 100 ppb. Eleven (10.6%) had extremely high levels above 1,000 ppb. No relief supply maize had aflatoxin levels above the WHO maximum limit. Conclusion: High levels of aflatoxin in homegrown and purchased maize suggested that aflatoxin exposure was widespread. East African Medical Journal Vol. 85 (7) 2008: pp. 311-31

A comparison of the prevalence of health problems among adults with and without intellectual disability:A total administrative population study

Introduction There is considerable international research indicating health disparities between people with and without intellectual disabilities. It is important that comparative studies use representative population samples. This study compares a total administrative population of adults with intellectual disability to a random stratified general population sample. Methods An administrative population of 217 adults with intellectual disability and a random stratified sample of 2,350 adults without intellectual disability participated. A questionnaire using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD‐10) Chapter Headings was administered to all participants to enable a like‐for‐like comparison. Findings Unadjusted comparisons identified that adults with intellectual disability have a greater prevalence of health problems. These problems start early in adulthood and continue throughout life. However, they were less likely to experience cancers and musculoskeletal diseases. Conclusions These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that adults with intellectual disabilities have greater prevalence rates of health problems than the general population

Doctor-patient communication with people with intellectual disability - a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>People with intellectual disability (ID) expressed dissatisfaction with doctor-patient communication and mentioned certain preferences for this communication (our research). Since many people with ID in the Netherlands have recently moved from residential care facilities to supported accommodations in the community, medical care for them was transferred from ID physicians (IDPs) to general practitioners (GPs) in the vicinity of the new accommodation. We addressed the following research question: 'What are the similarities and differences between the communication preferences of people with ID and the professional criteria for doctor-patient communication by GPs?'</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A focus group meeting and interviews were used to identify the preferences of 12 persons with ID for good communication with their GP; these were compared with communication criteria used to assess trainee GPs, as described in the MAAS-Global manual.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eight preferences for doctor-patient communication were formulated by the people with ID. Six of them matched the criteria used for GPs. Improvements are required as regards the time available for consultation, demonstrating physical examinations before applying them and triadic communication.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>People with ID hold strong views on communication with their doctors during consultations. GPs, people with ID and their support workers can further fine-tune their communication skills.</p

The use of chemotherapy regimens carrying a moderate or high risk of febrile neutropenia and the corresponding management of febrile neutropenia: an expert survey in breast cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The use of chemotherapy regimens with moderate or high risk of febrile neutropenia (defined as having a FN incidence of 10% or more) and the respective incidence and clinical management of FN in breast cancer and NHL has not been studied in Belgium. The existence of a medical need for G-CSF primary and secondary prophylaxis with these regimens was investigated in a real-life setting.Journal ArticleMulticenter StudyResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe